“No possession. No signs of mind control. Next.”
“Bloodline verified. Next.”
“Spirit intact. Jade token checks out. Next.”
…
Similar scenes were playing out within the various aristocratic clans.
Every clan disciple found in these mountains was dragged back for another round of identity checks. Those still wandering outside, if they could prove who they were, were thrown into their respective clans for inspection. If they could not, they were arrested on the spot.
Before long, the entire mountain range had been swept clean, leaving only a dozen or so Cave-Heaven True Persons patrolling the area.
Anything with intelligence—even demonic beasts—had to be dug out and tested.
Such mobilization and efficiency were nothing remarkable to the Longevity Dao Sect.
After all, the area being searched was only a small cluster of a dozen or so mountains, not the entire sect.
Under such circumstances, even if Shu Xin had hidden underground, she should have been unearthed.
That was what every cultivator from the great clans involved in the inspections believed.
Yet as more and more people were screened, and fewer and fewer remained wandering outside, Shu Xin seemed to have vanished into thin air. She never appeared.
Meanwhile, nearly all the incidents previously attributed to “Shu Xin’s crimes” had been proven to be the work of their own people. In truth, after Shu Xin escaped from the prison beneath the lake, no one had seen any trace of her.
The clan cultivators were utterly baffled.
“Even if she had help, she shouldn’t have been able to escape without damaging the formation. Unless one of her accomplices was a formation grandmaster, capable of getting her out without triggering the formation at all?” someone proposed.
“A master proficient in formations, alchemy, artifact forging, or the like—who among them is not highly sought after by the major sects? Training such talent requires not only money, but ample resources and influence as well. If Shu Xin had connections like that, why would she still be stuck as nothing more than an outer-sect elder?” someone else immediately retorted.
These days, any cultivator who displayed talents beyond cultivation itself would either become a retained expert for a powerful clan or major sect, or possess enough personal strength to earn the protection of several formidable Dao guardians. Otherwise, their best possible fate was to be bound by some cultivator and worked to death. If they encountered a demonic cultivator, their consciousness might even be erased, turning them into mindless puppets that knew only how to work. Though the quality of goods produced by puppets would decline, they would never betray their masters and could produce in far greater quantities. They were practically hens that laid golden eggs—how could anyone possibly let them go so easily?
In this world of cultivation, even cultivation itself had become a luxury. Resources were tightly monopolized, let alone the special cultivators whose training demanded endless money and resources.
“Could Shu Xin actually be the illegitimate daughter of some great clan? Is that why she was able to evade bloodline-based detection techniques?”
“That’s ridiculous. If she were the illegitimate daughter of a great clan, she would have been acknowledged and brought back into the family long ago. Even if her cultivation could progress no further, she is still a bona fide Nascent Soul True Lord. She would at least be valuable for a marriage alliance.”
“Then how did she manage to disappear without a trace?”
Everyone had realized that the situation was taking an unbelievable turn.
At first, this had merely been a private grudge between the Lin family and Shu Xin.
But after Shu Xin was captured by the Law Enforcement Hall, killed someone, and escaped, the nature of the matter had changed. This was now a direct challenge to the rules of the Longevity Dao Sect.
Then they had spent such a great price searching for her, yet still failed to find her. If word got out, where would the Longevity Dao Sect’s reputation be left? Shu Xin might simply dust herself off and leave, but all of them involved had their entire families living within the sect. If the higher-ups decided to make an issue of it, the price they would pay would be far more than a few spirit stones and resources.
Therefore, whether for public duty or private interest, the best course of action was to find Shu Xin.
“Could Situ Jian have helped her? She is his fiancée, after all. Surely he wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing?”
“Situ Jian has been in seclusion ever since the Nascent Soul Assembly ended. He won’t emerge until the day the Lin family ancestor formally accepts him as a personal disciple.”
“What about Xu Guan? He’s the sect master of the Inquiry God Sect. If he intervened, it would be possible for him to spirit Shu Xin away without anyone noticing.”
“Qin Rushan would love nothing more than to keep Xu Guan under constant watch. To this day, Qin Rushan has been unable to make a breakthrough; Xu Guan is practically his heart demon. As long as Xu Guan lives, he cannot advance.”
Every line of speculation was dismissed. They did not know Shu Xin well enough, and finding her in such a short time was proving genuinely difficult.
“It’s all that Lin bastard’s fault,” an older cultivator said furiously. “He was the one who started this in the first place, yet the moment things began looking bad, he went straight into seclusion, claiming he needed to prepare to take on a disciple. If I ever get the chance, I’ll teach him a proper lesson.”
They had all been dragged into this against their will.
Yet the people above had already given their orders, and they could not go explaining themselves before the task was completed. In the eyes of the higher-ups, that would amount to shirking responsibility and being useless. They absolutely could not do that.
Even if they wanted to lodge a complaint, they had to get the job done first. Only then would the higher-ups consider them useful.
What superior would have the patience to play judge for their subordinates?
“Shu Xin must still be hiding somewhere around here. We simply haven’t found her yet.”
“Think of something. Keep searching. Use magical artifacts or formations if necessary. Find her first. As for the losses afterward, we can figure out how to recover them from the Lin family.”
Just as the group was discussing the matter heatedly, a middle-aged cultivator stood silently outside the door without entering.
Several attendants beside him moved to approach, but the middle-aged cultivator stopped them.
If Shu Xin had been there, she would have recognized him at once: he was the Immaculate Realm patriarch who had previously managed to deceive even the sword spirit.
“It seems the little thief I discovered a few days ago was the Shu Xin they’ve been talking about,” the middle-aged cultivator mused. “Go and investigate Shu Xin’s background. If you find her whereabouts, protect her and bring her back to me.”
“Martial Granduncle, this Shu Xin must have offended those great clans. Someone among the sect’s inner circle has decided to deal with her—otherwise, it would never have caused such a commotion. If you intend to protect her, I’m afraid…” Several of his subordinates looked worried.
Their Martial Granduncle, Ning Weixuan, had once been one of the core figures of the Longevity Dao Sect. Yet he had remained at the Flawless Realm for nearly eight hundred years, with no sign of a breakthrough. More than half his lifespan had already passed, and he had consequently been pushed out of the sect’s inner circle.
If he rashly chose to shelter Shu Xin, who had offended one of the sect’s core powers, would he not simply be inviting trouble for himself?
“What do you know?” Ning Weixuan said, casually beckoning with one hand. A strange formation disk appeared in his palm. “The several dozen sects of the Immortal and Demonic Paths may have monopolized most of the world’s resources, but there are always those people blessed with tremendous fortune, people who stumble upon countless opportunities. Shu Xin may well be one of them. Take my formation disk and find her. During the battle, I managed to seize a trace of Shu Xin’s aura. If she truly possesses such talent and fortune, then protecting her would not be a bad choice. She has no foundation of her own and has offended those great clans. If she wants to live, the only one she can rely on is me!”
“Wouldn’t coming to my side be better than that shabby little Questioning God Sect?”
“Yes, Martial Granduncle.”
Shu Xin had no idea that she had already become a prized target in certain people’s eyes.
After receiving Luo Huannian’s approval, she promptly moved into Luo Huannian’s room and claimed the best spot for herself. At the same time, she did not forget to question Luo Huannian about who else was imprisoned nearby.
Luo Huannian had never been one to pry into such matters, but under Shu Xin’s relentless prodding, she could only rack her brains to answer a few of her questions.
“You’ve been locked up here for so long, and you don’t even know which elder is stationed upstairs?” Shu Xin was thoroughly astonished. “This is the Lake Prison of the Discipline Hall. Every one of the neighbors imprisoned above you is a notorious fiend, yet you’ve managed not to ask about any of them?”
“I’m only confined here as punishment. I’ll be out in a few years. Why would I need to know about such things?” Luo Huannian retorted.
“Too narrow-minded. Your vision is far too limited,” Shu Xin said, shaking her head. “Know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll win every battle. With your temperament, if you go out and continue seeking revenge, you may very well end up being locked in here again. You should learn more about your neighbors and the elders guarding the prison. That way, when you make your second visit, you’ll know how to pick yourself a better spot.”
“Or do you think you’ll never be locked up again—or that you’ll give up on revenge?”
“Of course I’ll have my revenge.” Luo Huannian shot to her feet. “But I’m confined here. How am I supposed to investigate any of this?”
“You’ve been in the sect for so many years. I’m sure you have your own connections and ways of doing things.” Shu Xin smiled. “You couldn’t possibly have single-handedly used the Immortal-Flavor Mushroom to poison your dead master without anyone noticing. Besides, after forming an alliance with me, didn’t you secretly send a message out to inquire about me?”
Luo Huannian’s gaze turned icy.
“Don’t look at me like that. If I couldn’t even notice something like this, I’d have been caught long ago.” Shu Xin struck an inscrutable pose. “Junior nephew, don’t let there be a next time. If there’s anything you want to know, just ask me directly. Contacting the outside world too often will arouse suspicion.”
Luo Huannian took a deep breath and stopped paying attention to Shu Xin.
Shu Xin was not offended. She simply took out a huge pile of items from her storage ring.
Almost all of them had been taken from those disciples of the great clans. She had yet to sort them out or tally up exactly what resources she had acquired.
Since she had nothing better to do, she might as well get a clear picture of her own assets.
Luo Huannian glanced over and was nearly blinded by the roomful of glittering treasures.
Even someone as detached as him felt a little tempted.
Just how many people had Shu Xin robbed to end up with so many storage pouches?
Still, Luo Huannian merely gave a cold snort, rose to his feet, and went to cultivate in a corner of the room. He could not be bothered to look any longer.
[If he got greedy over your wealth, you’d probably cut him down. Testing people like this—aren’t you quite something?]
“Can’t be helped. I have to test the mettle of my allies. If they’re too foolish, they might sell me out someday,” Shu Xin replied frankly. “Besides, when I was following those people around with Shangguan Yu, I never had the chance to inventory my spoils. Now that I finally have a safe place to stay, of course I need to calculate everything carefully. First, I need to earn back the enrollment fee for the Asking God Sect. Then I need to figure out the resources required for me to keep pushing toward the Cave Heaven Realm, the resources needed to repair your sword body, and the spirit stones to buy intelligence on those demonic cultivators... Sigh, there’s never enough money.”
Sighing as she spoke, Shu Xin began counting through her belongings. She even took out a jade slip, intending to record everything.
Yet when Shu Xin used her divine sense to record the number of spirit stones on the jade slip, it suddenly gave a crack and shattered under the strain.
“Huh? Why did this thing break? Is the quality really that bad? I was only recording the things I bought for Situ Jian before. At most, that should have taken up one-tenth of its storage!” Shu Xin cursed furiously. “Those crooked merchants must have deliberately passed off inferior blank jade slips with insufficient capacity.”
The sword spirit examined the jade slip carefully and ventured, [Do you think it’s possible that someone accidentally damaged it?]
“I couldn’t possibly have broken it. I’ve always taken great care of my financial records!” Shu Xin was supremely confident in herself.
Fine.
The sword spirit could not even be bothered to roll its eyes. It did not have eyes to begin with.
“It’s fine. I have other blank jade slips. I’ll keep recording.” Shu Xin quickly put the matter out of her mind. The most urgent thing was to inventory all her resources.
Deep in the mountains.
“The formation compass points to the prison beneath the lake.” The two cultivators stared at the formation compass in their hands, astonished.
“Shu Xin really is bold. She actually hid in the prison beneath the lake again? Hurry, notify Martial Granduncle immediately. That is not a place where we can act recklessly.”
“Right.”
When Ning Weixuan received the message from his subordinates, he immediately burst into laughter.
“Such wisdom, such decisiveness—to find a way to survive by putting herself in a life-or-death situation. Who would have thought that a woman of such remarkable talent could emerge from among the rogue cultivators?” Ning Weixuan clapped his hands and laughed heartily. “With her assistance, I’ll surely be able to contend with those fellow disciples of mine for the position of sect master!”
Shu Xin: Don’t tag me—I’m trying to make a run for it.
