Within the Ten Thousand Scrolls Tower, lights blazed brilliantly. The usual guards from the three Tianqi families had swiftly withdrawn, presumably on orders from the Three Elders. Su Muyu walked through the deserted floors, observing the densely packed iron shelves lined with tightly sealed wooden compartments. Each row of shelves bore large wooden plaques displaying city names, with Tianqi City being the largest, occupying nearly an entire floor.
As Su Muyu ascended to the second floor, he saw the markers for Xueyue City and Wushuang City. Passing by, he noticed Baili Dongjun’s name, whose intelligence records covered an entire row of wooden shelves—quite an impressive sight. Su Muyu casually opened one of the compartments, finding a letter inside. He smiled and shook his head, saying, “Even if you knew everything about someone, what difference would it make? He’s still the world’s finest, and you still couldn’t defeat him.” Without reading the letter, he closed the compartment.
Had any martial arts sect leader visited this place, they would have been struck with unprecedented terror. These compartments contained records of numerous incidents—even those concerning themselves—matters they had long forgotten but were utterly lethal. Correspondingly, one could find intelligence about many enemies here, information deadly enough to destroy them. Of course, while these might be worth their weight in gold to others, they meant nothing to Su Muyu.
“That paper you just put down is worth one hundred taels of gold,” a young voice suddenly spoke behind Su Muyu.
Su Muyu turned slightly, seeing the archer Xie Zanye standing by the stairs. “You haven’t left?” he asked, puzzled.
“Grandfather asked me to stay. He said you might need my help,” Xie Zanye replied slowly.
Su Muyu shook his head. “I don’t need help. I just need to burn this place down.”
“Few can remain calm when faced with these intelligence records. Any experienced martial artist knows the value behind these materials,” Xie Zanye smiled. “But as Master Su says, these might mean nothing to you. You can afford to be indifferent.”
“The greater their value, the higher the price of possessing them,” Su Muyu continued ascending. “You should go. Thank Old Master Xie for me.”
“But if you truly didn’t care at all, you could just burn this place down. Why examine each floor? I can help you find what you’re looking for.” Xie Zanye walked ahead of Su Muyu, leading him up six floors to just below the top level of the Ten Thousand Scrolls Tower.
The top level was sealed by an iron door bearing four characters: Realm of the Unfathomable.
“What is the Realm of the Unfathomable?” Su Muyu asked.
“It refers to that which seems everywhere yet nowhere, hidden between heaven and earth, yet influencing the world’s changing tides—that is the Realm of the Unfathomable.” Xie Zanye pulled out a key from his robes and stepped forward to unlock the copper lock on the iron door. “You should consider yourself fortunate to have met me. Otherwise, even if you searched the entire Tower, you wouldn’t have found this place in such a short time.”
The iron door opened to reveal pitch darkness. Xie Zanye took out an arrow, broke off its head, lit it using a nearby torch, and shot it into the room. The arrow spiraled around, illuminating the previously dark chamber. Black iron shelves lined both sides, and before Su Muyu and Xie Zanye stood a statue of a black hawk in flight.
“This was the Shadow Sect’s totem—the black hawk, a fearsome predator that hunts only at night,” Xie Zanye explained. “What you seek is here.”
“Xiaoyao Yufeng Gate, Wuji Sword Sect, Tianshui Cloud Realm—these are all sects that vanished from the martial world years ago,” Su Muyu frowned, looking at the sect names on the left.
“Seemingly vanished, yet hidden among mountains and cities. Who can say for certain?” Xie Zanye crossed his arms and shrugged.
“Hundred Knowledge Hall, Phoenix Roost Tower…” Su Muyu looked to the right at the names of famous but untraceable sects. “Dark River!”
“Yes. All intelligence about Dark River is here,” Xie Zanye smiled. “This is what I guessed you were looking for, though I’m not certain if what you seek is here. The Shadow Sect isn’t omnipotent, otherwise, the Hundred Knowledge Hall wouldn’t be the realm’s foremost information broker.”
“You haven’t looked?” Su Muyu asked.
Xie Zanye shook his head. “Without special authorization, no one can freely browse any intelligence in this tower. As a guardian, we take oaths never to read any of the information within. Had I looked, I might have known you were from Wujian City, and grandfather and the others might not have been defeated so badly.”
“I see.” Su Muyu walked to the iron shelf marked “Dark River.” On the far left was a section labeled “Nameless Ones,” with individual compartments bearing names. Among them, Su Muyu and Su Changhe’s names were marked in red, standing out distinctly.
“Of course, I can’t be certain whether your identity as the young master of Wujian City was discovered from the start. When the Nameless Ones project was established, there was much controversy within the Shadow Sect. Some Nameless Ones underwent detailed background investigations, while others were forcibly recruited by Dark River families to strengthen their power,” Xie Zanye said thoughtfully.
“I never had high hopes to begin with.” Su Muyu opened his compartment, finding a stack of papers—neither thick nor thin. His hand trembled uncharacteristically, and he hesitated before reaching in to take out the papers about himself. He lowered his head to read them.
Xie Zanye observed Su Muyu’s expression from the side. Even the usually impassive Su Muyu’s pupils dilated significantly, though he quickly controlled his emotions and chose not to read further, instead tucking the papers into his robes. Xie Zanye smiled, “It seems the answer is yes.”
Su Muyu didn’t respond but opened the adjacent compartment marked “Su Changhe.” Without even looking at them, he tucked those papers into his robes as well. He then turned away from the compartments and walked to Xie Zanye’s side. “Let’s burn this tower down.”
“Burn it?” Xie Zanye was startled. “The entire tower?”
“Yes, burn it. The entire tower,” Su Muyu nodded.