342: Chapter 342 The Weight of Two Words

Day broke.

Su Changge had barely slept all night.

He lay on the couch with his eyes closed, but his mind was racing.

He tossed and turned, deducing various possibilities until the sky outside the window shifted from black to gray, and from gray to white.

Finally, he determined one thing—

[Before the opening of the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly, I cannot alert the enemy.]

[Mo Yuan was scared off by me last night, and he will definitely tell Red Ember. Red Ember should be reassessing the situation now. If I act too proactively—like going to find the Seal's formation core ahead of time or mobilizing a large number of people—Red Ember might detonate the formation early.]

[Therefore, what I need to do is exactly the opposite—do nothing. At least on the surface, do nothing.]

[Eat when I should eat, drink when I should drink, and act pretentious when I should act pretentious.]

[Let the Four Directions Dragon Court feel that the "unfathomable man in white" doesn't care about their plans at all.]

[That is the greatest deterrent.]

Having thought through this layer, Su Changge felt a bit more at ease.

He got up, washed his face, and changed into a clean white robe.

He pushed open the door.

The morning light spilled into the courtyard of the Traveling Palace, blanketing the ground in golden light.

Ye Qingyao was standing in the center of the courtyard.

She had already changed back into the formal robes of the Taixuan Sect Revered Master—a moon-white long dress with a silver spiritual-patterned belt cinched at the waist, her hair tied high and held by a white jade hairpin.

She was practicing her swordplay.

It wasn't actual practice—Cultivators at the Mahayana Stage had long since moved past the need to swing a sword to Cultivate.

She was simply performing a set of basic sword forms.

Each move and stance was as slow as if she were painting.

The tip of the sword sliced through the air, trailing a very thin arc of spiritual light before it dissipated.

Su Changge stood at the door and watched for a while.

The morning light shone on Ye Qingyao, her moon-white hem swaying gently with the movements of the sword forms.

Her profile was sharply defined in the sunlight; her eyelashes were long, casting a small shadow on her cheekbones when she looked down slightly.

The line of her neck extended from behind her ear to her collarbone, so white it was almost transparent in the morning light.

Su Changge's gaze lingered on her collarbone for a second.

[...Alright, alright, what am I looking at? Business first.]

He walked down the steps, his footsteps clearly audible in the quiet courtyard.

Ye Qingyao sheathed her sword and turned around.

"Revered Master."

Her voice had regained its daytime composure.

The woman with red-rimmed eyes from last night had transformed back into the calm and self-possessed Mahayana Stage Sect Master in the morning light.

Su Changge walked to the stone table in the center of the courtyard and sat down.

Breakfast was already laid out on the stone table—several plates of spiritual fruit, a pot of spiritual tea, and two items that looked like pastries.

Su Changge picked one up and took a bite.

The taste was good, melting in the mouth with a faint sweet fragrance.

Ye Qingyao walked over and stood opposite the stone table.

She did not sit.

"Revered Master, your Disciple thought about it all night long."

Su Changge chewed the pastry and looked up at her.

Ye Qingyao's expression was very serious.

"Your Disciple feels that the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly might be a trap."

Su Changge said nothing.

He continued eating.

Ye Qingyao continued, "The fragments of the 'Descent of the Heavenly Demon' from my past life's memories, combined with the undercurrents I've felt in the Chixiao Dao Domain these past few days—someone is setting a stage. And the person planning this has a very large goal."

She looked into Su Changge's eyes.

"Your Disciple guesses that someone wants to use the opportunity of the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly to do something significant enough to change the landscape of the Chixiao Dao Domain."

Su Changge gave a mental thumbs-up.

[As expected of the Reborn Empress. Even though her memories are incomplete, she can deduce the general direction just from fragmented information.]

[She's only missing specific intelligence now—who is planning, what means they're using, and what the goal is.]

[I have that intelligence. But I can't tell her everything. At least not now.]

Su Changge put down the pastry in his hand.

He looked up at Ye Qingyao.

Ye Qingyao met his gaze with a hint of nervousness.

Su Changge spoke with a nonchalant tone that suggested "I already know everything you've said."

"What do you think should be done?"

Ye Qingyao was taken aback.

Was Revered Master testing her?

She quickly organized her thoughts.

"Your Disciple has two plans. First, in my capacity as the Taixuan Sect Revered Master, I will issue a warning to Xiao Huang, the Hall Revered Master of the Blazing Dragon Sacred Hall, requesting that the defensive arrangements for the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly be strengthened."

"Second—"

Ye Qingyao lowered her voice.

"Your Disciple will secretly dispatch elite Disciples from the Taixuan Sect to conduct a carpet search around Divine Flame Mountain to find the hidden enemies."

Su Changge shook his head inwardly.

[The first plan—will Xiao Huang believe it? You're the leader of an outside Sect going to tell someone, "Something's going to happen on your turf"? If Xiao Huang is narrow-minded, he'll suspect you have some ulterior motive instead.]

[The second plan is even worse. Your Disciples are at most at the Nascent Soul or Soul Transformation level. Sending them out to search? If they run into any Tribulation Transcendence Stage evil Cultivator from the Four Directions Dragon Court, they'll be killed on the spot. Besides, the commotion of a large-scale search is too big; it's equivalent to telling the enemy directly, "We already know your plan."]

[Both plans would alert the enemy.]

Su Changge did not directly reject Ye Qingyao's plans.

He simply picked up his teacup.

"No rush."

Two words.

Ye Qingyao's brow furrowed slightly.

"Revered Master..."

Su Changge took a sip of tea.

He set it down.

"You said last night that you were willing to sacrifice your life to cover the retreat."

Ye Qingyao's breath hitched slightly.

Su Changge looked at her.

His gaze rested on Ye Qingyao's face for two seconds.

In those two seconds, Ye Qingyao's heart beat exactly seven times—she counted.

Then Su Changge made a move.

He raised his right hand.

His palm was raised, moving toward Ye Qingyao.

Ye Qingyao's body stiffened slightly.

She didn't know what Revered Master was going to do.

Su Changge's hand moved slowly through the air, approaching the top of Ye Qingyao's head.

He wanted to pat her head.

Like those cool male protagonists in TV dramas do when comforting the heroine—patting her head gently and saying, "It's okay, I'm here."

His hand got closer and closer.

Ye Qingyao could feel the warmth from Su Changge's palm.

Three inches from the top of her head.

Two inches.

One inch.

Then—he stopped.

Su Changge's hand hovered in the air for a second.

[No, no, no.]

[I'm her Revered Master! What kind of image is a Revered Master patting his Disciple's head? It's either too creepy or too undignified.]

[What if she thinks I'm being frivolous? What if she goes back and tells others, "The Dao Ancestor touched my head"? Will my persona even survive that?]

Su Changge's hand froze in mid-air for a moment.

Then—his palm shifted horizontally.

Moving away from the top of Ye Qingyao's head, it landed on her shoulder.

He gave it a light pat.

Just one.

The force was very light.

Then he withdrew it.

The entire movement was as smooth as flowing water, appearing like an elder encouraging a Junior.

When her shoulder was patted, Ye Qingyao's entire body trembled slightly.

She looked up at Su Changge.

Su Changge's face wore a flat expression that said, "You don't need to worry."

He spoke.

"Rest assured."

Two words.

No prefix.

No suffix.

No "I have everything under control."

No "I will protect you."

Just—"Rest assured."

Ye Qingyao stared blankly at Su Changge.

Two words.

The simplest two words.

But coming from Su Changge's mouth—they carried more weight than any oath.

Because Ye Qingyao knew her Revered Master too well.

Revered Master never spoke nonsense.

Revered Master never gave promises he wasn't sure of.

If Revered Master said "Rest assured," it meant he already had a plan to deal with everything.

Ye Qingyao's eyes suddenly felt a bit hot again.

She blinked hard twice to suppress the heat.

Then she broke into a smile.

It wasn't that dignified, Taixuan Sect Revered Master-style smile.

It was a—heartfelt smile, like that of a young girl.

"Yes."

She said softly.

"Your Disciple is at ease."

Su Changge looked at her smile and suddenly felt a bit panicked.

[She believed it.]

[She completely believed it.]

[I said two words, and she believed it one hundred percent.]

[Oh, Ye Qingyao, do you know that the person you trust can't even protect himself?]

[But—never mind.]

[Since you believe it, I'll find a way to make this "rest assured" a reality.]

Su Changge picked up the remaining pastry on the table and stuffed it into his mouth.

He chewed a few times.

He swallowed.

"From today until tomorrow, rest well. The day after tomorrow, when the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly opens, you will come up the mountain with me."

Ye Qingyao nodded.

"Yes, Revered Master."

She turned to leave.

After walking a few steps, she stopped again.

She didn't look back.

"Revered Master."

"Hmm."

"...In that cup of tea last night, your Disciple added some Tranquil Spirit Grass when brewing it. I originally wanted Revered Master to have a good night's sleep."

Su Changge: "..."

There was a hint of mischief in Ye Qingyao's voice.

"Unfortunately, it wasn't very useful. Revered Master's cultivation is something even Tranquil Spirit Grass cannot affect."

Her footsteps gradually faded away.

Su Changge sat at the stone table, holding his teacup.

He suddenly remembered something.

Last night, after he drank that cup of tea, he did feel for a moment that his mind was exceptionally clear and relaxed.

He had thought it was just good tea leaves.

So it was Tranquil Spirit Grass.

And Tranquil Spirit Grass had a particularly obvious effect on Cultivators at the Qi Refining First Layer.

The corner of Su Changge's mouth twitched slightly.

[So the plan I spent all night thinking about was conceived under the buff of Tranquil Spirit Grass.]

[Fine. As long as the result is good.]

He stood up.

He needed to find Zhao Tian to confirm a few things.

Su Changge walked to the side courtyard of the Traveling Palace.

Zhao Tian lived here.

Just as he reached the door to Zhao Tian's room—

The door was suddenly pulled open from the inside.

Zhao Tian rushed out with a face full of anxiety.

"Dao Revered Master! Something big has happened!"

Su Changge's heart sank a bit.

"The Four Directions Dragon Court—they moved their base overnight!"

Zhao Tian's voice was very low, but he spoke extremely fast.

"I sent scouts to the Southern Foot Mine to confirm this morning, and found the mine has been sealed off! The Restrictions inside have all been rearranged and are ten times more complex than yesterday! And—"

Zhao Tian swallowed.

"The tunnel exit at the Northern Foot has also changed position. They moved all the arrangements at least five hundred zhang deeper underground."

Su Changge's face showed no change.

But his inner self had already exploded.

[Sure enough! After Mo Yuan went back to report, Red Ember immediately adjusted their deployment!]

[They moved the formation deeper—this shows Red Ember is guarding against me. He's afraid I'll find the formation's location and destroy it beforehand.]

[Deeper... five hundred zhang... that's almost touching the main artery of the earth's ley lines.]

[The deeper it is, the harder it is to find, but it also means—the deeper the position, the greater the impact on the Seal when it detonates.]

Seeing Su Changge's calm face, Zhao Tian felt greatly reassured.

The Dao Revered Master had indeed already calculated this step.

"Dao Revered Master, what should your subordinate do?"

Su Changge was silent for three seconds.

In those three seconds, he was thinking at lightning speed.

Then he spoke.

"Continue monitoring. Do not approach. You only need to confirm one thing—what conditions are required for the formation's detonation."

Zhao Tian was startled.

"Detonation conditions?"

Su Changge nodded.

"All great formations have trigger conditions for detonation. Find the condition, and you can find the method to block it."

These words were learned from the "Great Dao Scripture Pavilion."

Su Changge spoke very calmly, as if everything was within his grasp.

A hint of admiration flashed in Zhao Tian's eyes.

"Your subordinate understands! I will go arrange it now!"

Zhao Tian turned and ran off.

Su Changge watched Zhao Tian's back disappear at the end of the Traveling Palace's corridor.

Then he turned and walked back to his own room.

He closed the door.

He leaned against the door panel.

He closed his eyes.

[Three days later. The Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly.]

[The Seal is at thirty percent. The formation has been moved down. Four lunatics are itching for action.]

[And me—]

Su Changge looked down at his hands.

Fair, slender hands with absolutely no spiritual energy fluctuations.

A pair of hands belonging to a Qi Refining First Layer trash.

[These hands must, in three days—trick an ancient Seal.]

Su Changge gave a bitter smile.

[Su Changge, you've really dug a massive pit for yourself.]

Outside the window, Divine Flame Mountain stood silently in the morning light.

Deep in the belly of the mountain, in some even deeper corner—

Blazing Flame Dragon Emperor Red Ember stood before a topographical map fired with dragon flame.

On the map, a red dot marked the location of the "Southern Pivot."

Red Ember's finger tapped on the red dot.

"Man in white... Spiritual Void Desolate Dao Master..."

Dragon fire flickered in Red Ember's eyes.

"It's good that you've come."

"Just as well—I'll burn you clean along with the rest."