Master of Strange Dao

Yu Ziqing felt some regret, not having lured the monster; this was the problem he had anticipated earlier.

Finding a powerful opponent who wanted to kill him was not difficult; the tricky part was whether the opponent would make a move or dare to make a move.

Take the Black Robed Man, for instance, at the Ninth Tier of the Primordial Spirit Realm, and with his Primordial Spirit severely injured, he couldn't possibly use many Dharma Methods.

Even if he forced himself to use them, it would have to be when his life was on the line, at the cost of depleting his Primordial Spirit's source, which in other words, meant lowering his Realm.

If the depletion was excessive and beyond the limit, he might even drop from the Ninth Tier.

Such a fellow, when desperate, is indeed very dangerous, but he was exactly the kind of target Yu Ziqing was looking for, an opponent for the village chief to fight against.

An opponent who could suppress the village chief, forcing the chief to burst beyond his limits to possibly win, but with a high likelihood of not being able to crush the village chief completely.

A pity that the fellow had a clear objective, which was merely to clarify a piece of information.

And that piece of information was something Yu Ziqing had prepared to tell them early on to avoid many troubles.

Who would have thought that after asking, the fellow would just leave without even trying to capture Yu Ziqing along the way.

It seems that the man with the metal mask probably had no connection with the Black Robed Man.

And according to Yu Ziqing's interrogation and conjecture, the man with the metal mask was related to No.2.

Furthermore, the man with the metal mask and the Black Robed Man were all connected to the people who abducted the Yin Family members.

Yu Ziqing had initially thought they all belonged to the same faction, but now it seemed that there were divisions within that faction behind the scenes, with each harboring their own agendas.

Or perhaps, the Black Robed Man was merely cooperating with them.

Otherwise, in their pursuit of the Shadow Supreme's position, they were planning some deed, and before the dust settled, they would undoubtedly ensure that Yu Ziqing wouldn't interfere.

Yu Ziqing had emerged, but the man with the metal mask had disappeared, and if the Black Robed Man knew this, it made no sense for him not to ask a single question.

Or perhaps, they believed that since the Old Chief Venerate was dead, and both contenders for the new Chief Venerate were their people, the matter was no longer in suspense, and what Yu Ziqing was doing now was no longer important.

They might even think that the disappearance of the man with the metal mask had nothing to do with Yu Ziqing at all.

Coming to this realization, Yu Ziqing couldn't help but let out a wry smile.

It seemed, there really might be a possibility there.

The man with the metal mask was actually quite strong, only he met the village chief who, even with cheats activated, couldn't keep up; Yang, who had seen much and knew much, called it outrageous more times than he could count.

He was somewhat of an expert, yet he couldn't even self-destruct face-to-face, which was an overwhelming defeat.

Capturing someone alive while ensuring they cannot even commit suicide is much more difficult than killing them.

So, the one who had always been elusive, not showing up for a while, is not necessarily dead.

The odds are that they wouldn't suspect him.

He was just a Fifth Tier Body Cultivator, where would he get such capability?

What he truly wanted to catch was the person behind the man with the metal mask, who he had a grudge against, yet he failed to lure him out.

He lured another person instead.

The more Yu Ziqing thought about it, the stranger he found the matter.

But thinking about it, it made sense; regardless of which faction, except for Jinlan Mountain with its peculiar existence from the start, which other faction is not comprised of numerous sub-factions?

Even in a clan like the Feng family, Feng Buju had to consider the demands of the majority of his clan and could not act recklessly, to the point where he even had to send away his own son.

With organizations like the Shadow Department, it might seem on the surface that everyone is working hard for the same cause, loyal to Emperor Li, but in truth, the thoughts of the members within the Shadow Department are each more complex than the last, each with their own pursuits and ideas.

Yu Ziqing always felt that the people behind those factions were united in their effort toward a common goal, perhaps he was oversimplifying things.

Just like the old Chief Venerate of the Shadow Department, he was loyal to Emperor Li, but that didn't stop him from doing some obviously shady activities.

Similarly, Song Chengyue of the Jinyi Wei, Old Song is probably more outrageous than the Old Chief Venerate, for the things he's done behind Emperor Qian's back are probably more than one or two.

So Old Song had known for a long time that his end would not be good.

One just wonders whether it was Old Song who started doing things behind Emperor Qian's back, or if he did those things after knowing his days were numbered; there's quite a difference between the two.

One is choosing a dignified death, the other is seeking life out of desperation.

With these thoughts, Yu Ziqing felt that what he saw and knew might be completely different from those people's ultimate goals.

The more he thought, the more his head hurt, so he decided to stop thinking about it.

Keep it simple, whoever came looking for trouble, he would kill, avenge wrongs and settle grievances.

He didn't want to get involved in those troublesome matters, but they had already involved him.

"Young Master, should we keep the entrance to that place?"

"Keep it for now, and see if anyone else comes. Masters who can go there, bring one in and it will be given to the village chief as practice, and if they get killed, they had it coming.

Aside from the people behind that masked man, no one would go to that accursed place or have the means to enter.

Later on, we'll think of a way, see if we can preserve that entrance, preferably move it somewhere else, or refine it into a Magical Treasure to carry with us.

When you're home, if you encounter someone outside, use that entrance to get back home."