"At the time, all three of us were doing everything we could to memorize those cultivation manuals. Because the manuals were crumbling, our Commanding Heaven and Earth Momentum demanded almost all our concentration, and we overlooked what Huo Lian was doing," Fan Xiu said. "I think that was when Huo Lian obtained the second part."
"That conjecture isn't convincing," Wang Mizong said, shaking his head.
"Do you remember that there were three manuals in the Stone Box?" Fan Xiu asked.
"Yes, each of us memorized one. Is there a problem with that?" Zhu Fanjiang asked.
"I feel that my cultivation manual was similar to the manuals outside. It wasn't important enough to be placed separately in the Stone Box," Fan Xiu said.
"You mean...?" Zhu Fanjiang's expression changed.
"Is it possible that Huo Lian swapped out the real cultivation manual inside?" Fan Xiu asked.
"Surely not?" Wang Mizong exclaimed.
Zhu Fanjiang pondered for a moment before saying, "According to you, Huo Lian used one of the manuals outside to replace the second part of the Heavenly Evil Imperishable Art? Stealing the beams and replacing the pillars?"
"Wait," Wang Mizong said. "That actually makes a lot of sense. The manuals inside were already rotten. Once Huo Lian finished reading his, it disintegrated. We had no way of knowing which manual had actually been inside. Our attention was all on recording the cultivation methods then. It would have been easy for Huo Lian to do this without us noticing."
"Could Huo Lian really have destroyed the second part of the Heavenly Evil Imperishable Art?" Zhu Fanjiang murmured.
"That must be it. After reading it, Huo Lian destroyed the manual and substituted one from outside so we wouldn't notice, hoping to slip it past us!" At this point, anger appeared on Wang Mizong's