Qingyun Mountain, Dazhu Peak.

  The battle of Qingyun has ended for many days, and the once turbulent battlefield has gradually calmed down. All the scars of the struggle have been quietly erased in the process of people's cleaning up.

  That day, countless people lost their friends and relatives. On Tongtian Peak, there were piles of corpses from the top to the foot of the mountain, like a legendary underworld.

  Perhaps it was due to good fortune that not a single disciple of the Dai Zhu Feng clan perished in this great war, although almost everyone was injured. Even Tian Naiyi, who had stayed behind at Dai Zhu Feng to open the Heavenly Mechanism Seal, looked extremely exhausted. Among the disciples, Wu Deyi and He Dawei were the most severely injured, and they still lay in bed recovering after all these days. Fortunately, despite their severe injuries, neither of them suffered any damage to their tendons or bones. After Tian Naiyi personally examined them, he determined that they only needed quiet rest and recuperation. With time, their injuries would not hinder their future cultivation.

  Although they had just narrowly won a life-and-death battle against the Beast God and saved the world from catastrophe, the atmosphere at Dazhu Peak was extremely gloomy. The disciples had been unable to shake off their excitement for several days, and even Tian Naiyi had been frowning for days.

  That morning, Tian Bu Yi was summoned by the sect leader Dao Xuan Zhen Ren to attend a meeting at Tongtian Peak. After returning in the afternoon, his round and chubby face looked gloomy, with his eyebrows furrowed together as if they could no longer be relaxed.

  Around noon, Tian Bu Yi ordered all the disciples of Da Zhu Feng to come to Shou Jing Tang. Even Wu Da Yi and He Da Zhi, who were still bedridden, were helped to Shou Jing Tang by someone and sat on one side.

  The usually quiet Shou Jing Tang was filled with people, and Tian Naiyi's wife Su Rou also stood beside him. She looked as beautiful as ever, but there was a white bandage wrapped around her left hand, which must have been injured in that big battle.

  Tian Bu Yi walked back and forth on the quiet hall, looked at his disciples who were either sitting or standing in a row, and said in a low voice: "I called you all here today, not for anything else, but still because of that Exterminating Immortal Ancient Sword."

  The disciples' faces were solemn, but not many of them showed a look of surprise. It was clear that most people had already guessed it in their hearts. Tian Bu Yi exchanged a glance with Su Ru beside him, and then looked at the disciples again, saying: "This morning, the sect leader called me over again, and only Water Moon Shifu from Xiaozhu Peak went with me. As for what was said, you can probably guess it too: the damage to the ancient sword of exterminating immortals is a matter that you must keep confidential, no matter what, and cannot leak out even half a word."

  The disciples of Da Zhu Feng looked at each other in dismay, until finally the eldest disciple, Song Da Ren, cleared his throat and said: "Master, you also know that we are aware of the importance of this matter. We would rather die than dare to speak a word about it outside." He hesitated for a moment, looking at Tian Bu Yi, and lowered his voice: "Master, not to mention that you and Master's wife have reminded us three times already, but just from the Zhēn Rén and Tōng Tiān Fēng sides alone, this is already the fourth time they've sent such a message. Could it be... could it be that they don't trust us, and also don't believe in you and Master's wife?"

  Tian didn't knit his brow, but suddenly shouted loudly: "How dare you! What are you, to actually dare to make wild guesses about the Master and the Elders?"

  Song Daren's face changed, and he lowered his head, saying: "Yes, I know I was wrong."

  Su Ru stood aside, sighed and came over to mediate: "Alright, alright, these are all the words instructed by the true person of the sect, and the matter of the damage to the ancient sword is too big, it's no wonder that the sect leader is so nervous about this, so asking a few more times, handing over a few more times is also necessary."

  Tian did not turn his head to one side and remained silent. Song Daren and the other disciples all bowed their heads and said, "The disciple knows."

  Su Ru looked at the disciples one by one and said softly, "I know that you all have some grievances in your hearts, feeling that the Master of the Sect and the other elders cannot trust you. Actually, to get to the bottom of it, this is all because the matter is too important and cannot be helped. After the great war last time, our Qingyun Gate's reputation in the righteous path was unmatched for a while, suppressing all other fellow practitioners. But all of this, when it comes down to it, is because the Master of the Sect held the Xian-Xia Sword on Tongtian Peak and had a fierce battle with the Beast God, defeating him. The weight of this Xian-Xia Sword, I think you all understand as clearly as I do."

  Su Ru said to this point, a sorrowful smile, and said: "But never thought that this divine sword would..." She paused for a moment, as if she had to calm down before continuing to speak. "On that day, outside the Fantian Cave Mansion, except for the Master of the Sect who arrived later and several senior masters, only the disciples of the Dazhu Peak and a few female disciples of the Xiaozhu Peak witnessed the damage to the divine sword. Therefore, in order to maintain the reputation of our sect and its prestige in the world, it is natural that the Master of the Sect should be more considerate and remind you several times. You all don't need to take it to heart, just remember to keep this matter forever hidden in your hearts, do you understand?"

  Song Daren and others looked at each other, and said in unison: "The disciples understand, and will obey the orders of Master and Mistress."

  Su Ru turned her head to look at Tian Nai Yi, who was frowning with a heavy expression on his chubby face. It seemed that he hadn't been comforted by Su Ru's words at all. He simply stretched out his hand and waved it at the disciples, saying: "You all remember what your Shifu said. Alright, you can go now."

  Song Daren and others bowed together, turned around and went down together. Wu Dayi, He Dazhi and others who were not convenient to move, also had Song Daren and Du Bishu to help them walk. Soon, all the people walked out, leaving only Tian Nanyi and Su Rou standing in front of the Shoujing Hall.

  Su Ru looked at Tian Naiyi's increasingly gloomy face and slowly walked to his side, saying in a low voice: "What's wrong, is it that the Master again?"

  Tian faintly hummed and said, "He's not just scolding me alone, even someone like Shui Yue was also scolded by him, what am I then?"

  Su Ru was shocked and exclaimed: "What? Did Shizong Shixiong scold even Shuixue Shijie?"

  Tian's face showed a hint of anxiety, his pacing speed obviously quickened, and his eyebrows furrowed even tighter.

  Su Ru looked at his expression, quite worried, but didn't know what to say, so she just said: "You don't have to worry too much either, the Master is just temporarily over anxious, that's why..."

  Tian suddenly raised his head and loudly interrupted: "If he is really too anxious, even if he scolds me a thousand times or ten thousand times, I don't care!"

  Su Rou lowered her head, but quickly lifted it up again, with a look of shock on her face, and asked: "What did you just say?"

  Tian was muttering to himself, pacing back and forth in the Shou Jing Tang, his expression growing increasingly anxious and worried. Su Ru was even more concerned, urging him: "What do you mean, just say it already."

  Tian didn't easily walk up to Su Rou's face, stopped his footsteps, and was silent for a moment before saying in a deep voice: "In these days, Dao Xuan Shixiong has repeatedly invited me and Shui Yue to come over and repeatedly reminded us that the disciples under the door must keep the secret. This is originally not excessive. But recently, I've seen Dao Xuan Shixiong becoming more and more abnormal."

  Su Ru hesitated for a moment and said: "This doesn't feel right, what does it mean?"

  Tian did not frown and said: "In your past, have you ever remembered that Dao Xuan Shixiong had scolded people easily?"

  Su Ru was silent for a long time, then shook her head and said: "The Master's moral integrity is high and his character is upright, he doesn't show his emotions on his face, how could he easily get angry and scold people?"

  Tian nodded and said, "Not bad, it's indeed the case. Even you know this point. However, after this big war, Daoxuan Shixiong's temperament seems to have changed greatly, becoming more and more impatient. These few times he summoned me and Shuǐ Yuè, just a reminder would be enough, but every time he starts with a smile, only to end up furious for no reason at all, because of some trivial matter that makes no sense. Either scolding or venting his anger on us...

  He shook his head, slowly raised his eyes to look at Su Ru, hesitated for a moment, walked closer to Su Ru and lowered his voice: "I suspect that Dao Xuan Shixiong was already counterattacked by the sword spirit of the Zhēnxiān Sword during the battle with the Beast God, so..."

  Su Ru's face changed, and she hastily said: "Shut up." She quickly walked out of the Quiet Hall, looked around to make sure no one was there, then came back and whispered to Tian Bu Yi: "This is a secret matter of Qingyun Gate, you can't just blurt it out!"

  Tian didn't sigh and said, "This matter is of great importance, how can I dare to speak nonsense. But in the previous big battle, Daoxuan Shixiong sought a must-win situation, ignoring my repeated dissuasions, forcibly opened the ancestral seal of the Qingyun Seven Veins Spiritual Energy Heavenly Mechanism, greatly increasing the power of the Zhanshen Ancient Sword. It's just that I often think of the legacy left by our ancestors, warning that this Zhanshen Ancient Sword has a fierce and violent energy, an aura that defies heaven, seemingly an ominous object, so I couldn't treat it as ordinary. Today when I returned, at Tongtian Peak, I parted ways with Shuǐ Yuè, although we two have never gotten along, but when we bid farewell, it seemed like our hearts felt something. I reckon that Shuǐ Yuè must also be thinking the same way in her heart, only this matter is too big, and neither of us dares to speak out."

  Su Ru remained silent for a long time, her voice slightly hoarse as she said: "Although it's like this, after all, it still relies on the Xian Jian sword. Now that the Xian Jian is destroyed, even if Shizun suffered misfortune, first of all there's no source, and secondly his Dao heart is connected to the divine, so as long as time passes, he will likely gradually come to a realization and resolve it himself."

  Tian's face remained heavy with a serious expression, not diminishing in the slightest. He said calmly, "I hope so, otherwise, as the respected master of Qingyun, if something were to happen to him, this Qingyun sect... I really don't know how it would end."

  Su Ru thought for a moment, then sighed helplessly and said, "Forget it, this is not something we can control now, you don't have to worry too much about it. There's another thing, I've been wanting to ask, after the destruction of the Xian Jian sword, how was it handled?"

  Tian hesitated for a moment, then said: "I originally asked a knowledgeable senior brother about this matter. It's said that after Daoxuan scolded everyone on the spot and forbade them from leaking any information, he immediately picked up the broken Xianslaying Sword and entered the Fantasy Moon Cave. From then on, no one was allowed to enter the restricted area of the Fantasy Moon Cave. So until today, no one knows what happened to that ancient sword. Maybe there's still hope for it to be repaired?"

  The field did not easily say the last sentence, but immediately shook his head and sighed, apparently even he himself did not believe such a thing. After sighing twice, he casually said: "That sword we can't afford to care about, it's just that today at Tongtian Peak, apart from being scolded for no reason, I also heard something strange."

  Su Ru was taken aback and said: "What strange thing?"

  Tian didn't raise an eyebrow, saying: "To tell you the truth, you won't believe it. In the last great war, many disciples and elders died in battle. Now we're holding a public memorial service for them at the Yuqing Temple on Tongtian Peak. But our fellow Daoist, Master Xuanyuan, only shows up once a day at the Yuqing Temple, then disappears without a trace. Instead, he goes to the ancestral temple at the back of the mountain every day to guard the spirit, isn't that strange?"

  Su Ru was stunned and asked in surprise: "Shou Ling, what's going on at the ancestral temple? Has one of our seniors passed away?"

  Tian shook his head and sneered, "What elder? I heard a few young disciples of the Longmen sect whispering that he was actually an old man who had been guarding and sweeping the ancestral temple for decades. No one knows how he died, but after Daoxuan learned about it, he was stunned at first, then furious, and even lost his soul for several days. In the end, he insisted on placing the old man's spirit tablet in the ancestral temple, but what's strange is that the spirit tablet he placed inside had a blank face!"

  Su Ruoyue listened more and more confused, and was even more shocked in her heart. She shook her head and said: "This...this...what's going on? Is it possible that the Master really...really has some confusion?"

  Tian Bu Yi sneered, saying: "Whether he is confused or not, no one knows. Anyway, someone has advised him, but he insisted on not listening. Moreover, instead of going to the Yuqing Hall to take a good look at the spirit tablets of those disciples, he ran to the ancestral hall and stared blankly at that empty spirit tablet. If this continues, I think Qingyun Gate will eventually have trouble, and it will be ruined by his hands..."

  Su Ru was silent for a long time, and after a while, she let out a soft sigh, looking out towards the outside of Shou Jing Tang. She saw that it was also empty and desolate outside on this quiet afternoon, with only the distant blue sky in sight.

  The mountain wind blew by, and the sound of the bamboo forest in the back mountain was faintly transmitted, but somehow, it added a few more melancholy meanings.

  ********

  Qingyun Mountain, Tongtian Peak, Hou Shan Zu Shi Temple Hall.

  Here, as always, was the silence and solemnity, the tall temple still stood, the surrounding forest was lush as ever, as if the earth-shaking war that had taken place on Qingyun Mountain a few days ago had no impact on this place at all.

  Except for an old man who was sweeping the floor, there was also a dark and mysterious case where countless memorial tablets were placed, and in an inconspicuous place among them, an unfamiliar and blank spirit tablet had been added.

  Lin Jingyu silently knelt in front of the blank memorial tablet, wearing a white mourning dress and a funeral hat. In front of him was a brazier with two white candles on the table, three thin incense sticks, and a faint wisp of smoke that slowly rose and soon merged with the other incense offerings, becoming indistinguishable from them.

  Lin Jingyu's face was tinged with sadness, his lips tightly pursed as he knelt on the ground, slowly throwing a stack of paper money into the flames in front of him, watching as they gradually curled up and turned yellow, gradually turning to ashes, before slowly adding new paper money.

  From time to time, he would look up at the empty spirit tablet, placing this old man's spirit tablet in the ancestral hall was something that only Daoxuan Zhenren, the leader of Qingyun Gate, insisted on, the other elders did not agree, but since the leader of Qingyun Gate had always been powerful and after Daoxuan Zhenren defeated the Beast God, his reputation was unparalleled for a time, so everyone saw him insist and could only follow him.

  Although this was unexpected, what happened next surprised Lin Jingyu even more. Daoxuan Zhenren actually placed an empty spiritual position in the ancestral hall. As a result, Lin Jingyu even dared to ask Daoxuan Zhenren, who had come to offer sacrifices, but unexpectedly, Daoxuan Zhenren simply asked a question back and left Lin Jingyu speechless:

  "Do you know his name then?"

  Lin Jingyu was stunned, he had followed the mysterious old man for ten years of cultivation, but about his own past, the old man never revealed a single word to him. At this moment, wanting Lin Jingyu to say something, he truly had no way out. Just looking at Dao Xuan's expression, it seemed that he knew some things about the old man, but he didn't intend to reveal them. Although Lin Jingyu was puzzled in his heart, he didn't dare be too presumptuous towards the leader of the sect, so he could only silently retreat. Anyway, in his heart, this old man's appearance and smile were clearly engraved on his mind, not fading away at all.

  He had also gone to pay his respects at the memorial ceremony for Qian Shan, but he always felt that although countless disciples had paid their respects, this senior, who possessed unparalleled skills, had left the world so quietly. He wanted to see him off no matter what, and Dao Xuan seemed to have tacitly allowed him to come here to handle the aftermath for the old man. Moreover, as the sect leader, he didn't care about the shocked gazes of his many disciples, often coming to this ancestral hall to pay respects to the empty spirit tablet of the old man, leading to much speculation that Lin Jingyu couldn't control.

  At this moment, another footstep suddenly sounded behind him. For several days, Lin Jingyu had been familiar with the footsteps and knew that it was Dao Xuan Zhenren as soon as he heard them.

  He stood up and turned around, saying in a low voice: "The leader of the sect."

  Daoxuan Zhenren slowly walked into the ancestral hall.

  The lamp in the ancestral hall was dim, and although Lin Xingyu had been here all along, he couldn't see Daoxuan's face clearly for a moment. He vaguely saw Daoxuan's figure standing in the shadows, silently looking at the empty spirit tablet beside him.

  For some reason, Lin Jingyu looked at the somewhat blurry shadow in the darkness and suddenly felt that something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. He just inexplicably felt a thud in his heart, with a hint of tension.

  "Is he all right?" Dao Xuan Zhen Ren finally spoke up, his voice sounding rather low and hoarse, as if he was exerting some hidden force to suppress something, completely different from his usual tone.

  Lin Jingyu's heart was even more puzzled, but he still replied: "The disciple guards the spirit day and night for his senior, burns incense on time, and has never been lazy."

  The figure in the shadows moved slightly, and slowly said: "He has you so devoted to sending him off, it's not in vain that he taught you for ten years. Heh... His laughter was cold, and in this dimly lit ancestral hall, there was a hint of eeriness, "Nor do I know if I were dead, again..."

  He suddenly stopped talking, as if he felt that he had said the wrong thing. Lin Jingyu naturally didn't dare to say more and stood there with his hands hanging down. The ancestral hall fell into a silence, after a moment, Dao Xuan Zhenren said: "You go out for a while, I have something to say to him alone."

  Lin Jingyu was stunned for a moment, responded with a "yes", and then walked out.

  As soon as he walked out of the ancestral hall, standing in the open space under the sunlight, Lin Jingyu suddenly felt invigorated. Only then did he realize that just now inside the hall, he had somehow felt a sense of being suppressed.

  He walked around the empty space surrounding the temple for a while, waiting for nearly half an hour, but still didn't see Daoxuan True Person come out. Just as he was wondering, he turned his head and happened to see a figure disappearing into the path leading to the Xuan Yue Dong Fu in front of him. Since the end of the Great War, the Xuan Yue Dong Fu had once again become a forbidden area, and only Daoxuan True Person could enter it.

  Lin Jingyu looked around for a few moments, shook his head and walked back into the ancestral hall. He walked to the empty spirit tablet, only to see that three thin incense sticks had been reinserted in front of it, while on the ground in front of the brazier, there seemed to be more ashes, as if someone had burned some paper money here again.

  Lin Jingyu thought for a moment, slowly raised his head, and saw that the blank tombstone was still standing quietly in that secluded corner, silent...