ILDV Chapter 40

Could the Heavenly Dao really be so idle as to constantly watch over the ‘protagonist’? Rather than believing that, Yin Lang was more inclined to think there was something peculiar about the boy who had crossed paths with Xu Rong.

After all, when you put together all the anomalies occurring within the sect, you’d discover that no matter who the culprit was, Xu Rong was always the one who benefited in the end. Even that skinflint Old Lu could generously give Xu Rong gifts—what in this world was impossible?

“Achoo—” Lu Li sneezed twice violently, rubbing his nose. “It must be that brat Shen talking about me. How are things on your end? Is the fox skin still intact?” 

The latter half was directed at a mirror-like magical artifact. On the mirror’s surface appeared Hu Yunu’s gorgeous face, with a momentarily subtle expression. “…Not dead.”

Lu Li laughed. “Impressive, you promiscuous fox. You still haven’t had your identity exposed even in this situation. I’m quite curious—how did you explain the Battle of Ming City and that adopted son of yours to regain their trust? They even let you take charge of something as important as the ‘Jade Fragment’?”

Hu Yunu’s expression grew even stranger. He muttered a few vague sentences under his breath, then quickly changed the subject. “Speaking of which, since you know about the ‘Jade Fragment’ treasure map auction in Beiyu City, why didn’t you apply to be Taihua Immortal Sect’s team leader? Shu Wang is coming too. Add yourself, and with the three of us brothers working together, wouldn’t that item be in the bag?”

“Yuan Daozhu has come out of seclusion.”

With that single statement, no explanation was needed. Hu Yunu immediately understood. “No wonder.”

They could successfully infiltrate the various immortal sects entirely thanks to their own reclusiveness and the three Dao Integration Stage powerhouses’ long-term seclusion. The younger generation in the cultivation world who recognized their faces had basically gone extinct—how could they dare freely appear before familiar faces like the three daozhus?

Hu Yunu asked two more questions. Upon learning that the actual team leader from Taihua Immortal Sect was Tianji Daojun Shen Muxuan, he felt much more at ease. Keeping it brief, he cut off the double-sided mirror before the Holy Maiden could find him, and went to the meeting with a dignified bearing.

It was just Shen Muxuan—not that cunning Seventh Venerable. How troublesome could a righteous human brat be?

The commotion on the street grew louder, drawing even the deeply disgruntled Zhou Rui’s attention.

“The young master from the Beiyu City Lord’s family.” He stood up from the table, hand seals half-formed. At least remembering these were someone else’s disciples, he suppressed his temper and asked first, “Daojun, are you just going to watch your disciples be bullied?”

Shen Muxuan laughed. Just as he was about to say something, considering that Zhou Rui probably didn’t know about the conflict between the Hua mother-daughter and the Qin-Xu pair, he raised his hand in a calming gesture. “Peak Master Zhou need not worry. Those two disciples of mine are not ones to be bullied by others. Just watch.”

Zhou Rui was about to lose his temper, even beginning to think thoughts like ‘Could the rumors about Tianji Daojun being extremely protective be false?’ But the two people on the street, whose powder keg atmosphere had seemed ready to explode into a fight, never actually came to blows.

The guard who had whispered in his ear muttered away, and Zhao Hejing looked shocked and uncertain. “Disciples of Taihua Immortal Sect? Really? Could it be such a coincidence?”

Looking back and seeing the obviously identical and precious ceremonial robes worn by the group, Zhao Hejing felt a toothache, but could only desperately try to salvage the situation. “Uh… so the two of you are Daojun’s personal disciples. Hejing was rash earlier.”

Beiyu City was just a local tyrant in this small northern area. The Beiyu City Lord himself was a cultivator from Taihua Immortal Sect. While this young City Lord Zhao could act wild within the city, if he provoked a giant like Tianji Daojun, City Lord Zhao would tear his son apart first.

Xu Rong snorted coldly, too lazy to pay him more attention. He had seen plenty of these second-generation immortals who bullied others with their power and feared the strong while oppressing the weak. They didn’t need to personally deal with such people—there were plenty who would want to curry favor with Tianji Daojun’s personal disciples.

Without even glancing at Zhao Hejing, he turned and urged Feng Lan to quickly head to Taihua Immortal Sect’s station in Beiyu City.

Zhao Hejing’s eyes darkened for an instant, his voice unconsciously taking on a somewhat sarcastic tone. “This… Junior Brother, I wonder what your relationship with Senior Brother Feng is?”

Though City Lord Zhao came from an immortal sect, Zhao Hejing, while not formally enrolled in the sect, could be called senior or junior brother in informal settings without being too presumptuous. But what Xu Rong disliked most was indulging these self-important princeling young masters. The corner of his lips lifted. “I don’t deserve to be called Junior Brother by the Young City Lord.”

“This humble one is Xu Rong, a personal disciple under Tianji Daojun. As Rong only recently entered my master’s tutelage, my reputation is not yet known, so I can’t blame the Young City Lord. However, the Young City Lord should keep his eyes sharper in the future—after all, not everyone is as easy to talk to as Rong.”

Looking at Zhao Hejing again, his expression was as if he’d been struck by lightning, his voice trembling. “Xu Rong? Could you be that Prince Xu from Li Dynasty?” 

Now it was Xu Rong’s turn to be surprised. Apart from Li Baisu, this was the first time someone’s first reaction upon hearing his name wasn’t ‘Tianji Daojun’s young disciple’ but ‘Prince Xu.’

Suspicion immediately arose, but Qin Xun said lightly, “Beiyu City’s intelligence network is quite well-informed.”

Obvious panic flashed across Zhao Hejing’s face. He scratched his head with a laugh, repeatedly saying “yes, yes,” completely oblivious to the anxious expression of the guard behind him. “I really admire Daojun! Not to mention something as major as Daojun taking on a new disciple—even what Daojun ate for breakfast, I’d do my utmost to find out!”

Qin Xun softly repeated, “Is that so?” Looking again, this eldest disciple still maintained his initial calm demeanor with hands behind his back. But Xu Rong frowned deeply. “With your kind of—”

“My, how lively! What are you all chatting about?” Someone inserted themselves from the side. Upon seeing who it was, the guard immediately rejoiced as if seeing a savior. “Qin Gongfeng!”

A cultivator in white robes and golden belt came over with a smile. “Hey, isn’t this Hejing? Haven’t seen you in years—you’ve grown so handsome!”

“Ah… Uncle Qin, hello!” Zhao Hejing smiled stiffly, his mind frantically searching through this body’s information about ‘a cultivator surnamed Qin.’ When he looked up again, his expression was much more natural. “Uncle Qin, you’re here too! Father talks about you every day. Since you’ve come to our Beiyu this time, we must let Father treat you well!”

“Good, good. Unless I eat your Beiyu clean this time, Qin certainly won’t leave easily. Would the two young masters from the immortal sect care to join us?”

Qin Xun ignored Xu Rong’s eye signals, his ear tips reddening as he cleared his throat with restraint. “Since it’s fate, it’s no trouble.”

Xu Rong tried multiple times to interrupt the harmonious conversation between the two, but was subtly cut off each time by the cultivator surnamed Qin and Feng Lan. What had almost become a fight somehow inexplicably turned into both parties agreeing to freeload off a banquet at the City Lord’s manor. The man surnamed Qin even pulled out a cold-faced cultivator from who knows where, shoving them along into the City Lord’s manor as well.

Taking advantage of the cultivator surnamed Qin and City Lord Zhao happily reminiscing, Xu Rong found an opportunity to poke Qin Xun. “Senior Brother, what’s going on?”

“That Qin… is someone I met on the spirit vessel.” Qin Xun paused. “Besides, when information delivers itself to our door, it would be foolish not to take it.”

“Cough, Brother Xu, are you interested in the secret treasure that’s been rumored about lately?” Zhao Hejing popped out from somewhere, shamelessly trying to get close.

Xu Rong just felt this person was completely sick in the head. Although everyone knew their goals aligned, bringing it up so openly was a bit too stupid, wasn’t it? Moreover, they had just been arguing—flipping faces this quickly, was he questioning his memory?

He politely declined, receiving an incredulous look. Fortunately, Zhao Hejing was soon called away by City Lord Zhao, and the three parties were led by servants to the banquet.

The two Qins toasted back and forth. Xu Rong cautiously didn’t consume anything, just holding a wine cup for show. An impossible-to-ignore fervent gaze kept resting on him. Xu Rong felt like thorns were pricking his back. He couldn’t help but look up and glare fiercely at Zhao Hejing, but not wanting to make a scene on the spot, he worked hard to find topics to chat with Qin Xun to divert his attention.

“Senior Brother, those ‘Zhou Lin’ and ‘Qin Xuan’ don’t seem to have a very good relationship.”

Qin Xun looked up. Indeed—Peak Master Zhou’s expression was nearly freezing people to death. Who knew what Master had done to him again? He was mainly watching Zhao Hejing, his ears still listening to the conversation between his master and the Beiyu City Lord, so he casually brushed off Xu Rong with a couple of words.

The banquet didn’t last long. You could tell the Beiyu City Lord’s relationship with ‘Qin Xuan’ was genuinely good—with a grand wave of his hand, he directly arranged the best courtyard for him. Fortunately, the residences weren’t far apart, and not long after nightfall, Qin Xun climbed over the wall to enter.

The next moment, a sharp fan edge was already pressed against his throat. “Well, well, look what I’ve discovered? A great beauty visiting late at night?” 

Qin Xun maintained his half-crouching position on the wall without moving, expressionlessly looking down as he extended his hand.

“Tsk, you should watch it. This fan bone of your master’s is made from refined Heaven-Star Stone—breaking through your body-protecting demonic qi is no joke.” Yin Lang disdainfully withdrew his fan, reaching out with one hand to pull his disciple down.

“If one day this disciple displeases you somewhere, there’s no need to dirty Master’s fan. This disciple will commit suicide to repay Master’s grace.”

“……”

Automatically ignoring his disciple’s boring statement, Yin Lang asked, “What did you figure out?”

Qin Xun replied, “Zhao Hejing and Junior Martial Sister Chang’an are the same type of person, and he knows about the ‘plot.'”

Yin Lang looked at his completely unmoved poker face and clicked his tongue in wonder. “Good mental state, disciple. Last time you nearly destroyed your master’s Tianji Peak.”

Qin Xun was speechless. Who exactly almost destroyed it—don’t you have any self-awareness?

He asked, “Since the ‘Jade Fragment’ is of great importance, why did you have the ‘protagonist’ and Peak Master Zhou come together? Peak Master Zhou is obsessed with the Jihe Alliance matter. Though his strength is shallow, what if at a critical moment he ruins—”

“It’s precisely because one is the ‘protagonist’ and one is the ‘cannon fodder shield.'” Yin Lang interrupted him, glancing sideways. “Such useful ‘treasures’—leaving them in the immortal sect would be a waste.”

Qin Xun hesitated. “This disciple is foolish and doesn’t quite understand your meaning.”

Then he watched as Yin Lang reached under the pillow and pulled out… a pile of colorful story booklets. Things like ‘Domineering Demon Sovereign and Pretty Immortal Lord’, ‘Those Years Between Me and the Immortal Lord: The XX Affairs We Must Discuss’, ‘Eighteen Little Secrets About the Demon Sovereign’… In short, not a single one was proper.

His master dumped all of these into his arms, speaking meaningfully. “If you don’t understand, read more books.”

Qin Xun’s eyes widened. Before he could organize his words, he was lifted by the back collar and tossed outside the wall. “Remember to keep a close eye on the ‘protagonist.'” Then an invisible barrier rose around the small courtyard.

Not long after he left, Zhou Rui barged aggressively into Yin Lang’s residence, slamming down a story booklet with gritted teeth. “Shouldn’t Daojun give Zhou an explanation?”

Yin Lang picked it up and glanced at it. The seven large characters ‘Domineering Demon Sovereign and Pretty Immortal Lord’ blazed on the cover. “…Sorry, I accidentally bought an extra copy.”

This apology lacked any sincerity whatsoever. Zhou Rui’s face turned red, his pointing finger trembling as his eyes filled with shock and suspicion. “Shen Muxuan, could you really have some kind of… entanglement with Yin Lang?”