"These Twelve True Palaces are indeed a huge cage, but the prisoner is not me," said the Peerless Daoist calmly, his tone carrying an indescribable candor.
Lin Yu seemed to have realized what Wushuang Daoist was about to say, but seeing Wushuang Daoist pause, his heart still couldn't help but jump up and down with his words.
"The real prisoner was actually the old man who called himself the Longevity Daoist."
"He kept this from you quite completely. But that makes sense, since he wanted to use you to obtain the key and break free from the cage. It's just that you didn't follow his wishes in the end."
The Peerless Daoist said with a smile.
Lin Yu looked at the Peerless Daoist, but felt somewhat puzzled by his meaning.
The matter concerning the Twelve True Palaces was already a tangled mess. Lin Yu came here hoping to sort out the relationships, but after the Peerless Daoist explained it to him, his mind became even more confused.
"Fortunately, you're a smart kid and you doubted what he told you, which is why you didn't hand over the key."
The Peerless Daoist looked at Lin Yu with more appreciation, clearly agreeing with Lin Yu's approach.
Lin Yu replied, "Senior, I apologize for my rudeness. There's something I don't understand. Since that Longevity Daoist is already such a vicious and troublesome person, why bother with a stranger like me? Why not just directly seize the key?"
Lin Yu couldn't understand why someone who was truly wicked would bother to say those words to him and put on such a show. Now it seemed that those words were completely meaningless.
"That's because you're still useful to him, which is why he didn't dare to forcibly seize you," said the Peerless Daoist.
"Please explain in more detail, senior," Lin Yu continued.
Lin Yu was feeling increasingly confused; he simply couldn't understand what the Peerless Daoist's purpose was.
He was the one who gave me the key to the Twelve True Palaces in the beginning, and told me that once the restart formation was activated, it could save the innocent puppets in the Twelve True Palaces.
But now, the Peerless Daoist tells him that the Twelve True Palaces are a prison where the Longevity Daoist is held.
If he had actually used the key to activate the restart formation back then, wouldn't he have made a grave mistake, letting the Longevity Daoist escape like a tiger returning to the mountains?
This key was given to me by the Peerless Daoist. If that's true, doesn't it mean that the Peerless Daoist didn't care at all that the Longevity Daoist would escape the Twelve True Palaces?
If both Wushuang Daoist and Changshou Daoist aimed to escape the Twelve True Palaces, their current actions are clearly contradictory.
"You must be wondering why I, who seem to be at odds with that Daoist of Longevity, entrusted you with the key and asked you to activate the restart formation of the Twelve True Palaces?"
"What you say is true, senior. I am indeed foolish and ignorant. Please enlighten me," Lin Yu said hastily.
A smile finally appeared on Wushuang Daoren's face, a smile tinged with an indescribable cunning.
"Actually, I only said to activate the restart formation at the time, but when did I ever say that activating the restart formation meant opening the massive prison of the Twelve True Palaces?"
"The reason I told you the key and how to operate the formation is quite simple: the so-called restarting of the formation is just to reinforce this prison."
"After hundreds of years, even the strongest barrier will weaken. Since I am trapped here in the Twelve True Palaces and cannot leave, I have no choice but to seek your help."
"That Daoist of Longevity was right; you truly are the chosen one. Your presence before me is an arrangement of Heaven. In this world, perhaps only you can reinforce this formation."
The Peerless Daoist slowly revealed the truth.
Lin Yu was still filled with doubt and uncertainty. He felt that the Twelve True Palaces were a complete mess, and the things in between were utterly incomprehensible.
Thinking back to his last encounter, where he met the Peerless Daoist and then the Longevity Daoist, and the two of them said almost completely opposite things, Lin Yu was even more confused.
Lin Yu's original intention in meeting Wushuang Daoren again today was to press him for the truth of the matter, but he did not expect that Wushuang Daoren would come up with a theory that was completely opposite to what Changshou Daoren had said before, which really caught Lin Yu off guard.
"Young man, you failed to complete the task I entrusted to you, and the real villains stopped you." The Peerless Daoist spoke in a calm tone, and even his dark eyes showed little change.
The Peerless Daoist has been in the Twelve True Palaces for at least a few years, and now things have finally taken a turn for the better. However, he has no intention of continuing to blame Lin Yu for his failure.
Lin Yu frowned; this reaction was somewhat strange.
According to Daoist Wushuang, he gave him the key to reinforce the formation of the entire Twelve True Palaces, ensuring that Daoist Changshou would never be able to leave.
"If that's the case, why are you waiting for me here, senior? Have you considered what you would do if I didn't show up? Are you just going to keep waiting like this?"
Lin Yu asked.
The Peerless Daoist's face showed a hint of melancholy. "Do you know how much they paid when the twelve True Palaces were created by the twelve immortals?"
"Actually, I am one of those twelve people from back then," said the Peerless Daoist, giving the answer before Lin Yu could even ask his question.
It's only natural to want to ask yourself what's going on at this point, and Wushuang Daoren didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
On the contrary, Lin Yu's expression and demeanor were quite calm.
"To be honest, only eleven cultivators perished back then. Only I remain, with a portion of my consciousness still intact."
"Unfortunately, I'm too old and useless now. Over the years, I've only been able to rely on this dilapidated place to sustain my remaining soul. Logically speaking, I should have followed in the footsteps of those eleven old men and vanished into nothingness with them."
The Peerless Daoist revealed a self-deprecating smile, as if silently accusing the world of why he himself was still left in the mortal realm to suffer such pain.
"I also wanted to personally activate and restart the barrier. Unfortunately, given my current physical condition, I am no longer able to do so."
A hint of helplessness crept into those calm eyes.