Chapter 620 528: Shang Miaoyan: "Xiaohan Is Definitely Not Dead, I've Found His Whereabouts!

The Xuanyuan Dao Sect, before the Cold Palace Sword Mansion.

Dressed in a simple white gown, Lin Qianyan arrived aboard a light skiff.

The cold wind and snow whipped past her cascading black hair but could do nothing to scatter the persistent sorrow knit between her brows.

'This is where I was reunited with Brother Pei.' She never imagined that upon her return, everything would be so different.

The Cold Palace Sword Mansion was now far more dilapidated than Lin Qianyan remembered, perhaps because no one had tended to it for so long. It seemed even more desolate and rundown.

Just like… the heart of the one who lived in this manor.

Lin Qianyan knocked gently on the door.

CREAK—

A moment later, the heavy wooden door slowly swung open to reveal a small face, youthful yet stern.

Lin Qianyan recognized her. It was Brother Pei's youngest disciple, Yu Xiaoyan.

Compared to the quick-witted, lively girl Lin Qianyan remembered, the Yu Xiaoyan before her now had a cold and steady demeanor. It seemed Pei Yuhang's departure had changed her personality.

"Saintess Lin."

Yu Xiaoyan greeted her with a cupped-fist salute.

"Xiaoxiao."

Lin Qianyan nodded, her voice softening.

Her gaze swept past the slight, delicate figure to look inside.

Piles of withered leaves choked the courtyard. On the stone table, Brother Pei's favorite celadon tea set sat blanketed in dust. It looked as though it had been left there ever since he was gone, and no one had the heart to touch it…

When Lin Qianyan saw no sign of Ye Liyuan, her throat tightened.

"And your master's wife... she hasn't returned yet?"

Ever since Pei Yuhang was abducted by that mysterious woman, leaving no trace behind, Lin Qianyan had wanted to speak with Ye Liyuan upon her return to the Dao Sect.

It wasn't that she wanted to blame Ye Liyuan for not taking good care of Brother Pei, of course.

Rather, she was worried that after Brother Pei was gone, Ye Liyuan wouldn't be able to withstand the blow and would fall ill from her own fragility.

Lin Qianyan believed that heaven protects the virtuous and that Brother Pei would be fine. But what if Ye Liyuan collapsed before he made it back? How devastated and full of self-blame would he be upon his return?

She didn't want to see that happen, so she felt a responsibility to help Brother Pei's Dao Companion emerge from the shadows of her grief.

Unfortunately, ever since her return to the Dao Sect, Ye Liyuan had either been in secluded cultivation or had simply left the Sect to seek some fortuitous encounter.

Her state of mind was not as fragile as Lin Qianyan had imagined; instead, she possessed an unfamiliar, radical intensity.

But this worried Lin Qianyan all the same.

At Lin Qianyan's question about her master's wife, Yu Xiaoyan's eyes shot up, her expression growing incredibly complex.

"After my master's wife broke through to the Void Refining realm, she felt her cultivation and power were still insufficient. To become stronger in a short period of time—strong enough to find our master…

...she said she's going to the Sinful Sword Abyss of the Dragon Roar Sword Sect to retrieve the fiercest Demon Sword."

"What? Liyuan went to the Sinful Sword Abyss?!"

Lin Qianyan bit her lower lip, her voice filled with astonishment.

The Human Race had reached a moment of life and death. In order to cultivate as many experts as possible before the great war…

...the various Major Sects and Sacred Lands began sharing their Blessed Lands and resources. They allowed disciples from other Sects to enter their Blessed Lands to cultivate, so long as they were willing to fight for the Human Race and passed a review of their seniority and cultivation.

The Sinful Sword Abyss was a Forbidden Land within the Dragon Roar Sword Sect—the greatest Sword Sect in the world—used specifically to seal away the swords of Evil Cultivators.

Every single sword sealed within had been refined from the Essence Blood and Divine Souls of living beings. They were all Demon Swords steeped in monstrous sin, each one having belonged to a top-tier Demon Cultivator who had once brought disaster upon the world, their crimes too numerous to count.

Even the Dragon Roar Sword Sect dared not let its own disciples venture into such a terrifying place to claim a sword.

She had once heard an Elder from the Dragon Roar Sword Sect mention that if a Sword Cultivator stepped into the Sinful Sword Abyss and showed the slightest carelessness, their mind would be corrupted by the Demon Swords' Evil Qi. They would devolve into a Sword Ghost that knew only slaughter, to be trapped there for eternity.

Of ten who entered the abyss, not one returned alive.

"Liyuan... Has she gone mad?!"

Lin Qianyan couldn't believe that Ye Liyuan would be willing to walk such a corrupt path and use that kind of evil power just to grow stronger.

'Is this… really the same sweet and simple Ye Liyuan I once knew, the one who was always under Brother Pei's protection?'

"This won't do. I have to bring Liyuan back!"

With Brother Pei gone, she absolutely could not stand by and watch his Dao Companion fall to the Demon Dao!

However, just as she was about to rise into the air with Sword Control, a small, cold hand gripped her wrist.

"Saintess Lin, let my master's wife go…"

She tilted her face upward. Deep within her almond eyes, which should have been clear and bright, now burned an almost fanatical determination.

"You cannot stop our determination to find our master with our own strength."

"Xiaoxiao…"

Lin Qianyan murmured, her voice catching in her throat. She didn't know how to refute the girl's words.

BUZZ—BUZZ—

Her Transmission Token began to buzz insistently at her waist.

Lin Qianyan saw that it was Shang Miaoyan, sending her an urgent summons.

She bit her lower lip, gave Yu Xiaoyan one last, deep look, and finally nodded heavily.

"Xiaoxiao… While Brother Pei is gone, if you have any trouble, please contact me immediately!"

"Mm."

Yu Xiaoyan didn't offer a verbal reply, only nodding slightly as she watched her depart using Sword Control.

The wind and snow howled, and the Cold Palace Sword Mansion once again fell deathly still.

Yu Xiaoyan turned slowly and walked into the rear courtyard.

There, a massive Artifact Refining Array pulsed with an eerie blue light. Her Lifebound Spirit Sword—"Rain Smoke"—was hovering silently at the heart of the array.

The body of the sword reflected her pale face, as well as the nearly frenzied obsession deep within her eyes.

"Gu Nan… Sister," she whispered, her voice impossibly hoarse.

"Have you… truly decided? To merge yourself with Rain Smoke and become its Sword Spirit."