Master of Strange Dao

Their exchange was inaudible to Yu Ziqing, so he decided not to get in the way and returned to the small courtyard to wait.

Moments later, the ice coffin was reburied, and Han Dong came back, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Ziyu, please forgive me, I would like to borrow your Sword Manual for some time."

"No problem, it was meant to stay here anyway, for Brother Dong to revise."

"In this life, it seems I can only fight and kill, I almost couldn't stop it just now and had to borrow a strand of the Sword Manual's True Intent."

"These are trifles, Brother Dong needn't worry. What exactly happened to sister-in-law?"

"She just heard a childhood rhyme and slowly fell asleep, unaware of anything else. Someone is trying to summon her."

"Brother Dong, you stay with sister-in-law, I will help to investigate the others."

Seeing that there were no problems here for the time being, Yu Ziqing left temporarily.

He returned to Jinlan Mountain and sat there in contemplation all by himself.

He felt he had heard that childhood rhyme somewhere before.

No, not heard the rhyme itself, but certain keywords within it were familiar.

After a moment of reminiscence, Yu Ziqing suddenly opened his eyes.

"In the two thousand two hundredth year of the Dingmao era, Dingmao City.

The Demon Concubine wrought havoc in the palace; her father and brother abused their power, drawing the siege of six armies.

The Demon Concubine's Jade Tower felt the onslaught of flames, which burned for more than a month without dying down, until the Demon Concubine revealed her True Body, an unstoppable force.

The Prefectural Governor of Dingmao City, sealed the Demon Concubine."

Yu Ziqing remembered where he had heard the words "Jade Tower."

He had visited that Sealing once, but only to confirm whether it was just another fabricated danger.

That was one of the few Seals Yu Ziqing had not resolved in the Dingmao Era.

At that time, he passed by in haste, never considering resolving the Seal, for he was not strong enough.

The might of that Demon Concubine at the end of the Dingmao period was nearly overwhelming; Yu Ziqing, merely sensing her aura, turned and walked away.

Regarding the childhood rhyme, he also remembered hearing a line of it in passing.

Yu Ziqing was somewhat shocked.

Could it be... this Ba, is related to that Demon Concubine?

Then another thought struck him – the origin of Ba remained a mystery, having existed for untold years, while the old Yang was preying on the young naïve Han Dong.

Hisss...

Yu Ziqing took in a sharp breath. Could Ba's former self actually be that Demon Concubine?

But that made no sense either; the Demon Concubine was securely sealed within An History Book.

This was something Yu Ziqing had seen with his own eyes.

So what was the relationship between Ba and that Demon Concubine?

Thinking back, someone had attempted to activate the Earth Fire, with the intention of dissolving the ice coffin's seal.

Then they lured Han Dong back from the deep sea.

And now, they've stirred Ba.

If Ba were taken away, Han Dong would surely follow.

Moreover, something concerning the Southern Sea was involved, and the Silence Divine Spell on Yang had also been triggered.

Thus, the planning for Ba's events had been in the works for over a decade.

And Old Song hadn't discovered anything.

Now it involved a sealing within An History Book.

Yu Ziqing understood; the change he was waiting for had arrived.

This was the change.

However, the person behind all this seemed unaware that both Han Dong and Ba were already in the Forbidden Land of Jinlan Mountain.

This series of shifts inevitably drove the course of events far from what was anticipated.

Without hesitation, Yu Ziqing contacted Old Song once again.

"About that sword you were investigating for me, any leads yet?"

"None at all, I've checked, and none of the swords capable of what you described are plausible."

"Have you ever considered that, if you can't find a trace of it, what might it mean?"

Song Chengyue was momentarily taken aback, then understood instantly.

If he had no leads, then there were a few likely possibilities: Emperor Qian, dong chang, Langya Institute, the Imperial Family of Dali, the Lihuo Institute.

As for Dazhen, forget it, the people from Dazhen couldn't produce such precise work.

And the major sects were even less likely to have stowed away an extraordinarily powerful sword without ever showing it.

Dali was unlikely too; their way of doing things was completely different.

"That leaves us with dong chang and Langya Institute."

"Understood."

To Yu Ziqing, it wasn't important whether it was dong chang or Langya Institute; these two could be considered together.

Opening his eyes, Yu Ziqing felt like laughing.

That chief director must be in a bit of a hurry.

Whatever he was planning to do, this matter was now the lifeline he had found, something he was compelled to act upon.

Considering his past actions, he certainly wouldn't want to linger in some desolate corner for hundreds of years.

And looking at what he needed to do, he couldn't afford to hide anymore.

Therefore, this chief director probably knew more about some matters than even Emperor Qian or Song Chengyue.

Normally, he shouldn't be summoning Ba now, not by any means he might have.

It could only mean that he was desperate.

He could no longer wait to do something for a final turnaround.

Yu Ziqing found Yang and shared the recent events and his own speculation.

Yang listened in bewilderment.

"How does this involve Han Dong and Ba again?"

"It's not a case of 'again'. From the beginning, both Han Dong and Ba were part of the game.

If I hadn't gone to solve the Alien Fire Sealing, Ji Meng wouldn't have awoken, and the Southern Sea would have remained undisturbed.

If the Southern Sea were undisturbed, Feng Buju wouldn't have gone to check the seales, and would not have realized there was a problem with Ba's Sealing Land.

In normal circumstances, mere decades wouldn't have alerted us to Ba's existence at all.

Performing one deed will inevitably affect others."