Chapter 489: Better to Do It Now Than Later

This was not the first time Duan Rong had come to Cuiwei Peak.

After he had just left the Tower Forest and become an official Inner Sect Disciple, he had paid his respects to the successive ancestors of the Sect here at the Taiyi Pavilion on Cuiwei Peak.

However, this was the first time Duan Rong had seen the Elder Council on Cuiwei Peak.

The Taiyi Pavilion and Longyu Hall were at the mountain peak, while the Elder Council was located in a shaded mountain hollow.

As Duan Rong stepped onto the worn stone stairs covered in moss and ferns and arrived at a platform in the hollow, he was shocked by a massive, peculiar building not far away.

It was a stone-masonry structure; the enormous stone pillars seemed like a single entity, and the magnificent roof was carved with intricate patterns.

In the shadows between the stone pillars, one could see a few scattered Maids in bright clothing carrying wooden trays, moving in and out...

There was not a single Guard to be seen around the entire building, but the moment Duan Rong stepped onto the platform, several powerful Divine Senses swept across him in an intersecting pattern.

Duan Rong's heart tightened as he walked slowly toward the stone building, which looked like a primitive giant beast.

He walked along the stone-pillared Corridor for more than half a circle before he found the entrance.

At the entrance, the threshold was high, and several capable middle-aged Attendants were already standing there.

The Attendant guarding the door closest to Duan Rong, seeing that Duan Rong's face was unfamiliar, immediately revealed a look of vigilance and asked, "Please present your Sect Cloud Token."

Duan Rong took out the Sect Cloud Token and handed it over. The Attendant glanced at it and immediately smiled, "Master Duan, please follow me."

This person clearly knew that Duan Rong was coming today.

Duan Rong exerted his movement technique, jumped over the high threshold, and stood beside the Attendant. The Attendant returned the Sect Cloud Token to Duan Rong and said, "I will first take Master Duan to the back hall to wait. The Elders will be discussing matters in the front hall in a moment; when they call for Master Duan, you may come over then."

Hearing this, Duan Rong nodded slightly.

The middle-aged Attendant led Duan Rong along the edge toward the inside.

The black obsidian marble floor beneath their feet was as reflective as a mirror. Soon, they passed the place where matters were discussed; it was a huge, oval-shaped Stone Table. Surrounding the Stone Table was a circle of massive Stone Chairs.

Duan Rong asked, "Is this where the Elders discuss matters?"

The Attendant walked with quick steps and replied upon hearing this, "Exactly!"

The Attendant led Duan Rong into a space behind the discussion area.

It was called a space because it was surrounded by four pillars, but it had no surrounding walls and was open.

It was not just this space that was like this; the place where the Elders discussed matters was the same.

Within the entire Elder Council, there was no such thing as a private space; everything was open...

Inside that space, tables, chairs, and Artifacts were all complete, and there were many pleasing ornaments. In a celadon vase on the Stone Table were inserted a few fresh flowers that were half-open and half-closed, their petals dripping with dew.

Even though Duan Rong had long since identified hundreds of herbs through the Devouring Artifact Spirit, he did not know what kind of flowers these were for a moment.

The middle-aged Attendant led Duan Rong to sit down and bowed, saying, "Master Duan may rest here for a while. If you need anything, you may go to the door and call for me."

Duan Rong smiled, "Many thanks!"

"You are too kind, Master!" The Attendant bowed again and turned to leave.

Duan Rong sat there, but he kept looking at the flowers not far away. The more he looked, the more curious he felt. "Isn't it late autumn now? How can there still be such vibrant flower buds?"

He stood up and walked to the celadon vase on the Stone Table, leaned over, and sniffed the flowers. A faint, refreshing fragrance filled his heart.

Duan Rong took a flower bud out of the celadon vase, wanting to examine its branches and leaves carefully.

The moment he pulled the flower bud away from the celadon, in the blink of an eye, the fragrant branch in his hand instantly withered; the flowers faded, the leaves turned yellow, and they drifted away with the wind.

Duan Rong was stunned and stood there, not knowing what had happened.

Just then, a Maid wearing a scallion-green water dress walked in carrying a wooden tray. Seeing Duan Rong standing there blankly with a withered branch in his hand, she smiled and said, "That thing cannot leave the porcelain bottle; it withers once it leaves the bottle!"

As the Maid spoke, she placed the tea and snacks from the wooden tray onto the table.

Duan Rong stared blankly at the bright-smiling Maid and asked, "It withers if it leaves the porcelain bottle?"

"Yes," the Maid smiled, pursing her lips.

Duan Rong looked at the withered branch in his hand and the vibrant branches in the celadon bottle nearby. Life and death, separated by mere inches! This contrast seemed to reveal something eerie, and he couldn't help but ask, "Why is that?"

"This..." The Maid frowned slightly. It was clear she did not understand this question very well, but she still tried to answer, "It seems they say there is some kind of rune inside the celadon bottle that can lock the vitality within the branches."

"A rune?"

Duan Rong's expression shifted. He remembered the faint, flickering runes on the Yinlu Cicada. He remembered Zhu He telling him at the time that those were Seed Characters. He wondered if the runes inside this porcelain bottle were the same thing.

Duan Rong held the withered branch in his hand, feeling slightly hesitant.

The Maid over there seemed to have sensed Duan Rong's thoughts. She walked over with the empty tray and said as she walked, "Master, give me that withered branch!"

Duan Rong smiled slightly and placed the withered branch into the Maid's tray. Then, the Maid picked up the withered petals and leaves that had fallen on the ground and placed them on the tray as well, before bowing to Duan Rong and walking away slowly.

Duan Rong sat there and took a sip of tea. At this moment, as he glanced at the branches in the celadon bottle again, his state of mind had changed drastically.

Being able to lock the vitality of the branches! Could it be Law Power?

Just as Duan Rong was thinking this, he suddenly saw Zhu He walk out from over there. The moment Zhu He saw Duan Rong, the next instant, he was already standing before Duan Rong like a ghost.

Duan Rong was startled and almost choked on his tea.

Zhu He looked at Duan Rong and said, "It might get extremely noisy during the discussion later. Just say your piece, state the facts, and don't say anything unnecessary."

Duan Rong looked at Zhu He's solemn expression and said, "This disciple understands."

Zhu He grunted and then left.

Duan Rong sat there, pondered the meaning of Zhu He's words, and picked up a piece of snack to eat.

He hadn't even finished the snack when he heard noisy human voices coming from the discussion in the front hall. After a while, he heard the sound of a Copper Chime.

But after the sound of the Copper Chime, the noisy human voices did not subside; they remained chaotic.

Duan Rong shook his head and thought to himself, "How are these Sect Elders like elementary school students, so messy, without organization or discipline."

But at that moment, the noisy human voices stopped abruptly, and the entire space suddenly became quiet. For a split second, Duan Rong felt a sense of vertigo, as if he had suddenly gone deaf.

It was the feeling of sound being completely pulled away from his ears.

Duan Rong slid down from his chair and looked around somewhat uneasily. Just then, he saw an old Attendant turn out from that side and walk toward where Duan Rong was.

The moment the old Attendant turned out, Duan Rong clearly heard footsteps. They were the only sounds of footsteps in the silent space.

Surprise still lurked in Duan Rong's eyes as the old Attendant walked over slowly, stopped before Duan Rong, and said with a smile, "Lord Duan, please follow me to the front hall."

Duan Rong's gaze shifted, and he followed the old Attendant with quick steps, his eyes sweeping over the old Attendant from time to time.

The two turned past the pillar in front, and Duan Rong was suddenly stunned; he saw the massive oval stone table not far away, with the Sect Elders already seated around it. Looking from his position, he could see an old man whose name he did not know, speaking about something with spit flying everywhere, but strangely, even though Duan Rong was so close and the old man was speaking quite vigorously—almost shouting—he could not hear a single sound.

It was just like watching a silent film, but he was in reality, and the scene before him was indescribably bizarre.

The loudest sounds in his ears here were the footsteps of himself and the old Attendant beside him.

Their feet stepped on the obsidian marble surface, producing crisp, pleasant sounds.

Duan Rong's gaze shifted; he had just wanted to ask the old Attendant a question, but after he took half a step forward, he was suddenly enveloped by a cacophony of noise.

Duan Rong was suddenly stunned, and his body could not help but pause slightly.

Seeing Duan Rong's figure pause, the old Attendant turned around, pointed to the top of his head, and explained, "After the Copper Chime is struck, this side of the meeting area is covered by a Sound Isolation Wall..."

"A Sound Isolation Wall?" Duan Rong looked at the empty space all around, especially where he was standing—there was absolutely nothing there!

Duan Rong knew that where he stood was the location of the Sound Isolation Wall; he would be in a cacophony if he stepped half a step forward, and in silence if he stepped half a step back.

"Lord Duan, please!" The old Attendant looked at Duan Rong with a smile.

Only then did Duan Rong continue to follow the old Attendant toward the massive oval stone table.

Whether it was the Porcelain Bottle that could lock away the vitality of branches or this empty Sound Isolation Wall, both gave Duan Rong immense shock. This shock was no less than witnessing the battle between Gu Daoling, Ge Rusong, and the others outside Shenyun Prefecture with his own eyes.

After all, he was still only in the Qi Refining Realm, his cultivation level low; the many wonders of cultivation were far from what he could understand at this moment.

The old Attendant led Duan Rong to the massive oval stone table, and the noisy sound of arguing had weakened significantly.

Duan Rong stood there, his gaze sweeping over the many faces, some familiar and some strange, seated around the huge stone table; at this moment, they all looked at him in unison.

Duan Rong then discovered that on the open ground beside Chu Qiushan, many open crates were placed, and those crates were filled with neatly arranged booklets.

Duan Rong's gaze shifted slightly; he clearly saw the crate containing the recorded materials of officials of the third rank and above.

The process of recounting the case was just as Zhu He had instructed him before; several people were indeed arguing very fiercely, and after listening for a while, Duan Rong realized they were from Ge Rusong's faction, though they were not trying to absolve Ge Rusong of his crimes, but rather pushing all the blame onto him.

While arguing, they would occasionally ask Duan Rong a few questions.

Afterward, Yang Sixuan asked Duan Rong several more questions in succession, from the Taihe Tower incident to Pei Du and Jiang Zhe surrounding and killing him in the dense forest, and then to meeting Ge Rusong at the Lingzhen Taoist Temple in the outskirts of Shenyun Prefecture.

Yang Sixuan peeled back the layers, tirelessly asking about many details. He would often ask a question, and then, following Duan Rong's answer, ask layer after layer until it was completely clear.

Duan Rong answered fluently, replying truthfully to everything.

In the end, Yang Sixuan even asked Duan Rong about the mysterious death of Li Shensi as if it were an afterthought. He asked if, while Duan Rong was secretly investigating the spies, he had noticed any movements from those who plotted to kill Li Shensi.

Duan Rong's expression remained unchanged, saying only that when he was investigating spies, he had not discovered any relevant clues regarding the matter of Li Shensi.

Yang Sixuan stared at Duan Rong for a moment before stopping the questioning.

After Yang Sixuan finished, Lin Youjian also asked Duan Rong a few questions.

After Ge Rusong fell from grace, Chu Qiushan had already appointed Lin Youjian to replace Ge Rusong as the head of the Office of Transmission.

Yang Sixuan and Lin Youjian were the two Elders with the least seniority in the Sect's Elder Council, yet Chu Qiushan valued them highly. Furthermore, this Lin Youjian was a woman, yet Chu Qiushan still let her take charge of the extremely important Office of Transmission. From this, one could see Chu Qiushan's style of employing people.

After the two asked their questions, some other Elders asked Duan Rong a few scattered questions.

Duan Rong answered them one by one.

In fact, before Duan Rong returned to the mountain, they had already discussed it several times; summoning Duan Rong back to the mountain was merely to verify a few questions.

After Duan Rong was interrogated for a long time, those Elders began to whisper to each other, but no one made things difficult for Duan Rong again.

At this time, Chu Qiushan finally asked Duan Rong to recount the entire process of the Taihe Tower incident, the incident where Pei Du and Jiang Zhe surrounded and killed him in the dense forest, and the Ge Rusong incident.

Duan Rong sighed; he had basically already told the story once while answering those previous questions.

But since Sect Master Chu requested it, Duan Rong had no choice but to recount the process of all three cases again. He only stopped when his mouth was dry and he had finished telling it all.

Only then did Chu Qiushan beckon to the old Attendant standing over there.

The old Attendant walked over and whispered, "Lord Duan, this way."

Duan Rong followed the old Attendant as he walked out, and as he walked, he heard Chu Qiushan say behind him, "Comparing what you asked with what Duan Rong just recounted himself, there are no errors or omissions. These three cases are supported by ironclad evidence. As for the people implicated in the confessions of Ge Rusong, Pei Du, and Jiang Zhe, I do not think we should listen to their one-sided words..."

By the time Duan Rong heard this, he had already stepped out of the Sound Isolation Wall with the old Attendant, and he did not know what Chu Qiushan said afterward. However, just listening to the last sentence, it was clear that other people were implicated in the confessions of Ge Rusong, Pei Du, and Jiang Zhe. It was just that Chu Qiushan's meaning seemed to be that he did not want to pursue it any further.

The person in Ge Rusong's camp who was truly competing with Zhu He for the position of the next Sect Master was Lv Zhongtang, of the Sect Ancestor's bloodline.

It was likely that the person implicated in the confessions of Ge Rusong and Jiang Zhe was this Lv Zhongtang.

But even as Sect Master, Chu Qiushan did not dare to easily move against the bloodline of the Sect Ancestor, and furthermore, there was only a confession and no physical evidence; who knew if Ge Rusong and the others were just biting randomly to absolve themselves?

However, these matters were left for the Elders to argue about and no longer concerned him; Duan Rong walked to the previous spot feeling lighthearted.

He looked at the old Attendant and asked, "The case has been recounted; can I leave now?"

The old Attendant shook his head and said, "Not yet, my Lord! You must wait until the meeting is over before you can leave. What if the Elders call for you again later?"

After the old Attendant finished speaking, he bowed to Duan Rong and turned to leave.

Duan Rong sighed helplessly and sat there bored; after the old Attendant's footsteps disappeared, there was silence in his ears again.

After he ate two pieces of dim sum, he had no further interest.

Duan Rong sat there for a while, and since there was nothing to do, he took the animal skin Secret Manual of the Mountain River Moon Shadow Blade from his lapel and spread it out on the table to read.

In his Divine Sense memory, he already had the entire delicate process of practicing the Mountain River Moon Shadow Blade; at this moment, Duan Rong mobilized the memory in his Divine Sense and compared it one by one with the content in the Secret Manual before him.

Duan Rong watched for a while, and the Gray Shadow sitting cross-legged in the center of the Cangqiong within his Spirit Sea suddenly had the Blade Shadow on its forehead brighten; at the same time, light flickered from points within the Gray Shadow's body, on its chest and abdomen.

At this moment, the Artistic Conception of the Mountain River Moon Shadow Blade was rising in Duan Rong's heart of its own accord.

And at the very moment that Artistic Conception rose, as if by a calling, the twisted, curved seal-script character for "blade" that Gu Daoling had written by hand in Zhu He's room yesterday suddenly surfaced in Duan Rong's heart.

The moment that bizarre character appeared, Duan Rong's mind was captured, and the Artistic Conception of the Mountain River Moon Shadow Blade in his heart also began to undergo subtle changes.

Just then, the Qi in Duan Rong's dantian began to circulate involuntarily, and it circulated faster and faster, like a rushing river, surging toward the acupoints and barriers in his meridians.

"This is..."

Duan Rong's eyes were filled with shock.

Following the subtle changes in the Artistic Conception of the Mountain River Moon Shadow Blade, the Qi Cyclone Realm technique he had devoured was now circulating on its own...

"This is Vortex Formation!"

This time, Duan Rong's perception was still very different from when he was in Zhu He's room; back then, he could not perceive his own existence at all, but now he could clearly perceive the subtle changes within his own body.

He understood that as long as he set his mind to it, he could immediately terminate this accidentally triggered Vortex Formation and wait until he was prepared later to attempt the Vortex Formation Realm.

But for some reason, Duan Rong had a feeling that he would certainly be able to break through in one go during this Vortex Formation.

"Forget it! There is no time like the present!"

"This is it!"

(End of this chapter)