By the time they heard this, Elder Hao and the other two were sighing with emotion as well. The Second Ancestor had ultimately vanished too. Had he already perished during his ascent?
Most likely, that was indeed the outcome. Whether or not he had ascended to the Immortal-Spirit Realm, based on Sima Lai's account and the Third Ancestor's past descriptions,
they could all tell that the Second Ancestor had an exceedingly stubborn temperament. Precisely because of that, the final outcome could actually be guessed.
Since the Second Ancestor had never returned afterward to seek revenge against the "Sun-Veiling Clan," that alone was enough to explain everything.
As for that convenient entrance which had always been forbidden from use, whether it had truly been reserved solely for the Great Ancestor, as the Second Ancestor claimed, there was no way to verify it.
Given the Second Ancestor's temperament, even if he harbored regret, he would never have voiced it.
Otherwise, they could have learned from Sima Lai what the Second Ancestor's final attitude toward the Third Ancestor had been—whether he had accepted him after coming to regret his actions, or whether he had never forgiven him at all.
The Third Ancestor's iron scroll and jade tome had been hidden somewhere unknown by the Third Ancestor, or perhaps destroyed outright.
If Elder Hao had possessed it, he would only have needed to return to that valley as Li Yan had done before and test it with the iron scroll and jade tome.
If it could likewise enter this place, that would mean the Second Ancestor had not altered the formation and had still preserved the Third Ancestor's original authority to activate the restrictions with his iron scroll and jade tome.
That would mean his attitude toward the Third Ancestor had not reached the