C517 I Am the Bait

The sun and moon were suspended in the sky.

Lim Zhuyun radiated an intense chill, her body aglow with icy brilliance, as a frigid moon delicately hovered above her.

Hundreds of massive ice spires, sharp with biting frost, shimmered in the sunlight, crystal clear and solidly cold, like towering ice dragons surging towards the ethereal pavilion above.

Ice light scattered across the heavens.

Shards of ice burst forth, scattering fragments and crystals in their wake.

The pavilion, though not towering, exuded extreme opulence. Its spiritual energy swirled within, forming a protective array imbued with the essence of wealth.

Old Cash, corpulent in form, sat amidst the copper coins, blood spilling from his mouth.

The pavilion teetered on the brink of collapse.

Countless emerald flames, like flocks of birds, assailed the jade barrier, eroding the refined spiritual energy above.

Occasionally, a brass coin, its spiritual energy and fortune depleted, would clatter to the ground.

Once a vessel of luck and spiritual power, the fallen coin was now reduced to a mere memento, a common copper piece used in mundane transactions, stripped of its former mystique.

Old Cash coughed up blood, mourning his lost coins, torn over whether to forsake the Jade Tower and flee to Babel Island with Yu Yuan and Yuan Lianyao.

The message he intended for Yu Yuan paled in comparison to the loss of the Jade Tower.

Regret filled him, yet he knew all too well that no remedy for regret existed.

Ahead lay a dead end, but it was the only path he could follow to its bitter conclusion.

Lim Zhuyun's ruthless slaughter on Red Devilland had made the consequences of crossing her crystal clear.

No plea for mercy, no withdrawal now, would absolve him of the responsibility.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The ice spires relentlessly bombarded the pavilion, shaking it to its core until it plunged into the abyssal sea.

Old Cash let out a resigned sigh and resolved to leave without Yu Yuan, ready to abandon the Jade Tower and make their escape.

Clutching his sword sheath, Yu Yuan forced himself to overlook the tumult within him, entering the wondrous state of the Soul Forging Technique, reaching out to the distant Soul Transformation Pool in the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area.

Just as he was about to act, a feeble thought from the cauldron soul echoed, "No!"

"Hmm?"

"Do not act rashly. The space beneath the Soul Transformation Pool, with its four ancient characters, can transfer soul thoughts. But that power is of the Divine Soul Sect! You must not be reckless here!"

"I'm on the brink of death..."

"Many eyes are upon this place; you won't die. Be patient, wait a bit longer. As long as you don't expose anything related to the Divine Soul Sect, you might avoid detection and survive. But if they discover your connection to the Sect, your death is certain!" the cauldron soul urged with urgency.

"People are watching us?"

"Mo Yan from the Devil Palace has covertly triggered the cauldron's secret array, revealing your presence in a flash. He's likely plotting something else. I'm beginning to see that his true aim might not be your demise."

"Then what is it?"

"You're the bait; he's fishing with you."

The Artifact Soul, within the cauldron, stopped Yu Yuan's reckless actions and spoke, "No need for subterfuge. Once I leave your body, the powers-that-be of the Crack Archipelago will witness my departure."

Whoosh!

The Evil Cauldron, concealed within Yu Yuan's microcosm of Qi and blood, burst forth from his acupoints, unleashing a deep demonic glow that sent astonishing ripples throughout the area.

The distinct presence of the Evil Cauldron and the stir of the Artifact Soul were laid bare in that instant.

As the cauldron departed, Yu Yuan gasped for air, the erosive force that had been assaulting his organs vanished without a trace.

Moreover, the Evil Body Refining Skill spontaneously activated, beginning to mend his shattered organs.

"You?" Old Cash was bewildered.

Yuan Lianyao gasped, "What's the rush?"

As soon as the Evil Cauldron emerged, those who had been scouring the deep sea for it would sense it immediately.

To Lianyao and Yu Yuan, the Crack Archipelago seemed vast, requiring time to traverse the distance between two far-flung islands.

Yet, for the Yang Gods with their boundless mana, the Archipelago was trivial in size.

With the emergence of the Evil Cauldron, even Lim Zhuyun, the once ferocious demon whose temperament had greatly shifted, seemed to momentarily regain her composure, refraining from her frenzied assault on the Jade Tower.

Whoosh!

A scarlet rock burst forth from beneath the frigid seawater, soaring like a glowing red iron brand.

It was a square iron seal!

Massive as a mountain range, the glowing seal bore densely inscribed tiny characters on all sides.

These minuscule markings danced like tiny fire sprites, joyously cavorting across each face of the seal, resembling a host of fiery little deities.

The once-submerged scarlet seal, upon breaking the sea's surface, seemed to shatter the icy stillness of the world.

From within the seal, a voice proclaimed, "Lim Zhuyun, a disciple of the Cold Yin Sect, has fallen prey to an Outland Evil Demon's possession. She has inflicted grievous harm upon members of the Red Devil Sect, Silver Moon Sect, and her own Cold Yin Sect. Her sins are beyond redemption!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The seal took to the skies, colliding with towering ice spires that crumbled like brittle paper upon impact.

"Representatives from the Primordial Yang Sect!" Old Cash, teetering on the brink of collapse, let out a strange cry that was a mix of alarm and relief at the sight of the seal's ascent.

Yuan Lianyao's face turned pale the moment she witnessed the seal's emergence. "It's the overseer of Primordial Yang Island!" she declared.

"In the last decade, the Crack Archipelago has seen nothing so vile," came another voice, echoing eerily from the ocean's depths.

A golden swallow also emerged, its voice laced with reproach, "To think you would dare to annihilate the disciples of the Cold Yin Sect, Silver Moon Sect, and Red Devil Sect."

"Whoosh!"

The Silver Rainbow Magic Shuttle sliced through the air, arriving in the blink of an eye. From within, the chilling voice of the Devil Envoy resonated, "The Heavenly Devils wreak havoc deserving of death a thousandfold."

"Primordial Yang Sect! Babel Chamber of Commerce! Devil Palace!"

Within the Void Pavilion, Old Cash, through the inscribed iron seal, the golden swallow, and the Silver Rainbow Magic Shuttle, swiftly surmised the identities of the newcomers.

The arrival of these artifacts signaled that the three eminent figures had long been surveilling this place with premeditation.

"Devil Envoy!"

Yu Yuan gripped his sword's sheath tightly, his body jolting as he fixed his gaze on the Silver Rainbow Magic Shuttle.

When he set off for the Ember Waters, he traveled aboard the Silver Rainbow Magic Shuttle. Upon disembarking, he joined Lau Ying from the Silver Moon Sect to undertake a trial beneath the sea.

The Silver Rainbow Magic Shuttle carried Yan Lu and others further into the depths. After that, the Devil Envoy vanished from sight.

He later learned that the enigmatic Devil Envoy from the Devil Palace was tasked solely with escorting them to the Ember Waters, not with guarding it.

Indeed, the true station of the mysterious Devil Envoy seemed to be the Crack Archipelago, where the Devil Palace had positioned its overseers for Devil Island.

In that moment, he fully grasped the cauldron soul's earlier words and speculations.

Mo Yan had cast him as bait for a very specific catch...

The prey in question was Lin Zhuyan, who had brazenly slain disciples from the Red Devil, Silver Moon, and Cold Yin Sects in the Crack Archipelago. Mo Yan had used him to draw out Lin Zhuyan for an ambush.

Whether Lin Zhuyan would slay him, the bait, was of no concern to Mo Yan.

Perhaps death would be the preferable outcome. If not, the Devil Palace would eventually step in to clean up, claiming the Evil Cauldron, the Giant Beast Amber, and all that he had gathered for themselves.

"This woman, Lin Zhuyan, became host to an Outland Devaputra at the bottom of the Ember Waters."

Mo Yan's voice emerged quietly from the Silver Rainbow Magic Shuttle.

With a mischievous smile, he perched atop the shuttle, gesturing and nodding in thanks to Yu Yuan, who had been in the Jade Tower. "Much appreciated. I knew your betrothed's rampage on Red Devil Island was all for you. The moment you show yourself, she won't be able to help herself; she'll come looking for you."

The ice shards bombarding the Jade Tower were obliterated in an instant by the iron seal.

Ice crystals showered down into the sea.

Clusters of green flames returned to Lin Zhuyan, enveloping her once more.

Under the cold moon, she, amidst a sea of green fire, suddenly became the prime target for the grand cultivators.

"What has transpired at the bottom of the Ember Waters?" inquired the golden swallow, alighting before her. "Is the Chaos Roc dead? Did it ascend with the Aura Altar to the heavens, or does it still lurk within the Boundless Land? What is the nature of your pact with it?"

The representative from the Babel Chamber of Commerce pressed for further details, eager to uncover the actual conditions within that maritime region.

To date, the colossal upheaval that occurred in the Ember Waters remained shrouded in mystery.

Not even the Babel Chamber of Commerce had managed to unravel the truth.

Lim Zhuyun was, as of now, the sole participant from that cataclysmic event still active in the outside world.

She was the breakthrough, the pivotal figure everyone relied on to clarify the events that transpired in the Ember Waters.

...