I am the villain in the book

All around was quiet, the dark mass of the army sleeping in the night.

Hearing such an answer, Xu Sui fell silent for a long, long time.

Finally, Wei Changtian took the lead in breaking the silence.

"Alright, let's not talk about these things."

"Let's get back to business."

"Mm."

Gently nodding, Xu Sui looked up at Wei Changtian, a hint of admiration seeming to flicker in her complex eyes.

"So, what should we do next? I'll listen to you."

"You should have been listening to me all along."

Wei Changtian curled his lip, slowly analyzing:

"Besides waiting for this person to appear on their own, if we want to investigate, we can only start with Guankong and the Buddhist sect."

"But the problem now is that it's hard to find Guankong."

"He can eliminate the mark of a thousand miles of misty waves, so there's no way to track his location."

"You must have given the Buddhist sect a lot of benefits when you asked them to help you fight the war."

"What was the deal between you?"

"This..."

Xu Sui hesitated for a moment, then answered truthfully:

"It was a Qi Gathering Array."

"Qi Gathering Array? What is that thing?"

"Well, it's a type of array that can condense internal energy."

No longer hiding anything, Xu Sui quickly gave Wei Changtian a detailed introduction to the Qi Gathering Array.

The more the latter listened, the stranger his expression became.

Because didn't this sound exactly like the tomb under the illusion array of Yun'an Temple?

The lotus pond, the corpses of eminent Buddhist monks, the golden relics containing what seemed to be first-grade internal energy...

There was no question, the two were the same thing!

"So..."

Reaching this conclusion, Wei Changtian did not interrupt Xu Sui, waiting until she finished speaking before frowning and saying:

"You agreed to let the Buddhist sect build a particularly large Qi Gathering Array under the new Feng territory, and establish Buddhism as the state religion, in order to continuously supply a large amount of incense to the array."

"And the condition was that the Buddhist sect would send people to help you fight the war."

"That was the deal between you?"

"Yes, that's about it."

Xu Sui nodded: "That's also why the people of the Buddhist sect didn't leave after the war was over."

"The core of this Qi Gathering Array is under Fengyuan City, and they have to have someone guarding it at all times."

"I understand."

Thoughtfully tapping the table, Wei Changtian thought for a while before asking again:

"How many of these Qi Gathering Arrays are there in total?"

"I don't know."

Xu Sui shook her head: "But this one in the new Feng territory is definitely the biggest."

"Then can the internal energy condensed by this thing really allow people to break through to first-grade?"

Wei Changtian was a little skeptical: "If it were really that simple, shouldn't someone from the Buddhist sect have broken through long ago?"

"Theoretically, it's possible, but it requires a large amount."

Xu Sui explained: "And because the golden relics used in each array come from different eminent monks, the internal energy produced by different Qi Gathering Arrays will also be slightly different and cannot be mixed together."

"This means that if you want to break through with the help of this internal energy, you need to absorb what is produced by one Qi Gathering Array."

"But the Qi Gathering Arrays built by the Buddhist sect before were too small, and it would take hundreds of years to accumulate enough internal energy to break through."

"If something unexpected happens during this period, all previous efforts will be wasted."

"Therefore, the Buddhist sect wanted to build a particularly large one, so that they could greatly shorten the process of condensing internal energy."

"Well, do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I understand."

Wei Changtian nodded, thinking that the internal energy in the golden relics could actually allow people to break through to first-grade.

However, the amount contained in his relic was not much, so it was definitely not enough.

"This Qi Gathering Array is so awesome, doesn't it have any side effects?"

Raising his eyes to look at Xu Sui, Wei Changtian casually asked again: "If there weren't any, the Buddhist sect could just find any country to build an array, why bother helping you fight the war?"

"Precisely because the new Feng territory was at war."

Xu Sui sat down opposite Wei Changtian and answered softly: "Think about it, building such a large array will inevitably cause a lot of noise. If it were another country, it would have been discovered long ago, and the secret of the Qi Gathering Array would not be able to be kept."

"But the new Feng territory is different."

"At that time, the new Feng territory had not only been established for a short time, but it had also encountered a major war, and the whole country was in chaos. Building an array quietly at this time would not be noticed."

"As for the side effects... actually, there are some."

Xu Sui lowered her head: "Because the Qi Gathering Array condenses internal energy, it will make the natural energy within the range of the array much weaker than other places, and it will naturally take much longer for martial artists to cultivate."

"Besides that, there are no other disadvantages."

"Is that so?"

Wei Changtian raised his eyebrows, his expression quite playful.

He did not doubt Xu Sui's words, but...

"So you used the future of all the martial artists in the new Feng territory to exchange for the Buddhist sect's help?"

"Then I don't understand."

"You worked so hard to create this new Feng territory, but you don't care about the concentration of natural energy, which is a major issue related to the fate of a country."

"What were you thinking?"

"Because I had no choice at the time!"

Xu Sui sighed helplessly: "Alas, you were still in Liangzhou at the time, and the only ones who could help me were the Buddhist sect."

"Besides, I actually did this for you."

"For me?"

Wei Changtian glared: "Don't pass the buck! What does it have to do with me?"

"You can use the internal energy of the Qi Gathering Array to break through to first-grade!"

Xu Sui blinked: "You have to become an immortal to go back, and you have to be first-grade before you can become an immortal."

"I calculated that if I save up a little more system points, I should be able to help you exchange for a True Dragon's Brow Scale."

"It's just that the Dragon Scale is best used to become an immortal, so we have to find our own way to help you break through to first-grade."

"This Qi Gathering Array is a good way."

"I originally planned to tell you when the time was right."

"Then we'll steal the golden relics together..."

Her cheeks flushed slightly, Xu Sui became more and more excited as she spoke, while Wei Changtian was stunned.

He really didn't expect that the ultimate purpose of Xu Sui's agreement to let the Buddhist sect build the array was to help him break through to first-grade.

"What about you?"

Suddenly, Wei Changtian stared straight at Xu Sui and asked: "If you exchange your system points for the Brow Scale for me, how will you go back?"

"Oh dear, the tool to go back costs ten thousand points, I definitely won't be able to save up enough."

A trace of loss flashed in Xu Sui's eyes, but she quickly smiled nonchalantly again.

"But five thousand points for the Brow Scale should still be enough."

"Anyway, I can't cultivate, so I might as well help you."

"That way, at least one of us can go back."

"How about it, am I kind enough!"

At the end, perhaps not wanting Wei Changtian to feel indebted to her, Xu Sui even patted him on the shoulder carelessly.

"Comrade Wei! No need to thank me!"

"Just consider it my way of repaying you for saving my life!"

"..."

Anyway, I definitely can't go back, so I might as well "go bankrupt" to help you go back...

It's hard to say whether Xu Sui would still help Wei Changtian like this if she had hope of saving up ten thousand system points.

But at least her current attitude is very sincere and doesn't seem fake.

It's just that now it seems that Xu Sui's "self-sacrifice" has not received the "gratitude" that Wei Changtian should have shown.

With a "smack", he slapped off the small hand on his shoulder. Wei Changtian expressionlessly took out the golden relic from his arms, placed it on the table, and then said calmly:

"Keep your system points."

"I don't need your help."