Li Zhouwei shook his head and quietly led him out. "There's more than that, granduncle. Look."

The two rose upon streaks of light and crossed through the great void. Li Zhouwei led him north all the way before the pair appeared within a pavilion by the riverbank.

The north lay shrouded beneath a thin veil of mist. Endless white bones still stretched beyond sight, and now and then, several shadowy figures could be seen walking amidst the vast sea of remains before quickly vanishing back into the fog.

Although the northern shore below them remained lively, it no longer resembled the heavily fortified front line it once had. Only ordinary guards remained, tasked merely with preventing rogue cultivators and devil cultivators from the north from sneaking onto the lake.

Li Zhouwei said nothing as he guided him across the river. Li Ximing gazed at the endless field of bones with a complicated expression, remaining silent the entire way.

"The family lost quite a few cultivators. More than a hundred Embryonic Breathing Realm cultivators died, while the Qi Cultivation Realm losses were somewhat lower at thirty-one, eleven of whom belonged to the major sects. Ten Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators also fell, most of them guest cultivators from the Azure Pond Sect. Our family accounted for two."

"That's not too many."

Li Ximing nodded, but Li Zhouwei shook his head and said, "I knew he intended to cross the river, and I had already anticipated casualties in secret, so I gave orders long ago not to let them act too recklessly...

"Besides... Qu Buzhi and Sun Bai couldn't beat anyone, Miaoshui was injured, and Chen Yang was more cunning than anyone. Looking around, all we had left were the old, weak, wounded, and crippled. None of them were suited to charging the front lines. The only one who could truly fight was Ding Weizeng... and I already arranged things for him. Naturally, the Azure Pond Sect's Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators were the ones meant to stand at the front.

"The ones from our family who charged the furthest ahead were the Wen brothers[1], those devil cultivators, along with cousin Zhouda. The Wen brothers believed that, as devil cultivators, they would at least be able to escape alive no matter what happened, and even if they were injured, the lake would compensate them afterward. So they acted far more boldly in hopes of seizing greater benefits. None of them expected something like this to happen, and both brothers died together. Zhouda was fortunate enough to survive thanks to his protective dharma artifact and talismans..."

Li Ximing sighed inwardly as he replied, "He really does have a lucky life. The old elder[2] is always complaining to me about his impulsive temperament. The moment something gets into his head, his eyes flare up and he charges forward without thinking... I truly don't know how he ended up like that."

As the two Daoist Masters walked forward, a wave of cold yin energy swept over them. [Lesser Yin] and [Baleful Essence] surged through the air, eroding flesh and chilling the marrow itself. Meanwhile, ghostly winds howled around them and night crows cried sharply overhead.

The two Daoist Masters naturally restrained their divine abilities to avoid disturbing the spiritual energy of the area and alerting others.

Li Zhouwei remarked, "The terrain around White River Stream has already changed completely. Nowadays, cultivators of every level call this place the [Turbid Slaughter Mausoleum]. This was once the land of the Three Caves of Mifan...

"The Pristine Water of this place vanished long ago, yet Baleful Qi still churns endlessly. Resentment festers; spiritual energy boils in turmoil; and ordinary mortals still cannot survive in this land. Even Qi Cultivation Realm cultivators cannot remain for long..."

Li Ximing glanced around and indeed spotted several Qi Cultivation Realm cultivators equipped with dharma artifacts and talismans, searching the area for something.

Li Zhouwei said softly, "Apart from the various dharma artifacts and treasures left behind by the cultivators who died here back then, the transformations of the spiritual energy have also become extremely strange. From time to time, disturbances from the great void appear and give birth to spirit items. Over this past year, the frequency of those occurrences has only continued to rise."

The moment Li Ximing heard this, he immediately understood, How could spirit items possibly appear out of thin air? The most likely explanation is a grotto heaven... Whether it's a divine ability or a Dharma relic hidden within the great void, something is gradually pulling that grotto heaven back into the mortal world. That disturbance is affecting the spiritual energy, throwing it into increasing chaos, which is why spirit items are beginning to emerge from the void itself.

By now, most people already understand that the repeated clashes between north and south and the countless calamities of slaughter were ultimately all for the sake of [Wanlin Heaven]. Zhouwei glimpsed it back then, and from the looks of things now, it will eventually descend upon this very place.

Li Zhouwei pointed northward and softly said, "Nowadays, everyone says the monks can no longer cross the Turbid Slaughter Mausoleum, so there have been a few peaceful days. I heard Murong Yan and the others are stationed north of the mausoleum, while Mount Xiaoshi and Mount Tangdao are still occupied by Buddhist cultivators... Xuanmiao Temple has become a cultivation ground for Ch'i Lanyan and the others... and Profound Peak Gate... has risen again."

What nonsense about monks being unable to cross! That's merely the shallow assumption of cultivators below the Purple Mansion Realm. Since this place is destined to draw down Wanlin Heaven itself, who would dare fight recklessly here?

Li Ximing gradually pieced everything together. Yet when he heard the name Profound Peak Gate, he offered no words of congratulations, only a quiet sigh. "The Kong Family... truly hasn't had it easy."

The two walked deeper into the formation together as Li Zhouwei continued speaking, "The Capital Immortal Dao returned the mountain, yet nobody could touch it. Zhugong took away most of their important direct descendants, though they did leave quite a few devil cultivators behind. Kong Xiaxiang hated them to the bone, so he seized a few of those small fry to vent his anger... Though who knows whether that was arranged intentionally as a way of making their stance clear."

"Senior Kong still hasn't come to the lake personally. It's probably inappropriate for her to do so, so she instead sent Kong Guxi and Kong Xiaxiang here once."

He raised a brow as he said, "Kong Guxi was moved to tears with gratitude, though he didn't dare say much. Kong Xiaxiang, on the other hand, does feel indebted to our family. He was already an impatient man by nature, but his rise and fall came far too suddenly, all beyond his own control. By now, his state of mind has already broken. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"People always speak of heart demons haunting a cultivator, but his problem goes beyond that. His ordinary heart was shattered completely, and it's difficult to ever recover from something like that... It's not really his fault."

The two sat beside a table within the main hall. The Daoist Master in white-golden robes remained silent, merely watching the clear tea pour into the cup with soft rippling sounds.

Li Zhouwei filled the tea for him and quietly said, "In the eleventh month, Suiguan killed Xindu and four Merciful Ones. Not a single person in White River Stream survived. The world still fails to see things clearly and continues blaming Daoist Master Qiuhu, but Quewan and several others know the truth, and the matter has already been recorded.

"Afterward, the blessed land sealed itself away, Xiukui Dao Gate withdrew from the world, and Profound Peak Gate reopened its gates. Third granduncle's disciple, Quan Yuduan, came personally to deliver the news."

At this point, he paused slightly before explaining, "What the Guest Cultivator Wushao knows now was originally leaked by them."

Li Ximing nodded to show he understood, and Li Zhouwei continued, "I specifically went to see him. He seemed rather disgusted with the Ning Family and completely at a loss, so he could only leave the mountain for a time. Yet when it came to Daoist Master Suiguan, Quan Yuduan only remembered that such a Grand Daoist Master had once existed. As for any suspicions or speculation, all of it was simply gone."

Li Ximing frowned slightly while Li Zhouwei went on, "So I had Quewan retrieve the records from that time. Yet the word 'Suiguan' had vanished without a trace, and the entire passage had become blurred and nearly impossible to make out.

"Now, the entire world only remembers that Daoist Master Ning[3] of the Azure Pond Sect used the Azure Pond Sect's secret talismans to kill the devil cultivator Xindu upon the river. As for everything else, nobody remembers Suiguan anymore.

"If my guess is correct, aside from a few families with exceptionally noble bloodlines, no one below the Purple Mansion Realm can clearly remember him anymore. And once they fail to remember, everything naturally ends up being attributed to Daoist Master Qiuhu."

1. Referring to Wen Yi and Wen Shan. First appeared in Chapter 1045. ☜

2. Referring to Li Xuanxuan. ☜

3. Referring to Ning Wan, which is also Daoist Master Qiuhu. ☜