Chapter 89 Just a Pawn 08
Ren Yi was unaware of Hao Ming's complex thoughts. His reason for leaving the demon seal was simple: he wanted to find a scapegoat. Although Xuan Wei seemed completely unsuspecting at the moment, Ren Yi dared not let his guard down. This was the Emperor of the Ninth Heaven. If the other party were to suddenly realize something was amiss, Ren Yi could at least shift the blame to Hao Ming. This way, he could at least buy some time before Xuan Wei could eliminate him.
Over the past few days, Ren Yi has also vaguely sensed that, given Xuan Wei's current state of giving and taking from "Yuan Que," if he were to suggest visiting Xuan Wei's mustard seed space, or to be more direct and ask for the Immortal Soul, Xuan Wei would most likely not refuse.
But the question is, where did he learn about these two things?
Regardless of whether Yuan Que himself knew or not, the "amnesiac" Yuan Que certainly did not know.
Although Xuanwei had previously acted as if he had lost his mind in his interactions with the puppet, there was no way he wouldn't have noticed such an obvious problem. Regardless of its reliability, Ren Yi needed to find a source of information for himself.
Coincidentally, His Highness the Demon Emperor, always ready to take the blame, recently started stirring things up again, "A-Que, don't you find it strange? He's kept you locked in the Ninth Realm, just the two of you. Your cultivation level isn't high enough to break through the barrier of the Ninth Realm. Does he intend to keep you here forever?"
Ren Yi didn't care much about whether he could leave or not. After all, his goal was the immortal soul in Xuan Wei's body. Once he got it, he wouldn't even stay in this world, let alone at the ninth level. He could also guess why Xuan Wei left him here. After all, the protagonist almost couldn't be saved (and still can't be saved now). It was understandable that Xuan Wei would be more protective after waking up.
Ren Yi initially thought these were matters for Zhen Yuanque to resolve upon his return, and had nothing to do with him. However, after Haoming's reminder, Ren Yi felt he still needed to go out. Otherwise, given Xuanwei's understanding of the Ninth Mirror, the other party would know everything he had done here, and even if he tried to come up with some excuse about knowing about the Immortal Soul, Xuanwei wouldn't believe him.
With that in mind, Ren Yi subtly made his request to Xuan Wei.
"This disciple has been in the ninth realm for some time now. I wonder what the outside world is like?"
But Ren Yi never expected that Xuan Wei would react so strongly to such a subtle probing question, even without directly mentioning it. For the first time in the past few days, the Emperor, who had almost always agreed to whatever Ren Yi said, did not give a direct answer. Not only that, he even lost the smile on his face.
Xuanwei rarely smiled to begin with. After Ren Yi possessed this puppet, it took him quite a while to get used to Xuanwei's "gentle" expression. But when he suppressed his smile and reverted to the cold demeanor that Ren Yi remembered, it inexplicably gave him a jolt.
In Ren Yi's sea of consciousness, the system that had been exploring the mimicry function these past few days suddenly bristled with fur. The next instant, it "banged" back to its initial data stream form, and the entire system wrapped around the outer layer of the host's soul, clearly indicating that it had determined the situation to be an emergency mode to protect the host.
Ren Yi also felt that the situation was not good.
However, before he could take any emergency remedial measures, Xuanwei had already regained her gentle demeanor and asked softly, "Does Aque want to go outside?"
This is a really difficult question to answer.
Yuan Que is a very sociable person, and logically speaking, he should be bored to death after staying in the Ninth Realm for so long, so it's not surprising that Ren Yi suggested leaving now. Even though Xuan Wei clearly showed his disapproval, if Yuan Que, as the young prince of the Ninth Heaven, were someone who could read people's expressions, there wouldn't be so much entanglement between the main characters. Given Yuan Que's personality, he should have continued to insist relentlessly.
Just as Ren Yi was thinking of this, Xuan Wei continued, "Why? Is there something wrong with this place? Is A-Que feeling stuffy?"
His tone remained gentle and mild, but it inexplicably carried a chilling undertone.
Ren Yi dared not continue to look Xuan Wei in the eye, worried that if their gazes met, he might do something to upset her.
He tried his best to recall Yuan Que's personality and forced himself to give an affirmative answer, "Yes."
Xuanwei suddenly fell silent.
The surrounding space seemed to have undergone some kind of change, bringing a heavy sense of compression. The atmosphere suddenly became stagnant, and the reminder of the crisis made my skin ache like it was being pricked by needles.
Ren Yi was certain that Yuan Que would continue to argue and cause trouble, but this made him even more aware that if things continued this way, who knew what unpredictable things might happen? He quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind and continued, "Master, could you bring some jade slips with you?"
After Ren Yi finished speaking, the chilling and dangerous aura that had been emanating from him finally subsided slightly.
Xuanwei asked softly, "Just the jade slip?"
Ren Yi nodded repeatedly in affirmation.
A soft laugh came from above, and Xuanwei said in a tone that could be described as doting, "Alright, Master will go and find it for you."
*
Xuanwei left for a moment, and almost as soon as he left, Ren Yi collapsed, half-exhausted.
Although the other party did not use any pressure derived from their cultivation, the pressure they exerted just now was enough to make one's heart race.
In particular, before Xuanwei left, she affectionately stroked his hair and gently said, "A-Que, be a good boy."
The voice was affectionate and the attitude was gentle, making it seem like there was nothing wrong, but Ren Yi was certain that if he dared to take this opportunity to try to leave the Ninth Realm, he would never be able to step out of this room again.
Xuanwei has indeed gone mad.
Ren Yi couldn't help but think this way, but then he realized that if Zhen Yuan were here, he would never have compromised and yielded like he had. Thinking of this, Ren Yi couldn't help but express some humanitarian concern for the future fate of the protagonist, but then he thought again, they are the destined couple, maybe the protagonist has some special skills to soothe his temper, there's really no need for him to worry about it, he should just take care of himself and avoid being left in this world.
Although his request to leave the Ninth Realm was not fulfilled, Xuanwei was truly kind to Yuan Que. When Ren Yi asked for a jade slip, Xuanwei brought the entire outline of the Nine Heavens Scripture. In addition to the jade slip, there were also some books that could not be inscribed into the jade slip. The latter were all handwritten by powerful beings, and each word was imbued with Dao essence, so they could not be easily copied.
Ren Yi held this pile of things that would make even immortals in the Ninth Heaven envious, and pretended to select them. He quickly shifted his gaze from the invaluable cultivation techniques to the travelogues and miscellaneous writings. Cultivation was of no use to him; it was just a legitimate reason to "learn" about the Immortal Soul. The miscellaneous writings were much more useful than the cultivation techniques.
Xuanwei showed no sign of being disturbed by the waste of the treasure. He answered all of Ren Yi's questions and even simultaneously showed the scenes of the Ninth Realm while Ren Yi was reading the travelogue. It was like a unique, immersive travel experience. Ren Yi also tried to ease the tension between them.
Over the past few days, Ren Yi has clearly felt that the gloom brought about by proposing to "leave the Ninth Realm" has gradually passed, and Xuan Wei's mood has also returned to above normal. Ren Yi has also finally found similar records in the vast collection of ancient books.
Because Ren Yi was clearly using the jade slip to pass the time, he didn't directly read the information with his divine sense. Instead, he projected the contents onto the outside. At this moment, Ren Yi pointed to a line of text on it and turned to Xuanwei: "Master, it says here that the previous emperor has fallen. With the cultivation level of the previous emperor, he should have already transcended the cycle of reincarnation and fate. So how did he fall?"
Ren Yi didn't intend to directly find the record of the Immortal Soul. It was something left behind by the previous emperor, not exactly a secret, but not many people knew about it, and whether it was even recorded was uncertain. Rather than wasting time and effort searching for something whose existence was unknown, it would be better to start a conversation elsewhere, such as by mentioning the previous emperor's fall. This would naturally lead to the question of what the other party had left behind, and Xuan Wei would likely have no reason to hide anything. Then, it would be a natural progression to suggest looking at the Immortal Soul.
Ren Yi's plan was perfect, but Xuan Wei was completely uncooperative. His expression remained unchanged, but he avoided the question, saying, "At your current level, knowing too much is not a good thing."
Ren Yi: ? ? ?
What's so impossible about knowing this?! The matter of the minor Heavenly Patching Dao is known perfectly well, not just in the Nine Heavens, but throughout the entire Lingyuan Realm. This is precisely why the Nine Heavens hold such a transcendent position within the Lingyuan Realm. How can something so common knowledge be considered "too advanced to know"?!
Ren Yi had a lot of questions on his mind, but due to his current state of "amnesia," he could only force himself to hold them back.
He tried to ask again several times afterward, but Xuanwei subtly avoided the question each time. Ren Yi had no idea that this taciturn emperor would also use such tricks.
Logically speaking, according to Ren Yi's thinking, the fall of the previous emperor was not a secret. Even if he didn't get anything out of Xuan Wei, he would still be able to find some records by looking through the jade slips.
But strangely enough: there was none, not even a little bit.
After that inquiry, Ren Yi never saw another word or phrase about the previous emperor on the jade slip.
This shouldn't be the case.
The Nine Heavens' transcendent status in the Lingyuan Realm was largely due to the actions of the former emperor. The immortals of the Nine Heavens would have loved to proclaim this to the entire Six Realms. Ren Yi, then a novice, could still vaguely recall the embarrassing moment when he heard about this while disguised as Xun Que. Given the usual practices of those immortals, they probably wished every jade slip were filled with the merits of the previous emperor; there was no reason for Ren Yi to be unable to find it now.
A possible guess came to mind, and Ren Yi couldn't help but turn back to find the jade slip he had looked at earlier. He quickly scanned it with his divine sense and soon located the place where the previous emperor had fallen, as mentioned earlier.
Then he saw that the original content in that place had been erased and replaced with subsequent text. If Ren Yi hadn't read it once before, he probably wouldn't have noticed anything unusual at this point.
It is possible to do this...
Ren Yi suddenly looked up at Xuan Wei beside him.
The latter witnessed Ren Yi's actions, yet maintained his gentle expression, asking with a chilling concern, "What's wrong, A-Que?"
Ren Yi: "..."
--grass!
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