Chapter 2: Reactions from All Sides

Qu Yi realized that all his Diversion Phase Yuan Ying had been used up yet Li Zhong still wasn’t dead, which greatly dampened his enthusiasm. He immediately summoned his assistants.
How could Li Zhong possibly withstand the might of three Eight Directions Swords and one Six Directions Knife? He was instantly reduced to ashes.
At that moment, inside the cave, aside from Qu Yi and his men, there was also a law enforcement member from the Tai Yuan Gate, controlled by Li Zhong.
“Captain…” The member’s eyes were as big as eggs. He couldn’t understand how Qu Yi could have such formidable strength behind him. Four experts in the Combined Phase, plus the elder sent by the Jin Yang Sect to the Tian Huo Star Region—all under Qu Yi’s control. This far exceeded the law enforcement member’s imagination.
Qu Yi flew over to the member, slapped him with his palm, knocking him unconscious, and then brought him into the Dimensional Sphere. Soon, everyone was inside the sphere.
The law enforcement member quickly regained consciousness. Seeing the surroundings, which were nothing like the cave before, he was surprised. Then he saw Qu Yi.
“Captain… I won’t reveal your secrets…” the member cried out in panic, fearing he would be killed by Qu Yi.
But the member was truly foolish. If Qu Yi really wanted to kill him, would he still be alive?
Qu Yi waved his hand to calm the member before saying, “If I remember correctly, your name is Huang Yuan, right? Good. I’m giving you a choice: let me plant a soul shackle in your soul, or face death.”
“Ah…” Huang Yuan shuddered violently. Seeing Qu Yi’s calm expression, he thought for a moment before sighing and saying, “I agree, Captain.”
Huang Yuan finally understood. Qu Yi possessed three Eight Directions Swords and one Six Directions Knife—a secret powerful enough to make him an enemy of everyone in the cultivation world. He could never allow it to be revealed. The only ways to keep it secret were either to have his soul controlled or to die.
Qu Yi smiled, sent his spiritual consciousness into Huang Yuan’s Yuan Shen, found his soul, and planted the soul shackle inside.
“Alright, Huang Yuan. Now that you’re mine, you don’t need to worry anymore,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
“Thank you, Captain.” Huang Yuan was finally at ease.

At that moment, Qu Yi suddenly turned to look at Shuo Shang, Shuo Rui, and Shuo Xu, smiling and saying, “Now it’s time for the three of you to act out a scene together. In a moment, you’ll be in the cave and use your magic to blow it apart. Remember, it must seem like this is the scene after the battle between the three of you and Li Zhong.”
Upon hearing this, Shuo Shang immediately understood. This was the story Qu Yi had concocted for him after returning to Taiyuan Gate. The story went something like this: Shuo Shang, Shuo Rui, and Shuo Xu obtained the Six-Directions Knife and the Eight-Directions Sword, then came to the Inner Thirteen Stars. There, they fought against Li Zhong, who had been transported there, and killed him. Qu Yi then took Huang Yuan and left via teleportation.
“Li Mu, I understand what you mean,” Shuo Shang said with a smile.
Qu Yi nodded. Talking to such smart people was easy. Now, he could finally leave the Tianhuo Star Region.
Immediately afterward, Qu Yi and Huang Yuan emerged from the Dimensional Sphere and used a spatial teleportation array to leave the Inner Thirteen Stars and head to other planets.
Meanwhile, Shuo Shang, Shuo Rui, and Shuo Xu quickly took out their life treasures and blasted the entire cave to pieces. The state of the cave now resembled the destruction caused by three people practicing metal-based cultivation techniques and one person practicing earth-based cultivation techniques after a fierce battle.
After that, the three of them flew through the stars, leaving the Tianhuo Star Region.
……
Qu Yi and Huang Yuan arrived at a spatial teleportation array on a planet. Before even stepping out of the array, Qu Yi shouted at the few enforcement officers guarding it, “Hurry in! Elders from other sects are coming!”
Seeing that it was Qu Yi himself who called them, the enforcement officers had no doubts and immediately entered the spatial teleportation array and left together.
Using this method, Qu Yi transported all the enforcement officers from the remaining dozen spatial teleportation arrays to the Outer First Star.
Then, Qu Yi, along with the seventy enforcement officers with him, took off into the sky and returned to Zhai Tian Star.
When the enforcement officers from Taiyuan Gate returned to Zhai Tian Star, it immediately attracted the attention of various factions, and news spread rapidly.
“The enforcement officers from Taiyuan Gate have returned, but the elders haven’t. It’s certain that all of Taiyuan Gate’s elders are dead.”
“Now that only the enforcement officers from Taiyuan Gate have returned while those from other sects still haven’t, it means the enforcement officers from other sects suffered heavy losses.”
“The return of Taiyuan Gate’s enforcement team proves that they didn’t obtain any treasures from the Tianhuo Star Region.”
……

All kinds of news spread immediately. Especially around the inns where Qu Yi and the law enforcement members from various sects were staying, spies from many factions were active, constantly using their spiritual senses to monitor what was happening inside the inns. Qu Yi wasn’t in a hurry to return to Taiyuan Gate right away; it would be fine to wait until the law enforcement members from the other nine sects also returned to Zhai Tianxing before leaving. Sure enough, within a month, the remaining law enforcement members from Qingyun Sect, Yingtian Sect, Biyan Peak, and Cangyang Valley also returned to Zhai Tianxing from the Tianhemo Region. From the expressions of these law enforcement members from the four sects, it was clear that not only had they suffered heavy losses but they also hadn’t obtained any treasures. Yet all these factions were very puzzled—who exactly had taken the treasures from the Tianhemo Region? Seeing that the law enforcement teams from other sects had returned as well, Qu Yi then left Yingxian Island on Zhai Tianxing via a spatial teleportation array, following the previous route, and set off immediately back to Taiyuan Gate. The law enforcement teams from the other four sects also used spatial teleportation arrays and set off back immediately. … Meanwhile, while Qu Yi and the others were using the spatial teleportation array, the ten major cultivation sects on Liupan Star each had their own developments. The sect leaders of Qingyun Sect, Lanyang Palace, Yingtian Sect, Biyan Peak, Cangyang Valley, and Baishou Peak, after receiving reports from the Soul Palace, finally confirmed that all the elders they had sent to the Tianhemo Region had perished. Apart from feeling heartbroken, these sect leaders had no further thoughts. As for the leader of Xianyue Cliff, One-Claw Earth Dragon, and the leader of Jiugong Island, One-Claw Water Dragon, these two leaders were extremely angry, roaring like dragons in their residences. Although Xianyue Cliff and Jiugong Island were both among the ten major sects, they hadn’t obtained either of the symbols of authority—Eight Directions Sword or Six Directions Knife. Initially, Xianyue Cliff and Jiugong Island had joined forces with Baishou Peak, hoping to use their combined strength to seize the Six Directions Knife so that they would have some say when the Haotian Immortal Mansion was opened in the future. But they failed again this time. “Which sect exactly took it? I must get it back!” “No matter what, I must retrieve that Six Directions Knife.” One-Claw Earth Dragon and One-Claw Water Dragon both made firm vows to seize the last remaining Six Directions Knife. Immediately afterward, these two leaders sent powerful cultivators at the Tribulation stage to the six continents of Liupan Star, hiding there constantly, ready to ambush the elders of the sect that had taken the knife and steal it.

In various parts of the cultivation world, places like Moon-Biting Cliff and Nine-Palace Island also sent numerous detectives to closely monitor changes everywhere, identifying suspicious individuals and not missing any clue related to the Six-Directions Blade. At this time, Jin Xiong, the leader of the Jin Yang Sect, was filled with both ecstasy and concern—his face showing joy one moment and deep doubt the next. From reports from various regions, Jin Xiong learned that the three elders he had sent out—Shuo Shang, Shuo Rui, and Shuo Xu—were still alive, which meant they must have obtained the Six-Directions Blade. Yet they had not shown up, seemingly having fled after getting it and never returning to the Jin Yang Sect. This was why Jin Xiong alternated between joy and worry: joy that his elders had acquired the blade, and worry that they had taken it. With no other choice, Jin Xiong immediately sent people to the Tianhuo Star Region to investigate the situation. Among the ten major sects, the Taiyuan Sect was undoubtedly the most distressed. Tai Ming, the leader of the Taiyuan Sect, was in his residence, his once serene and immortal appearance now completely twisted with madness. “All the elders are dead!” “The Six-Directions Blade is gone!” “The Eight-Directions Sword we took is also gone!” “A bunch of useless idiots, all of them!” … Tai Ming raged for three days before finally calming down slightly and sitting in meditation to restore his composure. “Seventy members of the enforcement team are still alive and will be returning soon; we might get some information from them.” “Send all our spies out to identify any suspicious individuals. We must prevent the Eight-Directions Sword and the Six-Directions Blade from falling into other hands.” “Our informants within the other nine sects can start acting. By seeing which sect’s elders survived, we can determine which sect has obtained the Six-Directions Blade and, by extension, our Taiyuan Sect’s Eight-Directions Sword.” “Rules can be ignored now. We can summon experts at the Tribulation stage to investigate the ruins in the Tianhuo Star Region, hoping to find some clues.” Tai Ming rapidly thought through various matters and came up with plans and arrangements. Soon, important figures from the Taiyuan Sect set out to various parts of the cultivation world. What was particularly concerning was that Tai Ming even sent experts at the Tribulation stage, which led many to speculate. The ten major sects each had their own plans, and soon the entire cultivation world was filled with people moving about, creating an uneasy atmosphere that weighed heavily on the cultivators, filling them with fear.

At this time, Qu Yi, along with seventy law enforcement officers, had returned to Liupan Star using a space teleportation array, arriving in Sihai City in the western part of Qianhua Continent, and would soon be able to return to Taiyuan Gate.