Chapter 902: The Second Strategy, Feint East and Strike West

Where have they gotten to now?

In the small wooden cabin of Xu Bang's camp, Mu Xiaogong, who was Xu Xiaoshou in disguise, lay in bed "snoring" away.

Of course, he wasn't really asleep.

Xu Xiaoshou's mind was wide awake.

He guessed that Rao Yaoyao and her group were probably analyzing the intelligence they'd gathered, trying to figure out who the real killer of Yi was.

Rao Yaoyao had plenty of people around her, and elites were a dime a dozen, but he had no idea how far they could piece it together from all the clues.

But clearly,

as long as the enforcers from Yunlun Mountains didn't show up right away,

that meant the matter of Yi's death wasn't airtight, and in the short term, Rao Yaoyao and her team didn't have a definitive answer.

Otherwise, they would have come knocking already!

"What is Lei Shuangxing up to now?"

Xu Xiaoshou thought of that blind man.

He had already suggested the strategy of attacking Wei to rescue Zhao, but he didn't know how long it would take for Lei Shuangxing to summon Ba Zun'an and the others.

Because Ba Zun'an and the storyteller were still inside Void Island.

Time waits for no one...

Xu Xiaoshou didn't pin all his hopes on others.

Or rather, from the moment he entered Yunlun Mountains, he knew his journey wouldn't be like those of ordinary Lingjing Masters, safely completing the entire trial.

With the holy slaves around, trouble could arise at any time...

Yi's night attack had come out of nowhere.

That might not be the holy slaves' fault.

But Xu Xiaoshou had started his own preparations the instant he entered Yunlun Mountains.

And what he had prepared for was to handle "all" possible emergencies!

"It's time to put you to use..."

Xu Xiaoshou extended his spiritual sense into the Yuanfu World.

Inside, all sorts of figures wandered around, practiced, and drilled sword techniques.

There were people in white robes, red robes, holy slaves, ghost beasts, random passersby from the streets like Person A, B, C, and D, and even famous young prodigies from around the world...

Anyone he had ever seen, he had painted out one by one!

The Yuanfu World bustled with activity, full of life, but no matter what these people were doing, they were all controlled by Xu Xiaoshou alone.

The "Textile Mastery" skill gave him the foundation for multitasking and controlling multiple aspects.

Combined with the extensive practice and experimentation after gaining "Painting Mastery,"

Xu Xiaoshou could now command several painted avatars to perform different actions without interfering with his main body's speech or movements.

As time passed and his experience grew, the number of painted figures in his Yuanfu World had increased dramatically.

But if someone familiar were there, like Xu Xiaojiji, they would notice that while the quantity had risen, some key figures were missing.

For example, Ba Zun'an, the storyteller, Cen Qiaofu, and others...

These were critical individuals—people whose mere appearance would make anyone from Shengshen Hall snap to full alert, no questions asked, and possibly request combat support from headquarters.

Without exception, they had all been sent out after Xu Xiaoshou entered Yunlun Mountains.

How were they sent? Openly, yet without drawing attention!

As a hidden Ling array throne and also a Tianji sorcerer, Xu Xiaoshou always spent a lot of time setting up arrays before any battle.

To the members of Xu Bang and in the spiritual mirror images seen by Rao Yaoyao, these actions seemed completely normal.

After all, the arrays he set up were major ones that could seal off all escape routes for Lingjing Masters.

But for Xu Xiaoshou, this was anything but normal.

With his throne-level "Textile Mastery," his understanding of Ling arrays was profound, so setting them up was as easy as breathing.

Yet, he still wasted so much time—every bit of it was actually used to hide the painted avatars.

These people were too important!

Hiding them right under Rao Yaoyao's nose without raising suspicion required a massive amount of time and setup.

Finally, when these painted avatars were ready to move, Xu Xiaoshou himself would already be far away, with a perfect alibi.

And the avatars didn't even need to fight—they just had to "accidentally" run into an enforcer and then vanish on the spot.

"How did they disappear?"

"Why are they here?"

"Why do these holy slave members look so weak?"

And so on—Xu Xiaoshou didn't need to worry about the answers, because those headaches would be for Rao Yaoyao.

Xu Xiaoshou had experienced it firsthand:

Shengshen Hall was incredibly efficient.

As soon as they suspected something, thrones or Dao cutters would show up in no time.

Efficiency was a good thing,

but in the eyes of a clever person, even advantages could be exploited.

Conspiracies could never beat open schemes,

especially one like, "I point where you must strike, or you'll be the one unhappy if you don't!"

In the Yuanfu World,

Xu Xiaoshou summoned over a dozen Ling array tokens for his hidden painted avatars.

The Ling arrays he had set up were already scrapped less than half a day after each battle ended.

But the ones hidden beneath, masked by "Textile Technique" as a different kind of Tianji array, would restore to normal when activated, leaving no traces behind—and no one would detect them.

After all, "Textile Technique" encompassed Ling arrays and Tianji paths.

And Tianji techniques couldn't detect traces outside of Tianji—namely, the "Textile" traces.

Xu Xiaoshou thought about Lei Shuangxing's backup plan and what Rao Yaoyao's group might have deduced by now.

He felt that just having Lei Shuangxing's attack on Wei to rescue Zhao wasn't enough—he needed to add fuel to the fire with a diversion: voice east, strike west!

He gripped the token hiding the storyteller's painted avatar.

This time, Xu Xiaoshou only planned to release the storyteller, because in the final moments of Yi's death plot, Lei Shuangxing had appeared holding the ancient book world.

So, this wave of blame would land on the storyteller, even if he might not know it yet. Xu Xiaoshou had no choice but to splash the mud on him.

Lei Shuangxing had dared to flaunt the ancient book world so boldly, so the storyteller must have agreed to clean up after him. Well, then... let's all get what we need!

With just a pause,

the token was crushed.

At the same time, in a certain spot in Yunlun Mountains, deep underground where many Dao patterns were etched, the figure of a withered man in a red skirt emerged.

As soon as the figure appeared, the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth slowly flowed in, without disturbing anything else.

Soon, his form filled out, turning into a alluring and handsome real person.

"Brother!"

"Brother."

"Brother."

He made a few small adjustments to his voice.

Once it matched perfectly, the "storyteller" flicked his hand, and an ancient book appeared.

He tried flipping through the pages, using his finger as a pen to write a "black" character on it, then shouted, "Decree!"

Sure enough, the surrounding world turned pitch black.

"Very good, the fraudulent ability is still there..."

Xu Xiaoshou, far away in another place, nodded with satisfaction from his bed.

This storyteller had been hidden by him several days ago. Now that he appeared, not only was the location mismatched, but the timing was off too, making it completely unrelated to Xu Xiaoshou.

Even if the "storyteller" bumped into an enforcer, he just needed to "die" on the spot.

The enforcer wouldn't know why he died; they'd just think the guy had used some unknown method to escape.

Then they'd notify Rao Yaoyao.

Rao Yaoyao would be shocked and send people to seal off the area for a massive search.

One day passes...

Two days pass...

Nothing.

Just as they're about to give up, another place pops up with Cen Qiaofu...

More time wasted.

Nothing.

Then, in yet another spot, the big figure Ba Zun'an shows up!

"Hee-hee-hee..."

Xu Xiaoshou, hiding under the covers, could barely suppress his sneaky laughter.

He really wanted to see what kind of priceless expression Rao Yaoyao would have when she saw these people who shouldn't be in Yunlun Mountains actually appear.

Ignore it?

Absolutely not!

Given Shengshen Hall's style, if there's a lead, they'd chase it to the death, or they couldn't account for it.

But because of that...

"It's unsolvable!"

Xu Xiaoshou trembled under the covers.

This open scheme might leave Rao Yaoyao clueless until the end.

Even if she found the storyteller and confronted him face-to-face, no one could give her an answer.

Because even the storyteller wouldn't know he had a long-lost "external avatar" that hadn't returned to the fold.

"Let's play!"

"Since the water's already this muddy, the bigger and more exaggerated the mess, the more exciting everyone's performance will be!"

Xu Xiaoshou curled up in bed, looking forward to the enforcers' movements tomorrow.

The storyteller is clearly on Void Island, yet he shows up in Yunlun Mountains; he didn't kill Yi, but he's become the main suspect; that thing isn't an external avatar, but no one dares believe it's not...

"Hee-hee-hee."

Xu Xiaoshou let out another sneaky laugh.

Soon, he was startled by his own creepy laughter and started picking at his foot skin under the covers while seriously pondering.

"Am I being a bit too insidious?"

"Hmm, not really—it's all because I was forced into it."

"Besides, I'm just an innocent little guy in bed; what's happening outside has nothing to do with me?"

The night passed in a flash.

Dawn broke.

The Wangcheng Trial continued as usual.

Everything from last night had no impact on the Lingjing Masters, who were only at the innate or grandmaster level.

The contest for the nine dragon veins had already begun.

By nightfall, nearly all the Lingjing Masters had rushed to the mountains they wanted to claim as the "Dragon Lord" position.

Whoever occupied a dragon vein

would earn a million points per day as Dragon Lord.

The eight Dragon Guards under them would each get 100,000 points per day.

In comparison, hunting a single Yun beast only yielded 10,000 points, and a Yun pearl was just 100 points.

Pitifully low!

Out of ninety-nine and eighty-one participants,

anyone could tell with their toes that, barring surprises, the top thirty-six who would qualify for the Shengong Trial would come from among the nine Dragon Lords and seventy-two Dragon Guards!

At Xu Bang's stationed grounds,

the bonfire had died out.

The mountains were littered with the remnants of last night's revelry.

But wine and meat couldn't dull the ambition of Xu Bang's members.

As soon as the sky began to lighten, under the leadership of their respective team captains, the Xu Bang members lined up neatly, waiting to welcome Xu Shao—Xu Desai—who had given them a night off in his tent.

"Shua."

Under everyone's gaze, Xu Xiaojiji, disguised as Xu Shao, gently lifted the door curtain.

"Xu Shao is mighty!"

"Xu Bang leader, may you reign for a thousand ages and unite the Jianghu!"

"Xu Bang advances, leaving no blade of grass untouched—kill, kill, kill!"

The deafening chants, amplified by various spiritual energy explosions like gongs and drums, hit Xu Xiaojiji like a sledgehammer.

His legs went weak.

Then he steadied himself.

Following what his elder had said, he extended his hand forward and pressed down...

"Hua."

All the noise vanished instantly!

"This?"

Xu Xiaojiji was stunned.

After a night of confinement, even after sleeping, he still felt a bit drained.

Because he hated being restricted.

But seeing how a simple press of his hand could command this massive crowd, a spark lit up in Xu Xiaojiji's eyes at that moment.

"What kind of feeling is this?"

"Why is my heart racing, my blood... burning?"

Xu Xiaojiji was fired up.

Facing the morning mountain breeze, he surveyed the capable subordinates around him and recalled all the information about Xu Shao's next actions from last night.

Suddenly, he was full of energy.

This is life!

This is the free world I've always yearned for!

What’s Yuanfu?

What’s that fat cat?

Even with endless life spiritual energy to absorb and piles of pills to sniff, who cares if you've lost your freedom?

Who wants to be caged?

Who’s willing to be tied down?

A real man should act on impulse and conquer all!

Now, isn't this the world where I, Xu Xiaojiji, can show my talents?

I have to prove to my elder that keeping me in Yuanfu is just a waste of talent!

"I..."

Xu Xiaojiji murmured softly, then took a deep breath, cutting off what he was about to say and fell silent.

No one guessed his intention.

The Xu Bang members in front showed no impatience, just waiting expectantly.

Everyone's eyes burned with anticipation, eager for the overlord of Yunlun Mountains to lead them into battle and seize the unattainable title of "Lord of the Nine Dragons."

Xu Xiaojiji was infected by those fiery gazes.

He looked straight ahead, his eyes sweeping over the crowd, recognizing the team captains one by one.

Xin Gugu, Liu Changqing...

The original Xu Bang leader, now deputy, Mu Xiaogong—his elder in person...

Those helpers who had been won over by his elder: the Five Tiger Generals Tai Xing, Mo Beibei, Xi Guanghan, Zhu Dong, Zhao Xiu...

And the newcomers Rong Dahao, Xiao Jing...

All of them!

Were watching him!

Xu Xiaojiji's heart surged. Even his elder was standing before him, needing to show deference—now, what did he have to fear?

With that thought,

his state of mind soared, and Xu Xiaojiji's eyes overflowed with a domineering aura.

He raised his hand and, in place of his elder, boldly declared the words he hadn't dared say earlier: "I, as leader, declare—Xu Bang sets out!"