Chapter 748: Fu Qian’s List

Neither Chen Yan nor Lin Xinyang had expected to encounter an old acquaintance here.

But Chu Xiyao paying her respects to Fu Qian before the cold pool in Cangwu Residence was entirely to be expected.

Chen Yan had not seen Chu Xiyao since the Dao Inquiry Assembly of Chenping Continent several centuries ago. This genius, once spoken of in the same breath as Qin Qingyu, had long since been swept away by the rising tide of heaven-chosen talents, generation after generation.

Chu Xiyao’s current cultivation was at the early stage of the Myriad Transformations Realm, and she had condensed only a little over twenty strands of innate true energy.

Back then, the sect elders had judged her talent to be on par with Li Haowen’s.

But now, Li Haowen was on the verge of entering the upper three realms.

Chu Xiyao, meanwhile, had only recently entered the Myriad Transformations Realm.

Several hundred years ago, after Chu Xiyao resigned from her position as chief disciple of Qingchan Peak, the sect had abandoned her completely.

These two heaven-chosen talents, once counted among the younger generation of Kongshan Sect disciples, were now separated by a gap of nearly two hundred years.

As for Qingchan Peak, it had become a one-man show for Bai Qiming, the True Dharma Elder of Qingchan Peak.

Each month, Chu Xiyao could collect spirit stones, pills, and other cultivation resources from Merit Hall on Qingchan Peak, equivalent to what a core disciple of Kongshan Sect’s Inner Court received. She was also effectively “confined” to Qingchan Peak.

Although her treatment was still better than that of many marginal disciples in the Inner Court, this level of cultivation resources was a mere drop in the ocean for someone with Chu Xiyao’s talent.

And because she was “confined” to Qingchan Peak, Chu Xiyao could not take sect missions like the other Qingchan Peak disciples, such as slaying Demonic Beasts, to earn merit and exchange it for more cultivation resources at the sect’s Merit Hall.

That was precisely why her cultivation progress had fallen so far behind Li Haowen’s.

When a Kongshan Sect cultivator broke through to the Myriad Transformations Realm, if there was no vacancy among the Peak Elders of their current peak, or if the sect deemed their temperament and political skill insufficient for an important position, they would often be granted the title of Offering Elder.

Though this title came with no real authority, its holder could enjoy an elder’s allotment of resources and draw upon a considerable share of the resources available on their peak for cultivation.

Yet after Chu Xiyao broke through to the Myriad Transformations Realm, she had not even received the title of Offering Elder.

The implications were self-evident.

In truth, it had not been Bai Qiming who abandoned the Qingchan Martial Discipline lineage. If anything, Bai Qiming had wanted to leave them some room and extend a few more privileges to the former Qingchan Martial Discipline lineage.

But the ones who truly decided the fate of the Qingchan Martial Discipline lineage were the Imperial Law Court.

Chu Xiyao first turned her gaze to Chen Yan, then looked toward Lin Xinyang. She bowed with cupped hands.

“Greetings, Supreme Elder Chen and Elder Lin.”

“...”

Lin Xinyang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but before he could speak, Chu Xiyao cut him off.

“You two are here to handle Elder Fu’s affairs after his passing, aren’t you?”

“When Elder Fu passed away, he was still the Solemn Martial Elder of Qingchan Peak. Under the Pivot Court’s regulations, when a Peak Elder dies while in office, the Pivot Court is to handle all arrangements for their funeral.”

Chen Yan’s voice was cool, his expression calm.

Even at the time of his death, Fu Qian had still been Qingchan Peak’s Solemn Martial Elder.

Chu Chen was in seclusion, while Fu Qian kept out of worldly affairs. Until Lin Xinyang arrived at Qingchan Peak out of nowhere, the two of them had continued to bear the “empty titles” of Qingchan Peak Sword Master Elder and Solemn Martial Elder.

That was exactly the situation Bai Qiming, who held all the real power, most wanted to see.

Only when the Sword Master Elder and Solemn Martial Elder of Qingchan Peak were both figureheads could the vast majority of the peak’s power remain concentrated in his hands, with no one there to wrest it away.

“I’ll take my leave, then.”

As she spoke, Chu Xiyao bowed once more to Chen Yan and Lin Xinyang, then headed out of Cangwu Residence.

Neither Chen Yan nor Lin Xinyang stopped her.

“Fate plays cruel tricks.”

After Chu Xiyao left, Lin Xinyang sighed.

“When I first arrived at Qingchan Peak, I went to see Chu Chen, the former Qingchan Sword Master Elder. I also asked him about some details of the Outer Court Cataclysm back then.”

“What did Elder Chu say?” Chen Yan asked.

At that, Lin Xinyang merely shook his head.

“He said nothing at all.”

That was exactly the answer Chen Yan had expected.

After becoming a Supreme Elder of Kongshan Sect, Chen Yan had naturally gained access to some classified documents that only the Pivot Court’s Supreme Elders could read.

Among them were documents about the Outer Court Cataclysm and the Imperial Law Court’s investigation into the theft of the Black Flood Dragon.

As Chen Yan looked through those documents, he was struck by the many things that did not add up.

The documents submitted by the Imperial Law Court to the Pivot Court were riddled with fabricated details.

After realizing this, Chen Yan said nothing to anyone. He simply returned the classified documents to their original place.

The truth might differ greatly from what the Pivot Court’s documents recorded, but why would the Imperial Law Court falsify them?

There was only one answer: the Imperial Law Court had something to hide.

But if the flaws were so glaring, then Chen Yan could not possibly be the only Supreme Elder in the Pivot Court to see through them.

In that case, Chen Yan certainly would not volunteer to be the one to stick his neck out. He simply pretended he had noticed nothing.

Whatever secret lay buried behind all this was not something Chen Yan needed to concern himself with.

Everything on Qingchan Peak proceeded smoothly.

The only interruption came when Chen Yan was inspecting the belongings Fu Qian had left behind in Cangwu Residence. In the room, he discovered a hidden compartment concealed by Fu Qian with talismans.

Inside the compartment were only a few protective treasures, quite precious even to a Myriad Transformations Realm cultivator, along with over a hundred high-grade spirit stones.

But Chen Yan was a Unity-realm cultivator, and his spiritual sense was extraordinarily keen.

With just one glance, he spotted a slip of paper tucked between those treasures.

It was a list.

Chen Yan was unfamiliar with most of the names written on it.

For example, Qiguan Jin and Zhang Xishun.

But many of the others seemed vaguely familiar.

For example, Xue Xiu.

Though he could not be sure it was not someone with the same name, Chen Yan vaguely remembered that after the Outer Court Cataclysm, Lin Qifeng had been summoned back to Kongyuan Mountain by Yun Yichen.

After that, the person who succeeded him as Outer Court Elder of Kongyuan Mountain and oversaw the rebuilding of the Outer Court had been named Xue Xiu.

The man’s talent seemed to have been enough to carry him only as far as the Qi Sea Realm. Now, four hundred years after the Outer Court Cataclysm, whether he was even still alive was an open question.

But among those names, there was one that, the instant Chen Yan noticed it, held his gaze fast. He could no longer look away from those two characters.

Huo Mu.