At Any Cost

Li Weiyi frowned and asked, "Whom do you take orders from?"

"Venerable Nan... ah..."

Fairy Xu had barely uttered three words when Li Weiyi pierced her palm with a spear, causing half of her body to go numb and twitch in pain.

She quickly changed her tune. "A year ago, the Yang Family secretly took over everything in Cloud Heaven Immortal Plain and the four major city gates. The Prefectural Elder have already submitted to them. We were forced into this situation."

Li Weiyi squatted down. "Have you met anyone from the Yang Family?"

Fairy Xu shook her head. "They are very cautious. I only learned that the Yang Family Sui Sect was also a force under the Divine Sect by hearing the Prefectural Elder mention it once."

Li Weiyi was disappointed. Even someone of Fairy Xu's high status knew very little about the affairs of the upper echelons, which explained why it was difficult for all parties to find out the core secrets of the Twin Rice Cult.

It seems I must go and meet that Prefectural Elder.

"Who is the Prefectural Elder?" Li Weiyi asked.

"Jiang Xin, one of the top experts of the third generation of the Jiang family, is the Head Yamen of the Attendant Hall of Nanyan Pass."

This time, Fairy Xu did not hesitate and told the Prefectural Elder about the information, secretly sneering to herself. She was indeed no match for him and had to submit and make peace, but the Prefectural Elder was a person with extraordinary cultivation.

This kid dared to go to their door; he's just walking into a trap.

Fairy Xu was imagining how she would avenge herself after Li Weiyi fell into the hands of the Prefectural Elder...

"Puff!"

Li Weiyi thrust his spear heavily, piercing her skull.

Use fire to burn the body to ashes, leaving no trace.

They did not dig up the Dao Lotus, fearing it would expose their weakness.

But they took away the boundary bag from her.

Unexpectedly, the bag contained a vast amount of Spring Coin, Silver Coin, and various treasures, including Thousand-Year Elixir, worth at least a million Spring Coin.

Clearly, Daojiao 'Nanyan Pass is in her hands.

Li Weiyi stepped out of the formation in the backyard.

Outside, several Daoist masters who had heard the commotion had gathered, each holding a magical artifact and looking at the other with hostile eyes.

Li Weiyi had already made up his mind and was no longer bound by any constraints. Naturally, he walked forward calmly, took out the Evil Camel Bell, and shook it. The surrounding Dao Sect experts immediately became confused and screamed in agony.

The sound of the bell should be kept within a certain range.

Li Weiyi walked out the door and quickly blended into the crowd.

Behind them, the backyard of the Guanlan Pavilion was filled with roars, slaughter, madness, and maniacal laughter. The minds of the martial artists of the Twin Rice Cult were filled with negative emotions, evil and malevolent forces spread, magical artifacts clashed, and they killed each other.

The stronger a person's evil intentions, the greater the impact they will be.

"Bang! Bang..."

Corpses were smashed through doors, windows, and walls, falling from inside into the street.

Upon witnessing this scene, the Twin Rice Cult's spies stationed outside the Guanlan Pavilion immediately went to report the news.

Li Weiyi did not go far. He climbed a watchtower three streets away from the Guanlan Pavilion, took out a set of women's clothing from Fairy Xu's bag, hesitated for a moment, his eyes darkened, and then put it on.

The Disguise Art can naturally transform one's appearance into that of a woman.

This is the best way to hide it, something Li Weiyi used to resist.

For now, we have no choice but to do it.

He took out the Golden Smiling Buddha Mask, put it on, and gazed at the Guanlan Pavilion in the distance, quietly waiting for Prefectural Elder Jiang Xin to arrive.

The Attendant Hall was subordinate to the Luantai (Imperial Secretariat).

In each prefecture of Lingxiao Shengjing, there is a hall, which is overseen by a hall master.

It also had subordinate offices called "Chief Yamen", "Feather Yamen", and "Claw Yamen".

The Chief Yamen is the brain trust, responsible for offering advice and making decisions.

The Feather Yamen is responsible for all kinds of intelligence, espionage, and infiltration.

The Claw Yamen, composed of martial arts masters, is responsible for operations.

The official in charge of the Three Offices was the Head Yamen.

Nanyan Pass is not a prefecture city and therefore has no palace master, Jiang Xin, as the Head Yamen, is already the highest commander of the Attendant Hall.

Li Weiyi would naturally not go to the Attendant Hall, as that would be tantamount to walking into a trap.

But with the biggest stronghold of the Rice Cult in trouble, Jiang Xin couldn't possibly not come.

Just a quarter of an hour later, a large army arrived and surrounded Guanlan Pavilion. All the formations in the surrounding city were activated, and the Formation Script and Light Veil enveloped the sky and earth.

Soon after, another magnificent Exotic Beast Carriage sped toward the Guanlan Pavilion, followed by two rows of cavalry from the Attendant Hall.

The Exotic Beast Carriage stopped outside the Guanlan Pavilion.

An Old Man in a purple robe quickly got out of the car. Jiang Xin was not old and frail, with only a few strands of white hair at his temples. He stood upright, with sharp eyes, giving off an aura of authority without anger.

"Head Yamen!"

"My Head Yamen, why have you alarmed the entire Attendant Hall?"

The soldiers of the City Defense Army saluted and kowtowed.

"The Attendant Hall has long since discovered the close ties between the Guanlan Pavilion and the cult, and has been secretly monitoring them without taking any rash action, hoping to lure out the mastermind behind it all. Withdraw your people; leave this place to us."

Jiang Xin spoke calmly, worried that the City Defense Army might find something wrong, so he could only make up this excuse before quickly stepping inside.

Li Weiyi did not act rashly and continued to wait.

Another half hour passed, and Jiang Xin finished dealing with the hidden dangers in the Guanlan Pavilion before coming out. His eyes were restrained but gloomy, clearly indicating that he was suppressing a raging fire of anger.

Who exactly is it?

The methods were too wicked.

Li Weiyi imitated Yao Qingxuan's tone, transmitting his voice through magical energy to Yao's ears. "Prefectural Elder, your haste to come to the Guanlan Pavilion will surely attract the attention of those with ulterior motives and arouse suspicion."

That sound...

Standing outside the Guanlan Pavilion, Jiang Xin suddenly raised his head, his pupils narrowed, and he looked around nervously.

He lived to be nearly a hundred years old, possessed unparalleled cultivation, and was the most outstanding expert of the third generation of the Jiang family. He was also one of the twenty-eight elders of the Rice Sect in the Lingxiao Shengjing.

But the other party was Yao Qingxuan.

Anyone of the same cultivation level could easily kill him.

Yao Qingxuan could send his magical energy into his ear, which meant he could kill him with a single blow.

Seeing that Jiang Xin didn't dare to make a rash move, Li Weiyi knew that Yao Qingxuan must have a great deal of influence over him, so he said again, "Don't look anymore, and you'd better not try any tricks in front of me. I guarantee that you will be dead before Yao Qian arrives. Even if he does arrive, I can send him away."

Jiang Xin quickly calmed down and had a plan in mind. Then, following Yao Qingxuan's instructions, he avoided everyone and climbed the watchtower step by step.

Li Weiyi knew very well that confronting someone of the Elder level in the Heavenly World Hall was like dancing on a knife's edge. Once his identity was exposed, or if the other party took a desperate gamble, he would be in great danger.

But he had no way out.

"He's actually more nervous than I am! He's worried about being punished by Yao Qingxuan, and he's also worried about his identity being exposed."

Li Weiyi calmed down completely and listened to Jiang Xin's footsteps as he climbed the stairs.

Since Jiang Xin previously obeyed Yao Qingxuan and only submitted to the Sui Sect Yang Family a year ago, he must not have entered the core of the Yang Family yet.

"You can stop now!" Li Weiyi said calmly.

Jiang Xin stopped on the stairs to the next level, looked up, and could see a glimpse of Yao Qingxuan. He quickly feigned a look of fear and trepidation, and bowed, saying, "Venerable One, Venerable One... I knew nothing! It was all those people from the Sui Sect who were acting recklessly, definitely trying to eliminate dissidents. I was kept in the dark and only just learned the news..."

Li Weiyi was too lazy to watch his act. "Purge dissidents? Jiang Xin, are you stupid, or have you sided with them? Zhou Bida dead, isn't he?"

Jiang Xin nodded. "Yao Qian dares not let him live; the risk is too great if he actually speaks up."

Li Weiyi felt a pang of pain in his heart, but controlled his emotions. "That's why I say you're foolish, while Yao Qian is exceptionally intelligent."

Jiang Xin looked bewildered. "Please enlighten me, Venerable One?"

Li Weiyi said, "I don't care whether you've submitted to them or not, but the most important thing for a person is to live with clarity. Zhou Bida was the deputy commander-in-chief, a position of immense importance. How much effort did the Divine Sect expend to turn him against us? With his death, three months later, when the Divine Sect and the Demon Race attack Lingxiao City, who will help us break through? You?"

"What? Attack Lingxiao City?" Jiang Xin was genuinely shocked.

This matter was only finalized a few days ago. As a person with a special identity on the surface, Jiang Xin had to be careful when passing on messages, so naturally he didn't know about it so quickly.

Li Weiyi, understanding Yao Qingxuan's tone, said, "Now you know why they killed Zhou Bida, right?"

Jiang Xin's expression changed several times. "But they say that Venerable One, you have something unusual about you..."

"Are you saying I have ulterior motives?"

Knowing that Jiang Xin was completely flustered by his words, Li Weiyi pressed his advantage. "That's why I say you're foolish. Why would I, the Venerable One, harbor any disloyalty towards the Divine Cult? What benefit would it bring me?"

"The one who truly harbors ulterior motives is Yang Shen Realm."

"The Sui Sect was able to grow rapidly thanks to the support of the Divine Sect. But now, they have pledged allegiance to the Second Palace Master, and can get whatever they want. They can travel freely throughout the entire Lingxiao Shengjing, and have grown rapidly in just two years."

"Once Yang Shen Realm breaks through to the Transcendent Realm, the Sui Sect may become one of the millions of sects in the future, controlling the transportation lifeline of the entire Lingxiao. That will be truly glorious."

"For the sake of their sect's future, they are capable of turning against the Jiu Li Tribe, and they are also capable of turning against the Divine Cult."

"Now you understand why you didn't know about such a major event as attacking Lingxiao City. It's because the main altar didn't even inform Yang Shen Realm; they're on guard against them! Since you submitted to them, you're naturally being watched."

"Prefectural Elder, are you choosing the Sui Sect and hoping to rise to prominence with them?"

As she said this, Li Weiyi gently patted the Great Phoenix hidden in her clothes.

Instantly.

A terrifying aura of the Longevity Realm erupted from Li Weiyi, causing Jiang Xin to kneel down with a thud. His voice trembled as he cried, "Venerable One, save me... I knew nothing! I was kept in the dark! How could I have known that Yang Shen Realm was truly an ungrateful wolf? I wouldn't dare betray the Divine Sect even if I had ten lives... I still possess the Death Spirit Fire of the Rice Ancestor within me, I dare not, absolutely dare not..."

Li Weiyi can only rely on the information gap to quickly confirm that Yang Shen Realm and Sui Sect betrayed the Twin Rice Cult, and push everything onto them in order to save Yao Qingxuan at the main altar.

Sui Sect, a retainer of the Jiu Li Tribe, indeed had a clean background, making it difficult to trace their relationship with the Rice Cult.

At the main altar, there weren't even many people under the Sui Sect's command. Yang Qingxi had to seize the followers under Wang Shu in order to build his own faction.

This is both the Sui Sect's advantage and their disadvantage.

This suggests that the Sui Sect and the Twin Rice Cult are not closely related, and the Sui Sect is not a direct descendant of the Rice People. This makes it possible to pin the betrayal on them.

Moreover, Yang Qingxi's Wang Shu were precisely to prevent the Rice Cult from planting more forces in the Sui Sect to counterbalance the Yang Family. This shows that there must be someone within the Rice Cult who is wary of the Yang Shen Realm.

If we cannot get help from the Imperial Court to get rid of the Yang Shen Realm and Yao Qian.

Then let the Twin Rice Cult clean house.

This is just the first step.

Next, Li Weiyi vowed to find a way to solidify all of this. He wanted to make them regret their actions and make them regret their own actions.