899 - Code Name [Wildcard]
Chapter 899 - Code Name [Wildcard]
Ren Puyang roughly understood after he finished studying it, and said with a rather somber face, "To think that something like that actually happened in the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain. A Black Snake Demon? I've never heard of a being that can devour the life of a domain..."
Nodding, Ye Qingyu unstingily took out the sealed Black Snake Demon. Upon seeing the spinning, fist-sized blood pill which was emanating a faint evil aura, Ren Puyang's countenance changed dramatically and he seemed to have thought of something in association. As he continued to observe it, he said, "This thing... is rather strange, and reminds me of some unpleasant things. Will you allow me to take it for study so as to confirm my thoughts?"
Ye Qingyu nodded, "Certainly."
The sealed blood balls served as a piece of evidence for the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain's party and were reasonably meant to be turned in to the Alliance of Domains. After all, Ye Qingyu was representing Ren Puyang and the Alliance of Domains in conducting this operation, and these spoils thus did not belong to him.
With great earnestness, Ren Puyang doubly sealed the sealed blood ball into a jade box and kept it.
However, he did not ask about the other puppet bloodworms.
This was a rare and valuable resource which could be refined into doppelgangers and puppets, akin to the core resource used for the Alliance of Domains’ refinement of black-golden copper battle puppets. It was out of a little selfishness that Ren Puyang decided to let Ye Qingyu keep this resource.
The latter certainly knew this full well.
After reading through the contents recorded in the jade slip, Ren Puyang nodded and said, "Yes, it's not a bad choice to allow the humans of the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain to migrate to the Heaven Wasteland Domain. This would also apply to any domain. Because both domains are human ones, this matter is an internal affair of the Human Race and doesn't need to go through the Alliance. You can thus do it without any worries."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Ren Puyang." Ye Qingyu stood up and saluted.
Ren Puyang's words also served as a small reminder to Ye Qingyu that the Heaven Wasteland Domain's accession to the Alliance of Domains meant that it came under the control of the latter, and thus that he had been quick to assume that he had the power to offer migration to the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain, when, reasonably speaking, he should have obtained the review and approval of the Alliance first. Fortunately, as Ren Puyang said, both domains were human ones, and so Ren Puyang himself could make a decision on this matter without it being a mistake.
However, Ye Qingyu knew that he had to be a little more careful in future considerations in order to prevent others from getting something on him.
Following an exchange on other trivial matters concerning the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain, Ren Puyang assigned this matter to his staff officer to handle.
After the staff officer took the dossier away to sort out, the room became quiet again, with only Ren Puyang and Ye Qingyu left in it.
The conversation topic finally returned to the matter that had been spreading most rampantly in recent days.
"I've heard news from the Black Demon Abyss that you, child... killed the left assistant minister of the Dragonblood Dynasty, Xu Yun'ao, and the front court supervisor of the Purple Golden Divine Office, Huang Tayun, is that really so?" Ren Puyang drank a mouthful of tea from a white jade teacup on the table before looking at Ye Qingyu with a faint smile. "Tell me, what happened?"
Being one of the core higher-ups of the congress divine temple, the news he obtained was certainly more than just that Ye Qingyu had killed two not-too-important figures from foreign races. However, by making his point this way, he was expressing his doubt toward the notion that Ye Qingyu had assassinated the old emperor.
Standing to one side, Ye Qingyu felt a lot easier when he heard Ren Puyang asking in this manner. Grinning and nodding, he said, "That malicious and greedy old Dragon Human Race elder is called Xu Yun'ao, right? He's the left assistant minister of the Dragonblood Dynasty? Hoho, I've actually killed a few degenerates of the Dragon Human Race."
"Your murderous spirit is a little strong." Ren Puyang shook his head helplessly, albeit his tone did not sound like one of blame.
Ye Qingyu defended himself adamantly, "In order to bait out the mastermind from behind the scenes, one or two pawns always have to be killed first. Otherwise, they might really believe that I'm easy to bully... Still, I didn't kill Huang Tayun and am only holding him captive temporarily, seeing as he remains in title one of the front court supervisors of the City Lord's office in Sunrise City. However, given his complicated status and many implications, I feel it unwise to hand him over to the Sunrise City for now."
"Hmm, it's fortunate that a lunatic like you would actually be so sensible when doing things." Smiling and nodding, Ren Puyang did not disguise his approval of Ye Qingyu.
Ye Qingyu grinned shamelessly and accepted the praise without the least bit of modesty. "That goes without saying. I'm also holding the Third Princess of the Dragon Human Race captive. She should serve as an important witness, for I feel that she probably knows a thing or two. Aside from that, I've also brought the body of the old emperor along."
"Hmm, it's kind of heaven-defying enough of you to be able to avoid being captured and still obtain these pieces of evidence under those circumstances... No wonder your code name among several forces is [Wildcard], hoho... Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. You can leave Huang Tayun and the Third Princess with me, and I'll get people to sort them out and make them talk... Speaking of which, I'd like to ask, is the old emperor really dead?" Ren Puyang's expression appeared rather more somber when he raised this question.
Ye Qingyu could not help sighing upon hearing this question.
A tinge of regret and bewilderment flashed across his eyes, "He indeed appears to be as dead as a doornail, but strangely enough, who else but a Quasi-emperor could've killed him? Even if he really died, he probably wouldn't have gone so quietly and would most likely have been fighting a large battle. And he certainly shouldn't have fallen into someone's hands and become a tool in a trap they set. This manner of death is way too humiliating..."
"This is also what I can't get my mind around. Save for a Quasi-emperor, nobody is his match. Being the saintly master of a dynasty, his personal cultivation and the forces at his disposal are first-rate among the current age, and so he shouldn't have died so quietly. There are only two possible reasons for this situation, first being that a Quasi-emperor-level being has killed him with a lightning-speed surprise attack, while the second..."
"The second is that internal strife within the Dragon Human Race has led to him being plotted against by an insider, who still would've needed powerful cultivation and lofty status to have done this." Ye Qingyu carried on Ren Puyang's words by adding the second possibility.
"That's indeed so. It appears that you've thought things through clearly." Ren Puyang nodded and continued after a brief pause. "You don't have to think any more about this matter. The Alliance of Domains will be conducting investigations. I promise that you won't be troubled and implicated by the higher-ups of the Alliance of Domains before real results have been derived. So, don't worry."
Hearing this, Ye Qingyu stood up and saluted, "Thank you, Mr. Ren Puyang."
Ren Puyang smiled and accepted the salute respectfully.
During all these years which he had spent wearing himself out and sparing no pains in handling the affairs of the Human Race from his office in Heaven Connect City, he had seen countless outstanding and talented humans, many of whose cultivations, origins, talents, and techniques were superior to those of Ye Qingyu. However, for some reason, he thought particularly highly of this youth from the Heaven Wasteland Domain. Although the latter had gotten in trouble and taken risks time after time, such that he often seemed no different from a reckless lunatic, Ren Puyang felt that he was the kind of junior whom he himself had always wanted to promote.
Most likely, Ye Qingyu did not know that Ren Puyang had thought so much about him and paid such a high price on his behalf that many fat cats among the Human Race had become a little discontent and critical. There was even an ongoing rumor within the small circle of the highest echelon that Ye Qingyu was Ren Puyang's love child.
Ren Puyang had not sought to justify this much.
He had a clear conscience.
Ye Qingyu sat back down and once more recounted the events on the isolated peak, particularly elaborating on the strange transformation of the [Dragonblood Halberd] before saying, "At present, there is completely no yuan qi movement anywhere on the old emperor's body, and neither can his cultivation level be seen. If it wasn't for my careful preservation, his body would've already begun to rot... Incredibly enough, it's almost like he's just a normal person."
He had felt somewhat doubtful about this point all along.
After the death of a Heaven Ascension realm expert, their bodily yuan qi and aura would usually last for several decades or centuries. It thus seemed impossible that the body of a pinnacle Great Saint expert would become like that of a normal person within such a short time. If this was not caused by the strange transformation of the [Dragonblood Halberd], then it probably had something to do with the nature of the old emperor's death, which could have been due to some peculiar sort of technique.
"Hmm." Ren Puyang appeared to be thinking of something, with his expression restrained and his eye beams somewhat complicated.
"By the way, aside from all this, I have a few things to give you all at once." As if remembering something, Ye Qingyu's expression became a little serious. "Earlier on, when the Heaven Wasteland diplomatic corps was surprise attacked, I seized two Black Moon Immortal Palace warships which may serve as crime evidence. There are a few things in these warships which you'll certainly understand when you've seen them."
Without any further hesitation, he took out the warships of the Dragon Human Race Third Princess and the Black Moon Immortal Palace, together with the sealed letters and the hundreds of half-dead, feeble-breathed Black Moon Immortal Palace disciples who were tied up on the deck, and transferred them all to Ren Puyang's storage space.
For any expert at the Saint realm or above, transferring these massive things took only a moment.
Ren Puyang laughed, "Child, the fact that you took these things out only today shows that you only started to have real trust in me today. Haha, let me see what's inside..." With that, he sank his divine consciousness into his storage space and took out a few of the letters. His expression turned grave upon skimming through them, and after a brief consideration, he said, "This is a matter of great importance. I must report it to the Alliance of Domains’ congress as soon as possible."