Chapter 198: Secret

As his words fell, he lightly flicked his robe sleeve.

The assassin leader, together with the corpses of the assassins on the ground, like dust swept up by a violent wind, instantly turned to flying ash, dissipating in the air, leaving not a trace. Together with all the yin-sha aura and residual formations they brought, it was also cleansed away. The interior returned to cleanliness, only a faint sandalwood scent, and the faint bloody and rotting odor emanating from the masked person's shoulder wound.

Ling Xiao then slowly turned his body.

His gaze first fell on Shi Ran, up and down he glanced, confirming she was unharmed, and that faint trace of extreme tension deep in her eyes quietly eased. Immediately, his gaze fell upon the blood-stained dark robe, the bronze mask still worn on the face of 'Xun Gu'.

His gaze was calm, yet it seemed able to pierce that cold bronze, staring directly at the soul behind it.

"It's you." Ling Xiao spoke, his tone without surprise, only a deep indifference: "Long time no see."

The masked person's body trembled slightly, after a moment of silence he slowly raised his hand, as if wanting to remove the mask on his face, but the motion halted halfway. In the end, he merely faced Ling Xiao through the mask, his voice hoarse:

"Yes…… long time no see…… senior brother."

Senior brother?!

These two words, like a thunderclap, exploded in the hearts of Gu Yusheng, Mei Ruoxue, and Shi Ran!

This core member of Earth Corrosion, the mysterious masked person codename 'Xun Gu', actually addressed the master as…… senior brother?!

Ling Xiao's expression remained unchanged, only his gaze seemed a bit colder: "Since you have already chosen to leave the mountain gate and fall into Earth Corrosion, there's no need to mention this 'senior brother' again."

The masked person, or rather, Ling Xiao's former junior disciple, upon hearing this, his shoulder wound seemed to hurt more; he gave a low laugh, his voice bitter: "Leaving? Falling? Senior brother, you are still so…… clear-cut on right and wrong, the righteous path stern. But how do you know that what I seek is not entirely wrong? Back then, master……"

"Shut up!" Ling Xiao interrupted him, his voice not loud but carrying a decisive chill: "The master's name and the Dao lineage are not for you to defile today."

The masked person was momentarily speechless, black blood seeping more from his shoulder wound, his breath weakening. That sword strike obviously carried deadly poison and a special corrosive power.

Ling Xiao looked at him, after a moment of silence he said: "What you said today about the information of Weeping Blood Valley, I will verify. If true, it counts as your atonement; if false……" He did not continue, but that icy sword intent already explained everything.

"Naturally…… it's true." The masked person drew a breath: "Those madmen are the true calamity. My lineage 'Xun Gu', though our methods are extreme, our aim is not to destroy the world. Senior brother, whether you believe or not, the path I walk is also the Dao." The masked person's voice came through the bronze, low and obstinate: "It's merely different from what you deem……"

Inside the pavilion a moment of silent stillness, only the wind's mournful sound outside, making this scene of the senior and junior brothers' reunion turned opposition appear ever more desolate and eerie.

Ling Xiao stood still in place, the hem of his cloud-patterned sword robe unmoving, though no fierce sword intent radiated from his person, he possessed an innate aura deep and mountain-like, causing the air to congeal. Gazing at his former junior disciple, a faint trace of reminiscence flickered in his eyes, finally settling into a cold, clear stillness.

"Different paths." Ling Xiao slowly uttered the three words, each word like ice beads falling on a jade plate, clear and decisive: "Before the Reflection Cliff in days past, when you leapt and plunged into the Nether Mist Sea, our paths had already diverged. Today you appear in the world as Earth Corrosion and Xun Gu, laying wicked formations, drawing yin-sha, plotting evil, and even seeking to taint the heavenly-earth monitoring artifact in my disciple's hand. This is not a fork in the road; it is already the evil path."

"The evil path?" The masked person, or rather Ling Xiao's junior disciple, gave a low laugh, his voice filled with endless fatigue and a hint of barely perceptible madness: "Senior brother, senior brother, you are still so…… clear-cut on right and wrong, clinging to your set of heavenly principles and earthly righteousness. Have you ever considered that the 'heaven and earth' you uphold might itself be the greatest shackle? Why did ancient splendor break off? Why did the immortals and gods retreat? Why does the spiritual energy of this heaven and earth gradually thin, making the Dao path ever more arduous? The so-called Earth Corrosion is merely a group unwilling to be bound by fate's decree, wanting to tear open the veil, to probe and even break this invisible cage—nothing more than seekers of the Dao."

His tone grew excited, pulling at his shoulder wound, black blood seeping more, the rotting aura spreading, mixing with the lingering sandalwood scent inside to form a nauseating strange odor. Yet he seemed indifferent, his blazing eyes fixed on Ling Xiao: "What we seek is the lost secret of antiquity, the 'truth' before heaven and earth were sealed! The knowledge and power condemned by orthodoxy as heretical and netherworld taboo might just be the true key to transcendence! Senior brother, with your talent, if you could discard those stale doctrines and explore together with us, what worry is there not to behold higher vistas? Why cling in this daily decaying heaven-and-earth cage, playing the role of the Seven Sects' dog?"

"Impudent!" Gu Yusheng and Mei Ruoxue shouted in unison, sword qi bursting forth. Shi Ran also gripped the Heaven-Patrolling Token tightly, glaring at the one who spoke insults to the master.

Ling Xiao, however, raised his hand, signaling his disciples to calm. His expression remained calm, even touched with a hint of faint pity, looking at the near-obsessive junior disciple before him, as if seeing a person who has walked into a dead end without realizing it.

"Ming He." Ling Xiao suddenly called out a name, likely this junior disciple's original dao hao or name: "Do you know why ancient splendor broke off? Why the immortals and gods retreated? It is not that heaven and earth intentionally shackled, but that excessive greed and desire, taking without limit, destabilized the foundations, invoking a backlash of the laws. The sages exhausted their blood and sweat to stabilize this fractured heaven and earth, leaving future generations a chance to breathe and recuperate. This is not a cage, but a sanctuary for life."

He stepped forward slowly, his voice not loud yet seeming to carry the resonance of heaven and earth: "What Earth Corrosion seeks is not transcendence, but destruction. Using blood sacrifices of living beings as a guide, tearing space as a pathway, to usher in uncontrollable netherworld evil forces and even extraterritorial existences—this is not seeking the Dao, but self-immolation, and will drag countless living beings into burial with it. The 'truth' you see is merely a tempting illusion projected by destruction. The 'Xun Gu' you follow is merely a road to utter void."

"You're talking nonsense!" Ming He growled low, the eyes beneath the bronze mask flashing blood-red: "You simply don't understand! We have found evidence! The ancient calamity was not due to beings' overreach, but because a 'higher' existence, fearing the awakening of all beings, imposed the shackles! The Heaven-Patrolling Token… the Heaven-Patrolling Office! You so-called monitors are themselves part of the shackle! What do you think the 'thoughts' gathered in that token are? Not protective thoughts! They are thoughts of confinement, of ignorance, a hypnotic talisman that lets beings stay content with the status quo, unwilling to break through."

His gaze once again fixed tightly on the Heaven-Patrolling Token in Shi Ran's hand, with a complex emotion mixing hatred and longing: "Do you feel its 'ancient purity' within? It is indeed ancient, for it comes from the very beginning of the shackle's establishment! And sufficiently pure, for its purpose is singular and clear—maintain stability! To suppress any power or knowledge that might disturb the established order! Senior brother, you hold such a mighty instrument yet willingly drive it—how pitiful! Hand it over to us, let us decipher its secrets, only then can we truly find a way to break the shackle!"

"Obstinate and insensible." Ling Xiao lightly shook his head, the last trace of warmth in his eyes vanishing, leaving only icy resolve: "You have fallen too deep into demonic obstacles, not to be redeemed by words. You ought not have come today, and certainly ought not to set your sights on my disciples."

As his words fell, Ling Xiao's aura suddenly shifted. Not a fierce sword intent erupting, but a more vast, essential 'rule' power quietly permeating. The entire Drunken Dream Pavilion, Heaven Character Room Three, and even the space it occupies, seemed instantly severed from reality, forming an independent 'domain' led by Ling Xiao's mind.

Within this 'domain', Ming He felt his connection to heaven and earth's spiritual energy completely severed; the strange sword intent at his shoulder wound that prevented his self-healing (from the earlier assassin leader) began madly corroding his meridians and soul, even his internal spiritual power flow becoming extremely sluggish. The bronze ancient mirror hovering at his side let out a mournful cry, its spiritual light dimming, and it fell to the ground.

Is this…… word-becomes-law? Or a higher level of domain mastery? Ming He's heart shook with shock; he knew this senior brother was a heaven-sent genius, his cultivation unfathomable, yet he never expected to have reached such a state!

"You want to keep me?" Ming He's voice hoarse, filled with unwillingness and a hint of despair: "Even if I hold detailed information of Weeping Blood Valley in my hand, even if I know the higher secrets of Earth Corrosion, even if…… I know who truly killed the master back then?!"

The last sentence, he almost shouted it out.

"Grandmaster?" Gu Yusheng and Mei Ruoxue both shuddered, showing surprise and doubt. Could it be that the grandmaster back then did not ascend the Dao, but was killed by someone?

Shi Ran also froze, wasn't it said that Ling Xiao grew up alone in the Floating Dream Sect? How come now, besides a junior disciple popping out, even the sect's secret matters are brought out?