I am Master Maoshan

Chapter 2285 The fish takes the bait

"Alright, stop arguing!" the Third Saintess suddenly shouted, her voice clear and powerful, instantly drowning out all the noise.

The Third Saintess held a high position in the Saintess Pavilion; aside from the First Saintess, she was the most authoritative. Even the Second Saintess could only sit back on the bed and follow the Third Saintess's instructions.

After looking around and seeing that everyone had gradually calmed down, the Third Holy Maiden continued, "Let the eldest sister speak."

Upon hearing this, the Holy Maiden slowly stepped forward and began to recount the story of Liu Jun's furnace explosion, explaining how the astonishing explosive force destroyed the spirit-gathering array on the top floor of the Holy Maiden Pavilion and how it plunged the entire Holy Maiden Pavilion into chaos.

Next, she recounted how she managed to persuade the renowned 'Dragon Emperor' of the Array Sect to repair the Spirit Gathering Array, and how the Spirit Gathering Array became dozens of times more powerful under Dragon Emperor's guidance.

Of course, at the end, she mentioned the incident where Elder Zong led people to stop them, the scene of being blown away by the explosion, and the later incident of 'Emperor Long Ao' setting up a temporary formation to help her break through her cultivation level.

"Deacon Long, thank you!" After hearing the whole story, the two saintesses showed gratitude on their faces. They immediately went to Emperor Long Ao and bowed deeply.

Liu Jun, disguised as 'Emperor Long Ao', smiled slightly and accepted the greetings from the two holy maidens.

Just then, Vice Hall Masters Peng Sheng and Liu Yuan hurriedly arrived at the sixth-floor hall. Their arrival instantly silenced the previously noisy hall, and all eyes were focused on these two high-ranking Vice Hall Masters.

"Greetings, Vice Hall Master Peng and Vice Hall Master Liu." The holy maidens bowed in unison, their voices clear and crisp.

Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan sharply scanned the surroundings, his brows furrowing slightly as he asked, "What exactly happened here?"

As one of the most esteemed saintesses present, the First Saintess had no choice but to grit her teeth and recount the entire story in detail from beginning to end.

Her voice was clear and steady, vividly depicting the thrilling scene of 'Dragon Emperor' modifying the Spirit Gathering Array and Elder Zong and others trying to shut it down but being blown away.

After listening to the Holy Maiden's account, Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan frowned even more deeply and asked incredulously, "You mean, the Spirit Gathering Array here was modified by this Deacon Long to be so powerful that even array masters like Elder Zong couldn't easily shut it down and were instead blown away? And it even destroyed three entire floors of the Holy Maiden's Pavilion?"

The Holy Maiden nodded slightly. Although she also felt that all of this was simply a fantasy, the facts were right in front of her, leaving her no choice but to believe it.

Vice Hall Master Peng Cheng listened in stunned silence, pointing a finger at the composed "Emperor Long Ao" standing to the side, and asked, "I may not be well-educated, but don't try to fool me. Elder Zong is one of the top array masters in our Heavenly Lord Hall. The array he couldn't break was actually set up by this Deacon Long? Could it be that Deacon Long's array skills are even more unfathomable than Elder Zong's?"

These words plunged the entire hall into a deathly silence once more. All eyes were fixed on Long Ao Di, filled with bewilderment. Clearly, they too didn't understand why Elder Zong, a grandmaster of formations, couldn't break the Spirit Gathering Array.

"What, haven't you ever seen a peerless genius before?" Liu Jun, disguised as 'Emperor Long Ao', shrugged, a playful smile playing on his lips, seemingly brimming with confidence in his identity and talent.

Everyone was taken aback, thinking to themselves: "Can't you hold back your arrogance?" But given the guy's strength, they didn't dare to react easily and could only look at each other with different expressions.

“Deacon Long, please come with us.” Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan finally spoke, breaking the silence. His eyes were fixed on Liu Jun, who was impersonating 'Emperor Long Ao', as if observing the other party’s reaction.

"Why should I?" Liu Jun retorted without any politeness, his eyes flashing with a challenging light, seemingly unwilling to easily submit to the other party's orders.

"Don't misunderstand, I just want your cooperation in investigating this matter," Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan continued, trying to keep his tone calm and defuse the other party's hostility.

"Why should I cooperate with you?" Liu Jun replied bluntly.

He didn't seem to take Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan's words to heart and maintained his nonchalant attitude.

"Just because we're stronger than you!" Peng Sheng, the deputy hall master beside him, finally couldn't hold back any longer, and his aura as a god-king suddenly erupted.

His eyes flashed with intense killing intent, as if he wanted to instantly destroy the 'Dragon Emperor' before him. He planned to forcibly take away Liu Jun, who was impersonating the 'Dragon Emperor'; he was the kind of person who excelled at solving problems with the most direct means.

However, just as Vice Hall Master Peng Sheng was about to make his move, Liu Jun, disguised as Emperor Long Ao, suddenly changed his attitude.

The guy smiled slightly and said, "Actually, I also think it's better to clarify some things. Let's go."

Vice Hall Master Peng was taken aback by this sudden turn of events; he hadn't expected the other party to compromise so easily. He had no choice but to withdraw his Divine King realm aura and look at Liu Jun, who was impersonating 'Emperor Long Ao,' with a complicated expression.

"Deacon Long, please." Seeing this, Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan immediately seized the opportunity to speak.

His tone was polite and respectful, as if he was trying to ease tensions between the two sides.

Liu Jun, disguised as Emperor Long Ao, nodded and said nothing more.

“The Third Holy Maiden of the Divine Realm, you should come along too,” said Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan after a moment’s thought.

"Ah, okay." The three saintesses were slightly taken aback, but quickly recovered and agreed softly. Led by Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan, the group soon left the Saintess Pavilion and embarked on their journey to the Hall of Deacons of the Heavenly Lord's Palace.

Along the way, the three holy maidens walked side by side with Liu Jun, who was disguised as 'Emperor Long Ao', and occasionally exchanged a few words.

The three holy maidens were simple-minded. They only knew that Liu Jun was their Holy Maiden Pavilion's benefactor. As for the trouble caused by this matter, they felt that it had nothing to do with 'Emperor Long Ao'. He was just trying to help them and that's why he got involved.

Inside the Hall of Affairs, people were already waiting anxiously.

This man's aura was faint, as if he might vanish into nothingness at any moment; his body was covered in wounds, each one a shocking sight to behold; his entire body was tightly wrapped in gauze, some of which was already soaked with blood, leaving mottled bloodstains. He was none other than Elder Zong, the Grandmaster of Array Formations of the Heavenly Lord's Temple.

"Hey? Isn't this Elder Zong? What happened to you?" As soon as Liu Jun entered the Hall of Affairs, his gaze immediately fell on Elder Zong's disheveled appearance.

His tone carried a hint of surprise and a touch of mockery, as if he had no idea why Elder Zong had ended up in such a state.

Upon hearing this, Elder Zong nearly coughed up blood. His eyes widened as he glared at Liu Jun, his gaze filled with anger and helplessness. It was as if he were silently saying, "You're asking a question you already know the answer to! If it weren't for dismantling your damned spirit-gathering array, would I have been blown up like this?"

However, he ultimately failed to utter a word, only coughing violently a few times, his face growing even paler.

"Steward Long, please refrain from speaking." Seeing this, Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan quickly reminded him.

After all, Elder Zong was a grandmaster of formations in their Heavenly Lord's Palace, holding an extremely prestigious position. He's already pitiful enough in this state; they can't let this loose-tongued fellow further anger him.

Liu Jun curled his lip. It would be better if the enemy died of anger. Since they were in a hostile state anyway, the enemy would lose a powerful ally if they died of anger.

"Third Holy Maiden, please recount everything in detail from beginning to end." Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan's eyes were sharp and focused, his gaze fixed on the Third Holy Maiden beside him, as if trying to catch a clue from every subtle expression of hers.

The three holy maidens nodded slightly and then began their narration. From the accidental explosion of Liu Jun's furnace, to "Emperor Long Ao" being invited to the Holy Maiden Pavilion to help set up the spirit-gathering array, and then to the series of events that followed, she recounted everything without omitting a single detail.

Peng Sheng and Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan exchanged a glance, their brows furrowed in confusion.

There are indeed many doubts here. For example, why would "Emperor Long Ao" go to such lengths to arrange the spirit-gathering array so perfectly? You should know that the budget was only one hundred high-grade spirit stones, but the number of high-grade spirit stones used by "Emperor Long Ao" far exceeded this budget.

However, when the three Holy Maidens mentioned the extraordinary relationship between "Dragon Emperor" and the First Holy Maiden, their doubts seemed to find a glimmer of an answer. Perhaps it was precisely because of certain feelings involved that "Dragon Emperor" was willing to give everything to help the First Holy Maiden.

“Deacon Long,” Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan suddenly interrupted the Three Saintess’s narration, turning his gaze to Liu Jun, “I would like to ask, just how strong is your mastery of formations?”

Liu Jun smiled slightly, pointed to Elder Zong who was wrapped up tightly next to him, and said with a hint of teasing, "Not very strong, only a little bit stronger than Elder Zong."

Upon hearing this, Elder Zong, who was standing nearby, almost choked on his own breath. He stared at Liu Jun with wide eyes, as if his eye sockets were about to burst.

His wrinkled face was contorted with anger, and his lips trembled slightly as he seemed to be trying his best to suppress his inner rage.

"Damn it, are you even speaking human language? What do you mean by 'a little better than me'? Are you insulting my intelligence or testing my patience?" Elder Zong finally couldn't hold back any longer, his voice angry and sharp despite the pain.

Seeing this, Liu Jun smiled calmly. "Guess?"

Seeing this, Elder Zong was even more furious. He wished he could immediately set up the most vicious and torturous formation, throw this guy into it, and let him taste the pain of being worse than dead.

However, fantasy is just fantasy, and the reality is that he is not as strong as his opponent, nor is he as skilled in formations, not to mention that he is currently injured.

Just then, Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "Well, it's almost lunchtime. Third Holy Maiden, please take this 'Dragon Steward' to the Clear Water Hall next door. We'll go there in a bit."

The Third Saintess was taken aback upon hearing this. A hint of doubt flashed in her clear, watery eyes, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Deacon Long, please follow me," the three holy maidens gestured to Liu Jun, their attitude respectful yet elegant.

Liu Jun, disguised as Emperor Long Ao, didn't say much, just nodded slightly, and then left the Hall of Affairs with the three Holy Maidens.

Elder Zong stood there, watching them leave with a complex expression, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

The atmosphere inside the Hall of Affairs was heavy and oppressive, with only Vice Hall Master Peng Cheng, Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan, and Elder Zong remaining.

"Elder Zong," Vice Hall Master Liu Yuan's voice broke the silence, his eyes filled with anxiety, "Is the formation of the underground blood pool still functioning normally?"