Contrary to what many had expected, in the end they failed to catch that fiend, he still managed to escape.

Although he took another arrow from Chu Yu.

Some of the Celestial Master Mansion disciples grew even more suspicious of the Chu Clan's Master Chu.

Others felt a chill in their hearts.

*If Chu Yu hadn't gone easy, then this escaped fiend's strength was truly not to be underestimated.*

*Could he actually be a powerhouse of the Upper Three Realms?*

*Who could it be?*

*If he truly possessed Upper Three Heavens cultivation, then why bother troubling the Dragon Tiger Mountain disciples of the Lower Three Heavens?*

"Interesting, I didn't expect to run into something like this."

Although the man had gotten away, Chu Yu didn't feel defeated.

Chu Andong's condition was unstable, so Chu Kun and the others stayed behind to care for him.

To guard against mishaps, Chu Yu didn't give full chase, but instead returned to regroup with the other Chu clansmen.

Facing his clanmates' gazes, Chu Yu shook her head, "It was definitely someone with Upper Three Heavens cultivation, and not a mediocre one at that. The guy was trying his best to conceal his true skills—otherwise, if he'd let himself go, even if he still couldn't beat me, he'd have had enough power to put up a fight."

Chu Kun and the others were startled by this.

People of that caliber, looking out across the world, were basically all renowned figures with titles.

*Who would stoop so low as to play such sneaky tricks?*

*And why would they do it?*

"Was it also this person who killed Senior Brother Li Zhenchang?" Chu Kun couldn't help but ask.

Chu Yu pulled the bone thumb ring from her finger, "I didn't see it with my own eyes, so I can't answer that. But..."

She looked out the cloud car window, "I have a feeling it wasn't."

Chu Kun fell silent.

*From what Chu Yu said, he seemed to sense new dark clouds gathering densely above Dragon Tiger Mountain.*

"We're heading back to the South first. After you return to the mountain, watch yourself," Chu Yu said.

Chu Kun, "Yes..."

......

Liang Chen, Li Kong, and the others returned empty-handed on this trip, and their moods grew even heavier.

It wasn't just because the enemy got away, but also because they all felt that the truth behind this was anything but simple.

Others were having similar discussions in private.

But even as they discussed, there was a sense of relief among them.

If the Chu clan members hadn't happened to be leaving Dragon Tiger Mountain and Xinzhou, setting out in the same direction, then this hunt for the fiend could have turned out disastrous.

Because that enemy might have already reached the Upper Three Heavens Realm.

Even among the people present, including Liang Chen at the Sixth Heavenly Layer, none could match that strength.

Afterward, everyone guessed that the fiend had likely planned an ambush, hoping to wipe them all out at once.

The only reason he had been startled into breaking through and fleeing wasn't because he feared Liang Chen and the others, but because he had sensed Chu Yu's presence, which forced him to abandon his original plan.

This realization gave everyone a lingering sense of dread in hindsight.

*They really had gotten a bit too complacent on this trip.*

*The peaceful couple of years recently had left everyone's nerves a little too relaxed... Liang Chen, Li Kong, and the others silently reflected on this within.*

*For something so vicious to erupt right on their doorstep probably meant Dragon Tiger Mountain's days of peace were coming to an end again.*

Lei Jun was among the crowd, coming and going with everyone as they all returned to the mountain gate together.

After returning to the mountain and bidding farewell to Li Kong, Liang Chen, and the rest, he planned to visit his own master, Yuan Mobai.

Yet he heard that Yuan Mobai was currently entertaining a guest.

Wang Guiyuan, as his master's only disciple on the mountain, was in attendance with him for now.

"Who's the guest?" Lei Jun asked the fellow Taoist of the sect.

The other answered, "His Highness Prince Wu of the Great Tang has arrived."

When Lei Jun heard this, he raised his brows a little.

*An unexpected guest, though not entirely out of reason.*

Prince Wu, along with Emperor Zhang Qilong and the current Empress Zhang Wantong, were all cousins.

After Emperor Zhang Qilong passed, there had been a bout of controversy over the new emperor.

Prince Wu's name had also been mentioned by some.

But in the end, the throne still fell to the Empress.

After her ascension, the former competitors had all kept especially low profiles for a while now.

Rumor had it that Prince Wu closed his doors to visitors, spending his days reading, copying Buddhist scriptures, and cultivating his character.

It wasn't until this New Year's that he opened his residence again, receiving and entertaining guests.

The Great Tang did not forbid the feudal princes from leaving their fiefs.

However, such cases were extremely rare.

Prince Wu also hadn't left the Land of Wu and Yue for many years.

Now, with his departure, he journeyed in person to Dragon Tiger Mountain.

*The implications here definitely set the mind to wandering.*

Lei Jun suddenly thought of that moderately unlucky lot.

*It hinted at no immediate danger, but possible latent troubles.*

*This so-called future trouble—could it be referring to His Highness Prince Wu?*

Lei Jun's mouth twitched slightly.

*If that's the case, then Wang Guiyuan might have taken the bullet for him.*

*If Lei Jun had stayed on the mountain, he'd be either accompanying Yuan Mobai to meet Prince Wu, or else both senior and junior brothers would have to go together.*

But now…

*Senior brother, sometimes trouble finds you even if you don't go looking for it.*

*Steadiness is usually a virtue, but in this mortal world, there will always be exceptions.*

*All he could do now was hope that different people had different fates, that the supposed latent trouble wouldn't fall on you...* Lei Jun muttered a guilty, silent prayer: Blessed Unbounded Heavenly Venerate, for Wang Guiyuan's sake.

Unfortunately, the prayer didn't work.

When Lei Jun saw Wang Guiyuan again, his senior brother wore a series of helpless smiles.

"What happened?" Lei Jun asked.

Wang Guiyuan sighed, "Nothing big, really—just that His Highness Prince Wu wants to hold a Buddhist and Taoist gathering in his own mansion, and has invited people from our sect to take part."

Lei Jun looked at him, "There's no way Master can leave now, so that means..."

Wang Guiyuan nodded with a bitter smile, pointing at himself, "Right. He said he wanted Elder Yuan's prominent disciples to attend."

With Lei Jun and Chu Kun both absent, Wang Guiyuan had nowhere to hide and was forced into the spotlight.

Luckily, Yuan Mobai shielded him as best as he could, and Wang Guiyuan himself refused multiple times, so the matter wasn't settled under Prince Wu's overwhelming enthusiasm.

It didn't necessarily mean they had offended His Highness Prince Wu just like that.

*Whatever thoughts he truly harbored, only Prince Wu himself knew.*

But without a doubt, Taoist Wang had been marked and remembered by Prince Wu.

This gave Wang Guiyuan a headache.

*That feeling of always having to guard against the thief—it's a pain.*

*All right, so there really was no danger immediately, but there could be hidden pitfalls later on...* Lei Jun looked at Wang Guiyuan with sympathy.

Still, his senior brother could take things philosophically and didn't let it change his usual attitude: "Bad luck once in a while is normal. As long as there's no real danger, it's all right, it's all right."

He returned early, but Yuan Mobai still had to continue working.

Prince Wu's visit was no small matter for Dragon Tiger Mountain these days.

Though at first only High Merit Elder Yuan Mobai received him, there would still be meetings with other peers to discuss the matter afterward.

As for Yuan Mobai himself, he had no intention of dragging Celestial Master Mansion into the vortex of imperial politics—Prince Wu really had given everyone a tough question.

Meanwhile, after learning the ins and outs of what happened at Slanting Star Peak, Yuan Mobai seemed all the more preoccupied.

Upon returning from the High Merit Pavilion, even the smile on his face had faded a lot.

"Chongyun, about what you saw and heard at Slanting Star Peak today, tell your master again in detail," Yuan Mobai instructed softly.

Lei Jun nodded and dutifully explained what he had witnessed to Yuan Mobai.

Except for glossing over his initial choice to join the hunt—saying he just wished to contribute to the sect—he reported everything else in full detail to his respected master.

Yuan Mobai listened closely.

When Lei Jun mentioned the accidental discovery of the mustard seed bag, he wasn't overly concerned, instead probing more into the clash between Chu Yu and that mysterious figure.

After Lei Jun finished, Yuan Mobai mused,

"Although Master Chu was worried about An and Zhong Guang and didn't go all out, overall, there was no sign of her holding back on purpose, nor did it sound like she tried to silence someone. Most likely, she just happened to be there by chance.

But as for the fiend, he didn't use all his abilities against Master Chu—clearly he intended to hide his identity."

Lei Jun and Wang Guiyuan listened quietly by the side.

*Deliberate concealment usually meant there were plans afoot, or maybe his real identity was well known to all...*

"What was in that mustard seed bag?" Yuan Mobai finally asked.

Lei Jun took out the mustard seed bag, "Honestly, Master, I haven't had a chance to open it yet—only that there's an uncanny chill coming from it, quite mysterious."

When he opened the Buddhist sect's mustard seed bag, a cold aura instantly filled the room, turning it bitterly chilly inside.

Peering into the bag, it seemed as if bright moonlight shone through, making it all the more cold and clear.

Lei Jun looked closely at the mustard seed bag and saw that the inner space was mostly empty, save for a single, not terribly large round stone.

The stone was flat and perfectly round, like a giant Go piece, or like a round mirror, or like a full moon.

The entire stone was pale gray, giving off a dim, serene glow that made it unforgettable to behold.

Lei Jun felt the cold penetrate not just his physical body but as if it reached all the way to the spiritual soul within, bringing waves of chilling clarity.

He and Wang Guiyuan both stared at the round stone with curiosity and asked, a bit uncertain, "Master, is this the legendary Yin Moon Soul Stone?"

After a moment of studying it, Yuan Mobai nodded slowly, "Yes, this is indeed a Yin Moon Soul Stone. To find one with such quality, of this great size, is especially rare; it's been years since such a fine Yin Moon Soul Stone was seen in the world."

The three of them glanced at each other in silence for a moment.

As orthodox heirs of Dragon Tiger Mountain, they had all read the sect's texts and had broad horizons.

Yuan Mobai himself had even handled a similar spiritual object in his youth, though its size and quality hadn't matched this one.

The so-called Yin Moon Soul Stone was a pure yin spiritual object, gathering the purest yin essence of heaven and earth—extremely rare.

It wasn't altogether extinct, but remained exceedingly uncommon.

For practitioners of yin-oriented Taoist laws, this was one of the rarest treasures.

A heritage like Dragon Tiger Mountain that focused on both yin and yang harmony could also refine such a treasure.

However, alongside such peaceful uses, the Yin Moon Soul Stone also had a much more striking—and far more violent—application.

When targeting cultivators who practiced purely yang Taoist heritages, this treasure had miraculous effects.

In the current Great Tang cultivation world, the foremost example was, naturally, the other great Taoist holy land—Pure Yang Palace.

Thus for Pure Yang Palace, the Yin Moon Soul Stone was an absolute forbidden item.

In fact, in the early days, Pure Yang Palace cultivators would often hunt down and destroy any discovered Yin Moon Soul Stone.

For that mysterious person to be carrying such a top-grade Yin Moon Soul Stone, the possibilities were certainly thought-provoking.

"Master..."

Lei Jun now looked thoughtful as he turned to Yuan Mobai, "If we look deeper, besides Pure Yang Palace cultivators, isn't there someone else who'd be especially... concerned over this treasure?"

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