Secrets of the Azure Mystic Sect

Inside the peaceful courtyard.

An eerie silence spread among everyone. Ye Shu stood frozen in place, his brain failing to process the situation for a moment.

What did he mean, the Peak Master was no longer here?

???

Meanwhile, Chu Jinghong covered his face with one hand, looking at Jian Wuhen with an expression of utter frustration at his failure to meet expectations.

To think he had calculated everything, only to fall short at this final step!

But fortunately.

Chu Jinghong patted the contract of indenture in his robes and slowly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it was signed, it wouldn't be a big problem.

Crack—

Only Lu Shouzhuo continued to silently chop wood, as if none of this had anything to do with him.

Jian Wuhen glanced at his junior brother's expression, then at Ye Shu's dumbfounded face. How could he not know that his junior brother was tricking people again?

"Jinghong, did you fail to truthfully inform our new junior brother about the situation of our peak?"

He kept a straight face, his expression serious.

"Uh... well... about that..."

Chu Jinghong scratched his head, his eyes darting around. "I-I did tell him."

"Told him what?"

"I told him that our Profound Heaven Sword Lineage is the strongest sword cultivation lineage in the Azure Mystic Sect, and that our Master is one of the two most talented cultivators in the Eastern Wasteland since ancient times..."

"These are all true! I didn't lie to anyone!" He put on an innocent look and stared at Jian Wuhen.

Hearing this, Jian Wuhen felt somewhat helpless.

"You said everything, except that our Master is no longer here, right?"

His junior brother was good at everything.

He just loved to play petty tricks and take matters into his own hands.

Chu Jinghong lowered his head and stopped talking.

Jian Wuhen sighed and turned to look at Ye Shu.

"I apologize. My junior brother has a mischievous nature, but he meant well. He was afraid you wouldn't come, so he hid part of the truth."

To be honest, Ye Shu was indeed very confused.

He had thought of many scenarios, but the only thing he hadn't expected was that the damn Peak Master was already gone!

Gritting his teeth, he looked at Xiaobai on his shoulder.

"This is the incredibly badass Profound Heaven Sword Peak you talked about?"

"Even the damn Peak Master is dead!"

"Uh..."

Xiaobai scratched her head and said somewhat embarrassedly, "How was I supposed to know? Aside from Purple Dawn Peak, I just casually threw together the other background settings and let the world evolve on its own. Who knew such a powerful person would die?"

"So your graduation thesis is not only plagiarized."

Veins popped on Ye Shu's forehead. "It's also damn well auto-generated by AI, isn't it?"

"If I had to manually create everything bit by bit, with such a massive workload, how could I possibly handle it all by myself? Of course I had to use tools," Xiaobai retorted.

Ye Shu was so angry he actually laughed.

"Fine, you're amazing."

On the other side, Jian Wuhen was staring intently at Chu Jinghong, making the latter's heart tremble as he kept his head down and shivered.

"Take it out."

Jian Wuhen's voice was devoid of emotion.

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"But Senior Brother..."

Chu Jinghong looked up, wanting to argue, but ultimately surrendered under Jian Wuhen's icy gaze. He reluctantly took out the contract Ye Shu had just signed from his robes and handed it over.

Taking the contract, Jian Wuhen turned around.

"Junior Brother Ye, although our Profound Heaven Sword Lineage has fallen on hard times, we have not sunk so low as to use such petty tricks to deceive people into joining."

"Please take this paper back."

"I apologize to you on behalf of Jinghong."

Looking at the contract, Ye Shu did not take it immediately. He looked up at the righteous-looking Jian Wuhen and slowly said:

"If you guys had just tricked me into entering the mountain, I would have turned around and left."

"But since you are so honest, Senior Brother Jian, I do not wish to be someone who goes back on his word. What is signed is signed."

"I, Ye Shu, always keep my promises."

Ye Shu spoke with great sincerity.

It was absolutely not because the other peaks might currently have female leads present, and returning to Sunset Mountain would likely result in him being drained dry by Lin Qingxue, leaving him with no other choice.

"Since your mind is made up, I will not stop you."

Jian Wuhen nodded, taking back the contract, and said calmly, "I know you have many doubts. Ask whatever you wish, and I will tell you everything I know."

Ye Shu indeed had a lot he wanted to ask.

He remained silent for a moment before asking.

"Since your Profound Heaven Sword Lineage is so powerful, and the Peak Master is the most talented cultivator in the Eastern Wasteland since ancient times, how exactly did he die?"

"Who could kill him?"

"Die?"

Jian Wuhen froze for a second. "Who said he died?"

"Didn't you say the Peak Master was no longer here?" Ye Shu looked at him, equally confused.

"Does not being here mean he is dead?"

"Doesn't it?"

"........."

Jian Wuhen fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking. "Our master is not dead. He is probably still alive and doing very well. It's just that he has left the Azure Mystic Sect and will never return."

"Left? Why?"

Ye Shu was stunned and pressed on.

"This question is a bit complicated." Jian Wuhen sighed, pulling over two chairs from the side and gesturing for him to sit down and talk.

After Ye Shu sat down, Jian Wuhen sat down as well.

"Actually, the reason for our Master's departure is very simple, just two simple words."

"Seeking Dao."

"Seeking Dao?"

"Correct."

Jian Wuhen nodded, his gaze drifting far away.

"Let me tell you the story of our Master."