The Sect's Past (Fourth update, with thanks to Mr. O of the Aurora Society for rewarding Ahua)

After Ding Songyan had "laid everything on the table" about the Hundun Remains, he watched his master's changing expression with extreme caution, ready at any moment to disrupt the six directions and disturb the four seasons so he could flee to the ends of the earth.

The usually composed Tao Wenshu showed a rare flicker of emotion. She looked at Ding Songyan as though flames had kindled in her eyes, saying nothing for a long while.

Adept at reading expressions, Ding Songyan saw regret and disappointment on her face, which eventually settled into relief and gratitude.

Once their horses had descended from the stone bridge, Tao Wenshu, wearing a simple Iron Crown, exhaled and said:

"You were right to conceal this yesterday. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee that greed would not have stirred in my heart and driven me to something despicable. Then years of cultivation would truly have been lost in a single morning, and half a lifetime's good name washed away with the flowing water."

She explained further:

"My predicament is similar to Zhen Qianfan's. If I could consume the Hundun Remains, every problem would yield like bamboo beneath a blade. How could I not be tempted, not feel greed? Back in Chengyu Lane, I thought you had eaten something else."

"Master, is your foundation unstable too?" Seeing how candidly Tao Wenshu spoke, Ding Songyan relaxed and began to worry about her instead.

Keeping one hand on the reins, Tao Wenshu used the other to smooth the stray hair at her temple.

Looking at the green farmland crisscrossed by paths beside the road and the distant rural settlements whose villages had formed fortified stockades, she sighed deeply.

"It is a long story. We must begin with the Dynasty's Southern Crossing more than two hundred years ago.

"Our Xiaoming Sect's