Chapter 481: Why Are There So Many People in the Treasure Box?

"Grandpa Ba, this old book of yours..."

Lu Yang had a peculiar look on his face; he had overheard their entire conversation just now, and the old book recorded matters concerning the Heavenly King of a Hundred Herbs.

Wasn't that Heavenly King of a Hundred Herbs you, old senior?

Are you seriously here writing your own autobiography?

Grandpa Ba didn't feel the least bit embarrassed and admitted it openly: "I was just thinking that the battle of Hanshui City really showed off the might of our Heavenly Court Sect. I thought I'd seize this opportunity to package and promote myself a bit."

He had thought that the Bean Sovereign who appeared in Hanshui City was something created by the Eldest Senior Sister.

"My plan was to accidentally leak some information to the outside world, just so they would know how mysterious and powerful our Heavenly Court Sect is."

"Look at this book, old enough, right? I specially borrowed a time-related treasure from Old Fifth, using its power to age this book artificially."

As one of the notoriously infamous Nine Disciples of the Wendao Sect, Grandpa Ba acted with meticulous caution, pulling off a deception completely.

"Fifth Elder knows time spells?" Lu Yang was astonished; among the people he knew, only himself, the Immortal Fairy, and the Age Immortal could cast time spells.

Time spells were exceedingly difficult to cultivate; if one lacked the comprehension, they could never learn them.

"No, Old Fifth doesn't have that kind of capability. He refined it by mere happenstance—it's a cloth blanket that can alter the time of whatever is wrapped inside. He treasures that thing immensely. If the First Brother and I hadn't stepped forward together, he wouldn't even have lent it!" Grandpa Ba muttered, thoroughly displeased with the Fifth Elder's stinginess.

He didn't bother to reflect that when he guarded the herb garden, he was even stingier than the Fifth Elder; anyone plucking a stalk or two of herbs felt like it was costing him his life.

"The Grand Elder was involved too?"

How should he put it? Upon hearing this news, Lu Yang didn't feel the slightest bit of surprise.

In fact, it felt completely natural.

"Let's go, round up everyone we don't recognize."

Eldest Senior Sister didn't pay any mind to Grandpa Ba's antics; his behavior would neither cause danger nor bring disrepute to the Wendao Sect, so it met the conditions for holding the event.

Furthermore, there were more important matters to attend to right now.

She decided to strike while the iron was hot, capturing everyone into the treasure box to figure out exactly what these strange cultivators were planning.

"Let's go!" With Eldest Senior Sister present, Lu Yang found his courage; as the proxy of the acting sect master, what big deal was it to capture a few Combination Stage cultivators?

The two senior and junior disciples, holding the treasure box, strode arrogantly through the Wendao Sect, locking up every unfamiliar cultivator they encountered inside the box.

Even those of the Tribulation Transmutation Stage were no exception.

The Light-Detaining Treasure Box was a supreme treasure passed down through the Laurel Fairy Palace for a hundred thousand years; augmented by generations of palace masters and supreme elders, it was incredibly powerful, capable of trapping even those in the Tribulation Transmutation Stage.

It was just that a Tribulation Transmutation Stage cultivator could easily escape from within the box.

Enveloped by the beam of light, the Black-White Venerable thought his identity had been exposed; with a fierce gaze, he resisted desperately, but before the Light-Detaining Treasure Box, he could only enter submissively.

The moment he entered, he saw cultivators of the Great Xia beating his subordinates; though the blows weren't heavy, the humiliation was extreme, and his subordinates' desperate resistance was met only with heavier fists.

Seventeen or eighteen Combination Stage cultivators from the Great Yu lay beaten on the ground, their survival uncertain.

"Damn it, we really have been exposed!"

This could not possibly be the Wendao Sect's way of treating guests.

Basically every notable powerhouse of the Great Xia was gathered here; their information must have leaked somehow, allowing the Wendao Sect to grasp their weakness, and the Wendao Sect had simply used the scheme to arrange personnel inside the box to catch them all in one net!

"What a brilliant strategy," the Black-White Venerable said in a chilling voice; the State Preceptor was right, the Wendao Sect was indeed an obstacle to the restoration of the Great Yu.

But so what? Could he, a majestic late-stage Tribulation Transmutation expert, actually be trapped in this broken box?

With a flip of his hands, a black and a white orb appeared in his palms, spinning slowly and containing boundless destructive power.

Qiu Jin'an and Yang Ding, who were about to strike, caught sight of the black and white orbs and hastily retreated.

This person was definitely not in the Combination Stage!

The corners of the Black-White Venerable's mouth curled into a cold sneer; a few Combination Stage cultivators, ignorant of the heights of heaven, dared to surround and trap this venerable self?

Suddenly, a sense of alarm rose in his heart as an old monk walked over slowly, filled with sorrow for mankind, as a great Buddhist light flared.

Another old man sat up from the ground; a purple mist stretched three thousand miles from the east like a ribbon, which he reached out to pinch in his hand—the ancestor of the Yuqi Sect, the One-Qi Venerable.

Pieces of wood scattered all over the ground floated into the air, assembling into a wooden man—the Supreme Elder of the Yanshi Sect, the Puppet Venerable.

One powerhouse after another crawled up from the ground, their bodies radiating a presence that far surpassed the Combination Stage.

For the one hundred and twenty thousand year celebration of the Wendao Sect, senior grand predecessors of the Tribulation Transmutation Stage had naturally been invited to observe.

They had all come to mock Master Jie Sha; failing to find Master Jie Sha, they had gone to look for Luo Hongxia, only to be locked into the box one by one and thoroughly thrashed by Master Jie Sha.

There were only so many Tribulation Transmutation Stage cultivators, so the sudden appearance of one of unknown origin naturally demanded a proper interrogation.

"Attack together!" Lu Baqian called out, and several Tribulation Transmutation Stage experts struck simultaneously.

A look of despair washed over the Black-White Venerable's face.

The Wendao Sect was indeed fully prepared!

He had fallen right into their trap!

"That's about all of them caught." Yun Zhi and Lu Yang walked a few rounds, and those left outside now were all familiar faces.

"Let's go inside to interrogate them."

Yun Zhi was quite confident; having captured so many people, even if one or two didn't speak the truth, could it be that none of them would?

A beam of light enveloped the two of them, and they entered the treasure box.

"Fellow Daoists, someone else has come in, charge!" Seeing someone enter, Lu Baqian shouted loudly, calling on everyone to attack together.

He rushed at the very front, failing to notice that the people behind him seemed to have recalled an unpleasant memory; showing expressions of slight terror, they all halted their steps and did not charge forward.

"Yun... Yun Zhi?" Lu Baqian also realized, slamming on his brakes abruptly.

"Why are there so many people?" Yun Zhi was also surprised; she had thought the box would only contain unfamiliar cultivators.

Lu Yang's gaze shifted erratically as he surveyed the surroundings.

The unfamiliar cultivators had all been tied up, and even the three captured Tribulation Transmutation Stage experts were no exception.

One of the Tribulation Transmutation Stage experts was currently confessing the sequence of events with absolute honesty.

"I'll confess, I'll confess everything."

"We are cultivators of the Great Yu, acting on the orders of the State Preceptor to infiltrate the Wendao Sect during the celebration, assassinate Lu Yang, and then annihilate the entire Wendao Sect."

"All of our companions are here, caught by you."

Lu Yang's expression grew peculiar, unsure of what face he should make.

So these strange cultivators were all from the Great Yu—this part had been somewhat expected, but why on earth did they want to kill him out of nowhere?

Has my identity as the Young Sect Leader of the Heavenly Court Sect been exposed?

"Why are you fellow Daoists here?" Yun Zhi asked, perplexed.

Lu Baqian stepped forward to explain, wearing a look that suggested they had long anticipated this very scene: "This is a long story. We received word that Great Yu cultivators would infiltrate the Wendao Sect, so I gathered our fellow Daoists to assemble here and ambush the Great Yu cultivators!"

"Yes, yes, yes, that's exactly how it was."

"We lay in ambush for so long, and finally, we caught them."

Everyone nodded one after another, testifying that Lu Baqian was speaking the truth.

How else could they spin it? To admit they had traveled thousands of miles just to mock the masters of the Four Great Immortal Sects, only to swallow the bait and take a sound thrashing?

They simply could not afford such a loss of face.

Evidently, they still labored under the delusion that it was Luo Hongxia who had permitted the Dayu cultivators entry.

Out of reverence for her elders, Yun Zhi refrained from exposing their falsehoods.

Qiu Jin'an and the others likewise held their tongues; the beating had already been delivered, so they might as well grant them a shred of dignity.

Upon hearing those words, the Dayu cultivators were struck by a wave of bitter regret.

I knew this was an ambush!

The Black and White Venerable, possessing the highest cultivation base, remained fiercely defiant, refusing to believe their situation was entirely hopeless: "What does it matter if you outnumber us? Once the Grand Preceptor strikes, you are all finished!"

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(End of Chapter)