Chapter 193: The Gray Moon Sect’s Visit

Spiritual Qi drifted between the mountain peaks of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, gathering over ancient pines and jade-roofed halls.

Across the training grounds, disciples practised beneath the watch of their instructors. Lightning flashed along blades and palms, briefly illuminating the morning mist before fading into the air.

Inside the Drackar residence, however, everything was quiet.

Lemo Drackar sat behind his desk, a stack of reports spread before him. His attention remained fixed on one name.

Jules Drackar.

His second son had died inside the Ancient Palace, leaving behind more questions than answers.

According to Asher Blackwood and the others, Jules had been possessed by an unknown entity. His behaviour had changed before the confrontation, forcing Asher to act.

But the reports contained too many gaps.

What had happened before the possession? What had caused the conflict between the two young men? And why had the incident ended with Jules’s body getting possessed?

Lemo had no intention of accepting an incomplete explanation simply because the survivors had already given their statements.

A knock sounded at the door.

“Enter.”

A steward stepped inside and bowed.

“Sect Master, a representative of the Gray Moon Sect has arrived. She claims to possess information about Young Master Jules.”

Lemo’s fingers stopped against the report.

The Gray Moon Sect.

His thoughts returned to the Ancient Palace—to the incomprehensible being whose face he had never clearly seen and Lady Jade Serpent, who had stood beside it without showing the slightest fear.

Then the being had vanished, leaving behind a formation powerful enough to threaten the entire country.

Now the Gray Moon Sect had come to speak about his son.

“Where is the envoy?” Lemo asked.

“She is waiting at the Listening Thunder Pavilion.”

“Bring fresh tea. I’ll receive her there.”

The steward bowed and withdrew.

Lemo remained seated for a moment. An unexpected visit from the mysterious Gray Moon Sect was rarely without purpose.

He closed the report and followed.

——————————

The Listening Thunder Pavilion stood beside a quiet pond within the Drackar residence. Carved wooden pillars supported its sweeping roof, and bamboo blinds swayed gently in the breeze. A stone path wound between flowering shrubs before reaching the raised platform.

A woman stood beside the open pavilion.

She wore a light crimson silk robe embroidered with silver patterns. Her dark hair was arranged neatly, and her expression was calm.

When Lemo arrived, she turned and bowed.

“Veyra Bloodrose Commander, Luo Hongying, pays her respects to Sect Master Lemo.”

Lemo took his seat at the central table.

“Commander Luo. Please.”

They sat opposite each other as a servant poured the tea. After the servant left, Luo Hongying reached into her sleeve and produced a palm-sized recording orb.

“I have brought something concerning the events inside the Ancient Palace.”

She placed it on the table.

Lemo studied the orb but did not touch it. “Let me see.”

He sent a thread of Spiritual Qi into its surface.

A projection appeared above the table, showing the ruined interior of the Ancient Palace. Broken pillars stood among scattered debris, and traces of energy lingered across the floor.

Two figures stood in the center.

Asher Blackwood.

Jules Drackar.

The recording had begun after their confrontation was already underway. The treasure between them seemed to be the cause of the dispute.

Jules attacked first.

Lightning surged from his palm and tore across the chamber. Asher drew his sword and swept it through the attack, dispersing the lightning with a precise burst of sword Qi.

Jules pressed forward. More lightning gathered around his arm as he launched another strike.

Asher shifted aside and deflected it.

Their attacks collided several times. Then Asher slipped past Jules’s guard and drove his sword forward.

The blade pierced Jules’s torso.

Lemo’s hand tightened around his teacup.

The projection vanished a moment later.

For several breaths, only the wind moving through the bamboo blinds disturbed the silence.

“Again,” Lemo said.

Luo Hongying activated the orb.

The scene replayed.

This time, Lemo focused on every movement. Asher’s attacks were controlled and measured. Jules, however, grew more aggressive as the fight continued, pressing forward even when his attacks left openings.

But the recording still began too late to show what had started the conflict. It also ended immediately after Asher’s sword struck Jules.

When the projection vanished, Lemo withdrew his Spiritual Qi.

The orb became silent.

“You brought me a fragment,” he said.

“A fragment can still be useful.”

“Where did you obtain it?”

“The Gray Moon Sect recovered it from the remains of the palace incident. The recording is genuine, but incomplete.”

“A convenient distinction.”

Luo Hongying lowered her eyes briefly. “An incomplete truth should not be mistaken for the whole truth. But that doesn’t make it false.”

Lemo watched her carefully.

She had not accused Asher. She had not denied the claim that Jules was possessed. She had simply placed the recording before him and allowed the questions to form.

It was a careful approach.

“The Blackwood family controls the Myriad Sword Sect,” Lemo said. “An investigation into Asher could quickly become an investigation into his entire family.”

“Then it deserves to be handled carefully.”

Her gaze lifted.

“But influence cannot answer questions.”

Lemo’s eyes narrowed.

She was right. If he pursued the matter recklessly, he could provoke one of the most powerful families in Country B. If he abandoned the investigation because of their influence, he might never learn what had happened to Jules.

His gaze returned to the recording orb.

Another detail came to mind.

Asher had reached the Core Formation Realm inside the Ancient Palace during a heavenly tribulation.

Lemo had heard about the breakthrough, but his attention had remained fixed on the claim that Jules was possessed. Now the recording made the timing seem more important.

Had Asher simply encountered a fortunate opportunity?

Had the treasure contributed to his breakthrough?

Or had he obtained something else inside the palace—something the Blackwood family had chosen not to reveal?

None of those possibilities proved guilt. But they were worth investigating.

Luo Hongying lifted her teacup. “The breakthrough was remarkable. Few cultivators cross such a bottleneck under those circumstances.”

Lemo looked at her.

“You know a great deal about what happened there.”

“The Ancient Palace concerned more than one faction.”

“And the Gray Moon Sect was one of them.”

Luo Hongying didn’t answer immediately.

A fish broke the surface of the pond, sending ripples across the reflection of the pavilion.

“Some matters are best understood through what they leave behind,” she said.

It was neither a denial nor an admission.

Lemo remembered Lady Jade Serpent standing beside that ancient being. He remembered the pressure, the disappearance, and the formation left behind.

Now another Gray Moon representative sat before him, offering evidence that could turn him against the Blackwood family.

He would be foolish to dismiss the timing as coincidence.

But refusing to examine the recording would be just as foolish.

He would investigate Asher on his own terms. Whatever he discovered, he would not allow the Gray Moon Sect to decide what it meant.

“Your son deserves a thorough investigation,” Luo Hongying said.

“Why has the Gray Moon Sect chosen to involve itself?”

“The Ancient Palace left questions that remain unanswered.”

“Questions concerning my country?”

“Some of them may.”

Lemo’s expression cooled.

She had given him enough to suggest that the palace incident involved more than Jules and Asher, but not enough to reveal her sect’s true intentions.

She might be offering a warning.

She might be leading him toward something.

Perhaps both.

“Your sect’s concern is unusual,” he said.

“Then it is fortunate that we have not asked you to trust us.”

A faint smile touched her lips.

“Only examine what has been placed before you.”

Lemo remained silent.

That was a reasonable request. Everything surrounding it was not.

Luo Hongying reached into her sleeve again and produced a small jade case. She opened it.

Three refined spirit crystals rested inside, their clear surfaces filled with concentrated Spiritual Qi.

Lemo recognized their quality immediately.

“A generous gift,” he said.

“A gesture of goodwill.”

“Goodwill usually has a price.”

“Then don’t mistake it for charity.”

She closed the case halfway.

“The Gray Moon Sect possesses cultivation manuals and resources that may help cultivators overcome difficult bottlenecks. If our interests prove compatible, further cooperation can be discussed.”

Lemo did not touch the case.

She had brought him evidence, directed his attention toward the Blackwood family, and offered resources that could benefit both him and the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

The arrangement was taking shape.

Its most important part, however, remained hidden.

“Commander Luo,” Lemo said, “you have brought me an incomplete record, reminded me of details I had overlooked, and offered resources before asking for my agreement.”

Luo Hongying listened quietly.

The wind moved through the bamboo blinds.

Lemo leaned forward slightly.

“Such courtesy must have a purpose.”

For the first time, her smile disappeared completely.

Lemo’s voice remained calm, but there was no room left for evasion.

“What do you want from me in return?”