Winds Rise in Star Luo, a Hidden Hand Stirs the Pot

In the imperial capital of the Star Luo Empire, the atmosphere was even more grave and oppressive than in the ruins of Nuoding City.

Inside the magnificent hall, the atmosphere was frozen. Star Luo Emperor Dai Tianfeng's face was livid as he clenched the "official" letter of inquiry sent by Spirit Hall's Patrol Team. The wording was "polite," yet every word cut like a blade. It sternly questioned why the Star Luo Imperial Family had sent someone "practicing an Evil Technique" to infiltrate Nuoding Academy, assassinate Spirit Hall's Holy Son, cause an explosion, and destroy the academy. The evidence was irrefutable—the letter included an imprint of the half Tiger Tally fragment and a diagram of the evil hair—and demanded that the Star Luo Empire immediately provide an explanation, hand over the mastermind and all related personnel, and submit to Spirit Hall's investigation!

"Slander! Naked slander!" Dai Tianfeng suddenly hurled the letter of inquiry down the jade steps and roared in fury. The phantom of a lion-like martial soul flickered behind him, making the hall pillars hum. "My Tiger Tally was reported missing long ago! Those evil objects are even more ridiculous! Spirit Hall has gone too far!"

The officials below fell silent, not daring to make a sound. Dai Mubai's crippling had already been an enormous humiliation for the empire. Now they had been branded with the monstrous crime of colluding with Evil Soul Masters and attempting to assassinate the Holy Son. It was practically an attempt to crush the Star Luo Empire to death!

"Please calm your anger, Your Majesty." An elderly minister stepped forward despite himself. "Spirit Hall is powerful, and now it holds 'evidence.' Though it is full of holes, if we deny it too forcefully, they may use it as an excuse to launch an attack. For now, we must avoid their edge, play along, secretly uncover the truth, and expose whoever is truly framing our nation!"

"Investigate? How?!" Dai Tianfeng roared. "Nuoding City is far away, and the scene has long since been controlled by Spirit Hall! That brat Yang Yu is sinister and cunning. He must have made every detail flawless!"

"Perhaps... we can begin by investigating those around His Highness Mubai." Another effeminate voice spoke up, belonging to a pale-faced prince whose eyes resembled those of a venomous snake. "His Highness Mubai stayed in Nuoding City for a long time. Some petty figures around him may have been bribed to forge evidence and frame our empire. Or perhaps... his fiancée, that woman from the Zhu Family..."

Before he could finish, hurried footsteps and panicked cries suddenly came from outside the hall!

"Report—! Urgent military news!"

A messenger stumbled and crawled into the hall, his face pale as paper as he held up a bloodstained black feather dispatch token!

"Your Majesty! Urgent report from the border! Three days ago, one of our imperial merchant convoys transporting mineral goods to the border was ambushed by an unknown force in Mist Gorge! Everyone... was wiped out! All supplies were looted! They... they left this behind at the scene!"

Trembling, the messenger presented the token. Drawn upon the black feather in dark-red pigment that emitted a faint evil aura was a twisted tiger-head emblem, identical to the one on the half Tiger Tally in the letter of inquiry! Beside it was a line of small words:

"Blood for blood—respectfully presented by Spirit Hall."

Boom!

The entire hall erupted into chaos!

Dai Tianfeng's vision went dark. He staggered back, nearly unable to remain standing! His rage surged into his heart, and he violently spat out a mouthful of blood!

"Spirit Hall! How dare you! How dare you!!!" His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked utterly deranged! The convoy had been robbed, every person slaughtered, and such brazen "evidence" left behind! This was no longer slander. It was an outright declaration of war and provocation!

"Please take care of yourself, Your Majesty!" The officials panicked.

"Investigate! Investigate it for me! Find out who did this!" Dai Tianfeng screamed himself hoarse, his voice filled with endless fury and a trace of... fear. He could not believe Spirit Hall would be so insane, yet the "evidence" before him and the "evidence" from Nuoding City corroborated each other, forcing him to wonder whether extremists within Spirit Hall truly wanted to use this opportunity to completely destroy Star Luo Empire?!

While the Star Luo court was in complete turmoil.

Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Glazed City.

Ning Fengzhi sat in his study, with a detailed Secret Report from Nuoding City spread before him. His brows were tightly furrowed, and his expression kept shifting.

Chen Xin stood quietly nearby with his sword in his arms, his gaze equally grave.

"The Star Luo Imperial Family's Tiger Tally... evil aura... explosion... Rongrong's testimony... and now the Star Luo merchant convoy being attacked..." Ning Fengzhi rubbed his brow, feeling as though his thoughts were a tangled mess. "Uncle Jian, what do you think? Could this matter truly be connected to the Star Luo Imperial Family?"

Chen Xin was silent for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "There are too many flaws. No matter how foolish Star Luo is, they would not use their own Tiger Tally and such obvious evil power for an assassination. It is more likely that a third party is stirring things up, framing Star Luo, and provoking conflict."

"A third party?" Ning Fengzhi's eyes sharpened. "Who has such capability? Someone who can imitate Star Luo's Tiger Tally, wield evil power, and carry out something like this right under the noses of both Spirit Hall and Star Luo?"

Unconsciously, the calm, unreadable face of that black-clad youth surfaced in his mind.

"Yang Yu..." Ning Fengzhi murmured the name, then shook his head again. "He may have methods, but such a massive operation involves two nations... What does he stand to gain? Besides, that evil power cannot be faked. It is certainly not a righteous path."

"Whether it was him or not, Spirit Hall using this to move against Star Luo is already inevitable." Chen Xin's voice turned cold. "Our sect should not get too deeply involved. But Rongrong..." Remembering his daughter's behavior that day and the "evidence" gathered afterward, he felt a vague unease.

Ning Fengzhi sighed. "Rongrong was too badly frightened this time. Even her temperament has changed considerably... Let her rest properly. Issue the order: the sect will scale back its external businesses for the time being and watch how things unfold."

However, neither of them knew that their "frightened" daughter had locked herself inside her room.

Before Ning Rongrong lay the more detailed map of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's treasure vault, which she had redrawn from memory. It was densely marked with new symbols—possible patrol blind spots and weak points in the defenses, inferred from her understanding of the sect's formations and Soul Tools.

Her gaze was cold and focused. Her control over Soul Power at her fingertips had grown increasingly precise as she attempted to embed a grain-of-rice-sized fragment of Soul Crystal into an ordinary hairpin, creating an extremely crude Soul Power fluctuation disruptor.

"Power... comes in more than one form..." she muttered, a cold curve on her lips. "Father, all you know how to do is watch and wait... but I will not. What belongs to me, I will take back with my own hands! In my own way!"

Star Luo's fury, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's watchful restraint, Ning Rongrong's transformation... all of it flowed through special channels and converged in that room at the Nuoding City guesthouse.

Yang Yu listened to Yue Guan's report with an indifferent expression.

"How is Star Luo responding?"

"Dai Tianfeng coughed up blood and fainted. The court is in chaos. They have already sent several waves of secret agents to the border and Nuoding City, while secretly purging Dai Mubai's former subordinates, suspecting there is an insider." A cruel smile appeared on Yue Guan's face. "That merchant convoy was managed by a distant relative of Tuoba Xi. I conveniently helped them 'raise' the stakes a little, ensuring that Star Luo and Elder Hall will become even deeper enemies."

"Very good." Yang Yu nodded. "What about the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"

"Ning Fengzhi chose to observe and ordered a retreat." Yue Guan's tone turned somewhat teasing. "But... Miss Rongrong does not seem to intend to rest. She appears to be secretly studying how to break through her own sect's treasure vault defenses."

A look of expected understanding flashed through Yang Yu's eyes. "Keep an eye on her. If necessary... make things a little 'convenient' for her."

"Yes." Yue Guan paused before continuing, "Also, Gu Rong and Tuoba Xi are still digging through the ruins, but their attention has already been completely drawn toward Star Luo. Shui Bing'er's injuries are stable, but she remains unconscious. That rabbit... is about to wake up."

Yang Yu's gaze shifted slightly. "Xiao Wu is waking up? Perfect. Let her add one final spark to those two elders' 'investigation.'"

After pondering for a moment, he ordered, "Make preparations. Once Xiao Wu wakes up, have her 'accidentally' reveal some information... Say that before the explosion, she seemed to hear that Evil Cultist roaring something... mad words like 'Star Luo's grand plan' and 'the White Tiger must rise.'"

Yue Guan's eyes lit up. "Brilliant! I will arrange it at once!"

If one was going to frame someone, one had to do it thoroughly. Lies needed rich details. Such "dying words" from someone who could no longer testify were the best at provoking speculation.

After Yue Guan left, Yang Yu walked to the window and looked out at Nuoding City, which was gradually restoring order but still permeated by tension.

Star Luo Empire was now like a trapped beast completely enraged yet unable to find its enemy. It could only swallow its fury—or... direct it toward the enemy it believed it had found.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, meanwhile, was like a wary turtle trying to retreat into its shell, unaware that someone had long set their sights on that shell.

This darkened butterfly, Ning Rongrong, had already begun to beat her wings.

Gu Rong and Tuoba Xi had become the most useful tools in his hands, stirring the waters ever muddier for him.

"That should be enough," Yang Yu murmured.

The fuse of the storm had been lit. Next, it was time for the next step.

He needed to leave Nuoding City, the center of this vortex, and head for the next stage. There was another important chess piece he needed there, and it would allow this storm to spread even further.

His gaze fell upon another location on the map—a place not far from Nuoding City, yet one of special significance.

It was the edge of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's territory, and also... the most likely direction in which that "theory master," Yu Xiaogang, had fled.

It was time to meet that... stray dog.

And while he was at it, deliver a "great gift" to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan as well.

He turned and spoke toward the shadows. "Give the order. In three days, we depart for Thunder Gorge."

"Yes." A reply came from the shadows.

The board had been laid, and the storm had risen.

And he, the player moving the pieces, was about to leave the center of the board and personally enter the next game.

For now, Nuoding City could be left to those overwhelmed "important figures" to struggle over.

The true confrontation had only just begun.