Escape from the Celestial Master's Mansion

Only after a long while did Zhang Xuan recover from his shock, gather his thoughts, and continue studying the words below.

[Cause of impending death: an exceedingly rare individual without a spiritual root, attuned to all spiritual energy between heaven and earth]

[Note 1: cultivators possess spiritual roots. Those with an earth spiritual root, for instance, achieve twice the results with half the effort when cultivating earth techniques, and receive additional enhancements when casting them]

[Note 2: those without spiritual roots receive no enhancement, but are attuned to all spiritual energy between heaven and earth, suffering no rejection from differing attributes. For a cultivator, this is a tremendous opportunity; for a mortal, it is a terminal condition. Spiritual energy entering the body leaves traces as geese leave tracks and wind leaves sound. As days and months accumulate, spiritual energy inevitably stagnates within the body. In time, the body will burst, resulting in death. None can escape]

"My body will burst..." Zhang Xuan's fingertips trembled slightly.

[Solution 1: a cultivator at the Core Formation Realm or above can apply external power to help you refine energy and temper your body, assisting you in transcending mortal flesh and becoming a cultivator—however, Zhang Jingzhi has died, rendering this solution invalid]

[Solution 2: obtain a "Marrow-Washing Body-Refining Pill." Taking it will also allow you to become a cultivator. Leave the Celestial Master's Mansion and travel west to find this opportunity]

The words on the Blood Moon were chilling to the bone, yet they stirred something unusual in Zhang Xuan's heart.

The first solution revealed two things.

First, if the Old Celestial Master had not been murdered, then as his "Dao guardian," he would naturally have helped Zhang Xuan refine energy and temper his body after he received the Celestial Master's Ordination. Zhang Xuan would never have ended up in his present predicament. It was fair to say that the Old Celestial Master's sudden murder had thrown everything into uncertainty.

Second, the statement "given that Zhang Jingzhi has died, this solution is invalid" was well worth pondering!

"If the Old Celestial Master were still here, he would keep me safe. But now..."

He narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp as a blade.

"Are there truly no other Core Formation cultivators in the Celestial Master's Mansion? Or... is someone watching me die without lifting a finger?"

If a Core Formation cultivator really was standing coldly by, his situation was far more dangerous than he had imagined.

He had already asked two questions. He had one opportunity left today.

There was so much he wanted to ask...

Who had poisoned the Old Celestial Master?

What was the story behind the poison and note in his room?

Why did his fellow disciples disregard the Old Celestial Master's death, even choosing to believe it was suicide?

And why had they unanimously nominated him as the next Celestial Master?

Mystery after mystery shrouded the Celestial Master's Mansion in clouds and mist, leaving Zhang Xuan unable to make out the threads connecting them.

"One chance left. Don't get greedy. Ask what matters," Zhang Xuan murmured to himself, then posed his third question of the day.

He looked up directly at the Blood Moon, his voice firm as iron. "What are my fellow disciples after, nominating me as the next Celestial Master in such a hurry?"

"Celestial Master's Ordination—answer me!"

Before his words had faded, the Blood Moon suddenly swelled in a spasm, then began expanding violently, as though some invisible force were stretching it apart.

Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted, horror flooding his heart. He had never seen the Blood Moon undergo such a transformation. It seemed poised to burst at any moment, becoming a rain of blood that would swallow this entire space.

"What... is happening?" He instinctively stepped back. Ripples spread across the water beneath his feet, reflecting his grave expression.

Just as he thought the Blood Moon was about to shatter, another transformation occurred!

Countless black iron chains shot through the ink-black sky as though descending from beyond the nine heavens. Like ferocious black dragons, they hurtled straight toward the swelling Blood Moon. Ancient runes covered the chains, flickering with dim light and bearing the might to suppress heaven and earth.

Clatter—

The chains instantly coiled around the Blood Moon, binding it layer upon layer. As though sensing the threat, the blood-red magma within its cracks surged wildly, trying to break free. Yet the chains clung like festering sores to bone, tightening relentlessly. As their runes flickered, they forcibly checked the Blood Moon's expansion.

Boom—

A low rumble reverberated through the space. Compressed by the chains, the Blood Moon gradually returned to its original size. Its cracks slowly healed, and the blood-red magma fell still again, as though nothing had happened.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the densely packed chains around the Blood Moon vanished into thin air before Zhang Xuan's eyes, as though they had never appeared.

Zhang Xuan stood motionless, his thumb unconsciously rubbing his cuff as cold sweat slid down to the tip of his nose.

"Just what... was that power?" he murmured, looking past the Blood Moon into the ink-black sky.

Only when a drop of cold sweat fell from his nose did Zhang Xuan recover from his overwhelming shock.

"Celestial Master's Ordination... just how many secrets are you still hiding?" Zhang Xuan asked softly.

Of course, the Celestial Master's Ordination did not answer him.

Just as countless conjectures surged through Zhang Xuan's mind, the Blood Moon, which had just returned to calm, suddenly changed again. Two lines of bloody text took shape across its surface.

[Warning: secrecy value exceeded. A further violation will exhaust today's remaining quota]

[Please upgrade the Celestial Master's Ordination as soon as possible to raise the secrecy threshold]

"The secrecy value exceeded the threshold?"

Zhang Xuan rubbed his chin. After pondering for half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he arrived at a tentative theory.

"Suppose every question I ask has a corresponding secrecy value, and that value depends on the significance of the events involved..."

That would explain it!

The Blood Moon had been unable to answer his question because its implications were too great, exceeding the current limits of the Celestial Master's Ordination and automatically triggering that extraordinary phenomenon. The penalty was merely intended to stop him from continuing to court death.

But what exactly were those chains that seemed to descend from the nine heavens?

Zhang Xuan reckoned that if he kept questioning the Celestial Master's Ordination about it, the same scene would probably unfold again!

To dig deeper into the mysteries surrounding the Celestial Master's Mansion and himself, he would have to keep upgrading the Celestial Master's Ordination. But how was he supposed to upgrade it?

After a moment's consideration, Zhang Xuan decided to ask when he had another opportunity. Rather than dwell on these elusive mysteries, he turned his question toward something more practical...

"I want to grow stronger, or at least gain some ability to protect myself. What can help me do that?" Then Zhang Xuan added, "Something that works immediately!"

To survive, he had to leave the Celestial Master's Mansion and find that Marrow-Washing Body-Refining Pill. Since he had chosen to leave, all the mansion's mysteries could be set aside for now. Staying alive was his most pressing concern...

With no memories and barely enough strength to truss a chicken, Zhang Xuan did not believe that escaping the Celestial Master's Mansion alone would secure him a peaceful life.

Besides, he had to travel west to find the "opportunity" that could save him. Without some means of protecting himself, he might fail to seize it even if it landed right in front of him.

Especially after seeing Jiang Jiu use the Thunder-Calling Art and Palm Thunder—techniques his subconscious regarded as supernatural powers—Zhang Xuan felt an even greater sense of danger.

What if everyone in the outside world knew such strange techniques?

And what was the outside world actually like?

If such extraordinary techniques existed, did the demons, monsters, ghosts, and spirits of legend exist as well?

Fleeing blindly, knowing nothing and heedless of everything, was not Zhang Xuan's way.

He wanted to plan before acting, know where to stop before gaining anything. Matters handled patiently found resolution; people who moved patiently found safety!

As Zhang Xuan finished speaking, a crimson halo flowed across the Blood Moon, finally converging into a line of small text.

[In fifteen minutes, go to the Celestial Master's Hall. Tap the stone beneath the ancestral master's statue lightly six times. A hidden compartment contains what you need] ```

After waiting quietly in his room for fifteen minutes, Zhang Xuan held his breath and pushed open the door. Cold wind swept against his face, carrying the rustle of dead leaves.

Recalling the route Jiang Jiu had taken him along yesterday, he hugged the wall and slipped into the Celestial Master Hall like a shadow.

Inside the hall, two dim yellow oil lamps flickered unsteadily, stretching the shadows of over a hundred spirit tablets across the mottled walls like countless watching eyes.

The air smelled of stale incense ash, mingled with a faint, elusive hint of decay.

Zhang Xuan made his footsteps as light as possible, but his heartbeat remained clearly audible, pounding through his chest like a drum.

His gaze swept over the spirit tablets. Each bore an unfamiliar name, written in tadpole-shaped Wei script.

Suddenly, an oil lamp's flame lurched, and Zhang Xuan's back went rigid. Holding his breath, he listened closely, but heard only his own heartbeat and the distant wind.

Stay calm...

He had encountered no one along the way, as though he were the only person in the entire Celestial Master's Mansion.

With slow, quiet steps, he reached the side hall—the Celestial Master's Hall indicated by the Celestial Master's Ordination.

This was where the Old Celestial Master had passed the Celestial Master's Ordination to him.

His fingertips touched the base of the ancestral master's statue. The cold sensation reassured him a little.

Inside the hidden compartment lay a yellow-covered book and a damaged jade pendant.

Without taking time to examine them, he tucked the book and pendant against his chest beneath his clothes, then crept toward the Mass Grave to the west.

As Zhang Xuan left the Celestial Master's Mansion and hurried westward, the night dew gathered on the glazed tiles suddenly hung suspended.

For an instant, the moonlight warped into a ring. Several figures stood soundlessly atop the Celestial Master's Mansion's vermilion tiled wall...

The man on the far left was tall and slender, his black Daoist robe fluttering lightly in the wind. His eyes glowed faintly gold in the darkness, with horizontal markings and vertical pupils. His gaze was cold and sharp, as though it could pierce every illusion.

The woman in the middle had a graceful figure and wore a cloak embroidered with silver runes. Within her black pupils lay another ring of deep, dark pupils. Her double pupils resembled whirlpools in an abyss, drawing in the soul.

One figure was entirely enveloped in a pitch-black Daoist robe, without a scrap of skin exposed. Only a pair of scarlet eyes showed, flames seeming to dance within their pupils, blazing and mad.

Another had lightning flickering in their eyes, inspiring dread at a glance.

Indifference, anger, worry, anticipation, madness—their expressions differed, but they shared one thing: solemn gazes fixed unwaveringly on Zhang Xuan's receding back.

One figure spoke. "Our sixth junior brother's temperament... seems to have changed."

Another icy voice replied, "So what if he's changed? He laughs and chats with you on the surface, but deep down he's still that monster!"

"Senior brother, he... took Divine Path and Mountain Suppressor."

"Let him. They're only lifeless objects. As long as he leaves the Celestial Master's Mansion, none of that matters," the golden-eyed man said softly, his voice as cold as scraping metal.

At those words, everyone fell silent.

Finally, the double-pupiled woman spoke. Her voice was ethereal and distant, yet carried a barely perceptible trace of mockery. "Yes. If he stayed any longer, that monster would awaken, and we..."

"—would all die."

The night wind brushed past, and the figures atop the tiled wall dissipated like smoke...