Veiled in Mystery

"The Dark Serpent Clan..."

Chu Mu's expression turned grave. Having just blended into the crowd, he had heard only scattered fragments, but it seemed...

He scanned his surroundings, and his gaze settled on a Spirit City at one side of the mountain range.

If he remembered correctly, this city also belonged to the Thousand Bamboo Alliance. It was a fairly large Spirit City marketplace, and the mountain range where it stood even possessed a Third-Order Spiritual Vein.

Guiding his magical artifact long sword, Chu Mu entered this southwestern marketplace.

Less than a moment later, Chu Mu emerged from the marketplace.

The relief and joy he had still retained were now utterly swept away.

Chu Mu's expression was grave, his face shifting between light and shadow.

What he had heard in the marketplace—or rather, there had been no need for him to inquire. The truth lay plainly before him.

After years of fermenting, the upheaval in the Outer Sea had already swept through the entire cultivation world.

The Dark Serpent Clan had colluded with the Sand Tail Scorpion Queen, intending to break open the Sky Palace prison and release the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast suppressed by the ancient Sky Palace...

This string of news, enough to overturn the entire cultivation world's structure, had long since spread throughout the cultivation world! In the southwestern lands, nearly everyone knew of it! Upon entering the marketplace, he had heard every detail clearly without deliberately asking around.

"So it happened when I began forming my Nascent Soul?"

Worry creased Chu Mu's face as he murmured to himself.

The situation was quite clear. It had likely happened when he had completed all preparations and begun forming his Nascent Soul.

At the Human Alliance's garrison in the Outer Sea, exploration of the Sky Palace Relic had ended