Before the representatives left, they went through the usual inspection.
Since the representatives could take back all the treasures they obtained, the four elders guarding the Treasure Paradise didn't give them a close inspection, only counting up and recording what they had gotten before letting them leave.
The representatives had guilty consciences, so they didn't dare to linger, leaving as soon as they passed inspection.
As she watched these people who had fought alongside her dispersing, Liu Qianyi felt a twinge of sorrow.
Looking back at the stone gate, she knew that that fearless man who had won that bloodsoaked battle would never walk out of that stone gate.
Her mood still swept in sorrow, she numbly accepted the inspection and then walked forward. The wind delivered snatches of conversation to her ear:
"What is this?"
"Just some belongings left behind by a friend."
"Belongings or treasure?"
"Is this very important? The Heavenly King promised that we could take all of this…"
It was Zuo Quanming.
That damned scoundrel.
Quite a few people had died in the Treasure Paradise, so he had probably looted their bodies.
Although she wanted to discipline that bastard, Liu Qianyi knew that the ensuing ruckus would probably expose the lie. Moreover, Zuo Quanming had also spoken up for her, so she couldn't just turn against him.
Most importantly, Tang Jie wasn't anything to her!
Strictly speaking, they couldn't even be considered friends. What right or reason did she have to take revenge for Tang Jie?
Even so, deep down, this figure had left a very deep mark on her heart.
In the end, she sighed and kept going.
But the more she wanted to forget, the more she couldn't forget.
His voice and smile floated up in her mind, refusing to go away.
It was an endless loop.
Upon returning to the Celestial Flame Pagoda, she went to the spacious reception hall and thought back to her first meeting with Tang Jie.
She stood where she had stood before, looking at the other side of the room, as if Tang Jie was standing there, faking a cough and taking out the Celestial Incense Brocade… On their first meeting, she had been fooled by this man's illusions.
Liu Qianyi helplessly smiled.
And then she blurted out in shock, "An illusion!"
Everything she had just been through replayed itself in her mind.
In the simulation formation, how Zuo Quanming had shouted that he had killed Tang Jie with a blade up against his neck; when facing the Blood River Lord, how confident and assured Tang Jie had seemed while deceiving his adversary; how he had weakly fallen from the sky after killing the Blood River Lord; how Zuo Quanming had obliterated Tang Jie's corpse after killing him; the mysterious disappearance of Yiyi and the rabbit; the destruction of the Mountain River State Diagram; Zuo Quanming's confident way of speaking in the aftermath…
All these scenes flashed through Liu Qianyi's mind, until that conversation from just moments before:
"What is this?"
"Just some belongings left behind by a friend."
"Belongings or treasure?"
"Is this very important? The Heavenly King promised that we could take all of this…"
Liu Qianyi trembled as if somebody had dumped cold water on her, and she shouted, "Tang Jie!"
After leaving the cavern and running to the Celestial Flame Pagoda, Zuo Quanming didn't leave the pagoda with everyone else, instead going elsewhere.
After finding a deserted corner, he looked around before finally whispering, "We're good."
A flower emerged from Zuo Quanming's sleeve, flew into the air, and transformed back into Yiyi.
The moment the little girl landed, she made a turn, and another object appeared in her hand: the Mountain River State Diagram.
As she opened up the diagram, a figure flew out of it: the avatar Tang Jie.
"Big Brother!" Yiyi rushed into Tang Jie's embrace.
Hugging Yiyi, Tang Jie looked at Zuo Quanming and nodded. "Good job."
Zuo Quanming hastily bowed. "I would not dare to take the credit. It was all thanks to Young Master's divine foresight. This lowly one simply followed orders."
At the same time, he thought to himself, I also didn't dare to disobey your orders. Didn't you have this little brat turn into a flower and follow me for fear that I wouldn't open the diagram and let you out? With this girl keeping an eye on me, she could both help you convey your orders and also make sure I didn't do anything. If I dared to show the slightest hint of disloyalty, Yiyi would probably order the beans in my body to grow and devour me.
Of course, everyone understood this, but nobody was going to talk about it.
On the surface, Tang Jie still smiled and said, "But regardless, it's thanks to you that this matter was a success. Relax. I won't treat you poorly after you've done such an important thing for me."
Tang Jie naturally could have transformed himself into Zuo Quanming, but he still had to get through the Four Heavenly Kings.
He wasn't sure what abilities the Four Heavenly Kings had, and if one of them happened to have Insight and saw through his illusion, he would have a problem on his hands. Thus, to be safe, Zuo Quanming had to carry out the entire plan while Tang Jie commanded things from behind the scenes. Thankfully, Zuo Quanming hadn't disappointed him and had been a consummate actor, fooling everyone.
Tang Jie continued, "Now, you should immediately leave the Celestial Flame Pagoda and head to the Rosecloud Store. Find a girl called Xian Tao. She will arrange your departure from the Blood River Domain."
"I'm leaving the Blood River Domain?" Zuo Quanming was alarmed by Tang Jie's words.
"Yes, you're leaving the Blood River Domain!" Tang Jie gave him a rough summary of his background before saying, "Once you leave the Blood River Domain, go to the Basking Moon Sect. With my introduction, you will be able to join the Basking Moon Sect, and from now on, you will serve under me and no longer be a lonely soul wandering the world."
"'The Basking Moon Sect'?" Zuo Quanming had never left the Blood River Domain and had no understanding of the Basking Moon Sect.
Tang Jie smiled. "A top-class sect protected by an Immortal Platform Titan."
Zuo Quanming's mind was spinning.
Fortune had come so quickly that Zuo Quanming was caught completely unawares.
A wandering cultivator like him was keenly aware of how difficult cultivation was without the guidance of a master.
While Tang Jie had been able to get this far thanks to his own efforts, another important factor was that he didn't lack a master's guidance, allowing him to avoid any detours on his path of cultivation.
Even so, Zuo Quanming was still hesitant.
After some thought, he asked, "Do I have to leave now?"
"What? Can't let go?"
Zuo Quanming sighed. "In the end, this is the place where I was born and raised. Leaving so suddenly is a little…"
But Tang Jie shook his head. "I'm afraid you don't have too much time to be all nostalgic. You're different from the others. While the others were just momentarily deceived, you are my accomplice. Neither the Blood River Lord nor the Four Heavenly Kings will let you go, particularly the Four Heavenly Kings. In less than a day, they'll be back, so you have to leave now."
"Not even a day?" Zuo Quanming was startled. "I don't have any deep grudge with them, so even if I tricked them, they wouldn't come all the way back for…"
He suddenly realized something and stared at Tang Jie with widened eyes, his entire body beginning to tremble.
He pointed a shaky finger at Tang Jie. "You… you… you aren't… you aren't thinking…"
Tang Jie nodded. "Correct! You thought I faked my death just to run? You were wrong. I didn't fake my death to run, but to better make my counterattack!"
Tang Jie's face darkened. "Flame Celestial Sovereign, the Four Heavenly Kings… hmph, they sold me out. Today, I'll let them know that there's a price for selling me out!"
"That's one Immortal Platform and four Violet Palaces!" Zuo Quanming stammered out.
Tang Jie wanted to teach a lesson to bigshots like this? Was he crazy?
"So what?" Tang Jie smirked. "Didn't I still destroy several dozen of an Immortal's avatars?"
"But that's because the Blood River's actual body can't move. The Four Heavenly Kings don't have this restriction!"
"But they aren't here right now," Tang Jie chuckled. "Who said that teaching them a lesson meant that I had to fight them?"
Zuo Quanming said in shock, "Are you thinking…"
Tang Jie casually replied, "Twenty years for each cycle, across a thousand years. After all those trips into the Treasure Paradise, the Celestial Flame Pagoda must have accumulated countless treasures, no? And if you consider how much money the arena makes, the Celestial Flame Pagoda must be filthy rich. Since I've taken the Treasure Paradise into my diagram, I should also properly take care of this Celestial Flame Pagoda and take away everything that should be taken away."
Zuo Quanming was reeling from Tang Jie's words.
The Four Heavenly Kings would definitely go crazy if such a thing happened. It was no wonder Tang Jie said that the Four Heavenly Kings wouldn't let him go.
Tang Jie waved his hand and turned into Zuo Quanming, after which he said, "Hurry up and go already!"
Zuo Quanming felt his vision go dark. He was filled with rage and sorrow at the knowledge that Tang Jie was removing all other options for him, but he could only turn and go. Fortunately, the promise of joining the Basking Moon Sect had greatly weakened his longing for his homeland.
Once Tang Jie was sure that Zuo Quanming had left, he sent a message to Xu Miaoran explaining the situation to her and telling her to be careful. Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran had kept their relationship a secret in this place, and almost nobody in the Blood River Domain knew about it, nor did they know about his connection to the Rosecloud Store. Thus, so long as Xu Miaoran and Xian Tao kept a tight lid on the information, Tang Jie could cause as big of a ruckus as he pleased without affecting the inter-domain trade.
In that cave estate in the Heaven Manor Mountains, Xu Miaoran was busy refining an extremely important spiritual pill. She had already failed at refining the pill numerous times, and this time, she had finally passed the most difficult stage and was in the final stretch. The news came when the pill was on the verge of completion.
Upon receiving the message, Xu Miaoran paled. "Tang Jie is going to go against the Celestial Flame Pagoda. We have to leave immediately to avoid causing him problems. In addition, there are too many traces of us left in the cave estate. We have to clean it all up, and when we leave, make sure that nobody notices."
"But the pill will be done in just a few more hours…" Hong Yuan, who was serving as the assistant for this refining, frantically said.
"At a time like this, you're still worried about the pill?" Xu Miaoran kicked the pill furnace over. The lid came off, and flames spilled out.
"No!" Hong Yuan cried out and tried to put the furnace back, but Xu Miaoran held her back.
"Let it burn. Pack up all our things. We need to leave at once."
"But this cave also has a formation, and the stuff we just planted…"
"Get rid of everything we don't need!" Xu Miaoran ordered. "So long as we're still around, we can just get more things!"
She waved her sleeve, sweeping up the items she considered most important, after which she grabbed Hong Yuan and flew off.
The flames continued to burn behind her, swiftly turning the entire cave into a scene of devastation.
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