Chapter 1016: Two Yellow Springs? Two Pairs of Teary Eyes

Completely unable to move!

Xu Xiaoshou struggled desperately, trying to use his space attribute to quickly teleport himself and Situ Yongren away, far from the danger.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even twitch his eyelids.

The pressure from a King on a Master wasn't that obvious, especially since Xu Xiaoshou had a full set of passive skills.

However, a Demigod targeting a Master was a complete and utter suppression.

"Damn it!"

His body was immobilized, but his mind could still function.

Under the forbidden law barrier, a Demigod's power wasn't so absurd as to forcibly control someone's thoughts.

Xu Xiaoshou had no choice but to reveal some of his trump cards.

He could only hope that certain trump cards didn't manifest in a way that could be easily detected by the naked eye or experience alone.

Thus, Jiang Buyi, the Demigod, probably couldn't deduce his true identity from them.

So...

"Disappear Technique!"

With a thought, Xu Xiaoshou's figure vanished on the spot!

If there was one awakening skill that gave Xu Xiaoshou the biggest confidence to act so recklessly, it was this one.

But he had disappeared.

Beside him, Situ Yongren, in his panic, caught a glimpse of Yan Wang Huang Quan choosing to flee for his own life in the face of disaster, completely ignoring him and vanishing without a trace.

"You son of a bitch!"

Situ Yongren's mindset shattered, his handsome face twisting like that of a mad dog.

What about our agreement to stick together?

What about the honesty we talked about?

What about the trust between people?

—All of it thrown out the window, right?!

All those promises we made earlier, they were just dog food, and I...

Was I wrong to trust you?

After cursing in his heart, Situ Yongren stood there dumbfounded.

Gazing at Jiang Buyi standing in the water ahead, unaffected by the water pressure, he felt his end was near.

"Insult received, passive value +1."

"Reprimand received, passive value +1."

The information panel kept popping up notifications.

Xu Xiaoshou never imagined that his escape move would trigger such a strong reaction from Situ Yongren.

But he had no intention of abandoning Situ Yongren.

After all, he was a great lifesaver.

"Situ Yongren, come in!"

In his disappeared state, Xu Xiaoshou condensed a space teleportation vortex and manifested a finger to connect the real and void worlds. He sent his voice and the spatial vortex toward the young man whose mindset had shattered.

He could have just taken Situ Yongren directly without saying a word.

But that wouldn't do.

Deceive to the end, pursue to the west.

Xu Xiaoshou wanted to bind the fact that Situ Yongren and Yan Wang Huang Quan were colluding, forever, under the witness of Demigod Jiang Buyi.

"You're still here?"

Situ Yongren didn't think too deeply about it at first.

In the depths of his dark despair, he saw a glimmer of light and stepped into the spatial vortex without hesitation, afraid that any delay would let Jiang Buyi stop him.

Until the forbidden law barrier's dazzling light was triggered...

Until the spatial vortex disappeared and the people were teleported away...

Situ Yongren never saw Jiang Buyi make any move to stop them.

In his last glance before teleportation, he looked at the elder not far away and was surprised to see a hint of astonishment and disbelief on Jiang Buyi's face.

Situ Yongren was first confused, then understood, and his heart raced wildly again.

"Damn, damn, damn!

"Why did you call my name?!"

Jiang Buyi had clearly forgotten their meeting at the Demigod clan celebration.

After all, no matter how talented he was, Situ Yongren was just an insignificant junior to a Demigod, so it was normal for Jiang Buyi not to remember.

Plus, he looked so disheveled now, completely different from before, so Jiang Buyi's attention was all on Yan Wang Huang Quan and he hadn't recognized his face—that made sense!

But just before the teleportation, when Huang Quan called out his name...

Wasn't that putting Situ Yongren on the hot seat?

Even if they escaped in the end, with the Jiang family Demigod not letting this go, they would hunt him down relentlessly later!

"Why?"

The process of the Disappear Technique's spatial vortex calling out a name and teleporting people was incredibly fast, just a split second.

After escaping from the deadly situation, Situ Yongren couldn't hold back from Yan Wang Huang Quan's repeated deceptions and torment. He demanded heavily, "Why did you expose my identity?!"

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled, "If I hadn't called you, do you think Jiang Buyi would've been stunned long enough for you to enter the spatial vortex and teleport away?"

Situ Yongren's anger paused, but he wasn't appeased. He shot back fiercely, "Then you could've used another method!"

Xu Xiaoshou: "In the heat of the moment, this was the only plan."

There were a few "crack" sounds as Situ Yongren clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. His whole face was green, clearly furious.

"Angry glare received, passive value +1."

Xu Xiaoshou shifted his gaze from the guy's fist to his face, his tone turning serious: "What, you have a problem with that?"

"Fear received, passive value +1."

"Ahahaha...

"I-I mean, problem? What problem?"

Situ Yongren forced a dry laugh, his face returning to normal. He moved his clenched fists to his chest, turning them into a fist salute as he bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle, then gritted his teeth and said sincerely:

"Thank you, senior, for saving my life.

"Situ... I will never forget this kindness!"

In another part of the deep sea,

Jiang Buyi's face was clouded with gloom as he stood in place for a long time, not choosing to pursue.

"Situ Yongren..."

He murmured softly, his tone thick with disbelief.

Clearly, that call from Huang Quan before the teleportation had shocked him far more than Huang Quan himself had anticipated.

"Situ Yongren—isn't he a disciple of Dao Qiong Cang, someone from the Sheng Shen Hall?

"Why would he be mixed up with Yan Wang Huang Quan?"

Jiang Buyi didn't continue the chase because he had to stop and ponder the deeper implications.

From Bei Yu Pu Xuan to Dong Yu Yun Lun, Jiang Buyi had used a contract summoning to cross the distance between the two domains, arriving in his true form.

His goal was to complete his objective in the shortest time possible and return to his Bei Yu lair unnoticed.

The entire operation was planned to take no more than three days.

And for most of those three days, Jiang Buyi intended to stay hidden, avoiding detection by anyone from the Sheng Shen Hall.

After all, this was a covert action.

It involved the "Lei Jia Tong," and some things were best kept from the Sheng Shen Hall.

So, in reality, from the moment the Sheng Shen Hall might discover his actions to the operation's end, it probably wouldn't exceed three shichen.

It was possible that by the end, the Sheng Shen Hall wouldn't even realize Jiang Buyi had been to the Yun Lun Mountains.

But what was happening now?

"As soon as I entered the water, Huang Quan found Situ Yongren?

"From the looks of it, the two have even formed an alliance, and their common enemy is clearly me..."

Jiang Buyi pondered, standing still for a while.

With his wisdom, he could mostly guess the truth from Situ Yongren's inexplicable fear of him.

Why would someone from the Sheng Shen Hall be so afraid of a Demigod? They were on the same side, after all.

"That kid has been used!

"Huang Quan must have promised Situ Yongren some benefits... or maybe not just benefits—perhaps he promised him me.

"...What a clever scheme!"

Jiang Buyi thought to himself and smiled silently.

He figured Huang Quan only needed to slap a false charge on him, and with the information imbalance, Situ Yongren would surely believe that his private actions outside the Sheng Shen Hall hid some massive plot.

And that was true, to some extent.

He was indeed after the "Lei Jia Tong."

But was that charge really so simple?

Jiang Buyi considered the worst-case scenario—that in Huang Quan's mouth, he had become a usurper coveting the "Sheng Di Position."

So, that's why Situ Yongren was filled with immense panic from the first moment he saw him.

Even if his guess was off, it was probably close enough.

So, back to the main issue...

"How could Huang Quan learn of my actions so quickly and come up with such a smart countermeasure?"

Jiang Buyi narrowed his eyes slightly, lightly twirling his fingers and feeling the complete sealing of his abilities since entering the deep sea, along with the constant depletion of his qi sea's Sheng Yuan.

Soon, he had an answer.

—Water Ghost!

"Heh, a two-faced schemer.

"If you'd just been my pawn obediently, you could've gained more. But since you're so uncooperative and greedy for that little profit from selling information..."

A murderous glint appeared in Jiang Buyi's eyes.

After sorting everything out, he didn't care about these minor details anymore.

After all, human plans can't outmatch fate.

This operation had more surprises than expected.

But as long as he wiped out these variables after completing his actions, all the disadvantages to him would be nullified.

"Originally, it was just a minor Yan Wang, but now there's an extra Situ Yongren, plus a Ye Mao Water Ghost..."

Jiang Buyi looked up, his lips curling with killing intent.

Killing one person was killing.

Killing three was still killing.

For a Demigod, since he'd already made a move, a few more lives wouldn't change the outcome.

What Jiang Buyi truly feared was if the Sheng Shen Hall learned of his actions, then things would get complicated if Situ Yongren found Rao Yao Yao and reported that "charge."

"It's time to clear the field..."

Jiang Buyi sighed, pulling a misty pearl from his clothes.

Xun Dao Sheng Zhu, a cloud-based sacred object, could trace the actions of all people and things through the Heavenly Dao.

This "Xun Dao Sheng Zhu" that Jiang Buyi had personally refined only carried the intent to trace space ability users and the Lei Jia Tong.

That way, even in the deep sea where Sheng Yuan couldn't be used, he could still trace through the Heavenly Dao to find Yan Wang Huang Quan's location and the positions of all Lei Jia Tong holders.

"Activate."

He infused it with his intent.

The fist-sized Xun Dao Sheng Zhu emitted a faint white glow.

Inside, four lines appeared: two gold and two red.

"Four lines?"

Jiang Buyi stared at the sacred pearl, slightly stunned.

When he was tracing in the Yun Lun Mountains, there were only vague two lines. How did they become four after entering the deep sea?

Gold lines represented space attribute users, red lines represented the Lei Jia Tong...

"Two Huang Quans?

"Two pairs of Lei Jia Tong?"

This was an unexpected bonus!

Jiang Buyi quickly realized that the Water Ghost probably wouldn't dare falsify intelligence about the Yan Wang members.

So, the orange Yan Wang member he had chased into the deep sea must also have a Lei Jia Tong.

As for the two Huang Quans...

That was easy to understand—from the scene he traced with sacred power on Gu Yin Cliff, another Yan Wang Huang Quan had arrived.

So, these two gold lines: one pointed to the first Huang Quan who entered the deep sea, and the other to Huang Quan's true body.

"With two pairs of Lei Jia Tong, this operation is worth it.

"I just need to capture Huang Quan, and the rest of the Yan Wang members can be found later."

Jiang Buyi made up his mind.

Because of Situ Yongren's sudden appearance, he had to guard against a stab in the back from the Sheng Shen Hall.

So, after dealing with Huang Quan, it was best to hurry back to Bei Yu and proactively report his private actions to the Sheng Shen Hall.

As for what those actions were...

A junior like Situ Yongren with his big mouth couldn't outweigh an entire Demigod family. He could just brush it off.

And the remaining Yan Wang members...

Without their leader, they'd be scattered.

Even if he returned to Bei Yu and couldn't act for a short time, he could send his subordinates, and they could probably find a lot of Lei Jia Tong.

The most troublesome thing about Yan Wang was just their space attribute user Huang Quan, who was invincible below Demigod.

Once his thoughts were clear,

Jiang Buyi turned his gaze back to the Xun Dao Sheng Zhu.

On the sacred pearl, one gold and one red line overlapped, pointing downward into the deep sea.

This should be the Huang Quan he had just encountered, who got teleported away.

Although it was only a brief encounter, Jiang Buyi had noticed the cat tucked at the back of that Huang Quan's head, carrying the familiar aura of the "San Yan Tong Mu."

Since the two—one person and one cat—were teleported together, naturally the two lines on the Xun Dao Sheng Zhu overlapped.

The remaining lines...

The red one pointed to the left of the deep sea.

The gold one was rapidly approaching the red one, and the two were about to overlap.

Without a doubt, this represented the location of another Yan Wang member, while Huang Quan's true body was quickly closing in, trying to find his organization member.

"So, the slightly weaker Huang Quan that I completely immobilized earlier can also be explained...

"He's the Huang Quan avatar that went into the deep sea first!

"His purpose was to release space power elsewhere under the forbidden law barrier to disrupt my vision!"

Jiang Buyi put away the Xun Dao Sheng Zhu, a confident smile on his face.

Up to this point, he only had one remaining question.

Why could Huang Quan's avatar use space power under the deep sea's forbidden law barrier?

"The Ten Great Anomalous Weapons...

"Or perhaps another unknown ancient relic or inscribed monument divine artifact...

"But even if Huang Quan has such a treasure, he wouldn't have many. If he gave one to an avatar to disrupt my line of sight, then his true body is at its weakest point right now!"

Jiang Buyi smiled and raised his left hand, breaking off his pinky finger. With a slight shake, the finger transformed into an identical version of himself.

This was the "Demigod Avatar" he had prepared in advance in the Yun Lun Mountains, taking a moment to create before entering the forbidden law barrier!

"Go. The task of capturing the Huang Quan avatar is yours."

Jiang Buyi said to the Demigod Avatar, who nodded lightly and shot downward.

As for his true body...

Jiang Buyi looked toward the position indicated earlier on the Xun Dao Sheng Zhu—that was where the gold and red lines were quickly approaching and about to overlap.

"Thump."

His heart skipped a beat.

Jiang Buyi furrowed his brows.

A premonition of blood?

Why?

Was there danger in that place?

After a brief hesitation, Jiang Buyi didn't back down and quickly approached.

Soon, he stopped and gazed at the thunder tribulation filling the sky ahead, suddenly opening up.

"Jiu Si Lei Jie?

"Truly, someone in the forbidden law barrier has managed to reach the final stage of Jiu Si Lei Jie while Zhuo Dao? Who could that be?"