Chapter 336 – Clue

“Master, has the Senior from Azure Cloud Sect… always been this distinctive?”

Shangguan Yunmeng watched Sikong Ming’s “overbearing presence” and found it difficult to connect him with the refined and amiable Senior she had known throughout their journey.

The Sikong Ming before arriving at Eight Treasures Palace couldn’t exactly be described as gentle and cultivated, but he was certainly as pleasant as a spring breeze.

Yet the current Sikong Ming bore no resemblance to refinement whatsoever.

Whether it was his uncompromising tone when facing Ao Yu, the Sect Leader of East Sea Gate, or his readiness to resort to force at the slightest disagreement—both had completely overturned Shangguan Yunmeng’s impression of Sikong Ming.

Something was off, extremely off—a hundred percent off!

This was completely different from her ingrained impression of Azure Cloud Sect!

In response to Shangguan Yunmeng’s confusion, Huo Yunzi of Jade Void Mountain chuckled and said, “Yunmeng, if we’re talking about ordinary people, the Fellow Daoists from Azure Cloud Sect are quite courteous.”

“But when it comes to these East Sea Gate fellows, it’s a different story.”

“Given that Central Province currently prioritizes harmony, otherwise, East Sea Gate’s disciples would likely have been wiped out in large numbers by Azure Cloud Sect.”

“After all, in the eyes of Azure Cloud Sect’s disciples, the behavior of East Sea Gate’s disciples often isn’t much different from that of the Demonic Heresy.”

“If it weren’t for the fact that, aside from East Sea Gate, there’s no other Sect in this region capable of overpowering other Schools and maintaining order here…”

“Whether East Sea Gate could have survived to this day would be uncertain. In my opinion, Fellow Daoist Sikong has been quite polite to that fellow Ao Yu.”

“Ah?”

Hearing this, Shangguan Yunmeng’s face was filled with bewilderment.

After all, in her view, as one of Central Province’s Ten Great Sects, East Sea Gate shouldn’t have such a poor reputation, right?

Moreover, because the Ten Great Sects she had previously interacted with were mostly Azure Cloud Sect and her own Jade Void Mountain, Shangguan Yunmeng had developed an unrealistic, ingrained impression of the Ten Great Sects.

She had assumed that all so-called Ten Great Sects should be like Azure Cloud and Jade Void—with harmonious disciples and peaceful Sects.

But in reality, the Ten Great Sects classification is merely based on strength and territory.

It doesn’t represent the fundamental quality of these Sects.

Take East Sea Gate before them, for example.

Most of the time, to maintain superficial harmony, East Sea Gate’s disciples, though still acting domineeringly, would exercise some restraint.

But once situations like the current one arise—where they find an excuse—East Sea Gate can’t even be bothered to maintain this basic harmony.

Domineering, aggressive, looking down on other Sects, and respecting only strength—this is the fundamental reality for the Ten Great Sects, and indeed for many Sects in Central Province.

After all, if they don’t appear strong on the surface, they risk being completely devoured by other Sects.

And as the leader of the Ten Great Sects, Azure Cloud Sect, to suppress these unruly Sects and force them to abide by the Central Province order it has established, must appear even more domineering and aggressive than the others.

Only then can they silence dissenting voices.

Seeing that Shangguan Yunmeng still looked confused, Huo Yunzi knew she still hadn’t grasped the essence of the Immortal Cultivation World.

It could be said that the current harmony in Central Province was never something innate to the major Sects.Rather, there was a giant forcibly suppressing everyone, maintaining harmony among them.

But for some reason, the current East Sea Gate seemed intent on challenging this.

As such, the Azure Cloud Sect would certainly not give them a friendly reception.

Doubts similar to those of Shangguan Yunmeng were quite rare among the various schools gathered at the Eight Treasures Palace.

After all, those sent by other sects to investigate this matter were all shrewd individuals.

They understood all too well the terrifying power hidden beneath the Azure Cloud Sect’s amiable exterior.

Otherwise, with the notoriously hot temper of those from the East Sea Gate,

how could they have left so easily?

Only after all the disciples of the East Sea Gate had vanished from the Eight Treasures Palace

did the large number of Eight Treasures Palace disciples slowly regain their composure.

Having just endured the humiliation brought by the East Sea Gate,

the Eight Treasures Palace disciples now wore expressions of deep resentment.

Clearly, while today’s incident appeared to be over,

it was only the beginning.

Given the chance, the Eight Treasures Palace would never let the East Sea Gate off lightly.

In the face of the Eight Treasures Palace’s unusual demeanor,

no one, including Sikong Ming, thought to offer advice or comfort.

After all, some matters could not be resolved by mere words.

Moreover, the East Sea Gate’s behavior this time was clearly abnormal.

By all appearances, this was not something one would expect from one of the Ten Great Sects.

From the inside out, it exuded an air of strangeness.

As for what exactly lay hidden within,

perhaps it could only be understood after a thorough investigation.

However one looked at it, the East Sea Gate’s “revenge” this time gave everyone a sense of an impending storm.

One misstep, and the peace of the entire Central Province would be completely shattered.

Meanwhile, at the East Sea Gate.

“Father, why did you leave so easily just now?”

“Although Sikong Ming is formidable, this is our territory, the East Sea Gate. If a conflict had truly erupted, even if Sikong Ming wanted to leave, it wouldn’t have been so easy.”

Hearing his son Ao Yun’s words, Ao Yu’s face revealed an inscrutable smile.

This expression was starkly different from the brutality he had displayed earlier at the Eight Treasures Palace.

“Yun’er, you still don’t understand what the name Azure Cloud Sect truly means.”

“The title of Leader of the Righteous Path was never self-proclaimed—it is the recognition bestowed upon the Azure Cloud Sect by others.”

“Severely injuring or even capturing Sikong Ming wouldn’t be difficult, but how would you handle the Azure Cloud Sect’s retaliation afterward?”

“Ten Great Sects? A joke. In my view, the Central Province has always had only nine great sects. As for the Azure Cloud Sect, it stands apart from all the others.”

“I originally thought the Azure Cloud Sect would arrive sooner. Unexpectedly, they showed remarkable patience, only appearing now.”

“But it doesn’t matter. The Azure Cloud Sect’s arrival indicates they still intend to maintain the current situation in the Central Province, which is entirely beneficial for my next plan.”

“Besides… I’ve already obtained what I wanted.”

As he spoke, a cold glint flashed in Ao Yu’s eyes.

How many cultivators who have reached the Peak of the Nascent Soul Stage are truly reckless?

Venting anger on the Eight Treasures Palace?

No, no—that was merely a pretext for Ao Yu.

What he truly wanted was a certain object within the Eight Treasures Palace.

Even Ao Lie’s earlier encounter with the female disciple of the Eight Treasures Palace was no coincidence.

For beings like Ao Yu, who have lived for thousands of years…Recklessness was merely their disguise.

These fellows were each and every one of them cunning.

Although Ao Yun did not fully comprehend Ao Yu’s words,

and had no idea what exactly Ao Yu’s so-called plan entailed,

the confident look on Ao Yu’s face suggested that everything currently unfolding seemed to be within their father’s control.

At this thought, Ao Yun felt an inexplicable surge of pride.

So what if they were the leaders of the Righteous Path?

Weren’t they still being manipulated by our East Sea Gate?

Three days later, at an ancient ruin within the territory of the East Sea Gate.

“Fellow Daoists, this is the very place where Ao Lie fell that day.”

Sikong Ming stood above the ruins, pointing downward as he addressed the group beside him.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately turned their gaze below.

Beneath them lay a stretch of woodland,

and not far from the woods stood the ancient ruins.

To those present, the so-called ancient ruins held little that was remarkable.

To put it in perspective, Lu Chen and Shangguan Yunmeng among the crowd had recently ventured into the True Immortal Trial.

Compared to the grand spectacles within the True Immortal Trial,

these ancient ruins were nothing but a pale imitation.

If even these two juniors felt this way,

how much more so for the Great Cultivators from other, larger sects.

This gave rise to a doubt in everyone’s minds:

Even if Ao Lie had been deceived by someone with ulterior motives into believing there was some treasure within these ruins,

surely upon arriving and seeing the place for himself,

he should have realized something was amiss.

While not every treasure manifests celestial phenomena,

the vast majority of supreme treasures, especially so-called Celestial Artifacts,

contain power so immense that even a mere glimpse of it would significantly affect the surrounding environment.

Therefore, when Ao Lie arrived here, he must have questioned whether he had been deceived.

Yet perhaps there was someone he trusted deeply, who presented what he considered crucial evidence,

convincing him that a supreme treasure lay hidden within these unremarkable ruins.

Thus, if they could find that person,

they might unravel the full story behind Ao Lie’s death.

At the very least, they could uncover a clue

and thereby provide the East Sea Gate with a satisfactory answer,

putting a stop to their reckless actions.

“Fellow Daoists, let us descend and investigate,” Sikong Ming suggested.

Hearing this, the group nodded and then descended to the site where Ao Lie had fallen.

Apart from numerous traces of battle, there was little of value left at the scene.

After all, before their arrival, both the East Sea Gate and the mastermind behind it all had likely already combed through the area.

Thus, the chances of finding any valuable clues here were exceedingly slim.

Yet, to uncover the truth of the matter,

even knowing the odds were minuscule, they could not afford to overlook any potentially significant area.

After a thorough search by the group,

they did indeed find something of value.

“Peak Lord Sikong, I’ve found something.”

At Lu Chen’s words, everyone turned to look in his direction.

In Lu Chen’s hand was a small metal fragment.

The fragment was dark purple in color, with surface patterns resembling blood vessels.

Most importantly, it emitted an aura unlike that of an ordinary Cultivator.It was neither spiritual power nor demonic qi.

This piqued the curiosity of everyone present, including Sikong Ming.

They had never encountered such an aura before.

“Little Lu, let me take a look.”

Lu Chen nodded and handed the metal fragment to Sikong Ming.

The fragment was small, only about half the size of a palm.

After receiving it, Sikong Ming immediately formed hand seals with a talisman.

Amidst a glow, the talisman transformed into specks of light that enveloped the metal fragment.

Then, a series of blurred images began flashing before Sikong Ming’s eyes.

What made him frown was that these images were disjointed, with each fragment lasting only briefly and varying in duration.

It gave Sikong Ming the impression that they had been forcibly pieced together.

Fortunately, though fragmented, these images still provided him with some clues.

“Four people. There were four people besieging Ao Lie that day.”

Upon hearing Sikong Ming’s words, everyone fell into deep thought.

Ignoring the others’ reactions, Sikong Ming looked up and asked Lu Chen, “Little Lu, where did you find this?”

“In a nearby grove.”

Lu Chen’s reply was calm, revealing no flaws.

Sikong Ming seemed to trust Lu Chen completely and did not question this further.

In truth, rather than saying Lu Chen had found the metal fragment, it would be more accurate to say he had ‘created’ it.

The principle wasn’t complicated. As someone who had mastered the Creation Pill Art along with other unique talents and techniques, Lu Chen could perceive things ordinary people couldn’t.

This included the Ancient Fiend Power.

Although the battle here had occurred nearly half a month ago, Lu Chen immediately detected the lingering Ancient Fiend Power in the area and used the Creation Pill Art to refine it.

The Creation Pill Art, capable of even refining fragments of the Great Dao, had no issue extracting the Ancient Fiend Power.

After refining the Ancient Fiend Power, Lu Chen also extracted Ao Lie’s blood from the grove.

Combining the two, he created the mysterious metal fragment now in Sikong Ming’s hands.

In a way, though crafted by Lu Chen, the fragment genuinely represented objects present at the scene of Ao Lie’s death.

Lu Chen had initially considered whether to frame the Immortal Fiends for Ao Lie’s death.

Now, it seemed unnecessary, as this incident was indeed the work of the Immortal Fiends—or at least, those who practiced their methods.

Although Sikong Ming’s ‘retrospection technique’ couldn’t fully trace the individuals who had besieged Ao Lie that day, he managed to catch a glimpse of one person’s appearance.

It was Luo Hong of the East Sea Gate.

However, Sikong Ming didn’t yet know Luo Hong was from the East Sea Gate, as Luo Hong hadn’t been wearing the disciple robes at the time.

But with one person’s likeness, even if it was a disguised appearance, it was enough for those present to investigate further.

Soon, Sikong Ming produced a new talisman.

In the next moment, the talisman transformed into a golden light in his hand, eventually shaping into a nimble flying bird.

The talisman bird flapped its wings and began flying in a specific direction.

Sikong Ming immediately called out, “Everyone, follow me.”

With that, he swiftly pursued the flying bird.Seeing this, the others immediately followed Sikong Ming’s footsteps.

As for the ancient ruins behind them, there was no longer any value in continuing the investigation.

After all, apart from the Metal Fragment in Lu Chen’s hand, although the others had dug three feet deep here, they hadn’t found anything of value.

(End of Chapter)