Chapter 402: Control and Counter-Espionage

Chapter 402: Control and Counter-Espionage

Xu Yan did not hold back in this strike. He unleashed the full might of his God-Image Realm cultivation, manipulating the natural laws of his surroundings with his god-image, completely sealing off all escape routes.

He unleashed the Grand Canyon within his Sword of Divinity, merging the majestic mountains and rivers with his god-image, while his physical body remained hidden and undetectable within the god-image.

Buzz!

The sword intent surged forth like a flood, transforming the grass and trees into a torrent of sword paths that rushed towards the two masked assailants.

The profound nature of the Wisdom Sword Realm was also revealed at this moment. Each sword seemed to possess its own intelligence and unique sword technique, working in perfect harmony with one another, creating an even more formidable sword array.

Rumbling!

The two masked individuals were indeed peak True King Heaven Venerates, and their strength was not to be underestimated. As they retaliated, the natural laws of the world trembled, transforming into waves of attacks.

They even employed secret techniques in an attempt to break through Xu Yan's blockade.

However, the two assailants' hearts sank as they found themselves unable to communicate with the natural laws of the world directly. They were impeded by a layer of obstruction, as if a more powerful, profound, and harmonious force in tune with the laws of the world had usurped control of these laws.

"What kind of martial art is this?!" they exclaimed in astonishment.

"Retreat! Xu Yan is too strong; he's beyond our means to deal with!"

The two assailants made an instant decision to flee.

"Do you think you can escape?" Xu Yan sneered.

He brandished his sword, and the black sword light extinguished all life in its path as it slashed towards one of the assailants.

Simultaneously, eighteen golden dragons roared and converged from all directions for a combined assault.

Moreover, a violent sword intent raged like a fierce wind, invading the assailants' spiritual souls. Their faces contorted in shock as they hurriedly circulated their soul-refining techniques to resist the onslaught of the fierce wind.

"An assassination technique targeting the spiritual soul!" they exclaimed in horror.

Martial arts secrets that attacked the spiritual soul were extremely rare, and not all warriors could master or cultivate them successfully.

Those who could successfully cultivate such secrets were invariably warriors with exceptionally powerful spiritual souls, as techniques that attacked the spiritual soul ultimately relied on the strength of one's own spiritual soul for support.

And such warriors were undoubtedly among the pinnacle existences of their respective realms.

Xu Yan trapped one of the True King Heaven Venerates with the mountains and rivers contained within his sword, directing all his attacks toward the other assailant.

He intended to capture one of them alive to interrogate and uncover the forces behind this attack.

Dead warriors, when faced with life-threatening danger, often chose to end their own lives to prevent exposing the faction they belonged to and the purpose of their mission.

Xu Yan needed to control his opponent with the 'Heaven's Will Soul Fixation' technique before they could self-destruct.

However, these two were peak True King Heaven Venerates, and he would have to weaken or injure their spiritual souls before he could successfully employ the 'Heaven's Will Soul Fixation' technique to immobilize them.

"I can only capture one of them!" Xu Yan thought to himself.

He understood that he only had the opportunity to capture one of them alive. If the other assailant sensed the situation turning sour, they would undoubtedly choose to self-destruct immediately.

Capturing one of them would still accomplish his purpose.

The True King Heaven Venerate who was being overwhelmed by Xu Yan's attacks had a drastic change in expression, seemingly realizing Xu Yan's intention. With a furious roar, their aura surged, and an illusory figure emerged from their body.

This illusory figure exuded a chilling aura.

As the cold illusion appeared, the True King Heaven Venerate's aura weakened slightly, indicating that the secret technique they had just performed came at a significant cost.

Boom!

The cold illusion suddenly exploded, and a chilly power merged with the earth, causing the very ground to seem like it was being flipped over in an instant.

Rumbling!

A heavy and icy power surged from underground, breaking through Xu Yan's blockade with overwhelming force.

"Go!" the True King who had just performed the secret technique shouted, intending to escape.

But this was exactly what Xu Yan had been waiting for!

Buzz!

From Xu Yan's brow, an eye appeared—an eye formed of radiant light. As it opened, a majestic might surged forth, shining upon the True King Heaven Venerate.

It was the Small Eye of the Heavenly Dao!

The escaping True King Heaven Venerate seemed to sense the mighty authority of the Heavenly Dao at that moment, as if everything was seen through. Their figure froze, and after having expended their energy to perform the secret technique, they were even less able to resist the gaze of this eye.

"Damn, Xu Yan wants to capture me alive!" the True King Heaven Venerate's heart sank as they realized Xu Yan's intention. They knew that their chances of successfully escaping were slim.

Just as they were about to self-destruct, their actions slowed under the gaze of the eye, and they couldn't even manage to end their own life in time.

Whoosh!

A violent gale raged within their spiritual soul, stirring it up. The intense pain in their spiritual soul made it impossible for them to carry out their self-destruction.

They could only watch helplessly as Xu Yan's palm pressed down, his palm containing the mysterious will of the heavens and an unparalleled determination.

The True King Heaven Venerate sensed that something was amiss, but it was too late to do anything to resist!

Xu Yan's gaze turned cold as he seized the opportunity to weaken his opponent's spiritual soul and consciousness. Then, with the 'Heaven's Will Soul Fixation' technique, he completely controlled their spiritual soul and consciousness, subduing them.

The entire process took less than a breath, and it was already over.

Meanwhile, the other assailant took advantage of the situation to break free from the blockade and escape. Their eyes widened in shock, and without daring to hesitate for a moment, they fled frantically.

They had to deliver the latest information about Xu Yan back to Tian Sha Di Ying so that a new plan could be formulated to counter him.

"Do you think you can escape?" Xu Yan sneered again, taking a step forward and vanishing from his original position. In the next instant, his sword light surged, and the majestic mountains and rivers descended, enveloping the escaping assailant.

"Xu Yan!" the assailant roared, their aura instantly vanishing as their spiritual soul was extinguished, leaving behind an empty shell.

"Hmph!" Xu Yan's gaze turned icy cold. This mysterious assailant from the unknown faction was indeed decisive. Once they realized escape was impossible, they didn't hesitate for a moment and chose to end their life instantly!

Moreover, they had clearly cultivated some kind of self-destruct secret technique to erase their spiritual soul in an instant, leaving behind not even a trace of residual consciousness, thus preventing any information from being extracted from them.

Boom!

The sword light slashed down, and the corpse turned into flying ash, dispersing without a trace.

Xu Yan had successfully captured one of the assailants, and his purpose was achieved.

He was increasingly glad that he had chosen to cultivate the 'Heaven's Will Soul Fixation' technique; it had proven to be an extremely wise decision.

"Remove your mask," Xu Yan said to the assailant under his control.

Even if their consciousness was clear, they couldn't resist this command, which felt like an irresistible will of Heaven.

"Yes!"

The assailant obeyed and removed their mask, revealing the face of a middle-aged man. His face was pale, and his eyes were devoid of any emotion, as if he had no feelings at all.

"Now, tell me. Who sent you to assassinate me? What is the name of the faction you belong to?" Xu Yan began his interrogation.

As one of the top factions in the Nine Mountains Realm, the Wan family ruled over the vast area of Da Gai Mountain, yet they had been unable to uncover even a hint of this mysterious faction's existence. This spoke volumes about how deeply hidden they were.

What was this extremely secretive faction plotting? Were they spies from an external enemy, or did they belong to a power within the Divine Realm itself?

Under Xu Yan's interrogation, the True King Heaven Venerate revealed everything he knew without hiding anything.

"Tian Sha Di Ying?" Xu Yan was secretly astonished as he finally learned the name of the secretive force behind the attacks.

"Why did you want to provoke a conflict between me and the Wan family?" Xu Yan continued his interrogation.

"To create conflict between the Qinghua Realm and the Nine Mountains Realm, to fulfill the supreme mission of our Tian Sha Di Ying, and to restore the glory of the heavens and earth..."

As he finished speaking, a fanatical gleam appeared in the assailant's eyes.

Xu Yan was shocked to his core. So, the goal of Tian Sha Di Ying was to instigate conflict between the two realms, and this so-called "restoring the glory of the heavens and earth" seemed to be some kind of fanatical belief.

As for what exactly this "restoring the glory of the heavens and earth" entailed, the assailant himself didn't seem to know. He only knew that Tian Sha Di Ying's mission was to make the heavens and earth stronger and restore their former glory.

To achieve this restoration, they believed it was necessary to disrupt the current order, create great chaos in the Divine Realm, and bring about a heavenly upheaval. That was the purpose of the existence of Tian Sha Di Ying.

As Xu Yan learned more, he was astonished to find that most of the members of Tian Sha Di Ying were fanatics willing to sacrifice everything and fearless in the face of death.

For the sake of their so-called "heavenly glory," they were willing to give up everything!

And to prevent exposing the secrets of Tian Sha Di Ying, they would not hesitate to take their own lives, erasing themselves without a moment's hesitation.

Moreover, Xu Yan also learned that his actions in the Da Gai Mountain region had caused some internal turmoil within Tian Sha Di Ying. One of their members had assassinated the previous Tian Sha, suspecting that there was a traitor in their midst.

After all, how could there be a traitor in an organization whose members were so fanatical that they would readily die for their mission?

And so, the first suspected traitor had appeared, causing Tian Sha Di Ying to be more cautious in their planning.

"No wonder they didn't assassinate anyone from the Wan family. It was the Tian Sha they were after."

Xu Yan was stunned by this revelation.

He had initially instructed them to assassinate those who had given the order, assuming it was the Wan family, never expecting that the target was the Tian Sha, a member of Tian Sha Di Ying itself.

"The Di Ying are indeed formidable. I'm sure there's more than one of them hiding within the Wan family."

These major powers in the Nine Mountains Realm must all have Di Ying members lurking in their midst, but it wouldn't be easy to root them out.

"Are you also pursuing Meng Chong?" Xu Yan asked.

"Yes, it is said that the Seven Leaves Tian Sha ordered his pursuit and assassination, to create conflict and strife, and to provoke a full-scale war at all costs."

Xu Yan's eyes turned cold at the mention of the Seven Leaves Tian Sha, who, according to the assailant, possessed the strength of an Immortal Emperor Realm cultivator! However, being only at the seventh level, his strength was considered average among Immortal Emperors.

"The Immortal Emperors in the Nine Mountains Realm are all within the Nine Mountains. Could it be that, aside from the Nine Mountains, there's an Immortal Emperor hiding elsewhere?"

Xu Yan's heart tightened at this thought.

The presence of an Immortal Emperor lurking in the shadows was a huge threat to any power.

Moreover, Tian Sha Di Ying had been pursuing Meng Chong, and their repeated failures made Xu Yan wonder if this Seven Leaves Tian Sha might take action personally.

Although he had the protection of his master's jade talisman, the presence of an Immortal Emperor hidden in the shadows was still a cause for concern.

"For an Immortal Emperor to hide their presence is not an easy task, unless they've cultivated an incredibly profound concealment technique like the 'Unity with the World' art."

Xu Yan quickly dismissed the possibility of the Seven Leaves Tian Sha possessing such an extraordinary concealment ability.

Immortal Emperors were one with the heavens and the earth, and as such, they couldn't hide from the perception of their peers. It was almost impossible for them to remain undetected.

The only possibility was that one of the Immortal Emperors among the Nine Mountains was actually the Seven Leaves Tian Sha!

"Feng Yan is from the Seven Segment Mountain, and this mountain is different from the other eight..."

Xu Yan thought of Feng Yan and his affiliation with the Seven Segment Mountain. Unlike the other mountains, this one was not controlled by a sect or family but by a league-like power known as the Seven Segment Mountain League.

The Immortal Emperors of the Seven Segment Mountain each had their own subordinates, yet they were also united in a league. If the Seven Leaves Tian Sha was hiding among them, the Seven Segment Mountain would be the most likely place.

"Feng Yan is part of the Seven Segment Mountain League, but he's rather loose in his management and hasn't established his own subordinate power..."

Xu Yan fell into deep thought.

Feng Yan's loose management style and lack of a strong power base were probably why he had come to support the Qinghua Realm and ended up staying there.

Xu Yan recalled Feng Yan's introduction to the Immortal Emperors of the Seven Segment Mountain, but he couldn't pinpoint any suspicious individuals.

"It's not necessarily someone from the Seven Segment Mountain."

Xu Yan frowned slightly. The identity of the Seven Leaves Tian Sha was deeply hidden, and even within Tian Sha Di Ying, only a select few knew who he was in the Nine Mountains Realm.

"This is a hidden danger in the Nine Mountains Realm. The Wan family must also be anxious about this. They will surely investigate this matter thoroughly."

As the Wan family was a powerful clan and the target of Tian Sha Di Ying, it was highly unlikely that one of their Immortal Emperors was the Seven Leaves Tian Sha. On the contrary, being the target would only spur them on to uncover the truth.

Xu Yan continued his interrogation, focusing on obtaining information about Meng Chong.

"All I know is that Meng Chong came to the Da Gai Mountain region and then disappeared. We're still trying to track him down..."

Meng Chong had come to Da Gai Mountain and was also searching for Xu Yan. It was about time he met with Wan Tianlin, the head of the Wan family, the ruling power of Da Gai Mountain.

The information about Tian Sha Di Ying should also be shared with Wan Tianlin so that they could utilize the Wan family's resources to search for Meng Chong.

Especially since there might be Di Ying members lurking within their own ranks.

With that in mind, Xu Yan brought the assailant under his control to the stone peak in Da Gai Mountain and used a communication talisman to summon Wan Tianlin.

Xu Yan had no intention of revealing the 'Heaven's Will Soul Fixation' technique, and even the controlled assailant wouldn't be able to divulge any secrets about it.

This person would still be useful to him.

He could continue to be a Di Ying member, but now as a true traitor within Tian Sha Di Ying.

Ordering him to turn against Tian Sha Di Ying directly would be inefficient and wasteful. Now that Xu Yan knew about their existence, he intended to uproot them completely.

Even if he couldn't eradicate them all at once, he could target their bases one by one. Xu Yan was determined to make the most of this assailant's value.

"You should know the locations of Tian Sha Di Ying's bases. Tell me where they are."

"I don't know many bases, only the one I was stationed at and three other contact points..."

After obtaining the locations of Tian Sha Di Ying's bases, Xu Yan began planning his next move. He knew that he couldn't take out a base silently by himself.

So, he would have to cooperate with Wan Tianlin.

"Go back and report that you encountered the Wan family's reinforcements and had to use a secret technique to escape..."

Xu Yan instructed the assailant.

"Yes!"

"From today onwards, your name is Ying Yi. You will remain hidden within Tian Sha Di Ying. Do you understand?"

"Ying Yi understands!"

As Xu Yan watched Ying Yi leave, a brilliant smile appeared on his face. So, the Di Ying were experts in infiltration, were they?

Little did they know that one of their own would be turned against them.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end