Regressed Master: Raising The Son Of Heaven Isn't Easy [Xianxia]

Following Wang Yang's short stunt on the stage, uncertainties and wild rumors spread around the sect. Muchen, in the deathly calm of the underground, finished his daily cultivation and planned for his next move.

After a few days of cultivation, he had made some headway in adapting to the fast Qi absorption and reached the cusp of the 7th refinement of the Golden Core realm. The speed, even if knocked down several stages, harmed his body if continued for long.

However, he planned to mitigate them with medicine until he achieved his goal.

It's a long road, that's why I can only be reckless once. To build a pagoda that reached heaven, one needed a solid foundation.

He had solidified his cultivation a lot more than before; however, he couldn't take it slow if he wanted to deal with Gu Changge effectively. The longer he took to deal with him, the harder it'd be.

"Where are you going now?" Yae asked, grooming her fur.

"I have an important appointment," Muchen said, wiping the sweat off his body with a cold towel.

"You're going like that?" Yae stared at the deep red and purple bruises on his body.

"They'll heal by the time I reach the location." Muchen's recovery speed already saw a substantial increase; the pain was an afterthought.

Upon reaching the estate, he changed into a new set of robes and entered the main wing after taking another medicinal pill. Yae turned into a little ball and went to sleep on his bed. Not even the world's end would rouse her.

He found the prepared guest room and entered, as silent as an assassin. Inside, he had prepared a feast for the exceptional results his disciples had achieved, but they weren't in sight. In their place, another shadowy figure loomed over the low table with her raccoon-like hands.

His lips turned into a crescent moon when Qian Yun stared at him, dazed. Her mouth – filled with red bean mochi – dropped a little, and the two in her hands dropped to the table. He didn't say a word and walked out.

Qian Yun chased Muchen out to the veranda in a stupor. He stood there, snickering in the calm wind.

"Just speak." Qian Yun's brow furrowed.

"How about I leave that for others?" He folded his arms. "The almighty genius Qian Yun stealing food from her junior's celebration party? I am sure many would like to say something."

"It's not about that!" Qian Yun's eyes became sharper. "Why are you the bait?"

"Don't change the subject n—"

"Explain." She cut him off.

"Is that why you are here and not doing what I asked for?" Muchen leaned against the wall. "Care about me that much, do you?"

"Care about you? My foot!" Qian Yun stomped forward. "I don't want to be involved in a plan that gets Azure Sky Sect's prodigal Peak Master killed, okay?"

"Why are we assuming I'd die?" He tilted his head.

"Because that would make my day."

"But you can't let me die?"

"Unfortunately." Disappointment dripped off her scrunched face. "So, you better explain your plan."

Muchen shook his head and sat on the nearby chair. "The bait isn't Li Muchen…" He invited her to sit and slide a portrait on the red tea table.

Qian Yun stared at the annoying mug of a white-haired man sporting a slanted smile, a smile mirroring the one on Muchen's face.

She only hated one person more than Li Muchen.

"Bian Que." She held her head; the two people she hated the most were the same person. "How does this persona of yours come into play?"

"Gu Changge will, without a doubt, target Bian Que," Muchen said.

"And why are you so sure of that?" She leaned on the table, her gloved hand supporting her radiant face.

"Because he is an ambitious coward." Muchen placed his hands on the table and leaned forward, too. "He knows when to bend the knee, but he never forgets who made him do that."

"This time, Bian Que not only thwarted his plan of inciting discord between Azure Sky Sect and Purple Cloud Sect. He also killed one of the Demonic Sect's hidden aces, who was working with Gu Changge." He continued.

"What hidden aces?" Qian Yun straightened up.

"You'll know in about—" Muchen took out a golden pocket watch from his sleeve and looked at the tiniest of the three white needles. "—five seconds."

"What the he—!" Before she could speak, Qian Yun's sect token buzzed.

One look at the name, and her brow furrowed.

"Speak, Zhi Rou," Qian Yun answered.

Lady Qian, I have news on the Demonic Sects. Zhi Rou's bland voice sliced through the calm veranda. The bounty on Shu Huang has been claimed.

"What?!" Qian Yun didn't expect to hear that name again.

A fellow genius from the same generation. It had caused an uproar when word of him joining the Demonic Sect came out. His own master had placed a bounty on him, yet no one had seen hide nor hair of him all these years. Now, suddenly someone was claiming his bounty?

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"When and who?" Qian Yun glanced at Li Muchen. The timing seemed too convenient.

It happened five minutes ago at the Assassin Guild's Xingzhou branch. Bian Que walked in with Shu Huang's head and placed it on the reception desk. They are in the middle of processing it. He is in a private room, probably having tea and some snacks from Golden Hat, Zhi Rou said. Must be nice.

"…Thank you for letting me know. I'll handle your payment later." Qian Yun pinched the bridge of her nose.

It's my job, Lady Qian.

The call disconnected. Qian Yun stared at Muchen hard enough to burn a hole through him.

"How?" she asked after a solid minute of silence.

How could Li Muchen sit in front of her and collect the bounty at the assassin guild, all the way in Purple Cloud's territory, at the same time?

"My method isn't important." Muchen leaned on his chair, a faint smile hanging on his lips. "You should be asking why I did this."

Qian Yun stumbled over her question for a moment. She cleared her mind and gathered the information in front of her. After compiling it in order, she looked at it from a different perspective. The perspective of those uninvolved.

"You want to use me to separate yourself from Bian Que completely?" she asked.

"I just need your word to get some sharp-minded people off my back," Muchen said, pointing at her from across the table. "After all, who wouldn't trust the words of the headstrong, pragmatic, and righteous genius, Qian Yun?"

"If you keep subtly dissing me like this, I'll tell everyone that you are Bian Que." She slammed the table with her fist.

"You won't."

"What makes you so confident?"

"I know you won't." He smiled.

"Damn it!" Qian Yun gritted her teeth.

If Muchen's analysis was correct, the Demonic Sects and Gu Changge would set their eyes on Bian Que for Shu Huang's murder after this incident. Revealing that Bian Que was Muchen would not only muddy the water, but it would endanger their plan to get back at the Demonic Sects.

Qian Yun hated to admit it, but they needed someone like Li Muchen to deal with Gu Changge. The plans he had drawn until now were enough proof.

"Back to the point. I am sure Gu Changge got chewed out enough to make Fairy Candy jealous. He won't forget this grudge. The only way he has to re-solidify his position with the Demonic sects is to kill Bian Que as soon as he can." Muchen laid out the puzzle he had prepared. "All we have to do is strike when he sinks his teeth into the delicious bait we've hung in front of him."

"If he is a coward, as you said, I am sure he'll come prepared for ambushes."

"You can leave that to me. Your task is to gather enough forces to overwhelm the Demonic Sects."

"What a simple task that is," she grumbled.

"This is a proper division of tasks, I assure you." Muchen stood up and stretched. "Also, I found something about your disciple this morning."

"You did?" Qian Yun's chair flew back, and her hands slammed on the table, leaving deep imprints.

Qian Yun had done everything in her power to find the whereabouts of her disciple when she found her disciple's sect token and uniform in the hands of a demonic cultivator. However, the long search had yet to yield many concrete results.

"…Someone spotted her last week in Jinzhou. She shouldn't have gone too far from there." Muchen already knew of this incident. It had caused quite the stir inside the Purple Cloud Sect.

While Qian Yun searched for her disciple frantically, that shameless girl enjoyed the pretty flowers in Jinzhou's red-light district. Muchen remembered teasing Qian Yun over the next decades over this incident, and it would cause her to erupt in anger without fail.

"Butler Ji… Yeah, I have a task for you. Yes, it is regarding Jiao'er…" Qian Yun deftly communicated with the Qian family's special task team and dispatched them to retrieve her disciple.

Li Muchen knew the attachment Qian Yun had towards her disciple, especially after what had happened with the previous one. Before regression, he had seen how frantically she had searched for Lang Jiao, even forsaking her duties for the sect and facing disciplinary actions later.

So, he wanted to relieve her burdens this time around.

At least this can repay a little of the favor you did for me. It was Muchen's way of repaying the kindness he received in this cutthroat world.

After giving her orders, Qian Yun picked up the fallen chair and sat down, heaving a long sigh. She looked at Muchen's neutral expression, his lips almost edging to a smile.

"I am not gonna thank you, you know?" she blurted, crossing her arms in defiance.

"I didn't expect any." Muchen adjusted his sleeves with a chuckle. "Now that the pressing matters are done, would you care for some tea? I recently got my hands on some quality leaves."

"…" Qian Yun gawked, almost forgetting to breathe.

"I have some snacks too, the spicy fried dough that you stole from me before. I remember you liked it quite a lot," Muchen added.

Qian Yun looked at the bright blue sky and fell into deep thought. She even rubbed her eyes a few times before looking at Muchen. After straining her brain to the limits, she uttered a question.

"Have I already told you how creepy you've become?"

"Get out." Veins popped on Muchen's white forehead.

"No!!! My Spicy dough sticks!!" Qian Yun screamed, without an ounce of the dignity one would expect from a future matriarch.

Muchen gave her the snacks, sending her away to Peach Peak. He had to get Qian Yun out of his hair before she asked more questions, so he resorted to such tactics.

The plan to lure out Gu Changge, he told her half of it. Gu Changge wouldn't let Bian Que go; however, Muchen wanted his opponent to have the least number of forces before making his move. Otherwise, that rat would simply hide while using the lives of his subordinates.

Even if Bian Que was the one who thwarted his plan, Gu Changge wouldn't stop at just targeting him. A person as ambitious as he will take revenge not only on Bian Que but also on the major sects that avoided his schemes. Muchen had long guided Gu Changge's moves to the path he wanted. Now he wanted to reap it all. Because he lost a talent that the Demonic Sects cultivated for many years, the only way to make up for it is to kill the talented disciples from the major sects and put on a show for his masters.

The upcoming Eastern Martial Meet set the perfect stage for that.

Now that two of his plans have failed in succession, he'll need to make a bigger move to turn his losses into a positive. Muchen poured hot water into a white ceramic teapot. Even someone as cautious as he will have to take risks to overhaul his situation.

Because of the century-long peace and the major sect's dominance on the continent, the Sects have grown complacent. Over the years, the number of strong cultivators who bothered to lead the disciples down to Qingliu Mountain had diminished by 90%. Sometimes only elders at the peak of Golden Core would attend from most sects.

As someone familiar with the lax attitude of the major sects, Gu Changge would target the Eastern Martial Meet where the future of the Eastern Continent gathered. This was the script Li Muchen had written for him.

If I told Qian Yun that the Eastern Martial Meet would face an attack, she would've flipped out. As brazen and disrespectful as she was, Qian Yun had a pure, caring heart.

Muchen, of course, wouldn't forsake the young disciples at the meet either. Unlike Bian Que, the function of the young disciples was to take forces away from Gu Changge, nothing more. While Gu Changge's forces ran after the delicious bait, the disciples, he planned to strike the man in the shadows.

However, he needed more help to pull this off, from two people specifically. The first had an extensive network that spanned the entire continent, and the second had unrivaled strength in her realm.

Muchen had contacted the first one as Qian Yun left.

I know she is dying for an answer right about now. He had thrown out enough bait. Now, he had to reel the lines in.