Chapter 626: The Hidden Hand

Su Che’s period of enlightenment took slightly longer than others had expected, lasting over twenty days before it finally ended.
“I’m sorry for making everyone wait so long.”
As soon as he regained consciousness, Su Che said a polite remark to You Lin and the others—basic courtesy at its finest. Immediately afterward, he brought Lu Hao and the rest back to the Immortal Prison.
“Tian Yu, is your enlightenment related to the opportunities at the Immortal-Demon Battlefield?”
You Lin asked first, representing the curiosity of the others as well.
Su Che nodded vaguely, pointed at the distant starry sky, and said in a deep voice, “The entrance to the Immortal-Demon Battlefield isn’t far away. From now on, we’ll have to fly to get there.”
You Lin, Lian Yi, and the others showed signs of joy. If they didn’t need to use the interstellar teleportation array, it meant the entrance was already very close. A distance of no more than trillions of miles could be covered in a single day for immortals like them.
Indeed, under Su Che’s guidance, it took them only a few hours of flight before they found a desolate planet covered in volcanoes and raging lava.
Planets completely unsuitable for life were common in the universe, so this wasn’t surprising. Generally, they held no exploration value either.
“I believe the spatial entrance to the Immortal-Demon Battlefield is on this desolate planet. We’ll need to search carefully to find its exact location.”
Su Che wasn’t lying. At this moment, the summoning sensation was extremely clear—it must be on this planet.
“Great! Thank you for bringing us here!”
This response came suddenly, as it wasn’t spoken by You Lin or the others but echoed throughout the starry sky, audible over tens of thousands of miles.
Who could it be?
Including Su Che, You Lin, Lian Yi, and the others all changed expressions. Clearly, they hadn’t expected anyone else to be following them the whole time, without them even noticing.
Whoosh…
Thousands of miles away, a disturbance in space appeared in a patch of the starry sky, followed by the emergence of six figures.
“Mystic Immortals?”
Lian Yi exclaimed in awe, “They’re all Mystic Immortals!”
Su Che nodded silently. Indeed, only someone of the same rank as Mystic Immortals could follow them this far undetected by You Lin and the other two emissaries.
“Lin Jiu, Guang Qi, what brings you here?”

Youlin’s expression immediately turned cold. Clearly, she recognized two of them. It was even possible that she recognized all six of them, but only called out the names of the two leaders.

“Youlin, if you can come, why can’t we?” said one of the handsome youths dressed in magnificent robes with a smile. “Monitoring the Origin Passages is the shared responsibility of our three chief envoys. Opening the Immortal-Demon Battlefield certainly can’t leave us out.”

Three chief envoys?

From his words, Su Che, Lianyi, and the others could guess that the six people present had the same status as Youlin and her companions—they were all Demonic Sealing Envoys from the Immortal Realm, responsible for overseeing the nine spatial passages that connected to the Origin Demon Realm in the mortal world.

The names “Lin Jiu” and “Guang Qi” that Youlin had just mentioned were undoubtedly the other two chief envoys, while the remaining four were their deputies.

Undoubtedly, they must have taken advantage of their positions to figure out—or overhear—the reason why Youlin and her companions had descended to the mortal world. Then, through some means, they quietly came down and followed them.

As Xuanxian, their methods of tracking others were surely extraordinary. They didn’t necessarily have to follow closely step by step; even across trillions of light-years, they wouldn’t lose track of their targets, making it difficult to detect them.

Su Che wasn’t surprised by their abilities. After all, that Xue Yu, still at the Mahayana stage back then, could find him anywhere in the vast starry sky. People like them, at the Xuanxian level with divine duties to monitor the mortal world, should be even more capable.

However, their appearance would surely bring about unpredictable variables. If they joined in, it meant…

Lianyi, Yun Shan, Xue Sha, Hei Ya, and Lao Niu all had extremely grim expressions at this moment. Once those six Demonic Sealing Envoys got involved, there would be no chance left for them to compete.

After struggling so hard to secure this opportunity, now, at the critical moment, they were about to hand it over to others. The feeling was truly…

Only that gloomy Meng Luo remained with his unchanged, dull expression. He seemed unconcerned by such a major event. It made one wonder if he was wearing a poorly made human mask that didn’t even have the function of changing expressions.

Youlin, on the other hand, knew clearly that the appearance of “Lin Jiu” and “Guang Qi” wouldn’t take away her and her companions’ opportunities. But being followed without knowing it was quite annoying.

She said coldly, “My descent to the lower world was approved personally by the Hall Master. As for you six, I suppose you descended there without permission, right?”
“Wrong!”
The young man in the gorgeous robe named ‘Lin Jiu’ smiled arrogantly and replied, “To be honest, following you all the way while trying to completely evade your divine sense detection—we really didn’t think we could pull that off. If it weren’t for the Hall Master lending us an invisibility artifact, it would have been impossible to do this so easily.”
“What?”
You Lin showed an expression of disbelief. “The Hall Master ordered you to follow me? How is that possible? I don’t believe it!”
“Don’t doubt it!”
Lin Jiu laughed. “That’s right. The Hall Master does indeed favor you more usually, but this time, he said that rather than letting this opportunity in the Immortal-Demon Battlefield go to others, it’s better for all of us who work hard every day to benefit from it. Of course, once we return, we’ll have to give at least half of what we gain to him as tribute.”
You Lin frowned and immediately understood everything.
Not only did she understand, but Su Che and the others also got it. It turned out there was a mastermind behind this whole thing—the very person above You Lin and the others, that ‘Hall Master’.
If she wasn’t mistaken, this Hall Master was in charge of nine subordinates, each overseeing one of the nine spatial passages in the mortal world. The passage on Thunder Star was under You Lin’s responsibility.
This opportunity in the Immortal-Demon Battlefield was highly valued not only by You Lin and the other nine Xuanxian-level Seal Demons but also by the Hall Master, who was at a higher level in cultivation and status, and who was determined to seize it for himself.
So, he simply sent all nine subordinates down, allowing them to claim all the spots to enter the Immortal-Demon Battlefield. Moreover, the nine were divided into three groups, which could monitor and check each other. In this way, no one would dare hide the number of treasures they obtained from the Hall Master.
Each person had to hand over at least half of their gains to the Hall Master. In the end, the biggest beneficiary of this opportunity turned out to be the Hall Master, who was leisurely sipping tea in the Immortal Realm.
“What a clever tactic, what a shrewd plan!”
Su Che thought to himself, “It truly lives up to the glorious title of ‘mastermind’!”

After understanding the master’s intentions, You Lin had nothing left to say. Though annoyed at being manipulated, she dared not show it openly. After all, he was her direct superior, and she would have to work under him for a very long time to come…

Lianyi and the others weren’t foolish either; they could think of what needed to be thought of. At that moment, Lianyi shook her head at Su Che with a wry smile and transmitted her thoughts, “After putting in so much effort, it all turns out to be in vain—this is the tragedy of being a minor figure. Good brother, you must seize this opportunity. One day, when you become a true top figure, no one will dare to manipulate you anymore.”

Unexpectedly, Su Che replied with a serious expression, “The curse of weakness on me—wasn’t it really you who did this?”

“Sis can swear to heaven that it wasn’t me,” Lianyi said with a sad look. “I don’t have such great ambitions as to try to replace you! Such schemes are beyond the capacity of a minor like me.”

“Alright, I believe you!”

Relying on his intuition, Su Che trusted her and said, “You don’t need to worry about the rest. Don’t say anything or do anything. Since I promised you guys something, I will keep my word!”

These last words were not only meant for Lianyi but could also be heard by Yun Shan and the five Blood Fiend members.

“Good brother, forget it. Don’t confront them,” Lianyi guessed what Su Che intended to do and hurriedly shook her head to dissuade him.

“It’s fine.”

Su Che waved his hand sharply, a cold smile on his lips. “I’m the key figure in this opportunity. They don’t dare do anything to me.”

The reason Su Che wanted to help Lianyi and the others wasn’t out of sympathy for them, nor purely because of his promise. More importantly, he refused to be manipulated by these people, used as a tool without any self or will of his own.

To use Lao Hei’s words from his outburst in the Immortal Prison: “Damn it, I’m the one destined by fate! You little guys mean nothing!”

At this moment, Su Che’s imposing aura and actions naturally sparked the interest of the six newcomers—Lin Jiu and Guang Qi. So, Lin Jiu, who loved to talk the most, asked with a smile, “Young Tian Yu, it seems you’re not very happy about our arrival, is that right?”

“You guessed right!”

Su Che said coldly, “The nine people who opened the Immortal-Demon Battlefield are all my partners. Moreover, only those I truly recognize can gain a share of this opportunity. Look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself—what gives you the right to my recognition, with such an arrogant expression?”
“Oh?”
Lin Jiu laughed carelessly, “Do I really need to go through so much to earn your recognition?”
“Not many rules—just put yourself in my shoes.”
Su Che’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an invincible aura. “Who told you that I’m a person without dignity or temper, someone you can manipulate at will? If anyone said that to you, you can go back right now, point at them, and scold them on my behalf—the harsher, the better.”
“Haha…”
Lin Jiu first laughed heartily, then his expression instantly darkened. His icy gaze settled on Su Che’s face, his handsome features revealing obvious cruelty. “The rumors about you are indeed true. Tian Yu, you’re really bold!”