"Hmm? She's still alive?" A male voice echoed from the sky with a trace of surprise in it. Qi Qianxing's figure slowly emerged from the clouds.
Yun Qingrou arrived at Yun Qianxue's side and quickly assessed her condition. Upon seeing that she wasn't dead, she let out a sigh of relief, but the distress between her brows didn't diminish at all. Yun Qianxue's Profound Vein was completely shattered, and she had very little life force remaining. At this rate, she could only live for no more than 10 years.
Yun Ruanyu floated in the air, looking at Qi Qianxing with a solemn expression. She blamed herself for being careless, as she hadn't noticed Qi Qianxing's presence at all.
"What? Surprise?" Qi Qianxing looked at Yun Ruanyu with a playful smile. "Actually, your plan is nearly perfect. Sending Yun Meilan and Yun Lingwei to the Profound Sword Sect is a good plan. With their strength, killing everyone within the sect is not difficult at all. What surprised me even more is that you were able to predict my plan. As expected from the person I admired."
He then shook his head and continued, "Unfortunately, you didn't anticipate that Huo Yan would possess a divine-ranked weapon, which compelled Snow Cloud Fairy... Wait, that's incorrect, she is no longer a fairy." Qi Qianxing let out a faint laughter afterwards.
Yun Ruanyu's eyes turned cold. But she didn't become impulsive. She quickly activated the Grand Protection Formation by emptying the sect's Profound stones. With this, the barrier should be able to hold it for several days.
Qi Qianxing didn't launch any attack. Instead, he took out a table and a chair along with a spirit tea set and calmly brewing the tea.
Yun Ruanyu said nothing. She led everyone back to the main hall. At this moment, she could only hope for Yun Meilan, Yun Lingwei, and Yun Huanxin's group to come back in time.
***
"Can you tell me about the Poison Valley now?" Yun Lintian sat at a table in the secret room, accompanied by Yan Qi and Little Flame.
Yan Qi reluctantly took his eyes off the fragrant cup of tea on the table and turned to Yun Lintian with a serious expression. "To tell you about this, I have to start with the overall situation of this world first. As you probably know already that there are five continents. Have you ever heard of the phrase "Nine Palaces, Five Sects, and Two Pavilions"?"
Yun Lintian seemed to have thought of something, but in the end, he shook his head.
Yan Qi explained, "Nine Palaces refers to nine hegemonies who are in charge of this world. Except for the Central Continent, the other four continents each have only one palace overseeing their respective continent. The Blazing Sun Palace is located on the Eastern Continent. The Nine Profound Beast Palace is located on the Western Continent. The Divine Phoenix Palace of the Southern Continent. As for the Northern Continent, in the past, it was not the Frozen Moon Palace but the Misty Cloud Palace."
"Wait a minute! "You mean..." Yun Lintian interrupted Yan Qi, looking at him in amazement.
Yan Qi nodded. "That's right. The Misty Cloud Palace should now be called the Misty Cloud Sect."
Yun Lintian had an enlightened expression on his face. However, he felt that there was something wrong with this statement. If the Misty Cloud Sect was once the Misty Cloud Palace, how did some greedy people allow the sect to continue existing until now? Why wouldn't they come and rob the sect after several thousand years? And how did these sects, such as the Profound Sword Sect, Sacred Flame Sect, and Qi Royal Clan, not know this truth?
Yan Qi saw through Yun Lintian's thoughts. He smiled. "Do you believe there is someone strong enough to forcibly erase the history's record?"
Yun Lintian shook his head, disbelief written all over his face. How could that person do that? Erase memories from everyone? That's too ridiculous.
"It's understandable. Your journey in the profound way is too short. At most, you probably encounter some trash at the Ruler Profound Realm level and have never encountered anyone stronger than that." Yan Qi then pointed at himself, "Look at me. When I am still alive, I am unrivaled among monarchs. I can destroy half of the continent with my full strength. What about someone stronger than me? You could never imagine what they can do."
Yun Lintian rolled his eyes at Yan Qi's narcissistic behavior, but he couldn't help but acknowledge Yan Qi's later statement. Haven't I seen many characters with overpowered abilities in those novels before? Maybe forcibly erasing people's memories is not that unbelievable. He thought.
"No wonder. Some parts of my sect's history are missing." Yun Lintian muttered.
Yan Qi expressed his opinion. "In fact, you're wrong one thing. Don't forget that even though the Misty Cloud Palace had become the Misty Cloud Sect, their strength should not be underestimated. If I guessed correctly, they still had several Monarchs at that time. Hence, no one is stupid enough to try and rob them. As time passed and historical records were erased, only a few people knew that the Misty Cloud Sect was once known as the Misty Cloud Palace. I guess most of them have already died by now."
"You're right. I overlooked this case." Yun Lintian thought it made sense after pondering for a while.
Yan Qi suddenly asked, "I am really curious about this. How did you become a disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect?" He had wanted to ask this several times before, but Yun Lintian was always so busy. He couldn't find the right time to ask.
Yun Lintian looked at Yan Qi and pondered whether he should tell him the truth.
Yan Qi seemed to understand Yun Lintian. He smiled faintly. "You don't have to fear that I will tell anyone the secret. Look at me, I am merely a fleeting soul, destined to dissipate once you depart. Besides, I sacrificed my life to protect The Sun for you. Do you think I will harm you?"
Yun Lintian calmly analyzed the pros and cons before he finally decided to tell Yan Qi. "I don't know myself. It was said, there was a mysterious person brought me to the sect and told the current Sect Master to adopt me as her foster son. My godmother said that person should be stronger than a Monarch."
A strange light flashed across Yan Qi's eyes as he plunged into deep contemplation. A moment later, he asked, "Who could she be?"
Yun Lintian shook his head, as he had no clue about it either.
"Strange. Why did she put you in the Misty Cloud Sect? Did she want you to create a harem?" Yan Qi said jokingly with a perverted smirk.
Yun Lintian rolled his eyes. He replied in a joking manner. "It would be the best then, but I'm afraid my kidney is not strong enough."
"Brat! They are your fellow sisters and elders. How could you have such a filthy thought about them?" Yan Qi responded sternly. His current appearance resembled that of a seasoned senior imparting knowledge to a junior.
Yun Lintian was speechless... Weren't you the one who brought up this topic? Why did you suddenly change your expression?
Yan Qi had enough of the joke and changed the topic. "I'll continue with the previous topic. The Frozen Moon Palace was once a small sect under the Misty Cloud Palace. However, after that incident, they were raised and eventually became the present Frozen Moon Palace."
"What incident?" Yun Lintian asked.
"Here is the point. Around four thousand years ago, countless unknown profound beasts appeared out of nowhere and began to rampage. It wasn't just the Northern Continent, but they were everywhere on all five continents." Yan Qi replied.
"Profound Beast?" Yun Lintian was surprised.
Yan Qi didn't reply to Yun Lintian's question but continued, "These profound beasts had a distinct characteristic - their skins were as black as ink, and they emitted a deadly poison aura that did not exist in this world. At that time, all nine palaces, led by Azure Palace, had united and killed these profound beasts."
"As you know, when a profound beast reaches the Saint Profound Realm, it can transform itself into human form. When they found out, they couldn't resist the nine palaces any further. Some Monarch and Saint Profound Beasts had fled and secretly mated with human females. Later, they successfully gave birth to several half-beast, half-human creatures, and they became the Poison Valley that you know about."
Yun Lintian nodded his head. He then asked, "But how does the disappearance of the Misty Cloud Palace relate to this incident? Did they suffer heavy casualties or something?"
Yan Qi shook his head. "Actually, I don't know much about this either. At that time, everyone was busy with their own sect. No one paid much attention to others. When I heard about the Misty Cloud Palace again, it had already disappeared. It was at that moment I realized someone had deliberately erased the record of history."
Yun Lintian was disappointed. Suddenly, he remembered something and said, "My godmother mentioned that our sect's founder had disappeared around that time. Could it be because of this?"
"The founder of the Misty Cloud Sect?" Yan Qi was slightly confused, but then he nodded his head. "It's possible. I've met the founder of your sect once in the past. She is a stunning beauty, and her strength could be ranked among the most formidable powerhouses in the world. As for how she disappeared, this is the first time I've heard about it... How did she disappear?"
Both of them fell into silence for a while. Only the sound of Little Flame drinking the tea could be heard.
"So, you are the Palace Master of the Blazing Sun Palace?" Yun Lintian asked.
Yan Qi admitted, "Yes." Then a melancholy expression appeared on his face, "I don't know how the Blazing Sun Palace is doing now."
Yun Lintian took a sip of the tea, allowing the old man to reminisce without interrupting him, while his mind became filled with questions. He tried to connect the dots of history, but several pieces were still missing.