<h4>Chapter 363: The Truth Revealed</h4>


    "Let me go, Sect Master! I''m going to take revenge for Haitang and Haisheng!" the ck skeleton roared out. It was furiously struggling against the chains that bound it.


    "Cui Heiyan, whether or not your children have betrayed the sect remains a matter to be investigated. You had better stay here for the time being. You''ve caused enough problems as is," the demonic sect master said.


    "Me, problems? That was all after I was beset by demonism. Have I ever caused problems when I was clearheaded? Sect Master, have you forgotten how I fell to demonic influences? It was because that traitor to the sect was attempting to eradicate us all! I had no choice but to cultivate the demonic arts and invite a demon into my body to resist the traitor. That was how I managed to protect our sect. If not for the two Taiqing sects, would I have ended up like this?" the ck skeleton cried out.


    The demonic sect master was silent for a moment.


    "I don''t regret what I did. Preserving the Taiqing sect is an obligation worth putting my life on the line for. But how did the Taiqing sects treat me after my ultimate sacrifice? I left my son and daughter in your care. Is this the extent of your care? Not only have they been killed, they''re going to be branded as traitors to the sect! Sect Master, do you think you''ve done right by me?!" the ck skeleton demanded.


    The demonic sect master sighed. "We''vevished your children with attention, and Cui Haisheng became the left division leader partially because of our full support. But I have been investigating them recently, and others do speak rather poorly of them. They may have truly have done something wrong."


    "Others are branding them as traitors! My son might have been mischievous and stubborn in his youth, I grant you that. But think about how pure my daughter was! How could she have betrayed the sect? Are you going to leave their reputations tarnished even in death? I don''t believe it. I won''t stand for it. Sect Master, I ask that you stand for me! My life might well be over, and my children are dead—but I won''t let them die bearing such a reputation. I intend to prove them innocent. Sect Master, I need your help. I beg of you!"


    The demonic sect master was silent for a moment before he finally replied, "Very well. I will entertain your request. I need their possessions so that I might review their past history."


    "Their possessions? Haitang''s corpse is right here. Last time, when Haitang''s subordinate used a portion of her soul to awaken my psyche, after I was suppressed by the left division leader''s token, that soul fragment was absorbed within it," the ck skeleton said immediately.


    "The left division leader''s token," the demonic sect master said, looking toward Tang.


    Tang handed the token over immediately.


    The demonic sect master waved a hand over the token, causing it to surge with blue light. Then, he retrieved a pitch-ck mirror. After it absorbed the light, he tossed the token back to Tang. The mirror released a beam of ck light that struck Cui Haitang''s body, revolved around it, and then returned to the mirror.


    "Inversion of the sun and moon, of the passage of time. Reveal what was lost," the demonic sect master eximed.


    Scenes began to appear on the ck mirror.


    Xiao Nanfeng bisected Cui Haitang with his de.


    "Haitang!" the ck skeleton cried out.


    The scene persisted as Cui Haitang was saved by a group of paper snakes. In a secluded valley, the paper figure said its farewells to Cui Haitang, revealing the truth as it did so.


    Cui Haitang''s death had been orchestrated by the paper figure and Nn Qiankun in order to force her to give up her position as empress to the paper figure. Even to her death, the paper figure and Nn Qiankun had schemed against her and saddled her with the karmic debt that ought to have belonged to Nn Qiankun. Xiao Nanfeng''s mother''s assassination, Hong Lie''s death, Ku Jiang''s attack, Lu Yan''s disappearance—all that really had happened!


    "Nn Qiankun really was a traitor? That damned bastard!" the demonic sect master roared, a chilly aura ring into existence around him.


    The ck skeleton was stupefied. It hadn''t expected such a conclusion at all.


    "Nn Qiankun''s a traitor! He tricked Haitang and Haisheng into going against the sect as well—and he''s been lying to Haitang all this time! Haitang gave up her entire life for him, but he killed her in order to marry a cursed effigy? This is ridiculous. What a treacherous man—how could such a treacherous husband exist in this world? Why would my Haitang have married him? I''m going to kill him, I''m going to kill that bastard!" the ck skeleton roared.


    It struggled furiously against its chains. Boundless hatred fuelled its anger and madness.


    "Calm down, Cui Heiyan. We''ll deal with Nn Qiankun. The more you let your emotions control you, the stronger the demonic influence will be," the demonic sect master urged.


    Suddenly, he felt a sense of danger. All his hair stood on end as he whirled around and saw a man ring daggers at them from a mountaintop not too far away.


    "Nn Qiankun? Aren''t you fighting against Xiao Nanfeng? Is this an avatar of yours?" the demonic sect master eximed, sending a palm strike toward him.


    However, Nn Qiankun was even faster. He shouted, "Restrain, Gourd of Divine me!"


    He activated a golden gourd in his hand, its opening directed at the gathered cultivators. A tremendous suction emerged from its depths and attempted to suck in the three cultivators and the coffin. Even the demonic sect master was unable to ovee it.


    "One of the Spirit Emperor''s peerless treasures?" the demonic sect master eximed.


    With a wave of his hand, he sent Tang and the ck skeleton flying against the pull of the gourd, then simultaneously freed the ck skeleton from its chains. After that, he was sucked into the gourd.


    "Die, Nn Qiankun!" the demonic sect master thundered from within the gourd.


    mes surged forth from the gourd''s opening. It looked as though the demonic sect master was about to rush out at any moment.


    Nn Qiankun nched as he quickly capped the gourd, only to find the ck skeleton having rushed up to him.


    "You bastard, return my daughter''s life to me!" the ck skeleton roared, striking him with a palm.


    "Damn it!" Nn Qiankun cursed as he retaliated with a palm strike of his own.


    The tremendous blow resulted in a shockwave of energy so intense that it caused the nearby mountains peaks to copse. Nn Qiankun attempted to flee, but the ck skeleton immediately gave chase. The two cultivators left Yongding, one chasing after the other.


    Tang mbered out of the rubble and gulped. "Sect Master, I didn''t curse you to death. Don''t me me!"


    In the city of Beidou, the capital of Tianshu, within a secluded cottage stood Xiao Nanfeng''s avatar. Beside him was You Jiu, d in ck.


    "Sir Xiao, Nn Qiankun has headed to Yongding, but isn''t it still a bit too dangerous for you to being here?"


    "It is rather dangerous, but I know that Nn Qiankun has a lot of ns set up. He''ll surely make a move at Yongding, so Beidou''s defenses will be almost non-existent."


    "What if he destroys the Dazheng pce?" You Jiu asked in worry.


    "A pce has symbolic significance, but only that. Even if it is destroyed, there''s no need to worry. We simply need to rebuild."


    "Understood!" You Jiu nodded, then asked, "Sir Xiao, do we need to set up the Immortal''s Destruction here? We could ruin the draconic vein in this city and destroy Nn Qiankun''s fortune."


    Xiao Nanfeng shook his head. "We can''t. There are paper snakes roaming the ground underneath Beidou. If we set up the Immortal''s Destruction, we''ll be discovered immediately, and the paper snakes will easily be able to destroy the relic."


    You Jiu frowned. "Nn Qiankun clearly has thought deeply about this, hasn''t he?"


    "Now, prepare to enter the pce."


    "The Tianshu Pce is well guarded. If we want to make our way in, we''ll have to fight off its guards," You Jiu said in worry.


    "Let''s do so, then. I need to see if the Taiqing Immortal Sect''s sect master is trapped somewhere within the pce."


    "Lu Yan isn''t dead?" You Jiu asked.


    "I don''t know. Regardless, he is the sect master. As a Taiqing disciple, I have the responsibility of searching for him—I want to see his body, dead or alive. If we can save him, he''d be a huge help."


    "Understood, Sir Xiao!" You Jiu nodded.


    The spectral guards directed the two cultivators to a carriage in service to one of the officials of the Tianshu Empire. They blinded the driver and the guards with a gust of wind and dust as Xiao Nanfeng and You Jiu took advantage of the opportunity to enter the interior of the carriage and threatened the weak official within.Very quickly, they entered the pce grounds in the carriage and passed through the first checkpoint easily.


    At the second checkpoint, when they were stopped for an inspection, You Jiu made his move.


    He dealt with the guards rapidly and froze them to the spot, so it looked as though nothing was amiss.


    "Sir Xiao, Nn Qiankun really was careful. There''s a barrier up ahead, and we won''t be able to sneak our way through it," You Jiu reported.


    "Break it by force!" Xiao Nanfengmanded.


    "Yessir!" You Jiu replied.


    The two cultivators struck simultaneously, shattering the barrier.


    "An assassin!"


    "Someone''s broken through the formation around the pce. Activate all defenses immediately!"


    "An enemy raid!"


    The pce was instantly a hubbub of activity.


    Xiao Nanfeng and You Jiu rushed into the depths of the pce, prioritizing areas that were protected by defensive formations. The more barriers there were, the more precious whatevery within.


    Crashes resounded throughout the pce as Xiao Nanfeng destroyed barrier after barrier, while You Jiu held off the attacks from all around them. Very quickly, the two cultivators discovered a region shrouded by fog deep within the pce.


    There were countless paper snakes in the vicinity that surged straight at Xiao Nanfeng and You Jiu as they approached.


    "Break!" Xiao Nanfengmanded.


    Countless lengths of red rope fell from the sky and tangled around the paper snakes. Xiao Nanfeng shot into the fog and broke the formation there.


    Suddenly, he saw a sinister hall appearing from the depths of the fog, one constructedpletely out of papier mache. It was only about ten meters tall. From its windows, he could see countless shadow cursed effigies trapped within. They were shouting for help and attempting to batter down the hall with their bodies, but werepletely unable to escape.


    "These are... the Spirit Emperor''s shadow subordinates? Nn Qiankun brought them all out of the Spirit Emperor''s hidden realm and must have trapped them here! Yanluo Hall...?" Xiao Nanfeng eximed.


    A paper signboard outside the paper hall proimed that this was the Yanluo Hall, a particrly sinister name. [1]


    1. Yanluo = 阎罗, meaning hell. But Hell Hall doesn''t sound very good in English... ?