A deathly stillness settled over the stone chamber.

The Gong Family Head and Gong Tinglan had both been stunned by Lang Jiuchuan’s bold deduction. Without any true evidence, it was still — based on everything they currently understood — an extraordinarily close fit.

The truth behind this near-fit was far too frightening.

They wanted to refute it, to poke holes in it — but they found themselves at a loss for words, as though their throats had been seized by an invisible hand. They could not even manage to open their mouths and say: That can’t be.

If it were not, then how could there be so many coincidences? A genius appearing like clockwork every hundred years in a cycle of one death and one birth — what a convenient miracle, sustained for a full thousand years at that.

Only a systematic harvest by human hands could explain it.

And the repeated body seizures must have served a purpose — to repair a severely damaged soul. That too made sense.

Father and son simultaneously picked up the Tantai ancestral history scroll again, their eyes settling on the passage stating that Tantai Wuji had failed his assault on the Golden Core Great Dao and had mysteriously vanished along with his closed-door cultivation site.

It said vanished — but what had truly happened, not a single person knew. Even the Tantai clan’s own members had no idea whether their founding ancestor had fallen or otherwise. With this ancestor never reappearing, there was nothing to do but treat him as dead.

If in truth he had merely suffered devastating wounds, and desired to live — he would have exhausted every possible means to repair both soul and body.

“A physical body that has endured a thousand years — can it truly be preserved that long? If he truly wished to ascend to the Infinite Heavens again, and has spent a thousand years continuously repairing his soul, surely it must be repaired by now. As for the bodies he has used over the years — could they not have attempted the breakthrough and ascended?” Gong Tinglan furrowed his brow. “Take the present day, for example. Under the identity and standing of the State Preceptor, he has lived for over two hundred years. Clearly this vessel is no poor one — what need is there for such elaborate maneuvering?”

The Gong Family Head replied: “That era was different from today. The spiritual energy was richer, and those who cultivated the Dao were purer in spirit. Using a secret technique combined with a formation, one could preserve a physical body against decay. At the very least, a glacial coffin with secret techniques applied to it would do the same.”

He said this and then fell silent for a moment.

The cultivators of that earlier age had higher cultivation — perhaps precisely because their Dao-hearts were purer. All of them were reclusive in their cultivation, not like today, when the noble clans thought only of how to secure their status.

Losing sight of the fundamental in pursuit of the peripheral. No wonder their cultivation had stagnated.

Change was inevitable and urgent.

Perhaps they too ought to return to the old ways — to withdraw from the world and seek the Dao in seclusion. That would be the true path.

Lang Jiuchuan continued from the Gong Family Head’s words: “Moreover — whose body could ever be more compatible with one’s divine soul than one’s own original vessel? He had already been able to cultivate all the way to the threshold of the Core-Forming breakthrough — testament to how powerful his Dao was. And yet he still failed. If given the chance to try once more, whether in body or in soul, he would cultivate both to the absolute peak, in order to succeed with a single decisive strike. After all, not everyone is given the chance to try a second time. A thousand years of elaborate scheming in preparation is worth it.”

As for whether his true aim was to break through the Golden Core realm and ascend to the Infinite Heavens through the immortal path, or simply to achieve eternal life — one of these was certainly what he sought.

For those who cultivated the Dao, these were the ultimate goals.

They did not know exactly what he intended. Then they would simply block every possible path to those ultimate goals.

“Setting aside for a moment whether your conjecture is correct — where would his physical body be hidden? And furthermore, he has stolen the fortune of so many noble clans. The nation’s fortune is also in his grasp — otherwise a disaster like planting you as a living stake would never have been possible. Most critically, what we understand now is merely the tip of the iceberg. He has survived for so long; over a thousand years, who knows how much fortune he has seized. Even for the purpose of attempting his breakthrough, his preparations must be more than thorough by now.” The Gong Family Head’s face was etched with deep concern. “A general does not enter battle unprepared. We are already one step behind.”

His tone carried an anxiety he could not conceal.

Not only were they behind — in terms of cultivation, they could not begin to compare to the State Preceptor. And if the State Preceptor truly was the thousand-year-old Tantai Wuji, the gap was even more unbridgeable.

When that day came — who would have the ability to fight him to the last?

Lang Jiuchuan said: “Even if our preparations are not as thorough as his, no matter how meticulous his schemes, has he not now had his conspiracy perceived by us? We do not yet have the strength to clash with him head-on — then we must give everything we have to disrupt or throw his rhythm into disarray, forcing him to disregard the proper timing. Once his rhythm is broken, his decisions will fall into disarray as well.”

The Gong Family Head shook his head. “That is not easy. He has the nation’s fortune in his grip. The nation’s fortune will only scatter if the Great Dan is thrown into chaos — but then it is only the common people who suffer. We of the cultivating world cannot, like that evil cultivator, regard all living beings as insects beneath our feet. Even in dealing with such great evil, protecting the lives of the common people is the responsibility of those who walk the Dao.”

Lang Jiuchuan gathered her robes and bowed to him deeply. “The Family Head is righteous and benevolent. He covets the nation’s fortune and steals the fortune of noble clans, performing every manner of act that violates the principles of Heaven and injures the harmony of the world, all for the sake of his schemes. He has already become a calamity upon all living beings. What we can do is pour every last ounce of our strength into standing guard. As for the outcome — leave it to the will of Heaven.”

She struck the Dizhong alternately with two fingers. “As for where his physical body is hidden — it must be wherever he was in closed-door cultivation when he attempted the breakthrough all those years ago. My suspicion is that it is located where the current Tantai imperial mausoleum now stands.”

Gong Tinglan’s brow arched. “What makes you say so?”

“The imperial mausoleum is the focal point of the Tantai clan’s fortune, built upon a dragon vein — it occupies the vital stronghold of an auspicious fengshui site by its very nature. Being an auspicious fengshui site, if a great formation were further laid upon it to repair and nourish that physical body, maintaining its vitality at all times — what greater restorative substance could there be than the nation’s fortune and the clans’ fortune? If it were me, I would do exactly the same. An ideal scheme ensures that everything that occurs serves one’s own interests.” As for whether he cared about stealing the fortune from his own descendants’ line — if he had cared, he would never have repeatedly seized their bodies.

The two fell momentarily silent.

They were all cultivators of the Dao, and naturally understood the worth of such things. Just as Lang Jiuchuan’s merit-bearing incense carried devotional power that could nourish both divine soul and physical body.

The cold light in Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes sharpened. “Beyond the nation’s fortune and the clans’ fortune — there is also me.”

Gong Tinglan looked over, his gaze shaken.

She laughed at herself coldly. “Before suppressing and planting me as a living stake, he intended to use me to harvest a wave of merit, incense, and devotional power. What was nourished by all of this may not have been only the dynasty’s fortune — it was also that dormant original body of his, which had lain in silence for a thousand years. Only in this way could everything serve multiple purposes at once, making full use of every resource and leaving nothing to waste — until the very last drop of value was wrung out.”

This was consistent with his meticulous schemes: to exploit a person to the absolute extreme, wasting not a single fraction of what they could offer.

Her laughter was cold and chilling, growing even more icy within the confines of the sealed chamber.

Gong Tinglan and the Gong Family Head exchanged a glance. Gong Tinglan stepped forward, placed a hand on her shoulder, and said: “If he has truly lived a thousand years, and you were still young and inexperienced, having grown up at his knee from early childhood — how could you possibly have perceived his treacherous intentions? Do not be too hard on yourself.”

“I am not grieving. I am merely marveling at the depth of his scheming,” Lang Jiuchuan said with complete sincerity. “A figure like this, with a mind this meticulous, capable of enduring in silence for a thousand years — how could any great undertaking fail to succeed? Truly remarkable.”

Then her tone shifted: “But brilliance and wisdom as remarkable as his have been spent in the wrong direction. He who has the Dao has many allies; he who has lost the Dao has few. No matter by what means he has evaded the punishment of Heaven’s Dao and causality over these many years — one day, everything will come flooding back as a rebound upon him.”

Even if Heaven turned a blind eye, she would seek justice for all those innocent people herself. She would not stop until the end.

Both of her eyes blazed with a roaring fire — the scorching, infernal flame that burns away all sin.