Chapter 4474: A Scheme Spanning The Ages

Wang Wen calmly watched the Lifeforce surge toward him, completely unconcerned. Just as he had said moments earlier, he had never regarded Master Qing Cao as someone worth noticing.

However, that Lifeforce suddenly changed. An indescribable rhythm started to echo in the ears of countless beings.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

Is this... breathing?

Lu Yin felt it. Death's Dominion and the Divine King felt it as well. So did Blood Tower, Awe Gate, the Immortal skeletons of the Death Megaverse, Nightflow God, Ba Rong, and many others. At this moment, all of them heard the sound of breathing.

It was not that the breathing was loud. Rather, what everyone heard sounded as if someone were breathing right beside their ears.

At this moment, Master Qing Cao felt like a complete stranger to Lu Yin. His bearing had changed, and his expression was different. It was as if his whole being had risen to a higher level. Standing before everyone in that manner, he left Lu Yin momentarily dazed. It was as if he were looking at the Origin Progenitor or Greater Sancte Green Lotus.

Wang Wen frowned and slowly turned around. He also heard breathing, but not from Master Qing Cao. Wang Wen heard breathing from Wang Xiaoyu.

Master Qing Cao stood in front of him while Wang Xiaoyu stood behind Wang Wen. Both people’s breathing was in perfect unison in Wang Wen’s ears.

He turned to stare at Wang Xiaoyu in surprise.

She breathed slowly, in precisely the same rhythm as Master Qing Cao. She was standing far too close.

Wang Miaomiao looked at Wang Xiaoyu in shock. “Xiaoyu, you...?”

“So that’s how it is. You searched for me for all this time all for the sake of this exact day?” Wang Wen gave Wang Xiaoyu a long look and then turned back to Master Qing Cao. “Since when?”

Master Qing Cao’s voice rang out, yet it did not disrupt his breathing at all. “I cannot remember clearly.”

Wang Wen stroked Skydog’s fur and smiled. “How interesting. I did underestimate you. This girl pretended to betray humanity and became the greatest traitor of the Tianyuan’s Origin Universe, all so that she could join Aeternus and find me, the one behind Yong Heng. I’ve always known that.

“At first, I simply treated it as a joke. So what if she found me? I never intended to hide at all. Whether I was discovered or revealed myself made no difference. However, I did not expect this girl to be your hidden move. In that case...”

At this point, Wang Wen’s expression grew solemn as he stared at Master Qing Cao. “Just who are you?”

Lu Yin had also realized that something was off about the situation. So this was the truth of the matter.

Wang Xiaoyu had pretended to betray humanity in order to find the existence standing behind Yong Heng. The first person she had uncovered was Master Qing Cao, but after finding him, she still had not reunited with Progenitor Chen. Instead, Wang Xiaoyu had continued to follow Wang Miaomiao because she had long since known that Master Qing Cao was not the one behind Yong Heng. She and Qing Cao had already joined forces.

It was no wonder why Wang Xiaoyu had never revealed herself. In truth, Lu Yin had long found her situation strange for a long time. Given her strength, it should have been impossible for her to even learn of Wang Wen’s existence. At best, she should have only been able to find Master Qing Cao, but even after he appeared, she had stayed with Wang Miaomiao. This was why.

Had Master Qing Cao arranged for all of this? Was everything that he had ever done merely a cover? What was real, and what was false? Lu Yin felt that he was truly seeing Master Qing Cao for the very first time.

He was not alone. Blood Tower, Awe Gate, Ku Deng, and many others were all staring at Master Qing Cao in a daze, as if they were seeing him for the first time.

The Qing Cao before them at this moment was completely different from the one that they thought they knew.

Master Qing Cao breathed slowly, staying perfectly synchronized with Wang Xiaoyu. “Me? My name is not worth mentioning, but if you must call me something, then call me... Mi Jin.”

Lu Yin’s pupils suddenly contracted. What?

Awe Gate and the others were shaken by that announcement, and they stared at Master Qing Cao in disbelief. What had he just said?

Mi Jin? Greater Sancte Mi Jin?

Even Wang Wen’s expression changed. Mi Jin?

Everyone who heard his statement was stunned.

How could that be possible? Had Greater Sancte Mi Jin not died? How could he possibly be Qing Cao?

Even Lu Yin could not believe it. He stared blankly at Qing Cao. Was this man Greater Sancte Mi Jin? How could that be possible? Lu Yin had examined Master Qing Cao’s karma. There was no way he could be Mi Jin. Master Qing Cao had his own path of cultivation and his own entire life. How could he possibly be Mi Jin?

Wang Wen stared at Master Qing Cao in a bit of a daze for quite some time before finally recovering. He then let out a sigh of admiration. “So that’s how it is. No wonder even I was drawn into your scheme. Yes, throughout the history of the Trio, other than Mi Jin, who else could deceive even me? Mi Jin, you are truly ruthless.”

Master Qing Cao closed his eyes and let out a breath. “There was no other way. To deal with people like you, how could I possibly avoid paying a price?

“I am Mi Jin, but I am also Qing Cao. The world knows that I often lose myself, referring to it as my Lost Path. However, those periods were precisely the times when I cultivated within Qing Cao’s body. I could have spent much more time cultivating myself, but because of you all, I had no choice but to give that up.

“For the sake of all of you, I gave up on the chance to cultivate and break through to resonate with two cosmic laws because I knew that, even if I reached that level, I still would not be able to do anything to you. On the contrary, if someone like me appeared in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, it would only make you more cautious and force you to act. To deal with you, I used my identity as Qing Cao to scheme against my identity as Mi Jin and even brought about Mi Jin’s death, thus winning your trust. Everything I did was real. Mi Jin truly did die, and yet I am also Mi Jin.

“When I say ‘all of you,’ I mean you, Hong Xia, and even Obscura. I hoped to use Qing Cao’s identity to join Obscura, but they did not consider me worth accepting. That turned out well enough, as it meant that I could focus entirely on watching you.”

Lu Yin was shaken to his core. What a grand scheme spanning the ages! This was worthy of Greater Sancte Mi Jin’s reputation. He truly was ruthless, abandoning his own cultivation solely for the sake of plotting against Wang Wen.

Wang Wen had always been watching the entire Human Trio from the shadows. If Mi Jin’s actions had not been genuine, he could never have successfully deceived Wang Wen. Mi Jin had truly died, even leaving behind a Immortal-level cultivated spirit seed, one that had currently fused with Awe Gate. It was also true that part of Mi Jin’s consciousness had become Progenitor Hui in the Tianyuan.

Progenitor Hui had similarly prepared eon-spanning schemes in that megaverse, all to deal with Aeternus.

All of it had been real.

As Lu Yin exposed the truth, layer by layer, he was also confirming history, piece by piece.

But who could have imagined that all of that history was just one part of a scheme against Wang Wen?

Lu Yin considered his own talent to be extraordinary and was confident that he had the potential to become the strongest of all time, but before Master Qing Cao at this moment, he felt as though he could not even hope to glimpse this man’s back.

Master Qing Cao’s battle power was nothing impressive, and the same had been true of Mi Jin, and yet their ambition was beyond comparison. Their wisdom was invincible.

Throughout human history, countless people had sacrificed themselves, but the shock brought by the indescribable greatness of this moment surpassed any battle.

This truth left everyone stunned. Awe Gate felt like a child who had been casually deceived. She had hated Master Qing Cao ever since Mi Jin’s death, never knowing the truth.

Even Wang Wen could not help but clap in approval. “Impressive, truly impressive. To shed your shell like a cicada to deal with both Hong Xia and me at the same time while manipulating Obscura from both sides, I must say that, when looking across the ages, your courage and schemes are worthy of ranking in the top three.

“But an absolute gap cannot be bridged merely by casting off your shell. You want to deal with me with only this girl?”

Master Qing Cao shook his head. “Of course not. Have you ever heard of this: ‘second needle: the heart-gate’s fatal knot is undone’?”

Wang Wen’s expression shifted slightly. “The Seventh Rampart’s Yan Gate’s Seven Needles.”

Master Qing Cao’s gaze sharpened. Exhale, inhale. Exhale, inhale. Exhale, inhale.

The next moment, a strand connected him, Wang Wen, and Wang Xiaoyu. On closer inspection, this was not a strand at all, but rather one needle after another, all linked together. Those needles came from the breathing itself, and every breath caused a new needle to appear.

The chain of needles linked the three people, and then they also appeared in front of Blood Tower, Awe Gate, Ku Deng, and countless others. Master Qing Cao’s voice rang out, “Second needle: the heart-gate’s fatal knot is undone! My heart gate and Xiaoyu’s heart gate are both linked to Wang Wen. All of you, are you willing to link your heart gates with ours, to live or die together?”

Blood Tower and the others reached out to touch the needles without the slightest hesitation. In an instant, chain after another linked together. One, two, three... Soon, there were countless chains. The needles spread across the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and then across the Spirit Nidus, connecting to countless people. These were the top experts of two megaverses, including three Immortals.

Ba Rong tried to evade the needles, unwilling to be connected to the chains, but Master Qing Cao forcibly connected the fish. That made four Immortals.

Aside from the Immortals, most of those who were connected to the needles were above the Progenitor Realm.

These needles connected the heart gates of all the top experts of two megaverses, with Lu Yin alone being the exception.

He stared blankly. He had never expected Master Qing Cao to possess the inheritance of the Yan Gate’s Seven Needles.

Wang Wen also stared as the scene unfolded before him, his expression gradually turning grave.

No one could ignore the Yan Gate’s Seven Needles. The moment he learned that Master Qing Cao was Mi Jin, Wang Wen knew that matters had already started to slip a bit out of control. He could ignore Master Qing Cao, disregard Greater Sancte Green Lotus, and even disregard Gao Tian, the three-law Plume Immortal who had once fought with the Keeper of Balance, but he could not disregard Greater Sancte Mi Jin.

Death's Dominion was still watching. The Yan Gate’s Seven Needles of the Seventh Rampart? How nostalgic.

During the war of the Nine Ramparts, each Rampart possessed its own supreme power. The Yan Gate's Seven Needles were among the strongest, capable of reversing life and death. Their effect was similar to my own power, yet ultimately surpassed it.

Who would have thought that, even after the fall of the Nine Ramparts, the Yan Gate’s Seven Needles would still be inherited?

Excellent! Death's Dominion was determined to claim the Yan Gate’s Seven Needles.

In just a short amount of time, both the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Spirit Nidus were covered in strands of linked needles. Master Qing Cao stared at Wang Wen. “Now our heart gates are linked to yours. The death of any one of us will be placed upon your head. Wang Wen, are you willing to bear the price of everyone’s death?”

Lu Yin understood, and Wang Wen understood as well. He smiled. “Qing Cao—no, Mi Jin, was it? This is rather shameless of you.”

Master Qing Cao gave a bitter smile. “The gap between us and you surpasses description. No power can cross it. How else could we hope to deal with you? This is the only way. It is now your turn. Are you willing to bear the price of all our deaths, or do you have some other solution?”

Wang Wen smiled. “If the deaths of all of you were to be placed upon my head, then yes, that would trouble me. My karmic chain would come close to completion. Very well. Although it’s a pity, I won’t participate in this round.

“Without me, I hope that your performance will be a little more entertaining.” He then looked over at Lu Yin and offered a small smile. “Your Royal Chesspiece—it’s possible that this is the last time I will call you that—thank you for taking care of me all these years. I had a wonderful time.

“Well then, farewell.” After speaking, he patted Skydog. In front of them, a gate appeared, and Skydog walked towards it.

Wang Miaomiao glanced at Wang Xiaoyu and then also walked toward the gate.

Still standing in place, Wang Xiaoyu stared at Wang Wen’s back, watching him move away, little by little. She could only feel her strength fading bit by bit, draining away. Slowly, she collapsed and then fell.

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