Within the Scripture Pavilion of Wanfa Peak, sandalwood incense curled through the air.
Chen Qing did not head straight for the sect's secret archives. Instead, he first browsed slowly among the bookshelves in the outer perimeter, casually pulling out several miscellaneous volumes such as the Gazetteer of the Yan Kingdom and the Bestiary of the East Sea.
He stood before the window, while thoughts raced through his mind.
"Shan Jiwen..."
The string of vigilance in Chen Qing's heart had already been drawn taut.
He had been startled by Li Qingyu's news earlier and had not thought deeply about it, but now that he considered it again, there was something suspicious about this man as well.
As an elder of Hidden Peak, Shan Jiwen held a special status. He usually kept to himself and rarely interacted with disciples of the various branches.
Today, in Tianshu Hall, he had seemingly casually mentioned the possibility that Li Qingyu had left Great Snow Mountain. On the surface, it had been a friendly warning.
But Chen Qing never believed in kindness without cause.
For now, however, this man was not the crux of the matter.
Chen Qing closed the bestiary in his hands, returned it to its original place, and turned toward the depths of the Scripture Pavilion.
The more crucial the information, the less eager he could appear.
He lingered for roughly another half hour in several sections containing sect history and handwritten notes left by predecessors, reading through the cultivation insights of several people before slowly approaching the innermost bookshelf.
This was the area where the Tianbao Supreme Sect stored its core secrets. Ordinary disciples did not even have the qualifications to approach it.
Chen Qing reached out and removed a volume from the middle shelf—Chronicle of the Tianbao Tower Through the Ages.