Chapter 26 — The Man Inside the Sect Master

Every black thread snapped.

Profound Sword Sect went silent.

Sect Master Lu stood in the center of a shattered courtyard.

His hand was still raised.

His expression was still smiling.

But the smile no longer belonged to anyone.

It vanished.

His body swayed.

Li Cangwu moved instantly.

He caught him before he hit the ground.

"Senior Brother."

No response.

"Lu Qingshan!"

Sect Master Lu's eyes opened.

For one second—

they were black.

Then clear.

Confused.

Old.

Human.

"Li...?"

Li Cangwu froze.

Sect Master Lu stared at him.

Then at the destruction around them.

Half the courtyard was gone.

Three halls had collapsed.

The mountain behind Li had a sword cut running through it.

"What..."

His voice was weak.

"...did you do?"

Li Cangwu stared.

Then laughed.

Once.

Loudly.

"You bastard."

Sect Master Lu frowned.

"I wake up and you're insulting me?"

"You're awake."

"Obviously."

"No."

Li's laughter stopped.

"You're actually awake."

Sect Master Lu looked at him.

Then—

his face changed.

Memory returned.

Not all of it.

Enough.

His hand went to his chest.

"Han..."

Li tightened his grip.

"You know him."

Lu Qingshan's breathing became uneven.

"Inside..."

His pupils contracted.

"How long?"

Li asked.

Lu stared at nothing.

"Seven months."

That matched the seclusion.

Then Lu shook his head.

"No."

His face paled further.

"Longer."

"How long?"

"I don't know."

Li's expression hardened.

"Can you move?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Li hauled him upright.

"We're leaving."

Lu looked around.

"Leaving?"

"Your sect."

"I am the Sect Master."

"Then walk faster."

Cloudveil Peak.

Shen Yuan lowered his hand.

The Primordial Fate-Severing Silk slowly faded.

The causal road to Profound Sword Sect had been severed.

But not erased.

A tiny imprint remained.

Useful.

The system appeared.

[Host has severed a large-scale foreign karmic control structure.]

[Primary affected target: Lu Qingshan.]

[Secondary affected targets: 37.]

Shen Yuan's expression changed.

Thirty-seven?

"Show me."

A list appeared.

[Profound Sword Sect — Karmic Contamination Detected.]

Lu Qingshan — Severe → Connection severed

Zhou Tianluo — Severe

Song Yao — Moderate

Zhou Xuanji — Severe

Unknown Guardian Descendant — Critical

Additional contaminated individuals: 32

Jian Wuchen read Shen Yuan's expression.

"Master?"

"It's bigger than one person."

Gu Jian sat on the floor, breathing heavily.

Xuankong supported him.

"How big?"

"At least thirty-eight people."

Silence.

Duan Zheng had arrived after sensing the disturbance.

His face hardened.

"All in Profound Sword Sect?"

"Detected through the connection."

"Can you identify them?"

"Some."

Shen Yuan read the names.

Duan's expression changed at each.

"Zhou Tianluo."

Acting Sect Master.

Seventh Lineage Master.

"Song Yao."

The Core Formation elder who had appeared around Jian's affairs.

"Zhou Xuanji."

The missing Void Refining cultivator.

Then—

unknown Guardian descendant.

Duan frowned.

"Who?"

"No name."

Xuankong looked at Gu Jian.

"Could be another lineage."

Gu Jian nodded weakly.

"Or someone whose identity has been overwritten."

Jian Wuchen's hand tightened around Clear Wind.

"Han Wuji controlled all of them?"

Shen Yuan shook his head.

"Contaminated."

"Not necessarily controlled."

Important distinction.

Some could be anchors.

Some observers.

Some unwilling hosts.

Some willing collaborators.

Some might not even know.

Duan Zheng exhaled slowly.

"Then the Seventh Lineage..."

"May not be the whole enemy," Shen Yuan said.

Duan closed his eyes.

Three years.

He had blamed the Seventh Lineage.

Not without reason.

But the truth was wider.

Gu Jian spoke quietly.

"The Seventh Lineage shouldn't exist."

Everyone looked at him.

He touched the remaining bandages.

"But my sword art exists there."

"My title exists there."

"Records attributed to me exist there."

Xuankong's expression darkened.

"Someone built a lineage in your name."

"Yes."

"Han?"

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"Maybe."

Gu Jian's eyes narrowed.

"Or someone wanted everyone to believe it was Han."

Shen Yuan looked at him.

Good.

He was learning not to jump to conclusions.

The system chimed.

[Reverse Causality Trace retained.]

[Would Host like to continue tracing secondary structures?]

Shen Yuan paused.

"Risk?"

[Moderate.]

"To me?"

[Low.]

"To targets?"

[Variable.]

No.

Not blindly.

He dismissed it.

Xuankong noticed.

"You found something?"

"More threads."

"And?"

"I'm not cutting them yet."

Jian frowned.

"Why?"

"Because we don't know what they're doing."

He looked at Gu Jian.

"Han's karma inside him was partly parasitic and partly protective."

"If I had removed all of it immediately, I could have damaged him or weakened the prison."

Jian nodded.

Lesson understood.

Shen Yuan continued.

"We identify first."

"Then cut."

A voice came from the path.

"Preferably after lunch."

Everyone turned.

Chen An stood there.

"Why?"

Shen Yuan asked.

"Because none of you ate."

Fair.

Gu Jian looked at Chen An.

"Is this how Cloudveil handles ancient conspiracies?"

Chen An considered.

"Usually after breakfast."

Xuankong laughed.

Shen Yuan walked toward the dining hall.

"Food."

The ancient conspiracy could survive twenty minutes.

Probably.

It survived twelve.

Halfway through lunch—

the emergency communication formation activated.

Gu Tianhe's voice erupted.

"SHEN YUAN!"

Lu Chen nearly dropped his bowl.

Lin Yue looked toward the formation.

Jian Wuchen continued eating.

He had adapted quickly.

Shen Yuan took another bite.

"What?"

"PROFOUND SWORD SECT!"

"What about it?"

"LI CANGWU IS AT THE GATE!"

Duan Zheng stood immediately.

Jian stopped eating.

Shen Yuan sighed.

"Let him in."

"HE BROUGHT THEIR SECT MASTER!"

Everyone became still.

Duan's expression changed.

"Lu Qingshan?"

Gu Tianhe continued.

"YES!"

Pause.

"AND HALF OF PROFUND SWORD SECT IS CHASING THEM!"

Shen Yuan put down his chopsticks.

Lunch had lasted twelve minutes.

Better than expected.

Azure Origin Sect's main gate had seen better days.

Li Cangwu stood outside it.

His sword was drawn.

Sect Master Lu Qingshan leaned against a stone pillar beside him.

Behind them—

thirty-seven flying swords filled the sky.

Hundreds of Profound Sword Sect cultivators stood farther back.

Not attacking.

Yet.

At their front stood Zhou Tianluo.

Acting Sect Master.

Seventh Lineage Master.

Void Refining.

His face was cold.

"Grand Elder Li."

Li Cangwu smiled.

"Acting Sect Master Zhou."

"Return Sect Master Lu."

"No."

"You abducted the Sect Master."

"He walked."

Lu Qingshan lifted one hand weakly.

"I did."

Zhou Tianluo's expression did not change.

"Senior Brother Lu is injured."

"I noticed."

"He is not in a condition to make decisions."

Lu frowned.

"I am standing here."

"You are being manipulated."

Li laughed.

"By me?"

Zhou looked toward Azure Origin Sect.

"By them."

Gu Tianhe appeared above the gate.

Mo Qingfeng beside him.

Qin Feng.

Mu Qinglan.

Several elders.

Gu Tianhe looked at Li.

Then Lu.

Then the Profound Sword Sect army.

His face twitched.

"Why is everyone bringing their internal problems to my sect?"

Li pointed toward Cloudveil.

"Ask him."

Gu Tianhe closed his eyes.

Of course.

Shen Yuan arrived.

Not alone.

Lin Yue walked on his left.

Jian Wuchen on his right.

Lu Chen behind them.

Then Xuankong.

Gu Jian.

Duan Zheng.

Ye Feng.

Chen An had stayed behind.

Someone responsible needed to guard lunch.

The moment Zhou Tianluo saw Gu Jian—

his face changed.

Tiny.

Almost invisible.

Shen Yuan noticed.

So did Gu Jian.

Zhou recovered immediately.

"Who is that?"

Gu Jian tilted his head.

"You don't know me?"

"No."

Gu Jian laughed softly.

"Interesting."

Zhou's eyes narrowed.

Jian Wuchen's First Key began vibrating.

Then—

Gu Jian raised two fingers.

He performed one movement.

Seven cuts appeared in the air.

Zhou Tianluo went pale.

Several Seventh Lineage cultivators gasped.

One dropped his sword.

Duan Zheng watched.

Same technique.

The Seventh Severing Sword.

Zhou's voice became cold.

"Where did you learn that?"

Gu Jian stared.

"Learn?"

His tone changed.

"I made it."

Silence.

The entire gate became still.

Then several people laughed.

Nervously.

Zhou did not.

"Absurd."

Gu Jian stepped forward.

Xuankong caught his shoulder.

"Seventh Brother."

"I'm calm."

"You're never calm when you say that."

Gu Jian stopped.

Fair.

Shen Yuan looked at Zhou Tianluo.

The Primordial Fate-Severing Silk activated.

Threads appeared.

There.

Black karma around Zhou.

Dense.

But—

different.

Not controlling his soul.

Wrapped around his dantian.

His bloodline.

His sword.

The system analyzed.

[Target: Zhou Tianluo.]

[Foreign karmic structure detected.]

[Function: Inheritance transmission.]

Shen Yuan's eyes narrowed.

Inheritance?

Not possession.

Not simple corruption.

"Zhou Tianluo."

Zhou looked at him.

"You've inherited something."

Silence.

Zhou's pupils contracted.

Li Cangwu raised his sword.

Gu Tianhe's aura sharpened.

Shen Yuan continued.

"From the Seventh Lineage."

Zhou said nothing.

"Black thread."

Still nothing.

Then Zhou smiled.

Very slightly.

"So you can see it."

The Profound Sword Sect cultivators behind him became restless.

One elder looked at Zhou.

"Acting Sect Master?"

Zhou ignored him.

His gaze remained on Shen Yuan.

"You cut the Sect Master's thread."

"Yes."

"That was you."

"Yes."

Zhou exhaled.

Then—

he sheathed his sword.

Everyone froze.

Li Cangwu frowned.

"What are you doing?"

Zhou Tianluo turned to the cultivators behind him.

"Return to the sect."

Silence.

One elder stepped forward.

"Acting Sect Master?"

"Return."

"But Sect Master Lu—"

"Is standing there."

Zhou looked at Lu Qingshan.

"If he says he left voluntarily, then he left voluntarily."

Lu's eyes narrowed.

"You believe me?"

"No."

Unexpected.

"But I believe Peak Master Shen severed something."

Zhou looked back.

"And I believe whatever was inside you wanted me to bring an army here."

Silence.

Shen Yuan became interested.

Zhou continued.

"I would rather disappoint it."

Competent.

Good.

Not a cartoon villain.

Gu Jian stared at Zhou.

"How long have you known?"

"That something was wrong?"

"Yes."

"Eleven years."

Duan Zheng froze.

"Eleven?"

Zhou nodded.

"My father died."

"Before he died, he transferred the Seventh Lineage inheritance to me."

"The moment I accepted it..."

He touched his chest.

"...I started dreaming of someone else's life."

Gu Jian became still.

"What life?"

Zhou looked at him.

"Yours."

Silence.

Gu Jian's breathing stopped.

Xuankong's hand tightened on his shoulder.

Zhou continued.

"I dreamed of Sword City."

"Ji Cang."

"Nine disciples."

"Yue Hanshuang."

Gu Jian's face disappeared behind stillness.

"And?"

Zhou's expression became complicated.

"I dreamed of killing her."

Gu Jian took one step.

Shen Yuan appeared between them.

"Continue."

Zhou nodded.

"I thought I was going mad."

"Then I found records beneath our ancestral hall."

Duan Zheng held up the black bone.

"This?"

Zhou's eyes widened.

"You have it."

"I stole it."

"I noticed."

Duan frowned.

"You tried to kill me."

"No."

Duan's expression hardened.

"Someone did."

Zhou looked at him.

"I ordered you detained."

"Why?"

"Because you found the chamber."

"Then who chained me?"

Zhou Tianluo looked toward Gu Jian.

"I don't know."

Duan's eyes narrowed.

Zhou continued.

"The night you disappeared, the prison formation activated."

"When I arrived, you were gone."

"I assumed Seventh Elder Song moved you."

Song Yao.

Moderate karmic contamination.

Shen Yuan remembered.

"Where is Song Yao?"

Zhou's expression changed.

"Missing."

Of course.

"Since when?"

"This morning."

Duan swore.

Lu Qingshan stepped forward.

"Zhou."

Zhou Tianluo looked at him.

The two Sect Masters—

official and acting—

stared at each other.

Lu spoke first.

"How much did you know about Han Wuji?"

The name caused reactions.

Most cultivators did not recognize it.

Zhou did.

His face became grim.

"Only a name."

"From the inheritance?"

"Yes."

"What did it say?"

Zhou hesitated.

Then:

"Never trust the Ninth."

Xuankong's expression changed.

Gu Jian slowly turned.

"The Ninth?"

Zhou nodded.

"That phrase appears repeatedly."

Duan frowned.

"The Ninth Gate?"

"No."

"The Ninth Sword?"

"No."

"Then?"

Zhou looked at Gu Jian.

"The Ninth Disciple."

Silence.

Xuankong's face went pale.

Shen Yuan remembered.

Ji Cang had nine direct disciples.

Seven became Guardians.

One died with Ji Cang.

One was thought dead.

Han Wuji.

But they had never established his number.

"Which disciple was Han Wuji?"

Shen Yuan asked.

Xuankong opened his mouth.

Then stopped.

Gu Jian looked at him.

"Third Brother?"

Xuankong's expression became strange.

"I..."

He frowned.

"I don't remember."

Silence.

Gu Jian touched his bandages.

"Neither do I."

That was wrong.

They remembered titles.

Second Senior Sister Yue Hanshuang.

Xuankong was Third Brother.

Gu Jian was Seventh Brother.

Han Wuji was Xuankong's senior brother.

That meant Han was either First or Second.

But Second was Yue Hanshuang.

So—

"Han Wuji was First," Jian Wuchen said.

Everyone turned.

Xuankong stared.

"Yes."

His face changed.

"Yes."

"Senior Brother Han was First."

Then who was Ninth?

Silence.

Gu Jian whispered:

"I don't remember."

The system flashed.

[Historical inconsistency detected.]

Shen Yuan's eyes narrowed.

There it was.

Zhou Tianluo looked between them.

"The Seventh Lineage inheritance says the same thing in every generation."

"Never trust the Ninth."

"But no record names the Ninth."

Xuankong's face had become completely serious.

"That's impossible."

"Why?"

"Because I knew them."

His voice cracked.

"I knew all eight of my siblings."

He counted.

"Han Wuji."

"Yue Hanshuang."

"Me."

Then—

he stopped.

His eyes widened.

He could not say the fourth name.

Lu Chen's Chaos Root pulsed.

Xuankong grabbed his head.

"Fourth..."

Gu Jian did the same.

"Fourth Brother..."

Nothing.

The memory was gone.

Not forgotten.

Removed.

Shen Yuan activated the Primordial Fate-Severing Silk.

Threads appeared around both ancient men.

Then he saw it.

Eight thousand years of karma.

Ji Cang.

Han Wuji.

Yue Hanshuang.

Gu Jian.

Cloudveil.

Thousands of connections.

But where the Nine should have formed a complete structure—

one place was empty.

Not the Ninth.

Several places.

Someone had cut the Nine apart from memory.

Shen Yuan's expression changed.

"This isn't natural."

Xuankong looked at him.

"What?"

"Your memories weren't only suppressed."

"The causal relationships between the Nine were severed."

Gu Jian froze.

"By Han?"

Shen Yuan followed the cut.

No black thread.

No Han Wuji signature.

Instead—

nothing.

The cut was too clean.

Familiar.

Heaven-Severing clean.

Shen Yuan became very still.

Xuankong saw his face.

"What?"

Shen Yuan looked at him.

"This was done with Severance."

Silence.

Ji Cang's Dao.

Or something equivalent.

Gu Jian whispered:

"Master?"

No one answered.

A sword cry split the sky.

Everyone turned.

Jian Wuchen's First Key had left his body.

It floated.

Two symbols glowing.

Then—

a third symbol appeared.

Not because another key had been found.

A memory.

The Tomb was reacting.

The ancient voice spoke.

"FIRST."

A figure appeared.

Faceless.

Sword Heart.

"SECOND."

A woman beneath a moon.

Yue Hanshuang.

"THIRD."

Xuankong.

Young.

Smiling.

"FOURTH."

A figure surrounded by Chaos.

Lu Chen's eyes widened.

The face was gone.

"FIFTH."

A figure holding a furnace.

"SIXTH."

A figure surrounded by countless formation lines.

"SEVENTH."

Gu Jian.

"EIGHTH."

A figure standing in darkness.

Then—

"NINTH."

Nothing appeared.

Not a person.

Not a silhouette.

An empty space.

The Tomb became silent.

Xuankong whispered:

"Why can't I remember?"

Gu Jian stared at the empty ninth position.

Then his remaining bandages began bleeding.

A memory was trying to return.

Shen Yuan immediately stepped toward him.

"Don't force it."

Gu Jian ignored him.

"Ninth..."

Black karma flickered.

Then silver Sword Dao cut through it.

Not Han Wuji.

A sealed memory.

Gu Jian screamed.

The bandage over his left eye split.

A vision erupted into everyone's minds.

Ji Cang.

Standing inside Cloudveil's wooden house.

Nine disciples before him.

All faces visible—

except one.

The Ninth.

Even inside the memory—

that person could not be seen.

Ji Cang looked directly at them.

"If the day comes when none of you remember the Ninth..."

Xuankong stopped breathing.

"...then the plan worked."

Silence.

Ji Cang continued.

"Do not search."

Gu Jian's younger self frowned.

"Master, why?"

Ji Cang looked toward the Ninth disciple.

The invisible figure spoke.

A voice.

Young.

Calm.

Male or female—

impossible to tell.

"Because if they remember me, it can find me."

The memory shook.

Xuankong's younger self asked:

"What can?"

Ji Cang did not answer.

The Ninth did.

"The thing beneath the worlds."

The vision shattered.

No one moved.

The knocking.

Shen Yuan's expression hardened.

Zhou Tianluo looked confused.

He had not seen the deeper memory.

But everyone from Cloudveil had.

Gu Jian fell to one knee.

Xuankong stared at empty air.

"The Ninth..."

Jian Wuchen looked at Shen Yuan.

"The inheritance says never trust the Ninth."

"Yes."

"But Ji Cang deliberately erased them."

"Yes."

"So which is true?"

Shen Yuan looked at Zhou Tianluo.

"Maybe both."

Zhou frowned.

Shen Yuan continued.

"Or someone changed the inheritance after the memories were erased."

Gu Jian's eyes sharpened.

The Seventh Lineage.

A lineage he never created.

Carrying his technique.

His memories.

A warning he may never have written.

Never trust the Ninth.

Someone had constructed an entire history around his identity.

Why?

To keep people away from the Ninth?

Or—

to make the Guardians kill the Ninth if they ever returned?

A communication jade activated.

Gu Tianhe caught it.

His expression changed.

"Peak Master Shen."

"What?"

"Bloodriver."

Shen Yuan remembered.

Right.

Another problem.

"What about them?"

Gu Tianhe's face became strange.

"Patriarch Bloodriver is here."

Silence.

Qin Feng looked toward the horizon.

A red cloud approached.

Slowly.

No army.

No Blood Sea.

One person.

An old man in dark red robes walked through the sky.

Tribulation Transcendence aura restrained completely.

His hands were visible.

No weapon.

He stopped ten kilometers from Azure Origin Sect.

Then bowed.

Deeply.

Every Azure Origin elder stared.

Patriarch Bloodriver spoke.

"I request an audience with Peak Master Shen."

Gu Tianhe blinked.

That was more polite than expected.

Shen Yuan looked at him.

"Why?"

Bloodriver raised his head.

His face was pale.

Tired.

Afraid.

"Because three nights ago, I sent Elder Xue Ming to investigate a token."

"We know."

Bloodriver's expression tightened.

"Then you know he disobeyed my orders."

"Maybe."

The Patriarch accepted that.

"Xue Ming is dead."

"Yes."

"I know."

Shen Yuan's eyes narrowed.

"How?"

Bloodriver slowly pulled open his robe.

Across his chest—

seven black sword marks formed a circle.

The Covenant Mark.

Gu Jian froze.

Xuankong's expression changed.

Patriarch Bloodriver looked toward Shen Yuan.

"Because when Xue Ming died..."

His voice trembled.

"...this appeared."

The seven marks pulsed.

Then—

two more marks slowly surfaced outside the circle.

Nine.

Shen Yuan's Primordial Fate-Severing Silk erupted.

Bloodriver was covered in karmic threads.

Hundreds.

Thousands.

Most black.

One—

colorless.

The same colorless thread that had led beneath the Mortal Realm.

Shen Yuan became still.

Bloodriver continued.

"I came because something has been speaking to me in my dreams."

Gu Jian stepped forward.

"What does it say?"

Bloodriver looked at him.

Then at Xuankong.

Then at Jian Wuchen.

Finally—

at Shen Yuan.

"Every night, the same question."

"What question?"

Patriarch Bloodriver swallowed.

Then answered.

"Where is the Ninth?"

The world became quiet.

Shen Yuan looked at the colorless thread.

It descended.

Down.

Toward the thing beneath the worlds.

Then—

another thread appeared.

This one did not connect to Bloodriver.

It connected to someone behind Shen Yuan.

He turned.

Lu Chen.

No.

Past him.

Lin Yue.

No.

Jian.

No.

Xuankong.

No.

Gu Jian.

No.

The thread continued.

Into Cloudveil Peak.

Toward Ji Cang's wooden house.

The empty ninth cushion inside.

Shen Yuan's eyes narrowed.

The Primordial Fate-Severing Silk followed it.

The cushion.

The floor.

The authority core.

Then—

a hidden compartment opened.

Inside was a single jade tablet.

No aura.

No name.

The system appeared.

[Unknown object detected.]

Then:

[Causal concealment collapsing.]

Characters slowly appeared across the tablet.

Not a name.

A message.

Ji Cang's handwriting.

Only one sentence.

If the Ninth is remembered, do not let them return to Cloudveil.

Silence.

Shen Yuan stared at the words.

Outside—

the ancient wooden house creaked.

One cushion moved.

The empty ninth seat.

As if someone invisible had just sat down.