Chapter 714: The Poison Nail Eight Hundred Years Deep

When Xu Bai spoke those words, the violent aura gathering around Wang Qiupo suddenly went still.

His dim eyes fell on the cultivator before him, a man so handsome it bordered on unnerving. His mind churned over the name: Heaven-Toppling Society.

Wang Qiupo knew that name well.

He had once received a secret order from the Five Elders Council to investigate this organization. He'd spent no small amount of resources on it, yet uncovered nothing. Not even the name itself had turned up anywhere. He'd even begun to suspect, for a time, that the Council had erred in transmitting the target's name. Eventually the matter faded into obscurity.

Until today, when this young cultivator, claiming to be a member of the Heaven-Toppling Society, had appeared before him.

He not only knows my identity as a spy, he's thoroughly aware of my physical condition.

A traitor has emerged within the Council.

As one of the most capable spies still active in the Five Elders Council, Wang Qiupo reached that conclusion at once. He had only recently sent word that his lifespan was running thin, intending to have the Council leverage his death for further gain.

Wang Qiupo had lived within the Myriad Immortals Alliance for nearly eight centuries. He'd spent the first half of that life in mediocrity. But over the latter four hundred years, as the cultivators he'd befriended in his youth rose to prominence, he'd finally entered the most glorious stretch of his career as a spy.

Over the years, he'd referred tens of thousands of young cultivators for entry into the Alliance.

Some of that success came from old friends who helped him out of past loyalty. But far more of it came because these individuals really were rare prodigies, the kind seen once in a generation.

That was precisely why he struck outsiders as eccentric. If they weren't prodigies, he would never have referred them.

As a top-tier spy, Wang Qiupo understood that planting nails in an enemy's camp only yielded short-term gains. Every spy eventually risked exposure, and when that day came, the network he'd spent years cultivating would be swept up in one net.

Rising to real influence within the Myriad Immortals Alliance took many years. His young spies would never live to see that day. Even the fortunate few who rose quickly through the ranks had no guarantee of laying hands on truly vital intelligence. Such methods could only deal the Alliance limited harm.

Wang Qiupo intended something else entirely: to expose his own identity as a spy deliberately, in the final moments before his death, and deliver a blow the Alliance would not soon recover from.

Consider what would follow. The moment word spread that Wang Qiupo had spied for the Five Elders Council, it would send shockwaves through the entire cultivation world.

Every cultivator he'd ever recommended would fall under immediate suspicion. Even if investigations eventually cleared them, could the Myriad Immortals Alliance really afford to keep them? Who could guarantee they hadn't passed their assessments by cheating?

Under that cloud of suspicion, these cultivators, who were once full of promise and the backbone of their divisions within the Alliance, would keep their lives but lose everything else. They'd be exiled to posts of no consequence, left to wither in obscurity.

The talented would fade from sight. The posts they left behind would be filled, as such posts always are, by lesser men.

That was the Poison Nail scheme Wang Qiupo had spent eight centuries engineering: a single small nail capable of crippling a vital portion of the Alliance's elite. It was also the utmost limit of what a cultivator at the Golden Core realm could hope to accomplish.

The scheme had been flawless, and it was about to enter its final stage.

He never expected an unforeseen variable to appear now, of all times.

"Young man, what exactly do you mean? Feel free to speak plainly." Wang Qiupo kept his expression unmoved as he probed.

Xu Bai smiled, then cut straight to the point. "You're a spy planted by the Five Elders Council, aren't you?"

Wang Qiupo narrowed his eyes, then admitted without hesitation, "That's right!"

Such bluntness caught Xu Bai somewhat off guard.

But it changed nothing.

"Old sir, there's no need to be nervous. If you know anything of our Heaven-Toppling Society, you should understand we're on the same side." Xu Bai smiled, his tone unhurried.

"We'd love nothing more than to see the Myriad Immortals Alliance descend into chaos. Why would I expose you?"

Wang Qiupo had barely begun to consider this when Xu Bai's smile vanished and his expression turned serious. "To be frank, I came here to make a deal. One concerning a matter of the utmost importance."

He paused. "I was afraid an ordinary spy might let something slip, so I came directly to you."

Seeing the earnestness in the other man's bearing, Wang Qiupo's expression grew grave. But he had lived eight hundred years. He wasn't so easily swayed by a few well-chosen words.

He held his silence and waited to see where this was truly headed.

When he heard Xu Bai's next words, he nearly snapped the bamboo staff in his hand.

"Do you know the Myriad Immortals Alliance is on the verge of producing another Eternal Heavenly Venerable?"

"What did you say?" Even a man of Wang Qiupo's depth couldn't keep his composure entirely, and his expression shifted.

"You weren't aware of this?" Xu Bai frowned. "That surprises me."

Wang Qiupo drew a slow breath, as if trying to read the truth from Xu Bai's face.

But Xu Bai gave him no time to think, pressing on with one earth-shattering revelation after another.

"We've already identified the principle this Heavenly Venerable has reversed. It's rather strange, actually.

"Until now, the Myriad Immortals Alliance only had the Heavenly Venerable Dao Teacher, and your Five Elders Council could still meet them blow for blow. But now that the Alliance stands to gain another Heavenly Venerable...

"You'd do well to prepare early. This Heavenly Venerable hasn't yet formally established his Axiom. He can still move within the mortal world. If you're caught off guard, I fear..."

Wang Qiupo's head spun immediately.

He prided himself on being a successful spy for the Five Elders Council, but his knowledge was sorely lacking when it came to matters at the level of Eternal Heavenly Venerables.

Things like reversed principles and established Axioms left him confused.

Still, if what this cultivator from the Heaven-Toppling Society said was true, he needed to report to the Council as quickly as possible.

Wang Qiupo glanced at Xu Bai again.

Xu Bai seemed to read his thoughts and handed over a jade slip.

"I told you, I'm here to make a deal. We can disclose specific information about this Heavenly Venerable to you. But it won't come for free.

"This information matters far more than anything from our previous exchanges. We haven't raised the price, which should show our sincerity. After all, we're counting on you to fight the Myriad Immortals Alliance to the bitter end."

Xu Bai smiled strangely, then gestured as if to say, “Please.”

Wang Qiupo examined the jade slip. A moment later, his pupils contracted.