In the sky, waves of force churned. Five clouds of rainbow light, carrying hazy rays of rosy light, came flying down.
Only then did the sound of air tearing apart follow, born from their extreme speed.
"Master Su."
The man at the front was Hua Yunxiao.
With a smile on his face, he greeted Su Li from afar, his manner seeming very friendly.
If Su Li had not known some of the causes and consequences, he would probably have been in a good mood and joked with him.
"Master Su."
"Brother Li."
Yun Wanchu, Hua Ziyan, Fang Yueheng, and Zhuge Qingchen also greeted him very respectfully.
The respectful expressions on their faces did not seem false.
Su Li offered a sunny, radiant smile, nodded slightly to the five, then glanced at Mu Yuxi beside him.
The stern, solemn look on Mu Yuxi's face had also vanished, replaced by her usual delicate, graceful air, like a sheltered young lady.
Su Li's heart tightened slightly. As expected, this girl, who looked innocent and young, even a little adorably naive, was no simple person either.
"Senior Hua, Holy Lord, Sister Li."
Mu Yuxi called out sweetly, her smile pure and charming.
Hua Yunxiao nodded slightly in greeting, then strode over to Su Li.
"I heard from A Li that Master Su has made a new discovery?"
Hua Yunxiao got straight to the point.
At the same time, he was secretly watching for any change in Su Li's expression.
"Mm. Actually, I suddenly had a bout of Sudden Intuition this morning, so I cast a divination. The result was rather bad."
Su Li's smile faded slightly as he answered solemnly.
"Oh? What... does it concern?"
Hua Yunxiao's heart tightened slightly. Could Su Li have even calculated his plan?
That shouldn't be possible. If he had, why would he say so?
Besides, this plan was bound up with Hua Yunxiao himself. Even Heavenly Secrets Masters had one great taboo: they could not calculate their own fate!
Hua Yunxiao understood this very well.
When a Heavenly Secrets Master divined the secrets of heaven, he himself was within those secrets, constantly shifting and changing.
Under such circumstances, any attempt to divine his own situation would be chaotic!
Even if he truly managed to divine it, the result would be completely unreliable.
What was more, calculating his own fate under these conditions would consume countless times more energy and make him extremely vulnerable to severe backlash!
Thinking this through, Hua Yunxiao's mind settled again.
Su Li thoughtfully glanced at the six people beside him. He did not avoid the question and answered directly, "Didn't I mention before that the mountain range around Wanli Holy Land had changed?"
Su Li's words immediately reminded Yun Wanchu of something he had said to him earlier.
"The site of Wanli Holy Land is quite interesting too. It's laid out like a Soul Burial Ground and a Dragon Severing Platform!"
Now, Su Li repeated those words.
Hua Yunxiao's heart tightened, and his expression immediately turned grave.
Seeing this, Su Li's mood remained unchanged, his expression as solemn as before.
But inside, he sneered.
From what Mu Yuxi had said, he had already understood something: the reason Hua Yunxiao and the others kept encountering calamities, their fates repeatedly showing that they were "on the verge of death," was ultimately the will of the Heavenly Dao. It wanted them dead!
Yet each time, Su Li had stepped in personally to intervene, helping Hua Yunxiao and the others avert disaster. That only caused an even greater calamity to build up.
If Hua Yunxiao and the others kept avoiding death, all sorts of opportunities would come their way.
If they failed to escape, the calamities would only grow worse!
The Heavenly Dao was like the Grim Reaper.
Su Li still vividly remembered the movie Final Destination from his previous life.
That did not stop him from using these people as test subjects now.
Deep down, he truly hated using living people to test his ability to divine the secrets of heaven, especially when the matter involved life and death.
But he had to admit, now that he had decided to do it, it felt really good!
In the end, he had become the very sort of person he hated.
He had become a hideous creature who could command the secrets of heaven and reverse cause and effect, and therefore did whatever he pleased.
Su Li's words left Hua Yunxiao completely dumbfounded.
What was going on?
Was he saying this now to help them avert their calamity?
Hua Yunxiao no longer wanted to owe him any favors! And today, he intended to offer all of Wanli Holy Land as a "sacrifice." What did it mean for Su Li to divine that disaster would strike Wanli Holy Land?
"Master Su, do you mean something major is going to happen at Wanli Holy Land?"
Hua Yunxiao's feelings were tangled.
As soon as Yun Wanchu heard this, his expression turned grave.
With his temperament, he should not have reacted like this. But what could he do, when Master Su's words had a way of coming true?
The shadow of the Heavenly Town Soul Stele still lingered in his heart!
"Mm, that's right. Specifically, it should happen today.
"I cast a divination this morning, then carefully divined it again just now. I even asked Fairy Yuxi to fly out and check what was happening, but she was stopped and sent back."
Su Li casually made up an excuse.
While he was at it, he covered for Mu Yuxi's sudden departure.
Hearing this, Mu Yuxi immediately chimed in. "That's right, Senior Hua, Holy Lord. Earlier, Master Su said a great calamity might befall Wanli Holy Land, so he asked me to go outside and check whether the terrain was arranged like a 'transverse mountain range,' then record the details as an image.
"But when I flew out, I encountered an unknown seal. I wonder if something major is about to happen in the sect."
Mu Yuxi immediately played along.
Su Li's opinion of her rose another notch.
As expected, few people who could cultivate to this level were simple.
"Actually, this was my idea, and I was the one who personally did it. To explain, it has to do with the master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.
"The master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion judged that some great calamities would inevitably befall the world in the future, so we must increase our strength as quickly as possible.
"Therefore, I've decided to open the forbidden grounds to all the sect's disciples, make some important inheritances available, and grant them the opportunity to comprehend the Nine Orifice Stone Embryo.
"This is a major matter, which is why I sealed off the sect.
"Also, because of the information Xiaochu received yesterday, I personally sealed the mountain gate to prevent Yun Yifan from targeting and assassinating Master Su, as well as to avoid any mishaps.
"In terms of ability, I am indeed inferior to him, so I have to take precautions."
Hua Yunxiao paused briefly, then spoke half-truthfully.
Words that mixed truth and falsehood were precisely what gave people the strongest sense of authenticity and made them most likely to agree.
As he spoke, Su Li noticed that his Reasoning to Convince ability had not activated.
In other words, when Hua Yunxiao lied, he had first fooled himself.
That made him completely calm and composed as he spoke, just as though he were speaking from the bottom of his heart.
"Impressive!"
Su Li could not help but marvel inwardly.
If he had not sensed the other party's scheme through Yun Qingxuan, then even with the system, which let him spy on their innermost thoughts at all times, they might have played him to death!
This sort of person truly deserved to be called an old monster who had lived for nearly a thousand years.
"I see. Actually, this matter should be related to all of this. I can't divine the whole picture, though, as if some unknown secret of heaven has cut it off.
"After all, this matter involves too much. When it comes to divination, I can only glimpse a vague image, not the clear picture I saw before."
Su Li paced back and forth for a while, then continued, "If possible, I'd like to divine it together with the master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion. That way, we could be more certain."
Hua Yunxiao pondered for a long while, then said, "How about this? The master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion has just come out of seclusion, so I'll ask him what he thinks. In any case, Master Su, you've gone to a lot of trouble."
Su Li smiled politely. "Actually, Senior Hua should have realized that the 'friend' I mentioned was probably me.
"In the end, I was merely lucky enough to have a fortuitous encounter. In truth, I'm still just an ordinary person who hasn't weathered any great storms.
"By contrast, Senior Hua, despite your status and authority as an Imperial Lord, have never held it against me and have treated me sincerely.
"Fairy Li and Fairy Yuxi have also always granted my requests.
"So I can only do my utmost to make the best use of these abilities I unexpectedly gained, and help Imperial Lord Hua, Holy Lord Yun, and Fairy Li live better.
"That way, I won't have let down all the care and guidance Senior Hua has given me."
Su Li spoke earnestly.
These words came from the heart. He had nearly moved himself to tears.
He could speak with sincerity, too.
A complicated look flashed deep in Hua Yunxiao's eyes, but he remained silent for a while before bowing deeply to Su Li, his tone heartfelt. "Master Su, I, Hua, will never fail to honor your sincerity."
As he spoke, he thought to himself, Once the time comes and our ancestor possesses you, you'll become our ancestor. Your status and position will be beyond compare. That will be a unique honor in itself.
Su Li was touched. "Senior Hua, you're too kind."
Hearing this, Yun Wanchu was also greatly relieved. Yesterday, when he had mentioned that Master Su's parents' graves had been dug up, he had actually been very uneasy.
And when Master Su called him "Holy Lord Yun," it had made him feel even more distant.
When Master Su grew distant from him, he immediately panicked, gripped by the uneasy feeling that his life was in danger.
What was more, that feeling had only intensified throughout the night, to the point that he could barely settle down to cultivate at all.
Now that their relationship had grown harmonious and even taken a step forward, he was naturally delighted.
"Master Su, if there's anything you need at Wanli Holy Land, please just say the word. Even if I have to give my all, I'll do everything in my power to see it done."
Yun Wanchu immediately started currying favor again.
His ability to read the room and flatter people had clearly reached perfection.
Under normal circumstances, Su Li would have blurted out, "Bring me a few beauties, and I'll pass on the eighteen years of cultivation I've built up!"
But now, his smile faded, and he said gravely, "As for what I need, everything is already quite satisfactory. Anything else can wait until later.
"The danger facing Wanli Holy Land will erupt today, probably before dusk.
"When that happens, the entire Wanli Holy Land will become a living hell, and every disciple will meet with disaster."
Su Li's words struck like a bolt of thunder, leaving Yun Wanchu, Hua Ziyan, and Fang Yueheng stunned on the spot.
Mu Yuxi was also somewhat surprised, but she was not especially shocked. Still, after hesitating briefly, she put on an extremely "shocked" expression.
That small detail made Su Li think even more highly of her.
Just then, Su Li suddenly felt that same sensation of being "watched" again.
At that moment, his heart sank. Yun Qingxuan had ultimately betrayed his trust!
Yun Qingxuan had used the Soul Locking Tower again, and had even secretly flown over to "keep an eye on" him.
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