Chapter 56: Setting the Bait

The conversation between Li Huan and the other person greatly piqued Wan Yi’s interest, but when they reached a crucial point, they stopped talking further.

This left Wan Yi, who was crouching outside the window, frustrated and scratching his head. He had hoped to glean their conspiracy from their words, but instead, the two were chatting about trivial romantic matters.

Realizing that listening any longer would yield no results, Wan Yi moved swiftly and vanished into the night.

Back in his thatched hut, Wan Yi sank into deep thought. "From the conversation just now, it’s clear these two are brewing a big conspiracy behind the scenes."

Li Huan addressed that elder from the Celestial Master Sect as "brother," which made Wan Yi suspicious about their true relationship.

When Wan Yi had previously received guests from the Celestial Master Sect, they introduced themselves to each other. Wan Yi recalled that elder’s name was Li Xun.

Li Xun bore a striking resemblance to Li Huan—about sixty or seventy percent similar—suggesting they might be brothers or close relatives.

As for the conspiracy behind them, since Wan Yi hadn’t uncovered anything from their talk, he decided to draw it out himself.

In truth, Wan Yi didn’t really care about their plan. But if these two intended to kill him in secret, he would not tolerate it.

With this thought, a plan suddenly formed in Wan Yi’s mind.

After meticulously examining every detail, Wan Yi sneered, “I’ll lure the snake out of its hole. As for the bait…”

At that moment, a thought struck him, and a storage ring appeared in his hand.

This storage ring was the one he had swiped from Lin Junxiu. It contained some sensitive items, so he had never used it before.

Originally, he intended to throw this ring into the Wangchuan Pavilion and have Qi Mingyue deal with it, but he had been too busy and forgotten. Now it was just right for use.

He was curious to see how the sly old Lin Qiaosheng would react when he discovered Lin Junxiu’s storage ring in the hands of someone from the Celestial Master Sect.

Inside Lin Junxiu’s storage ring were all kinds of miscellaneous things. Besides a few flying swords he often used, there was also a bronze bell-shaped magical treasure.

This bronze bell had reached the level of a spiritual artifact—an extremely rare and valuable item.

When attacking, the bell’s mouth would enlarge, and its sound waves could shake the mind, with the sonic waves capable of harming the physical body.

For defense, it could be suspended overhead, forming a protective “Golden Bell Shield” around the user. The higher the cultivator’s strength, the greater its power.

After carefully examining the bronze bell, a strange smile curled at the corner of Wan Yi’s mouth.

He took out a piece of dinitro explosive. Because dinitro explosive was neutralized nitroglycerin with diatomaceous earth, it was highly malleable, like clay that could be shaped and flattened.

After kneading the explosive in his hands for a while, Wan Yi pressed it into a round cake shape.

The size of the cake matched perfectly the internal diameter of the bronze bell. Holding the bell, he embedded the explosive cake into about two-thirds of the bell’s mouth.

After some adjustments, the explosive cake fit snugly and seamlessly with the bell; anyone unfamiliar with the bell wouldn’t notice anything amiss, thinking it was just the bell’s natural form.

Having done this, Wan Yi inspected the bell carefully, frowning slightly. “The colors don’t quite match! The explosive is blackish-gray, but the bell is golden yellow. How to deal with this difference?”

Suddenly slapping his thigh, he laughed, “Got it!”

In the next moment, Wan Yi activated the "Five Elements Qi Sea Technique," manipulating the power of metal essence to condense the metal elements in the air into a cluster.

He then covered the explosive inside the bell with this metallic cluster. The originally black-gray explosive instantly took on a golden hue, perfectly blending with the bronze bell as one.

After finishing, Wan Yi emptied out Lin Junxiu’s storage ring and placed the bronze bell along with a hundred high-grade spirit stones inside.

Then, with a swift motion, he left the thatched hut.

He reappeared at the Inner Affairs Hall.

Following the corridor inward led to the quarters of two disciples under Li Xun’s command.

This made Wan Yi a bit troubled. One disciple was He Liang, with early Golden Core cultivation; the other was Feng Qiang, at mid-Golden Core.

Staring at the two doors, Wan Yi furrowed his brow, pondering, “If I were Li Xun, who would I send to challenge me tomorrow?”

After weighing the pros and cons, Wan Yi fixed his gaze on He Liang’s room.

The reason was simple. Outsiders would see Wan Yi as having early Foundation Establishment level cultivation. Feng Qiang, being mid-Golden Core, challenging him would arouse suspicion.

But He Liang was different; he had just recently formed his core. An exchange between him and an early Foundation Establishment disciple would seem plausible and beneficial.

Having made his decision, Wan Yi melded into the darkness, using the power of his ink shadow to mask his aura.

Then, with a snap of his finger, he flicked Lin Junxiu’s storage ring onto He Liang’s door.

Soon after, He Liang opened the door and peered out, glancing around suspiciously. “What’s going on? Did I hear wrong?”

Just as he was about to close the door and return, he suddenly noticed a storage ring lying at his feet.

Startled at first, he then broke into a smile. Bending down, he picked up the ring and looked around once more.

Satisfied that no one was nearby, he closed the door joyfully.

Wan Yi watched all this through the crack of the window, thinking, “Kid, the bait is set. Tomorrow, you’re the one who will lure out the big fish. Don’t let me down!”

Inside the room, He Liang was ecstatic. He hadn’t expected that attending a birthday celebration at the Vast Sect would bring him such fortune.

The ring contained a hundred high-grade spirit stones—equivalent to ten years of salary in the Celestial Master Sect. And the bronze bell treasure was a high-grade spiritual artifact!

For a disciple like him, owning a supreme treasure inside the Celestial Master Sect was extraordinary. To receive such a gift for free was unbelievable.

Moreover, the storage ring itself was a prized possession he had long desired, especially since he had been relying on storage pouches until now.

Suddenly wealthy, he overlooked the strangeness of it all. He never considered that such an unusual event might be a trap.

His mind was consumed by a single thought: with these resources, his rise within the Celestial Master Sect was imminent. No one would take these things back now—if he found them, they were his!

Outside the room, Wan Yi peered through the window crack, silently reflecting, “This is human nature.

Greed blinds people to danger, making them see only immediate gain.

Little do they realize that their greed leads them into others’ traps, ultimately to their death!”

To be continued...