"Chen Fangqing had truly appeared again?"
The Kunlun Secret Realm, beside the Flat Peach Forest.
Inside an old-fashioned three-story pavilion.
Yuan Liuzi sat cross-legged on a cushion, studying the Jade Slip in his hand, his expression grave.
Beside him, three fellow disciples of his generation sat in a row.
Before them stood Qiexinzi, the current leader of Kunlun.
"Elder," Qiexinzi said. With his thin mustache and the dress of a middle-aged scholar, he had a refined air. "Judging by the reports from Chang'an, Great Hua Mountain, and Dingxiang Commandery, there can be no doubt that Master Soaring has reappeared."
"Chang'an, Taihua, and Dingxiang Commandery?" Yuan Liuzi narrowed his eyes, his brows knitting tightly.
"As expected of Master Soaring," said the Old Woman, who was also a Kunlun elder. "The moment he came out of seclusion, he stirred up three places."
"That isn't the point." Yuan Liuzi shook his head. "Can we be certain it was Chen Fangqing, Master Soaring?"
"The details have all been recorded in the Jade Slip. Further reports on the particulars and the sequence of events will continue to arrive." Qiexinzi bowed as he spoke. "Kunlun disciples were already in the Chang'an Imperial Palace, and word from the Buddhist Sect corroborates their account. At Great Hua Mountain, disciples saw him with their own eyes. They say the Poison Venerable of the southwestern Hundred Thousand Mountains has fallen there. As for Dingxiang Commandery..."
After a pause, he lowered his voice. "Many of the disciples we sent were infected by the strange, evil thoughts in those Ruins, corrupting their Dao Hearts. According to Dianjuezi, even Xietongzi was not spared. True Person Soaring personally exposed the dangers hidden within them, then rooted them out..."
"The strangeness of those Ruins had long been apparent, but I never expected it to reach