Otherworldly Affairs Office-Chapter 742: Blessing in Disguise (Please Subscribe)
"I can't think of any other possibilities aside from this," Pei Yan recalled what had just happened with a bitter smile, "When I saw that spiritual essence being destroyed, I had my doubts. Since we could force it out, why couldn't the people from the Celestial Secret Pavilion? They, who are far more versed in spiritual essences than us, could certainly do it too. The reason they didn't is that it would reduce the combat effectiveness of something comparable to a Divine Artifact puppet. Still, for them to go to such lengths to plot against us by collaborating with Shenyu, they surely hold a deep grudge against me. They wish I were dead!"
Toward the end, Pei Yan's bitter smile turned into a cold one, his tone was grim, and his eyes gleamed with killing intent. At this moment, Xie Chujun suddenly spoke up, "They're targeting not only you. I've only now understood a bit of their plot."
Upon hearing this, Pei Yan looked up at him as Xie Chujun continued, "Thinking it over, their interference at this Sword Discussion Conference was not only for obtaining Origin Seeds they have no means of acquiring but also for weakening the newly restored strength of your body's essence. This point I had suspected when they proposed the plan, but what surprised me was that she agreed to it."
In response to Xie Chujun's doubts, Pei Yan looked back up after a brief pause and replied, "She said these matters are not for us to worry about; if she agreed, she must have a counterstrategy."
Hearing this, Xie Chujun nodded and continued, "Moreover, the Mechanical Puppet is their backup to deepen this vicious plot. Imagine if Yao Xuefang hadn't been tricked today, it would have been Pei Yan who was caught, and in his delirium, who could have pulled him away from the spiritual essence's control?"
"It's the essence within my body!" Pei Yan also realized and snorted coldly, "What a calculation! After Lin Junzhao fragmented the Origin Seed piece, they struck just when she was weakened. To suppress this spiritual essence's invasion of my body, she would have to deplete some of her strength, they really calculated it well!"
"Yes, but they made one crucial miscalculation," Gu Shenghui chimed in, "They didn't expect the Immortal Palace to take so much time to quell the discontent of the sects, delaying the chance for us to confirm the tournament, thus allowing us to discover the puppet's problem early."
"Indeed, that's their first miscalculation. In their plans, if the plot against Pei Yan failed, the second target would be to harm Yao Xuefang. Similarly, we would inevitably enter her Spiritual World to rescue Yao Xuefang, where we'd face the millennia-old spiritual essence. Without Xie Chujun's assistance today, our spiritual essences would have suffered severe damage during the rescue, substantially lowering our threat to Shenyu in the upcoming Sword Discussion Conference their terms were proposed with the intent to eliminate opponents before the real competition started," Mei Simiao picked up after Gu Shenghui said.
After hearing Mei Simiao's analysis, Pei Yan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling lingering fear, "Dealing with these people truly demands constant vigilance. This time, they miscalculated, otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable!"
"Indeed, apart from Yao Xuefang, we only suffered the loss of Dong Shigang, which is already fortunate in misfortune. Yet we can seize this chance to turn their strategy against them, outplaying them," Gu Shenghui said.
Gu Shenghui had just finished speaking when Pei Yan's eyes lit up with excitement, "Are you suggesting feigning weakness to trick them?"
"Yes, but if you do, the burden on your shoulders will be heavy," Gu Shenghui nodded, a deep meaning conveyed through his smile.
Pei Yan didn't immediately respond but instead paced back and forth, seemingly discussing something with Lin Junzhao inside his body. After a moment, he looked up to Gu Shenghui with a smile, "It's doable, Lin Junzhao said her original selection was indeed the younger generation, which perfectly aligns with our plan."
"Can you assure victory?" Gu Shenghui pressed.
"Whether we can or can't, we must!" Pei Yan gritted his teeth and promised. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
Seeing him so determined, Gu Shenghui didn't inquire further, shifting the topic instead, "How do you plan to handle the puppet? It's too dangerous, you should put it back in the investigation hall's secret vault."
"No, I want to absorb it!"
Mei Simiao was taken aback and displeased at this, "Pei Yan, it's risky, Yao Chu has already had an accident, yet you still want to take risks?"
"Precisely because Yao Chu had an accident, I must absorb it!" Pei Yan's gaze was resolute and indisputable, "Yao Chu told me before she fainted that the spiritual essence within the Mechanical Puppet has been largely eliminated, the remaining obstacle to my absorption is the lingering killing intent. According to her analysis, the puppet's creator validated his path through killing, infusing his ideology into it, making this puppet a powerful tool of slaughter. The puppet, stained with fierce killing aura, was also steeped in his spiritual essence."
"Are you not afraid of losing control, absorbing it?" Gu Shenghui questioned.
Facing Gu Shenghui's query, Pei Yan revealed a sly smile, "Gu Chu, you concluded Shenyu miscalculated two points earlier, they missed one more. They thought even if we pay the price, we couldn't use the puppet, or I'd be influenced, turning into a mindless killing machine. They didn't anticipate the fragment from the Candle Dragon would allow me to recreate a clone matching my ability."
As he said this, Pei Yan summoned his clone, Pei San, "This puppet, transformed by Li Songtao's residual energy and further modified by Lin Junzhao and Elder Lin, fused with a large amount of my essence and materials, can perform at roughly sixty percent of my strength. More importantly, it's governed by the artificial intelligence, Suzi, in my mind, as a pure intelligent machine, unaffected by human emotions and killing intent! With the puppet's spiritual essence gone, I'm not worried about it gaining control."
Gu Shenghui immediately understood Pei Yan's intention, sighing, "You're saying...!"
"Exactly, I'll have this clone absorb the Mechanical Puppet! Candle Dragon! Bai Ze! Mu Fanchen! You've shot yourselves in the foot!" Finished speaking, Pei Yan felt a streak of satisfaction from his triumphant revenge and rubbed his hands in excitement.
After the decision was made, Pei Yan couldn't wait any longer and immediately brought the Mechanical Puppet back from the external realm into the parallel space. Under everyone's watchful eyes, the mechanical clone Pei San began absorbing the slaughter puppet. The entire absorption process was long and tedious, yet no one dared to relax their vigilance for fear of any mishaps. Only two hours later, with the puppet absorbed entirely, did an apprehensive Pei Yan step forward and quietly call out, "Pei San?"
