After leaving Rocky Valley, Su Yueli headed straight out of the Great Li Imperial City.
The once-in-a-century Immortal Path Tournament held absolutely no attraction for her.
Who would claim the title of champion, or which sect would gain glory, had nothing to do with her.
Her sole purpose in coming to the imperial city this time was to enjoy the mundane spectacle and, along the way, investigate several blood debts from the past.
Now, Jiang Ran, the culprit who had caused Shen Qing'an's death, had been slain, and justice had been served.
Furthermore, she had firmly planted a poisonous thorn deep within Shen Huai'an's Dao Heart.
As long as Shen Huai'an began to suspect the Blue Moon Sect, he would eventually unearth the truth of the past himself.
As for her parents' grudge...
Su Yueli sighed. The enemy was the Young Sect Master of the Cangyun Sect, whose personal strength and guards were formidable. She did not yet possess the power to seek vengeance.
Having temporarily achieved her goals, it was time to leave.
However, as she left the imperial city and walked along the vast, desolate official highway, her steps faltered slightly.
The world was vast, yet for a moment, she felt a sense of aimlessness, unsure of where she should go.
In this world, there was no longer anyone left for her to meet.
Daliu Village had fallen, and the nameless mountain village was in ruins. She had no home, nor did she have a single living acquaintance.
This was the price of longevity—walking a seemingly endless path entirely alone.
Su Yueli exhaled a breath of turbid air, her gaze turning cold and resolute once more.
Since she had no mortal attachments left, her only pursuit was power.
She had been stuck at the Eleventh Realm, Delusion Breaker, for some time now, and the gates to the Twelfth Realm remained obscured by a persistent shroud of mist.
To pierce through this mist, she either had to wander the world aimlessly in search of an elusive, fleeting opportunity, or enter a true secret realm of life and death, forcing the gates open through desperate, life-or-death combat.
“Having lived a peaceful life for too long, my bones have grown a bit rusty. I might as well try my luck in a secret realm,” Su Yueli muttered to herself.
Naturally, she would not go to the secret realms controlled by the major sects. However, she had heard in her earlier years that there was a notoriously perilous secret realm located in the border region between the Great Li Dynasty and the Great Wei Dynasty.
Countless lives were lost there year-round, and even high-level cultivators faced the risk of death upon entering. Yet, by the same token, it was bound to harbor Ji Dao resources that were rarely seen in the outside world.
Her mind made up, Su Yueli put on her white carved mask. Her figure transformed into a wisp of green smoke as she sped toward the border of Great Li at full speed.
...
Meanwhile, inside a luxurious immortal courtyard within the imperial city.
His white robes damp with night dew, Shen Huai'an walked briskly back to his residence.
His face was currently somewhat pale, and a tangled mess of confusion swirled deep within his eyes.
In his mind, Qingli's cold, mocking gaze, along with words like “slaughtering the village” and “the shadowy hand of the high-ranking members,” acted like heavy hammers, repeatedly battering his steadfast Dao Heart.
The two Ninth Realm elders guarding the courtyard immediately noticed that something was wrong with Shen Huai'an's state of mind.
The white-haired elder raised an eyebrow and took a step forward, asking with a mixture of concern and scrutiny, “Young Sect Master, did your mind find ease while out enjoying the scenery tonight? Your aura seems quite unstable.”
Shen Huai'an halted his steps and looked at the two sect veterans before him, who had lived for over a thousand years.
He fell silent for a long time. His fingers clenched tightly inside his sleeves as a violent struggle raged within him.
Ultimately, unable to suppress the overwhelming doubt that was nearly driving him mad, he spoke in a raspy voice, “Elders, I have a matter of confusion that I wish to ask you about.”
The dark-faced elder and the white-haired elder exchanged a glance before cupping their hands. “Please speak, Young Sect Master. If there are any mortal matters distracting you, the two of us will handle them immediately.”
Shen Huai'an stared intently at them, asking word by word, “Back then... after the sect brought me back to the mountain from that small village, what exactly happened to the village that raised me?”
The moment those words were spoken, the air in the courtyard seemed to freeze instantly.
The expressions of the two Ninth Realm experts stiffened visibly for a fraction of a second, their pupils contracting in unison.
However, the two old foxes concealed it perfectly. The white-haired elder immediately stroked his beard and sighed without a change in expression: “Why do you suddenly ask about this, Young Sect Master? Didn't the Sect Master personally explain the events of back then to you long ago? Just after you entered the immortal sect, a devastating plague broke out in that village. It was incurable, and within a few short days, all the mortals in the village perished. This was merely the fate of mortals. Why must you trouble yourself over it, Young Sect Master?”
Shen Huai'an stared into his eyes, the mysterious seal in his chest throbbing with intense pain once more.
He pressed in a deep voice, “Was it truly just a plague? Did no one else interfere?”
The dark-faced elder's expression darkened, his tone turning solemn. “Of course it was just a plague. Young Sect Master, cultivators must avoid mortal karma above all else. Tomorrow is the main tournament for the top talents, and your opponents are the peak geniuses of various major sects. Do not ruin your peerless Dao Heart for the sake of a few mortal ants who have been dead for over a century.”
Shen Huai'an fell silent for a moment. Seeing that the two elders' attitudes did not seem feigned, he could only suppress his deep suspicions. He nodded and turned to walk into the inner chamber.
However, the very instant Shen Huai'an closed the door behind him, the barrier in the outer hall of the courtyard locked tight. The previously amiable expressions of the two Ninth Realm elders instantly turned dark, terrifying, and even somewhat horrified.
“Something is wrong!”
The dark-faced elder set up a soundproofing barrier, his voice trembling as he transmitted his thoughts: “Why would Shen Huai'an suddenly ask about that small village from two hundred years ago? Back then, the Grand Elder personally sent people to silence everyone. Even that martial artist, Lu Chen, was killed. All the mortals were wiped out; there should absolutely be no survivors!”
The white-haired elder's expression was equally grim, killing intent surging in his eyes. “Back then, to ensure the Young Sect Master severed his mortal ties, even the two disciples who carried out the deed were... For him to suddenly press for answers today, someone in the imperial city must have said something to him! Could it be that the secret of the village's slaughter has been leaked?”
For a moment, the two Ninth Realm old monsters felt their hearts pounding with anxiety.
Shen Huai'an was the hope for the Blue Moon Sect's future rise. If he ever discovered that his own sect was the culprit that slaughtered his entire village and killed his personal master, this Heavenly Bone genius would instantly transform into a vengeful specter bent on destroying the Blue Moon Sect.
Just as the two were caught in uncertainty, discussing whether they should immediately use a secret method to send a voice transmission to the Sect Master, the courtyard's defensive barrier fluctuated slightly.
An elite spy from the Blue Moon Sect, responsible for gathering intelligence, knelt in the shadows with a deathly pale face and a trembling body. “Re... Reporting to the two elders, something terrible has happened!”
The spy swallowed hard, his voice filled with terror. “We have just received confirmed news. Jiang Ran, the personal disciple of the Cangyun Sect's Grand Elder, has been killed in Rocky Valley, thirty miles outside the imperial city!”
“What?!”
The two Ninth Realm elders stood up abruptly, their terrifying pressure nearly crushing the spy to pieces.
“Jiang Ran is dead? Didn't he invite the Young Sect Master to the Mirror Lake Immortal Estate tonight?” The white-haired elder grabbed the spy by his collar, the flesh on his old face twitching violently.
Rate on N.U.
