Message after message—both wind and thunder missives—passed through the twilight’s layered clouds and fell into the Returning Crane Well. Fang Xiaoxie sat half-reclined beside it, tossing pills from his palm to Da Bai’e in the well. The mismatched-eyed Guyu could only watch longingly from the side, while Little Marten lazily sprawled beside Fang Xiaoxie’s leg, looking as if he were the true master of Cliff Mountain.

Passing disciples had long grown accustomed to this scene.

Everyone had already gotten used to this great white goose sustaining its life with immortal pills, but it seemed to truly be just an ordinary goose after all. Its innate constitution was really poor—despite consuming pills for so many years, it had never suddenly become a spirit. This made many elders of the Pills Hall, including Zuoliu who specialized in unorthodox and heretical methods, suspect that the refined pills were inadequate, nearly losing their confidence to continue research.

Thinking of this, Fang Xiaoxie inexplicably laughed, but after laughing, he grew somewhat dejected again.

He sat beside the Returning Crane Well, watching the rippling reflections in the water.

The giant Cliff Mountain sword atop the peak was just being broken apart by the water waves created by Da Bai’e’s webbed feet, but when calm, it pieced together into the upright silhouette of a female cultivator.

Fang Xiaoxie was startled at the sight and quickly scrambled up from the ground. His movements were so sudden, without any warning, that Little Marten, who had been sprawled beside his leg, nearly tumbled into the water!

“Master-Uncle Jian Chou!”

“What were you thinking about? You looked troubled by something.”

Jian Chou had just returned. From the mountain path halfway up the slope, she had seen Fang Xiaoxie sitting here lost in thought. She hadn’t concealed her aura, yet who would have thought that even after walking up behind him, he still hadn’t noticed? She looked him over and asked.

Cultivators all had very long lifespans. After cultivating to a certain level, most could maintain their appearance, so their looks wouldn’t change significantly either.

By rights, when Fang Xiaoxie saw Jian Chou again, he shouldn’t feel unfamiliar.

After all, it had only been a few years since they’d last met—truly nothing to a cultivator. Yet Fang Xiaoxie felt inexplicably nervous in his heart.

Under her gaze, all the composure and dignity he possessed as the sect leader of Cliff Mountain seemed to vanish instantly, making him feel awkward.

As if he had returned to those youthful days when he knew no limits and still wanted to defeat her.

Fang Xiaoxie stood ramrod straight, already somewhat taller than her, but his body was tensely rigid as he gazed at Jian Chou and said: “I was just thinking about when Master-Uncle would return. This year’s minor assembly has already concluded, and those people from Kunwu have all left. However, Sect Leader Xie left a message when he bid farewell, asking me to relay it to Master-Uncle. He said the ‘private matter’ Master-Uncle asked him to investigate years ago has yielded results.”

Private matter?

Jian Chou’s slender brows raised slightly, feeling somewhat puzzled. The matter she had asked Xie Buchen to investigate could hardly be called private by any measure, could it?

Her thoughtful gaze fell upon Fang Xiaoxie.

Fang Xiaoxie immediately felt uncomfortable all over, as if he were growing fur. Even his features, which carried a hint of roguish charm, appeared unusually well-behaved in her presence.

How could Jian Chou not understand him?

This boy, like Zuoliu, though not the same type, had both been troublemakers in their early years. Even now as sect leader, he was still Cliff Mountain’s most unruly leader.

She asked: “What happened?”

Without any need for interrogation or torture, as soon as she asked, Fang Xiaoxie honestly confessed: “Master-Uncle surely knows that fellow surnamed Xie is sanctimonious. I really didn’t want to speak with such a person. When he asked after Master-Uncle, I told him that if he had any official business, he could tell me. But that Xie fellow said it was a private matter and asked me to pass along the message.”

Having said this much, he showed some dissatisfaction.

“What kind of matter is it that our Cliff Mountain cannot investigate, but definitely requires their Kunwu—requires that fellow surnamed Xie to investigate?”

“This matter truly only Kunwu could investigate.”

When Fu Chaosheng had left this realm initially, though he had returned the Universe Eye that could examine all of past and future to her, during these nearly four hundred years, no matter how she examined it, there were always some details that seemed shrouded in mist, extremely vague, as if deliberately obscured by someone.

So she had no choice but to trouble Xie Buchen.

Jian Chou didn’t answer Fang Xiaoxie’s question, nor did she explain to him what the matter actually was. She only said: “Though you’ve been cultivating for quite some time, your temperament is impulsive, quick to anger, and you love to fight. While you have a pure heart, you should still be more wary of people like Xie Buchen. He now governs Kunwu and is a first-rate individual of deep scheming and unfathomable plots. Even with my understanding of him, though he wouldn’t stoop to his master’s level, he’s more frightening than his master.”

She had said similar words more than once, and Fang Xiaoxie had already memorized them. In the past when he heard them, he felt it was Master-Uncle’s concern for him, but hearing them today somehow didn’t sit right with him.

He was naturally untamed and domineering in temperament.

At this moment, his expression showed several traces of defiance as he frowned: “Though the world cannot see his frightening nature, Master-Uncle can. Why should our Cliff Mountain fear him? At most, he can only rely on writing books and treatises, fishing for fame and reputation, to stand as Master-Uncle’s equal.”

He was referring to the many classics Xie Buchen had written in recent years.

Jian Chou didn’t do the same things as Xie Buchen. It could even be said that during these nearly four hundred years, Xie Buchen had done much, while she, at least in the outside world’s view, had done nothing at all.

But sometimes, doing nothing was even more formidable than doing something.

Who told her to be the strongest in all the Nineteen Continents throughout history?

Whether it was the rise of the “Self Dao” or Cliff Mountain’s flourishing reputation over these years, everything was as natural as water flowing downhill, all simply because she was there.

Like any previous generation of elders, she protected Cliff Mountain.

The world’s cultivators all praised Xie Buchen’s wisdom and Master-Uncle Jian Chou’s cultivation, but in Fang Xiaoxie’s view, compared to Xie Buchen’s intelligence that everyone knew, Master-Uncle Jian Chou’s wisdom was true “Great Wisdom.”

He didn’t like Xie Buchen.

He also didn’t like hearing Master-Uncle Jian Chou praise Xie Buchen in any form before him.

Only Jian Chou didn’t feel her words were excessive, but she didn’t refute Fang Xiaoxie either. The higher one’s state of mind, the more one’s cultivation approached the ultimate realm, the more peaceful one became, pure of heart and few of desires, increasingly showing a tolerance that could embrace all rivers.

She looked at this outstanding junior and merely patted his head.

Fang Xiaoxie was about to explode.

But Jian Chou smiled: “How’s your practice of the Heaven, Earth, and Human Three Seals coming along?”

“That’s not difficult at all? I’ve already mastered seventy to eighty percent.” When the topic turned to cultivation, Fang Xiaoxie’s expression finally improved somewhat. “It’s been a long time since I’ve crossed swords with Master-Uncle. Would Master-Uncle like to test how well I’ve practiced?”

“I’m still confident in your diligence in practice.”

After all, he was the boy who had been indomitable and repeatedly fought despite defeats back then. On this point, Jian Chou had no worries about him slacking off.

“Do you still remember what I entrusted to you?”

“I remember.” Fang Xiaoxie nodded solemnly, then hesitated somewhat before asking her: “Is Master-Uncle leaving immediately?”

“I’ll leave after making a trip to Kunwu.”

She had never hidden her plans from the close disciples of Cliff Mountain. As early as when Zheng Yao ascended, she had already begun preparing for today, including passing the Heaven, Earth, and Human Three Seals to Fang Xiaoxie. During the intervening time, she had already gathered with various junior brothers to spar and discuss the Dao.

Cultivators didn’t emphasize partings—if there was fate, they would meet again.

Moreover, her departure from this realm was different from others leaving this realm.

Seeing some reluctance in Fang Xiaoxie’s eyes, she only smiled and said: “Years ago, Master passed Cliff Mountain to me. Now I’m passing Cliff Mountain to you. Don’t let anything go wrong, lest when you ascend to the Upper Void, you have no face to see me.”

Fang Xiaoxie pouted, thinking how could he possibly…?

But even this bit of banter couldn’t be spoken aloud at this moment.

Seeing that Jian Chou was about to leave, he suddenly spoke up, unable to hide the deep-seated worry: “Master-Uncle, wait. Last time, why did you say ‘a demon sword must have a demon heart’? Everyone says you have a heart demon. Is it true?”

Heart demon?

Jian Chou’s steps paused, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

All over the mountains and fields, there was the evening’s rosy glow.

She stood atop Lingzhao Peak, looking up at the giant Cliff Mountain sword thrust high into the Returning Sheath Peak, almost unconsciously raising her finger to touch the hidden red mark at her brow, then slowly said: “A demon heart is not a heart demon…”

A demon heart is not a heart demon?

Fang Xiaoxie still felt confused, thinking that he hadn’t understood those words that day, and now he didn’t understand this sentence either.

Jian Chou didn’t explain, waving her hand toward him as her figure disappeared.

At this moment, the sun was setting over the Nineteen Continents. The vast mountain ranges of the Middle Realm were draped in a layer of golden-red afterglow. The rushing waters of the Nine-Head River seemed soaked with fragments of gold. Occasionally, fishermen sat by quiet river bends, and from time to time, a boat or two drifted down with the current.

All memories related to the Nineteen Continents swept past beneath her feet.

Mountains, rivers, and peaks—generations came and went.

Nearly four hundred years had passed. The eleven peaks of Kunwu stood majestically within the river bend. The tragic scene of Qu Zhengfeng’s slaughter had disappeared without a trace, returning to a picturesque landscape of clear mountains and beautiful waters. Only the landscape remained the same, but it had already changed masters.

Above the vast sea of clouds, the celestial palaces stood tall and immovable.

At the just-concluded Left Three Thousand minor assembly, Kunwu’s disciples had achieved quite good results. Having now returned to their sect, they stood below the great hall, listening to various elders point out the flaws in their performance during this minor assembly.

Zhao Zhuo, Wuduan, Wang Que, and others had all become elders now.

Xie Buchen sat high in the seat of honor, listening to everyone speak, but was rarely somewhat distracted, until a truly long-missed aura settled on the sea of clouds outside.

At this moment, he raised his hand, signaling everyone to pause temporarily, then rose from his seat and, without saying a word, descended the steps and walked outside.

Everyone was startled, not understanding what had happened.

But after Xie Buchen left the hall, when they turned to look in the direction he had gone, they were all shaken to their cores!

The figure standing on the churning sea of clouds was both strange and familiar. In the past, she had been here, ascending the One-Person Platform that countless cultivators envied. She had also stood here, one person with one sword facing all of Kunwu’s cultivators, even forcing the death of Kunwu’s First Seat before everyone’s eyes!

Jian Chou of Cliff Mountain…

After nearly four hundred years, she had once again set foot on Kunwu.

But this time, why had she come?

All the elders remained silent.

The young disciples in the hall, however, were all very curious. Though they had heard of that great disaster at Kunwu, they had never seen Jian Chou before and naturally didn’t know that today’s visitor was that legendary figure. At this moment, they were all wondering in their hearts: What kind of background did this female cultivator have to make the Sacred Lord set aside his current affairs? One should know that even when Grand Marshal Shen Yao of Tongguan Post or even the Saintess of the Northern Realm’s Yin Sect came, he wouldn’t spare them an extra glance.

A group of people more or less secretly looked toward the outside of the hall.

As if wanting to see what intrigue was afoot.

Xie Buchen still favored wearing azure, like forest leaves, mountain bamboo, ink on a brush. Only now that he was after all Kunwu’s First Seat, the edges of his sleeve robes and garments were all pressed with fine silver threads. Though his person bore no excessive ornamentation, beyond his indifferent and otherworldly air, it brought out several traces of stern and noble elegance.

His brows and eyes held mountains and waters; his lips and teeth could produce pearls and jade.

He walked to the edge of the sea of clouds, stopping only three steps away from Jian Chou, saying: “Not having seen each other for a hundred years, Friend Jian Chou’s cultivation has become increasingly beyond reach. Your visit to Kunwu today must be because Sect Leader Fang delivered the message.”