That evening, a cold, severe figure appeared in the Hall of Celestial Mysteries’s kitchen.

His icy mask. His icy jaw. His icy silhouette. His icy gaze. It struck such terror into the Hall of Celestial Mysteries’s servants that not a single one of them dared draw breath.

In contrast, the young master standing beside this cold and severe man practically radiated warmth — a handsome face adorned at all times with a sweet, bright smile that, when the young women caught sight of it, left them quite beside themselves.

That morning they had heard the young master had met with some kind of trouble, and everyone had been anxious, dreading that something truly serious had happened.

Now, seeing the young master standing alongside the cold gentleman — ahem, the very cold gentleman — and even reaching out to pluck things from across the room, so vigorous and lively in manner, it shattered the rumor that had been circulating since early morning.

Who was the one saying the young master had completely lost all their martial arts? Could someone with completely lost martial arts reach out and take things from a distance? What kind of tremendous inner energy would that require?

As they say, hearing is believing but seeing is truth. In the future, things not witnessed with their own eyes must not be carelessly gossiped about.

The young master was perfectly fine — most likely they had simply been too worn out from overexertion lately and had fainted from exhaustion. But now, after sleeping, they were fully recovered, not a single problem to be found.

The rumor about their martial arts being completely destroyed was simply laughable!

“Master, it seems the young master’s fortitude exceeds what any of us anticipated.” Qing Ye had been somewhat incredulous upon receiving the news.

In less than a full day, the young master had managed to resolve such a serious matter with apparent ease.

Long Feiyan was in the middle of studying a military strategy text, her brush tip resting against the pages, tracing out something indeterminate.

Qing Zhi, however, was puzzled once again. “Master, since you obtained the treasure map, why did you give it to the young master? The young master will surely not yet be able to fathom the map’s significance.”

“Since the master has chosen to give the treasure map to the young master, there is naturally a reason behind it.” Qing Ye glanced at her, signaling her to mind her words.

In truth, Qing Ye had still not been able to work it out even now. The master was willing to hand over even the treasure map to the young master, yet why had she also stripped away the young master’s martial arts?

Could it be — only as a trial for the young master?

But to use the complete loss of one’s martial arts as the price for testing a person — was that not somewhat extreme?

Long Feiyan continued to read her military text. When something caught her interest, she would pick up her brush again and make marks in the margins — symbols that, most likely, no one other than herself could decipher.

Qing Zhi and Qing Ye, at the very least, could not make them out, nor did they understand what their master was trying to achieve with all this marking.

Their master said nothing, so the two of them could only stand guard at her side in silence.

After some unknown stretch of time, Long Feiyan suddenly said, “Lan Yue of the Foundation of All Under Heaven has been at her side the entire time.”

“Yes.” Even Qing Ye found this peculiar. “This Lan Yue of the Foundation of All Under Heaven — I once went personally to make inquiries about him. His martial arts surpass mine, however, so I did not dare approach too closely.”

“As for the origins of the Foundation of All Under Heaven, I also had people look into it, but I have never been able to uncover where they came from. All I know is that the Foundation of All Under Heaven, beyond Lan Yue, seems to have another master as well.”

“Oh?” Long Feiyan raised a brow slightly, giving her a mild glance.

Qing Ye nodded. “Within the Foundation of All Under Heaven, there is a courtyard called the Camellia Courtyard, and it is secured more heavily than even the Imperial Palace.”

“The Imperial Palace’s security is something any sufficiently skilled fighter can breach.” And so, comparing something to the palace was meaningless.

“Among all the heavily secured places under heaven, only the inner sanctum of the Imperial Palace is the most representative point of reference.” So without comparing it to the palace, Qing Ye did not know what else she could use for comparison.

“That said, the Camellia Courtyard is filled with highly skilled fighters, and I genuinely did not dare enter without careful consideration.” Most crucially, the Foundation of All Under Heaven was not among the names on their priority surveillance list, so Qing Ye had not felt it necessary to risk going inside for information.

Factions and organizations of this kind were as common as hairs on a head across the martial world. Without the master’s instruction, there was no need to go around making enemies everywhere they turned.

Not everyone was worth provoking, and some, once provoked, brought nothing but trouble.

The Foundation of All Under Heaven and their own side had always stayed out of each other’s way. Going inside to gather information was already a transgression.

The martial world had its own codes of conduct. Even though their master had never feared anyone, her subordinates naturally had no wish to draw unnecessary trouble down upon her.

But now, given how strong the bond appeared to be between Lan Yue and Feng Jiu’er, it seemed that a proper investigation was warranted after all.

“Master, how about tonight I—”

“No need.” Long Feiyan’s eyes lowered again, her gaze returning to the military text. “The black-robed man who injured Ninth Prince — how does that investigation stand?”

“In response, Master — ever since Ninth Prince went to Fenghuang City, those people seem to have vanished from the Imperial City overnight without a trace. I once visited their encampment, but they had long since cleared out and gone.”

“What about the Black Wolves?”

“Only a handful of carcasses remain from the Black Wolves. The rest have most likely been released back into the deep mountains and wilderness.”

Wolves by nature are creatures of the deep mountain wilderness — in the mountains, they are sharper and shrewder than any human. With terrain as vast as the mountain ranges, finding them once they are scattered is no easy task.

But for someone familiar with the habits of these Black Wolves — their handlers — as long as they blew a flute with inner energy channeled into it, drawing the wolves back together would still be quite simple.

“This person, since they are an enemy of Ninth Prince, must likely be someone within this court’s circles. I once suspected it might be the work of the Nanmeng clan, but now that the Nanmeng clan has met with misfortune, the black-robed man has not appeared to come to their aid. This suggests the black-robed man and the Nanmeng clan have no connection.”

Long Feiyan continued to look at the military text, though it was quite clear her attention was no longer on the words between its pages.

Her own unresolved questions were, naturally, also Qing Ye’s unresolved questions.

Qing Ye continued, “At present, within this nation of Bei Mu, the underground organizations, beyond the Heavenly Sovereign Sect and the Night Underworld Palace, include two other immensely powerful factions that have not even settled on a name. However, in recent years, these factions have not had any open ties with the court.”

“As for the major martial world factions — the most skilled at accumulating wealth is without doubt the Foundation of All Under Heaven; the one with the greatest reach and power is the Black Robe Gang. If the black-robed man has ties to the Black Robe Gang, that would truly be a troublesome matter.”

From what could be observed at present, the Black Robe Gang remained purely a martial world faction and had not been seen to have dealings with court figures.

The Black Robe Gang also differed from the Foundation of All Under Heaven, which had its own visible branch locations scattered across many places. The Black Robe Gang did not even have a proper headquarters to speak of.

The disciples of the Black Robe Gang were spread across every corner of the world, acting on the Black Robe Order. Because they were so scattered, if one wanted to strike against them, one could not even find a target to strike.

Yet their numbers were vast, and they permeated everything. Walking down any street, out of ten people who passed by, chances were three of them were disciples of the Black Robe Gang.

In short, to provoke the Black Robe Gang was to invite endless trouble.

If the black-robed man truly had ties to the Black Robe Gang, then this battle ahead would be one of absolute and unrelenting difficulty.