The great families might have lost many clues amid the chaos, but the Barton Empire had stood in the Misty Sea for thousands of years without falling. The Thirteen Misty Islands were bound to have the most complete records.
Ye Chuqi had to go to the Thirteen Misty Islands. If her injuries had healed, she would already have flown there. As things stood, venturing into the Misty Sea would be suicide.
"Are you really so sure it was Eldest Senior Brother?" San San mumbled hesitantly. "Have you considered that if it really was him, he might have..."
"I know." Ye Chuqi cut San San off. San San was right, but she did not want to hear those words spoken aloud. Let her deceive herself and avoid reality; there were some things she did not want to confirm. "It was Eldest Senior Brother. It could only have been him."
The Thousand-Leaf Sword's existence said enough. It was Eldest Senior Brother's bonded sword. No one could have stolen it and brought it into this world. Of course, the sword might have come here alone, but it could not have left so many clues pointing to the existence of another person in this world.
The sword's existence proved something else as well. Eldest Senior Brother had given up his bonded sword and left it to wait for Ye Chuqi in his place. Much as she hated to admit it, she knew his circumstances had to be dire for him to abandon it.
But Ye Chuqi understood something else, something only she could know while holding the Thousand-Leaf Sword. If Eldest Senior Brother were truly gone, his bonded sword would have suffered terribly. Even if thousands of years of recovery could have restored it, its Sword Heart could not be as unscathed as it