True One

Gao Lingfeng and four clerks entered carrying several black boxes.

The square boxes, forged from black iron, were each a meter long and wide. Pitch-black, they gave off a solid, weighty impression.

They went in and out several times, carrying in thirteen boxes in total.

A long-faced, horse-faced middle-aged man and a round-faced middle-aged man came in with them.

The long-faced middle-aged man had small but lively eyes. The moment he entered, he put on a fawning smile, clasped his fists, and bowed. "Young Master."

Chu Zhiyuan smiled. "Lord Ma, thank you for your trouble."

"It is this humble one's honor to be of use to Young Master!" Ma Tianhe wore a fawning smile, his face blooming like a chrysanthemum.

The round-faced middle-aged man beside him was rather reserved. He merely clasped his fists in salute and said nothing.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded and said no more. He walked over to the pile of sealed boxes and inspected them.

Ma Tianhe and the round-faced middle-aged man each took out a long key. The two keys entered their keyholes at the same time, opening the black iron boxes one by one.

Zou Fang presented the case files to him one by one, and he rapidly leafed through them.

After reading one, he set it on the desk. Once he had finished all the files in a box, Ma Tianhe sorted them and put them back into the sealed box. He and the round-faced middle-aged man then closed it together, inserted the two keys, and turned them in reverse, locking it completely.

Chu Zhiyuan read every file, then closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. Satisfied, he nodded and inclined his head to Ma Tianhe and the round-faced middle-aged man.

The two directed the clerks who had followed them to begin carrying the sealed file boxes out.

After seeing off Ma Tianhe and the round-faced middle-aged man, Chu Zhiyuan paced about the room with his hands behind his back.

The previous leader of the Thick Earth Sect had two sons: Feng Yan and Feng Chang.

Both sons were dragons and phoenixes of their time, exceptionally gifted, each spreading the faith in different regions.

Before the old sect leader died, his younger son, Feng Chang, had failed to return in time. Only his eldest son, Feng Yan, was at his side, so he passed the position of sect leader to Feng Yan.

He was the current generation's sect leader.

In truth, Feng Chang had been ambushed and assassinated along the way by Jade Luo Tower killers whom Feng Yan had hired with silver. He suffered severe injuries and nearly lost his life.

By the time Feng Chang dragged his wounded body back, the dust had long settled, and the new sect leader had already assumed his position.

Feng Yan became sect leader, while Feng Chang became an Elder.

Feng Chang's talent was astonishing, and he possessed immense prestige within the sect.

Naturally, Sect Leader Feng Yan could not rest easy over him. He continually sought ways to weaken his prestige and power, until he finally drove him to desperation. Feng Chang stole the Earth Dragon Pearl and vanished without a trace.

After losing the Earth Dragon Pearl, the Thick Earth Sect did not decline. Instead, it grew even stronger.

Now, a century later, the Earth Dragon Pearl had reappeared.

The Thick Earth Sect immediately began searching for it.

Though the Earth Dragon Pearl was in the hands of the Flying Flower Sword Sect, which had just produced a Grandmaster, the Thick Earth Sect still refused to abandon its pursuit, trying every possible means to demand it back.

These were all records from the Supervisory Department.

The ownership of the Earth Dragon Pearl was indeed troublesome.

The Earth Dragon Pearl was one of the sect leader's Tokens. In theory, it truly ought to be returned, though they could naturally demand some benefits in exchange when returning it.

But Feng Chang had stolen it, and it had ultimately been found by someone through a chance encounter.

There was already another layer in between. They had not stolen it; they had merely found it through a fortuitous encounter. Furthermore, Feng Chang had expressly stated that it was bestowed upon one fated to receive it, so there was no need to return it to the Thick Earth Sect.

Each side had its own reasoning; it simply depended on which side one stood.

The Supervisory Department's files also noted the daily associations of important Thick Earth Sect disciples and whom they interacted closely with.

From this, one could discover that the Thick Earth Sect's upper ranks had close dealings with the Imperial Court's upper ranks, the root of it being Prince Huai's Estate.

The Thick Earth Sect leader's daughter was greatly favored by Prince Huai and was often kept at his side. Out of affection for her, he treated the Thick Earth Sect very well too.

It was said that she was likely to become Prince Huai's secondary consort.

Those officials deeply entangled with Prince Huai's Estate naturally had no poor relationship with the Thick Earth Sect and visited one another often.

Aside from officials of Prince Huai's faction, the Thick Earth Sect also had good relations with the Four Great Sects. Many of them were friends with disciples of the Four Great Sects.

Chu Zhiyuan seemed to see an enormous net.

Unknowingly, the Thick Earth Sect had woven a vast net, one containing both Imperial Court officials and the Four Great Sects.

Chu Zhiyuan grew increasingly curious.

Had the two Thick Earth Sect disciples crippled the Flying Flower Sword Sect disciples to force them to return the Earth Dragon Pearl, or to strike at the Flying Flower Sword Sect's prestige?

Unfortunately, the files contained no further records of the Earth Dragon Pearl. They only stated that it was one of the sect leader's Tokens and did not mention its wondrous uses.

Now he knew it was a tool for cultivation, a treasure that aided cultivation. It was immensely important to the Thick Earth Sect, not merely a sect leader's token.

If a genius like Feng Zhihao had the Earth Dragon Pearl's aid, he would surely advance by leaps and bounds. Especially after losing to him, Feng Zhihao probably desired the Earth Dragon Pearl even more.

The Thick Earth Sect would certainly not let the matter rest.

On one hand, they would apply direct pressure. On the other, they would likely use the Imperial Court or the Four Great Sects to pressure the Flying Flower Sword Sect.

The Flying Flower Sword Sect could withstand this time, but could it withstand the next?

Would Song Feiqiong still act if she learned of this?

The Earth Dragon Pearl—everything was because of the Earth Dragon Pearl. As expected, treasures stirred up bloodshed and foul winds.

He pondered and pondered again. Suddenly, an unusual intuition arose from somewhere beyond perception: the Earth Dragon Pearl would be very useful to him.

His spirits immediately lifted.

He possessed the Earthly Yuan Art and the Heavenly Yuan Art. The Earth Dragon Pearl should not be of much use to him, so why did he have such a strange intuition?

He trusted his instincts completely, and the desire to see the Earth Dragon Pearl arose within him.

"My lord!" Gao Lingfeng called from outside the room.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Come in."

Gao Lingfeng entered carrying a case file sealed with wax and presented it with both hands. "This is an official document transferred from the Town Martial Division."

Zou Fang stepped forward to receive it. After opening it and inspecting it, he presented the stack of letters to Chu Zhiyuan.

Chu Zhiyuan took them and read through them one by one. There were testimonies from thirteen people in all. Besides the four who had been arrested, there were also those who had personally witnessed the scene.

Their accounts clearly recorded everything that had happened at the time. Even every single spoken sentence had been questioned and recorded.

Through these records, the scene from that time was vividly reconstructed.

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head.

According to what was written here, the Thick Earth Sect disciples had indeed provoked the matter first, yet it did not seem particularly suspicious.

After all, anyone who encountered that situation would be unable to suppress their anger. It was as though they had been cuckolded; only a fool could endure that.

The Earth Dragon Pearl was actually mentioned within, though its name was not spoken. The matter itself was brought up, and the Flying Flower Sword Sect was cursed as thieves.

In that case, it had not been to strike at the Flying Flower Sword Sect's reputation, but for the Earth Dragon Pearl.

That was somewhat better.

In the thirteen testimonies, the people from the Town Martial Division had deliberately asked about disciples of the Four Great Sects. None of the thirteen people had seen any Four Great Sects disciples at Jade Dew Library.

It could tentatively be determined that the Four Great Sects had no hand behind this.

Then it was purely a dispute over the Earth Dragon Pearl.

This let him breathe a sigh of relief. It avoided Song Feiqiong clashing with the Four Great Sects and spared the Imperial Court from violent upheaval.

If there were grudges between Grandmasters, the impact would be too great and would echo far into the future.

Now that it was clear this was merely a dispute over the Earth Dragon Pearl, it was easier to handle.

After thinking for a moment, he returned to the desk and had Zou Fang grind the ink. Taking up his brush, he wrote several sheets in one go, blew on them, slipped them into an envelope, and sealed it with wax.

At last, he handed it to Gao Lingfeng. "Lord Gao, submit this official memorial of mine to Director Langzhong."

"Yes." Gao Lingfeng solemnly nodded, accepted the envelope, clasped his fists, and departed.

Chu Zhiyuan let out a breath.

Since this involved a Grandmaster, an Assistant Director like himself was only a deputy and could not make decisions on his own.

Once he had clarified the full course of events and reported it to his superior, he had fulfilled the duties of an Assistant Director.

With his hands behind his back, he left the Ministry of Rites office and wandered out at an unhurried pace. As he walked, he came to a street he had never visited before.

Sanfu Street.

The Flying Flower Sword Sect disciples were temporarily residing here.

On his way there, Chu Zhiyuan took a detour and came near the location of the True One Cult's altar.

He had always wanted to determine whether these cults secretly cultivated the Path of Incense and Fire, and whether they were violating the Imperial Court's taboo.

The True One Cult's altar was a grand residence, spacious enough not to lose to Earthly Soil Hall. People came and went, and it was exceptionally lively.

The believers worshipped the One of the Great Dao.

All things in heaven and earth ultimately returned to One—the true One.

What the True One Cult pursued was the eternal Great Dao, the true source of all things: the One that gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to all things.

Everything in the world was but outward appearance. To find that One, one had to cast aside appearances, return to essence, seek the essence within essence, and find that purest, truest One.

The method of pursuing True One was the Contemplation Method.

Taking Bright Moon as the honored deity, one contemplated the present, contemplated the sea of the heart, contemplated the soul, thereby peeling away outward appearances layer by layer, seeing through the myriad phenomena, and beholding that sole One.

This method of contemplation used a bright moon as the object of visualization.

What the altar enshrined was a bright moon.

What Chu Zhiyuan saw was that this bright moon was no different from the moon in the night sky.