Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 522
Along with such a thread were 'Si Koulie is the Lotus King, and the Temple of Immortals is just an organization where the smaller sects gather trying to overturn the six major sects of Heavenly Saints City', 'Sand Scorpion is the Lotus King, the Temple of Immortals and Iron Plateau are actually the same gang, and Yan Xibei's death was purely a distraction', 'Li Yao is the Lotus King. Otherwise, it is impossible for a young man who appeared out of nowhere to boast such capability'. There were other conspiracy theories.
All theories seemed logical and convincing. They were even supported by plenty of valid, but circumstantial, evidence.
Xiao Xuance, Si Koulie, Sand Scorpion, and Li Yao were not the only suspects who had been accused of being the Lotus King or the Sea King. There were also the leaders and elders of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City, the heads of the Star Fighters' Alliance, the masters of several famous families of Cultivators, and so on.
In short, almost every famous Cultivator had been suspected of being an Immortal Cultivator.
If the leader or the elder of a certain sect was not suspected of being an Immortal Cultivator, they were sometimes too embarrassed to greet their fellow Cultivators, because it meant that they were too insignificant to be mentioned.
At first, all the sects paid great attention to the accusations and investigated them thoroughly.
Xiao Xuance and his Grand Illusionary Soldier Project was the one with the most valid proofs.
The Grand Illusionary Soldier Project was postponed for half a year, as a result. Even Xiao Xuance himself was almost sent to a special court for trial.
However, after thorough investigation, it was ascertained that the so-called 'proof' was actually groundless or made-up. The investigators even traced it back to a special squad of the Immortal Cultivators who were in charge of cyberwarfare inside the Temple of Immortals.
According to their confession, most of the false accusations were made up by them for the purpose of disrupting people's minds, wasting the Cultivators' resources, smearing the leaders such as Xiao Xuance or Si Koulie, and even alienating the world of Cultivators from Iron Plateau by vilifying Sand Scorpion.
Chapter 782: Got Eyes on Me |
When the truth was out, the investigation into Xiao Xuance was immediately suspended.
Later, the Cultivators discovered, while Xiao Xuance had been wronged, he had still been working day and night to perfect the Grand Illusionary Soldier Project.
Moreover, he had no complaints about the investigation at all. Instead, he comforted the frustrated and guilty investigators.
All the Cultivators were moved by Xiao Xuance's demeanor during the incident.
On the other hand, during the half year when the Grand Illusionary Soldier Project was postponed, more space towns suffered heavy losses.
By then, investigations targeting Si Koulie, Sand Scorpion, Li Yao, and the leaders and elders of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City had been conducted many times, too, but in a much lower profile.
The results proved that the 'plots' were purely imaginary and not supported by any solid evidence at all.
From then on, the leadership of the Cultivators was extremely wary of those various kinds of conspiracy theories.
When a new accusation popped up, the Cultivators would often suspect the guy who proposed it instead of the person who was accused of being an Immortal Cultivator.
Right now, only the gossipers on the street and the middle-school students who had nothing except their hot blood still talked about such accusations as if they were a real thing.
The move that the Immortal Cultivators played made Li Yao raise his thumbs.
Xiao Xuance must have foreseen that the Grand Illusionary Soldier Project would be suspected and scrutinized.
Therefore, he asked his own son to be killed at first to win the trust of the other Cultivators.
Then, he put forward the accusations on himself to force the Cultivators to investigate them.
Misguided by the 'proof' that he provided himself, naturally, no truths could ever be found.
After his own son had been 'sacrificed' and he had personally been 'wronged', nobody would doubt Xiao Xuance's loyalty anymore!
Seeing through the scheme, Li Yao had to give up the idea of telling everything to public on the Spiritual Nexus. Other people had proposed stories a hundred times more interesting than his version. Nobody would be interested in his theory at all even if he published it on the web.
Tomorrow is the morale-boosting rally. I can only turn to my last resort now.
Let's hope that Xiao Xuance will take the bait.
Li Yao sped up through the square to took three subways to kill the afternoon. Then, at dusk, he returned to a hotel at the suburb of the tenth space ring.
It seemed inappropriate for a man with his appearance to stay in such a hotel.
However, Heavenly Saints City was ultra-lively before the final battle. From the central area to the tenth space ring, all the hotels that were even remotely luxurious had been reserved by the big sects of the Flying Star Sector.
It was not very strange that a 'businessman' was forced to live in the suburbs of the tenth space ring.
Li Yao returned to his room.
The experts of the Glorious Sunlight Group, the Great Horn Exo Society, and Iron Plateau are all in position.
Li Yao browsed through a heated website. The secret code that Professor Mo Xuan and he had made a deal on half a month ago in the Dawn Moon Space Zone was hidden in the seemingly plain posts and replies.
The preparations are all complete. Now I have to wait and see if the slippery fish will be hooked!
Li Yao took a long breath and rubbed his rigid face hard, before he glanced at the time on the bottom right corner of the light beam.
It was 18:37:22 p.m.
Night had fallen.
It was destined to be the longest night of the Flying Star Sector.
Li Yao retrieved a Great Pagoda VII communicator from his Cosmos Ring and unfolded the signal transmission web on the top of it. He then sent a tiny bit of spiritual energy into the magical equipment.
The magical equipment hummed as the rune arrays on it activated and glittered.
Let's do this. The final battle is on!
Crimson flames were burning inside Li Yao's eyes. He bit his lips so hard that his teeth pierced in them. A bloody, palpable aura was flowing around him.
…
"The special waves of the Great Pagoda VII communicator have showed up!"
On Heavenly Phantom, the flagship of the Grand Illusionary Group, inside the command center of the 'Second Imperium', the organization of the real Immortal Cultivators, an analysist shouted, almost failing to tame his excitement.
His two hands turned into two clusters of mist and jumped among hundreds of spiritual stripes.
With his rapid movements, the maps on the light beams were zoomed in and magnified. They changed from 2D to 3D and became more and more precise.
Inside the command center, countless Immortal Cultivators were refreshed and roaring with thrill.
Xiao Xuance was wearing a pure white robe, with an emblem of the Grand Illusionary Group embroidered in golden threads on his chest. His expression remained absolutely unchanged, except for the bright golden flames that quickly flashed in the bottom of his eyes. He raised his voice and commanded, "Group One, hack into the communication and monitor the content of the conversation!
"Group Two, find out the target's coordinates and work out the environment he is in!
"Group Three, track the target's identity!
"Group Four, lock onto the person that the target is speaking to by tracing the waves!
"Operation squad, examine your magical equipment for the soul attack and be ready to move out!"
As he issued the command, countless Immortal Cultivators hiding among the Cultivators in the five groups took action.
Over the past half month, they had done a lot of monitoring, detecting, and filtering work and gathered a lot of data. They had also estimated the possible area where the source of signals would show up. Soon, hundreds of items of information were falling down on the light beams.
"The source of signals has been fixed. It is in a room on the third floor of the 'Three God Hotel' in the northeast area of the tenth space area, which is one of the places that we have been monitoring closely!
"The name of the guest of the room is 'Qian Kanghui' in the registration book. Male, 51 years old, from the Mystic Cloud Space Zone.
"It remains unclear whether the identity is true or false. But since the target lingered in the Mystic Cloud Space Zone and stole medicine from seven hospitals, it is natural that he took the identification information of an ordinary person!"
"We have captured the signals of the Great Pagoda VII communicator. Analyzing and cracking them. Over the past half month, we have completely grasped the forms of the telepathic thoughts sent to and from the Great Pagoda VII communicator. It is estimated that we can hack into their conversation in three minutes!"
"Found it! The signals were directly sent to the first space ring. Searching for the specific coordinates… Got it!"
"On the nineteenth floor of the 'Star Fighters' Plaza' in the first ring, there is another Great Pagoda VII communicator of the same model. The two communicators are now connecting. They must belong to the same set!"
Xiao Xuance narrowed his eyes, and a few crow's-feet that looked like the edges of a sword suddenly appeared.
The situation was on the verge of losing control.
The Star Fighters' Plaza was a bureau that the Star Fighters' Alliance had established in Heavenly Saints City.
The dozens smaller sects that constituted the Star Fighters' Alliance were all among the top one hundred of the Flying Star Sector in terms of comprehensive capability.
The Star Fighters' Alliance was very powerful. Otherwise, they would not have been able to put forward the Ice God Project and go at loggerheads against the Grand Illusionary Group.
An organization that had the capability to craft a piece of planetary-level magical equipment was never to be underestimated!
The nineteenth floor of the Star Fighters' Plaza was where the office of Si Koulie, the leader of the Star Fighters' Alliance as well as a refiner in the Nascent Soul Stage, was at.
"Hurry up!" Xiao Xuance shouted loudly. "I want Si Koulie's all movements over the past few days. Who has he seen? Are there any anomalies?"
Si Koulie was second in terms of authority in the world of Cultivators, only lesser than Xiao Xuance. Naturally, the Immortal Cultivators had been paying close attention to him.
In less than two seconds, Si Koulie's agenda over the past three days was displayed on the light beam.
"Over the past three days, Si Koulie has been busy taking part in the strategical meetings for the battle to come. There is nothing abnormal.
"Yesterday, Si Koulie met Mo Xuan, the supervisor of the refining center of the Glorious Sunlight Group and a spectral refiner who rose to fame in recent years. The two of them talked in secret for a long time.
"The meeting was arranged a long time ago. Since too many qi-trainers are going to participate in the battle of Spider Den from Iron Plateau, the crystal warships of the Glorious Sunlight Group and the Great Horn Exo Society are not enough to transport all of them.
"The Star Fighters' Alliance is best known for their crystal warships. Therefore, the two parties were planning to ship part of the qi-trainers to the frontline with the crystal warships of the Star Fighters' Alliance.
"This issue was probably what Si Koulie and Mo Xuan talked about.
"Their meeting was one hour longer than expected.
"However, they are both super refiners of the Flying Star Sector. It is not unusual that they discussed the arts of refining for a while longer.
"When the meeting was over, Si Koulie went to the hall of the Meeting of the Next Millennium, the command center of the battle of Spider Den.
"The leaders and elders of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City were all there. Si Koulie went to meet the six leaders.
"According to our sources, some new changes happened to Iron Plateau. Ten thousand more qi-trainers would be joining the battle than expected. They would also be carrying heavy and clumsy magical equipment that required more crystal warships to load.
"However, on their way to Heavenly Saints City, they were met with a cosmic storm. Many crystal warships were seriously damaged and will not move in the next half month.
"Therefore, Si Koulie went to discuss with the leaders of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City and transfer part of the qi-trainers to the crystal warships of other sects.
"It was not a serious issue, but since too many parties were involved, and the transportation plan of the crystal warships of many different sects had to be rectified; it was quite troublesome. They did not finish the new arrangement until late night.
"Other than that, Si Koulie had no abnormal behavior.
"Right. Two days ago, Si Koulie's great granddaughter, who is a student of Flying Star University, went to the Star Fighters' Plaza and had dinner with him."
Xiao Xuance was startled. He pondered for a moment and asked, "Si Koulie's great granddaughter? Does she visit her great grandfather often?"
"Not really." One of the analysists shook his head and said, "The workload of Flying Star University is quite heavy. All the students have to work day and night. Besides, it was not a weekend two days ago, either.
"Besides, Si Koulie is stern and rigid. To prepare for the battle of Spider Den, he hardly spent any time on personal affairs.
"But that night, he put off an important meeting and had a two-hour dinner with his great granddaughter in private.
"The incident was recorded because of its unusualness."
Frowning, Xiao Xuance was sweating all over. His computational ability soared to the maximum!
A moment later, Xiao Xuance blinked and said, "Over the past half month, we've been focusing on the packages that Si Koulie and the leadership of the Star Fighters' Alliance received and found nothing strange.
"However, is it possible that the target did not send the Great Pagoda VII communicator to Si Koulie directly, but stuffed it into a Cosmos Ring, disguised the good, and sent it to Si Koulie's great granddaughter?"
Chapter 783: Crucify Xiao Xuance! |
Immediately, more than ten data analysists started searching for the packages that Si Koulie's great granddaughter had received during the last half month on the Spiritual Nexus.
However, the result was not important now.
What was important was that a Great Pagoda VII communicator had breached the Immortal Cultivators' surveillance and ended up in Si Koulie's hands without anybody knowing.
The dangerous person suspected to be Bai Xinghe had started a conversation with Si Koulie. Their dialogue might sabotage all the endeavors that the Immortal Cultivators had worked hard on for decades.
Jamming the Great Pagoda VII communicator and cutting off the communication was doable.
But that would be admitting that they were guilty and also strongly raise Si Koulie's suspicion.
Therefore, Xiao Xuance could only ask the operation squad to reach the tenth space ring as quickly as possible and let the assassination group that targeted Si Koulie be prepared. Then, he simply waited and watched.
Two and a half minutes later, the Immortal Cultivators cut into the conversation between the target and Si Koulie.
The two parties were both using faked voices, but it was not hard to distinguish them from their tones and the content.
All the Immortal Cultivators held their breath as they listened to the conversation between the dangerous person who was suspected to be Bai Xinghe and Si Koulie.
When they hacked in, the conversation had already been on for more than half a minute. Neither party was interested in small talk, and they went directly to the topic.
Although his faked voice was rigid and unemotional, it could not hide Si Koulie's intense scorn. "You went through all this trouble and even used my great granddaughter to pass on the Great Pagoda VII communicator to me, just because you wanted to convince me that you could help me push down Xiao Xuance?"
The man suspected to be Bai Xinghe had an equally cold and rigid voice. Every word seemed to be coming from a running gear. He said, "Don't tell me that you don't want to push down Xiao Xuance.
"In the Flying Star Sector, the Star Fighters' Alliance is the strongest, other than the six sects of Heavenly Saints City.
"In the past, you have been suppressed by the six sects of Heavenly Saints City, and you do not stand any chance.
"But over the past years, the Glorious Sunlight Group has risen, which is supported by a behemoth named Iron Plateau.
"If the Star Fighters' Alliance and the Glorious Sunlight Group join hands, the capability combined is no lower than that of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City. By then, if a great scandal about Xiao Xuance, the crownless king of the Flying Star Sector, is suddenly out, Si Koulie, you will be the well-deserved top figure of the Flying Star Sector!"
Si Koulie burst into laughter. "You think I'm a three-year-old who can be so easily misguided? Are you going to insinuate that Xiao Xuance is the Lotus King or the Sea King of the Temple of Immortals?
"Save yourself the trouble!
"Xiao Xuance was indeed suspected of being an Immortal Cultivator before, but I was suspected of being the Lotus King or the Sea King, too! Is there any famous person in the world of Cultivators who has not been suspected before? Your tricks won't work here!"
The man he was talking to was silent for a moment, before he replied, "If you have absolute faith in Xiao Xuance, why did you choose to waste your time talking to me? Did the proof that I sent with the communicator interest you?"
There was a minor riot in the command center of the Immortal Cultivators when they heard 'proof'. Many Immortal Cultivators were frowning.
Emotionlessly, Xiao Xuance pressed his hands and gestured for everyone to calm down and not to be troubled by such ruses.
