Yun Qing's spine went rigid in an instant, as though seized by an invisible hand, and only after a long moment did it slowly ease. He lifted his head toward the Qiwu main hall, moonlight tracing his upright figure, his Double Pupils deep and unfathomable in the night.
Yun Qing closed his eyes. The various powers crossed and tangled like the lines of a chessboard — and he himself was both the one who played the pieces and the most dangerous piece upon the board. He murmured to himself, a smile hooking at his lips, like moonlight refracted off snow.
"You would all make of me a piece, a cauldron, a stepping-stone... then let us see which of us, in the end, can move the pieces and seize the prize!"
Within Qiwu Hall, Yun Huang reclined against the dark-jade writing desk, idly stroking a jade slip, his manner careless, yet in the depths of his eyes a trace of cold amusement hidden.
"Strip the origin, forge a false body? Is that scrap of skill the Twelfth Elder's fit even to covet the Chaos Dao Embryo?" He gave a scornful laugh. Upon the jade slip surfaced a phantom — the very image of Yun Qing standing hands clasped behind him, his expression cold and keen.
"A wanton waste of Heaven's gift." Yun Huang gave his indifferent verdict. To have the form and yet be unable to bear the spirit — they simply did not understand where the true worth of the "Chaos Dao Embryo" lay.
A constitution such as this was rare as phoenix feathers even in the remote primordial age, fit to be called the most perfect "Dao-foundation" between heaven and earth. The chaos-trait of encompassing the world and evolving all things was a supreme treasure to any mighty existence needing to remake its foundation, fuse the myriad laws, or seek a transformation to a higher tier. Even to his own reincarnated-Immortal Emperor body, it held benefit beyond measure.
Yun Huang tapped lightly with his fingertip, and Yun Qing's phantom dissolved in an instant into a wisp of chaos spirit-power spiraling in his palm. "Were This Lord to do that seizing-of-foundation, swapping-of-cauldron deed..." The thought flashed through his mind and was at once replaced by a far more complicated emotion.
"Like fine irises and jade-trees — one would have them grow in one's own courtyard." He intoned slowly, his clear, cool voice echoing through the hall.
Since this rare immortal seedling had already taken root in his own courtyard, and was growing so much to his liking, why need he rush the moment and do the deed of burning a zither for firewood or boiling a crane for soup? To tend it well, let it grow lush of branch and leaf into a scene all its own — was that not the finer thing?
Yun Huang's gaze pierced hall after hall to settle on that upright, slender figure in Quiet-Heart Court, a dangerous smile hooking at his lips. "Enough. This way there's the pleasure of appreciation."
No wonder he always, without meaning to, showed the man a few more degrees of leniency. Such world-shaking talent, matched with that obedient-yet-cunning nature, its edge sheathed within — it was interesting indeed.
He had meant to lay bare the secret of the Chaos Dao Embryo this very day and give that elder brother of his, forever fond of dancing on the line, a good fright. But with the Second Elder present, and the matter being of such weight, better that outsiders not know.
The corner of Yun Huang's lips curved faintly in the night, the smile lending his handsome face an eerie, unfathomable cast. "There's time enough to find another chance to 'go over it with him in detail'..."
Watching Yun Qing maneuver with composure among the various powers was the more amusing thing, after all. As for the rest, his spiritual sense swept slowly like a formless tide across the whole Yun clan, carrying a trace of indifferent scrutiny.
The board was set, the pieces in motion; he, the one who played them, need only watch calmly for the turns — and now and then... set down a stone to startle the thunder.
"This all-encompassing game has only just begun."
***
The night deepened. Within Yun Hao's courtyard, the air was oppressive and grief-stricken.
Yun Hao's crippling was like pulling the mainstay out of this branch of the family. His parents circled their unconscious son, wailing to the heavens, and vented their rancor besides upon the Fifth Elder and Yun Ruyi.
"Father! How could you be so hard-hearted! Hao'er is your own trueborn blood!" Yun Hao's mother wept, her eyes venomous. "Would you watch that Yun Huang lay down so cruel a hand and do nothing?! My Hao'er! He's still a child — what did he do wrong?!"
Yun Hao's father chimed in from the side: "Just so, Father. Where is the sense in not cherishing your own descendants and favoring an outsider instead?! If not for your partiality — heaping all the top resources on that Yun Ruyi, some wild seed of unknown origin — with never a thought for us, how would Hao'er have bred such resentment, or taken so reckless a gamble, and fallen to this state!"
"And how would I still be a mere Body Fusion Realm to this day!" Plainly, that last line was likely his true heart.
Fifth Elder Yun Jun's face was full of weariness; he truly had no wish to deal with these worthless things.
He thought of the cold cruelty hidden in Yun Huang's eyes within Qiwu Hall today, and of Yun Chi's heart-piercing words, seeming to plead but in truth to provoke... A storm was coming.
Middling he might be, but he was by no means a fool. These waters ran too deep; he and his line could dabble in them no further. On no account could Yun Ruyi be dragged into any of it! She was the true fortune-luck of their line.
A flash of clarity and resolve crossed the Fifth Elder's cloudy old eyes. He slammed the table, and the pressure of a peak powerhouse quelled his sobbing son and daughter-in-law in an instant: "Silence! Do you truly think this old man has grown so muddled he doesn't know the filthy dealings you've been running behind my back with the Twelfth Elder?! Were it not for what little face this old man still holds, and the Young Lord having punished only Hao'er — do you imagine our line would have come through unscathed?!"
His voice turned grieved and stern: "In that year, when this old man lay stranded in the wilds, gravely wounded and near death — if little Ruyi had not saved me, and spun out my life with her own fortune-luck, this old man would long since have been a mound of yellow earth. Where would I be, standing whole here, letting you enjoy such wealth and glory all these years?!"
"Father!"
Before the two could retort, the Fifth Elder's sharp gaze swept over his still-clueless son and his rancorous daughter-in-law, and he said with iron finality: "In our Yun Clan, from of old, the able stand above. Hao'er's heart is crooked and his skill is wanting; that this old man staked his aging face to spare his life has already exhausted the bond of blood! Tomorrow, your household — and every servant and steward who had a hand in this — pack your things and get yourselves off to the wasteland outpost to reflect on your faults. Without my command, you shall never return!"
Yun Hao's parents were stunned dumb by the Fifth Elder's sudden thunderous fury and his merciless disposition. In their memory, their father had always been mild and kindly, even a touch irresolute — when had he ever shown so decisive, so ruthless a side?!
As for how Steward Jia — who had just scraped through survival in Yun Qing's hands — broke down on receiving, right afterward, the order of banishment to the wasteland outpost, that we shall leave aside for now.
Within the Twelfth Elder's cave-abode, inside the barrier.
Yun Chi, his face ugly, finished reporting all that had passed in Qiwu Hall: "Grandfather, that Yun Qing went to the Discipline Hall, then saw the Second Elder. And on the Young Lord's side... there seems to be no sign of pursuing the shrine matter any further. Curse it — how could he let Yun Qing off so lightly?!"
The Twelfth Elder's face was gaunt and sinister; he stroked a pitch-black bone-talisman in his hand, his voice hoarse: "Hmph. That whelp Yun Qing — I did underestimate his skill at winning hearts."
"Then what do we do next..." The urgency and greed in Yun Chi's eyes all but spilled over. "Your grandson's Spirit-Devouring Body has reached its bottleneck. If it still cannot obtain a pure chaos origin—"
"What's the rush!" the Twelfth Elder rebuked coldly. "Yun Qing's fortune-luck runs high just now, and the Young Lord faintly leans his way; a head-on collision is no good plan. Failing to win at a stroke with the shrine affair has already beaten the grass and startled the snake."
Hearing this, Yun Chi asked with lingering fear: "Grandfather, has the Young Lord sensed something? Today was plainly a warning!"
The Twelfth Elder's eyes were deep with old cunning; he said carelessly: "Yun Huang's mind is hard to fathom, but since he did not lash out at once, it means there is yet room to turn. Those in high places rule their inferiors as one raises gu-worms — they are ever glad to see those below fight to please them; survival of the fittest, that is all. We must lay hold of that Chaos Dao Embryo before he truly takes Yun Qing for a confidant!"
Ambition and unease flickered intertwined in Yun Chi's eyes: "But Grandfather — why must we cleave to that Yun Huang at all? If we could obtain the whole Chaos Dao Embryo, and we two refine it by the method recorded in this bone-talisman, might we not—"
"Hold your tongue! That matter must never be raised again!" the Twelfth Elder barked, cutting him off, his face full of dread.