What happened on Heavenly Summit Mountain was the main issue.
Chen Yan urgently wanted to know the truth. He wanted to know what exactly had happened after he lost consciousness.
Why hadn't he died?
And why did the remnant soul of that Great Demon of Dao Union Realm exist within his body?
"He Furen's goal seemed to be to restore the Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul to completeness. To achieve this, he had to make the Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul devour the souls of Great Demons or cultivators at or above the Divine Ability Realm."
Lin Qifeng said:
"After the Dao Inquiry Assembly of Chenping Continent began, they somehow learned that Ye Xiu, the most outstanding young disciple of the Beiyuan Sect in this generation, had the soul of Mo Zheng, a Divine Ability Realm powerhouse from three hundred years ago, residing within the ring he possessed. They then began laying out their scheme."
This was an almost perfect scheme.
Step one: Kill any Dao Inquirer from the Kongshan Sect.
Step two: Seal off Heavenly Summit Mountain.
Under the pretext of investigating the cause of Qin Yue's death, He Furen and Wen Hongli landed on Heavenly Summit Mountain and took control of the situation. They used a barrier to completely seal off the entire mountain and leveraged Huo Mu's influence to isolate Heavenly Summit Mountain completely from the outside world.
Step three: Repair the Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul.
Use Mo Zheng's soul to make the Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul whole again. However, this was no simple task. Although Mo Zheng was only a wisp of a soul, he was, after all, a former Divine Ability Realm powerhouse. Even if his strength had fallen to the Myriad Transformations Realm, as long as he could still directly manipulate spiritual energy, ordinary Myriad Transformations Realm cultivators were absolutely no match for him.
This highlighted the importance of Xiao Bo'an.
The unique nature of the Weaving Dreams Tower's special arts meant Mo Zheng was completely unaware of the curse Xiao Bo'an had placed on the connection between him and Ye Xiu.
The final step: Slaughter all the cultivators on Heavenly Summit Mountain and frame the direct disciples of Kongyuan Mountain.
Both the appearance of the Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul and the massacre on Heavenly Summit Mountain would be pinned as a conspiracy by the direct disciples of Kongyuan Mountain. He Furen and Wen Hongli would then play the role of heroes, eliminating the Kongyuan Mountain direct disciples and "destroying" the released Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul.
As for credibility, the Supreme Imperial Law Elder of Kongshan Sect, Huo Mu, would vouch for He Furen, thoroughly cleansing him, Wen Hongli, and their other subordinates.
However, even though this plan seemed almost flawless, it was still cracked.
Because there existed one biggest, almost insurmountable variable within it.
That was Chen Yan.
"After Mo Zheng's soul dispersed, He Furen pinned all his hopes on you."
Lin Qifeng said:
"Because you could release spiritual energy, something only cultivators of the upper three realms can do. So he gambled, wanting to feed your soul to the Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul."
Chen Yan's memory ended there.
"He Furen succeeded. The Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul did indeed swallow you in one gulp. But, what happened next..."
Lin Qifeng continued:
"The black snake projection in the sky began to collapse, shrinking towards that single point of Clear Light at the very center of its forehead. And the exact center of that point of Clear Light... was your Martial Spring."
This was something Chen Yan was completely unaware of.
His Martial Spring, and the Clear Light?
So, what saved him was the Hidden Immortal Art?
That was indeed a strong possibility.
"So, after that, Elder Bai Qiming arrived to save the day and killed He Furen..."
Chen Yan continued to deduce.
"No, not He Furen."
However, Chen Yan's deduction was interrupted by Lin Qifeng:
"The one who killed He Furen was that Black Flood Dragon."
"How?"
Chen Yan asked.
"After all of the Black Flood Dragon's soul in the air had drilled into that point of Clear Light, 'you' directly slapped He Furen to death with one palm."
Lin Qifeng answered:
"I knew it was the Black Flood Dragon, not you, controlling your body at that time. I could sense the difference in the flow of true qi, or rather spiritual energy, within you."
"And then?"
Chen Yan continued to ask.
"And then you fell unconscious. After about half a quarter of an hour, that old fox Bai Qiming arrived at the Water Mirror Pavilion and reached a consensus with me."
Lin Qifeng said.
"What consensus?"
"To conceal the fact that the Black Flood Dragon's soul still existed in this world."
Lin Qifeng continued:
"Although I don't know how exactly you managed it, you can completely conceal the aura of the Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul, just like you can completely conceal your own cultivation."
It was because of the Hidden Immortal Art.
"The Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul has always been suppressed in the Caijun Tower on Qingchan Peak. Its theft and the resulting severe consequences meant Qingchan Peak definitely had to put forward a Peak Elder to take responsibility. Based on how events unfolded, that person was most likely Bai Qiming."
Lin Qifeng added.
Chen Yan roughly understood what had happened.
The truth of the matter was that Chen Yan, or rather the Black Flood Dragon, killed He Furen.
But many things that happened in the ruins of the Water Mirror Pavilion involved Chen Yan's secrets.
Whether it was his spiritual energy or the Black Flood Dragon soul within his body, if either were made public, it would cause Chen Yan considerable trouble.
At the same time, the theft of the Black Flood Dragon had already caused Bai Qiming significant distress. Since he was on Heavenly Summit Mountain, it would be very hard for him to shift the blame.
However, if Bai Qiming performed a meritorious deed on Heavenly Summit Mountain, the situation would be different.
Thus, Lin Qifeng and Bai Qiming hit it off immediately.
They credited the merits of killing He Furen and destroying the Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul to Bai Qiming, using this to cover up Chen Yan's secrets.
And Bai Qiming could also atone for his fault with this merit, avoiding accountability from the sect.
But...
"What about Qin Qingyu?"
Chen Yan asked seriously.
Those present at the scene weren't just Chen Yan and Lin Qifeng. That peerless talent of their generation, Qin Qingyu, had also witnessed everything.
"...She was indeed a variable."
Lin Qifeng's expression also darkened slightly:
"When you unleashed your spiritual energy, I did consider silencing her. But as you know, I'm simply no match for that little girl... And before Bai Qiming arrived at the Water Mirror Pavilion, she had already left. That is to say... it's very difficult to handle."
The image of that graceful figure in a light green gauze dress surfaced in Chen Yan's mind.
"The issue of Qin Qingyu has no meaningful point for discussion right now, because there's nothing we can do about it."
Yue Chi said, then turned his gaze towards Chen Yan:
"As for the Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul within you, what do you think?"
"What will happen if we leave it alone?"
Chen Yan asked in return.
"I don't know."
Yue Chi shook his head.
"Implanting a Great Demon's soul into a cultivator's body is a method only cultivators of the Divine Ability Realm can perform. But the Black Flood Dragon Remnant Soul entered your body on its own... This situation is simply unheard of."
After a pause, Yue Chi continued:
"Most importantly, we probably can't do much about it either, unless we proactively report this matter to the sect's Grand Elders."
This was impossible.
Whether it was Chen Yan, Lin Qifeng, or Yue Chi, they all understood this perfectly well.
"Let's set it aside for now."
Chen Yan said.
He then looked out the Alchemy Hall window at the misty, immortal-qi shrouded peaks.
Chen Yan didn't know what this truly meant, or what exactly would happen in the not-too-distant future.
But fate, was fate.