In the brightly lit house, Nanmingzi was leafing through a register.
Forty years had passed, yet he still looked like a youth. A decade as Sect Leader had given him an air of authority, though age and the weight on his shoulders had added a weathered look to his eyes.
Beside Nanmingzi, Qiongfa Zi, now an elder, said, "Our various enterprises only need to keep bringing in income. The Grotto-Heaven is rich in resources. I've heard people say the other houses' Grotto-Heavens mostly have an Illusory Moon overhead, while ours alone has a True Moon in the sky! It's grown more prosperous with every passing year, and people with an aptitude for cultivation have even begun to appear. It's no worse than the outside world. We hardly need that little bit of money and grain, so why trouble yourself over it, Senior Brother? Leave it to the outer disciples. We can just focus on cultivating, like we did back then."
"Times have changed." Southern Darkness Zi shook his head and set down the register. With a long sigh, he said, "Lately, I've often felt uneasy, especially these past few days. So I've been checking everything, in case someone finds a weakness to seize upon and make something of."
"Why do you say that, Senior Brother?" Qiongfa Zi asked bluntly, frowning.
Southern Darkness Zi said, "Though our Taihua Lineage has revived, it still has many hidden dangers."
He glanced at the portraits behind him, and emotion stirred in his heart.
"Our lineage has endured for ages. Several times it has fallen into decline, yet each time it has risen again. After the Calamity of the Supreme Clarity, it sank so low that it nearly became a vassal of Kunlun. According to Martial Uncle, many of his generation even changed allegiances and