Chapter 79: Strategy God Heavens (Part 2)

Yun Xueqing found an excuse and walked alone through Strategy God Heavens.

Strategy God Heavens was enormous, and Yun Xueqing couldn’t sense the exact location of his Natal Sword. He could only search place by place.

However, guards blocked the entrances to highly confidential areas, so Yun Xueqing used a Concealment Talisman to hide his aura and sneaked in secretly.

Strategy God Heavens was a maze of interconnecting paths, and it was easy to lose one’s way while circling around. After returning to the starting point for the third time and stumbling upon a pair of office lovers, Yun Xueqing decided to keep walking in one direction.

The most likely places to store important items, in Yun Xueqing’s mind, were warehouses or studies.

In this way, as he wandered, Yun Xueqing ended up in the study.

It wasn’t quite accurate to call it a study, because this floor was truly vast—it was more fitting to call it the Scripture Pavilion. At a glance, the bookshelves stretched endlessly.

Yun Xueqing roughly examined the book classifications. Besides books preserved by humans, there were even Oracles developed by Oracles themselves, all recorded, compiled into volumes, and made available for others to study and circulate.

Oracles were generally personal insights of Oracles, usually kept private and not shared. Yet here, a large number of Oracles were documented. It was evident that Strategy God Heavens had absorbed a considerable number of Oracles to develop Oracles, making its power not to be underestimated.

Yun Xueqing flipped through some of them and found that certain Oracle usage methods were quite sinister—calling them forbidden techniques wouldn’t be an overstatement.

He frowned, put the book back, and continued searching for his Natal Sword.

He thought that such a place might have hidden chambers or mechanisms, or perhaps basements for storing things, but after searching for a long time, Yun Xueqing found nothing.

Yun Xueqing had flipped through many books, and dust covered most of the shelves. Even he had some dust clinging to his clothes.

He patted the dust off himself and muttered to himself, “Is there no such place? Or could the Tianquan Sword not be stored in some location, but carried by someone?”

The second hypothesis couldn’t be confirmed yet, but Strategy God Heavens surely had hidden rooms or the like.

After all, as a cult, Strategy God Heavens always captured Oracles who resisted it.

If there were no secret rooms or dungeons here, there would be nowhere to hold the people they captured.

Thinking of Strategy God Heavens’ atrocities, Yun Xueqing felt displeased.

There was still no sign of the Tianquan Sword. Perhaps the time hadn’t come yet, so Yun Xueqing decided to head back to find Fu Wuxuan first.

When Fu Wuxuan saw Yun Xueqing return, his eyes lit up. He asked casually, “Where did you just go? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Yun Xueqing couldn’t tell him about the Tianquan Sword, so he made up an excuse, “I just wandered around and scouted a bit.”

Fu Wuxuan seemed to see through his excuse and smiled, his tone carrying a hint of resentment, “So you left us behind—what did you find out?”

Yun Xueqing picked a few unimportant things to share. Fu Wuxuan nodded. “San Zhi was just here. He said Shen Le wouldn’t come, but someone from above would be sent to negotiate with us.”

Wu Xue said coldly, “If Shen Le doesn’t come, this trip is meaningless.”

The smile faded from Fu Wuxuan’s face, and his tone turned indifferent. “Yeah, if he doesn’t come, how are we supposed to continue this play… But let’s meet this person in charge first and see what he says.”

Yun Xueqing nodded. “Maybe we can get Shen Le’s whereabouts from that person in charge…”

Before he finished speaking, a particularly warm and gentle voice rang out. “The guests have been waiting.”

He hadn’t seen the person’s face yet, but the voice alone felt like a spring breeze. However, to Yun Xueqing, it was like a thunderbolt—this voice was far too familiar.

He turned his head hurriedly and saw a young man in Daoist robes walking in from outside.

The man stood tall and straight like a pine tree, with a head of white silver hair half-pinned by a wooden clasp. His aura was as cold as frost and snow, yet his handsome face bore a smile as refreshing as a spring breeze.

Yun Xueqing looked at the man before him in disbelief. He wanted to step forward but feared being rude, so he hesitated and called out, “M-Master… Master?”

His master was actually still alive in this world!

And he had become a high-ranking member of Strategy God Heavens?

When Mei Qujun saw him, the smile on his face deepened. “Xueqing.”

Yun Xueqing had countless questions but didn’t know how to start.

Mei Qujun pressed a finger to his lips, making a silencing gesture. “I know all your questions, but we’ll talk later. For now, return my item to me first.”

Yun Xueqing was stunned for a moment before remembering he still held the Mountains and Rivers Brush. He hastily pulled it out from his Storage Space and handed it over with both hands.

Mei Qujun twirled the brush between his fingers, glanced at the somewhat worn Mountains and Rivers Brush, and sighed softly, a trace of nostalgia on his face. “It’s already damaged like this… Well, it’s been a thousand years. Things change, people change, everything rests.”

Hearing him say such things, Yun Xueqing felt a pang in his heart. Unable to stay calm, he asked the question on his mind. “Master, how did you end up in Strategy God Heavens?”

Now that he thought about it, the Mountains and Rivers Brush had led him to Cold Edge Town—perhaps because his master was here!

Mei Qujun smiled. “By a twist of fate, some boring old stories. In short, Strategy God Heavens took me in, so I stayed.”

He finished and looked at the people beside Yun Xueqing. “These must be Xueqing’s friends?”

Wu Xue showed no reaction. Fu Wuxuan secretly stayed on guard against this mysterious master but politely chatted on the surface. “We are Xueqing’s friends.”

Hearing his form of address, Mei Qujun thoughtfully sized him up. “Since you’re friends, you’re my guests as well. Please, have a seat.”

Yun Xueqing had much to say to Mei Qujun, but the matters of the High Priest and the Lord of the Weird couldn’t wait. He suppressed his personal feelings. “Master, we have business with Shen Le. Can you help us contact him?”

Mei Qujun smiled. Someone had brewed tea on the table, and he took a slow sip before saying, “Shen Le is very busy, coming and going like a shadow. I’m just an idler in Strategy God Heavens with no real authority—he won’t come just because I ask.”

Before Yun Xueqing could feel disappointed, Mei Qujun changed tack. “However, I do have a way to contact him, though it can’t be used lightly unless it’s something extremely important.”

He paused, his eyes signaling Yun Xueqing.

Yun Xueqing’s mind was in turmoil, unsure whether to reveal the matters of the High Priest and the Lord of the Weird.

Though this was his respected master, his sudden appearance in a place like Strategy God Heavens, as a high-ranking member no less…

Even with the joy of reunion, Yun Xueqing couldn’t help but feel wary. He wasn’t sure what stance the master who appeared in Strategy God Heavens held.

It was all too sudden—Yun Xueqing even felt a bit dazed, hardly daring to believe his master had appeared just like that.

For a moment, he even suspected: Was this really his master? Could it be a Weird disguised to deceive him?

He had slumbered too long, so long that he had even forgotten what his master from a thousand years ago was like.

Yun Xueqing didn’t speak. Fu Wuxuan smoothly took over. “It doesn’t matter if we tell you. We’re here to see your organization’s leader to learn the truth about the death of the Divine Temple’s former High Priest.”

Mei Qujun: “The former High Priest?”

Fu Wuxuan nodded. “Yes, Leng Xian.”

“I have some impression of that person,” Mei Qujun said with a light laugh. “He was a very studious child who once consulted me on some Oracle-related matters.”

Fu Wuxuan’s eyes sharpened. “Then, may I ask, what Oracle did Leng Xian consult you about?”

Mei Qujun answered effortlessly. “Astrology Divination.”

Fu Wuxuan was somewhat stunned, glancing at his Daoist robes. “Divination?”

If this person was telling the truth, Fu Wuxuan could only say that he and Yun Xueqing truly lived up to being master and disciple—their pursuits were all mystical and esoteric.

So, it was this person who taught Yun Xueqing those strange Daoist techniques?

Mei Qujun looked at Fu Wuxuan and suddenly smiled. “Young friend, do you believe in destiny?”

Fu Wuxuan had a bad premonition but answered honestly. “No, I forge my own fate, not dictated by heaven.”

He expected a strong rebuttal, but Mei Qujun nodded in agreement. “Young friend, you indeed have some insight. Destiny is such a vague and illusory thing—it existed before, but now it’s unreliable.”

His words were directed at Fu Wuxuan, but his gaze stayed on Yun Xueqing. “With the Heavenly Dao gone, the world’s aspects are in chaos. Truly lamentable.”

Fu Wuxuan quietly whispered to Yun Xueqing, “Meeting your master, I finally understand what a true cryptic riddle-master is.”

Yun Xueqing gave him a flat glance and said nothing.

Fu Wuxuan smiled. “Sorry, but I believe Master won’t mind.”

Mei Qujun indeed didn’t take the young man’s jest to heart. He merely said to Yun Xueqing, “I didn’t expect you to befriend such an interesting young man.”

Fu Wuxuan put away his teasing expression and said seriously, “Do you know if Leng Xian was attempting to research an Oracle that sees through the future?”

Mei Qujun gave him a deep look but didn’t answer directly. Instead, he said, “Heaven’s secrets aren’t for everyone to pierce and comprehend. But no matter what one sees or what truth one learns, punishment follows.”

Wu Xue’s tone was icy. “So you’re saying Leng Xian died because he saw something he shouldn’t have?”

“Not entirely,” Mei Qujun replied with a profound smile. “Heaven’s secrets cannot be leaked.”

Fu Wuxuan: “…”

Why did he feel like Yun Xueqing’s master was a bit of a jerk?

“Master, don’t joke around,” Yun Xueqing said earnestly. “You just said the Heavenly Dao is gone—what does that mean? Has the Heavenly Dao disappeared?”

Ever since he awoke from the cave, everything had felt off. Weirds rampaged, humans were slaughtered by Weirds, and the world was in chaos.

It was all too strange.

The universe relied on balance, and every world had a force maintaining that balance—what cultivators called the Heavenly Dao.

With the Heavenly Dao present, such an imbalance of power was impossible.

Yet now it had happened, pointing to only one explanation: the Heavenly Dao was dead.