Chapter 272: There Is Always A Deeper Layer

A golden sun sat just above the horizon, shrouding the floating island of Crimson Snow Sect with a radiant aura. On one corner of the Heavenly Hailstorm mountain peak, two young men were lying on top of a wide boulder, basking in the soft glow of the sun. The salty winds of the sea hit them in the face, hardly impeded by the mountains surrounding the island. 

Han Xuhan finally had gotten a stretch of peaceful sleep. Zhanxian and Tun Shi Tian were lying inside the hut, both semi-unconscious from the mental trauma induced by the attack of the Tupshu. Whether the training regime of the mental demon produce any real result or not, remained to be seen.

Yuen Zhou had returned to her hut to recuperate from her injuries, while Xiao Wu was visiting the central region of the island to deal with the tournament missions and to gather information. Their team of three had brought back one treasure set from the invasion missions today. It was their first successful tournament mission. Naturally, everyone wanted to relax for a while.

According to the rule Xuan Zi set for their team, they had managed to produce decent results within 24 hours, both in terms of tournament missions and side tasks. Even if they took the rest of the evening off to rest, nobody could find a fault with their performance.

"Xuhan, I've been thinking about it for some time now...and I have made the decision to come clean," Mu Ran said in a low voice, breaking Xuhan's sleepy mood. 

Disgruntled, he raised his neck and cracked an eye open, trying to assess the situation. Mu Ran looked alert, serious, and even a bit guilty. Doubt surfacing in his heart, Han Xuhan sat up straight and said, "Have you been hiding something that I should know, martial brother?" 

"Not hiding, exactly. It's just that you never asked, and I never thought it was important to let you know. But after what you've revealed to the sect master and our teacher, I realized that keeping you in the dark about it wouldn't be right."

Sensing the discomfort in his tone, Han Xuhan's senses fired up, fully alert. 

"Your cultivation technique, the Skeletal Monarch..."

"Yes? What about it?"

"You never asked me why I recommended it to you, or how I even knew about it, did you?" 

Mu Ran's question pushed a red button inside Xuhan's mind. 

Shit! Could it be?! Could there be another hidden scheme behind the beginning of this entire fiasco that he had never even considered?!

Seeing his wide-eyed look, Mu Ran's countenance turned guiltier. 

"Xuhan, I hope you won't blame me for this, but in truth, I used you as an experiment subject at that time. This Skeletal Monarch technique was recommended to me by a senior disciple with whom I had had a chance encounter in the past. She told me that inside Crimson Snow Sect's archives, there's a cultivation manual that can make Celestials overturn heaven and earth in fear. That it was a technique that can break the power of Heavenly Celestials over a cultivator's dao tower. She told me this technique could even summon an ancient power that has been forbidden by the heavenly mandate!

"Obviously, I did not believe a single word she said. The description sounded so exaggerated at that time! So when I finally got myself admitted into the sect, I searched for the technique out of curiosity, alongside my own pursuits. When you appeared behind me at that time, offering unwarranted assistance, I wasn't fully convinced of your sincerity. So I thought... Why don't I test both your and her sincerity at the same time by asking you to cultivate the technique she recommended?"

"Now that I've heard in detail about every anomaly that technique has caused, those boasts of that senior make sense! 

"When she said that this technique can make Celestials panic, she obviously indicated the possible usage of this technique to cause chaos in the heavenly dao domain. To create multiple cultivators within one dao tower isn't a simple matter. The heavenly laws fall into confusion in such a situation, as proven by your expulsion from the domain.

"When she said that this technique can summon an ancient power, perhaps she was talking about the method embedded within the burning planet that enables a powerful cultivator to infiltrate the heavenly dao domain through it!"

Taking several deep breaths, Han Xuhan stood up, feeling a bit unsteady in his steps. Mu Ran watched him with an uneasy look on his face. 

"I hope you can look past it, Xuhan. I did not know that this technique could be so deadly. At that time, I took a gamble, thinking that either this technique could truly be a heaven-defying cultivation manual, or the senior was just trying to misguide me into cultivating a useless technique, just like she had done."

Han Xuhan faltered in his steps. Eyes narrowing, he said in a faint tone, "Just like she had done? You mean to say that she was a practitioner of the Skeletal Monarch technique as well?" 

He had met a few disciples of the previous generations who knew about the effects of cultivating this technique. One of them had even tried it himself and given up. The only reason the tales of their failures hadn't discouraged Xuhan was because his plan was to intermix the Skeletal Monarch manual with the Spiritual Bone armor technique. He wanted meat shields to defend himself, and so, he never held a particularly high expectation for the technique. 

If this unknown senior who had tried to guide Mu Ran was also a practitioner of the technique, the only way she might be privy to the traps hiding inside the technique was if she let her skeleton minions cultivate as well! From Xuhan's understanding, letting his minions cultivate was the major contributing factor in weakening his dao foundation to the point where the senior from the burning planet could sneak inside it. Other practitioners of this technique had produced several minions without any issues at all. 

Mu Ran's nod of affirmation sealed it. 

"Yes, I saw them, her minions. She was using an expensive-looking carriage to travel around the mortal world. The carriage was being drawn by three skeleton horses. Well... They looked similar to horses, at least. It's hard to tell when all you can see are bones."

"Only bones? Were there no unusual details about those skeletons? For example, my minions all have artificial qi channels running through their bodies."

Mu Ran pondered the question for a while before shaking his head. 

"Nope. Seemed pretty normal. But to be honest, I wasn't a cultivator at that time myself. Even if there was something special about the horses, I wouldn't have been able to detect it."

Disappointed, Han Xuhan could only take the other avenue.

"Who is this senior? Do you know her name? I should probably look for her once the tournament ends."

"Xian Yu. She said she was of the same generation as Elder Mu."

Han Xuhan thanked Mu Ran for the admission of this secret, declaring that he had no resentment towards Mu Ran for using him as a guinea pig. 

"I would have made a similar choice myself if I were in your shoes," he said. "So don't worry about it."

Mu Ran looked pensive, and to distract him, Han Xuhan poked at another nest of secrets. 

"By the way, martial brother, from what I know, your family had some cultivators in the earlier generations, right? You told me your family compound had a secret tome filled with esoteric scriptures on cultivation, and your elder brother taught you about special physiques, the zeroth layer, and much more from it."

Hesitantly, Mu Ran nodded, unsure of where the conversation was headed.

"So why didn't you start cultivating from an earlier age? Why did you wait till you entered this sect? It's not like there is a specific age limit on cultivation. Even a child can start cultivating with delicate guidance. With resources like yours, I would have started the moment I could read!"

Mu Ran's face froze. For almost half a minute, he appeared unsure of how to respond.

"...It's another secret," he finally answered. "I'll tell you after the tournament ends. Mm, you'll find out anyway."

For some reason, Han Xuhan felt that Mu Ran's style of speaking was a bit unusual. But he had noticed the same phenomenon several times in the past whenever someone questioned the guy about his secrets. So he chose to ignore it and bade him goodbye, heading back to the hut.