C.3484: Dark Clouds Looming

Reaching there, the master of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets sighed as if he felt sympathy for the tremendous organisation in the past that faced rapid decline.

He paused for a moment as if his thoughts still remained with the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens in that glorious age when they stood invincible.

He remained distracted as he raised his jade cup in a slight daze and slowly emptied out the alcohol. Afterwards, he lifted up the jade bottle and filled up his cup again.

Jian Chen sat before him quietly, carefully digesting the history that the master of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had told him.

Even the sword spirits were not aware of many of the secrets regarding this period of history. They followed a Grand Exalt, so they were located far too high above. Certain minor details would obviously end up escaping their attention.

“Their fall in strength left them vulnerable. After such a tremendous loss, the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens obviously lost the ability to deter others. Without their Grand Exalt, without the ten ancestors, the experts of the Immortals’ World no longer feared the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens as much as before. It was also from that moment onwards that the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens began to reap what they sowed.”

“The Mistress of Contrary Winds from the Wind clan survived the war, but her partner, the Demon Exalt of Bone Corrosion, perished during it. The Wind clan suffered heavy losses as well, but after learning that the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens had declined, the Mistress of Contrary Winds no longer cared about her clan. There was only revenge in her heart. For the sake of avenging her beloved son, she turned her attention to the experts of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens.”

“Back then, the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens had declined, but they still possessed the respect of many great organisations in the Immortals’ World because many of the surviving Immortal Emperors and Immortal Exalts had been saved by the Grand Exalt of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens from dire situations. As a result, many of the experts back then owed the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens a favour. That was also why the Mistress of Contrary Winds never dared to act against the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens openly.”

“She also understood that as long as she took action, she would immediately become targetted by everyone.”

“It was not just the Mistress of Contrary Winds. Many great organisations that had grievances with the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens clearly possessed the strength to crush the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens, but none of them had the courage to go after the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens.”

“Outright problems were avoidable, but hidden issues were unavoidable. These organisations truly did not have the courage to openly target the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens, but there was nothing stopping what they did secretly. They waited for several tens of thousand years, when the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens gradually faded away from public view, and finally struck after laying in the shadows for all that time.”

“The first one to take action was the Mistress of Contrary Winds. She lay in ambush for tens of thousand years. When an Immortal Exalt ancestor of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens left the sect on a visit elsewhere, she killed him without leaving behind a single trace.”

“The Sword Sect of Violet Heavens had an Immortal Exalt ancestor and three Immortal Emperor great elders that died at her hands.”

“However, the Mistress of Contrary Winds acted with great secrecy, obscuring the heavenly secrets and erasing her traces. Apart from me, there’s probably no other person beneath Grand Exalt who truly knows who the murderer was.”

“The Mistress of Contrary Winds was only one of them. The Immortal Ascension sect of the twelve courts of heaven also targetted the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens. They eliminated the second ancestor of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens without leaving behind a single trace.”

“After the second ancestor had perished, the last Immortal Exalt of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens also died mysteriously in his secret room for secluded cultivation. The circumstances of his death were extremely fishy.”

The master of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secret gradually became stern. He said solemnly, “I could deduce who the murderers of the first two ancestors were through the Way of Divination, but even with my Way of Divination, I couldn’t lock onto the murderer of the third ancestor.”

Reaching there, fury rose up in Jian Chen’s heart. “So many peak organisations in the Immortals’ World support the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens. There were so many experts who had been saved by the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens. Didn’t these organisations respond at all when the three ancestors of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens perished one by one?”

The master of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets said with mixed feelings, “These incidents occurred several tens of thousand years after the war. During this time, some of the experts had already begun to forget about the matters back then. There were also some organisations who believed one-sidedly that they had already paid back their previous debt through the various help and petty favours they granted over the years. There were also some organisations that truly wanted to stand up for the deaths of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens’ three ancestors, prepared to investigate their causes of death and avenge them. However, no one managed to find who the murderers were in the end.”

“If they couldn’t find them, didn’t anyone come to your Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets?” Jian Chen asked.

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“No one did because from their point of view, such action was completely unnecessary.” The master of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets stared at Jian Chen deeply. “Among these organisations, there were Immortal Exalts who personally took part in the investigation. The strongest one was even a Sixth Heavenly Layer Immortal Exalt. In the end, even a Sixth Heavenly Layer Immortal Exalt failed to find any clues, which made them realise the people behind were probably far stronger than they imagined them to be. As a result, after a series of fruitless investigations, everyone gave up.”

“Of course, you can’t eliminate the people who might have found some clues, except they did not dare to do anything due to certain reasons.”

“Among them, there were even some organisations who only put on the act of investigating. There really were not a lot of people who were willing to do something that conflicted with their own interests or were willing to make their organisations pay heavy prices for the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens.”

“If the enemy were puny organisations that they could crush easily, they would strike without any hesitation and avenge the three ancestors of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens. However, if they faced opponents stronger than them, they could only fall silent.”

“After all, getting a peak organisation whose strongest expert was just an Immortal Exalt of the First, Second, Third, or Fourth Heavenly Layer to make an enemy out of a Sixth Heavenly Layer Immortal Exalt or even stronger was truly unlikely.”

“In the Immortals’ World back then, over ninety percent of the great organisations had a thought like that in mind. Only very, very few peak organisations that truly possessed great strength investigated this seriously. They were the Immortal Sect of Myriad Swords and the Waymight clan.”

“The Immortal Sect of Myriad Swords and the Waymight clan were both part of the twelve courts of heaven, as well as the most proactive ones in the investigation. But in the end, they only managed to lock onto a few figures through guessing, which included the Mistress of Contrary Winds.”

“An ancestor of the Immortal Sect of Myriad Swords personally visited the Mistress of Contrary Winds, but in the end, she denied it vehemently. As a result, without true evidence, the Immortal Sect of Myriad Swords had no reason to go after a Sixth Heavenly Layer Immortal Exalt.”

“The Immortal Ascension sect was obviously suspected as well, but it is also one of the twelve courts of heaven, so both the Immortal Sect of Myriad Swords and the Waymight clan could only act like they knew nothing. Let alone producing evidence, so what if they truly found evidence? They would not go and offend one of the twelve courts of heaven for the declining Sword Sect of Violet Heavens.”

“The investigation into the murderers of the ancestors of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens gradually just ended inconclusively like this. However, the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens without any Immortal Exalts was in great danger, so an Immortal Exalt ancestor of the Immortal Sect of Myriad Swords still ended up visiting them personally, remaining right outside the sect to protect the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens.”

“But afterwards, something unexpected happened to the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens. An Immortal Emperor great elder of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens brought a part of the sect treasures with him to defect to the Sacred Beast clan.”

“What! An Immortal Emperor of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens actually defected to the Sacred Beast clan? How dare he! How dare he!” The sword spirits flew into a fury. Their eyes immediately burned with rage.

The master of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets let out a great sigh. “Yeah, he defected to the Sacred Beast clan of the Daemons’ World. Not only did he take a part of the sect treasures with him, but he even brought a group of disciples with him. He was the strongest great elder of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens back then. He insisted on leaving, so no one in the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens could stop him.”

“In the beginning, the Immortal Exalt from the Immortal Sect of Myriad Swords who protected the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens the entire time did everything he could to persuade him. He even answered the pleas of the other great elders of the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens and forcefully prevented him from leaving. In the end, it resulted in conflict between the Sacred Beast clan and the Immortal Sect of Myriad Swords.”

“The Immortal Exalt who protected the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens was the Sword Heart Ancestor of the Immortal Sect of Myriad Swords. The Sword Heart Ancestor was injured by the clan leader of the Azure Dragon clan. In the end, it devolved into a long-range clash between the supreme ancestor of the Immortal Sect of Myriad Swords, the Heavenly Emperor of Sword Radiance, and the old clan leader of the Azure Dragon clan. However, they still ended up failing to stop the Immortal Emperor from leaving.”

“Ever since then, the Immortal Sect of Myriad Swords stopped bothering about anything regarding the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens. They stopped caring about the Sword Sect of Violet Heavens’ fate as well.”