“Stealing the scroll and making it public — if this isn’t handled right, then not only will you become the Rong family’s sinner, but you’ll also make the entire Rong family the target of criticism. Although Spirit Sect has declined, six of the current twelve secular sects were all created by descendants of Spirit Sect, and they’ve always set up their sect with the slogan of reviving Spirit Sect. If you let people know that the disaster of the world originated from Spirit Sect, how can they let the Rong family go easily?”
Yan Tianhen said solemnly, “You have to think hard about this. Once you do this, there’s no turning back.”
Rong Zhishui also knew that the matter was of great importance, but he had a balance in his heart. It was impossible for this balance of his to be influenced by the Rong family or people of the Nine Lands just because of fear and worry.
Rong Zhishui said, “Since I dared to put it forward, I’ve naturally thought about it. Only the Rong family’s Young Master, Patriarch, and First Elder are qualified to see what is recorded on the scroll, but everyone actually sees different parts of the scroll. Someone with more affinity can see more. Many people have seen the scroll over the years, but the Rong family still wasn’t able to read the entire scroll. Every one of us can only transcribe what we saw ourselves. Currently, we only know the Demon Emperor’s identity, how powerful demonic and evil Qi dual cultivators are, the core disciples of Spirit Sect, and what Spirit Sect did for the Nine Lands in that Great Immortal-Demon War.”
Yan Tianhen’s gaze carelessly swept over the flowers on both sides of the road, and he spoke even more indifferently, “Isn’t it enough to know these things? Compared to other people, what you guys know is closest to the truth, and you’ve more or less pieced together the whole story. Why are you still unsatisfied?”
“Of course there are a lot of unsatisfactory places.” Rong Zhishui calmly looked at Yan Tianhen. “Is everything we see in the scroll true?”
Yan Tianhen was stunned. “What do you mean?”
Rong Zhishui replied, “I didn’t tell anyone else in the Rong family that the some of the contents I saw was different from what they all saw.”
Yan Tianhen gazed at Rong Zhishui.
Rong Zhishui continued, “Everyone believed that this scroll was written by the survivors of the Great Immortal-Demon War, but in reality, I saw the characters ‘Cang Rong’ on the last page of the scroll. The magic on this scroll is very profound. I don’t think it could’ve been written by anyone else besides the Rong family’s first ancestor.”
“Moreover, I once traced that signature from memory and had my ancestor’s Dao companion take a look.” Rong Zhishui’s eyes glittered. “He said that this was indeed written by Cang Rong.”
Yan Tianhen, “…”
Since Lian Hua stamped his seal of approval, then it must have been written by Cang Rong. If it truly was written by Cang Rong, then Yan Tianhen was actually a little curious. He really wanted to know what the battlefield was like from the perspective of someone who had participated in the Great Immortal-Demon War.
But this wasn’t enough to truly tempt Yan Tianhen.
Yan Tianhen raised his eyebrows. “So what if it came from Cang Rong’s hands? In any case, this scroll has nothing to do with me. Besides, I’m an outsider. How can I justify going to your Rong family to steal something? I won’t go, I won’t go. You can find someone else. I promise I won’t sell you out.”
Rong Zhishui asked, “Aren’t you curious about what actually happened in the Great Immortal-Demon War?”
Yan Tianhen, “&#k2026;”
Yan Tianhen was amused. He actually wasn’t curious.
He knew better than anyone else what had happened, since he personally experienced the past. What was there to be curious about?
Yan Tianhen blinked. “Didn’t I just say that I’m more curious about what happened between Tianshu Sword Saint and the Rong family?”
“I didn’t expect you to like gossip so much.”
Yan Tianhen smiled. “You flatter me. People should be full of the desire to explore the unknown world.”
Rong Zhishui watched Yan Tianhen stroll towards the dormitory. He gritted his teeth and stomped his foot, then rushed up and threw an arm around Yan Tianhen’s shoulder, whispering in his ear, “Didn’t I just say that I saw something that no one else in the Rong family could see?”
“What are you doing so close to me? I can’t give and accept such affections. I won’t be able to explain if Huarong Gege sees me. Get away……”
“My old ancestor said that most of the scroll’s earlier records are bullshit. The reason Youshan Lingyu cultivated evil Qi was because he had no choice. He was backstabbed when keeping watch over Heaven’s Wail, and half of his cultivation, Dantian Qi Sea, and meridians were destroyed. Someone forcefully poured evil Qi into his body and was scheming him from beginning to end. They forced him to fall to evil Qi cultivation and become a vessel for evil Qi. And that person is the true culprit of the Nine Lands’ disaster, the Dao Zu that everyone today worships and respects!”
Yan Tianhen’s steps suddenly stopped.
His brain exploded. First everything was blank, then an overwhelming pain appeared in his Dantian, spreading throughout his four limbs and hundreds of bones.
Why did Cang Rong record these things?
He had already forgotten all that dark past, and he also thought that it was a good thing to bury it all in the sands of history. So why did someone still insist on mentioning it again after all the dust had settled ten thousand years later, and why did they want to help him reverse the verdict?
No, that’s wrong. There are some mistakes in Cang Rong’s records.
Yan Tianhen took a deep breath to calm down.
He hid the confusion deep in his eyes, and his black eyes were fixed on Rong Zhishui. Rong Zhishui was so startled that he took a step back.
Yan Tianhen suddenly smiled and placed his arm on Rong Zhishui’s shoulder, half holding him and half hugging him. He blinked at Rong Zhishui. “Alright, isn’t it just stealing a scroll? Your Gege is the best at it. When shall we act? What’s the plan?”
Rong Zhishui, “…You changed your mind just like that?”
It’s a little sudden.
Yan Tianhen nodded. “How very interesting. The Demon Emperor became a pitiful little thing in Cang Rong’s records, and Dao Zu became the main culprit. This is much more interesting than information that the Demon Emperor originated from Hidden Spirit Holy Sect.”
Rong Zhishui revealed a smile full of deep meaning. “I knew you would be interested in this.”
Yan Tianhen also showed a meaningful smile.
The two of them hit it off and prepared to collude together to do something big. Of course, they couldn’t go to the Northeast Land without any reason. Yan Tianhen immediately accepted a mission to go to the Northeast Land near the Rong family’s old residence. He planned to use that as a cover. Even if others suspected him, he would still be able to cover it up. Since he wanted to go out and gain experience, he naturally had to say goodbye to Lin Xuanzhi.
When Lin Xuanzhi heard that he wanted to go to the Northeast Land, he said, “The Northeast Land is relatively chaotic right now. If Ah Hen doesn’t need to go there, then it’s best to avoid that place. If you absolutely have to go, then you must remember to avoid any conflict with the Rong family.”
Nobody knew what had gotten into Sword Saint Tianshu recently. He seemed determined to oppose the Rong family. Not only did he spread rumors that the Rong family was hiding the truth, but he also united many sects and acquaintances, asking them to use their secret networks to exert pressure on the Rong family to force it to hand over the scroll and show the truth.
The Rong family’s gates had a lot of guests coming and going everyday, which gave the Rong family’s current patriarch a splitting headache. He eagerly wished to crush Tianshu to death.
Naturally, Lin Xuanzhi didn’t want Yan Tianhen to join in on the excitement. After all, the Royal Heavenly Capital hadn’t actually said anything, and Yan Tianhen could more or less represent the Royal Heavenly Palace’s stance on this matter.
If possible, it was best to avoid this muddy water.
Yan Tianhen promised that he was just going to find the spiritual plants and ingredients specified in the mission and wouldn’t do anything else.
Lin Xuanzhi was concentrating on compiling the book regarding evil Qi cultivators these days, so he had no time to manage Yan Tianhen. He also thought that Yan Tianhen’s cultivation wasn’t low anymore, so there shouldn’t be any problems. Thus, he waved his hand and let him go.
Lin Xuanzhi probably never would have imagined that Yan Tianhen would be so daring as to steal the scroll inside the Rong family’s ancestral shrine together with the Rong family’s Young Master. However, when he found out, the timber had already been turned into a boat, and everything was too late.
Ten days later, the Rong family announced that the scroll was missing and suspected that it was the work of those people who kept visiting the Rong family with ill intentions. The family head immediately became furious and mercilessly drove out all the sect elders and family disciples who had been “visiting” the Rong family. He then turned around to contact Reincarnation Palace and gave a lot of money to ask Reincarnation Palace to find the Rong family’s scroll. So far, many people in the Nine Lands were speculating that this was a ploy by the Rong family to advance forward while seemingly retreating. They suspected that this was a thief crying, “Stop the thief!” in an attempt to confuse the public and hide the scroll while claiming that they had lost it.
But even more people believed that the Rong family actually did lose the scroll. Otherwise, why would they rush to search for it everywhere using the Rong family’s entire power?
But only the people involved knew the truth.
After not finding the scroll even after ten days of searching, the Rong family majestically sent someone to slaughter their way to Myriad Dao Academy, demanding that Myriad Dao Academy hand over the suspect, Tianshu Sword Saint.
Tianshu Sword Saint, “……”
I’m innocent ah.
According to disciples from Myriad Dao Academy, during that time, several Rong family elders and Sword God Hall elders discussed the Dao everyday. Banging, crackling, and clanging sounds often came from Sword God Hall, as if there were swords clashing, or as if they were trying to tear down the building. In any case, it was not peaceful.
Seven days later, the Rong family finally stopped its attack on Myriad Dao Academy for the time being after receiving Reincarnation Palace’s conclusion. The reply from Reincarnation Palace was clear: The Rong family’s ancestral shrine was protected by an ancestral array. Nobody outside the Rong family could enter, so outsiders were crossed off the suspect list. Additionally, there should be a bloodline seal on that scroll, so only the legitimate main branch successor who had been recognized by the Rong family’s ancestor would be able to touch it. Anyone else would suffer a backlash. Since that person took the scroll away and didn’t suffer any backlash for such a long time, then the culprit must be someone who had status in the Rong family. Rong Chaoxi, who was also known as Sword Saint Tianshu, had long been removed from the Rong family tree and was no longer protected by the ancestor, so it couldn’t have been him.
Thus, it went without saying who the thief was.
The Rong family’s elder majestically came to Myriad Dao Academy and left just as furiously. Before he left, he said that he would kill Rong Chaoxi one day. The Rong family hurriedly tried to call back Rong Zhishui, who had supposedly been gaining experience in the Northeast Land’s dense forest. However, it seemed that Rong Zhishui had evaporated from the world. Besides his life tablet, which indicated that he was still alive, there was no other contact with him. So, after they lost the scroll, the Rong family suffered another heavy blow–
They lost their Young Master.
Compared to the scroll, this was truly a big deal.
“Can you see what’s written on the scroll?” Yan Tianhen and Rong Zhishui were squatting in a cave, and a blank scroll was open in front of them.
Rong Zhishui touched the scroll. “What’s the hurry? Everyone can see different parts. I have to carefully search for the part I saw before.”
