Chapter Eighty-Eight: Division

"Slowly, slowly... Hero Bai, I truly do have something to say. Only, what I wish to say is this: you once said that if I had the ability to destroy the Elixir of Completion, then I was to do as I pleased, did you not?"

"...Yes, that is what I said. So what? Because I simply did not believe a brat like you had the ability to destroy it." Bai Hansong glanced at the people gathered around them and, after a moment of hesitation, still spoke. But the instant he finished, he felt a foreboding chill. This boy had always been strange; even the sealed silver box had somehow unraveled itself after being swallowed by him. It was not impossible that the Elixir of Completion had truly been destroyed by this very boy.

Bai Hansong did not know the full details, but the look in Che Wuyou's eyes only deepened that uneasy feeling. Could it be that the boy had asked on purpose, simply to trap him?

"Hero Bai is indeed a man of his word. Since that is so, then I shall speak plainly." Che Wuyou looked at Bai Hansong with a remarkably honest expression. "Before I destroyed the Elixir of Completion, you also said that if I wished to destroy it, I should feel free to do so, and that your Sky Mountain Sword Sect would not stop me in the slightest.

"And you also said that even if I handed over the Elixir of Completion, I would still not escape death. In truth, you said this to hint to me that I should not surrender it, but instead find a way to destroy it, did you not?"

Seeing that the newly arrived group also seemed to be here for the Elixir of Completion, and that the men of the Sky Mountain Sword Sect were clearly wary of them, Che Wuyou poured oil on the fire. Burn, then. Burn yourselves to death.

"Nonsense! Utter nonsense! When did I ever say that handing over the Elixir of Completion would still mean death? When did I ever hint that you should not hand it over and should destroy it instead?" Bai Hansong broke into a cold sweat under Li Muqiu's icy stare. This little beggar really was no good thing. He had already known the boy was sly, but he had not imagined him to be this sly.

Bai Hansong could not help but regret stepping forward as the vanguard. Had he not just taken upon himself the anger meant for Xie Changfeng?

"Hero Bai, you must speak the truth. Everyone present heard your words... Very well, since you say those words were not yours, then whose were they?" Che Wuyou glanced around at the crowd, meaning: I have plenty of witnesses, so do not think of wriggling out of it.

"...Uh, that line was clearly, clearly spoken by Elder Xie Changfeng. How can you say it was me? I have never said such words, nor have I ever thought such a thing." Bai Hansong hesitated before saying this. Though his words were directed at Che Wuyou, his eyes were on Li Muqiu, clearly offering an explanation to him.

"Oh? So your meaning is that Elder Xie hinted for me not to hand over the Elixir of Completion, and also hinted for me to destroy it?" Che Wuyou said, feigning surprise. "No wonder your Sky Mountain Sword Sect has repeatedly provoked me, angered me, humiliated me, and cursed me. So your real purpose was to destroy the Elixir of Completion, was it not? No wonder a little child at the Qi Refining stage like me was able to snatch the Elixir of Completion from the hands of all you great masters and even swallow it down. So it was all a carefully laid scheme from the beginning."

"I, I did not... It was all Elder Xie..." Bai Hansong was terrified, his scalp tingling as he felt Li Muqiu's face darken all at once.

"Ai, only pity that I was young and ignorant, and risked my life to destroy the Elixir of Completion, only to fall into your trap in the end... I am truly foolish, truly foolish. Why did I not think of it sooner?" Che Wuyou could not help but scold himself.

"Is what this child says true? So this is why the silver seal box suddenly broke open. It turns out all along it was a scheme by your Sky Mountain Sword Sect... Xie Changfeng, what do you have to say now?" Looking at Che Wuyou's honest and guileless face, Li Muqiu could not help believing it by several parts. Then, seeing that everyone from the Sky Mountain Sword Sect had gone speechless, he could not help believing it by several more...

Xie Changfeng was both shocked and furious. He had been trying to protect Bai Hansong's dignity all along, never expecting Bai Hansong to bite him first and blame everything on him. He had originally thought the few from the Sky Mountain Sword Sect would be of one mind, united in weathering the fury of the Azure Pool Sword Sect. After all, the Elixir of Completion had vanished before their very eyes; it was only natural that the Azure Pool Sword Sect would be angry.

But Bai Hansong had actually turned and struck at him first, saying that everything was his doing. What a despicable wretch, what utter nonsense... Very well, since you are ungrateful, do not blame me for being merciless.

"Leader Li, since matters have reached this point, I have nothing left to hide. Yes, Bai Hansong did in fact hint to this child that he should destroy the Elixir of Completion." Xie Changfeng looked at Bai Hansong and said, "Bai Hansong, this was originally an internal disgrace of the Sky Mountain Sword Sect. As the saying goes, family shame should not be aired before outsiders. But since Leader Li asks, I shall speak plainly."

"Elder Xie, you must not speak recklessly. When did I ever hint to this child? It was clearly you who said that carrying the Elixir of Completion away was a capital offense, and that whether he handed it over or not, he would die all the same. If you said such things, would he ever obediently hand over the Elixir of Completion? If it were me, I would rather destroy it than give it up... If that is not a hint, what is? How can you turn around and say I was the one hinting?" Bai Hansong had also thrown caution to the winds. Since that old bastard Xie Changfeng had already said the one hinting to destroy the elixir was him, there was no need to be polite.

"Bai Hansong, you dare slander me so wildly? Then let me ask you this: the Elixir of Completion was safely in your possession all along, so how did it end up in this child's hands? You are a great master of the Dao Ruins stage; surely you were not robbed by a little child at the Qi Refining stage?"

"...Uh, that was because I saw this young brother was honest and kind-hearted, so I wanted him to help escort the Elixir of Completion. That way no one would suspect it, and it would actually be safer. What is so strange about that?" Bai Hansong said awkwardly.

"Hahaha, Bai Hansong, are you still trying to quibble at a time like this? This upright and benevolent young brother already said it: you threw the Elixir of Completion to him because you were trying to flee. He even said you were trying to use his life and the Elixir of Completion to draw away the demon lord Zhang Weida from the Demonic Sect. Tell me, why would he say such a thing?"

"This... this... perhaps he misunderstood me somewhat."

"Enough with the 'this' and 'that.' I will ask you again: when your grand-uncle the sect leader handed you the silver seal box, was it damaged in any way?"

"No, it was not damaged."

"Good. Since it was undamaged, why did the silver seal box break after making a circuit through your hands, then suddenly become damaged the moment this young brother swallowed it? Do not tell me you do not know why, and do not say that this young brother broke it open himself."

"This... this... why would that be? Could it be that there was some hidden expert in Ji Prefecture helping him secretly unravel the silver seal box?" Bai Hansong was at a loss for words. How could he possibly know why? Without cultivation above the Golden Core stage, one could not move the silver seal box in the slightest.

"Absurd. Ji Prefecture only has a handful of Golden Core experts, and the strongest among them is merely at the middle Golden Core stage. How could they possibly break the silver seal box? Besides, even if such experts existed, how could they not know the preciousness of the pills contained within? How could they possibly allow the Elixir of Completion to remain with this young brother?"

"This..."

"Furthermore, after the silver seal box was broken, everyone clearly sensed the aura of the Elixir of Completion. So why has it now suddenly disappeared? Do not tell me that with this child's cultivation, he could really swallow the Elixir of Completion."

"...Th-then could it be that a senior from the Immortal Inquiry stage has arrived? Otherwise how could he possibly have swallowed the Elixir of Completion? It must be so. There must be an Immortal Inquiry senior nearby." The more Bai Hansong thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Yes, after the little beggar swallowed the Elixir of Completion, there was no further sign of it. It must be that a great expert of the Immortal Inquiry stage had secretly intervened. Otherwise he could not think of any other possibility.

"Keep pretending. Keep pretending. If you do not know why, then let me tell you the truth." Xie Changfeng looked at Bai Hansong with a cold smile.

"What? Pretending? What exactly are you trying to say?"

"The answer is actually very simple: you tampered with the silver seal box. That is why, after the child swallowed it, the seal automatically broke."

"Aha, so that is why. No wonder when this child swallowed the silver seal box, your White Brother from the Sky Mountain Sword Sect said the Sky Mountain Sword Sect would never obstruct him in the slightest, and even allowed the child to swallow it. So he had tampered with the silver seal box. He said that only because he feared the crowd would stop the child from swallowing it." Someone in the watching crowd exclaimed in sudden realization.

"But even if the seal broke, why could a child at the Qi Refining stage take the Elixir of Completion? One must know that even a great expert at the Spirit Transformation stage faces immense risk in taking it. After all, once something happens inside the body, it is no trivial matter. Could it truly be as White Brother said, that a senior of the Immortal Inquiry stage was really nearby?" Another person could not help but ask.

"Hmph, with our cultivation, even if a senior of the Immortal Inquiry stage had arrived, how could we possibly fail to notice? This is plainly nothing but Bai Hansong's baseless talk to divert everyone's attention, and you believe it?" Xie Changfeng said with a cold laugh. "Has anyone here heard this verse before?"

"What?" Everyone could not help asking. What verse was so important that he would recite it before all of them? Even Li Muqiu looked on with some curiosity.

"From the northern desert, like the wind; from the eastern capital, the Cold Sovereign; in the central lands, Flying Swan; at Sky Mountain, the Phantom Shadow." Xie Changfeng's eyes flashed with brilliance as he could not help declaiming the lines with rising and falling cadence.

"So it is those four lines. They have circulated throughout the Southern Continent for more than a hundred years. They refer to the four supreme experts of our Southern Continent. I hear that each of them is at the Immortal Inquiry stage, with cultivation so profound it is beyond measure. They are practically invincible across the Southern Continent, and it is said that they are also among the foremost figures on the Sacred Land's Wind and Cloud Ranking." Someone who knew the matter immediately sighed in admiration.