Vast clouds churned and roiled beneath their feet, while the bone-piercing astral winds were kept outside by an invisible force.
Shen Qingzhou stood silently at Cloudveil True Person's side.
The cloud beneath them, condensed from pure water-aspect spiritual energy, drifted unhurriedly toward the Profound Heaven Sect.
No one spoke along the way.
Cloudveil True Person kept his hands behind his back, gazing at the distant horizon without the slightest superfluous expression on his face.
Shen Qingzhou likewise said nothing, merely circulating his cultivation method in silence, replenishing bit by bit the spiritual awareness and mana he had exhausted while fleeing for his life.
Only when the rolling outline of Azure Mountain appeared at the edge of his vision did Cloudveil True Person finally speak in an even tone.
"The elder stationed at Blackwater Marsh... passed away while in seclusion."
Shen Qingzhou's heart gave a violent leap, and he instinctively raised his head to look at his master.
"Passed away?"
Cloudveil True Person merely gave a casual acknowledgment.
"Mhm. Foundation Establishment is not so easily crossed. One wrong step, and a person is gone. His lifespan was nearly exhausted, so he wanted to make one last push. In the end, he could not withstand the backlash of his heart demon."
With only those few words, he laid bare the cruelty of cultivation.
"No wonder..."
Shen Qingzhou's thoughts turned at once, and many matters that he had been unable to understand before suddenly had their answers.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Profound Heaven Sect had fallen, while the Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Plain Maiden Sect had been transferred away. That was why Xu Sheng had room to maneuver. As for exactly how he had done it, other Foundation Establishment cultivators had likely had a hand in it.
He lowered his