C113(2)- Revelation

"Sounds very interesting . Why don't you elaborate a bit more, disciple ?" Xuan Zi walked back to his seat and said without a pause .

"I believe you remember the strange disappearance of the Pine town, sect master . It vanished without a trace in a single night ."

"And you're trying to say that the same exact situation took place in your hometown ? That your orphanage disappeared so tracelessly that not even a cultivator at Fang Xie's realm remembers its existence ?"

"Yes, sect master . That day I went to visit the orphanage and met senior Xie on the way . Later, when I reached the area the orphanage was supposed to be in, I found it to be completely empty . Nobody nearby had any recollection of its existence either . It was as if I was the deluded person with a wrong set of memories . But I recognized all of them while none of them seemed to know me . My personal belief is that whoever it was behind the disappearance of Pine town decided to take some form of revenge by attacking my home since I am one of the three witnesses of their crime . So I obviously came to suspect senior Xie, as he was someone I'd never met in that town before . His crazy behaviour and pretense of being familar with me unlike the rest of the townsfolk fueled my suspicion . But I also knew that I was way too weak to do anything about it . My opponent, whether it was senior Xie or someone else, was extremely powerful . In the end, I returned to the sect and started the indirect investigation through the task administration pavilion ."

In one breath, Xuhan explained most of the incident and his own point of view while editing some of it to fit into a more predictable narrative . His audience listened calmly and continued to maintain their silence even after he had finished speaking .
Seeing his chance to mine some precious information, Xuhan went all out and threw out several questions that had been bothering him .

"But how did senior Fang Xie track me down though ?" He said, his eyes flickering towards the man in the question nervously .

". . . Your sect uniform, you dumb brat ."

A hot wave of embarrassment ran through his face as Xuhan recalled putting on his uniform rather flamboyantly that day in order to show off to his peers in the orphanage . Well, at least Fang Xie hadn't used any sort of magical tracking methods on him . That was good to know .

"And uhh. . . sect master, how did you know it was me who had issued the mission ? Were my minions that incompetent ? I can't be the only one practicing undead summoning techniques in this sect, right ?"

Xuan Zi started laughing despite the grave atmosphere in the room .

"Incompetent ? Hah- that's a good joke, disciple . I created several memories that evening that I'd rather not remember for the rest of my life ! I almost mistook your minions for powerful experts hiding their realm ! They were quite competent, I'd say . But you need to go a long, long way before you can comprehend how powerful you need to be in order to deceive a cultivator at the peak of Dao Genesis realm , hahahaha !"

"Wait a damn minute old Zi, last time I asked you about your cultivation, you said you still hadn't finished your integration !" Fang Xie suddenly said in an alarmed tone .

". . . Oh ? I said that ?" Xuan Zi asked, seeming stunned .

"Yeah . I remember it clearly !"

"I must've lied ."

". . . Fuck you ! I almost attacked you in front of the giant Empress that day thinking I could win !"

"Then you should thank the heavens for your good luck then, right ? Why are you throwing a fit ?" Xuan Zi asked in a genuinely puzzled tone .

As if they'd forgotten that a serious discussion was taking place in that room that concerned Xuhan's very existence, both the seniors started bantering back and forth making references to random incidents of their past . Meanwhile, Xuhan memorized the phrase 'Dao Genesis' realm . The teachers in the sect rarely entertained the students' questions about higher realms of power . It seemed to be a tacit agreement of some sort . So far, Xuhan knew about the soul reformation realm above his current physique transformation realm . Now a new realm had been revealed to him, one that should definitely be several level above his own considering Fang Xie's complaints .

Finishing Integration ? That should be the component of another realm lower than the Dao Genesis realm. . .

"So, exactly how did you find out that it was me, sect master ?" He asked in the end, realizing that the arguement between the two 'old monsters' was getting more and more heated . Sect master Zi and retarded Xie seemed to have a run down version of love-hate relationship . They clearly were acquaintances with a long history . No wonder Fang Xie hadn't directly try to do anything funny despite his backing . And this made Xuhan all the more curious about Xuan Zi's actual background . How powerful was it ?

. . . .Maybe he had found himself another golden thigh to hug !

Hearing his pointed question, Xuan Zi stopped bickering with Fang Xie and leaned back into his seat with a complicated expression on his face . Then he dropped a bomb that blew Xuhan's mind away .

"Disciple, the technique you used to summon skeleton soldiers, the skeletal monarch technique, was created by my father ."

Explosions after explosions flooded Xuhan's mind . What in the world-

"Duotian, the genius expert who created my main cultivation technique, is your father, master  ?" He asked with wide eyes, just to confirm that he hadn't misheard . This was amazing news ! He had been worried about where to find the later volumes of the technique . Moreover, he needed urgent guidance from someone with proper experience in it . The heavens had presented him with an opportunity that couldn't be missed !

Xuan Zi's face turned purple .

"H-he liked to uh. . . .exaggerate things a bit . At the peak of his life, he reached the seventh layer of soul reformation realm, after which he went through a qi deviation and lost his cultivation . He died not long after ."

The atmosphere in the room turned cold, but not as cold as Xuhan's blood .

Good grief ! Could the day get any worse ?

"I'm pretty sure you're aware of the issues with the skeletal monarch technique . My father never had the chance to perfect the technique at soul reformation realm . It was obviously not his main cultivation technique either . So whatever you do, don't put your hopes on that hodgepodge . Find a better one to replace it as your main cultivation technique ."

Expression sombre, Xuhan looked outside through the window . It was a bright day . The sky was full of white balls of clouds . Under the sun, who else were being made to suffer like his poor self ? The heavens are unjust, but he had come to accept that . Complaining about fairness while enjoying the hard mode did not befit a man who could achieve anything decent .

He simply let his anger and frustrations pass . He had more important matters to attend to .

"I see . So it wasn't a fault in my planning then . It was just my luck that got me caught ."

Xuan Zi gave him a tight smile . "While it is almost impossible for me to track my targets through a multi dimensional teleportation, it isn't difficult to learn where my target might end up after some calculations . You too will learn how to pick up clues from temporary dimensional rifts and use the data to calculate the approximate co-ordinates of the other side . It is quite a simple one compared to the rest of the mathematical formulae in the syllabus !"

"What the f-"
Xuhan didn't know whether to categorize that as good news or bad news . On one hand, the prospect of facing complex mathematical problems was terrible . On the other hand, the fact that it actually had some usage in real life, an incredibly cool one at that too, was exhilarating .

"So when it became apparent that the co-ordinates of the other side did not belong to our world , I became certain that my targets did not belong to this world either . A few more clues here and there told me that they might be undead too . So it wasn't a difficult conclusion to reach that they were quite possibly summoned creatures who were very familar with the terrain of this sect . After that, I decided to scan the sect for any active summoning spells for the rest of the night . Fortunately, you were caught almost instantly . I originally didn't want to intervene in your personal matters, disciple . But then came along Fang Xie and here we are !"