Chapter 559: The Imprisoned Shao Yuchen
Water Mirror Pavilion, Right Courtyard.
Inside a side room located at the corner of the courtyard, this was originally a storage space for the miscellaneous items of Mirage Palace’s stationed outer disciples.
But now, all the clutter that had once filled the room had been moved out, and in this cramped side room, a person was being held captive.
Outside the side room’s door, two Qi Circulation Realm outer sect disciples of Mirage Palace stood guard.
And the identity of the person imprisoned in this side room was far from ordinary—it was none other than Shao Yuchen, the current chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower within Mirage Palace.
Of course, his position as chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower had likely reached its end.
By the time they returned to Mirage Palace, it was essentially certain that the title of Weaving Dreams Tower’s chief disciple would be stripped away by the tower’s Peak Master.
Because during the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry, Shao Yuchen’s forfeit had brought shame upon Mirage Palace.
He could have lost to Su Hongzhen, or even to any unknown Rogue Cultivator who had come to participate in the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry.
In that case, Shao Yuchen would merely have been embarrassed to some extent.
But as a Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquirer representing Mirage Palace, Shao Yuchen had surrendered without a fight, and the negative impact this had on Mirage Palace far exceeded that of an upset loss to some rookie.
Regarding this matter, Lin Mo, the Imperial Envoy Elder of Mirage Palace’s delegation, had already reprimanded him severely, throwing him into this cramped side room and forbidding him from stepping even half a step outside this storage space.
He could only wait until they returned to Mirage Palace to face the final judgment from the Palace Lord of Mirage Palace and the Peak Master of Weaving Dreams Tower.
In truth, Lin Mo at this moment did not have much energy to waste on Shao Yuchen.
Aside from serving as Mirage Palace’s highest representative at this Dao Inquiry Assembly of Chenping Continent, Elder Lin Mo’s current top priorities were ensuring Su Hongzhen’s safety and figuring out how to persuade Su Hongzhen to formally join Mirage Palace and become a true disciple of the sect.
Shao Yuchen sat inside the storage room, his head slightly lowered, his eyes staring fixedly at the ground beneath his feet.
His attention was not on the cramped room but on the images playing out in his mind.
He imagined himself facing Su Hongzhen on the arena platform, then crushing Su Hongzhen’s bones punch after punch, eventually pounding him into a bloody pulp.
The chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower clenched his teeth tightly, pressing so hard that his fingernails nearly embedded themselves into his palms.
It was just a fantasy.
But that was all he could do—imagine himself torturing Su Hongzhen ten thousand times on the arena platform.
Just as he had already, countless times in his imagination, torn Zhou Jinyun to shreds.
Coward.
Suddenly, he remembered the word Elder Lin Mo had shouted at him after his forfeit.
Shao Yuchen certainly did not consider himself a coward, nor did he think he had been afraid of Su Hongzhen. He simply believed that if he had actually lost to Su Hongzhen, he would not have dared to imagine himself crushing Su Hongzhen into pieces like this in his mind.
That would take away a lot of his fun.
One day, he would make it a reality—tearing Su Hongzhen and Zhou Jinyun to absolute shreds... and Lin Mo too.
Dared to call me a coward?
Sooner or later, I’ll make you kneel down, crying and begging for mercy, before I crush your skull under my foot!
Just then, from outside the cramped room came the sound of footsteps and voices.
“Supervisor Zhang!”
“Greetings, Supervisor Zhang!”
It was the voices of the two Qi Circulation Realm Mirage Palace outer sect disciples guarding the door.
“On orders of Imperial Envoy Lin, I am here to see Chief Disciple Shao. This is Elder Lin Mo’s token.”
Following that, a rather steady middle-aged man’s voice rang out.
“Understood. Supervisor Zhang, please enter.”
One of the outer sect disciples said.
Then, footsteps sounded again, and the door to the cramped room was pushed open from outside. Standing at the threshold was a middle-aged man with utterly unremarkable facial features.
After this Supervisor Zhang stepped into the storage room, the two Mirage Palace outer sect disciples outside closed the door again.
Then, Supervisor Zhang snapped his fingers.
At the windows and door of the storage room, a true qi barrier formed to isolate any sound from within and without.
“Supervisor Zhang?”
Shao Yuchen lifted his eyes and glanced toward the direction of this Supervisor Zhang, a hint of confusion flickering in his gaze.
He did not recognize the Supervisor Zhang before him, yet this Supervisor Zhang was wearing the daoist robes of Weaving Dreams Tower. This struck Shao Yuchen, as the chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower, as extremely strange.
Among the delegation Mirage Palace had sent to Heavenly Summit Mountain, if he did not know supervisors from other peaks, that was understandable—but how could he not even recognize a supervisor from Weaving Dreams Tower?
“Chief Disciple Shao.”
The middle-aged man who called himself “Supervisor Zhang,” with his plain features, showed a faint smile as he spoke softly. At the same time, he raised his head and looked around the cramped storage room:
“Such a strong aura of resentment, Chief Disciple Shao.”
“I don’t suppose Elder Lin sent Supervisor Zhang here to find me—what is it?”
Shao Yuchen ignored the words of the middle-aged man who called himself “Supervisor Zhang” and asked directly.
“Who said Elder Lin sent me here to find you?”
The plain-faced middle-aged man in the daoist robes of Weaving Dreams Tower actually curled the corner of his mouth into a strange, unsettling smile.
And that smile made Shao Yuchen deeply uncomfortable.
“I don’t recall anyone by your name in Weaving Dreams Tower, Supervisor Zhang.”
Shao Yuchen said as he swept his gaze over Supervisor Zhang’s figure:
“And if it wasn’t Elder Lin Mo who sent you here to find me, then how did you get Elder Lin’s token?”
“And who told you I’m holding a token?”
The strange smile on Supervisor Zhang’s face grew even more pronounced.
Upon hearing this, Shao Yuchen’s pupils abruptly contracted, as if he had finally realized something—
Illusion magic!
This “Supervisor Zhang” had used illusion magic to deceive those two Mirage Palace outer sect disciples!
Come to think of it, even he, the chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower, did not recognize this so-called “Supervisor Zhang,” so how could those two outer sect disciples at the door?
The only thing Shao Yuchen was certain of was that this “Supervisor Zhang” before him had a cultivation realm far above his own—at the very least, the Qi Sea Realm.
“So, what exactly does Your Excellency want?”
Shao Yuchen asked.
“Do you know what kind of fate awaits you when you return to Mirage Palace?”
The plain-faced middle-aged man who called himself “Supervisor Zhang” did not answer Shao Yuchen’s question but instead fired back with one of his own.
“I can probably guess.”
Shao Yuchen nodded.
Yes, of course he knew that having made such a grave mistake, once the Dao Inquiry Assembly of Chenping Continent ended and they returned to Mirage Palace, his fate would be sealed.