373 Theatrics & Espionage

37

3 Theatrics & Espionage

Lord Indigo Lake blinked at Ren Jingyi’s question, and then burst into a genial laugh, one completely at odds with the growing tension around us.

“Oh, little one,” he said, stroking his beard as if amused by a child’s antics. “You are far too naive. Of course, two things can be true at once. Buddhism, Daoism, and even the mortal teachings of Confucianism. All of these coexist in harmony. They acknowledge heaven and earth, the natural order, the cosmic law.” His smile thinned. “But this Great Guard… this unorthodox, malicious path disregards the Heavens entirely.”

Ren Jingyi stepped forward without blinking. “Just because we don’t talk about it,” she said, “doesn’t mean heaven and earth aren’t part of our understanding. Maybe they’ve always been there in Daweism… and we just weren’t smart enough to notice.”

I choked on my own spit.

Daweism?

Oh no. Joan. This was definitely Joan’s fault. She’d been pushing the term aggressively, and now it was catching on.

Chen Wei leaned close and whispered, “Uncle, are you okay?”

“Call me junior brother, you rascal,” I muttered, trying to get my breathing under control. “And seriously… what’s gotten into Jingyi’er? She’s never been this reckless.”

Da Ji’s voice brushed against my mind with Qi Speech. “She got it from you.”

“Huh? I’m not that reckless,” I replied through Qi Speech, and then realized the contradiction.

“Actually… never mind.”

I rubbed my temples. “I told her to just enjoy the academy lifestyle. She kept pestering me about wanting a mission, so I figured this exchange program would be fun. Then Nongmin’s stories made me regret that decision immediately…”

It wasn’t helping that my mind felt off lately. Duller. Blurred. Ever since Divine Possession with Nongmin, my intelligence stat felt like it took a nosedive. Add the main body’s instability, plus the constant effort of sealing Earth memories… it was no surprise things were slipping through the cracks.

Among the Six Souls, none of us wanted reminders of our vulnerability.

Da Ji replied, still in Qi Speech, “You should stop spoiling her. She came asking me for advice on how to grow stronger. She’s considered a beast genius, but compared to your other disciples, she’s starting to lag behind. It must be hurting her confidence.”

I groaned. “I’m such a neglectful master…”

“Don’t say that,” said Da Ji aloud this time, her hand warm on my shoulder. “You’re a great teacher. I still remember you showing me my first forms and correcting my breathing during cultivation. If you spend time with your disciples, they’ll grow. And you know what’s more important than strength or techniques? Character. Without you, I wouldn’t be the woman I am today. I believe your disciples feel the same.”

I stared at her, suddenly feeling oddly moved.

Of course, that peaceful moment lasted exactly three seconds.

A pressure like a falling mountain slammed down on us as Lord Indigo Lake, finally pushed past his limit, let his spiritual might explode outward. His crimson face twisted with anger, veins bulging at his temples.

Da Ji instantly expanded her cold qi, forming a barrier to shield the disciples. Frost shimmered across the air as she held the pressure back.

Lord Indigo Lake pointed at Ren Jingyi, his voice booming like thunder:

“You insolent heathen! A sympathizer of a wicked god! Is this how the Beast Court educates its young!? If your elders won’t teach you respect, then I shall teach you a lesson personally!”

The air cracked with killing intent.

“Is that so?” Da Ji asked quietly.

Her breath turned crystalline, frost blooming in the air as quintessence formed between her lips. She didn’t move a step, but the pressure around her twisted. By forcing her mana road and her qi meridians to collide, she produced that unstable, explosive force few dared to wield. It was quintessence distilled in its rawest form.

The mist around Lord Indigo Lake thickened, his own breath turning visible. He wasn’t harmed, of course, not with his cultivation, but he noticed.

“You dare!?” he roared.

Da Ji tilted her head arrogantly. “Do you not know who I am? Are you truly so blind that you fail to recognize your own?”

I winced. It was early for this card, yes, but the way the situation had escalated? This was fine. Better than fine. With all these factions gathered here, the impact would be louder this way.

We’d planned this for months, ever since Nongmin, Gu Jie, and I crafted the “Jia Yun narrative” together. Because of the Heavenly Temple’s barrier isolating the Empire, information flow was restricted; they didn’t know who Ren Jingyi was, nor Da Ji’s full identity. We’d eliminated every Temple agent we could find after the Civil War.

Her reveal was a spark tossed onto a dry forest.

Lord Indigo Lake scoffed. “Who are you supposed to be?!”

Da Ji answered not with words, but with a shadow.

Behind her, a mirage manifested: an enormous fox maw opening wide, as if to devour the very horizon.

“Immortal Art: World Devouring Maw.”

I suppressed a shiver. Even I wasn’t used to seeing that thing behind her. An art like that wasn’t something you simply learned. Someone stole it. Someone inherited it. Someone survived it.

In Da Ji’s case? All three were true.

“Impossible…” Lord Indigo Lake staggered half a step back, eyes widening. “T-That… that is Brother Jia Sen’s Immortal Art!”

Da Ji placed a hand against her chest and announced:

“I am Jia Yun, daughter of Jia Sen. The last survivor of the Cloud Mist Sect.”

Her chin lifted, regal and cold.

“My father may have fallen, but his power lives on in me.”

I groaned inwardly. ‘Way too arrogant… she definitely got that from me.’ But it was her moment; she deserved to enjoy it.

When she released more of her cultivation visibly at the Tenth Realm, everyone inhaled sharply as one with gasps, whispers, and stares.

The story we’d crafted was simple:

Jia Sen, a Holy Temple operative, consumed his own sect while sowing discord within the Empire. He was discovered and slain by the mighty Holy Emperor Da Wei… ahem, the “big boss. But Jia Sen, sly bastard that he’d been, hid his daughter, so she could one day avenge him and continue the Heavenly Temple’s will.

Imbued with his power, cultivation, and an Immortal Art, ‘Jia Yun’ then began her thrilling escape from the Empire. It was a perfect blend of truth and lies. Irrefutable enough. Outrageous enough.

I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

“Hah~! This is just great.”

Now it was our turn to sow discord, you adorable, gullible Temple dogs.

Lord Indigo Lake’s spiritual pressure, once boiling, suddenly stilled, like a pot snatched off the flame. He exhaled deliberately and asked plainly. “…How can I trust you?”

Da Ji inhaled sharply, placed a trembling hand on her chest, and—oh gods!—her eyes glistened.

Here it comes.

“My life…” she began softly, voice cracking. “Was not blessed with ease.”

Lord Indigo Lake straightened as if expecting a scripture recital. Everyone else leaned in.

Da Ji, meanwhile, launched into the most shameless tear-jerking performance I had ever witnessed.

“I was once a naive woman who knew little of the world,” she said, lowering her gaze. “And my first meeting with the enigmatic Holy Emperor… was in Yellow Dragon City.”

Okay. Technically correct, except she wasn’t Jia Yun, and her first meeting with me wasn’t romantic. I had simply found an eccentric fox girl who had a great hunger to prove herself. But today?

Da Ji spun a masterpiece of delusion.

“He was only a wandering cultivator then… but he carried such sorrow. Such loneliness. I thought… perhaps I could fix him.”

A few female disciples gasped in sympathy.

I felt my soul leave my body.

No. No, no, no… She was raising flags that never existed!

“And yet…” she continued, clutching her sleeve, “I soon witnessed the brutality of the man the world now calls the Sunderer.”

Even Lord Indigo Lake flinched at that epithet.

“He shattered my heart,” she whispered. “For I believed there was goodness in him. But all I saw… was a man steeped in blood.”

Around us, murmurs spread like wildfire.

Chen Wei gave me a sideways look. “Uncle… are you really like that?”

I pinched his cheek. “Call me junior brother! And no, I wasn’t like that!”

Da Ji wasn’t done.

“I wanted to save him,” she said mournfully. “But in the end, I realized… I, too, was powerless. Just another woman in the long list he abandoned.”

I nearly screamed into the sky.

Now I felt bad for Jia Yun. That poor woman defected to us, helped us, and almost died for us… And now Da Ji was rewriting her entire life into a tragic love drama starring, apparently, me as some serial heartbreaker.

But worse?

This slander might actually affect the power of faith!!

What if the believers thought I was some home-wrecking monster now?!

What if it caused fluctuations?

What if…?

“That doesn’t prove anything,” Lord Indigo Lake cut in sharply. His face was flushed from indignation, confusion, and probably fear. “Your name is Da Ji! I was already informed of the experts attending this exchange. I know exactly who you are! You cannot fool me, woman!”

I bit back a laugh.

He was absolutely lying about being fooled.

The Immortal Art alone had shattered his confidence. If Da Ji said she was the reincarnation of a primordial storm dragon, he’d consider it, especially with the show of ‘quintessence’ she just did.

Still, this was perfect for us.

We had prepared everything for this narrative.

I had rifled through Jia Sen’s memories personally on top of Jia Yun’s testimony. Human and Asura built the cover story. Of course, we also had Gu Jie’s confidence behind this scheme, further multiplied by Nongmin’s tricks! We made sure that the name “Da Ji,” belonging to the immortal ancestor worshipped by Jia Sen’s clan and Cloud Mist Sect, was front and center for a reason.

We wanted a crack in the Heavenly Temple’s domain, starting with Jia Sen’s clan he left behind in the Heavenly Temple.

A little deception and theatrical storytelling?

It was completely justified.

Behind me, one of the Beast Court disciples, a young two-tailed fox, was wagging both tails wildly. His eyes sparkled with religious awe. The boy was totally smitten.

Yes, yes… fall deeper into the myth of “Da Ji.”

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!

Da Ji wiped a false tear too real for them to not see through.

“My real name… vanished with my Sect,” she said sadly. “After Father’s death, the Empire hunted us. To survive, I adopted the alias ‘Da Ji.’”

More sniffles from the crowd.

“Only the Beast Court offered shelter. Only by their grace have I been able to come here… to finally speak openly.”

Ren Jingyi whispered to me, “Master, senior sister is so good at acting.”

“No kidding,” I muttered. “She’s terrifying.”

Da Ji lifted her chin, tears shimmering.

“I came not to deceive… but to reclaim my father’s legacy. I stand here as Jia Yun, last daughter of the Cloud Mist Sect.”

Her voice carried across the entire plateau, echoing through the illusions and the mirage-gate behind Lord Indigo Lake.

The old man’s expression twisted.

Da Ji produced a plaque from her sleeve, its lacquered surface catching the pale celestial light. The engraved characters 云雾, Cloud Mist, gleamed faintly alongside the personal jade tag of Jia Sen. A subtle chill spread through the air, not from any technique, but from the weight of lineage she was boldly fabricating with every breath.

She stepped forward, voice trembling just enough to touch the hearts of the crowd. “After my father fell… after the Holy Emperor destroyed our Cloud Mist Sect with no chance of revival… I wandered the Empire with nothing but this plaque and the fear of being discovered. I lived like a shadow, forced to adopt aliases, hide in gutters, disguise myself as a common servant, and swallow humiliation just to avoid being identified by the dragons of the Riverfall or the Emperor’s avatars.”

A few disciples gasped. Her tone was tragic enough to be believable.

“I wore rags,” she continued, hand over her chest. “Ate scraps. Bowed to merchants and bandits alike so they would not question who I truly was. Every day was a trial. And during that struggle, I found this child,” she motioned to Ren Jingyi, “alone and wandering. Out of pity, I took her in. I molded her into a disciple. If her behavior offended Elder Iron Lake today… then the fault lies with me.”

Lord Iron Lake coughed loudly. It was a manufactured displeasure, but still intimidating coming from a Tenth Realm cultivator. “Ahem! A master must teach their disciple well! A child reflects their teacher!”

“Oh no…” Ren Jingyi muttered behind me.

I watched Da Ji and the old man trade glances. It was sharp, measured, full of hidden meaning. Qi Speech, no doubt. They were spinning a web together now, each for different reasons.

Honestly? It was going too well.

Ren Jingyi hesitated, clearly wrestling with disappointment, but she bowed anyway. “I apologize, Elder…” Her voice was small but sincere.

Her earlier rebellion wasn’t scripted, but ironically, it only strengthened our cover. Da Ji shielded us from the scrutiny of the higher-ups, and now Ren Jingyi was becoming a target that the lower rungs would watch instead of us. A convenient distraction.

Still… how was I supposed to teach her restraint when honesty was her very nature?

Before I could think further, Lord Iron Lake cleared his throat again. This time with authority, not irritation. The archway behind him pulsed faintly, its mirage-like surface shimmering like a reflected dream.

“Now then,” he announced, spiritual pressure echoing through the plateau, “let us return to the purpose of this gathering.”

Everyone straightened instinctively.

“To enter Celestial Step City,” he said, gesturing toward the archway, “each of you must undergo a test. Step through this gate. If your fate aligns with the Heavenly Temple, you will pass freely. But should your destiny be incompatible with Heaven’s Will…”

A thin smile curved his lips.

“…you will be rejected, and cast back.”

So, that was it?

I wondered how hard it could be?