Volume 1, Chapter 20: Inscrutable

During the day, Sinan Xi was nagged by Yan Jin to memorize all those exam materials. But at night, the usually reserved Lao Wu brought him an important piece of news.

“This Xuyu Peak is off, really off,” Lao Wu paced back and forth in front of Sinan Xi, making him dizzy, repeating only this sentence over and over.

Sinan Xi finally lost patience and snapped at him, “If it’s off, then damn it, say what’s wrong!”

Lao Wu beckoned with his finger, signaling Sinan Xi to come closer and listen to his analysis.

After Sinan Xi strained himself to lean in a little, Lao Wu unfolded a map he had somehow obtained, leaning in mysteriously beside him.

“Listen to me. This is Lin’an City,” Lao Wu said, pointing at the map while fixing his gaze on Sinan Xi.

“Hm? And then?”

“This is where we encountered the South Abyss Giant Python, near the Xuyu Mountains, right?”

“Right, so?”

“A hundred miles offshore from Lin’an City, there’s a Beast Island. Correct?”

Sinan Xi yawned, leaning his head back against the chair. “That’s right. Locals say that from time to time, some strange sea creatures crawl ashore and attack nearby villages. But compared to monsters the size of the giant python, they’re just small fry.”

“That’s the strange thing. Normally, birds, beasts, and insects look normal. Only those living in places with abnormal spiritual energy for years would undergo drastic changes in size and temperament. Lin’an is just a small frontier town—why would such strange beasts exist on an island offshore?”

Hearing this, Sinan Xi also felt the oddity.

By right, the world’s major sanctuaries rich in spiritual energy have long been occupied by various nations, who marshal all their strength to cultivate warriors for war.

In the six years since coming to this world, Sinan Xi had rapidly advanced his cultivation from the third stage of the Spiritual Realm to the quasi-Earth Sovereign level. Aside from the abundant supply of pills and immortal herbs, the greatest reason was the bonus from the South Abyss secret realm.

It was precisely because of the South Abyss’s abnormal spiritual energy that monsters like the giant python appeared. So how could a small place like Lin’an City harbor similar strange beasts?

“That’s why I said Xuyu Peak is off,” Lao Wu said, looking at Sinan Xi with a face full of dread.

“Makes some sense, but what does this have to do with Xuyu Peak?”

Sinan Xi was still puzzled. Spiritual sanctuaries with abundant energy usually feel different from miles away, let alone within. Lao Wu and Sinan Xi had visited the Xuyu Mountains several times and never noticed anything unusual.

Seeing Sinan Xi’s worried expression, Lao Wu judged he hadn’t grasped the point and deliberately pulled over a stool, sitting down to explain seriously.

“At first, I thought like you—that it was just a coincidence. Until the day before yesterday…”

Lao Wu glanced around to make sure no one was near, then leaned close to Sinan’s ear and whispered in a mysterious tone.

“I heard that inside the Cultivation Academy, there are four Peak Masters who arrived in Lin’an City almost simultaneously and have stayed for over a decade, even twenty years.”

“That’s quite a coincidence.”

“Think about it. If there wasn’t something fishy, how could this place attract spiritual Realm experts at the fifth or sixth stage of the Wild Lands to linger here so long?”

Hearing this, Sinan Xi understood.

In the Central Plains Wild Lands, not only humans but even animals act only out of self-interest.

These wild experts abandon worldly glory and wealth to become teachers in a cultivation academy in such a desolate place—it’s truly strange.

Sinan Xi wanted to dig deeper, but Lao Wu used the excuse of going out for drinks and stopped talking, much to Sinan’s annoyance.

After Lao Wu left, Sinan Xi was left alone in the study, idly tidying scattered books on the desk. Thinking about being tormented again by Yan Jin the next day, having to memorize so much useless information, made his head ache.

Recalling Lao Wu’s words, Sinan Xi suddenly realized that the system’s current task, seemingly unrelated to his past experiences, actually held a subtle hidden thread connecting everything.

From leading the White Yi troops in a failed snowy night raid and being expelled from Sinan Continent.

To receiving the ninth mission, arriving in Lin’an City, confronting that strange old man who singlehandedly subdued the South Abyss Giant Python, and having his cultivation destroyed.

Finally, involving Xuyu Peak and its inner disciples.

The secret of Xuyu Peak loomed like a massive mystery, suffocating yet intriguing.

The Beast Island offshore from Lin’an City, the Peak Masters of Xuyu, and that Jin Chan Hai—what was the connection between them all?

And who was that top-tier expert who destroyed his cultivation without warning?

The more he thought, the more tangled it became. Normally, Sinan Xi would prefer to stay uninvolved in such matters.

Yet this time, the system’s assigned mission forced him to delve deep, peeling back layers to uncover the secret.

Thinking over this whole mess, Sinan Xi’s headache worsened.

Under the cool moonlight at the northeast corner of the Xuyu Mountains, several figures flashed quickly, leaving traces of afterimages in the air.

“Jin Chan Hai, you summoned us here in the director’s name—don’t tell me you just want us to stargaze and moonwatch with you?”

The speaker was a woman of considerable age but exquisite figure, clad in brocade silk. Her slender oval face was heavily made up, with vividly red lips that drew the eye.

Jin Chan Hai said nothing, still gazing up at the vast sky, his eyes radiating a domineering disdain for the mortal world. His robes fluttered in the night breeze as several shadowy figures swiftly gathered around Star-Shattered Lake below Xuyu Peak like ghosts.

“Damn Jin Chan Hai. If you weren’t the only disciple of our senior brother, I’d have kicked you down the mountain by now,” the alluring woman snapped, displeased at his silence.

She was Yun Ying Ji, one of the seven Peak Masters of the Cultivation Academy, from the Entwining Peak.

“Junior Brother Han, please show yourself—we’re just waiting for you,” Jin Chan Hai called softly towards the dense forest ahead.

Han Shuangzi emerged slowly from the distant woods, stepping on the stone pillars across Star-Shattered Lake, making his way to the pavilion in the lake’s center.

Where he stepped, the water within several feet froze instantly, as if sealed by ice. His white Taoist robes shimmered coldly under the moonlight.

With a wave of his right hand, Jin Chan Hai raised golden light barriers around Star-Shattered Lake, enveloping the four present.

“Nian Zhu Curtain Formation? Bai Lian Xin actually taught him this move! Does she really think he’s the future heir?”

Jin Minghe, eavesdropping from a distant mountain, angrily hammered his jade tablet and vanished into the night sky in frustration.

“Entwining Peak’s Yun Ying Ji, Tianhe Peak’s Feng Baihe, Penglai Peak’s Xian Jing, and Purple Cloud Peak’s Purple Cloud Master is ill, so they sent Junior Brother Han. So we can say everyone has arrived.”

“You lot have limited patience. Speak quickly if you have something to say. A junior like you making such a fuss—are you afraid no one knows we’re here holding a secret meeting?”

Feng Baihe stood on the lake’s edge, his gaze cold. His robes fluttered like sword qi, slicing through the air toward Jin Chan Hai.

Jin Chan Hai’s face remained expressionless as the sword qi brushed past him.

“You are all among the earliest disciples who followed our master to Xuyu Peak. You must know the secrets of this place better than I do.”

Jin Chan Hai paused deliberately, sweeping his gaze over the group.

“Voices within the Nian Zhu Curtain Formation cannot reach the outside. Please do not be so restrained.”

“You brat, don’t think you can shout at me, Feng Baihe. If you have something, just say it.”

“Our master… is near exhaustion, at the brink of fading away.”