Zhang Yu looked at Profound Chief Zhu and said, "There is something I wish to ask the Profound Chief. With Patriarch Yuan Tong appearing this time, in your view, was it truly his own intention, or was someone behind him pushing matters along?"
Last time, it had been the loss of the Golden Beam Cauldron; now Patriarch Yuan Tong had emerged as well. Zhang Yu did not believe these matters were entirely unrelated.
The person under the greatest suspicion was none other than Master Bai Xiu.
That person had once been a disciple of that senior cultivator and had also studied under Profound Chief Zhu. Only later had he been expelled by Profound Chief Zhu, so the latter most likely knew something.
Profound Chief Zhu said, "I know what the Profound Rectifier wishes to speak of, but some matters involve far too many entanglements. If the Profound Rectifier can climb higher still, you will naturally understand."
At that moment, he raised a hand and pressed it against the Heaven-Severing Gauze. Waves of bloody, foul, evil vapors drifted up from it. After a short while, what remained was a strand of crystalline cloud gauze, translucent within and without, warm and lustrous, almost as if it were nothing at all.
With a flick of his hand, the object floated toward Zhang Yu. "I have expelled all the bloody, filthy, and turbid energies from it. Last time, I reclaimed the Azure Yang Wheel, and I imagine the Profound Rectifier has no handy magical treasure at present. This item possesses some measure of power. You may as well take it and use it."
Zhang Yu immediately understood. Profound Chief Zhu did not wish him to continue asking, so he had simply gifted him this item instead.
Yet if Profound Chief Zhu did not wish