Yun Shan's Unease

Yun Shan lightly tapped the sandalwood tabletop, pondering how much of what Zi Mo had said was true and how much was false.

After hearing it so many times, even if he had doubts, he had to believe at least some of it...

Some ancestor appearing in a dream? That might fool his foolish disciple, but unless one was a powerful alchemist like Gu He or a cultivator with a soul as strong as his own, even if Ancestor Potian had truly left behind a remnant soul, after all these years its memories would have faded until it was no better than a senile old man, or it would have long since burned itself out. How could it possibly be as wise as that boy claimed? When a person died, the lamp went out—that was no idle saying.

Still, there were many things Zi Mo had said that rang true, leaving Yun Shan unable to make up his mind. That was one of the reasons he had decided to come out of seclusion.

"Nalan's broken engagement, unrest in the Imperial Capital, Soul Hall's scheme, the destruction of the Misty Cloud Sect..."

The more Yun Shan thought about it, the more alarmed he became. He pored over countless ancient texts and even secretly entered the Imperial Family's treasury to read secret records from the previous dynasty. Sure enough, he found traces of Soul Hall.

"Would I sell out myself and even the sect just to break through to Dou Zong? Absurd!"

No matter how he looked at it, Yun Shan couldn't believe he was the person in that so-called ancestor's prophecy—the one who would go mad for a breakthrough and ultimately bury eight hundred years of foundations with his own hands!

"But Gu He said the boy Zi Mo's soul was perfectly whole and normal..."

Yun Shan simply couldn't imagine how Zi Mo could have come up with such a lie to deceive him if no one had possessed the boy.

Could it really have been Ancestor Potian?!

Impossible. Absolutely impossible!

Yun Shan rejected the thought once more. Those who cultivated believed there were no undying souls in this world, nor any gods who ruled over everything. Such beings were merely powerful people.

"Looks like this boy has plenty of secrets. He stole my disciple's heart and snuffed out Gu He's affections. This really is..."

Whatever the case, Yun Shan wasn't one to sit around and wait for fate to come. He decided to go to the Imperial Capital himself and discuss an alliance with Jia Xingtian.

"I wonder if this half-true, half-false prophecy can fool the old sect master."

Meanwhile, Yun Zimo was just as uneasy. Using Yun Potian as his mouthpiece, he had fabricated an ancestor's prophecy and retold the story of the Misty Cloud Sect's destruction, with some parts cut out.

But in his version, Yun Shan became Soul Hall's pawn, seeking to annex the Jia Ma Empire and conquer the continent. In the end, the Jia Ma Empire's resistance forces joined with other nations to counterattack, and the Misty Cloud Sect was destroyed.

This also neatly explained why he had tried so hard to stop Nalan from breaking off her engagement: Xiao Yan was one of the main forces among the Jia Ma resistance.

With this half-true, half-false prophecy combined with Nalan's broken engagement playing out as foretold, Yun Zimo believed that even if Yun Shan were the great strategist Zhuge Liang himself, he would have to weigh the prophecy's significance.

"Hall Master, the Sect Master requests your presence in the main hall to discuss matters."

"Understood."

Yun Zimo turned and changed into his Punishment Hall Master's formal attire. With his sword in hand, he strode out toward the meeting hall. He would join forces with the Sect Master to bring the old sect master out of seclusion, then work together on reforms to purge the sect. It was a fine plan, but...

He might just have to reason with them today!

"Absurd!"

"We're supposed to change our ancestral rules based on one man's words?"

"That brat knows nothing but spouting nonsense all day!"

Yun Zimo heard several furious shouts before he had even entered. He smiled, pushed the door open, and walked in.

"Creak~"

The noisy meeting hall fell silent in an instant. Seeing Yun Zimo in full formal attire, the Judgment Sword in his hand, the few men who had been cursing moments earlier suddenly looked composed, pretending nothing had happened.

Yun Yun's eyes glinted with amusement. She had said nothing, letting the elders argue among themselves, because she wanted to see what those stubborn old fools would do once Zi Mo arrived.

"What a lively gathering. Why did you stop?"

After saluting, Yun Zimo slowly walked past the elders and spoke softly.

"Hall Master, we fully support your reforms, but the ancestral rules must never be changed. Even when your father, the former Hall Master, was in charge, he never altered them."

Yun Zimo looked toward the speaker. It was the First Elder, Yun Leng, a stubborn, hidebound old man and the person in the Misty Cloud Sect most devoted to power and wealth.

Still, he was utterly loyal to the sect and highly capable. He had helped two Sect Masters manage the sect in perfect order. Though he was a little lacking in judgment, he was deeply trusted by the Sect Master and respected throughout the sect.

Following the ancestral rules has raised a pack of people who disregard the law and are arrogant beyond measure?

Yun Zimo thought of the rumors he had heard over the past few days. After word of Nalan Yanran's broken engagement by the Xiao Clan spread through the sect, what he heard most often was mockery of Xiao Yan for not knowing his place. Some people did nothing but belittle him, unwilling to learn the truth.

The Punishment Hall had recently caught several disciples trying to sneak out of the mountain gate to "teach" Xiao Yan a lesson. For now, he would set aside the question of who was fanning the flames behind the scenes. With an atmosphere like this, how could the sect still claim to be a secluded order devoted to cultivation?

What Yun Zimo found most incomprehensible was how Yun Yun seemed to let these people turn the sect into a cesspool—or perhaps she, too, had gradually fallen into the nightmare of believing herself invincible.

Well, two Dou Emperors and a bunch of Dou Kings really could be invincible in the Jia Ma Empire...

Thinking of this, Yun Zimo couldn't help but feel a wave of sorrow. He couldn't bear to watch the sect sink into such depravity. If this was how it would end, it might as well be destroyed.

"First Elder, you're mistaken!"

Yun Zimo spoke in a clear, ringing voice, then cited one example after another, leaving the First Elder speechless. He spoke of how the previous dynasty had rotted and fallen from clinging to outdated ways, and how the sect's thousand years of survival were the fruit of adapting with the times...

He faced several elders alone without giving an inch. At last, the elders rose, saluted, and swept out of the hall. The first reform meeting ended on a thoroughly sour note.

"You know, you didn't have to be so harsh."

After the meeting, Yun Yun lightly tapped Yun Zimo on the forehead and reproached him.

"Big sister, reforming the sect can't wait. It took traveling for five years and seeing more of the world for me to understand. If we cling to comfort, we'll only drag the sect into the abyss."

"In the Jia Ma Empire, who could possibly threaten our Misty Cloud Sect?"

Yun Yun said it casually, as if she didn't care in the least.

Yun Zimo furrowed his brows, but remembering Yun Yun's hands-off nature, he could only sigh.

"What about the sect tournament? What about the other sects next door?"

Yun Zimo's quiet words made Yun Yun bristle.

Because the sect had no Dou Zong left, the Misty Cloud Sect was mocked by the other sects at every tournament. Yun Shan had been forced into seclusion at the Eight-Star Dou Emperor level in the hope of breaking through to Dou Zong as soon as possible—not necessarily to reclaim the top spot in the northwest, but at least to stop the neighboring sects from laughing at them.

"You!"

Yun Yun wanted to argue, but couldn't.

"Big sister, on this continent, only absolute strength can keep us alive..."

"Smack!"

Yun Zimo reached out and caught the Sect Master Seal Yun Yun tossed at him.

"I'm going into seclusion, then. You'll handle the sect's affairs in my place."

Yun Yun didn't wait to see how Yun Zimo would react. With a flick of her figure, she vanished from the room.

"Big sister..."

The next day, Yun Yun announced that she was entering the Gate of Life and Death for seclusion, with Yun Zimo acting as Sect Master!

"What about the old sect master? Gone to visit a friend?!"

Yun Leng heard it from Yun Shan's attendant. What was this? The two Sect Masters had both chosen this moment to disappear—one going into seclusion, the other off to visit a friend.

Dazzling sunlight pierced the clouds and shone over the vast Misty Cloud Square. As the clouds dispersed, it seemed to sweep away some of the stench of decay...