Yun Ruoyan carefully inspected the black box to identify why it was radiating such coolness. The box was made of a material unknown to her. It was wholly black, and the dragon engraving was so detailed it could almost be real. At the same time, the black dragon seemed somehow familiar to her.

Yun Ruoyan had seen the illusion of a black dragon a few times at the demonic dragon grotto within the trial grounds, and she had also seen a few black dragons in her dreams. The engraved dragon felt as though it was of the same ilk.

“Yan’er?” Li Mo called out, seeing that Yun Ruoyan seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

Yun Ruoyan glanced at Li Mo and opened her mouth, but she didn’t say anything—the strange sense of deja vu she felt was so unusual that she couldn’t express her thoughts properly in words.

“Here, is this what he took from the southern tower?” Yun Ruoyan handed the black box to Li Mo.

The box did seem to be the one that the black-robed man had taken. Li Mo glanced coolly at Cang Song before opening it up, revealing a tablet of green jade. The pale green glow that the tablet gave off made it clear that it was no ordinary treasure. However, neither Li Mo nor Yun Ruoyan had seen the item before, so they couldn’t tell what was so special about it.

Li Mo replaced the box’s cover. “Senior Cang, a thief snuck into the academy. Tomorrow, please investigate the matter carefully with the other provosts, just in case he has other accomplices.”

“Naturally.”

As Cang Song watched Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan leave, his expression turned sunken. His displeasure toward Li Mo, which he had quashed for quite some time, flared up once again. You think that you have the right to command me just because you’re the first elder’s head disciple? Sooner or later, I’ll teach you what it means to respect your elders! Cang Song quietly snorted as he turned to leave.

Li Mo took two steps and stopped once more. Turning to Yun Ruoyan, he said, “The five elders are still waiting atop the southern tower, so I have to rush to the palace and bring back the first elder.”

He had truly returned to the palace to visit the Farsighted King, but had found an opportunity to have the first elder, who was familiar with shapeshifting, take his place instead.

“I’ll go with you! There’s nothing else I can accomplish over here, anyway.”

With one hand on Yun Ruoyan’s waist, Li Mo flew into the sea of clouds, heading directly for the capital.

“It’ll take us a few hours to get to the capital and back. Will Senior Shui Yun be able to handle the five elders on her own?” Yun Ruoyan asked, poking her head out from beneath Li Mo’s expansive black robe.

“Shui Yun’s only the bearer of the news, so I doubt they’ll make things difficult for her,” Li Mo replied, pressing her head back into his robe.

After about three hours, Li Mo landed in the Slaughtering King’s manor. It was deep in the night, and the first elder—still dressed as Li Mo—had long since departed from the banquet and returned to his manor. Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan landed directly in Li Mo’s courtyard, and the door to his bedroom opened as soon as they reached it.

Yun Ruoyan stared open-mouthed at the person who opened the door, whose face was exactly identical to Li Mo’s. Before she could react, Li Mo had pulled her inside.

“Elder,” Li Mo called out to the person who wore his face.

“He’s the first elder?!”

No one had to respond to Yun Ruoyan’s question, because the first elder was removing his disguise. He stretched out his right hand, which was glowing with spiritual energy. Then, he passed his right palm over his face, replacing Li Mo’s visage with his own.

“What sort of technique is this? It’s incredible!”

“It’s a spirit-based disguise technique that you’ll be able to learn once you become a sword saint,” Li Mo explained.

“Did you accomplish what you set out to do?” the first elder asked. Li Mo recounted what had happened that night, and Yun Ruoyan furnished additional details.

“That Li Furong was just a black-armored lizard in disguise! But her cultivation was so low that she was vanquished by a beam of red light from the all-seeing mirror, and this is all that’s left of her.”

Yun Ruoyan revealed the black beast core in her hands.

“In principle, if Li Furong was able to morph into a human form and have such a large beast core, her cultivation shouldn’t have been too low. In that case, why was she still defeated by the all-seeing mirror so easily, and why was her student performance so mediocre?”

Li Mo wasn’t familiar with Li Furong, so he couldn’t answer her question.

The first elder mulled it over for a moment, then began, “There’s only one possibility: she must have taken a human form not too long ago. In addition, she must have obtained a human form through some sort of spiritual pill, rather than through regular cultivation. However, such pills would have stunted her cultivation, preventing her from progressing much farther.”

Yun Ruoyan seemed as though she had a sudden revelation: Li Furong had clearly been raised and treated as a sacrificial pawn, from start to finish.

“Master, this is the treasure the black-robed man was trying to steal from the southern tower.” Li Mo handed the small black box to the first elder.

The first elder carefully scrutinized the small box, opened it, and then took out the jade tablet within. Clearly, it was the first time that the first elder was seeing the contents of the box as well.

“First Elder, have you ever seen this box before?” Yun Ruoyan asked.

The first elder shook his head. “There are ten stone chambers in the vault, each with at least a thousand treasures—spiritual weapons, artifacts, tomes, and all sorts of strange oddities besides. Despite how much time I’ve spent in the vault, I haven’t studied more than one percent of the items within. This is indeed the first time I’ve seen this tablet. However, although it is precious, it doesn’t seem quite special enough to belong in the vault…”

The first elder narrowed his eyes. “On the other hand, this box seems much more interesting.”

As if he suddenly recalled something, the first elder then hurriedly asked, “How did that black-robed man get into the vault?”

The moment the first elder asked the question, Yun Ruoyan’s heart twinged in pain. Somewhat mournfully, she began, “The black-robed man used a thousand-faced key to open the vault doors. I wanted to take the key for myself, but Master Cang knocked him down the cliff along with the key!”

Li Mo folded his arms. “Cang Song seemed a little suspicious. I could have caught the black-robed man, but he knocked him off the cliff. As for this box, I suspect that it might have contained something else previously. Could someone have replaced its contents?”

“You suspect Cang Song?” The first elder frowned, appearing more than a little shocked. Cang Song was the provost of the southern college, as well as a trusted junior of his.

“Only a suspicion, without any real proof at the moment,” Li Mo clarified. “After the black-robed man had stolen the box, Cang Song was the only one who got close to him. If there’s anything wrong with the box, it’s very likely that Cang Song was involved.”

The first elder’s expression turned particularly serious. Li Mo had informed him that the Farsighted King was plotting a rebellion, and the item the black-robed man stole surely had something to do with it. The vault was a well-kept secret of Kongming Academy, and the first elder was the only one qualified to open it. How did the Farsighted King find out about something that even he wasn’t familiar with?

Furthermore, Cang Song was a relatively high-ranking member of Kongming Academy. How might he have ended up in cahoots with the Farsighted King? If Li Mo’s suspicions were indeed correct, then he had to be barred from Kongming Academy.

“Li Mo, I’ve always been supportive of your actions, but Kongming Academy has a longstanding policy of not intervening with mortal affairs. Our goal is to continuously raise our cultivation and advance to a higher dimension,” the first elder emphasized. “Mortal affairs are complicated by the shortsightedness of men, and cultivation is the only path to true power.”

“Yes, Master,” Li Mo acquiesced. The first elder was both Li Mo’s master and parental figure, and he even took on the role of a friend at times. Li Mo deeply respected and trusted the man, and would even listen to him over Empress Xue Tong herself.

Instead of paying attention to the conversation, Yun Ruoyan was still thinking back to what she had observed by the all-seeing mirror. Its demonic eye had shot out a bright red beam that had vaporized Li Furong in a sinister and grotesque manner, and Yun Ruoyan couldn’t help thinking back to the demonic eyes that Lin Qingchen’s dragon ring had harbored.

Although that pair of eyes was much smaller and weaker than the eye from the all-seeing mirror, they shared the same terrifying aura.

“Mistress, before you really understand what’s going on with the demonic dragons, I strongly suggest you keep what you know a secret—even to Li Mo and the first elder.” Qiuqiu seemed to have detected the confusion that Yun Ruoyan was feeling, and it emphasized, “You have to investigate the matter yourself!”

Yun Ruoyan was just considering whether to broach the topic with Li Mo and the first elder, but Qiuqiu’s repeated reminder had caused her to drop the thought entirely.

After clearing things up with the first elder, he left to handle the five elders still at the roof of the southern tower in Kongming Academy and took back the black box for safekeeping. Li Mo had to enter the palace again come morning, because the Farsighted King was staying in the capital for a few days.

The next day, after having breakfast with Yun Ruoyan, Li Mo headed for the palace. Yun Ruoyan didn’t follow suit; instead, she went to the Lin manor to talk with her grandfather, Lin Zainan. She hadn’t forgotten what the demonic dragon elder had told her within the demonic dragon grotto: “Investigate your background, and you’ll be sure to find traces of your bloodline.”

To do so, Yun Ruoyan had to start with her relatives. The first person who came to mind was her grandfather who truly cherished and doted on her, Lin Zainan. Lin Zainan was shocked and excited to see Yun Ruoyan. The last time he had seen her, Yun Ruoyan had been possessed by demonic energy and had been brought away in a hurry by Li Mo. Although Li Mo had later sent him a letter to inform him that Yun Ruoyan had recovered, he couldn’t help but worry.

This time, as soon as he saw her, he quickly asked if she had really recovered and if she were still feeling unwell anywhere. Only when she had responded positively did he relax, then inquire as to why she had returned.