The old man clutching the sword heard the words "Grand Elder" and glanced at the Gold Blade.
"The formation sealing the ninth floor has already alarmed the main peak. You can't hide anymore. That old fellow Qi in the side hall is two generations older than me. If he wants to take it, drawing your blade won't help. Take what you found on the ninth floor with you. Don't leave behind the scraps of paper Zhao Chong left there."
Li Sanshun put away the scraps of paper and half a letter, then climbed back up the wooden ladder to the third floor.
Once the narrow door closed, the Mountain and River Map covered the wall again. If not for the dust on his clothes, it would have seemed as if nothing had happened.
A disciple bearing the summons waited outside the Scripture Library.
The two of them headed up the stone path to the main peak, passing the Law Enforcement Hall along the way. More than ten Zhao family guards stood outside, with Zhao Yuanqing among them.
Zhao Yuanqing hadn't slept all night.
Zhao Chong had already been detained by the Law Enforcement Hall. Han Zhao had admitted to accepting spirit stones, and the Zhao family steward had also handed over the formation talisman. All the evidence pointed to Zhao Chong.
The Zhao family had sent three letters pleading for leniency, but the Law Enforcement Hall had accepted none of them.
Now that Li Sanshun had been summoned by the Grand Elder, Zhao Yuanqing grew even more uneasy. If Li Sanshun really became a personal disciple of one of the peak masters, it would be even harder for the Zhao family to keep him in check in the future.
Zhao Yuanqing blocked the edge of the stone path and spoke through gritted teeth.
"My second uncle interfered with the test. The sect will punish him as it sees fit. This has nothing to do with your admission results anymore. If you still make things up to the Grand Elder, the Zhao family won't let you slander us."
Li Sanshun didn't stop.
"If your second uncle is innocent, the Law Enforcement Hall will naturally release him. You've come all this way to block my path. Seems even you don't believe he's clean."
Zhao Yuanqing's face burned, but the Zhao family guards behind him didn't dare intervene. They wouldn't dare lay a finger on someone summoned by the Grand Elder, even if they had ten times the courage.
The stone door to the side hall stood open.
The old man in black robes sat behind a long desk, with the Mystic Bird Old Token and a newly delivered dossier laid out on it.
The dossier only traced Li Sanshun back to the age of seven.
Before he was seven, there was no household registration, no relatives, and no trace of his life at all. The village elders only remembered that an old man in ragged clothes had found Li Sanshun in the snow and taken him to a ruined temple to raise him.
No one knew the old man's name. The villagers only called him Old Rascal.
Three years ago, Old Rascal had left the village and vanished without a trace.
After reading the dossier, the old man in black robes was even more certain that Old Rascal's identity was suspicious.
An ordinary wanderer wouldn't know the complete Primordial Origin Art, let alone possess the Gold Blade of the Third Prince's residence.
"Sit."
Li Sanshun entered the side hall but didn't sit down.
"My clothes are dirty. I'd better not ruin the Grand Elder's chair."
The old man in black robes studied him.
Even after learning about the ninth floor of the Scripture Library, he could still stand in the hall and crack wise. That nerve was more interesting than anything in the dossier.
"I am Qi Shouxuan. Take out the Gold Blade."
Li Sanshun placed the wrapped short blade on the desk but didn't unwrap it.
Qi Shouxuan didn't press him. Instead, he pushed the Mystic Bird Old Token in front of him.
"Have you seen this before?"
"No."
"Who gave you the blade?"
"Old Rascal, who raised me. He left the blade behind before he departed and told me never to draw it in front of anyone."
"Did he teach you the Primordial Origin Art, too?"
"Yes."
Li Sanshun answered without hesitation. He didn't know Old Rascal's name, origins, or whereabouts in the first place. If Qi Shouxuan could uncover any clues, that would be good for him, too.
Qi Shouxuan opened the cloth wrapping, revealing the hilt of the Gold Blade.
The Black Bird Pattern at the base of the hilt matched the old token, and the two glowed with a dark golden light. The Third Prince's seal on the back of the token appeared as well.
The disciple bearing the summons stood by the door. When he saw the seal, his breath caught.
Qi Shouxuan waved him out of the side hall, then closed the stone door.
"Do you know what the Mystic Bird represents?"
Li Sanshun shook his head.
"Old Rascal wouldn't tell me. I asked him a few times, but he only said that knowing too much too soon meant a short life."
Qi Shouxuan's expression changed at that answer.
There had been people among the former retainers of the Third Prince's residence who had said something similar. But the list of former retainers had long since been sealed away, and no more than five people knew that phrase.
"Put your hand on the hilt."
Li Sanshun didn't do as he was told.
"The Grand Elder should at least tell me what will happen first. When Old Rascal gave me the blade, he specifically warned me not to let outsiders touch it. I trust him more."
Qi Shouxuan didn't get angry.
The Gold Blade was tied to an old case involving the imperial clan. Yet even while facing a Grand Elder whose cultivation far surpassed his own, Li Sanshun had kept his wits about him. If he really was a child left behind by the Third Prince's line, that disposition might help him live a few years longer.
"The Gold Blade contains a bloodline seal. When an outsider touches it, it will only reveal the Mystic Bird. But if the wielder is related to the old master's line, a second seal will appear inside the blade. I won't take your blade. I only want to confirm something from the past."
"What if a second seal appears?"
"I'll tell you the origin of the Gold Blade."
Li Sanshun placed his hand on the hilt.
At first, the Gold Blade showed no reaction at all.
Qi Shouxuan waited a few breaths, and his tense shoulders relaxed slightly. Perhaps Li Sanshun was simply a successor chosen by Old Rascal and had no blood ties to the Third Prince's line.
But at that moment, the Mystic Bird inside the hilt spread its wings.
A golden light flowed along Li Sanshun's arm and into his meridians. The five-element spiritual energy began circulating on its own. The second seal, dormant within the blade, was roused by the five-element energy, and two ancient characters appeared on the scabbard.
Chengyun.
Qi Shouxuan rose from his seat, knocking over the teacup beside the desk.
The direct bloodline seal of the Third Prince's residence was precisely "Chengyun."
The dossier his men had retrieved also stated that when Old Rascal found Li Sanshun, there had been a piece of jade engraved with "Shuntian Chengyun" tucked into his swaddling clothes.
The Gold Blade, the Primordial Origin Art, the Mysterious Bird Secret Vault—all the pieces fit.
Li Sanshun pressed down on the hilt, forcing the golden light back into the scabbard.
"Grand Elder, can you tell me now?"
Qi Shouxuan didn't answer right away. He went to the side hall's entrance, personally reinforced the soundproofing formation, and tucked the old token into his sleeve.
"First, tell me what you saw on the ninth floor of the Scripture Library."
Li Sanshun took out the scraps of paper bearing the Zhao character and the half letter.
"Someone entered the ninth floor fifteen days ago and took half a letter. Zhao Chong's traces were left on the scraps. The letter mentioned the Gold Blade and the descendants of the Mystic Bird. It also mentioned the Foundation Establishment master outline of the Primordial Origin Art."
Qi Shouxuan took the scraps of paper, anger furrowing his brow.
Zhao Chong was only a Foundation Establishment steward. By rights, he shouldn't even have known the ninth floor of the Scripture Library existed. If he'd managed to enter the secret chamber while the formation was down, someone must have shown him how.
Worse still, half the letter had already fallen into the hands of an outsider.
Qi Shouxuan seized a communication jade talisman.
"Have the Law Enforcement Hall seal Zhao Chong's spiritual power and hold him in solitary confinement. Find out who he's been in contact with over the past month and how many letters he sent. Recheck everyone who entered or left the mountain gate today, too."
The jade talisman gave no response.
Qi Shouxuan tried another, but there was still no word from the Law Enforcement Hall.
Suddenly, urgent bells rang outside the hall.
One peal.
Three peals.
Nine peals.
These were the ceremonial bells rung only when Tai Xuan Sect welcomed envoys from the imperial capital.
Qi Shouxuan pushed open the stone window and saw a Cyan Gold Flying Boat rising in the direction of the mountain gate. The Shunchang Imperial Clan's banner hung at its prow, where a young man in a robe embroidered with python designs stood.
A main peak disciple flew over on his sword and landed outside the side hall.
"Grand Elder Qi, the Fourth Imperial Grandson has entered the sect under imperial decree. The Attendants accompanying him have already taken control of the mountain gate. They've also brought a portrait and are looking for a new disciple named Li Sanshun."
Qi Shouxuan whipped around.
The Gold Blade was still glowing inside the hall.
Footsteps sounded outside the door.
"The Fourth Imperial Grandson has arrived. Li Sanshun, come out and meet him!"
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