"Itâll be fine, wonât it?" Jiang Qingliu asked.
âNothing will happen.â Tianming replied. There were millions of bonegnaw ants in Ye Buzhiqiu's body. Even if he took a breath, Tianming would know. The ants were formidable, and even with the current distance between them, Tianming could easily speak to Ye Buzhiqiu through Yin Chen. He wanted to find an opportunity to return to the Flameyellow Continent and leave a few of Yin Chenâs bodies to see if he could communicate with Li Caiwei and Xuanyuan Dao in real time. It would be even better if he could place a few with Qingyu.
"Should we pull Ye Dongliu to our side if we have the chance?" Yan Nuxia asked.
"Sure. Heâs old, and about as strong as his son, but he doesnât have the Singularity Atlas. Dealing with him will be easy. They might be the two people of the House of Dongye thatâre the most hostile towards us, but weâll get them to join us. Gujian Qingshuang will be the only one left and there isnât much one man can do," said Long Wanying.
Granny Mu Hua was even less of a problem.
"Senior Jiang, do you feel like youâre betraying the Azuresoul Palace doing this?" Tianming asked.
"A little." Jiang Qingliu bitterly smiled.
"That isnât necessarily true. The Azuresoul Palace belongs to all swordpupils. As long as it continues serving the people and its swordpupils, it doesn't matter whoâs leading. We just want to bring Gujian Qingshuang over to our camp with the most reliable approach. Our ultimate goal is to deal with the Supracloud Sanctuary. If you still feel guilty after everything, I can remove the bonegnaw ants. Itâs all just a matter of intention. And don't forget that heâs tried to kill you at least ten times," said Tianming.
"I understand! You might be young, but youâre clearheaded. Ziqianâs a complete dimwit compared to you." Jiang Qingliu said.
"What?! Why are you dragging me into this?" Squeezing Jiang Qingliu's shoulders, Yu Ziqian said, "Let me tell you something, old man. Stop being so emotional. I suggest you suppress Gujian Qingshuang, given the opportunity, and rule over the entire sect!"
"Thatâs enough nonsense. The Azuresoul Palace will always belong to the Gujian clan," said Jiang Qingliu.
"If it werenât for us, the Azuresoul Palace would belong to the House of Dongye. Yu Ziqian rolled his eyes. But that was a tale for another time. As long as they were able to think clearly, there wouldnât be any problems.
"Aunt Ying, can we use what we did today to deal with Gujian Qingshuang?â Tianming asked.
"Iâd say weâd have a sixty percent chance of succeeding. Heâs pretty strong and has a few cards up his sleeve. Itâll be harder than killing him. Moreover, Ziqian has limited control over the Divine Worldeater Cauldron. It wonât be easy if he escapes and returns to the sect. We would be shedding all pretenses of cordiality. This matter must remain hidden until we take down Yun Tianque."
"Sixty percent is still too risky." Tianming frowned.
âTianming, didnât the Saintdragon Emperor say heâd give you three six-star universal manna? I think an acquaintance of mine will be the one delivering them. Although he isnât one of the dragon imperials, heâs considered a guest official. Heâs stronger than me. With him, Tangerine, me, and Jiang Qingliu's Azuresoul Tower, weâll have an eighty percent chance," said Long Wanying.
âCan you trust him?â Tianming asked.
"Of course. Heâs pursued her for hundreds of years, and even joined the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect just for her. In the end, the heartless woman married Long Junxuan and had a child with him," Yan Nuxia laughed.
"Thatâs nonsense. I was with Junxuan before he came," Long Wanying angrily said.
"Iâm just kidding. Anyway, you can trust him." Yan Nuxia smiled.
"Alright, weâll wait for him to get here," Tianming decided.
With Long Wanying around, Tianming could accomplish a lot. Her connections were extremely important to him. Most importantly, people thought Tianming naive, willful, and whimsical, yet Long Wanying had firmly supported him from the very beginning. Her vision and courage were the reasons Tianming was willing to respect and care for her.
âOur next step is extremely important. We mustnât make a mistake!"
âWhat about the Supracloud Sanctuary?â Long Wanying asked.
"When I fought Li Haochen, I placed several cockroaches on the Supracloud Sanctuary cultivatorsâ lifebound beasts. The cockroaches followed them back, but their numbers arenât enough for me to monitor Yun Tianque's actions, for the time being," Tianming explained.
âThere arenât enough metal veins,â said Long Wanying.
"The House of Dongye seems to have a few exclusive metal veins that arenât under the control of the Azuresoul Palace. With Ye Buzhiqiu on our side, we may be able to use them. But how will he explain it to Ye Dongliu?" Jiang Qingliu asked.
"Thereâs no need to explain anything. If we take down Ye Dongliu, I can also expand the range of surveillance over the Supracloud Sanctuary.â Tianming said.
Upon hearing that, the three sighed.
"What is it?" It was rare to hear all three of them sigh together.
"I have to say, your lifebound beasts are simply... miracles. Anyway, theyâve opened my eyes. I stand in awe," said Long Wanying.
"Youâll get⦠used to⦠it it," the metal ants in Tianmingâs hand said in unison.
â¦â¦
Gujian Qingshuang, Shi Yan, Granny Mu Hua, and Ye Dongliu were gathered in the Driftsword Halls.
"Nothingâs happened? It's been a few days," Gujian Qingshuang asked.
"I just received a transmission stone. Buzhiqiu says that Jiang Qingliu has been cautious. He hasn't been able to draw him to the location of the Singularity Atlas and is still looking for an opportunity to do so," Ye Dongliu replied.
Gujian Qingshuang nodded. After a brief pause, he said, "Uncle Ye, itâs rather risky for Buzhiqiu to work alone. How about you hide within the atlas? When the time comes, both of you can join hands to slay Jiang Qingliu."
"Thereâs no need for that. Buzhiqiu wants to take the credit alone. Heâs assured me that heâll complete the task and asked that I donât get in his way... I'm getting old!" Ye Donghua sighed.
âThe apple doesnât fall far from the tree. Ye Buzhiqiu is indeed talented,â Shi Yan added.
Upon further contemplation, Gujian Qingshuang said, "To be on the safe side, I think itâs best you go as well. I will arrange for someone to guard the grade-six divine herbs.â
"Alright, Iâll leave right away." Ye Dongliu rose to his feet. He knew that Gujian Qingshuang was a little anxious. Being a proud man, it wasnât unusual for Ye Buzhiqiu to reject Ye Dongliuâs help; however, proud people were often prone to mistakes.
It was obvious that Gujian Qingshuang wanted to raise the stakes before Jiang Qingliu took the bait. In fact, it was the Dongye house who had proposed they kill Jiang Qingliu, but Gujian Qingshuang was the anxious one and wanted a foolproof plan.
âDonât worry, Head Instructor. Iâll bring back the Azuresoul Tower!â
â¦â¦
Naturally, their discussion couldnât escape Yin Chen's ears. The moment Ye Dongliu set off, Tianming invited Ye Buzhiqiu over. Due to his injuries, Ye Buzhiqiu couldn't lure Ye Dongliu over, but he never expected his father would walk into the trap on his own accord.
"You have yet to heal, but your father is coming to see you now. You canât explain your injuries, so I have no choice but to involve him. Is there anything wrong with that?â Tianming asked.
"Do I have the right to refuse?" Ye Buzhiqiu grit his teeth.
All he had to do was rearrange the atlas back to how it was before. He didn't care if his father was involved. The man had schemed to steal the atlas from his father; his actions were proof of how selfish and arrogant he was. Now that he was desperate, he couldnât care less for his father.
"Don't worry, I wonât let him suffer as much. Make sure you persuade him," Tianming said.
âYes.â
â¦â¦
Tianming felt like he was fishing. He watched as the big fish entered his fishing net. Ye Dongliu had walked right into the trap. This time was easier than the last. Because he was older, his bones were looser so the bonegnaw ants had an even easier time invading his body. Keeping to his promise, Tianming had Ye Dongliu suffer less, then repeated the conversation heâd had with Ye Buzhiqiu.
With tears in his eyes, Ye Dongliu looked at his son. "You knew I was walking into a trap and didnât tell me? You bastard!" Ye Dongliu was about to die of anger.
"Father, there was nothing I could do. I'm too young to die. How can I sacrifice my life just to warn you?" said Ye Buzhiqiu.
"You lowlife scum!" Ye Dongliu was consumed by the desire to kill his son.
"It was your idea to use the atlas. Now look at what happened! We might as well wait for death together!" Ye Dongliu resentfully glared at Tianming and the others.
"Father, thatâs enough demoralizing talk. Why should we die? Instead, letâs follow them and create a new era in the Azurecloud Continent!" Ye Buzhiqiu retorted.
âFuck your new era!â It seemed as though both father and son were on the verge of violence. "You bastard, giving birth to you was no different from giving birth to feces!" Ye Dongliu continued cursing.
"Alright, thatâs enough. Stop arguing and give me your answer. Do you choose to live or die?" Tianming asked.
âLive,â Ye Dongliu grunted. The older he got, the easier it was for him to accept reality. He had experienced the pain inflicted by the nightmarish bonegnaw ants, and this Sky Palace disciple was just as terrifying.
"Alright... first things first, take me to House of Dongyeâs metal veins."
Ye Dongliu respectfully stood up.
Ye Buzhiqiu leaned in and said, "Father, you bowed so quickly. At least I resisted for a while."
âScram!â
â¦â¦
There were three metal veins in total, containing enough metal to give Yin Chen an additional two hundred thousand bodies. Tianming tossed tens of thousands of silver eggs into the metal veins; Yin Chen could multiply on its own. Then, they would wait for Long Wanying's helper.
During that period of time, Tianming entered the wondersky realm to cultivate. As soon as he arrived outside the Violetglory Pagoda, a girl dressed in orange ran up to him. It was Liu Xuanxuan, who had once been defeated by Tianming in the Violetcloud Battlefield.
"Lin Feng! Something has happened to Liu Wanwan!" she cried.