If he hadnât personally ventured into the Great Secret Realm of the Insect Race, merely investigating the image message stone wouldnât have allowed him to guess where this place was. He would simply think itâs an insect gathering spot.
Because the view in this image message stone is not high enough, naturally it canât provide a glimpse of the overall appearance of the Great Secret Realm of the Insect Race.
Unlike his own image message stone, when the sect master got it, they immediately realized it was the source of the insect disaster.
A storage sack, a piece of image message stone that only lasted for over ten seconds, and nothing else to investigate further, leaving Lu Ye in bewilderment.
He didnât know who the owner of the image message stone was, nor did he understand why the other party would send him this item.
Logically speaking, making such a discovery should be reported and would undoubtedly be credited as a great achievement. The sect master might even want to claim this achievement personally to prevent Lu Ye from taking the spotlight, which he understood. However, he was perplexed about the owner of the image message stone, wondering why they would give him the credit.
Another point, having just returned from the Great Secret Realm of the Insect Race, he discovered this image message stoneâis it a coincidence in timing? If he hadnât ventured into the ground fissure to investigate, would this image message stone have still been delivered to him? Did the other party know he had already gone to the Great Secret Realm of the Insect Race?
There are many things of which he doesnât know the answers.
But Lu Ye vaguely felt that this should just be a coincidence because he only reported the events of the Great Secret Realm of the Insect Race to the sect master yesterday. Regardless of how fast the sect master moved, the information dissemination should be limited to the high-level members of the Haotian Alliance in Bingzhou.
Therefore, the owner of the image message stone surely didnât know he had already been to the Great Secret Realm of the Insect Race, and the scenes within the stone held no appeal for him.
Considering this, Lu Ye felt a faint sense of realization.
No matter what the other party was planning, it was evidently meant to attract him and achieve some hidden motives behind the scenes.
Under normal circumstances, such a thing would indeed be very attractive to him, but after personally visiting the Great Secret Realm of the Insect Race, this item was rendered useless to him.
However, regardless of the covert intentions, this is undoubtedly just the beginning.
Casually collecting this piece of image message stone, Lu Ye sat cross-legged alongside, carefully focusing his mind, and entered into a cultivation state.
His guess was right. That one piece of image message stone with only over ten seconds of scene was indeed just the beginning. In the following months, almost every half month, a storage sack was secretly delivered.
Each time, it was a piece of image message stone with only over ten seconds of scene.
Over four months, a total of eight image message stones, piecing together the scenes within these eight stones, presented a complete view, allowing a glimpse of more aspects of the Great Secret Realm of the Insect Race.
The timing chosen by the other party was very clever, each time during Lu Yeâs period supporting the fissure, leaving no trace.
Lu Ye then realized he was being monitored; perhaps someone was hiding and watching him, or possibly there was someone elseâs spy within the pass, otherwise there was no reason for each timing to be so precisely captured.
He didnât mind, over months of time, regarding the source of these image message stones, he already had a speculation.
The other party perhaps thought they could pique his interest this way, but in the end, it was just an exercise in futility. Furthermore, it could be inferred that the reach of the person behind this wasnât high enough.
If it were high enough, they would surely know "the sect master of the Righteous Blood Sect had already entered the Great Secret Realm of the Insect Race, having probed the Great Secret Realm of the Insect Race," and wouldnât waste efforts with him.
Currently, this intelligence is limited to the highest-level cultivators within the Nine Provincial States and has not spread out because the timing isnât ripe.
He continued to do what he was supposed to do, diligently cultivating daily, refining Explosive Fire Spirit Stones and array discs.
At the Dark Moon Forest Pass, Li Taibai received an urgent summon from Lin Yue and hurriedly returned.
Ever since the cooperation between the two passes began, there would always be a Divine Sea Realm stationed at the fissure. However, it was not mandatory, if thereâs any danger over there, the soldiers could completely send messages back. With the Teleportation Array in place, whether itâs Lin Yue or Lu Ye, or his doppelganger Li Taibai, they could all rush over immediately to save the scene.
So even without leaving a Divine Sea Realm there, it wasnât a big problem.
In the grand hall, Lin Yue handed a jade slip to Li Taibai: "Take a look at this."
The doppelganger accepted it, immersing his Mental Consciousness within to investigate, and raised an eyebrow: "Yu Huajin... who is this?" Though unsure of who this person was, the intelligence revealed within the jade slip was extraordinary, confirming that this person was a formidable figure from the Haotian Alliance side, at least having some notoriety.
"A veteran elder of the Tianyuan Sect and also the Recruitment Department Chief at the Haotian Allianceâs Sky Gate Checkpoint, possessing cultivation of Divine Sea Level 9!" Lin Yue explained, "You donât recognize Yu Huajin, but you remember Liew Yuemei and Tan Shu, donât you?"
The doppelganger nodded, "Of course I remember." These two unlucky ghosts both died by his hand, how could he forget.
"Yu Huajin is Tan Shuâs grandmother, she is Liew Yuemeiâs mother-in-law."
The doppelganger understood, "If thatâs the case, why doesnât she stay with the Haotian Alliance and instead choose to defect to our Ten Thousand Demons Ridge?"
The information revealed in the jade slip mentioned only one thing: Yu Huajin intended to defect to Ten Thousand Demons Ridge.
Lu Ye initially didnât understand the deeper implications. Historically, the two major camps have opposed each other and there have been precedents for voluntary or passive defections, but it shouldnât happen in these times of insect plague ravaging the land.
When Lin Yue mentioned Liew Yuemei and Tan Shu, Lu Ye vaguely responded.
"If she is defecting, there should be a pledge of allegiance and sincerity, right? What are her pledge and sincerity?" asked the doppelganger.
Lin Yue slowly uttered three words, "Lu Yiye!"
"Sheâs planning to kill Lu Yiye?"
Lin Yue nodded, "Exactly! She knows the major sects on our side view Lu Yiye as a thorn in the flesh, but due to the current circumstances, they are reluctant to act personally, fearing arising tumult, so she intends to use Lu Yiyeâs head as a pledge to join Ten Thousand Demons Ridge for protection, after all, historically, traitors have never been spared by either camp."
The doppelganger understood and spoke, "If thatâs the case, she should proceed directly, and by the time she offers Lu Yiyeâs head, wouldnât it demonstrate more sincerity? She is a Divine Sea Level 9 cultivator, our side has no reason not to accept her, right?"
"So, she needs a suitable battleground, which is why Ten Thousand Demons City conveyed the information to us, because weâve been close to Lu Yiye recently, and he personally visited Dark Moon Forest Pass, so he wonât be too cautious with us."
Even for Yu Huajin, itâs impossible to act at Jinglan Lake Pass, nor at the ground fissure; to kill Lu Ye, she must lure him away from his defenses and into Dark Moon Forest Pass, where she would have the geographical advantage, coupled with coordination from Lin Yue and Li Taibai, making it difficult for Lu Ye to escape.
The doppelganger appeared calm externally, but coldly sneered inside, secretly noting down Yu Huajinâs name.
The placement of the doppelganger at Dark Moon Forest Pass initially was a passive strategy move, unexpectedly playing a significant role.
Yu Huajin planned to deal with him, not hesitating to use the power of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge. If not for the doppelganger here, Lu Ye would be completely in the dark, and recklessly arriving at Dark Moon Forest Pass would definitely result in a dire situation, but now that heâs aware, the situation is naturally different.
"Everything mentioned above is Yu Huajinâs request, and the action plan was proposed by her. Although simple, itâs indeed effective. Now, I believe Lu Yiye isnât too guarded against us."
The doppelganger thought, if you hadnât informed me, I might not have been as cautious, but now that youâve told me, all the schemes will ultimately come to nothing.
If it comes to that, he simply wonât go to Dark Moon Forest Pass.
"What instructions came from Ten Thousand Demons City?" Compared to Yu Huajinâs schemes, he was more concerned about the attitude of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge.
Lin Yue smiled slightly, "Warn Lu Yiye!"
The doppelganger was somewhat astonished; he hadnât expected Ten Thousand Demons Ridge to make such a decision. Logically speaking, if Ten Thousand Demons Ridge agreed to Yu Huajinâs request and cooperated with her actions, Lu Ye wouldnât be surprised, since initially many big sects over there indeed regarded him as a thorn in their flesh, eager to get rid of him.
Cooperating with Yu Huajin would not only avenge the past grievances but also gain the allegiance of a Divine Sea Level 9 cultivator, achieving two goals at once, so why not?
"Why is that?" The doppelganger was puzzled.
Lin Yue replied, "Letâs set aside Lu Yiye for a moment and talk about Yu Huajin; this old fellow is definitely not a good person. She really wants to kill Lu Yiye, but clearly concealed some matters. According to our knowledge, the As-Close-As-Siblings array disc, this divine object, comes from Lu Yiye."
Back at the Grand Conference, Pang Zhen imposed a gag order, but over such a long time, some information inevitably spread out. Although these pieces of information may not be completely reliable, the ones with intent will deduce some truths with careful observation.
Not to mention, the Military Supplies Department sends someone to Jinglan Lake Pass every month, which is highly suspicious.
Moreover, Lu Ye initially gave Lin Yue a hundred array discs.
"The As-Close-As-Siblings array disc is extremely mysterious. We have organized artifact refiners on our side to replicate it, but with little success. In contrast, the Haotian Alliance has equipped it on a large scale, indicating it can be mass-produced, which is probably Lu Yiyeâs capability. With the information we know, wouldnât Yu Huajin know it? In the current situation, this array disc greatly enhances cultivatorsâ capabilities. If Lu Yiye dies, who will refine the array discs? Our side is coveting this divine object eagerly. So she definitely concealed this matter, because once revealed, our side wouldnât possibly cooperate with her actions. Now that the two camps are collaborating to overcome difficulties together, the death of one Lu Yiye would greatly influence the situation and could potentially rupture relations between the two camps again, which no one can afford."
The doppelganger nodded slightly, feeling somewhat bewildered. Never imagined that his life and death might one day influence the interaction between the two camps; unsure whether to feel honored or fearful.
"By merely concealing this matter, Yu Huajin deserves condemnation, and moreover, her intent to kill Lu Yiye is personal revenge, because she suspects that Liew Yuemei died by Lu Yiyeâs hand! However, this matter lacks solid evidence; in contrast, you killing Tan Shu was witnessed by many. An old fellow like her, fabricating baseless speculations, harbors murderous intent towards Lu Yiye; doesnât she have any thoughts about you? She not only wants to kill Lu Yiye but probably also wants you dead, after all, Liew Yuemei was just a daughter-in-law, but Tan Shu was her direct grandson, clearly a greater grudge ensues without further explanation."