Chapter 226 - 225: He Has Always Been Watching Over Us

Chapter 226: Chapter 225: He Has Always Been Watching Over Us

The night was as black as ink. A frigid wind howled between the palace walls, carrying flurries of lingering snow.

Inside the Sleeping Palace of Lizheng Hall, the seven Elders of the Xuan Nu Palace were collapsed on the floor. Each one was unconscious, completely at the mercy of another.

Xia Wuyang’s Soul Enchantment Technique had silently slipped into their Seas of Consciousness. Like a venomous snake, it shattered all the defenses of their subconscious, plunging them into an Illusion.

Soon, the seven of them stood up, their eyes vacant. They obediently knelt behind Xia Wuyang, both respectful and docile.

The sight made Yun Liyue’s pretty face pale slightly. She hadn’t expected the man before her to have such a potent hypnotic art, one that could so easily ensnare a group of Grandmasters and Celestial Humans.

"Focus on your comprehension. I’m leaving now. If you need anything, just activate the Jade Pendant."

Xia Wuyang glanced at Yun Liyue, nodded, and spoke in a gentle voice.

Moonlight spilled onto Yun Liyue’s moon-white nightgown, making her look like a fairy from the moon.

Seeing that Xia Wuyang was about to leave, Yun Liyue gave a graceful bow, her beautiful eyes filled with both gratitude and curiosity. "Senior, I will never forget your immense kindness. May I ask for Senior’s esteemed name, and your relationship with my master..."

"Your master will tell you about what happened back then when she returns," Xia Wuyang interrupted. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he took the original manual for the Sword Control Skill from his robes and handed it to Yun Liyue. "This is now returned to its rightful owner. Keep it safe."

Yun Liyue accepted the original Sword Control Skill manual in astonishment. As her fingertips brushed the familiar brocade cover, her delicate body trembled slightly. She couldn’t believe this senior, who already felt so familiar, had actually retrieved the original manual for her as well.

’How did he do it? The Thief Demon is a formidable figure who has roamed the world for centuries. After hearing the original Sword Control Skill manual had been stolen by the Thief Demon, I had basically given up all hope of ever getting it back.’

’Yet now, only a few days later, the original manual has been retrieved by this black-robed man. How could I not be moved to tears by such a kindness?’

’But where did this senior learn the Sword Control Skill? Did Master teach him, or did he learn it through some other channel?’

Yun Liyue never considered that Xia Wuyang had only recently comprehended and started practicing the Sword Control Skill from the original manual itself, having never cultivated it before.

She would never have guessed that in just a few dozen days, Xia Wuyang could study the original manual and cultivate the Sword Control Skill to such a level that he had surpassed her in many respects, and could even make certain improvements to it.

In Yun Liyue’s mind, Xia Wuyang must have cultivated the Sword Control Skill for many years to have gradually brought it to such a realm.

After she thanked Xia Wuyang again, he waved his hand dismissively. But Yun Liyue suddenly looked up at him, trying to discern something in his eyes. "Senior, since you were able to rush to Lizheng Hall in such a short time, you must... you must be somewhere in the palace?"

Xia Wuyang simply smiled without speaking, knowing what Yun Liyue was already suspecting.

He waved his hand. "I have some business to attend to near the Imperial Palace recently, so I’ll be staying here for a while. After that, it’s hard to say."

Saying no more, he swept his sleeve and drifted away, taking the seven Elders of the Xuan Nu Palace, still under the spell of his Soul Enchantment Technique, with him.

As he left, he casually tossed over several bottles of rare Mortal Elixir and Medicine—all things Yun Liyue could use at her current level to help speed up the advancement of her Cultivation Realm.

Yun Liyue stood stunned, holding the several bottles of Mortal Elixir and Medicine. She watched the direction in which Xia Wuyang had disappeared, silent for a long time.

The cold wind lifted her long hair and threw her thoughts into disarray, the confusion on her face deepening.

’Who is this mysterious expert? Why is he so deliberately hiding his identity from me? It all feels so intentional.’

’Could he be someone I’ve met before, or someone I know? Why else would he do this?’

’Thinking of how he helped Master Mo and Yan Jiuge, could he really be an old ally of the Crown Prince’s Mansion? But even so, why hide himself so completely?’

’I’m an old ally of the Crown Prince’s Mansion too, and I’m still part of it now. There’s no need to hide from me.’

’And when I was talking with Yan Jiuge a few days ago, she mentioned that a few months back, she was attacked by an assassin from the Blood Tower. A mysterious person saved her then, too. It seems like he’s the same person who gave her the Miracle Treasure and solved her other problems.’

’She said the person who saved her from the Blood Tower assassin felt familiar, as if she’d met him somewhere before.’

’If it really is the same person, that means this mysterious expert has been protecting us from nearby for several months, or maybe even longer.’

’But looking at everyone around us, there’s just no one this powerful who is also this kind to us.’

’Who could it be?’ For some reason, the image of a white-haired Xia Wuyang appeared in her mind.

She couldn’t help but sigh. ’Perhaps it really is related to the elder Crown Prince. Otherwise, why would this mysterious expert always help those of us from the Crown Prince’s Mansion?’

’Oh, well. I shouldn’t overthink it. Since the senior doesn’t want to reveal his identity right now, I shouldn’t press the issue. That would be impolite.’

While Yun Liyue was still puzzling over his identity, Xia Wuyang had already brought the seven Elders of the Xuan Nu Palace to an abandoned Daoist temple near the Imperial Palace.

The place was overgrown with weeds and littered with crumbling walls—the perfect spot for an interrogation.

Xia Wuyang sat imposingly before a statue of a deity and asked in a flat voice, "Xuan Ping, tell me every sordid detail you know about the Xuan Nu Palace, one by one!"

Grand Elder Xuan Ping’s eyes showed a brief struggle, but she quickly began to speak. "On the surface, our Xuan Nu Palace practices pure cultivation, but in reality, we harbor a great deal of filth..."

She began her tale, recounting many things that even Elder Saint Heart and the others had not known.

For instance, a century ago, the Bing Qing Fairy had viciously turned on her own martial sister to seize the position of Palace Master. Or how, for all these years, they had traded their own disciples for resources and treasures. Or, as Xia Wuyang already knew, how the Xuan Nu Palace secretly trained various female disciples to marry into different powers and families, all to reap benefits for the palace...

Story after story, detail after detail, her account was far more thorough than what Elder Saint Heart, Elder Yuheng, and the others had said. It left Xia Wuyang stunned that this Renowned and Righteous Sect, composed entirely of women, could be so corrupt in secret.

What surprised him even more was that Grand Elder Xuan Ping was carrying a secret roster on her person, hidden in the seam of her pants. It was the Xuan Nu Palace’s most deeply buried secret, containing things that not even the Bing Qing Fairy, the Palace Master herself, knew about.

The roster recorded every female disciple the Xuan Nu Palace had married off over the past several hundred years, especially those who served as inside agents. It detailed who they married, what intelligence they passed on, and even which disobedient husbands they had poisoned... All of it was recorded.