Refining the Mountains and Rivers

The two True Saints that descended had yet to say anything, but they looked at Li Zhouyi with a serious expression on their faces.

Taking a deep breath, Qin Yu said respectfully, "Fortunately we managed to stop Your Highness in time, otherwise you would've met with an accident!"

Li Zhouyi's face soured, but Qin Yu continued, "They knew that you wanted to capture them. When I chased after them, they only stopped to battle with me after they were very far away from the battlefield."

Qin Yu's face twitched and contorted in anger. "However, what I did not expect was that when I was about to defeat them, someone powerful from that clan appeared and ambushed me. If I was not quick enough, my puppet body would have been destroyed."

"That clan?!" Li Zhouyi furrowed his eyebrows. "They dared to ambush Border Cliff Sant? How dare they?"

Qin Yu shook his head. "I don't know why either. Those West Desolate cultivators that followed me on the chase attacked me too."

"What?!"

"They dared to ambush a Saint?"

The two True Saints were in disbelief, their expressions dark.

Li Zhouyi's eyes widened and stared at 'Border Cliff Saint'. His thoughts had already been all over the place, but now they were in an even bigger mess.

It was plausible that someone from the other clan had ambushed 'Border Cliff Saint' to undermine the West Desolate's power. However, why would cultivators from the West Desolate attack a Saint? Weren't they afraid of death?

Observing Li Zhouyi's expression, Qin Yu knew that this West Desolate's sixth prince must be utterly confused by what was going on.

Haha, with such a small brain capacity, Li Zhouyi still dared to descend upon the Vast Brightness World? Even if Qin Yu did not take action himself, he could still give Li Zhouyi a hard time. The Spring Master and that dragon from the East Sea were both not easy to deal with.

Even as he mocked Li Zhouyi on the inside, he still had to pretend to help him. It was a part that he had to play until the end. As the main character, Li Zhouyi needed to be present until Qin Yu decided that the show was over.

'Border Cliff Saint' laughed bitterly. "Your Highness, why do you not have any reaction?" His words contained disappointment and helplessness, and his face looked bitter and resentful. "Your Highness, it was me who went to chase after these rogue cultivators. It was so coincidental that I met with an ambush from the other clan. It was almost as if they had planned this and were waiting to kill me off.

"Also, since you know that swordsman, wouldn't he be aware that he would be recognized? He knew that his identity would be exposed, yet he still dared to ambush me. Your Highness, what…what do you think is going on?"

Li Zhouyi's expression changed instantly and he clenched his jaw. "Are you trying to say…that this was all a conspiracy?"

Qin Yu clapped loudly and cut Li Zhouyi off, not giving him a moment to think. He continued to say, "That's right, it's all a conspiracy! I suspect that this was plotted by that clan from the start, and these cultivators must be working in cahoots with them! But what I cannot understand is why the cultivators from the West Desolate would attack me. Even though they were not very close to Your Highness and were probably just following someone else's orders, they were still acting against the West Desolate's interests! How could they do something like that?"

The phrase "Not very close to Your Highness," caused Li Zhouyi to stiffen. In the Southwest Fragmented Area, there were two parties of power - one belonged to him, while the other belonged to the third prince.

He had already known that some of the third prince's men were within his encampment. Could it be that those he had dragged with him just so happened to be the third prince's men? It was the only explanation for why these cultivators had ambushed 'Border Cliff Saint'.

The West Desolate's third prince, his third brother…had started to collude with that clan?

Finally, it was all clear to Li Zhouyi. He thought back to the time when the Desolate King had interfered and he had gained control of the Inextinguishable Flame; the third prince's face had gone dark.

And then there was that swordsman who appeared out of nowhere. That swordsman's powers seemed average at best, yet he could not be killed even after so many attempts, causing Li Zhouyi to lose a number of his forces. Now, this swordsman had joined together with that clan. It was obvious that his brother and that clan had formed an alliance.

Then, there was that terrifyingly powerful cultivator who had managed to kill Li Zhouyi's puppet body and steal the Inextinguishable Flame away from him. This gave the third prince an excuse to come into the fragmented area. Even though the third prince had not appeared till this day, the cultivators that were under his command had ambushed Border Cliff Saint.

It was all becoming clearer to Li Zhouyi. His heart felt increasingly cold. Perhaps he guessed wrongly, and the Desolate King had never been interfering at all. It was purely the third prince and that clan's doing. They had even recruited the fragmented area's rogue cultivators!

Damn it. Li Quanji was committing a huge crime and deserved to be dismembered. For the sake of power, he even dared to go against the West Desolate's interests. Li Zhouyi selectively forgot that he had once given that clan some information in order to get a chance to gain power. Hmm, no, if everything was as he had guessed, then that clan would have already known regardless of whether he gave them information or not. Everything that Li Zhouyi did had already been calculated by them. Even if Li Zhouyi did not do anything, that clan would still have interfered.

Li Zhouyi felt like he had made a complete joke of himself!

That clan, the West Desolate's third prince, the fragmented area's rogue cultivators…it was a three-way alliance. All three parties had something to gain.

Getting the Inextinguishable Fire, undermining the West Desolate…it was obvious how that clan has benefitted from everything they had done. They probably hoped to get their hands on the treasure within the Mountain of Flames as well.

By eradicating Li Zhouyi, Li Quanji would become the king's most favored heir. Without Li Zhouyi there to obstruct him, it would be easy for Li Quanji to inherit the throne.

As for the fragmented area's rogue cultivators, it was even simpler. By eradicating the West Desolate, a huge burden would be lifted from their shoulders. In order to recruit them, that clan must have promised them even more benefits.

All three parties had their motives!

The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that he was right about all of this. He felt deeply afraid, and finally realized why he always met with road bumps ever since he came to the fragmented area. No matter what he did, there were always obstacles…so it turned out that he had always been in such a dangerous predicament.

Since all three parties had formed an alliance, was it possible to not have suffered? The fact that he was still alive meant that he was extremely lucky. For example, it was like 'Border Cliff Saint' had said previously. Thankfully he had stopped himself, otherwise things would have taken a bad turn.

Qin Yu looked at Li Zhouyi, finding his expressions extremely amusing. Li Zhouyi had a face full of disbelief, then anger and fear, then relief that he had escaped danger.

Qin Yu knew that he had succeeded with at least half his mission. By inciting false suspicions, things would go as he had planned from here on out. Li Zhouyi would form his own 'judgments' about the situation, and obviously, it was very clear what his judgments were. And because Li Zhouyi had derived these 'judgments' himself, he had deep convictions in them. It was more effective than Qin Yu explaining the situation to him.

The True Saints were silent, deep in thought. They were not fools; they could easily come to the same conclusion that Li Zhouyi did.

However, they still found it hard to believe.

Was the third prince really this daring? Was the third prince not afraid of angering the Desolate King?

The True Saints recovered quickly from their thoughts. If the third prince's plan was successful, he would push all of the responsibility onto Li Zhouyi, making Li Zhouyi a perfect scapegoat. With that clan and the rogue cultivators to help the third prince, it would not be a difficult undertaking.

Now that these True Saints knew all this insider information, would they dare to speak out against the third prince? Perhaps the Desolate King would not even wait that long to execute Li Zhouyi if he was the scapegoat.

After all, it was not honorable for his favorite son to have gone against the West Desolate's interests to harm his brother, just so that he could inherit the throne. And as someone like the Desolate King, they were the most respected family in West Desolate, so reputation was still very important.

Previously, the True Saints thought that the West Desolate's princes and princesses merely bickered like small children, and that their bickering was not worth any concern at all.

However, now it seemed that these Saints had underestimated the Desolate King's children. They were actually so manipulative and cruel!

They took a deep breath before releasing it.

Li Zhouyi gritted his teeth. "Border Cliff Saint, I am aware of the political situation. What do you think I should do now?"

Not long ago, Li Zhouyi regarded 'Border Cliff Saint' as one of his trusty comrades. Now, he believed that the Saint was truly the only one he could rely on.

Even though he did not say it out loud, it was clear that 'Border Cliff Saint' was his most loyal companion that the previous Desolate King had given him.

The other two True Saints were slightly bewildered. They could immediately tell that Li Zhouyi's regard for Border Cliff Saint had increased at least tenfold.

Though they were not ready to just give up their life while serving Li Zhouyi and did not expect to have much of a relationship with the sixth prince, they had followed him into the fragmented area after all. How could you show favorable treatment towards Border Cliff Saint in front of us?

Furthermore, they did not understand why 'Border Cliff Saint' would follow Li Zhouyi so loyally. After all, the political situation now did not really favor him.

One of the True Saints started to speak. "Border Cliff, you have not finished your story. How did you escape after being ambushed?"

The other True Saint nodded, "I'm curious too. After all, there are three parties that have formed an alliance together. There's no way they would have let you go that easily."

Qin Yu clenched his jaw and put on an abashed and helpless expression on his face. "I used a life-saving treasure that allowed me to play dead so that I could escape…is this answer good enough for the both of you?"

There we go, the basics of being an actor!

His expressions and manner of speaking all worked together perfectly, creating an image of a True Saint who had an inner ego, but was forced to play dead in order to escape, shattering his pride.

It was believable enough for the two True Saints to accept what he was saying. They were slightly shocked that 'Border Cliff Saint' would bear to use a life-saving treasure in this place.

It seemed to them that Border Cliff Saint had made up his mind on protecting Li Zhouyi. At first they did not know why a powerful Saint would sell his life for someone else, but now they were sure that it was an order that came from the previous Desolate King.

Li Zhouyi was touched.

Only 'Border Cliff Saint' is truly on my side…when I manage to overcome this huge obstacle, I will definitely treat him to a big feast!

Li Zhouyi felt warm inside. He extended an arm to Border Cliff Saint and asked, "Saint, what do you think is my best course of action right now?"

From the way Li Zhouyi talked to Border Cliff Saint, it was evident that he now held the Saint in high regard.

Qin Yu's nose started to itch. If Li Zhouyi knew of his true intentions, Li Zhouyi would definitely eat his heart out without hesitation. Being on the receiving end of Li Zhouyi's overly kind words made Qin Yu feel slightly guilty.

No, I can't be affected, I can't be affected!

He lightly coughed to recover his thoughts. "If our enemies believe that I am dead, then I should hide myself for now. I will use this chance to recover from my wounds. Your Highness, just continue pretending like you have no idea what is going on."

Li Zhouyi nodded a few times. "Border Cliff Saint, you are right. Let's do that. I don't think anyone here would leak the news that you've managed to escape alive."

Li Zhouyi glanced sideways at the two True Saints, causing them to stiffen. Both of them immediately responded, "Don't worry, Your Highness!"

Though they were not about to give up their lives for Li Zhouyi like the foolish 'Border Cliff Saint' had, they would still not be whistleblowers. It would only bring them lots of trouble.