Chapter 712 - We'll Account to You
The domain rating for the Heaven Wasteland Domain included not only the tests of the nineteen large cities on the Road of Chaos but also the deliberate making of difficulties by unpredictable hidden forces.
Therefore, the road was bound to be filled with danger and all kinds of traps.
According to the Violet Gold Divine Office Master's explanation, news of topping the Storm List might indeed allow the Heaven Wasteland Domain to directly pass domain rating, and thereby skip the various tests and avoid the disturbances of hidden enemy forces, but... Ye Qingyu acutely took note of one word in the master's words - "might".
It was only a possibility.
In other words, the Heaven Wasteland Domain might not be granted a direct pass.
"Junior understands what you mean, Office Master." Ye Qingyu smiled and said with great respect, "Junior knows the interests involved in this matter and understands the pains that Senior has taken. Mythinking is, after all, short-sighted and shallow, and so it's best that Senior makes decisions regarding this matter on my behalf."
He had already sensed that the master of the Violet Gold Divine Office bore him no ill will.
"Hahaha, alright, alright. With such penetrative comprehension power, you've proven why you could beat down Po Hun's demon-like talents." The phantom suddenly guffawed and said, "Since you consider me your senior, I shall make decisions regarding this for you. For now, let this matter remain here, alright?"
The master's mild tone made it sound as if he was actually conferring with Ye Qingyu.
Shangguan Wu and Huang Tayun, who both stood in front of the test platform, trembled slightly. They never expected that the great and noble master of the Violet Gold Divine Office and Lord of the Sunrise City would actually consult the opinion of a young genius from a new domain. Furthermore, one could see that the master thought extremely highly of the young man from Heaven Wasteland Domain.
Undoubtedly, a lot of respect was shown to Ye Qingyu.
But from another perspective, Ye Qingyu's topping of the Storm List was an achievement which surpassed ancients and amazed contemporaries, and was indeed worthy of respect. After all, once this young man grew up, he would definitely be able to reach the current level and status of the master.
He laughed and nodded his head, saying, "Junior has the same intention. Thank you for the trouble you've taken, master." With that, he saluted once more.
"Haha, alright, young man. You've indeed made quite the impression on this office. And yes, today's test is over. We hereby declare that you all have officially passed and may proceed to the next city... We need to remind you all that the city tests will only become more and more difficult and dangerous, and thus hope you'll be more careful. We shall wait in the Chaotic Sky City for your successful arrival." The master guffawed unrestrainedly and said, "Of course, if anyone secretly makes things difficult for you all, we won't just sit by idly. We'll host a banquet to honor you all when you make it to Chaotic Sky City."
"Office Master, you are very kind. Qingyu will obey your words," Ye Qingyu said with a smile.
"Good." The phantom raised a hand and was about to undo the seal upon the test plaza.
Just then, Ye Qingyu thought of something.
He smiled and spoke up once more, "Office Master, there's another matter Junior needs to report. Junior and several others may not be able to leave Sunrise City yet, and instead have to go to the Lightless Dungeon to await trial."
"Oh?" the master uttered. "What happened?"
Ye Qingyu suddenly took a glance at the pensive-looking Huang Tayun, as well as Huang Lin, who had frozen into a human statue. He decided to talk about the "theft" issue so as to draw support from the master and resolve it completely. Otherwise, it would hold up a considerable amount of the Heaven Wasteland Domain's time and affect their domain rating efforts, even if it was to be resolved later on.
"Junior still has an unresolved issue in the city. Someone is waiting for the test to end before locking Junior back up in the Lightless Dungeon."
"What's going on?" The green phantom appeared somewhat surprised.
Ye Qingyu swiftly orated the sequence of events.
"Shangguan Wu, go find the personnel relevant to this incident and dig out the entire story. Go now." The master's voice was very calm. "Bring me the truth within the time it takes for me to drink a cup of tea."
"Yes, Master, I'll go immediately!"
Upon receiving orders, Shangguan Wu became solemn and instantly transformed into a beam of flowing light which vanished from the test plaza.
Huang Tayun, who remained standing in front of the test platform, had long become so frightened that his face turned ashen pale and he was bereft of his wits. However, he took pains to appear calm in order to avoid giving himself away.
This was because he had personally arranged for his nephew Huang Lin to slander the Heaven Wasteland diplomatic corps for theft and to trouble them when they were entering the city. Furthermore, he had especially instructed Huang Lin to keep Shopkeeper Zhou alive as a witness so as to create a false impression of irrefutable proof and help them secure a successful conviction.
However, now that Shangguan Wu personally conducted the investigation, he would, given his status and methods, certainly be able to get Shopkeeper Zhou to talk and thereby dig out the truth.
If Shopkeeper Zhou cared only for saving his own skin and revealed everything he knew, Huang Lin would certainly be in huge trouble.
Huang Tayun anxiously shot a glance at his nephew as he thought to this point. Subsequently, he turned his eyes away, with his expression becoming extremely sinister.
If this nephew of his could not be saved, it would be no more than the loss of a subordinate for him.
But if Huang Lin had told Shopkeeper Zhou more than was necessary, and Shangguan Wu found out about the supervisor's involvement from the latter's mouth, then...
Dear Huang Lin, you'd better pray that you didn't mention me in front of Shopkeeper Zhou, otherwise, I'll chew and swallow your bones to vent my hatred before I die!
With an extremely complicated look on his face, Huang Tayun lowered his head and clenched his fists.
"Supervisor Huang, you seem very disturbed..." Ye Qingyu had been eyeing Huang Tayun for an unknown amount of time.
"Huh? What? You're... bullshitting!" Startled, the latter blurted without thought, "With my clear conscience, I have no fear of false accusations. Young man, don't you try using this opportunity to wrong me, just because I was a little strict during the test!"
Ye Qingyu raised the corners of his mouth slightly without saying anything further.
After the time it took to drink a cup of tea.
A beam of flowing light breached the sealing wind layer and landed on the test platform in the middle of the plaza.
Shangguan Wu was back.
Huang Tayun became increasingly frightened and uneasy inside.
"Master!" Shangguan Wu saluted before submitting a jade slip covered by a pale green halo to the Violet Gold Office Master.
After reading the jade slip, the master said nothing and pondered for several moments.
Subsequently, the phantom once again looked at Ye Qingyu and said, "Young man, this matter is the Office's fault. We'll account to you in due course."
Hearing this, Ye Qingyu felt lighter in his heart.
He simply thanked the green phantom on the test platform without asking more.
In the meantime.
An extremely terrifying green radiance suddenly sparkled, with the test platform as its center.
Ye Qingyu abruptly felt a magnificent and uncontrollable supernatural power pervade the entire test plaza.
The next moment, the thousand-odd people who were trapped on the plaza began to recover. However, each and every one of them revealed a vacant look, completely oblivious to what had happened.
The green phantom on the test platform had long disappeared.
The master of the Violet Gold Divine Office had departed.
There was not a trace or breath of the green phantom left on the test plaza.
The crowd in the middle of the plaza began to regain its previous vitality.
"What's going on?"
"Just now..."
"It seems like... the Wall of Storm has been punched through by Lord Ye and the test is over, right?"
"Lord Shangguan, have we passed the test yet?"
"Lord Ye is incredible..."
"Of course, he's the strongest War God of our domain!"
The discussing crowd looked with expecting eyes at Shangguan Wu.
Ye Qingyu was slightly stunned. After seeing the crowd's expressions and hearing their discussions, he immediately realized that the mysterious master had used a supernatural power to erase the memories of everyone else when space and time were frozen.
They had apparently forgotten everything that just took place.
Therefore, only the master, Shangguan Wu, Huang Tayun, Xing'er, the two reception elders, and Ye Qingyu himself knew about his name's appearance on the Wall of Storm. This was indeed a better solution than Shangguan Wu's suggestion to use the Violet Gold Divine Order to keep mouths shut.
But the problem was...
Ye Qingyu looked at Huang Tayun, whose expressions were ever-changing.
He did not believe that the supervisor would help him keep this secret.
I'm afraid, even before we leave Sunrise City, this geezer would already have leaked this information... he's obviously eager to see me dead.
But there's no point talking about this now.
That the master did not erase his memory shows that he can kinda be trusted.
The test came to a complete end.
The Heaven Wasteland diplomatic corps had finally and successfully gotten through the first checkpoint.
This was a very good start.
Everyone was very excited.
Led by Shangguan Wu, the contingent began to leave the test site. The plump elder Yan Wushuang cheerfully mixed in with the crowd, whereas the emaciated elder Shuang Wuyan remained as frosty as an iceberg. Ye Qingyu walked behind the crowd, smiling as he looked at them.
He still felt a little odd.
When the master of the Violet Gold Divine Office appeared, he did not control the two reception elders, nor did he say anything to them. More importantly, they were neither shocked nor respectful when they saw him appear. Is it possible that they are similar to him in status?
Ye Qingyu was starting to feel like he could never understand the two reception elders.
It was highly possible that their backgrounds were even more mysterious than what Ye Qingyu had understood at the start.
...
There was finally not a single person on the Wall of Storm test site.
Everyone had left.
The gate in the distance gradually closed amid a thunderous noise.
However, just then, a green wind began to spin in the air above the wall once again. Gradually, the blurry figure of the Office Master once again appeared, before landing on the ground and walking up to the wall.
A beam of green flowing light shot out from the figure's hand and into the wall.