Together, the two entered the inner courtyard and stepped into a bedroom fitted with a secret passage. There were no lamps or candles within; instead, several night pearls cast a luminous glow, illuminating the hidden chamber with clean, clear light.
Upon a square table rested two items.
An iron box and a scroll of bamboo slips.
"Brother Qin, this scroll is an added token from me. Though it is merely a transcription, it was left behind by my ancestors, and reading it will do you no harm."
Old Zhu offered the bamboo slips, gesturing for him to unroll them.
Qin Xuan unrolled the scroll and looked. Inscribed upon it were four characters: *Geng Day Pill Book*.
Zhu Jinting explained, "Across the world, the methods of pill crafting are divided into countless schools, each cultivator possessing their own habits. I have handled medicinal ingredients for many years, and it was by studying this book that I learned the art of alchemy, gaining no small benefit. Though my ancestor's alchemical notes contain no earth-shattering arts, they may offer you some reference, Brother Qin."
It had to be said, Old Zhu truly knew how to deliver a pleasant surprise.
"Then it would be impolite of me to decline."
Qin Xuan accepted it with a smile, then watched Zhu Jinting open the iron box upon the table. No ethereal mist billowed forth, nor was there any wafting fragrance.
Inside lay only a section of tree branch, roughly the length of a palm and the thickness of a forearm. It appeared shriveled and withered, making it difficult to associate with legendary treasures such as Nether Root Divine Wood or Golden Crow heart blood.
Old Zhu let out a slow breath. Coming to this decision had been far from easy. After staring at it for several breaths, he finally held it out to Qin Xuan. "Brother Qin, divine items conceal their own brilliance. Keep it safe."
This was the true ancestral foundation of Lianyun Manor. Unlike the pill book, which could be transcribed, every piece used was one less in existence.
Seeing his heartache, Qin Xuan did not examine it further, stowing it together with the iron box into his hundred-treasure pouch.
There was no need for empty pleasantries. If this item was genuine, it would be of immense use to him.
Since Qin Xuan still needed to seek out Senior Mao, he stepped out of the secret chamber after exchanging a few more words. Seeing his slight urgency, Old Zhu did not detain him, having him take along a batch of spirit herbs and asking him to deliver a letter to Senior Mao Yan on the way.
Before departing, Qin Xuan stroked the cat with surprising gentleness, leaving the feline—who had braced itself for another round of slaps—thoroughly unaccustomed to the change.
*Why has this fierce brute suddenly turned gentle, meow?*
The Zhu father and son escorted him to the front gate and immediately returned to the secret chamber.
Having come this far, Old Zhu concealed nothing more, recounting everything that had recently transpired both inside and outside the manor to Zhu Youqi.
Learning so many revelations at once left young Zhu lightheaded, and it took him quite a while to regain his senses.
He was still bewildered. "Father, since our family possesses several ancestral heirlooms, why did you have to give away the most precious one? I cultivate fire methods, and although we still have two sections of divine wood left, wouldn't more be better?"
Zhu Jinting stroked his chin and said, "Naturally, I am making a gamble. If one is to give a gift, one must give the finest; only then will it leave a lasting impression."
He stared at Zhu Youqi. "This is where I differ from your grandfather and the rest. That is why I broke the ancestral teachings and opened the secret chamber. Otherwise, we wouldn't even know of things like the Nether Root Divine Wood."
Young Zhu questioned, "Is your judgment guaranteed to be accurate, Father?"
"Not necessarily," Zhu Jinting said, shaking his head. "Judging from my interactions with Brother Qin, he is at least a man of benevolence and honor, worthy of trust. As for his talent in Dao cultivation, my horizon is limited—how far could I possibly see?"
"Then..." Zhu Youqi grew even more perplexed.
Zhu Jinting chuckled. "This is where your father is wiser than you. Even if I don't understand it myself, I know how to read expressions and words. Mr. Zheng came from Chongjin Pass. Think about it—what kind of place is that?"
"The geniuses he has seen are likely beyond count. Yet he specifically inquired of me about Qin Xuan's moral character."
"Mr. Mao has such a fiery temper, yet from a few stray remarks, I gathered that the two of them get along splendidly. Is associating smoothly with an eminent senior ever an easy feat?"
Old Zhu spoke with practiced ease:
"Mr. Zheng asking about his character means he had already taken a liking to his talent. Mr. Mao getting along with him shows that even if you swapped in another senior, he would manage just as well. A person like this will never have a meager future."
"Thus, all that remains is for Madam Wei to speak, and Qin Xuan will certainly be taken into the great sect of the Chongjin Pass lineage. I reckon this matter is all but settled, and Guanjiang Mountain over there might not even have had time to react."
"If you enter Chongjin Pass, you will have exhausted all the favors our family possesses, leaving you with little to rely on over there."
"If Brother Qin achieves great success in the Eastern Lands, whether he will watch over you or not depends entirely on what we are willing to part with right now."
Zhu Youqi started in realization. In the end, his father was doing all this out of concern for him. A wave of sorrowful emotion washed over him, and he hugged Old Zhu's thigh, nearly bursting into tears.
"Right or wrong, I do not know, but your father wants to take this gamble after all."
Old Zhu patted his son's back and said with a smile, "My life is set as it is. My only hope is that you can achieve something."
"Father!" Young Zhu's feelings poured forth as Zhu Jinting pulled him to his feet.
"Do you still blame me for having you address him as Uncle?"
"No, not at all," Zhu Youqi said. "Father has thought so far ahead. Though I am dull, I am willing to obey your words. Besides, Qin Xuan saved your life; raising his seniority by a generation is only right."
Young Zhu exhaled a long breath and said, "From now on, I won't just hold Uncle Qin in my heart—I'll treat him as my own blood uncle."
Zhu Jinting nodded, gratified. "If my son can grow in character through this experience, then even if you truly go to Chongjin Pass, I won't have to worry about you rashly offending people."
With that, he placed the remaining ancestral heirlooms into his hands...
***
Within Jinghu Manor, Mao Yan finished reading the letter Zhu Jinting had sent through Qin Xuan and voiced no reprimand.
What caught his attention more was Qin Xuan's present expression. "Boy Qin, you look as if you want to speak yet hesitate. What is on your mind?"
Qin Xuan gathered his thoughts for a moment before speaking slowly: "Senior, while searching for the cat in the mountains, this disciple inadvertently caught wind of some news."
"Oh?" Mao Yan fixed his gaze on him. "Speak, there is no harm."
Qin Xuan was an honest man; since Mao Yan told him to speak, he held nothing back.
In a single breath, he laid out everything: how the Renmao Sect intended to seize Madam Wei's precious medicine, how the Huanyin Sect plotted against Madam Wei and Yuansong Temple, how demon clans and Divine Way beings were watching from the sidelines, how the Xieling Sect intended to move against him, and how unknown figures from the Western Religion were involved...
Every undercurrent was dragged into the open.
Put this way, it would be difficult for Senior Mao Yan to brush him off.
Sure enough, after listening, Mao Yan looked at him with astonishment, clearly never expecting him to know so much.
"These secrets were originally not meant for your ears. Given your cultivation, knowing them accomplishes nothing and only brings unnecessary vexation."
Qin Xuan did not deny it, only pressing, "Senior, could you elaborate in detail?"
"This..."
Mao Yan stroked his chin, feeling rather hesitant.
Were it an ordinary disciple, he wouldn't agonize over this at all and would have refused on the spot. But this kid before him was far too extraordinary—a veritable genius for cultivating the Secret Demon Evil-Dispelling Great Method, someone Madam Wei would surely look upon with favor.
Mao Yan mused: *If I keep him in the dark, this sensitive kid might end up holding a grudge.*
"Very well. This involves the secrets of Chongjin Pass and ought not to be told to you."
Mao Yan said with solemn gravity, "Old man that I am, I am treating you as one of our own."
Qin Xuan's eyes brightened, and he smiled. "This disciple already shares the same lineage with Senior, and I have long looked upon Senior and Madam Wei as my own elders."
Mao Yan grinned; those words were pleasing to the ear.
Then his expression hardened once more into utter seriousness. "You must have heard of the Seven Friends of Longmen and know of my Wei family's ancestor."
Qin Xuan had heard Old Zhu speak of this, so he nodded slightly.
Mao Yan gazed up toward the sky, speaking with a touch of wistfulness:
"Back then, the sect master of the Great Lingbao Sect entrusted a celestial flying sword to Patriarch Lord Zibo of Zijin Mountain, ordering him, my Wei family's ancestor, and another patriarch among Lingbao's thirty-six true disciples to travel together to the shores of the East Sea to slay a mighty giant whale demon."
"Who could have foreseen..."
"That true disciple had actually fallen to demonhood. Under the pretext of safeguarding the celestial sword, he struck without warning along the way, launching a sneak attack against our ancestor with the celestial sword. It inflicted incurable Dao wounds upon him, causing him to perish during the Chaotic Antiquity Great Calamity."
At this point, Mao Yan's eyes flared with fury.
"Lord Zibo struck back in wrath, and the traitor was no match for him. His Top Three Flowers were severed, and he fled into the Netherworld, yet in the chaos, the celestial sword plunged into an unpredictable sunken void and was lost forever."
"That celestial sword came from the Ancient Immortal Prefecture high in the Nine Heavens. Its loss provoked displeasure from the Ancient Immortal Prefecture, creating an enduring rift between our Great Lingbao Sect and the great powers of the Nine Heavens."
"All of this was brought about by that very traitor!"
Qin Xuan felt his heart stir upon hearing these ancient secrets of those who had attained the Dao.
He had heard that the several Perfected Ones of Guanjiang Mountain, whether stronger or weaker, had all survived the Qiongxiao Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation. They were formidable beings at or above the Spirit Transformation stage, capable of touching the threshold of Void Refining and Dao Integration.
Such Perfected Ones had to face the wind tribulations and lightning trials, either undergoing corpse liberation or grasping the wondrous Dao to become Void Immortals.
Attained beings like the Seven Friends of Longmen stood above Void Immortals; they had crossed the Five Decays of Heaven and Man, achieved the Gathering of the Three Flowers atop the Crown, and claimed their Dao fruits.
Qin Xuan let out a quiet breath. Such beings had once seemed infinitely distant from him.
Yet at this moment, they felt right before his eyes.
"Senior means to say... these two demon sect factions are connected to that apostate patriarch?"
Mao Yan nodded. "To be precise, the Huanyin Sect."
Since he had spoken this far, he laid it out plainly:
"Madam Wei encountered the Huanyin Sect Master at the East Sea and recognized that the secret art he cultivated originated from the Supreme Yin Formula within the Lingbao sect's *Luofu True Scripture*. That formula can commune with yin spirits and manipulate the Six Desires Plague Fiends, allowing one to unleash the Six Desires Plague Restriction Great Method."
"Madam Wei was injured by that very art. But it also revealed that the Huanyin Sect Master is almost certainly the successor of that apostate."
"Our journey here, beyond establishing contact with fellow Daoists from Zijin Mountain and Guanjiang Mountain, was precisely to draw the snake from its hole. The Huanyin Sect trailed us all the way, and once their movements were caught, their roots were exposed!"
Mao Yan spoke with excitement, though deep wariness lingered in his tone.
Recalling what that person had said last night about the Huanyin Sect's close ties with the demon clans, Qin Xuan guessed, "Is it the demon clans?"
Mao Yan nodded and glanced toward the south.
"If nothing unexpected occurs, that person is at Chaosheng Pool in Nanshanbuzhou."
The name sounded remarkably familiar; Qin Xuan felt as though he had read it in some book.
Yet Mao Yan continued in an extraordinarily grave tone, "That is no peaceful place... Chaosheng Pool also has an attained being, a demon saint who walked out from before Chaotic Antiquity, whose cultivation reaches heaven and earth. None dare encroach upon his dao ground."
"This time, our goal in the commandery is to capture a key figure of the Huanyin Sect so we can interrogate them regarding that person's ties to the demon saint of Chaosheng Pool."
The complexity of the matter far surpassed Qin Xuan's imagination. "Senior, in other words, you have long made preparations and were simply waiting for the Huanyin Sect's people to arrive?"
"Naturally."
"Then what if the experts they send exceed all expectations? Wouldn't that bring disaster?"
Mao Yan shook his head.
"No need to worry. Following the Chaotic Antiquity Great Calamity, that tribulation qi capable of erasing Dao fruits and causing attained beings to perish has entered a phase of gradual subsidence."
"The higher one's cultivation, the deeper the perception. Cultivators yearning to attain the Dao are unwilling to taint themselves with tribulation qi; they are all waiting and would never take such risks right now."
"The precious medicine Madam Wei carries is part of our Chongjin Pass's ancestral foundation. It can shroud heavenly secrets and shield against a portion of the tribulation qi. Not just any faction could produce such a thing."
"Furthermore, this place borders Guanjiang Mountain; it is not a chaotic quagmire of mixed powers like the East Sea. If you were an old demon sect monster, would you have the gall to gamble with your life right under the noses of Guanjiang Mountain's Perfected Ones?"
Qin Xuan shook his head; that would be nothing short of seeking death.
Listening to Mao Yan's words, his mind eased slightly. The situation was not quite as dire as he had imagined.
As he pondered, he suddenly noticed Mao Yan looking at him with a peculiar gaze.
"Boy Qin, you asked for this yourself."
"Senior, is there something amiss?"
Mao Yan kept a straight face. "Being a discerning person has its perks, but once you've become discerning, you can no longer play dumb. In a short while, there will be no further need for Lianyun Manor to deliver herbs. Since you know of this matter, I'll give you a light chore to handle."
"A light chore?"
Qin Xuan's intuition told him this boded no good.
Seeing his reluctance, Mao Yan glared at him, then nudged his chin toward Madam Wei's direction. Without another word needed, Qin Xuan understood—this was an opportunity to earn favor with her...
Chapter 51