A Clue to the Heart God Sect

Three days passed in a flash. During this time, Chi Qiu dutifully remained within the estate, recuperating from her injuries and abstaining from further arena challenges. Her burns had, in fact, mostly healed by the second day. However, Su Hanxing insisted that she rest for five full days before returning to the ring. Unable to sway him, Chi Qiu had no choice but to agree.

This morning, Su Hanxing departed early to resume his arena challenges. Left with nothing to do within the estate, Chi Qiu found herself strangely disinclined to cultivate. Instead, she spent her time idly tending to the flowers and plants in the courtyard, a simple way to pass the hours.

The scorching sun reached its zenith; it was already high noon. Su Hanxing burst through the gates, a look of pleasant surprise on his face. His spiritual sense swept through the estate, quickly locating Chi Qiu, who was still fussing over the flora in the backyard. With a swift movement, he instantly appeared beside her.

“Why so happy? What happened?” Chi Qiu asked, looking up at the sound of his voice. She watched as Su Hanxing, beaming with joy, strode quickly towards her.

“Do you know who I saw today?” Su Hanxing teased, his expression full of mystery.

“Who did I see? Did your junior brothers and sisters from the Tianyan Sect arrive?” Chi Qiu pondered for a moment before hazarding a guess.

“Not quite. Most of the Tianyan Sect disciples have already returned to the sect because of Ye Yan,” Su Hanxing replied, shaking his head. Seeing Chi Qiu’s puzzled expression, he chuckled and then offered a hint: “The one who challenged my arena today was a disciple of the Heart God Sect…”

“Could it be the elder from the Heart God Sect that Chai Niang asked me to find?” Chi Qiu reacted swiftly, her eyes lighting up with delight.

“Precisely. When that Heart God Sect disciple entered the arena today, the elder was among the large group of Heart God Sect cultivators following him,” Su Hanxing confirmed, nodding. He then pulled up a stool and sat down, continuing, “During the match, I secretly plucked a strand of hair from that Heart God Sect disciple. Using this hair as a medium, I can perform a divination to deduce their usual dwelling place.”

Su Hanxing produced a black strand of hair, holding it out for Chi Qiu to examine.

“That’s wonderful, Hanxing. Thank you so much,” Chi Qiu said, her initial astonishment giving way to gratitude as she gazed at the black hair.

“Between us, there’s no need for such words. By my estimation, the Heart God Sect cultivators should have returned to their residence by now. Once I perform the Tianyan Art, how about we go investigate together?” Su Hanxing smiled, shaking his head gently. He reached out and ruffled Chi Qiu’s hair, leaving it a tangled mess.

Chi Qiu, uncharacteristically, didn’t swat his hand away. She simply lowered her head, thought for a few breaths, and then asked, “When shall we go investigate?”

“How about in half an hour?” Su Hanxing suggested with a smile.

“Won’t that be too rushed? You just finished your challenge; perhaps you should rest longer?” Chi Qiu looked at Su Hanxing, her tone tinged with concern.

“That Heart God Sect cultivator’s strength was far beneath mine. If not for needing a strand of his hair, I could have blasted him off the arena in two moves, so I didn’t expend much energy.” Su Hanxing spread his arms wide, indicating casually that he hadn’t suffered the slightest harm.

“Given your strength, I suppose that’s true. Then I’ll go get ready, and we can set off,” Chi Qiu said, nodding slightly after observing him carefully. She then stood up, preparing to return to her bedroom.

“Good. I’ll perform the Tianyan Art right here to pinpoint the Heart God Sect disciple’s location,” Su Hanxing affirmed. With a sweep of his hands, several streaks of starlight materialized, weaving a complex and intricate astrological chart.

“The Heart God Sect disciples are located about eight hundred li to the north, very close to the Imperial City. It seems this is quite a coincidence. We need to be thoroughly prepared, Little Chi.”

Su Hanxing turned to Chi Qiu, his expression solemn. Though close, this area did not fall within the Imperial City’s jurisdiction. The arena challenge site was set outside the Imperial City. For convenience, various factions had established their outposts there, free from the Imperial City’s laws.

“Don’t worry. As long as we don’t encounter a Dharma Manifestation Realm expert, no matter how many people there are, they won’t be able to stop us,” Chi Qiu stated, clad in black scale armor. Golden beast patterns shimmered upon it, with faint arcs of lightning flickering, making it appear exceptionally mystical.

Chi Qiu wasn’t concerned about a Dharma Manifestation Realm cultivator being stationed there. Such cultivators held esteemed positions; even the most gifted God Concealing stage cultivators couldn’t compare to them. During this Heavenly Martial Assembly, they would mostly only accept invitations from the Imperial Family, appearing at the final ranking competitions to observe. For the current arena battles, they would surely have no interest.

“Based on my divination, the danger isn’t significant,” Su Hanxing nodded, equally confident.

To avoid exposing themselves prematurely, Chi Qiu and Su Hanxing did not use a flying magical artifact. Instead, they activated their movement techniques, rapidly approaching the Heart God Sect’s location.

Eight hundred li was not a great distance for the two of them. Thus, after only a quarter of an hour, Chi Qiu and Su Hanxing could faintly discern several black cave dwellings standing on the distant land. Upon seeing the cave dwellings, Chi Qiu quickly turned to Su Hanxing, her eyes filled with a questioning gaze.

“Those are indeed the Heart God Sect’s cave dwellings. We haven’t come to the wrong place,” Su Hanxing confirmed with certainty.

“Little Chi, put on this robe to conceal your presence,” Su Hanxing suddenly halted. He retrieved two black cloaks from his storage artifact, tossing one to Chi Qiu with an urgent tone.

Chi Qiu nodded. She took the cloak and draped it over herself. Soon, a dark aura enveloped her entire body, blocking out light and all traces of energy. The two slowed their pace, gradually approaching the Heart God Sect cultivators’ cave dwellings. At this distance, they could already see a few figures wandering outside the residences.

“The elder is not among them,” Su Hanxing’s eyes flickered with starlight. He shook his head, his lips moving silently as he transmitted what he saw to Chi Qiu’s ears with a trace of true qi.

Chi Qiu didn’t lose heart. She nodded slightly, and the two continued to draw closer to the cave dwellings.

Rustling…

Several small indigo flowers slowly bloomed outside the Heart God Sect’s cave dwellings. From a distance, Chi Qiu slowly closed her eyes, taking in everything the indigo flowers perceived. The ‘Blooming Life’ technique, the first petal’s art that she hadn’t used in a long time, proved to be of great use at this moment.

Unfortunately, after Chi Qiu investigated the entire area, she found that none of the cultivators wandering outside the cave dwellings were the elder.

“He might be inside one of those cave dwellings. What should we do?” Chi Qiu’s lips parted slightly, a hint of dejection in her voice. “Perhaps we should leave now and try again another time?” At this critical juncture of the arena challenges, Chi Qiu didn’t want to make a huge mistake and offend the Heart God Sect for the sake of the Dao of Ink Wash Painting. If the Heart God Sect intentionally caused trouble, her journey at the Heavenly Martial Assembly would undoubtedly be significantly affected.

“That could work. However, I have another method, Little Chi. Would you like to try it?” Su Hanxing nodded slightly, then seemed to recall something suddenly. He turned to Chi Qiu and asked.

“What method?”

“I could use a long-range attack to destroy one of the cave dwellings. If the elder is inside, he would surely pursue us. At that point, we could test his strength. What do you think?”