The Sublime Bright Sect has a main hall specially used for holding longevity lamps.
In the great hall where the longevity lamps were placed, there was special personnel guarding it and who patrolled it several times a day. If any of the lamps were extinguished, it would definitely be discovered by them at the earliest time and reported.
When dawn broke, the daoist responsible for the usual inspection was performing his rounds in the hall. He casually scanned the rows of longevity lamps, well aware of the layout of the hall densely packed with longevity lamps. How could he possibly miss even one?
It was just that soon, his expression became rather unsightly.
It was because among a row of longevity lamps, he noticed that several longevity lamps were extinguished. Judging from their positions, these longevity lamps represented daoists within the Sublime Bright Sect who held high statuses and levels of cultivation.
The daoist promptly recorded it down and continued looking further into the hall. Further away, he saw several special longevity lamps.
Those longevity lamps were special because they belonged to disciples of that Daoist Master Ironcloud.
"This..."
The daoist suddenly fell to the ground, his complexion drained of color.
……
……
Several daoists wearing yellow-purple daoist robes quickly arrived before that extinguished longevity lamp. After a prolonged silence, one of them glanced at an unextinguished lamp and said, "Huang Ye didn't die, was he captured?"
Another shook their head and replied, "Huang Ye had the highest cultivation realm. Even if they were captured, it wouldn't be him either. He must have done something else."
Huang Ye was that daoist who led the group of purple-robed daoists and the young daoist down the mountain this time.
While not explicitly stated, everyone understood the implication.
"Huang Ye has always been cautious. He wouldn't have done something like this. It's likely that Junior Brother Lin's death has nothing to do with him. As for why he hasn't returned to the mountain..."
The Daoist in yellow-purple robes wanted to speak but swallowed his words back, falling somewhat silent.
Actually, everyone else knew - Huang Ye did not dare to return to the mountain.
What kind of person was the Sect Master? After so many years in the sect, how could they not know?
But, what could they say even if they knew?
"Two junior brothers, go and bring Huang Ye back. Junior Brother Chen, you and I will go and report to the Sect Master together."
Someone quickly made a decision. He held considerable prestige within the sect, so his words naturally carried weight.
The two yellow-purple robed daoists cupped their fists and left quickly. They naturally had secret techniques to bring that Huang Ye back. It would be very difficult for Huang Ye to leave safely.
Even at this point, when Huang Ye had already been gone for a long time, they still had ways to track him down.
"Oh no, someone broke into the mountain!"
A voice suddenly rang out.
Then, news about the mountain pass gate guarding disciples being knocked out quickly spread.
A yellow-purple robed daoist frowned and said, "The mountain pass gate formation wasn't triggered. Did that person not climb up the mountain? They just went down the mountain after knocking the guards unconscious?"
Even that person found this hard to believe. If the mountain pass formation was not triggered, it meant that there should not be outsiders on the mountain at the moment.
"Could it be Huang Ye?" Someone asked.
If it were Huang Ye, he could have swaggered up the mountain openly. Why would he need to do these things? If he was afraid of people knowing about his return to the mountain, why would he come back in the first place?
What could he not let go of?
"Send someone to investigate, find out what's happening. There must be a result."
"Let's hurry and report to the Sect Master. The matters on the mountain need the Sect Master to make a decision. Moreover, this matter concerns Junior Brother Lin."
……
……
All the events that had unfolded earlier, whether it was Chen Chao's determination to arrive at the Sublime Bright Sect or that hidden path, all these had taken Yu Xiyi by surprise. He had long determined that a deep connection existed between Chen Chao and the Sublime Bright Sect, but he did not anticipate the extent of the surprises held in store.
When he took out the key, Yu Xiyi was even more taken aback.
That stone wall before him seemed to be the most crucial place in the Sublime Bright Sect no matter how one looked at it. Yet, how could he have anticipated that Chen Chao possessed a key capable of unlocking such a secretive location?
"I want to know what the hell is going on here!"
Yu Xiyi's tone was solemn, his voice growing somewhat colder.
The events that happened today had left him feeling uneasy. He really wanted to uncover the truth.
Chen Chao turned to him, thought for a moment, and then said, "I'll tell you in a moment."
Seeing as Chen Chao was about to insert the key, Yu Xiyi suddenly said, "Wait a minute. With such a secretive location, could there be guards?"
Since this place was likely the most secretive location within the Sublime Bright Sect, it should be reasonable to assume that there might be guards.
Chen Chao shook his head and said, "If that person didn't deceive me, then only the Sublime Bright Sect's Sect Master would know about this place."
Yu Xiyi's face paled slightly and he said, "Do you want me dead?"
Chen Chao quickly understood what he was thinking and replied, "I think Daoist Master Ironcloud shouldn't be here right now."
"Should?"
Yu Xiyi raised an eyebrow and said, "Are you gambling with our lives?"
Chen Chao smiled. "Rest assured, I'm definitely more afraid of death than you are."
After saying these words, he inserted the key into the keyhole and gently turned it.
With a sound, the stone wall parted to the sides, revealing a deep and dark cave.
Chen Chao walked in and Yu Xiyi followed suit.
The instant they stepped inside, Yu Xiyi gripped the hilt of his flying sword, Wild Grass. When he gripped the fly sword, it helped to calm his heart a little.
Humans would always feel varying degrees of fear towards the unknown.
Though Chen Chao appeared confident, he too gripped the hilt of his broken saber.
Advancing forward, the two soon encountered the inscribed daoist techniques on the stone walls.
Yu Xiyi stopped. After reading some of them, he suddenly frowned.
"What's wrong?"
Chen Chao saw his expression and then glanced at the stone wall. He discovered that it was a cultivation technique called the 'Mystic Crow Grand Technique,' and could not resist asking, "This is a secret technique of the Mystic Crow Sect. The Mystic Crow Sect was inexplicably destroyed back then, causing quite a commotion. The entire foreign cultivation world was investigating who was behind the destruction of the Mystic Crow Sect, but it remained unresolved. However, people were very clear that the Mystic Crow Sect wasn't annihilated due to any grudge with another sect. Rather, it was because someone coveted the Mystic Crow Sect's secret art. Now, it seems that the incident back then might have had connections with the Sublime Bright Sect."
Yu Xiyi's expression grew serious. Although the Sword Sect had long withdrawn from worldly matters and seldom got involved in the affairs of the cultivation world, he naturally still knew about the matters circulating in the cultivation world.
Chen Chao gave an mhm and began to silently memorize the cultivation technique.
"What are you memorizing these daoist techniques for?"
Yu Xiyi glanced at Chen Chao, then continued walking forward. Actually, he was like Chen Chao - Chen Chao was a martial artist while he was a sword cultivator, these daoist techniques held little significance for them.
Hence, Yu Xiyi did not do anything else after reading them. If other cultivators came here, they would probably expend a great deal of effort to memorize these daoist techniques.
Although Chen Chao was memorizing them too, he was not doing it for himself.
After some time, Chen Chao walked over, his complexion slightly pale.
Yu Xiyi frowned but did not say anything.
For Chen Chao to memorize so much in such a short time was quite a challenge for him.
After all, he was not a monster like Xie Nandu.
Yu Xiyi arrived in front of a row of bookshelves, casually perused them, and then said, "These are Sublime Bright Sect's daoist techniques. If you're willing to memorize them, you can memorize any of them here."
Further away, there were numerous large boxes emitting a strange fragrance. Those likely contained various spirit medicines.
After saying this, Yu Xiyi actually felt somewhat disappointed. While these things might be very tempting to other cultivators, they were of no interest to him. As a sword cultivator, he had no interest in those daoist techniques, nor did they hold any significance for him. The same likely applied to the spirit medicines stored here.
Chen Chao looked at those spirit medicines and narrowed his eyes.
The two soon arrived before that cushion. Yu Xiyi quickly raised his head to look at that hole. That hole was very deep, skylight would fall from that place.
"If I'm not mistaken, that Daoist Master Ironcloud's closed-seclusion site is likely here. But why isn't he here now?"
Yu Xiyi looked at Chen Chao. In his view, Chen Chao currently seemed to know everything about the Sublime Bright Sect.
Chen Chao smiled and said, "A reasonable deduction. Since the Sublime Bright Sect's cultivation is related to the stars, then shouldn't this legendary Daoist Master Ironcloud only appear here at night."
Yu Xiyi furrowed his brows and said "In my opinion, this answer doesn't seem logical. Since that Daoist Master Ironcloud is rumored to be in closed-seclusion all the time and hardly interacts with other Sublime Bright Sect disciples, then even if he cultivates at night, he should be here during daytime as well."
Chen Chao nodded. "Alright, I admit it, someone told me."
Yu Xiyi asked, "Who?"
Chen Chao said, "Someone very familiar with the Sublime Bright Sect."
Yu Xiyi said unhappily, "Speak plainly."
Chen Chao walked a few steps nonchalantly, then plopped onto the cushion. Perhaps due to sitting down too hard, a piece of paper fluttered out from under the cushion at the same time he sat down.
It was a piece of paper shimmering with golden light, now floating in the air.
Yu Xiyi looked at that piece of paper and furrowed his brows slightly. As a sword cultivator, his perception towards other auras far surpassed the average cultivator.
He clearly felt a rather frightening aura emanating from the paper.
Yu Xiyi became intrigued, then reached out to hold that piece of paper, bringing it before his eyes.
A moment later, an aura overflowed. Yu Xiyi's complexion turned somewhat pale.
Chen Chao asked, "How is it?"
Yu Xiyi ignored him. Instead, his eyes stabbed towards that piece of paper like swords.
Facing this paper that was clearly extraordinary, Yu Xiyi found himself at a disadvantage during their initial confrontation. However, it did not make him feel any fear.
He was a sword cultivator, he naturally had to draw his sword when facing a powerful enemy.
This was a pride of a sword cultivator.
