"Someone who both wants to wipe out the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and wants even more to wipe out the Clear Sky Sect, yet isn't that close to the Grandmaster." Yin Yang rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and, with his knack for gathering intelligence, quickly ran through everyone around the Grandmaster. At last he smiled. "So that's it. The Defense Clan. They bear grudges against our sect, Spirit Hall, and the Clear Sky Sect, but their grudge against us is the lightest. After all, that Old Sword killing Niu Gao was a mistake; the true culprit was Tang Hao. If they had to choose which sect to exterminate—us or the Clear Sky Sect—they'd pick the Clear Sky Sect."
"Rest easy. Leave everything to me." Yin Yang accepted the order and left.
…
Three days passed quickly.
The Grandmaster finally set his plan in motion. Unfortunately, as the national tutor, he was guarded too tightly. Even Liu Erlong, a Soul Douluo, stuck to him like a shadow. Unless Bai He came in person, even the Speed Clan could only watch from outside; slipping into his residence to snoop was truly difficult.
But Bai He had other matters to attend to. He had rushed to the empire's border regions to gather intelligence on the continental war and the Spirit Empire. Ning Fengzhi's emphasis on intelligence was always S-tier.
If the Speed Clan's agents couldn't find anything, the Clear Sky Sect certainly couldn't either. Though Tang Xiao was powerful, intelligence work wasn't his specialty. As a result, they had no idea to whom the Grandmaster had handed his second letter.
Tang San was indeed very important to the Grandmaster, a figure who could validate his theories. If Tang San were still alive, the Grandmaster would even be willing to sacrifice his life to save him, because his Ten Great Core Spirit Competencies would at least have an heir. But since Tang San was already dead, wanting revenge didn't mean he would throw his own life away. Before seeing his Ten Great Core Spirit Competencies flourish, he neither wanted to die nor could he.
The first letter went out. A Soul King with a flying-type beast martial soul carried the Grandmaster's letter and Elder Token toward Spirit Hall.
But he had flown less than a 50 km from Heaven Dou City when a bolt of lightning cut him off—Thunder Eagle Douluo Yin Yang. For the plan to proceed smoothly, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would dispatch four Titled Douluo in total; he was one of them.
Faced with a Titled Douluo, a mere Soul King had no chance to resist. Lightning pierced his heart, and Yin Yang successfully took the letter before rushing back to the sect.
Ning Fengzhi examined the letter. The Grandmaster was not foolish. In it he said he planned to seek revenge alone for his disciple, knowing he would surely die. He was writing to bid Bibi Dong farewell. Every word was heartfelt, repeatedly expressing his deep hope that they could be husband and wife in the next life. From beginning to end, there wasn't a single line asking Bibi Dong to avenge him.
Indeed, for love-brained Bibi Dong, a letter like this would hit hardest.
"What a pity about Yu Xiaogang. If only his strength were a bit higher—paired with these formidable flirting skills—he could definitely start a harem." Ning Fengzhi smiled faintly. "Someone, imitate Yu Xiaogang's handwriting and copy this letter exactly to deliver to Bibi Dong. Remember, don't get a single character wrong. Afterward we can even use it as teaching material for flirting in the sect. For the sect to endure, we need more marriages!"
Yin Yang was puzzled. "Wait, Fengzhi—if you're going to copy it exactly in his handwriting, why did you have me snatch this letter back in the first place?"
"Grandpa Eagle, even if the handwriting looks the same and the content is the same, some people can still tell who wrote it. You can imitate the script, but not the habits," Tianlin answered in Ning Fengzhi's stead.
"Xiao Tian is absolutely right. When people in high positions write, to prevent forgery they include a small personal habit—say, slightly adjusting the length of a stroke in a common character, or tightening the hook a touch. Especially a theorist like the Grandmaster—when publishing his results, he would certainly cultivate such habits to prevent others from impersonating him and claiming his work." Ning Fengzhi explained. As a sect master, he knew these tricks all too well.
Even if someone could mimic his penmanship and tone, noticing that nuance would be difficult.
Before long, when a new letter reached Yin Yang's hands, he understood.
On the surface, the two letters were identical. But on close inspection, in every instance of the character "of," the Grandmaster's last hook stroke subconsciously drew back slightly.
In the forged letter, some hooks drew back, some didn't, and some only barely did—because the copyist, not being the Grandmaster himself, found it very hard to reproduce this habit perfectly.
As the Grandmaster's former lover, Bibi Dong would certainly know this.
When she saw this fake letter, she would conclude that someone was using the Grandmaster to provoke conflict between her and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. If the Grandmaster then met with misfortune, the one stirring the pot would be the murderer. Combined with the Grandmaster's second letter in his own hand, the Clear Sky Sect wouldn't be able to deny it.
Ning Fengzhi casually dispatched a man, carrying the forged letter and the Grandmaster's Elder Token, to deliver them to the Spirit Empire.
At the same time, he had someone imitate his own script to send a letter inviting Yu Yuanzhen to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for a talk. He also had someone imitate Yu Yuanzhen's handwriting to write a letter to the Grandmaster—but this letter didn't need the Grandmaster to see it; it was only to erase the final trace of suspicion.
…
Elsewhere, the Grandmaster was preparing to head up Seven Treasure Mountain. As the sect's seat, the mountain had many villages at its foot, and the mountain path wasn't sealed. He didn't need to hide his movements; he could stride in openly under everyone's gaze.
Of course, he wouldn't enter the sect grounds—going in would be a death sentence. He only needed to reach halfway up, then wait for Tang Xiao to quietly extract him.
To vanish without a trace on Seven Treasure Mountain, plus the letter he'd written to Bibi Dong in his own hand, would naturally make people suspect he'd gone to seek revenge and been silenced by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Then the enraged Bibi Dong might throw caution to the wind and strike the sect, leading both sides to bleed—goal achieved.
As soon as he left, a streak of light slipped into his residence and placed a letter imitating Yu Yuanzhen's script on his desk. The visitor was Gu Rong. No matter how strong the residence's guard was, they couldn't possibly detect a Level 97 Super Douluo who was adept at spatial abilities.
After leaving the letter, Gu Rong didn't linger. He followed covertly to protect the Grandmaster. After all, the Chrysanthemum Douluo still lurked in the shadows, eyeing the chance to seize Yu Xiaogang. Gu Rong didn't know when that Chrysanthemum Douluo had joined the Evil Sword Immortal, but he could not allow him to ruin their plan.
If Chrysanthemum Douluo appeared, Gu Rong had already decided to kill him with his own hands.
Finally, there was Tang Xiao. He and the Grandmaster had agreed on a time to act together. But he wouldn't make it to Seven Treasure Mountain. Mid-flight, two figures blocked his path.
"Tang Xiao, Sect Master of the Clear Sky Sect—greetings. First time meeting. Allow me to introduce myself: I'm Jun Tianlin, Vice Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. This is our elder, the Dragon Duke. We've been waiting here for quite some time." Tianlin smiled at Tang Xiao.
"Jun Tianlin!" At the name, Tang Xiao's pupils constricted. "Why are you here?"
"You and Tang Yuehua bent over backwards to make our sect and the Spirit Empire go to war early. How could I let you succeed? I'm here today for only one thing: to borrow a little something from you," Tianlin said.
Hearing this, Tang Xiao felt a jolt—his plan had leaked. He didn't know how, but he could not allow the two in front of him to leave alive, or everything would fall apart.
"What is it?" Tang Xiao edged closer, hands behind his back. Soul power surged between his palms. A small hammer was rapidly growing.