Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 3173: Checking The Corpses

Lin Mu sat in the quiet of the Central Hall, the chamber now emptied of its former owners.

The remnants of battle and assassination were absent here, for he had ensured that the sect had been struck down without alarms or resistance. It was this silence that allowed him to focus.

The strike team and reinforcements busied themselves with vaults, libraries, and offices, but Lin Mu’s task was different. He was not looking for surface-level spoils or scattered treasures.

He sought the hidden roots of the sect, the deeper veins of information that only the highest echelons would keep close at hand.

On the polished stone floor before him lay the body of the Patriarch of the Hidden Cave Sect.

Even in death, the man carried an aura of dignity and menace, but it no longer mattered. His existence had ended the moment Lin Mu’s cut through his defenses in silence. What remained now was only a vessel, and within it the traces of all he had owned.

Lin Mu pressed his palm to the corpse and circulated his immortal sense.

The subtle signatures of spatial storage treasures glimmered faintly, bound to the man’s qi imprint. He felt three distinct ripples, two from rings and one from a bracelet. With practiced ease, Lin Mu drew them off the body and held them in his hands.

Most cultivators would struggle to crack open the protections of another’s spatial treasures, but Lin Mu had made this art his own. His Formation skills and Spatial Proficiency allowed him to overlay multiple streams of qi and unravel the seals with precision.

One by one, he pried open the treasures, slipping past the Patriarch’s dead imprints. Within minutes the first ring yielded, then the second, and finally the bracelet.

The wealth inside poured into his perception like the flood of a river. Immortal stones glittered in vast stacks, enough to fund an entire sect for decades. Piles of herbs, many rare and carefully preserved, sat alongside rows of jade bottles containing pills.

Weapons of varying grades were arranged with a collector’s care, though most were merely supplementary compared to what Lin Mu already wielded. It was a mountain of riches, more than most sect leaders could dream of, and yet Lin Mu brushed past it all with only a brief glance.

Material wealth was not his target. He had greater concerns.

At last, he found what he was searching for: bundles of letters, scrolls, and tens of jade slips.

The patriarch had not entrusted these to a vault or an archive but kept them on his person. That alone told Lin Mu how vital they were. He drew them out in neat stacks, laying them on the ground, and began to examine them carefully.

The letters told their own story.

Communications stretched across the continent, reaching powers that on the surface appeared to have no ties to the Hidden Cave Sect. He saw the seal of the Ephemera Sect, the Drowned Crescent Cult, and several other dark organizations that had previously fallen into shadow.

Yet there were also marks of orthodox sects, merchant guilds, and respected business houses.

Lin Mu narrowed his eyes as he read.

’Were these respectable powers truly involved, or were their identities used through proxies and hidden hands?’

If the first were true, punishment was inevitable. If the second, then it was further proof of how deep the Hidden Cave Sect’s influence ran, weaving itself into the world like an unseen net.

He continued sorting through the jade slips, each one holding records of trade, military exchanges, and agreements of secrecy. Much of it confirmed what Lin Mu already suspected, but he pressed forward, knowing there had to be more. His instincts sharpened when he touched one particular jade slip. Its surface hummed faintly with energy, stronger than the others, showing it was a Peak Grade Jade Slip.

This was not a ledger or trade record. It was a communication slip.

Pouring his immortal sense inside, Lin Mu unlocked the flow of records.

Message logs streamed into his mind, each one a piece of conversation between the patriarch and his correspondents. Dozens of names scrolled by, titles of elders, sect leaders, and merchants. Then one in particular caught his attention.

It was addressed not by a name, but by a single title.

"Ancestor."

Lin Mu froze for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he sifted through the logs.

These were not brief or respectful messages to a long-dead founder. They were active, current, and ongoing, with the most recent one just a week ago. The tone of the patriarch’s words revealed deference and obedience.

Instructions flowed from the "ancestor" with clarity, directing actions, alliances, and the sect’s growth.

A realization struck Lin Mu with cold weight. ’We had missed someone.’

The true Ancestor of the Hidden Cave Sect was alive.

He scrolled further through the records, carefully absorbing every word. The ancestor seemed to reside apart from the sect, possibly in seclusion, yet his will guided the patriarch and through him the entire sect. Every operation bore his influence, every alliance carried his hand.

The patriarch had merely been the face of power. The root ran far deeper.

Lin Mu leaned back, breathing slowly as he considered this revelation.

To the others, it would appear the mission was complete. The Hidden Cave Sect was annihilated, its patriarch slain, its elders butchered in silence. But Lin Mu now understood the truth. The sect was not fully dead until the ancestor was accounted for.

He glanced at the corpse again, the body no longer intimidating. For all his authority, the patriarch had been only a vessel of another’s will. The real challenge was yet to come.

Lin Mu collected the jade slips and sealed them within his own spatial ring. He would not reveal this knowledge to everyone immediately. Only a few could be privy to it, as there was no telling if spies could discover it.

It needed careful thought, preparation, and above all certainty. Rushing would only risk disaster. The ancestor could be even stronger than the patriarch, perhaps a figure who had lived centuries longer, hiding in the dark.