Secrets of the Past

"Your disciple pays respects to the Palace Lord. This disciple did not know the Palace Lord's identity before; I beg the Palace Lord's forgiveness!" Chen Fan hurriedly bowed.

"There is no need for that with me." Yun Zhongjun merely waved a hand, unconcerned. "Although after this bout of amnesia, I no longer remember having taught you cultivation arts before, I at least still recognize this art. In that case, the bond between master and disciple cannot be erased after all."

Chen Fan's expression changed drastically at those words. He froze where he stood, too stunned to speak.

"What is it? Do you look down on me as your master?"

Ah! Chen Fan finally came back to his senses and quickly knelt. "This disciple pays respects to Master!"

"Enough. I told you there is no need for that. From Steward Zhang's description, I must have already passed the first three chapters of the Soaring Cloud Formula's incantations to you. Cultivate diligently in the future. Once you reach the fourth level, I will give you the remaining arts." Yun Zhongjun spoke solemnly. Then he gave Chen Fan a meaningful look and added, "The Soaring Cloud Formula is one of the Three Sword-Cry Arts. By sect rules, only the Palace Lord of Soaring Heavens Palace or his successor may cultivate it."

By then, Chen Fan was completely dumbfounded. What did that mean? Something like this could fall to him? Or had his master misunderstood something because of his amnesia? No wonder everyone had treated him with such excessive courtesy. Yet he did not dare ask. For a moment, the atmosphere turned awkward.

"Enough, Senior Brother. You only have amnesia—you will not die anytime soon. There is no need to look for a successor yet, so stop frightening him." Just then, a woman's voice rang out, accompanied by a woman dressed in magnificent palace robes.

Liu Wushuang?! Chen Fan was startled yet again. In this short span of time, his poor little heart had already suffered several shocks. At this rate, he would probably be scared to death sooner or later.

"This disciple pays respects to the Deputy Sect Master!" Chen Fan hastily saluted again.

"Enough. Like Senior Brother, I have never liked this sort of thing." Liu Wushuang was entirely unrestrained. There were no proper chairs in the room, so she simply sat atop a long table to one side. "We called you here this time because there are important matters to discuss with you. There are also some things we wish to ask you. I hope you will not conceal anything either."

Chen Fan's expression tightened. He had been planning to seek out Liu Wushuang to discuss the trip to Black Dragon Pool, yet she had come to find him first. However, in this three-person discussion, he clearly had no standing to speak first.

"You need not find it strange. Senior Brother Yun and I came from the same master; we are true martial brother and sister." Liu Wushuang spoke first. "That is why he must have seen the scabbard of my Fire Spirit Sword back then and taught you the art. It can be considered a stroke of fate. I have no objection to his taking you as a disciple. But now that Senior Brother has been poisoned and lost his memories, there are some things he cannot know."

"What do you mean by that?" Chen Fan caught a whiff of mystery.

Liu Wushuang looked at Chen Fan, hesitation showing in her expression. "Are you certain you want to know? Once you become involved in this matter, you will never be able to extricate yourself."

Chen Fan raised his head to look at Liu Wushuang, his gaze firm. "Senior, I only want to confirm one thing."

"What is it?" Liu Wushuang asked with slight puzzlement.

"Are you on the side of justice?" Chen Fan's question was somewhat foolish. Could a bad person possibly admit to being bad? Yet he had his own judgment of these two. After asking it, he stared directly at Liu Wushuang. If she had a guilty conscience, he would surely be able to see something.

Yet Chen Fan saw no issue on Liu Wushuang's face. On the contrary, he saw an expression even more unwavering than his own. She merely said, "I believe you already have an answer in your heart. Since that is so, I will first tell you a few things."

Chen Fan stood there with a nod, his emotions incomparably complicated. He knew that what he was about to hear might change his life forever.

"How much do you know about the Demon Cult?" Liu Wushuang asked Chen Fan.

Why had the Demon Cult suddenly appeared again? Chen Fan was utterly bewildered. He knew nothing at all and could only shake his head awkwardly.

"This matter must be told starting from over a thousand years ago." Liu Wushuang's expression once more took on a nostalgic air. "Over a thousand years ago, the Demon Cult began to run rampant throughout the world, its power growing stronger by the day. The cultivation arts practiced by its members were known for their ferocity and tyranny; wherever they passed, living beings inevitably suffered devastation. At the time, everyone in the cultivation world lived in fear. The Demon Cult's leader was immensely powerful, unmatched by anyone, so other cultivators avoided the Demon Cult like the plague. Until roughly eight hundred years ago, eight talents unparalleled through the ages gathered within the cultivation world of the Central Forest Continent. The righteous force they formed stood in rivalry with the Demon Cult, and in the end, at the cost of an enormous price paid by all eight, they gravely wounded the Demon Cult's leader. Only then was the Demon Cult's power finally dismantled..."

The Demon Cult had actually possessed such a powerful leader? Chen Fan could not help being secretly shocked. Even eight great experts joining forces had only managed to wound him severely?

"What happened afterward?" Chen Fan asked curiously.

"Afterward, because the eight great experts had each suffered injuries of varying severity, several died one after another over the course of a hundred years, while several vanished without a trace—no different from death. As for the Demon Cult's leader, it was said that he had not died, only been sealed somewhere on the continent by the eight experts. There were even rumors that the seal could only trap him for a thousand years. After a thousand years, the Devil Master would reappear in the world." Liu Wushuang's expression became incomparably grave as she spoke.

"What? How could that be?" Chen Fan could scarcely believe it. "How could the Demon Cult's leader live so long?"

Liu Wushuang shook her head. "Indeed, even ordinary human cultivators who break their Internal Qi cultivation through the eighth or ninth level generally cannot live beyond a thousand years. Many have speculated about this matter. Either the cultivation art practiced by the Devil Master is unusual, or that person is not from this world at all."

Ah! Chen Fan took several deep breaths, desperately suppressing the shock in his heart. He thought that once he returned today, he absolutely had to prepare some heart-protecting pills to take. If this continued, even if he was not beaten to death, he would be scared to death.

It was said that one could ascend and become an immortal upon cultivating to the peak. Could this Devil Master be from the Immortal Realm? Was that possible?

Liu Wushuang saw Chen Fan's confusion, but she could only shake her head and sigh. "There are many things that even I, and Senior Brother, who have lived for hundreds of years, do not know. That battle was said to have shaken the ages and illuminated the present, lasting seven days and seven nights before it ended. At that time, we had not even been born."

It seemed these two were not as old as Chen Fan had imagined. He calculated inwardly. Such talent was already shocking enough, and they had even come from the same master. Could it be...

"You need not guess any further." Liu Wushuang seemed truly capable of seeing through Chen Fan's thoughts. "The master of Senior Brother Yun and me was one of those who fought the Devil Master in that great battle, known as the Sword Saint."

So that was it. This time, Chen Fan was not overly surprised. With strength like Liu Wushuang's and knowledge of so many secrets of the past, her master could not possibly have been an ordinary person. In that case, did that not make him the Sword Saint's grand-disciple?

"Deputy Sect Master, could it be that the matters you have told this junior are related to the Demon Cult?" Chen Fan voiced the confusion in his heart.

Liu Wushuang neither confirmed nor denied it, sinking into thought.

At that moment, Yun Zhongjun spoke from the side. "We had originally suspected the same. Junior Sister asked me to descend the mountain and investigate, and I should have uncovered some clues at the time. But afterward, I was poisoned by the Spirit-Drunken Incense. Although Junior Sister has told me many things, it seems this investigation must begin anew. Yet those people have now vanished without a trace, so I fear it will be difficult to find any leads for the time being."

"As for leads, it is not as though there are none at all." Liu Wushuang suddenly spoke. "Senior Brother, do not underestimate this disciple you have just taken in." Then she fixed her gaze on Chen Fan, a faintly smiling expression on her face.

Chen Fan understood at this point. If he did not explain himself clearly, he would likely be unable to muddle through. But exactly how much did Liu Wushuang know that he knew? Especially regarding the Treasure Record—Chen Fan did not wish to reveal that.

"This junior did not mean to conceal anything. It was simply that I could not previously determine whether you seniors were connected to the organization of men in black, so I did not dare speak carelessly," Chen Fan said respectfully.

Liu Wushuang nodded and looked at him with interest. "It seems you have a deep understanding of righteousness. Go on."

"When this junior found the cave of those men in black with Master, Master entered for quite some time without coming out, so I hurried in to investigate. In truth, I heard Master's conversation with that person at the time." As he said this, Chen Fan instinctively glanced at the two of them. Seeing no change in either expression, he continued, "Master seemed to recognize that person's identity. He should have been an expert from the Heaven and Earth Gate."

"Heaven and Earth Gate?!" Liu Wushuang and Yun Zhongjun exclaimed in unison, clearly caught off guard by this result. They then asked Chen Fan several more questions about the man in black. Afterward, Liu Wushuang slapped her forehead. "Right, that explains it. No wonder!"

What was it? Not only was Chen Fan puzzled, even Yun Zhongjun looked at Liu Wushuang with a face full of confusion.

"Senior Brother does not know this, but just a few days ago, the sect received news that the Heaven and Earth Gate has sealed off its mountain."

What? Such a thing had happened? Chen Fan had heard another earth-shattering piece of news. His heart jolted again, and he hurriedly took several deep breaths.

"Could the Heaven and Earth Gate truly be behind this? And what does it have to do with the Heaven and Earth Gate sealing off its mountain?" Chen Fan was practically a curiosity-seeking child at this point.

"For now, we can only say that there is a connection. Various signs indicate that the Heaven and Earth Gate should not be the mastermind. Sealing off the mountain may be an attempt to purge traitors within the sect." Liu Wushuang abruptly changed the subject and asked Chen Fan, "Do you know of the Demon Spirit Cult?"

"The Demon Spirit Cult?" The moment Chen Fan heard those three words, he realized something. "Could it be related to the Demon Cult?"

"Whether there is a connection cannot yet be said. But in recent years, the Demon Spirit Cult has occasionally shown signs of emerging. Though they move in a secretive fashion, many high-level cultivators have still been able to discover certain clues. We have also heard some mention of them from cultivators in other regions of the Central Forest Continent. Now, the people appearing in the West Ridge Mountains act in a manner exceedingly similar to the Demon Spirit Cult described by those cultivators. Combined with the rumors that the Devil Master is about to reappear, it is difficult not to associate them with the Demon Cult."

"So the Demon Spirit Cult is the Demon Cult from back then, and now they are about to make a comeback?!" Chen Fan was terrified. If that were truly the case, the cultivation world would likely soon face a storm of blood and carnage.

At Chen Fan's words, both Liu Wushuang and Yun Zhongjun fell into thought, their expressions rather grave.

"Whether the Demon Cult is making a comeback remains unknown. But one thing is certain: what these people are doing is a crime against Heaven and reason. The major powers of the cultivation world have already moved at the mere scent of wind, swearing to strangle these people's schemes in the cradle," Liu Wushuang said solemnly.

Chen Fan nodded. "This matter concerns all living beings under Heaven. If these people's conspiracy succeeds, the consequences will be endless. Though this junior's cultivation is shallow, I shall take it as my duty to uphold justice. If either senior has any task for me, this junior will certainly do his utmost." His words were lofty and righteous, enough to move even himself. His main purpose, however, was to stop these two from continuing to dig into his affairs.

Liu Wushuang looked at Chen Fan, speechless for a moment. Then she suddenly burst out laughing. "You fellow, you are truly crafty as a ghost! Did you think saying that meant you would not have to account for your own affairs?"

Chen Fan jolted in alarm. It seemed he was still too green. He looked at Liu Wushuang, his heart tangled beyond measure, not knowing how to begin.