Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Inside the Cold Cave, there was no telling how much time had passed.

I didn’t know whether it had been one day or two.

The pain of my wounds had gone numb. Only the bone-piercing cold remained, steadily gnawing away at my body heat and spiritual energy.

I sat cross-legged, doing everything I could to maintain the faint circulation of spiritual energy in my body and keep the cold from invading any deeper.

Again and again, my mind replayed the image Master had left behind.

The prayer mat.

I recognized that prayer mat. It was the one Master had used most often, its surface already worn smooth and glossy.

But I had never imagined there would be a secret hidden beneath it.

Master’s meditation chamber was undoubtedly sealed off by Lu Qingxuan by now.

He would forbid anyone from approaching it under the pretext of “protecting the Patriarch’s relics.”

He was cautious.

For me to get inside would be harder than climbing to the heavens.

First, I had to get out of this damned Cold Cave.

Forcing my way out was impossible. The stone door at the cave entrance was reinforced by a formation. In my current state, I couldn’t even make it budge.

I had to think of another way.

I began feeling around in the dark, tapping the cave walls with my hand.

Most places were as hard as iron, giving off a dull, heavy sound.

But deep on the left side, when I struck the wall, I heard a faint, hollow echo.

A hollow layer? Or… a passage?

The discovery jolted my spirits.

Enduring the agony, I shifted over to that spot and examined it more carefully.

The cold here seemed denser than elsewhere.

I pressed myself against the stone wall and put my ear to it.

Faintly, I heard the sound of water.

An underground river!

The Azure Cloud Sect was built atop a spiritual vein, and the waterways within the mountain were tangled and complex. That was no secret.

Many years ago, I had once heard Master mention in passing that the source of the chill on Reflection Cliff was an extremely cold underground yin river.

That yin river might be my way out!

I began pouring every bit of strength I had left into gathering spiritual energy at my fingertips, digging into that section of stone wall little by little.

My cultivation had never matched Lu Qingxuan’s to begin with, and now I was gravely injured. My spiritual energy was already nearly exhausted.

Each scrape felt like carving my own bones with a knife.

My fingernails soon split and tore, blood streaming down, but I paid it no mind.

There was only one thought in my head: get out!

After what felt like forever, I finally dug a small hole through the stone wall.

An even more vicious blast of cold erupted with damp vapor, nearly freezing me solid.

Gritting my teeth, I kept widening the opening.

By the time it was large enough for me to crawl through, I was on the verge of collapse.

On the other side was a rushing underground river. The water was black as ink, radiating a chill that seemed capable of freezing the soul itself.

There was no time to hesitate.

I took a deep breath and plunged in headfirst.

The river was bone-chilling. In an instant, cold pierced through my entire body.

I felt as if my blood were about to congeal.

Relying on instinct alone, I followed the current and swam forward with everything I had.

My consciousness began to blur.

Just when I thought I was going to die there, a faint glimmer appeared ahead.

An exit!

With the last of my strength, I swam toward the light.

…

When I regained consciousness again, I found myself lying in a damp stone cavern.

My body was cold and aching, but at least I was still alive.

I had made it out.

After getting my bearings, I determined that this should be the rear mountain of Azure Cloud Mountain, a place seldom visited by anyone.

I regulated my breathing for a long while before I barely recovered a little strength.

I had to go to Master’s meditation chamber at once.

Using the night as cover, I avoided every disciple patrolling the mountain. Relying on my familiarity with the sect, I silently slipped back to the main peak.

Master’s residence, the Xuanyang Hut, had indeed been sealed off. Two disciples stood guard at the entrance.

Lu Qingxuan’s orders.

I didn’t go through the front door.

I circled around to the back of the hut, where there was a bamboo grove Master had planted with his own hands.

I remembered that Master had once taught me a movement technique in that bamboo grove. At one point, he had pointed at an unremarkable decorative rock and said, “Yuan’er, remember this place. All things have a Life Gate. Formations are no different.”

I hadn’t understood back then.

Now, I did.

It was another path he had left for me.

I found that decorative rock and, following the method in my memory, pressed several specific spots on its surface.

Click.

With a soft sound, a hidden door beside the rock slowly opened, just wide enough for one person to pass through.

I slipped inside.

Behind the hidden door was a narrow passage that led straight into the meditation chamber.

The chamber was exactly as I remembered it, except for the stale scent of a place long sealed away.

My eyes immediately landed on the meditation cushion in the corner.

I walked over, my heart pounding violently.

I moved the cushion aside.

Beneath it was a slab of bluestone, fitted so perfectly into the surrounding floor that there was not a single gap.

I felt along the edge of the slab and found a tiny groove.

Then I pried it open with all my strength.

Under the stone slab, there were no ancient manuals. No spiritual artifacts.

Only a small, locked Darksteel Box.

And an open notebook, only half-written.

I picked up the notebook first.

It was Master’s handwriting. The characters were messy, showing just how unsettled he had been at the time.

“…They have come. Earlier than expected.”

“The so-called ‘ascension’ of the Azure Cloud Sect has been a lie since the first Patriarch. A… transaction, using the lives of the strongest to sustain the sect’s spiritual vein.”

“That is not an auspicious sign from the Heavenly Dao. It is bait from the Angler. Every ascension is a sacrifice.”

“I wanted to break this cycle, but I failed. That child Qingxuan… he has fallen too deep. He knows far more than I imagined.”

“He longs to be ‘chosen.’ He believes it is the highest honor, a shortcut to even greater power.”

“There is nothing more I can do. I can only seal the truth here.”

“Yuan’er, your spiritual sense is special. You can see through illusions. Perhaps you are the only variable. But that will also bring a fatal disaster upon you.”

“If you see this, remember: trust no one. Take this box, leave the Azure Cloud Sect, and survive.”

The notes ended abruptly there.

I held the notebook in my hands, trembling uncontrollably.

So… Lu Qingxuan had known the truth all along!

He hadn’t been deceived. He had chosen this. He had even longed for this sacrifice to happen!

He had injured me and locked me in the Cold Cave, not to protect the sect’s honor.

He had done it to… silence me!

To clear away the obstacle on his own path to “ascension”!

A chill spread through my entire body.

Just then-

Creak.

The main door of the meditation chamber was pushed open from the outside.

Under the moonlight, a tall, slender figure walked in.

It was Lu Qingxuan.

He looked at me. There was no surprise on his face. Instead, he smiled, like a hunter studying prey already caught in his net.

“Junior Sister, I knew you would come here.”

His gaze fell on the notebook in my hand and the Darksteel Box.

“It seems Master’s favoritism has reached this point.”

He walked toward me step by step, his eyes greedy and mad.

“Hand them over.”