Throughout the long river of history, every dynasty and sect dreamed of enduring for myriad generations. Yet in the end, none could withstand the grinding wear of time, inevitably decaying into decline and turmoil.
Great Yan could not escape it, nor could the sects.
Over millennia of dynastic rule, countless sects had vanished into silence beneath the passing years. Yet there were also sects that transformed amidst the crises born of that relentless flow of time.
History was never bereft of talent.
Just as Li Yaoxuan and Xu Yinhe had spurred a resurgence for Great Yan, so too had countless people stepped forward, wave after wave, for the rise and fall of their sects.
The Sword Sect was one of them.
Once upon a time, the Sword Sect had hovered on the brink of destruction due to internal strife and vicious infighting. Yet today, it had risen reborn from the ashes of that disaster.
Though factional rivalries inherent to sects still lingered within its ranks, none could deny the solidarity rekindled from the catastrophe that had nearly wiped them out.
And to protect this solidarity forged in the fires of near-annihilation, even someone of noble status as the Sect Master could willingly offer himself as bait, marching calmly into the dead end of Di'an.
This was the very foundation upon which the Sword Sect stood today.
They had grown mighty through this solidarity, and through this solidarity they stood proudly at the pinnacle of the sect world.
Thus, even when the elders' patience with their Head Disciple's attitude had reached its absolute limit, not a single one had crossed the line—until that news arrived from Di'an.
"Ev-everyone... the Sect Master... the Sect Master is dead!"
This was an emergency wartime council convened by the Sword Sect's leadership within Zhengxin Hall.
A woman who still retained her youthful grace sat upright in the head seat, while peak masters and elders lined both sides of the grand hall.
The tightly shut doors were abruptly pushed open from without.
The elder who came bearing the news stumbled a few paces into the hall, his pale lips trembling as he stammered out the harrowing words:
"He... he died during the Northern Hunt."
"..."
The hall's murmurs died instantly.
Instinctively, every pupil shrank as all eyes turned toward the beautiful woman in the high seat.
Watching the approaching elder, Luo Wei's crimson lips quivered faintly. She parted her lips, her hands involuntarily tightening around the armrests of her wooden chair.
Only after a long silence did she force four raspy words from her throat:
"What did you say?"
The reporting elder looked wretched, his body trembling slightly as he gritted his teeth and repeated himself:
"Reporting to the Formation Sword Peak Master... the Sect Master has already passed away..."
"Elder Hou... why are you speaking with such certainty?"
A handsome, elderly man surnamed Liu, seated first on the right, stood up instinctively. His clenched fists emanated waves of imposing qi pressure. "Though we confirmed that a battle indeed occurred during the Emperor's Northern Hunt, the Sect Master has only ever been listed as missing!"
Li Zhaoyuan's No-Return Army traced its origins to the sects. Although it had been reorganized during the war in the Northern Border, many hidden assets remained within its ranks, which was how the Sword Sect knew of the battle during the Northern Hunt. But that was all.
A battle between Saints was not something mere spies could see clearly.
Sending scouts to search the site had yielded nothing more than the conclusion that he was missing.
Elder Hou looked at the handsome old man, his tone complicated. "Second Elder, the Sect Master is a supreme Saint. If he were unharmed, how could there be no word from him for so long?"
Hearing this, everyone present fell into silence.
They naturally understood the reasoning.
When word had first spread that battle had erupted during the Northern Hunt, they had all clung to the hope that the Sect Master was merely on the run and in hiding. But as time wore on, that hope was rapidly draining away. They simply could not bear to accept the reality and had been looking away from the truth.
"So, Elder Hou, why are you so positive?"
From the high seat, Luo Wei drew a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in her chest to force her voice into a veneer of calm.
She was the wife of the Sword Sect's Sect Master, but she was also the Peak Master of Formation Sword Peak among the sect's six peaks. Otherwise, she would never have been able to shoulder the duties of Acting Sect Master.
Elder Hou remained silent for a moment. Brushing a finger over his spatial ring, he withdrew an exquisitely packaged gift box emblazoned with two entwined dragons of black and gold.
Moving gently and respectfully, he placed it on the stone-paved floor and murmured, "As the elder on duty at the mountain gate today, I received this gift box delivered by the imperial court."
"..."
Staring at the box, more than half of the elders present caught their breath. Some even looked away, unable to bear the sight.
Many among them had grown up alongside Ran Jianli. Though the friendships of their youth had eroded beneath the weight of years and competing interests, they still harbored deep respect for his achievements while leading the Sword Sect.
Those elders could look away, but Luo Wei could not.
She stared in silence at the gift box.
It was packaged with great care, but made of ordinary materials. If she wished, she could easily perceive what lay inside right now.
Yet... the sheer terror in the depths of her heart kept her from doing so.
She was afraid she would see her husband's severed head inside.
Only, in this moment, her responsibility as Acting Sect Master left her no room to run.
Taking a deep breath, Luo Wei leaned back against her chair and squeezed out two words with fading strength:
"Open it."
Elder Hou murmured an acknowledgment and slowly bent forward.
*Rustle—*
The gentle friction of the box lid sliding open scraped painfully against the heart of every person present.
And the instant it opened fully—
"Whew..."
"Fuck!"
"A pair of legs doesn't prove anything."
"At most, this is just the court trying to intimidate us."
Inside the box was no severed head, but a pair of legs severed with clean cuts.
Seeing this, Luo Wei let out a visible breath of relief.
Though she knew this was hardly good news, it was far better than seeing a head. Given that hulking brute's cultivation, lost legs were practically a minor injury.
Looking at the legs, the handsome Elder Liu raised a hand to his forehead, gently massaging the space between his brows. His voice carried a note of complaint: "Elder Hou, while this is hardly good news, it's far from conclusive. Don't be so jumpy next time—"
*BOOM!*
Before his words finished, and before Elder Hou could speak up to explain, a sudden deafening crash from the entrance cut them off.
Instinctively, everyone turned their heads.
The shut doors had been smashed open from the outside.
A young girl clad in ink-black robes walked in, backlit, carrying a sword.
Her hand clenched tightly around her sword. She looked at the woman in the high seat, her stunning face expressionless, yet her voice carried the tremor of unshed tears:
"Mistress... I want to go to Di'an."
"..."
Witnessing this turn of events, Luo Wei instinctively glanced at the peak masters and elders on either side before looking back to the gift box in the center, sighing inwardly.
She guessed that some elder must have leaked the news to her disciple to force the girl to recognize where her loyalties lay.
Though she knew the person's motives were sound, she could not help but ache for this disciple who was like a daughter to her.
Weighing her words, Luo Wei whispered softly, "Calm down. Your master possesses the cultivation of a Saint. This doesn't prove he has passed away. For now, he is only missing—"
"Mistress... Tianyan just arrived at the Sword Sect's gate."
Listening to her mistress, Ran Qingmo lowered her eyes and interrupted.
At this news, the assembly exchanged startled looks. None had expected the Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion to arrive so soon.
Yet the moment Luo Wei heard those words, an ominous premonition stirred in her heart. She pressed her crimson lips together. "Qingmo, what does that Saintess have to do with you going to Di'an?"
Ran Qingmo lifted her pitch-black eyes, whispering on the verge of tears:
"Because... because Tianyan... she brought Master's corpse."
Chapter 746