Upon entering another room, the expert did not use the fire-ignition martial art this time. Instead, he took out a stick of Bright Light Incense and used his spiritual power to make it glow.

The room wasn't large. Just as Chen Jing was wondering why this place could be called a library, the expert waved a bright incense stick at a row of wooden cabinets.

"Those are the sect's books. They contain records of magical techniques," the expert said.

Chen Jing looked at the row of wooden cabinets and felt inexplicably shabby.

The major sect of the state religion, is this all the books it has left?

"The eighth one from the left..." the expert counted, "That's the martial arts collection of the Shadow Sword Sect."

He took off a bunch of keys and handed one of them to Chen Jing.

Chen Jing was eager to open it, but the expert stopped him helplessly.

"You'll have time to look around later. I'll take you on a tour of this place first, so you can familiarize yourself with it."

Chen Jing had no choice but to be patient and continue following.

"This is a warehouse that stores some strategic materials. When Ash City was built, the resources inside were almost used up. Now there is only a little bit of dry food and seeds left."

"This is the sealed place. Originally, many spiritual artifacts and elixirs were sealed here, but don't look now, there's nothing inside. I'll give you the last five ballast stones as well."

And so, the expert led Chen Jing around, moving from place to place, occasionally introducing and explaining things. When it came to more complicated parts, he was worried that Chen Jing might not understand for a while, so he specifically told Chen Jing that he had written an operation manual and put it in the Shadow Sword Sect's bookshelf.

As Chen Jing listened, absorbing a great deal of information, his heart felt heavy.

Finally, after the expert finished introducing the main control room and told Chen Jing that the array hub here could close and open certain passage doors, Chen Jing couldn't help but ask:

"Master, is there anything you need to do after this?"

The tone was just like entrusting an orphan to someone.

Under normal circumstances, who would tell such a secret to a newcomer who has just joined the sect? Even their own disciple wouldn't do that!

“What follows will be very dangerous.” The expert said frankly, “You said that statue might be in Meijing City. If that’s true, then this enemy is really dangerous. None of us can guarantee that we will survive. You’ve just joined the Sword Pavilion. Even if you risk your life, you can’t change the course of the battle. So I want you to uphold the legacy.”

Chen Jing felt extremely uncomfortable listening to this.

These people are risking their lives for Chen Jing and the others. They are cultivators; if they really wanted to escape or leave, they could do it themselves.

Chen Jing didn't know what the statue meant in Meijing City. At first, he didn't even understand why the experts would subconsciously disbelieve him, even though they were willing to believe such a simple explanation as a dream.

Now he understood that if the core of the ceremony was in Meijing City, but its influence could reach Ash City, it meant that this disaster could not be accomplished by the Guardians fighting desperately; it was something they might not be able to accomplish even if they fought desperately. Everyone was prepared to fight to the death.

Chen Jing opened his mouth and asked, "Can't we take the people here and leave? If we save the land but lose the people, we will lose both the land and the people; if we save the people but lose the land, we will save both the land and the people."

Upon hearing this, the expert was somewhat taken aback, and then said, "Who taught you to say that? Pan Fengyu couldn't possibly have taught you to say something like that."

Chen Jing lied to himself and said, "It was my own idea."

"That old man said you were quick-witted and excellent. Now it seems you are indeed a promising talent, a very promising one," the expert said. "As for the option of taking the people of Ash City away, we have certainly considered it. But it is not feasible."

"It's very simple. We're no longer in the era of the War of Ruins. The Guardians have gone underground to carry out their clandestine activities, making it much harder for us to call on the people to leave as we used to. Even if we could, and even if the people were willing, we would still face many problems. For example, how do we provide food and lodging for the people who leave the city? Of course, these are not insurmountable problems. The more critical issue is that the enemy will stop us. They need enough people for their rituals and will not allow us to evacuate the people."

After listening to these words, Chen Jing thought about it for a moment and realized that there was really no way to help from the perspective of a guardian.

"So, what should we do?" Chen Jing asked.

“They will inevitably be presiding over the ceremony, and all we need to do is find the core of the ceremony and destroy it,” the expert said. “Our analysis suggests that the location of the Xiezhi sculpture is the core of the ceremony.”

"So, whether it's in Ash City or Meijing City is a very important question. Your reasoning may not be correct, but we only have one chance."

After listening, Chen Jing asked, "Then could we find the enemy before the ceremony and kill them?"

“There’s no way to find him.” The expert shook his head. “According to the information you got from the assassins, the mastermind Lu Gang is backed by a feng shui master. So there’s no way we could know where he is. A feng shui master can live a secluded life, fast for long periods, maintain flight, and stay away from people.”

"He can even convey orders through wind and rain, without ever appearing in person, remaining hidden behind the scenes, and still control the entire situation."

Using wind and rain to convey commands, long-term fasting, staying away from people... Chen Jing listened and felt a little scared.

If such an immortal being were an enemy, Chen Jing really wouldn't know how to deal with it. The people Chen Jing sees now, even those who are Qi Realm cultivators, are not entirely beyond his control. In fact, Chen Jing himself participated in killing a Qi Realm cultivator named "Angel." But what about this kind of immortal?

How can someone so high above, far removed from the mortal world, be killed?

Upon hearing this, Chen Jing suddenly recalled the time when he was exorcised by a powerful figure.

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