Vermilion Bird Nirvana Heart Sutra, Vermilion Bird Heaven-Burning Finger

Ye An wasted no time and headed straight for the Four Symbols Origin-Returning Array on the rear mountain.

The elder guarding the array was still the same gaunt-faced old man.

Ye An handed over his Token. This one was different: it had been custom-made for each of the Four Halls Chiefs.

A Black Tortoise was carved into the Token, marking Ye An's identity and explaining why he could use the Four Symbols Origin-Returning Formation Training Room.

The elder took it and glanced at it, then paused.

This was... a Black Tortoise Hall Chief Token?

When had Black Tortoise Hall changed chiefs?

Wasn't it Zhou Zhong?

The elder asked no questions. He merely nodded to indicate that Ye An could enter.

Ye An bowed respectfully and stepped into the cave. This time, he intended to bring his Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Art fully up to speed.

The elder watched Ye An's retreating back. He had guarded this rear mountain for more than ten years and paid no attention to Sect affairs.

As far as he was concerned, so long as the Sect stood and nothing happened to the Four Symbols Origin-Returning Array under his watch, the rest had nothing to do with him.

So why had Ye An's Token left him momentarily lost in thought?

The reason was simple: he, too, had come from Black Tortoise Hall. But since his generation, the hall had spent many years at the bottom of the Four Halls.

Zhou Zhong had reached the Early-Stage Peak. Even if he had not broken through, surely he should not have yielded the chief's position?

Had something happened to Zhou Zhong? Was that why the position had gone to this boy, Ye An?

At the thought, the elder's heart chilled. Black Tortoise Hall really was falling into decline...

Ye An