Chapter 4396 — The Mysterious Center

If there was nothing fishy going on here, then he was the biggest fool alive. Besides, the Central Chamber of Commerce had dragged so many people in there solely to conduct those so-called human experiments—such a ruthless, cavalier disregard for human life could not, by any measure, be squared with a normal merchant guild. A cult was closer to the mark.

"That is exactly what I think as well. The questions I asked were in fact quite oblique and were not intended to be directed at them in any way, yet they still reacted so sensitively. Clearly something is hidden behind all this—otherwise, why arrest me?" Lu Bianren said with certainty.

"Mm. But now that things have come to this, I fear Deputy Pavilion Master Yao, whom neither of us has ever met, is in grave danger. It is even possible they have already seized him for their human experiments," Wei Zhao said with unconcealed worry and regret.

"That may not be so," Lu Bianren said, shaking his head. "Deputy Pavilion Master Yao is an expert of the early Xuan Ascension stage. As for those human experiments the Central Chamber of Commerce conducts, they have always taken only Golden Core experts—they do not even want Nascent Soul experts, much less an early Xuan Ascension one."

"What? Deputy Pavilion Master Yao is an early Xuan Ascension expert?" Wei Zhao was somewhat taken aback. His first encounter with that tier of expert had been back on the Central Isle, when the Heavenly Path Sect faced off against the Southern Heaven Aurora—and at that time, the Southern Heaven Aurora, relying solely on early Xuan Ascension strength, had already been able to contend for the position of Deputy Isle Master of the Central Isle.

After that, the next time Wei Zhao witnessed the bearing of a Xuan Ascension expert was with the three giants of the Morning Star Academy. The Eastern Sea Divine Nun had stared Cheng Qitian, a Golden Core expert, to death with a single glance—the shock of it had left a deep impression.

So in his subconscious, Wei Zhao had always regarded Xuan Ascension giants as supreme beings beyond all reach—even after he later encountered Xuan Ascension experts in the Central Chamber of Commerce, and more than one of them, that notion had never changed.

And this Yao LUNZHEN, as Deputy Pavilion Master of the Azure Cloud Pavilion of the North Isle, held an extremely lofty position—yet compared with a Deputy Isle Master of the Central Isle, he was still a notch below.

Moreover, he was cast from the same mold as Lu Bianren—wholly absorbed in the study of formations, not the sort who would throw himself into desperate cultivation to raise his strength. Wei Zhao had assumed his power must fall somewhere in the Nascent Soul range, most likely at the Nascent Soul Grand Perfection realm. He had never imagined that this man was actually an early Xuan Ascension expert!

"Quite so. Though Deputy Pavilion Master Yao is devoted to formations, his cultivation talent is in fact extraordinarily high. In his day he was a top genius of great renown on the North Isle—otherwise he could never have sat in the Deputy Pavilion Master's seat of the Azure Cloud Pavilion. It is only that he has always kept a low profile, and in recent years has never done anything of great stir, so he has drawn somewhat less attention," Lu Bianren said, seeing Wei Zhao's puzzlement and explaining with a smile.

Wei Zhao nodded. On reflection, it made sense. The Azure Cloud Pavilion might bring up the rear among the North Isle's Threefold Pavilion, but it was at least a colossus of the same rank, and its Deputy Pavilion Master already counted as a great figure at the very pinnacle of the North Isle. That he possessed early Xuan Ascension strength was hardly strange.

"Mm. Since Deputy Pavilion Master Yao is an early Xuan Ascension expert, the odds of his being taken for human experiments are indeed much lower. Perhaps he really is off somewhere repairing a formation," Wei Zhao said, stroking his chin in speculation.

He had a vague feeling that the Central Chamber of Commerce's sudden search for someone to repair a formation might not be a simple lure to draw people in. Perhaps it was genuine.

A man like Yao LUNZHEN was not only powerful in his own right but also thoroughly versed in formations—precisely the kind of rare talent the Central Chamber of Commerce prized. The likelihood of their doing him lethal harm was in truth not high. By any normal person's logic, even after they had made temporary use of him, they would not simply kill him off; they would find some pretext to hold him under house arrest, lest the formation run into trouble again in the future.

Wei Zhao even found himself wondering whether the formation Yao LUNZHEN had been brought in to repair might have something to do with the secular world.

The most dazzling and singular label borne by the Central Chamber of Commerce was its ability to connect with the secular world. And that connection must surely run through some kind of formation—and a profoundly deep and intricate formation at that. What Yao LUNZHEN had been brought in to repair might well be the very key to the Central Chamber of Commerce's rise on Cloud Terrace Isle.

Still, all of this was mere conjecture without a shred of evidence. Only by truly meeting Yao LUNZHEN and hearing it from his own lips could the truth be known.

"Perhaps. It is only that the Central Chamber of Commerce is so on edge about this matter that one cannot so much as ask a casual question about it, and we have not a single clue. Wanting to find Deputy Pavilion Master Yao like this is truly no different from fishing a needle out of the sea," Lu Bianren said, shaking his head with a sigh.

Yao LUNZHEN was not only the patron who had single-handedly raised him up—the two were also the closest of friends, kindred spirits in every way. With the man gone so long and still not a word of news, he was truly so worried he could not sleep.

"This must be planned with great care. The Central Chamber of Commerce has experts gathered like clouds and conducts itself in a filthy, sinister fashion. If they catch us again, we will not have such good fortune a second time, so we must absolutely not act rashly," Wei Zhao warned with a solemn face.

"Indeed. I was too reckless before—that is what aroused their suspicion and landed me in their hands. Had it not been for you, Brother Wei Zhao, I would already be dead this time," Lu Bianren said with a shudder of lingering dread.

Had Wei Zhao come a day later—or even just two hours later—the outcome might have been entirely different. Most likely he would already have been dragged off for those so-called human experiments; he might well be a corpse by now.

"This is what they call Heaven's will. You were destined not to die, Brother Lu—surviving a great calamity means a blessing to come!" Wei Zhao said with a smile of comfort, then went on: "But then again, the Central Chamber of Commerce is genuinely not to be trifled with. Everything about it, from top to bottom, reeks of the eerie and the sinister—secular goods, human experiments, mysterious formations, and on top of that, such a gathering of experts that a Xuan Ascension giant can pop out at any moment. With the strength we have now, we are still far from able to contend with them. Brother Lu, what do you plan to do next?"

"That..." Lu Bianren furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before saying: "Just as you said, Brother Wei Zhao, with my strength I cannot even get near the edges of the Central Chamber of Commerce, let alone find Deputy Pavilion Master Yao. So, rather than make trouble for you, I had best set out at once and return to the North Isle to make plans from there."

Lu Bianren might be of a mild, even-tempered disposition, but he had never been one to shrink from trouble, still less to flee from danger. It was in truth very difficult for him to reach such a decision.