That's the end of it.
"Wait a moment." The elder of Medicine Immortal Valley staggered to his feet, found his disciple, and led her to the other side to refine the antidote. Wen Zheng followed to help.
Before long, Wen Zheng distributed the antidote to everyone. Seeing that some people were injured, she also found some medicine to help bandage them. When the antidote was distributed to the Qingchen Sect elder, he said to Wen Zheng, "Could you please call Mu Qing over for me?"
Wen Zheng looked at him in confusion. Did they really need someone to call Mu Qing over when they were so close?
She quickly finished distributing the antidote, walked to Mu Qing's side, and whispered, "An elder wants you to come over." She pointed to the Qingchen Sect elder who had recovered and was sitting and resting.
Mu Qing examined Xu Ximing's natal magic weapon, then handed the mirror to Wen Zheng, saying, "Take this and don't give it to anyone else. I'll be right back."
Wen Zheng nodded, holding the mirror. Just as she was about to find a place to rest for a while, her fingertip touched a pattern on the back of the mirror. She looked down at it and felt that the pattern looked familiar, but she couldn't remember it.
She glanced at everyone and spotted the sect leader of the Zhuxian Sect and the elder of Jianfeng resting under a tree. She quickly walked over. Hearing footsteps approaching, the two looked up and saw Wen Zheng carrying a mirror as she walked towards them.
The sect leader immediately noticed the familiar mirror in her arms, which was exactly the same as the mirror that was found when Qingling Daoist died.
"Sect Leader." Wen Zheng walked to the Sect Leader's side, holding the mirror, and pointed to the patterns on the back of the mirror, saying, "Does this look familiar?"
She was pointing to a pattern drawn with several circles, which looked exactly like the eyes of some kind of animal.
The sect leader took the mirror from Wen Zheng, his gaze falling on the strange patterns. He frowned and said, "This seems to be a totem of some kind of beast."
He touched the patterns on the back of the mirror, looked at it for a long time, and then put it down, saying to Wen Zheng, "I can't tell what this is, I can only tell that it is some kind of beast."
The totem pattern was too bizarre; he had never seen it before.
The sect leader returned the mirror to Wen Zheng and asked, "How was your trip to the demon realm?"
Holding the mirror, Wen Zheng suddenly remembered that she and Mu Qing had secretly run away from the sect to the demon race. She coughed lightly and said, "The seal in my body has been broken, and my cultivation speed has increased a lot."
The sect leader hummed in agreement and didn't ask any further questions. Seeing that he didn't intend to ask any more, Wen Zheng lowered her head and continued to examine the patterns on the back of the mirror.
It looks so familiar.
She traced the lines carefully, trying to recall, but couldn't remember. Just as she was about to put the mirror down and rest for a while, she heard a voice asking:
"You haven't regained your memory?"
Wen Zheng turned her head to look at her, puzzled, and asked, "What do you want to ask, Sect Leader?"
"You have a connection with Daoist Qingling, don't you?" The sect leader uttered these words lightly, his gaze fixed intently on her.
Wen Zheng remained calm, even showing a hint of doubt as she asked, "Wasn't Daoist Qingling long ago? What do you mean by that, Sect Leader?"
The sect leader shook his head and smiled, then suddenly spoke of himself: "Do you know why I was able to become the sect leader of the Immortal Pursuit Sect despite my low cultivation level?"
Wen Zheng: "...Huh?"
"My spiritual root is damaged, so I can't cultivate like an ordinary cultivator. I'm also the weakest among my fellow disciples. But I'm very good at divination and have never failed."
After the sect leader finished speaking, he turned to look at Wen Zheng: "I see that your karma is entangled with that of Daoist Qingling. Can you tell me why?"
His casual words sent a chill down Wen Zheng's spine. She tightened her grip, and the crack in the mirror gradually widened, emitting a soft cracking sound.
Tiny shards of the shattered mirror cut Wen Zheng's palm. She clicked her tongue in pain, pulled her hand back, and wiped the blood off her clothes.
Seeing that she remained silent, the sect leader did not press her, but asked about Xu Ximing: "Before you came, I cast a divination, and the divination said that you know about Xu Ximing."
The sect leader spoke with certainty, and Wen Zheng's lips moved as if she wanted to speak in defense, but the sect leader's confident expression stopped her.
She took a deep breath and calmed herself for a moment before asking, "Sect Leader, is your divination truly accurate?"
The sect leader nodded and said to Wen Zheng, "Xu Ximing's matter involves a wide range of issues. You can't win by fighting alone. I also want to know the reason for Qingling Daoist's death."
Since he had said that, Wen Zheng sighed and told him what she knew: "I think I can guess who is behind Xu Ximing."
The sect leader's eyes widened: "Who?"
Wen Zheng glanced at the disciples resting around her, silently uttering the name that weighed heavily on her heart:
Thousand Saints Palace.
The sect leader's expression changed drastically, and Elder Jianfeng asked in astonishment, "Are you sure? This is no small matter."
The current Immortal Alliance was spearheaded by the Thousand Saints Palace. Its strength ranks first among all sects, yet it never interferes in the affairs of the Immortal Sects and has even delegated power to other sects several times.
Is this seemingly kind-hearted person really the mastermind behind everything?
“I’m sure,” Wen Zheng said firmly. “However, to find out the secret, we might have to go and look for clues.”
She knew who was behind it all, but she didn't understand why Qian Sheng Palace was doing this.
What exactly is the Thousand Saints Sect trying to do by creating a Longevity Sect and capturing talented disciples from all over the immortal sects?
The sect leader also asked this question, then looked at Wen Zheng: "Do you have any clues?"
Wen Zheng shook her head: "I don't understand what Qian Sheng Palace is trying to do either."
Elder Jianfeng, listening to their conversation, interjected, "I still don't believe it, how could it be..."
He lowered his voice, his tone full of suspicion. There was no reason for a major sect like Thousand Saints Palace to do such a thing. Was Wen Zheng lying to him?
He turned his suspicious gaze to Wen Zheng and asked, "Do you have any evidence?"
Wen Zheng shook her head: "No."
Elder Jianfeng sneered, "The crime of falsely accusing the immortal sect is no small matter."
"..." Wen Zheng was silent for a moment, then said, "I just don't have concrete evidence to prove it."
Elder Jianfeng turned his face away, refusing to listen to what she was saying.
The sect leader patted him on the shoulder and said to Wen Zheng, "I believe you, but no one will believe you if you say something without evidence. Instead, you'll just drag yourself down with you."
The position of Qian Sheng Palace in the immortal sects is unshakeable. If Wen Zheng is accused of being from Qian Sheng Palace based solely on suspicion, she will likely not fare well.
“I know, that’s why I want to go.” Wen Zheng said, lowering her eyes. Her cooperation with Qingling Daoist could not possibly be a simple escape from the clutches of Qian Sheng Palace. Given her personality, it would be impossible for her not to retaliate.
She must have left a backup plan at Qian Sheng Palace.
After pondering for a long time, the sect leader nodded and said, "You may go, but if anything goes wrong, you must not implicate the Immortal Pursuit Sect."
"Of course."
Wen Zheng never intended to drag the Zhuxian Sect into this mess. This was a personal matter between her and the Qiansheng Palace. Although she didn't know what kind of grudge she had with the Qiansheng Palace, this was none of anyone else's business, and there was no need to drag others into it.
The sect leader hummed in agreement and then fell silent, sitting to the side with his eyes closed to rest.
Holding Xu Ximing's mirror, Wen Zheng's mind was filled with many things: Li Ruyue's letter, the withered tree in the mirror, and the wooden bracelet on her wrist.
What was all this trying to tell her, or what clues and information did she leave for herself?
Wen Zheng couldn't figure it out, so she sat in front of the mirror, lost in thought, and slowly fell asleep.
On the other side, Mu Qing and the Qingchen Sect elder went to a secluded corner, where the Qingchen Sect elder took out a withered black object and handed it to Mu Qing.
"What is this?" Mu Qing asked, holding the black object whose original appearance was unrecognizable.
The Qingchen Sect elder, still recovering from his injuries, sat down against the wall, panting heavily, and said, "The dried-up Jianmu tree, I broke it off when Xu Ximing locked us in the mirror."
The world in the mirror was chaotic, and his mind was still not clear, but he still saw the broken pieces of Jianmu wood in the chaos.
The Qingchen Sect elder had lived for many years and was often called an old monster by his friends. He had seen many things, including the Jianmu tree that collapsed a thousand years ago.
Mu Qing opened his palm, his gaze fixed on the Jianmu wood block lying in his hand, his tightly pursed lips revealing his complex emotions.
“The Jianmu tree collapsed a thousand years ago, and its wood was divided and consumed by various tribes long ago. It’s impossible for it to still be here today,” Mu Qing said in a deep voice, gripping the black wooden block tightly.
The Qingchen Sect elder coughed twice, patted his chest to catch his breath, and said, "I know you don't believe me, but my master once obtained a piece of Jianmu wood. I saw it with my own eyes, so there's no way I'm wrong."
The Jianmu tree can communicate with the gods, allowing people to ascend to heaven in one step. The heavenly laws and spiritual power it contains are unimaginable to ordinary people. The first thing that the group that divided up the Jianmu did after obtaining it was to refine and absorb it, leaving very few Jianmu trees in the world.
Someone once wanted to recreate the Jianmu tree and spent a lot of money to buy a piece of Jianmu. In less than three days, the Jianmu disappeared, and the person who bought it also disappeared.
However, Xu Ximing's mirror contained dead Jianmu wood chunks, and he saw quite a lot of them. How could Xu Ximing, a mere sect leader, obtain so many Jianmu wood?
“Very few people who obtained the Jianmu tree back then are still alive. Why don’t you investigate in that direction?” said the Qingchen Sect elder.
With Xu Ximing dead, all clues have been cut off. To find out the truth, we probably have to start with the Jianmu wood blocks.
Mu Qing held the wooden block, pondered for a moment, and asked, "Years ago, did anyone from the immortal sects report the disappearance of a disciple?"
He always felt that Jianmu was not the key point; he should start by investigating the disappearance of his disciples.
The Qingchen Sect elder thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No one has ever mentioned the disappearance of a disciple. Do you suspect there is an inside agent within the sect?"
Mu Qing nodded, her tone indifferent: "It's not a suspicion, but there are spies from the Longevity Sect within the Immortal Sect."
The fact that so many disciples went missing without a single person suspecting anything proves that the mastermind behind it all is extraordinary and capable of evading everyone in the immortal sect. He suspects that there is more than one inside agent.
Mu Qing thought of the highly respected elders in the immortal sect, their disdainful looks and contemptuous attitudes, and her heart sank.
"Let's leave Xu Ximing's case here for now. It's not appropriate to let the immortal sects investigate further," Mu Qing said to the Qingchen Sect elder.
The Qingchen Sect elder nodded: "I will send someone to investigate this matter privately. We will pin the blame for kidnapping disciples from various sects on Xu Ximing to lower the guard of our inside accomplices."
They haven't even found out who's behind Xu Ximing, so the best course of action is to remain inactive.
After they finished talking, the Qingchen Sect elder called a disciple to help him to rest. Mu Qing watched him leave, her eyes lowered as she looked at the Jianmu wood block in her hand.
The matter seems to involve more and more things.
After pondering for a long time, Mu Qing put away the Jianmu wood blocks and turned to find Wen Zheng.
At this moment, Wen Zheng was fast asleep, hugging the mirror. The mirror, now without its owner, was dim and lifeless, unable to reflect any image. The bloodstains Wen Zheng had left in the crack of the mirror were absorbed by it; the red light flashed on the surface for a moment before disappearing.
The red light shone on Wen Zheng, and she, who was in a light sleep, fell into a deep sleep. Her hand, which had been resting on the mirror, loosened and fell down.
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