The moment Mu Wanqing uttered the words "the Shadow Council's Third Councilor," the air in the room seemed to freeze for an instant.
Lu Chen said nothing, only looked at her.
Yun Qingyue stood to one side, her brows drawing together.
Mu Wanqing fell silent for a moment, as if organizing her thoughts.
She had only recently awakened, and her face was still pale. Her voice was somewhat weak as well, but her tone remained steady. "Not many people know about this. I only learned of it by chance—back when Ye Qingtian was still an inner disciple of the Mystic Heaven Sword Sect, he went out to gain experience and vanished for three months at the edge of the Western Wasteland."
"Vanished?" Yun Qingyue asked.
"Yes, vanished." Mu Wanqing nodded. "The Mystic Heaven Sword Sect sent people to search for him, but they found nothing. Three months later, he returned on his own, claiming he had been trapped in an ancient ruin. No one doubted him at the time, because his cultivation had soared after his return. He leaped directly from the early stage of Supernatural Power to the late stage. The Mystic Heaven Sword Sect thought he had encountered a fortuitous opportunity and even rewarded him especially."
Lu Chen caught the implication in her words. "Then they found out that wasn't the case?"
Mu Wanqing sighed. "Three years ago, people from the Shadow Council came to Medicine King Valley. Ghost Venerable was there, along with another person wearing a mask. They wanted to purchase a batch of pills, and the price they offered was extremely high. But they had one condition—a catalyst had to be added to the pills. Colorless and odorless, it could lie dormant in a person's body for three years after being consumed. Only after three