Chapter 1039: Deceit

The pale red of the sunset still flickered on the horizon. The gorgeously dressed monster turned his head, wrapped warmly in a heavy cloak, and looked toward the True Person at his side:

"True Person Chi, does this count as a fiend?"

Chi Buzai looked at him in turn, his expression appearing very flat, even matter-of-fact, as he said:

"A coward who blusters while terrified, despicable and incompetent—merely a petty, minor demon."

The monster laughed:

"Isn't that just perfect? My attendant only used divine abilities to influence the woman, but his every action stems from his own heart, from that 'Evil of Bright Yang.' In my view, that is quite enough."

"With such a use, he can help out with things that Minghuang is too busy to attend to."

*'Minghuang... that is Li Li Zhouwei...'*

Chi Buzai felt quite strange, a faint cloud of suspicion in his heart. The monster's expression remained very calm as he looked closely at Chi Buzai and said:

"The Azure-White Jiao that bears the clear pond of the Limpid Sea—Ding Jiao."

Chi Buzai sipped his wine and replied:

"So it is the White Dragon Crown Prince... I am Chi Buzai, a rogue cultivator."

Chi Buzai had, of course, heard his name. This Ding Jiao was a genius of the White Dragon clan, a descendant of the Dragon Lord, with a pure and noble bloodline—one of the premier noble seeds of the Dragon kin!

Dragon nature is inherently lecherous yet extremely heartless. Pairing within the same lineage or even between siblings makes producing offspring difficult; instead, they have numerous offspring with various other monsters, mostly driven as slaves... Only a few pure-blooded descendants are qualified to be Dragon Princes. Like that Xu Shui Demon King, whose true form is a noble perch-monster and who is also a son of the Bei Hai Dragon King, yet he must call the offspring born from the pairing of dragon-kin like Ding Jiao 'Master'!

*'What's more, he is a descendant of Dongfang You, a direct descendant of the Dragon Lord. If the Dragon kin's quest for Truth succeeds, his status will inevitably rise with the tide. In the future, he is very likely to be one of those in the Golden Rank!'*

The True Person slowly withdrew his gaze, made a subtle swallowing motion, and replied:

"I see only a pathetic villain. The Bright Yang Fruit Position influenced Li Li Zhouwei and also influenced his offspring; that is an unquestionable matter. Why go to such lengths?"

The Dragon King shook his head, his expression inscrutable:

"It is not that simple. According to Daoist law, Minghuang is favored by the Fruit Position and naturally possesses a Bright Yang nature. But he is deep in schemes, inconsistent in word and deed, and unaffected by divine abilities. Who knows what he is truly like? My elders always feel that his humanity outweighs his Golden nature, making it difficult for him to attain the Dao..."

"They tested him, but failed. However, one does not necessarily have to test him directly."

The Dragon King laughed:

"What the father keeps silent about will surely be spoken by his innocent, young son. The sons of the world carry their fathers' secrets and, without realizing it, will blurt them out, making the father realize his own ugliness—this is what you cultivators call the 'Sin of Yang Extremity'."

"Testing this Li Jiangnian is enough. If he truly possesses that 'Evil of Bright Yang,' how could his father not?"

Chi Buzai remained silent, but his heart grew suspicious:

*'The Dragon kin are testing Li Li Zhouwei to judge the possibility of Bright Yang. This move is indeed brilliant, but what does it have to do with me? I do not ascend to the Bright Yang position, nor do I have any connection to the Li family. Why tell me? It's as if I were one of the Li family...'*

Ding Jiao shook his head and said:

"But my father still dislikes it, always feeling that... after ascending the position... that is a True Lord, how can one allow for calculation? It is too uncontrollable... But I am different."

Those light blue eyes flickered, and Ding Jiao laughed:

"I am convinced the Prophecy Book can succeed, and I also feel that my Dragon kin need to join forces with these True Lords..."

Hearing this, Chi Buzai finally felt a touch of gloom and said: "Oh??"

Ding Jiao said indifferently:

"However... whether it is my father or myself, we are extremely in favor of the Great True Person's affairs."

Chi Buzai listened with a cold heart, a smile on his face:

*'In favor? How could you not be? Never mind you Dragon kin, even Lu Shui is very much in favor... Who wouldn't agree to drawing out the Golden nature of that Feathered Serpent? It's just that no one cares about me... I am naturally left to die silently on the side. Do you expect me to agree as well!'*

The Dragon King stared at him quietly, as if he had seen the emotions in his eyes, sighed faintly, and replied:

"Some things, Li Li Zhouwei cannot spare the time for, and he may not be able to contact the people behind him. It is not easy for me to talk to him... but talking to you, Chi Buzai, isn't it the same?"

He turned his head, those light blue dragon eyes staring quietly at Chi Buzai:

"Great True Person, am I right?"

Chi Buzai suddenly narrowed his eyes, a heavy suspicion rising in his heart. But his natural talent for disguise kept his face gloomy, and without a word, he sipped his wine and said in a low voice:

"I am actually confused. How does the Dragon King see it?"

His words made Ding Jiao smile slightly, leaning forward, very calmly:

"Back then, you were only in the middle stage of the Early Zifu, trapped in the hands of Master Du, unable to act independently. Yet, taking advantage of His seclusion, you drifted off to Wangyue Lake. From then on, your temperament changed drastically, you traveled the seas, often acted abnormally, and for no reason crossed the Can-Zi—truly for no reason!"

His smile gradually faded, and he replied:

"Master Du might not know these things, but my Dragon kin know them very clearly. Without a big figure from my Dragon kin helping you handle the details, did you think Master Du became a True Lord by luck? Did you think you had the life to live until now?"

Ding Jiao's gaze was cold, revealing a sense of intimidation, and the unspoken words between his lines were extremely clear:

*'You racked your brains to visit Penglai, holding the 【Brother Xuan Dan Tai Yin White Moon Laurel Branch】 that appeared out of nowhere, faking that cave-abode, and fooling Chun Yi Dao completely—we saw it all, and it was we who cleaned up your mess!'*

"Better to kill the wrong person than let one go—our Master Du has never hesitated!"

Chi Buzai lowered his head, narrowing his eyes slightly. His heart was clearly collapsing, yet it was also a blank slate, as if falling into a boundless abyss. He thought to himself:

*'Me? What have I done?'*

Ding Jiao's attitude was truly not like he was deceiving him. As a noble descendant of the Dragon Lord, there was no need to use such baseless nonsense to deceive him. Either the Dragon King before him had misunderstood something... or... the Dragon kin had indeed covered up some mistake for him, preventing Lu Shui from knowing!

*'Why do I know nothing about this!'*

But no matter how confusing the other party's words were, and no matter how much he racked his brains, Chi Buzai's expression remained calm. Ding Jiao laughed:

"In this world... what other family could produce the 【Brother Xuan Dan Tai Yin White Moon Laurel Branch】!"

"The cultivation technique was given to you by Master Brother Xuan An, wasn't it? It was also on Wangyue Lake, under the 【Fei Qingyi Yuan Xin Instrument】, that you received his guidance, which is why you suddenly woke up, gained unimaginable benefits, and went out to the four seas!"

*'Brother Xuan An... which master is this...'*

Chi Buzai was completely vague about this name and did not know how to answer him. He simply lowered his brows and eyes, saying nothing, revealing a complex expression.

Ding Jiao waited for a while, seeing he did not answer, his tone indifferent:

"Rest assured, now that Wei Brother Xuan Yin has handed the 【Xin You Lu Ze Seal】 to you, it represents the affirmation of Zhi Brother Xuan Yu Xie, and even Mount Luoxia Mountain. With us acting as guarantors, even if Lu Shui discovers something, he still won't kill you."

He revealed a somewhat intrigued smile and replied:

"But you are in Lu Pool, and Lu Shui is full of suspicion. How the Master will protect his plotting and collusion with you, and how he will let the Fox clan contact you... that is something He himself must solve."

Chi Buzai was no ordinary person. After hearing these two sentences, a thread of logic suddenly appeared in his heart:

*'First... this Master Brother Xuan An must be the True Lord behind the Fox clan...'*

*'And Wangyue Lake... must belong to this True Lord's territory. It is precisely because of this, whether it is a misunderstanding or the truth, that Ding Jiao sees me as this True Lord's person...'*

*'The so-called Li family also has the shadow of this True Lord behind them—at least this True Lord hopes that Li Li Zhouwei will attain the Dao! And as a Great True Person representing his interests, I am being used by the Dragon kin as a mouthpiece!'*

*'In other words, in the eyes of the Dragon, my relationship with Li Li Zhouwei is extremely close. Li Jiangnian might involve some transaction or proof between two True Lords, and I am similar to a representative of one of them, which is why they invited me to watch such a good show!'*

The previous confusion vanished. Chi Buzai finally understood the reason why Ding Jiao had come to see him specifically. But upon discovering this hidden truth, Chi Buzai felt a sudden shock in his heart, and then realized another situation—no matter what, he must now be a person of this so-called True Lord Brother Xuan An!

He raised his brows and said softly:

"This matter... the Dragon King need not worry."

Ding Jiao only laughed, but Chi Buzai's ambition swelled violently, filling his entire heart in an instant.

Where was the fundamental reason why he, Chi Buzai, did not trust the Dragon kin? It was because the other party had no need for him, and he had no background behind him to negotiate with them! If he could truly borrow the background of a True Lord, while faking it as reality was impossible, taking advantage of the trend to defect was not difficult... He still had a chance!

*'The urgent task is to investigate the situation of this True Lord Brother Xuan An!?'*

His thoughts turned like lightning. He withdrew his hand, his expression inscrutable, and replied:

"Since that is the case, your noble Master must have long known that I was going to cultivate the Prefecture Water."

His response was extremely appropriate. Ding Jiao laughed and replied:

"How could I not know? Prefecture Water is an object of 'Qing Brother Xuan.' In this world today, how many people have the ability to touch it!"

This sentence made Chi Buzai's heart tremble again.

Ding Jiao laughed, and seeing he still did not answer, sighed in his heart:

*'Brother Xuan An is indeed in a bad state... Wangyue Lake has the 【Fei Qingyi Yuan Xin Instrument】, which none of the masters can measure, but Master Tang guards the lake himself! That Qing Yu Zhong Qian only hooked the Si family into the lake to use them, and later that Si family member was banished and destroyed... guarded tightly...'*

His thoughts turned like lightning, but Chi Buzai raised his brows to look at him, shook his head very cleverly, and said indifferently:

"So that's it. Today, Senior Zeng Zan's departure was not without reason; it was the Crown Prince who allowed me this role."

Ding Jiao laughed and replied:

"It was Zeng Jiu and the Black Dragon who allowed it."

Mentioning Guang Can, Ding Jiao did not have much dissatisfaction. Unlike his father, the Bei Hai Dragon King, this White Dragon Crown Prince had more ambition and drive. Although he did not like the Black Dragon lineage, he held some favor for Guang Can and similarly hoped for more True Lords to lean toward the Dragon kin. It was just that he could not disobey his father... otherwise, he would not have volunteered to come and test Li Jiangnian today!

Chi Buzai's gaze changed slightly, and he watched him quietly. Ding Jiao said softly:

"Master Brother Xuan An was willing to take out the 【Brother Xuan Dan Tai Yin White Moon Laurel Branch】 and hand it to Chun Yi Dao. My Dragon kin saw it and were quite pleased. The Master heard of this and was also extremely full of praise... saying that Master Brother Xuan An finally saw the situation clearly, made a sacrifice, and no longer held onto the so-called 'bright white' alone..."

Chi Buzai frowned and took the opportunity to say in a low voice:

"This matter... I am not clear about it, please enlighten me."

Ding Jiao frowned and said earnestly:

"Back then, 【Hu Jie Xun】 attained the Dao and fell, which already proved that the Tai Yin position might have problems. But everyone was still afraid, and I don't know which True Lord specifically wrote a 【Tai Yin Seeking Brother Xuan Secret Method】 and secretly stuffed it into the inheritance of Chun Yi Dao... faking 【Hu Jie Xun】's last decree to secretly deceive them."

"This 【Tai Yin Seeking Brother Xuan Secret Method】 is indeed a breakthrough method. In fact, the various secret techniques also point directly to the foundation of Tai Yin. It is to combine the life of the seeker with the spiritual objects of the 【Tai Yin Remnant Position】 to respond to the main position and explore the reality of the owner of the Fruit Position from the confusion of Tai Yin..."

"The reality of the Fruit Position is hard to see clearly, but the owner of Tai Yin back then left behind a little backhand, locking a remnant position and making it bright, so that later generations could ascend to the position... It was that little backhand that allowed the Seeking Brother Xuan Secret Method to find a loophole."

The Dragon King flicked his sleeves gently and said in a low voice:

"The 【Tai Yin Seeking Brother Xuan Secret Method】 uses spiritual objects to attain the Dao, which can greatly advance the various True Lords' speculation about Tai Yin. Waiting for the 【Brother Xuan Dan Tai Yin White Moon Laurel Branch】 spiritual object to attain the Dao and sense the Great Void, asking about the reality, perhaps the Tai Yin position will be settled."

The sky gradually darkened. Chi Buzai sat in his seat and said gloomily:

"Then what are the masters waiting for? The Dragon kin... what do they need??"

Ding Jiao answered quietly:

"Waiting for the world to be stable, the 'True Qi' to be attained, the True Dragon to respond to the world, Bright Yang to be defeated, the Upper Shaman to return to their position, and the affairs in the hands of the various families to be resolved. When the masters return to their positions, the 【Dong Hua Heaven】 will be able to descend, and the mystery of Yin and Yang that has troubled us until now will surely need a result. As for you..."

"Can the True Person wait until that time?"

Ding Jiao said in a low voice:

"As for us... I don't know how the Master has arranged things for you, but my Master hopes... that the Great True Person will serve this role, perfect your divine abilities, and act as a trump card for my Dragon kin to intervene in Jiangbei at a critical moment!?"

The monster looked at him deeply and said indifferently:

"This is helping you, helping him, and even more so, helping us."

Chi Buzai did not speak for a long time. The person before him had drifted away like the wind, and the huge beast sank silently into the seabed, along with the huge palace that was shining in the night, disappearing into the sea without leaving a trace.

*'Brother Xuan An... I must investigate carefully...'*

The bright moon hung high in the sky, shining down with rays of light. Chi Buzai looked at the empty sea, the emotions in his heart slowly fading. He stared deeply at the rising and falling tides:

*'But Lu Shui... will he really ignore me?'*

*'For a person like Him, why tolerate me like this... actually not caring at all that I am joining the Dragon kin's camp, nor minding that there might be an enemy of True Lord level in the future...'*

*'Is this possible?'*

He slowly raised his head, his gaze looking toward the bright moon:

*'Or is it... that Ding Jiao and the Dragon kin are also lying to me, and they, like Lu Shui, have absolute certainty... that I will definitely not succeed.'* ===== CHAPTER 1040 =====