Chapter 56: When False Becomes True, True Becomes False

While Liu Xuan stood there dumbfounded, Zhao Wenyuan, who was standing in a corner, suddenly felt a stirring in his heart. He reached into his robe and touched two pieces of jade marrow.

The two pieces of jade marrow were now attracting each other, having already merged into one.

The restriction previously placed upon them dissolved in an instant, and a pre-recorded message echoed directly in Zhao Wenyuan's mind.

It was the calm and unhurried voice of Gu Fangchen.

"If you don't want these two pieces of jade marrow to fly out right now and shout at the top of their lungs, 'The plan is exposed, run for your life, Zhao Wenyuan,' then do exactly as I say..."

Zhao Wenyuan's facial muscles twitched. Maintaining a nonchalant expression, he slowly shifted his steps and walked over to a scorched desk.

...

The entire scene of the Grand Banquet of the Imperial Forest plunged into utter chaos. Several scholars, having finally snapped out of their shock, rushed forward frantically.

"The spirit turtle! Quickly, save the spirit turtle!"

"How dare anyone injure the sacred beast left behind by the Sages in broad daylight! This is sheer audacity! Someone, seal the Imperial Sky City immediately and use divine sense to search every corner; do not let that scoundrel escape!"

Someone laughed coldly with malicious glee:

"Wonderful! I never expected that Gu Fangchen not only lacks the bloodline of the Prince of Northern Suppression, but is actually colluding with the Demonic Cult!"

"Alas, exposing his true identity in such a reckless manner—it seems he saw that the situation was turning against him and leaped over the wall like a cornered dog!"

However, the flames of the Golden Crow still lingered on the spot. Those who attempted to step forward to comfort the painfully shrieking "Rules" were scorched by the intense heat, and they let out miserable cries one after another.

"Ordinary spells are useless! Fall back, quickly!"

One of them stared at the golden flames, his pupils constricting as he shouted in shock:

"Golden Crow fire! This is the Golden Crow fire! Isn't this the exclusive technique of 'Sun-Tamer' Wu Hui?!"

Hearing this, Gu Yuandao felt his heart skip a beat.

His expression darkened immediately. He stepped forward and reached out to grab a cluster of the flames.

The golden flames instantly transformed into the shape of a sparrow, twisted their body, and in a split second, dispersed and vanished into nothingness.

The remaining flames also gathered simultaneously, turning into golden sparrows, and flew together toward the clearing sky, merging into the scattered sunlight.

Those present possessed broad knowledge and naturally recognized it at a single glance.

This was indeed the unique ability belonging solely to Wu Hui.

Someone nearby hesitated and said,

"This... He just claimed to be a member of the Demonic Cult and then unleashed the Golden Crow fire. Could it be that the person wasn't Gu Fangchen at all, but Wu Hui in disguise?"

Upon hearing this, the crowd froze before breaking into an uproar.

Gu Yuandao immediately and firmly refuted the notion:

"Impossible. Wu Hui cultivates the Dao of the Five Elements, not the Dao of Literary Arts. Where would he have acquired those poems from just now?"

The other person hesitated, saying,

"But... isn't it even more impossible for Gu Fangchen, that wastrel, to come up with those poems?"

"..."

Gu Yuandao was momentarily at a loss for words, feeling for a fraction of a second that this statement made complete sense.

The moment he realized this, his expression sank.

Even he found it plausible, let alone anyone else.

With a heavy expression, he cast his gaze around the room and noticed that upon hearing this remark, the people present all wore expressions of sudden realization.

Indeed. As an unlearned and incompetent wastrel, Gu Fangchen was absolutely, positively incapable of composing those six poems.

Even if the Demonic Cult had been involved in swapping the heir apparent years ago, why would they go to such elaborate lengths to have Gu Fangchen use these poems to show off? Instead, they should have kept him low-profile to wash away any suspicion.

Only by doing so would Gu Fangchen have had the opportunity to continue contesting the position of heir apparent with Gu Yuandao.

Otherwise, if things played out like today, wouldn't he simply be handing the top scholar a handle against him, allowing his true identity to be interrogated and exposed through the "Rules"?

And if one were to assume that Gu Fangchen himself had genuinely composed those poems, that would be nothing short of a fairy tale!

It was utterly impossible!

All their previous over-the-top skepticism regarding Gu Fangchen's six poems chanting of the lotus flowers now transformed into absolute certainty.

Lord Lin, who had been half-carried away before suddenly waking up with a start, walked unsteadily to the front and said in a deep voice:

"So it turns out to be a member of the Demonic Cult in disguise! No wonder... no wonder!"

With a grave tone, he continued:

"The most mysterious branch within the Demonic Cult is the 'Exposé' Dao. Among them are quite a few extreme-minded scholars, not to mention the legendary 'Poetry Fiend' of the past. If it was a Demonic Cult member in disguise, then everything makes sense."

Those around him chimed in immediately:

"Lord Lin's words are extremely wise! That explains it completely!"

So it wasn't that they were too incompetent, actually getting played and beaten to a pulp by a mere wastrel.

The person they were facing was actually from the unfathomable "Exposé" Dao of the Demonic Cult. Falling short against such an opponent was naturally a matter of course.

The delicate pride and ego of these scholars, once triggered, meant they would stubbornly defend their stance to the very end!

Losing to the Demonic Cult was still much better than losing to a universally notorious wastrel...

Gu Yuandao thought rapidly and added:

"Yet Wu Hui, who commands the Golden Crow fire, belongs to the 'Death' Dao, not the 'Exposé' Dao."

"Furthermore, with a scholar's inherent arrogance, how could anyone be willing to hand over six poems capable of stirring up heavenly phenomena to someone else?"

He said in a deep voice, "I ask you, what possible reason would they have to do so?"

"Could it simply be to let Gu Fangchen humiliate you and me and sweep away our dignity during this Grand Banquet of the Imperial Forest?"

"In my view, only Gu Fangchen himself had the motive. He has been lying low for all these years, playing the fool..."

At that moment, someone nearby let out a startled cry.

The crowd turned to look and saw Zhao Wenyuan bending down to pick up two pieces of jade marrow from the ground.

One black, one white, shaped like the Yin and Yang fish.

"What is this?"

Gu Youran walked over, and upon seeing the two pieces of jade marrow, she froze for a moment before her pupils contracted, and she stepped forward immediately.

"The two Yin-Yang jade marrow pieces from my Master's invitation letter!"

Zhao Wenyuan wore a solemn expression:

"From what I saw just now, these two pieces of jade marrow seemed to have dropped from the body of that 'Gu Fangchen'."

The chaotic scene moments ago, compounded by the rampage of the Golden Crow fire, had prevented anyone from seeing clearly what Gu Fangchen was actually doing as he departed.

Gu Youran took two steps forward, retrieved the merged jade marrow, pondered for a moment, and her expression changed drastically.

"The array set up on this is a 'Mirage Array'!"

There were no grandmasters of array formations present, and the name sounded completely foreign to them:

"Master Gu, what is a 'Mirage Array'?"

Gu Youran explained:

"A mirage in the sea, obscuring the five senses, turning illusions into reality and making the true indistinguishable from the false—that is a 'Mirage Array'."

"This array is of the third rank, a unique array of the Demonic Cult's 'Affection' Dao. It can create nearly identical illusions to deceive the world. Its sole flaw is..."

Gu Youran paused abruptly at this point, then suddenly raised her head to look at Ding Xingfeng and Qingjian, who were standing motionless beside the desk.

These two had accompanied Gu Fangchen here, but the martial saint, who had previously displayed such an arrogant attitude, had this time... not uttered a single word from beginning to end!

And even after Gu Fangchen suddenly exposed his identity and left, the two of them still showed no dramatic reaction, standing in place without changing their expressions.

They still looked every bit like transcendent experts...

Gu Youran took a deep breath, and in the next instant, she appeared directly in front of Ding Xingfeng, abruptly slashing her hand forward.

"Senior, offense taken."

As she spoke, her palm passed right through the bodies of Ding Xingfeng and Qingjian under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

"Whoosh—"

Like an invisible breeze blowing past.

The martial saint dressed as a servant and the hooded attendant of Xiyin instantly turned into grains of sand and dissipated into nothingness.

The crowd stared wide-eyed:

"Th-this, what is going on?!"

Gu Youran took a deep breath:

"The greatest flaw of the 'Mirage Array' is that once an illusion is touched, it dissolves."

Zhao Wenyuan came to a sudden realization:

"So that's how it was! That Crown Prince was actually an impostor from the 'Affection' Dao all along!"

Everyone understood the situation instantly:

"The 'Affection' Dao takes the manipulation of human emotions and desires as the foundation of its cultivation, and they especially love to take pleasure in deceiving others. No wonder he went to such lengths to provoke everyone earlier!"

That made complete sense!

With this, the entire matter became crystal clear.

Zhao Wenyuan said loudly:

"We must thank Top Scholar Gu for seeing through the Demonic Cult's conspiracy to impersonate the Crown Prince. Our top priority now is to quickly track down the whereabouts of this Demonic Cult scoundrel!"

Gu Yuandao's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. By now, he realized that he had been completely played by Gu Fangchen.

His interrogation of Gu Fangchen had instead turned into a brilliant opportunity for Gu Fangchen to thoroughly sever ties with the Demonic Cult forces.

Yet, if the Gu Fangchen present here from the start was a fake—

Where had the real Gu Fangchen gone?

And where had Ding Xingfeng and Qingjian gone?

He still had a chance!

As long as he figured out Gu Fangchen's whereabouts and proved that this Gu Fangchen was the genuine article, there was still a possibility of turning the tables!

Clutching at straws, Gu Yuandao said:

"Young Master Zhao's words are misguided. The most crucial matter right now is to confirm the whereabouts of the real Gu Fangchen!"

"Notify the Prince's Estate to thoroughly investigate his recent movements!"

...

Gu Fangchen looked at the "Latitude and Longitude Space" before him, where countless intersecting lines of light wove together, resembling the high-dimensional space of interstellar travel.

With a thought, in the next instant, his feet touched the ground, and he arrived at the coordinate point etched in his memory.

Before him stood a hunched-old man—none other than the Tooth Artisan.