After twenty days in seclusion, the cool-faced Daoist priestess with a mark of cinnabar between her brows finally opened her eyes.
Before her, the image reflected in the Water Mirror began to twist and churn like a spinning galaxy. Ripples spread outward until the mirror revealed the figure of a man around thirty to forty years of age.
He had a lean, hard-edged face with high cheekbones and a scar splitting his right eyebrow. His eyes were sharp and defiant, flashing like the glint of a blade drawn under sunlight.
This was not an obscure figure, far from it. Among cultivators, his name was one known by all.
Ranked forty-sixth on the Heavenly Roll, at the peak of the Fourth Grade, he was "Blade Patriarch" Cao Tianzhou.
Even his title spoke for itself. His mastery of the blade was so profound that it had returned to simplicity, so pure and natural that those who had witnessed his blade work could not help but sigh in admiration and willingly call him "Patriarch."
Patriarch meant root, the essence.
Such praise was equivalent to saying that his understanding of the blade had nearly touched upon Dao itself.
Ranked forty-sixth, he lacked only the cultivation base to rise higher.
But that ranking had been from the past. The current Heavenly Roll no longer bore his name.
Three years ago, Cao Tianzhou had delivered a formal challenge letter to the Dugu Clan of Gushu Dao, accusing the Dugu family's second young master of violating women. He demanded a life-and-death duel by the banks of the Clearwater River, causing a great uproar at the time.
The Dugu Clan vehemently denied it. They were a prestigious family of immeasurable status, and Dugu Yue, their second young master, was known as a cultured gentleman, a man of refinement and poise. How could such a man commit acts of lust and violence?
Besides, with the abundance of women in the Dugu family's circles, would he really covet the wife or daughter of a rough swordsman from the wilderness? The accusation was absurd!
The scandal was so sensational that it spread like wildfire among cultivators, sparking endless debate.
Its level of attention was not at all inferior to the current dispute over the true and false heirs.
Some sided with Cao Tianzhou, believing him a simple man devoted to the blade, incapable of lying to frame the mightiest family in the land, thus, Dugu Yue must be a beast wearing a gentleman's mask.
Others defended the Dugu family, believing that Cao Tianzhou must have been deceived or bewitched by demonic forces, causing him to misunderstand.
Everyone was eager to see how the Dugu Clan would respond.
This life-and-death duel promised spectacle.
But when the appointed day came, Dugu Yue arrived calmly as promised, while Cao Tianzhou never appeared, and from that day forth, he vanished without a trace.
The Dugu Clan expressed grave concern and dispatched men to search, but to no avail.
The incident became a mystery that lingered unsolved.
Now, however, the Water Mirror revealed the truth.
Xu Fu rose, flicking her sleeve. Ripples spread, and the image within the Water Mirror vanished into nothingness.
The cool, beautiful Daoist priestess paced habitually toward the edge of the Pillar of Silence, overlooking all of Huangtian City. The long night wind played with her dark hair, and her exquisite features glimmered faintly within the mist, like a begonia blossom blooming under dew, radiant and fragile.
A pity, here on the Pillar of Silence, she stood alone, with no one to admire the sight.
The Grand Preceptor had not spent twenty days in seclusion idly.
After Gu Fangchen had shared intelligence regarding the Sixth Division Star Lord, Xu Fu had reexamined her own divinations, stripping away distractions and tracing causal threads anew.
Her meticulous deduction finally revealed the first causal strand of the Sixth Division Star Lord,
It led directly to "Blade Patriarch" Cao Tianzhou.
In other words, he was still alive.
Only, he lived within the Demon-Suppressing Prison of the Dugu family, among the sealed fiends and specters.
Xu Fu tucked her hair behind her ear, eyes glinting coldly.
The Sixth Division Star Lord had cast his own karma into reincarnation, letting it flow freely through the mortal world. As such, he could appear as good or evil, man or woman, human or something else entirely.
But no matter the form, the essence was the same, each one was a fragment of the Sixth Division Star Lord.
Ordinary death merely wove another segment into his karmic tapestry. To truly kill him, one had to sever that karmic thread completely.
That was something only the Celestial Fate Dao's art of karma could achieve.
Yet Xu Fu knew that the Sixth Division Star Lord would not be unprepared. As fellow disciples of the same lineage, she understood how that old monster operated, he must have already set safeguards in place.
Once he discovered that she had traced one of his karmic lines, he would send his agents to destroy that incarnation, forcing it to re-enter the cycle of rebirth.
Which meant... it was time for Gu Fangchen to act.
He alone was the exception. His future could not be foreseen; his past was a tangled web.
Even the Sixth Division Star Lord could not predict his next move.
Just as Gu Fangchen had once said, a covert cooperation between them, attacking east to strike west, was indeed the optimal solution.
Xu Fu's gaze fell once more toward the Prince's Manor.
She was just about to descend to deliver instructions to Gu Fangchen through possession, but recalling what had happened the last time she possessed someone, her perfect, cold face tightened slightly. A flicker of mortified anger crossed her eyes.
If not for that man's outrageous behavior, how could she have lost composure?
If not for him provoking her temper by making a maid dress like a Daoist priestess, nearly causing her to throw herself into his arms,
This time, the Grand Preceptor would be more cautious.
She performed a quick divination to survey Gu Fangchen's activities over the past twenty days.
Then, crouching on the edge of the Pillar of Silence, she secretly watched the lamplight glowing within the Prince's Manor. She waited deliberately, making sure the lights in Gu Fangchen's courtyard were still lit.
If he was still awake, surely he wasn't... indulging at this hour?
With that thought, Xu Fu's spirit flickered, and she possessed Xuexiang once again.
Not that she particularly wished to, but for some reason, the only one in Gu Fangchen's courtyard tonight was that same little maid.
Since this involved the Sixth Division Star Lord, secrecy was paramount, no others could know.
Though she was still embarrassed by last time's incident, Xu Fu bore no resentment toward the little maid.
Eradicating the demonic sect took priority. Cao Tianzhou's soul was nearing exhaustion; there was no time to delay.
...
A short while earlier, Madam Ning Caiyong had been alarmed when Granny Cui told her that Lady Gu Lianqian had quietly gone to Gu Fangchen's courtyard.
She'd thought the girl might be too distraught to think straight, perhaps going to challenge him.
After all, Gu Lianqian had never gotten along with Gu Fangchen. The two bickered constantly, and the trouble they caused had given her many headaches.
Now that Gu Fangchen had become the heir, Lianqian might be unable to accept it. In a moment of rashness, she might do something foolish, it wouldn't be surprising.
Ning Caiyong, who had just been preparing for bed, rose in a hurry to have the servants keep an eye on the situation.
If they fought, they were to protect Fangchen,
Then she paused mid-thought, patted her forehead, and smiled wryly.
Her son was no longer the boy who used to lose every argument. Now that his status and strength had changed, perhaps it was her niece who should be pitied.
Still, Fangchen was a sensible child. Surely he knew his limits.
Moments later, Gu Lianqian ran out of Gu Fangchen's courtyard. The maids reported hearing her apologizing to the heir, followed by a few barks, apparently a stray dog had wandered into the courtyard.
Ning Caiyong blinked in surprise, then sighed with relief.
But... a stray dog?
In such a heavily guarded manor?
She frowned but soon dismissed the thought, ordering the servants to find and remove the dog.
Still, she noticed that the lights in the Xiefang Courtyard had not gone out even late into the night.
Her heart softened.
Her son had been under great strain lately. If he couldn't sleep, perhaps he was troubled by thoughts he could not share.
When he was young, he would come to her whenever he felt wronged. Now that he was grown, he simply endured it in silence.
He really did need someone close to him.
Good thing there was Xuexiang, but that girl was shy. She might not manage well.
After a brief pause, Ning Caiyong whispered something to Granny Cui.
The old woman nodded, went quietly to Xiefang Courtyard, and instructed the night guards:
"All of you may withdraw. The heir's maid Xuexiang will attend to him tonight."
Xuexiang, in the side room, peeked out through the window.
Seeing the guards leave, she clenched her tiny fists, cheeks flushed red as she puffed her cheeks to encourage herself.
Last time, her attempt had failed. She'd realized it must have been because she dressed too primly.
The heir had praised her beauty when she wore Daoist robes, but that aloof style didn't match her own temperament. She wasn't the ethereal type, it hadn't suited her at all.
This time, she decided to adapt.
What suited her best was what looked best.
So, she had changed into the robes of a little Daoist acolyte.
The petite maid adjusted her long, wide sleeves, touched the twin hair buns on her head, and looked at her reflection, soft, white skin tinged pink, and a delicate face as pretty as a carved jade doll.
She really did look like a naïve little Daoist child living hidden among the clouds.
She looked down at her chest, recalling the poem the heir had once written, "The young lotus first shows its pointed tip."
Whether or not her master was truly the heir or some demon impostor, she didn't understand.
So she'd chosen to wear lotus patterns.
On closer look, her "Daoist robe" wasn't proper attire at all, it was so thin it was nearly transparent. With a glance, one could faintly see beneath it the pale softness of a budding lotus.
Her heart pounding, Xuexiang rose on tiptoe, then quietly opened the door to the heir's room.
The side chamber was connected directly to his quarters, designed for convenience.
"Creak..."
She shut the door, lowered her head, and whispered softly:
"My lord, the Princess Consort asks that you rest early..."
No response.
She waited.. Nothing.
Had the heir fallen asleep?
But she'd heard movement just moments ago...
She lifted her gaze in confusion.
The room was empty.
Her wide eyes blinked in disbelief. She hurriedly searched, under the table, behind the door, even on the bed. She pulled aside the folded quilt.
No one.
Where could he have gone?
He couldn't have just disappeared!
Her face went pale. She turned to run for help,
Then everything went dark above her.
Literally dark.
She looked up, and saw a figure suddenly appear midair, dropping straight down.
She only had time to recognize that handsome, startled face before she cried out,
"Ah!"
The next instant, she was pinned beneath him, falling back onto the soft bed.
The heir braced his arms on either side of her, barely keeping from crushing her entirely.
That was when Xuexiang realized, the heir wasn't wearing any clothes.
That was the last thought she had before her mind went blank, and everything faded to black.