Alerting the Higher-Ups

In the secret chamber, Chu Huai Xu's thoughts raced.

He first made a bold guess, planning to carefully verify it later.

At this moment, he had no idea what a commotion he had caused.

More and more cultivators began gathering around the Cold Pool.

A large number of Sword Cultivators converged here. Of the nine Outer Sect stewards, all but the two who had descended the mountain were present.

Female Steward Mo Qingmei stood together with another Outer Sect female steward, Tang Qiuyue.

Mo Qingmei still retained her charm, while Tang Qiuyue was somewhat plump but appeared amiable.

"I don't know what's going on, but I can feel my sword spirit is very excited," Mo Qingmei said to Tang Qiuyue.

"Excited?" Tang Qiuyue found it strange. She wasn't a Sword Cultivator, so she looked at the other's sword.

She couldn't see anything at all.

A large number of Sword Cultivator disciples had gathered by the Cold Pool.

Most of them, like the two women, were holding their Destined Swords and chattering away in discussion.

This made the noise here rival even the Outer Sect market.

Normally, when a Heaven and Earth Anomaly occurred in the Outer Sect and so many disciples gathered, the stewards should have taken charge.

However, the stewards were also baffled, unsure what this was.

Liu Tianfeng didn't know how to explain when his colleagues questioned him.

"A Secret Realm of this level shouldn't cause such a big stir, right?" said a Steward Wang.

"Brother Liu, are you saying your son Chengqi is still in the Secret Realm? Could he have obtained some great opportunity?" a Steward Chen asked with a smile.

Niu Yuanshan listened on the sidelines, glanced at the Cold Pool, and offered no opinion.

He certainly didn't think all this was caused by that brat Liu Chengqi.

"A guy whose Spirit Fetus was damaged, then gave up on himself, his mentality already crippled—does he even deserve it?" Old Niu scoffed inwardly.

Liu Tianfeng, hearing everyone's words, smiled bitterly. "This Heaven and Earth Anomaly only stirred the spirit swords, nothing else."

"My son Chengqi isn't a Sword Cultivator either!"

On the other side, Mo Qingmei immediately asked, "Among the three people at the bottom of the Cold Pool, who is a Sword Cultivator?"

"Junior Sister Mo, you may not know, but this Secret Realm only allows those without spiritual power to enter. So they're all Aperture Opening Stage disciples. There are no Sword Cultivators," Niu Yuanshan, who had been silent, finally spoke up to explain.

He had been playing dead on the sidelines just now, but his gaze occasionally flickered toward Mo Qingmei.

When Mo Qingmei heard him speaking to her, her tone was indifferent. "Oh, I see."

Tang Qiuyue, hearing her tone, couldn't help but nudge her with an elbow.

"Isn't it just that her confession was rejected? It's been so many years, and she still can't give Senior Brother Niu a good face," Tang Qiuyue muttered inwardly.

After a few more exchanges among the stewards, the eldest and most relevant to the matter, Liu Tianfeng, was the first to make a decision:

"This matter must be reported to the Inner Sect Elders. Such a shocking anomaly is beyond what we can handle."

He was still somewhat worried about his son, thinking that if an Elder were present to protect him, nothing would go wrong.

As soon as he finished speaking, a young girl's voice came from the nine heavens above.

"No need to report specifically. This Seat is already here."

The Tenth Elder, Chu Yinyin, descended from the sky, hands clasped behind her back, landing on an ancient tree by the Cold Pool.

Her physical development had been slow, leaving her short in stature. Yet her strength and status far surpassed most people's, so she disliked looking up at others and often chose to speak from a high place.

"Tenth Elder!" Everyone gathered there bowed respectfully.

As everyone knew, the Tenth Elder held the least authority among the Inner Sect.

But she also had the worst temper.

Although she never admitted it herself, due to the influence of her cultivation technique, her temperament sometimes resembled that of a rebellious little girl.

Chu Yinyin was like a cat that got angry easily.

"Tell This Seat who is inside the Secret Realm," she said, frowning as she stared at the Cold Pool.

"Reporting to the Elder, there are three Registered Disciples still inside the Secret Realm: Chu Huai Xu, Han Shuangjiang, and my son Liu Chengqi," Liu Tianfeng replied immediately.

"Registered Disciples? That means they're at the Aperture Opening Stage?" Chu Yinyin paused. "Did Shen Man get it wrong?"

Everyone exchanged glances when she mentioned the Seventh Elder.

Hadn't the Seventh Elder been confining herself in the Purple Bamboo Forest ever since obtaining the Dao Ancestor Inheritance? It had already been a year.

Had this Heaven and Earth Anomaly even alarmed her over there?

Liu Tianfeng quickly exchanged a look with Niu Yuanshan, both of their hearts tightening.

How had this Secret Realm caused such a huge disturbance?

The Seventh Elder had withdrawn from worldly affairs for a year. Could even she, one of the Four Great Divine Swords, care so much about this?

Most importantly, no one knew what was actually happening inside.

"Is it really my son Chengqi who got the opportunity? Don't let him run into any danger." Liu Tianfeng felt like he was going mad—this uncertainty was unbearable.

Niu Yuanshan was also worried about Chu Huai Xu's safety.

In the end, Liu Tianfeng steeled himself and dared to ask: "Tenth Elder, my son Chengqi is still in there. I venture to ask—what exactly was that Heaven and Earth Anomaly just now? Please enlighten us, Elder."

Actually, without Shen Man's explanation, Chu Yinyin wouldn't have known it was caused by Clear Heart Sword either.

But now she had a chance to show off secondhand knowledge, didn't she?

She stood on the ancient tree, putting on a deliberately profound expression, hands still clasped behind her back as she stood with arms folded. She didn't look at the crowd, only gazing distantly toward the Cold Pool:

"For cultivators of your realm, it's normal not to know."

"That mysterious ripple just now was—"

Everyone present looked up at Chu Yinyin. They noticed her mouth was moving the whole time, but those last few words—no one heard them!

Chu Yinyin suddenly raised her head and pointed at the nine heavens, cursing: "Xiang Yan, you actually used a Sound-Sealing Array on me!"

"If you won't let me say it, I'll say it anyway!"

"This ripple is—"

The earlier words were audible, but the last few were silenced again.

"Xiang Yan! Drop dead!!" Chu Yinyin grabbed her spirit sword, Xiang Jian Huan, and shot straight into the sky.

The Outer Sect crowd was left by the Cold Pool, hearts pounding, then buzzing with discussion.

"Even the Sect Master was alarmed?"

"Looks like this is classified!"

"What the hell happened? The Sect Master himself showed up—could it be a Dao Ancestor Inheritance down there?"

"Watch your tongue! It might be some Sword Cultivator great one's inheritance."

All kinds of chaotic voices rose up. Liu Tianfeng's face shifted between shades.

He suddenly regretted giving the Pill King Token Fragments to Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang.

"It's fine, it's fine. No one knows what's going on inside yet. My son still has a chance, still has a chance!" He comforted himself.

As for the others gathered around, most had heard of Liu Steward's son, Liu Chengqi.

But the names Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang were utterly unfamiliar to them.

Everyone silently memorized those two names.

Who knew which lucky soul under that Cold Pool had triggered such an anomaly?

High above the nine heavens, Dao Sect Master Xiang Yan stood with arms folded, floating on the clouds.

Li Chunsong and several other Elders stood beside him, keeping their distance to maintain a safe perimeter.

Chu Yinyin soon charged up.

Xiang Yan, at the Eighth Realm, didn't move. His Qi flow circulated around him as Chu Yinyin swung her sword wildly, the blade unable to breach even a foot of his space.

Everyone knew the drill—Junior Sister's hot temper flared fast and faded fast.

After venting, Chu Yinyin sheathed her sword. Since she couldn't hit him anyway, she just snorted: "Hmph! Can't be bothered with you!"

Xiang Yan's bald head was just too ugly—like someone painted a hideous face on a dark, shiny boiled egg.

He gave Chu Yinyin an ingratiating smile, saying: "Junior Sister, don't be mad, don't be mad."

"But this matter is too important—don't let it spread." He said.

The Enforcement Elder, Senior Brother, immediately chimed in. Lu Pan spoke: "Junior Sister, don't break the rules!"

"Fine, fine!" Chu Yinyin waved her hand impatiently.

She secretly pricked up her ears, actually wanting to hear what her senior brothers and sisters were saying.

"Shen Man said this was an anomaly from Clear Heart Sword, but there's no Sword Cultivator under the Cold Pool." She started doubting: "Maybe she went silly from seclusion—Shen Man's always been kind of dumb anyway."

Then, the scene that infuriated her played out again.

Just like last time in the Inquiry Peak hall, they set up a formation again and wouldn't let her hear what they were saying!

Furious, she could only watch from the sidelines. A Peak of the Sixth Realm cultivator, the Tenth Elder of the Dao Sect, began struggling to read lips.

"What? Did that bald bastard just say Clear Heart Sword? What were those last two words?!"

"Nangong Yue, you despicable woman—what did that gambler say that made you laugh so hard your chest jiggled? I'm getting dizzy from the jiggle!"

"Aaaah! Why won't they let me hear?!"

"Are people below the Seventh Realm not human?"

"Keep treating me like this, and I'll break through to the next realm right now, just to spite you!" She was panicking, she was panicking.

Soon, Xiang Yan and the others finished their discussion. He waved his hand and dismissed the formation.

"We need to ask Seventh Junior Sister about this. Let's go to the Purple Bamboo Forest together." Sect Master Xiang Yan said.

"I'm not going. You all go if you want—I'm not getting to listen anyway!" Chu Yinyin started throwing a tantrum.

Enforcement Elder Lu Pan glanced at her and nodded. "Not going is fine, but rules are rules."

With that, he waved his hand and cast another Sound-Sealing Array on Chu Yinyin, silencing her to keep her from flying back and causing chaos across the mountain.

Done with that, the group laughed and flew off toward Purple Bamboo Forest.

Chu Yinyin was left alone in the air, going crazy, but her voice couldn't get out: "Seriously? You're really not taking me?"

"Ahhh! Take off this Sound-Sealing Array!" She felt like she was losing her mind, looking just like a cat with its fur all puffed up.

Enforcement Elder Lu Pan was a master of formations, a rare Formation Grandmaster in this era. His arrays were far more formidable than Xiang Yan's.

In the end, Chu Yinyin could only grit her teeth in frustration and chase after them toward Purple Bamboo Forest.

By the time she landed, everyone had already arrived and was chatting.

Xiang Yan seemed to have asked something, and everyone looked at Shen Man, waiting for her reply.

This aloof, gaunt Daoist Nun still sat high on a boulder, facing the stone wall, drawing a circle as her prison.

She was silent for a long time, then a helpless expression crossed her face. Her eyes were unusually soft, carrying a hint of fondness.

She lightly flicked her finger, and the Sound-Sealing Array that Chu Yinyin had been unable to break shattered on the spot.

(PS: Second update. Request monthly votes.)