Chapter 511: Secrets

Chapter 511: Chapter 511: Secrets

Beyond the endless mountain range.

The sky was an oppressive black, the sun obscured by dark clouds that seemed as if they would never disperse.

Among the crumbling walls and ruined ramparts, between the ruins that occasionally rose and fell from view, were signs of life.

Both human and beast.

Atop a certain earthen mound, several aged figures stood, looking down at the massive stockade in the basin below.

One of the old men suddenly turned his head, as if listening to something.

A moment later, he came back to his senses.

"A message from the Foreign Affairs Hall. They’ve deciphered this tribe’s Pill. They ask that we hold back."

As he finished speaking, the other old men drew their hands back into their sleeves, their expressions becoming much more animated.

One of them, with a great effort, retracted a massive serpent of lightning he had injected into the ground. Arcs of electricity overflowed as he contained it around his body.

"Saves us the effort."

one old man said with a chuckle.

The others had different opinions.

"This tribe is friendly on the surface but not in their hearts. They dream of us withdrawing from Celestial Barrier Mountain. They’ll cause trouble sooner or later, so we might as well just get rid of them."

"They’re so rundown. Even if we did get rid of them, I doubt we’d gain much."

"Win one faction over, suppress the others... that might be useful..."

As they were speaking, a tremor came from the center of the stockade, and a wave of sound like muffled thunder rolled forth.

"Who dares to spy!?"

As the voice faded, a bronze-skinned man, half a head taller than most, appeared. He was clad in beast hides, with tusks partially exposed.

Only after he fully appeared did a strong wind sweep out, carrying away the persistent drizzle.

The elders of the Xuandao Sect put on very animated expressions, beaming as they went forward to greet him.

"It is only us, here to be guests of your esteemed tribe and ask for a cup of wine. Surely the Clan Leader would not refuse..."

...

The green-robed steward found Bai Mo.

"The sect elders grew impatient. Spurred on by a few of the more radical ones, they were already preparing to go stir up trouble with the other tribes."

"Junior Brother, your letter arrived just in time to stop those elders."

Bai Mo looked abashed and turned to lead the way.

"Senior Brother, please follow me."

The green-robed steward’s eyes flickered. He hesitated for two breaths before stepping into the courtyard.

He only entered because Bai Mo had personally invited him and because the matter was of great importance.

On the stone table in the courtyard, several sheets of paper were laid out.

On them were the characters for ’Tian Weng,’ written in various fonts and styles.

"Senior Brother, take a look. This is an encryption method I managed to replicate based on the secret technique within the Black Jade Soul Pill."

Bai Mo handed the sheets of paper to the green-robed steward and took out a small booklet.

"I’ve written down all the variations within. If you encounter a similar technique, you’ll likely be able to tell it came from ’Tian Weng’."

"And even if it didn’t, it would still be related to the Immortal Realm."

This was what the sect truly wanted.

If it had only been the refinement method for the Black Jade Soul Pill, the sect would likely still have taken action, wiping out the other tribes to search for potential clues.

The green-robed steward nodded.

"Very good."

After carefully putting the booklet away, he immediately shared some clues with Bai Mo.

As more information has been gathered, the Foreign Affairs Hall was now quite certain of something.

The great power who fell on the other side of the Celestial Barrier Mountain range... ’Tian Weng’ was the hand pushing from behind the scenes of their death.

And it wasn’t just that great power. The shadows of ’Tian Weng’ were also behind the deaths of many heroes of this world who perished while trying to ascend to the Immortal Realm.

"There’s a whole group of them, active."

"They erase the paths to the Immortal Realm. When powerful individuals try to ascend by force, they use roundabout methods to entrap and harm them."

"This includes, but is not limited to, starting a thousand-year war to divide their attention, using honey traps, or even personally entering the fray to trigger calamities..."

This was the first time Bai Mo had heard of such things, and they felt very distant to him.

"Why has almost no one heard of them nowadays?"

The green-robed steward replied, "Beyond the Celestial Barrier Mountain range, after that great power died, their body disintegrated. The corpse energy corrupted the Demon Beasts, plunging their minds into chaos."

"That mutation spread to every corner of the world. Even with the Celestial Barrier Mountain blocking it, the impact was still irreversible."

"This was a great worldly catastrophe. With the eyes of all the world’s major sects upon them, ’Tian Weng’ vanished without a trace..."

Bai Mo listened in silence, feeling it was all a bit absurd.

The past of the world was as it was; there was no need to dwell on it.

Amazed by the sect’s intelligence-gathering capabilities, Bai Mo saw the green-robed steward out.

The steward walked alongside him and said with a smile:

"The credit isn’t all ours. There are a few other sects we’re close with, and they’ve got plenty of secrets of their own."

"However, all of the above is just our speculation. Until we find someone from the Immortal Realm, it’s all just conjecture."

Bai Mo remained noncommittal, but in his heart, he was already mostly convinced.

’After all, he had deciphered the Black Jade Soul Pill by following the principles of Alchemy Skill from the Immortal Realm.’

’There had to be a connection.’

The complete Pill Formula for the Black Jade Soul Pill was now in his hands. Without the man-made obfuscations, it seemed remarkably simple.

Perhaps it was because it was a low-grade Pill that the method of concealment wasn’t very complex, which was what gave Bai Mo his opportunity.

...

Ah Er returned, carrying a shoulder pole.

The baskets were filled with bamboo shoots, and it deliberately did a little spin in front of Bai Mo.

Bai Mo put down his brush and began to recount what he had heard that day, telling it to Ah Er slowly, as if telling a story.

Ah Er was a little bewildered.

It had never experienced the cruelty of the Celestial Barrier Mountain, so it couldn’t grasp the impact of the turmoil described in the tale.

However, judging by the expression on Bai Mo’s face, it felt that this must be a truly epic narrative.

Therefore, Ah Er listened with extreme concentration, its expression grave.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK!"

From a mouse hole deliberately left in the corner of the courtyard, a few squeaks suddenly sounded out.

The man and the beast turned their heads at the same time to look.

The gray-furred mouse and the old hen—the two of them were well aware of their status and usually kept a low profile.

This was especially true for the old hen, who was often chided by Ah Er for laying too few eggs.

Now, hearing the gray mouse squeak of its own accord, even the dozing hen couldn’t help but cock its head to look.

The gray mouse scampered on all fours, leaped onto the stone table, and approached the booklet Bai Mo had been writing in. It struggled to read the words on the page.

After a long while, as if it had finally confirmed something, it stretched out a paw and pawed a few times at the sentence about ’Tian Weng’ vanishing without a trace.

Bai Mo’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"You know of them?"

Ah Er immediately glared at the gray mouse.

The mouse, trembling with fear, nodded. It began gesturing frantically at Ah Er, chittering and squeaking chaotically.

After quite some time, and with Ah Er acting as an interpreter, Bai Mo finally understood what it meant.

"The Divine Beings are connected to ’Tian Weng’?"

"The lord of the Divine Kingdom you all used to belong to was in frequent contact with those people?"

Bai Mo drew a sharp breath. He never would have imagined that he’d been keeping an informant with such secret knowledge for so long.

’A declining path, a Divine Being sealed by time... to think they still had so many little schemes.’

Bai Mo subconsciously asked:

"Do you know the reason for their dealings?"

The gray mouse paused and shook its head with difficulty.

It was already lucky enough to have been able to hide in a corner of the divine temple and secretly witness the Divine Being receive guests; its humble and unnoticed existence had helped.

To expect it to know any more than that was truly asking too much.

Bai Mo nodded.

’The sect can handle the rest.’

’Considering the sect’s aggressive approach to this matter, they’d probably just go knocking on doors, capture a few Divine Beings, and interrogate anyone involved until they got the truth.’

Bai Mo sized up the gray mouse.

"It’s a good thing your Divine Kingdom collapsed. Otherwise, based on your karmic ties, for saying what you just said, the lord of your Divine Kingdom could make you die a violent death right here and now, your Dao completely extinguished."

The little creature was a smart one, willing to share such a secret. Bai Mo had no desire to treat it poorly.

Looking at Ah Er, he instructed:

"Treat him a little better from now on. And don’t be stingy with the Feeding Pills..."