Chapter 1 Ye Chu Xiao’s Plan

Ye Chu Xiao’s original plan was to lure Jin Buyi out, cripple him once more, and ideally imprison him for slow and methodical interrogation.

This was the most ideal scenario.

Who cared what Jin Buyi’s plans were?

As long as he was imprisoned and slowly subdued, all the so-called plans, schemes, and calculations would be nipped in the bud.

Therefore, Ye Chu Xiao traveled all the way to Xinchuan and feigned exhaustion after drawing the Nine Bend Yellow River Diagram, using himself as bait to lure Jin Buyi in.

Everything before that went according to Ye Chu Xiao’s plan, without any deviation.

Until Jin Buyi… he split apart!

Although there was a slight accident, the goal was still achieved.

He captured one of the Jin Buyis…

With the blessing of the Divine Speed trait, even Jin Buyi, who possessed the power of wind and light, couldn't catch up with Ye Chu Xiao and could only eat his dust.

After Ye Chu Xiao returned to Shenjing City, several of Jin Buyi's incarnations circled outside the city, attracting the attention of the Intent Realm cultivators guarding Shenjing, and were forced to retreat.

These incarnations of Jin Buyi, when combined, were certainly a powerful force.

However, their minds were independent, and they didn't have a unified opinion. With internal strife, they weren't strong enough to break into Shenjing City and drag Ye Chu Xiao out.

Moreover, doing so would disrupt Jin Buyi’s long-term plans.

Of course, the Jin Buyis wouldn't give up so easily.

They would soon, with the help of the Hidden Dynasty, exchange for different identities and quietly infiltrate Shenjing City to search for Ye Chu Xiao's whereabouts.

Ye Chu Xiao had kidnapped one of them, which made all the Jin Buyis uneasy.

Meanwhile, back in Shenjing City, Ye Chu Xiao first met Yuan Shen and quickly described the illegal installation and modification of the array diagrams, asking Yuan Shen to allocate manpower to prevent Jin Buyi from continuing to cause trouble.

This matter was a major issue for the court and a responsibility that the Daheng Dynasty had to bear. Ye Chu Xiao had no intention of shouldering all the pressure alone.

Moreover, intensifying the conflict between the Daheng Dynasty and Jin Buyi was in Ye Chu Xiao’s interest.

This was also another way to force Jin Buyi, to see if he could break down even further, causing a second injury with one arrow.

Above Xinzhou, Ye Chu Xiao used the Nine Bend Yellow River Diagram to draw away a large amount of water vapor. In the short term, even if Jin Buyi wanted to repeat the trick, it would be difficult to do so.

Ultimately, all the water vapor wasn't generated out of thin air.

It was a process of borrowing from somewhere else. Jin Buyi consumed so much water vapor that, even if he continued to install and reorganize the array diagrams, he couldn't overly interfere with or influence the changes in water vapor in the eight prefectures of Yunmengze for a period of time.

In the small courtyard, Ye Chu Xiao first set up an imprisonment array, then placed artifacts with restrictive effects within the array, and finally covered it with his domain.

Once everything was prepared, he released the captured Jin Buyi incarnation from the artifact pagoda.

"Ouch! Be gentle, you're hurting me!" The Jin Buyi who fell out of the pagoda said in a very affected manner.

Ye Chu Xiao remained expressionless and didn't underestimate him because of his behavior.

Jin Buyi was shrouded in mysteries, and perhaps this was a good opportunity to unravel them.

Moreover, a person's words and behavior could be a protective layer and a disguise.

Ye Chu Xiao wasn't so easily swayed by Jin Buyi.

"Looks like you're also Jin Buyi?" Ye Chu Xiao's question seemed casual, but it was actually a deliberate trap.

The weak and effeminate Jin Buyi rubbed his wrist, trying to prop up his domain, but was suppressed by the multiple restrictive properties of the artifacts.

"Yes, of course, I am!" Jin Buyi said, answering while looking around, as if searching for an escape route.

After realizing that there was really no way to escape, he finally faced Ye Chu Xiao, and then, under Ye Chu Xiao's sharp gaze, he unconsciously lowered his head, appearing unsure of himself.

"The first reaction isn't to counterattack, but to escape. After discovering there's no escape, there's no immediate confrontation."

"Looks like I chose a good one. He seems different from the other mainstream Jin Buyis, lacking a spirit of resistance… That's very good," Ye Chu Xiao thought.

Then Ye Chu Xiao continued, "It seems you're quite ill. The other Jin Buyis are squeezing your living space, putting a lot of burden on you."

"Don't look at me with hostility. Maybe… I'm your friend. Maybe I can help you."

Ye Chu Xiao didn't deliberately show unrealistic gentleness, but maintained a serious and earnest attitude, which was more convincing.

The weak Jin Buyi glanced at Ye Chu Xiao, not following up with any words.

"Don't want to talk?"

"I understand, after all, I captured you, and I've always been an enemy."

"However, you have to think clearly, they are them, and you are you. Since you're separated, then you're independent individuals, and you don't have to be responsible for each other."

"Why sacrifice yourself for them? After all, you can stubbornly refuse to talk, but I can also use all kinds of cruel punishments on you. If I still don't get what I want, I'll directly tear up the ticket."

"You have to show me your value! Otherwise, why would I waste my time with you?" Ye Chu Xiao continued, presenting some inferred clues as 'established' facts, in order to observe the weak Jin Buyi's reaction and determine whether the inferences were true.

After all, Ye Chu Xiao had spent some time in the Ministry of Justice's prison, so he could be considered a professional in this field.

Using the most primitive question-and-answer method to verify guesses seemed safer, but it was actually less efficient and less reliable.

Verbal lies are the easiest way to lie.

Lying through body language, emotions, and subtle movements is more difficult.

Except for those who have specifically practiced and studied it, most people… even Intent Realm cultivators, can't avoid these inadvertent little details.

"Use whatever means you have."

"If I… If I were afraid of you, I wouldn't be a man," the weak version of Jin Buyi said with obvious lack of confidence.

Ye Chu Xiao, watching his performance, was more certain about his inner conjectures.

Showing his teeth in a smile, he said, "Yes, I know you're not afraid, but if you have no value, then it's only natural for me to kill you, right?"

"You die, return to the other individuals, become their nourishment, strengthen the individuals, but lose your independence."

"It's just fulfilling others after all."

"Actually… when you're alive, you still have to think for yourself, look at the beautiful rivers and mountains, enjoy the great food, taste the great power, appreciate the great beauties… don't you want to sink into this mortal world a few more times before taking a detached view of life and death?"

It was still the same old trick. Behind the surface questions were set-sentence traps.

Ye Chu Xiao didn't need the other party to give a direct answer, as long as there was a corresponding reaction.

"Yes, what you said might be right," Jin Buyi replied with his head lowered.

But Ye Chu Xiao read other meanings: "Deliberately avoiding my gaze, and the tone is hesitant. It seems my guess was wrong."

"Was it wrong that he would become nourishment for other Jin Buyis after death, or was it wrong that he has independence?"

"Try again."

Ye Chu Xiao said, "See, you think it's good too!"

"You're an individual with independent thought. From the moment you appeared, you're no longer the Jin Buyi of the past."

"You can even have your own name."

The weak Jin Buyi said, "Name… I do have a name. I'm called Ran Xing. You can call me by this name."

"Excellent! It seems independence is real. That means, although the different 'Jin Buyis' are split from one individual, once they re-merge, it doesn't lead to a merger of strength. Instead, the final one left becomes the main body, and only one aspect is preserved, whether it's thought or strength, not all aspects. That's good news for me." When Ye Chu Xiao deduced this answer, he subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

If those Jin Buyis, after splitting, could re-merge and possess the superimposed strength of multiple Intent Realms, then Ye Chu Xiao couldn't handle it.

No matter how many artifacts he had, he would only be using one person's power to drive them.

If the Jin Buyis had a bug-like ability to merge multiple times, then stacking enough of them might even rival and defy Wuding Realm.

"Even without power stacking, being able to split into multiple copies, and each 'clone' having equal strength, with non-overlapping areas of expertise, is already excessive."

"If there is an individual among the Jin Buyis who can command the other individuals, then they are still a huge trouble."

Ye Chu Xiao paused his thoughts and said, "Ran Xing, a good name. I think it sounds much better than Jin Buyi."

"If in the future, you… you all are called Ran Xing, then I think it would be very good."

"You and I join forces. You provide me with information and clues, and I'll help you solve those competing incarnations. A win-win situation, isn't it wonderful?"

Ran Xing said, "This… it's not impossible."

"But, is this how you talk about cooperation with me?"

"I give you information about other incarnations, then how do you guarantee my safety?"

Ye Chu Xiao sneered inwardly. This Jin Buyi incarnation, who called himself 'Ran Xing,' didn't even mention the unavoidable conflict point of the Heart Pill, which proved that he had no real intention of 'cooperation.'

Fortunately, Ye Chu Xiao didn't either.

So there was no disappointment.

"Then… let's start by exchanging our secrets! We exchange secrets, telling each other the information we want to know."

"That way, you'll have my secrets, and as long as you become the last Ran Xing, I won't easily kill you. That's enough guarantee for you."

"I'll say one of my secrets first. I'm not really Ye Chu Xiao. I'm an old monster who was reborn through possession," Ye Chu Xiao said.

Ran Xing revealed a look of "as expected," indicating that Jin Buyi had long suspected this. After all, even with so many Dao Rhymes as 'chips,' there was no reason to cultivate into an Intent Realm cultivator in such a short time, and be so strong and assertive.

This also allowed Ye Chu Xiao to discover that no matter how relatively independent Ran Xing and Jin Buyi were, they were actually from the same source.

Ye Chu Xiao believed that their memories and knowledge should be interconnected.

It was just that different emotions and personalities were born under the same memory.

It was even possible that, until now, the different individuals of Jin Buyi were synchronizing their memories… and could even communicate on special channels.

Ran Xing felt that he had extracted a secret from Ye Chu Xiao, and consciously offered a secret in exchange: "Xiao Chi is also one of us. He's fallen into a deep sleep. Unless we restore our Wuding Realm strength, he won't wake up."

Ye Chu Xiao didn't fully believe it.

There were still questions to be asked, but he wouldn't dig deeper for now.

"I used your Dao Rhymes to buy twenty years of time. I'm a person who came back from the 'future.' I not only regained my cultivation, but also learned about your plans through some means," Ye Chu Xiao continued.

Ran Xing directly said, "No wonder. I was wondering why you always seemed to be omniscient, always hitting our weak spots."

"As we expected, you spent all your Dao Rhymes to buy an anchor, spent twenty years in another world, and then returned to the present."

"But to cultivate into Intent Realm in just twenty years, it seems you were a big figure before you were possessed. I wonder who you were in your previous life? Are you and I old acquaintances?"

At this time, Ran Xing finally looked at Ye Chu Xiao directly, and the weak aura faded slightly.

Ye Chu Xiao made a gesture of invitation: "It's your turn!"

Ran Xing thought for a while and then said, "Jin Buyi doesn't want Xiao Chi to wake up. He's been preparing a plan to eliminate Xiao Chi, and Xiao Bao'er, who is sealed in the Yunmeng Great Cauldron, is the target he wants to eliminate. But the advance arrangements that Xiao Chi made before falling asleep prevent Jin Buyi from handling this problem personally."

"Xiao Bao'er has the awakening 'password' left by Xiao Chi. Only by completely dissipating Xiao Bao'er, instead of having a part of her integrated into us, and then finding a way to remove Xiao Chi from us, can Jin Buyi complete the entire monopolization plan."

"Once he becomes a Wuding Realm cultivator, this flaw from the Fenfu world will completely leave us."

Ye Chu Xiao was sure that most of what Ran Xing said this time was true.

It wasn't just Jin Buyi who was wary of Xiao Chi.

The other incarnations were obviously also wary.

To the extent that Ran Xing deliberately said a few more words about the 'Xiao Chi' issue.

"Ying Shu didn't reach a real cooperation with me. I used means to make Ying Shu part ways with you," Ye Chu Xiao confessed his first truth.

But this truth, wrapped in his untrue words, instead seemed like a deliberate trap again.

Virtual and real, true and false, it was up to the Jin Buyis to worry about it themselves.

Ran Xing hesitated for a while.

Then he said, "We are also time travelers, but we first went from the present to the Daheng's past, and then followed time together, waiting until the present to complete a time loop."

Ye Chu Xiao, upon hearing this, only revealed a shallow surprise on the surface, but in reality, his heart was filled with doubts.

He had made guesses in the past, but those were just wild thoughts.

Now, he seemed to have received some confirmation.

Then the key was, Jin Buyi… they!

Why were they doing this?

"This must be related to their subsequent refining of the world!" Ye Chu Xiao was very sure of this.