Chapter 234: Chapter 174: Golden Sun Master
A magnificent complex of palaces was perched on the mountainside, as if floating amidst the clouds.
At that moment, the Golden Crow Sect Master, Cheng Muqiu, stared at the intelligence reports gathered in his hands, his brow furrowed in silence.
"Junior Sister, what do you make of this?" After a long moment, he passed the reports to a gracefully beautiful woman beside him.
Liu Qingping didn’t look at the reports he offered. Instead, she sighed and said, "Senior Brother, what I think isn’t important. What matters is what the Supreme Elder thinks.
You know how highly he regards Xia Qingxue and how much he has invested in her. Now, her Guardian, Dai Zichen, has fallen, and Xia Qingxue is missing. And all the evidence points directly to the Celestial Vein Sect. What else is there to think?"
Cheng Muqiu frowned. "Don’t you find the source of this intelligence a bit too suspicious? If the Celestial Vein Sect was truly behind this, why would they make it so easy for us to find out?"
"What proof do you have? Suspicion requires a basis," Liu Qingping said helplessly. "Surely you don’t plan to persuade the Supreme Elder with nothing but baseless speculation?"
In truth, she agreed with Cheng Muqiu. This matter was not as simple as it appeared. The problem was that it was all just their speculation; they had no concrete evidence to present!
What she said was the very thing giving Cheng Muqiu a headache. More than half a month had passed since Dai Zichen’s assassination, and he had mobilized all of his forces to find the culprit.
They had sent men to investigate the scene and found that at least three people had ambushed Dai Zichen. One of them was a Late-stage Purple Mansion cultivator, which was why Dai Zichen never even had a chance to escape.
The perpetrators had been meticulous; it was impossible to determine their origins from the traces left behind.
But logically speaking, the number of Purple Mansion Cultivators in the entire Daqi Cultivation World was finite. Only five factions could deploy three or more such experts at the same time.
They were the Golden Crow Sect, the Celestial Vein Sect, Luoxia City, the Celestial Sword Sect, and the Demon Suppression Hall.
The Golden Crow Sect could be ruled out, of course.
Luoxia City had remained absolutely neutral for millennia and had no reason to do something like this, let alone frame the Celestial Vein Sect. They stood as the Daqi Kingdom’s primary barrier against the Hundred Thousand Mountains; chaos in the kingdom would bring them only harm, no benefit.
The Celestial Sword Sect was a Major Sect second only to Luoxia City, and in some respects, even stronger. While they had the capability, they lacked a motive.
If a full-scale war were to erupt between the Golden Crow Sect and the Celestial Vein Sect, the Celestial Sword Sect, as a vassal to the latter, would be on the front lines. It would be a thankless and costly endeavor for them.
That left the Demon Suppression Hall, which was even more improbable. As a massive organization spanning the entire Human Race Cultivation World, the Hall had always dedicated itself to slaying demons and upholding justice. They never intervened in factional conflicts, which was precisely why they could coexist peacefully with local powers.
If they were ever discovered doing such a thing, the Golden Crow Sect wouldn’t even need to lift a finger; the Demon Suppression Main Hall itself would send agents to clean house.
After considering all the possibilities, only the Celestial Vein Sect remained.
The two sects had been engaged in open and secret struggles for over a thousand years. Countless promising disciples from both sides had been eliminated by the other before they could mature. As the Supreme Elder’s Direct Disciple, Xia Qingxue was not only exceptionally talented but also shrouded in mystery. It was entirely plausible that the Celestial Vein Sect, fearing her potential, would move to assassinate her.
Furthermore, their spies within the Celestial Vein Sect had reported unusual personnel movements around the time of the incident.
From that perspective, it was almost certainly the Celestial Vein Sect. Yet, Cheng Muqiu couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss, even if he couldn’t find any evidence to support his suspicion.
He had a gut feeling that an unseen hand was pulling strings, deliberately stirring up trouble to escalate the conflict between the Golden Crow Sect and the Celestial Vein Sect.
’Whoever you are, just pray I don’t find you!’ Cheng Muqiu clenched his fists, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes before vanishing.
Just then, the doors to the grand hall burst open with a BANG.
Agitated, Cheng Muqiu was about to shout a reprimand, but he snapped to his senses the moment he saw the visitor. He shot to his feet, cupped his fists respectfully, and said, "Greetings, Supreme Elder."
Liu Qingping also rose, her head bowed, not daring to meet the man’s gaze.
A figure slowly entered. He wore a long, crimson-gold robe embroidered with a Golden Crow pattern. He was painfully thin, his face gaunt, and his hair snow-white. He looked so frail it seemed a strong gust of wind could blow him over.
And yet, the Sect Leader and the Grand Elder were completely deferential, not daring to show the slightest disrespect. For this old man, who looked as if he had one foot in the grave, was the number one expert in the Golden Crow Sect and, indeed, the entire Daqi Cultivation World—Golden Sun Master, Su Ding!
He was the only cultivator at the Golden Core Great Perfection realm in the entire Daqi Cultivation World, as well as its only Tier Four top-grade alchemist. His power was unfathomable, and he had slain more than one Demon King in his time.
He was also a living fossil of the Daqi Cultivation World. At over 1,200 years old, he had already outlived the theoretical thousand-year lifespan of a Golden Core Cultivator by more than two centuries.
The existence of Golden Sun Master was the critical reason the Golden Crow Sect was able to maintain its dominance over the Celestial Vein Sect.
Xia Qingxue was his Direct Disciple, which, in terms of seniority, placed her many generations above even Cheng Muqiu.
Su Ding’s gaze, as sharp as a falcon’s, landed on Cheng Muqiu. "Any news of my disciple?" he asked, his voice raspy.
"Reporting to the Supreme Elder, not yet. However, her Soul Lamp is still lit, so her life should not be in danger." Cheng Muqiu exchanged a glance with Liu Qingping before bracing himself to answer.
"Then have you found the killer?" Su Ding advanced step by step, and Cheng Muqiu felt the pressure mounting. Even with his Cultivation at the Purple Mansion Great Perfection realm, he found it hard to breathe.
"Our preliminary assessment points to the Celestial Vein Sect, but I believe there may be something more to it."
"Proof."
Su Ding was now less than ten feet from Cheng Muqiu.
Cheng Muqiu swallowed hard and forced himself to say, "I haven’t found any yet. Please, grant me more time."
"Hmph!"
The cold snort boomed in Cheng Muqiu’s ears like a thunderclap, nearly knocking him off his feet. He was horrified. ’Is the gap between us really this vast?’
At this, Liu Qingping also stepped forward. "Supreme Elder, I too believe this matter is highly unusual. Please grant us more time to uncover the truth."
Su Ding stared at them coldly, making their hearts pound with apprehension.
After a long silence, Su Ding flicked his sleeves and turned to leave, his parting words dripping with murderous intent. "I will give you one more month. If you fail to find new evidence by then, we will declare war on the Celestial Vein Sect. The might of the Golden Crow Sect will not be provoked!"
After Su Ding left, the oppressive pressure in the hall vanished. Cheng Muqiu nearly collapsed. The aura of a Golden Core Great Perfection Cultivator was simply terrifying.
"One month... that’s too tight," Cheng Muqiu said, his expression grim. ’The Supreme Elder is dead set on war with the Celestial Vein Sect.’
Liu Qingping sighed. "Almost everyone believes the Celestial Vein Sect is the perpetrator. The entire world is watching to see how we’ll react. It’s been over half a month, and we still haven’t made a move. Rumors are already starting to spread outside the Sect.
If we delay any longer, I’m afraid even our own Elders and disciples will become discontent."
"I know," Cheng Muqiu sighed, shaking his head as he walked out of the hall. "But starting a war with the Celestial Vein Sect at this critical juncture would be a grave mistake."
"Where are you going, Senior Brother?"
"I’m going to see the other two Masters. Even if we can’t change the Supreme Elder’s mind, perhaps they can help buy us more time."
——————
Song Changsheng, meanwhile, was completely unaware that the clouds of war were gathering. His mind was preoccupied with the problem of how to awaken Xia Qingxue.
For the past several days, he had been periodically casting the Light of Resurgence on her, and Song Luzhou had even refined special healing Pills for her to consume.
Xia Qingxue’s physical injuries were healing with incredible speed, but strangely, her soul remained in a deep coma, showing no signs of waking.
Song Changsheng began to wonder if she had fallen into a vegetative state. ’If that’s the case, this is a total disaster.’
To figure out what was wrong, Song Changsheng holed himself up in the Scripture Pavilion every day, searching for any possible clue within its vast ocean of texts.
After more than ten days of searching, he finally found a few relevant records...
