Volume 3, Chapter 22 – Setting the Plan

The journey back wasn’t urgent. Bai Xiang had originally planned to find an airport in Zedi, or simply borrow a military helicopter from Lu Niezhi.

But with Dr. Hannah now a complicating factor, it wasn’t convenient to trouble others. She could only order Hannah on the road to transform back into her “Samsis X” form, then take photos and send them to Lu Niezhi so he would make allowances at the checkpoints.

Lu Niezhi was commander of the armies of three provinces. The reason this army was stationed in Zedi was precisely to handle the unrest in Zedi and Qizhou in full, so all the checkpoints along this route were deployed by him, and those soldiers only listened to his orders.

Dr. Hannah hadn’t lied. This time, when she turned into the giant lizard, she really was much smaller than before.

Her body used to be roughly six meters long, but this time she was only four meters; she’d shrunk by nearly fifty percent. Bai Xiang guessed that this transformation consumed enormous energy in itself; if she did it a few more times, she might even die.

In that case, her value would be quite limited.

While waiting for a reply, Bai Xiang did some calculations and felt that someone like Hannah would be hard to entrust with any great responsibility.

Maozhou was newly established, and right now you could say they lacked absolutely everything. What they lacked most, without a doubt, was people. The fact that she’d had no choice but to temporarily borrow Han Yuanfeng to study the divine-vein demons made it clear she had no personnel at all in this field on her own side.

Her original plan had been to have Hannah fill that role and build a research team around her. That way she could hand all the relevant research over to professionals, and both she and Jade Spirit could be freed up to devote themselves wholly to studying the path of qi.

But if Hannah was this fragile, there was no guarantee she wouldn’t suddenly drop dead.

Forget it.

Watching Samsis X swishing its tail through the forest as it gathered wild fruit, then scampering over to present them to her, insisting she eat first, Bai Xiang sighed. Since she’d already brought her back, she might as well take her home and raise her for now.

Beep beep beep!

Lu Niezhi’s reply came.

She opened her phone and read it carefully; the corners of her lips couldn’t help tilting up slightly.

It was only a “crocodile” after all… Lu Niezhi said he’d already sent the photos to the checkpoints ahead. Not only would no one make things difficult for her, he’d even had someone prepare a “temporary livestock permit” that would be handed to her once she arrived.

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[Oh, by the way, Daoist Master Bai, there’s something you don’t know. After you left, several groups came to me, asking me to help invite you over as a guest.]

Hm?

Bai Xiang’s eyes narrowed slightly.

According to Lu Niezhi, three factions had already hurried over: Yong’an Manor, Taoding Manor, and Shengchun Manor.

Any residence whose name ended with “Manor” belonged to the imperial clan or their relatives. They might not have the military strength or audacity of a border warlord like Yao Qingyuan, but precisely because they were so used to lives of wine and luxury, they tended to be extraordinarily stupid.

What did they mean by this—did they think that just reporting their names would make her meekly go with them, or hold out her hand for them to draw her blood?

Even if she weren’t a Core realm cultivator on the path of qi, how dare they take such an attitude with an immortal earth master?

The whole thing was absurd. Bai Xiang stared at the message, momentarily dazed. Once she came back to herself, her understanding of Great Yu’s decay deepened another layer, and it indirectly strengthened certain resolves of hers.

She’d already seen from Xiang Xian that even becoming a Nine-Dao-level force didn’t truly free you from control. Now this only further confirmed her suspicions.

Whether it stemmed from stupidity, arrogance, or from the royal family having some way to control the Nine Daos, Bai Xiang had no way of knowing for the moment. She only knew that even if such a method existed, she had not fallen for it.

In other words, if we assume Qianyu Palace really did have a way to restrict the Divine Fetus Dao Lords of the nine mountains-and-rivers-ranked Dao fields, then she might be the only one today who hadn’t yet been shackled.

There was no way Qianyu Palace would allow that situation to continue. If nothing unexpected happened, that delegation currently rushing to Maozhou probably carried an extra mission.

Whether that method really existed or not, she might soon find out.

Of course, since Lu Niezhi had told her this, he naturally wouldn’t put her in a bind. According to him, all matters had been “cleanly handled.” He had simply taken those people to see the sword mark left by Bai Xiang’s strike; without him saying a thing, they all chickened out on their own.

This sort of thing was too trivial for Bai Xiang to bother with, but it was clear Lu Niezhi was looking to cultivate ties with her. She thought it over, then composed a short two-line message thanking him and, with the giant lizard in tow, set off once more.

At the same time, in the north of Great Yu, in a border fortress city within Daizhou, a Daoist sat alone on a tower, pouring wine for himself.

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The Daoist was extremely thin, to the point of being skin and bones. He wore a loose black Daoist robe, and no sword could be seen on his back or at his waist.

The tower faced the northern wilderness, where heaven and earth were bleak and vast. The wind whistled through the passage, whipping his sleeves as if it meant to snatch him up and blow him away, yet he didn’t stir in the slightest, just sat there drinking and gazing into the distance.

Footsteps sounded from behind, and a burly man slowly came up.

The moment he saw the Daoist, the man dropped to one knee. “Heavenly Master, please withdraw your will.”

“Did Huang Yuxian send you, or did you come on your own?” The Daoist never turned around, eyes closed.

“Go back.”

“The Huang clan has earned its peace through loyalty and courage. This is not something you should be mixed up in.”

“But this is madness!”

The man raised his head, eyes round.

“Huang Qian is my younger brother! I’ll stake my life that everything he said is completely true！”

“For Liang Yu to sell information to the Prince of Nan for years on end—does that not count as betraying master and sect? How can there be any justification for arresting Daoist Master Xiang and putting that person in her place instead?”

“Liang Yu is at fault, yes, but nothing truly terrible has come of it.” The Daoist shook his head. “Xiang Xian is another matter.”

“She knew full well that newly accepted disciple of hers harbored secrets. Instead of offering those secrets to His Majesty and inviting the Nine Daos to study them together, she rushed back to Yujing alone, clearly intending to make a fuss of this and use Liang Yu’s crime to cover it up.”

“So what if she did!” The man’s voice grew even louder. “Does the Heavenly Master not know that I, too, have secrets—who in this world doesn’t?”

“It’s not the same.”

The Daoist actually laughed. “Ha… Your secrets? Your secrets aren’t worth anything.”

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“And if they’re worth something, that makes it right to seize them by force?”

“Seize by force?” The Daoist chuckled. “If that’s what I intended, why would I have held this post for fifty-eight years?”

“You need to understand, Huang Zhen, this is not seizure. Seizure is taking something and paying no price at all. As for this… I promise there will be appropriate compensation.”

“But—”

“This isn’t for my sake, nor does it mean I’ve become Qianyu Palace’s running dog or attack hound. It’s that only by doing this can we continue.”

The Daoist finally turned his head and glanced at him.

“This is the bigger picture.”

“Do you understand?”

I…

Huang Zhen wanted to say he didn’t! But with those jet-black eyes resting on him so casually, he found he couldn’t get a single word out.

“I’m going to inform Daoist Master Xiang!”

He stood up in a huff and turned to leave.

“I’ll tell her to leave Yujing! Heavenly Master, don’t you dare try to stop me!”

“Ha…”

Watching his retreating back, the Daoist let out a voiceless laugh, said nothing, and turned back again to gaze into the distance and drink.

A while later, a young man in a black combat suit, a Broad-Bladed War Sword on his back, came up to the tower and knelt before him.

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“Master.”

The Daoist instructed, “You’re going to Yujing. Suppress Xiang Xian and temporarily support that Liang Yu in taking charge of Yuming.”

“Huh?”

The young man looked up, his face full of confusion.

“You don’t want to go?”

The Daoist looked at him, concern on his face.

“No.” The young man sighed.

“If this is my master’s arrangement, then I’ll go.”

“I’ll tell you this, then…” The Daoist shook his head as well, and, unusually, added an extra explanation.

“Bai Xiang is about to take her seat in Maozhou. It’s no longer possible for her to lead Yuming.”

“I don’t know what Xiang Xian is thinking, exactly, but she clearly intends to merge the two paths.”

“This is a matter of rules and order and must never be violated.”

“Once you’ve suppressed Xiang Xian, use that as a pretext to seek out Bai Xiang and have her come here to see me.”

“I want to see for myself,” the Daoist narrowed his eyes.

“what a sword with talent to rival the Sacred Emperor looks like.”