That vow was no different from swearing on his soul. Heaven etched his words into fate, and if he lied, the consequences would forever haunt his cultivation.
"Then tell me, who poisoned my grandfather?" Liu Wuxie asked coldly. The atmosphere turned frigid as murderous intent swept from him like a blade of ice.
"It's best if you don't know," the black-robed figure said. He didn't refuse out of reluctance. He refused because he didn't want Liu Wuxie to know.
"It sounds more like you don't dare say it," Liu Wuxie retorted. Without proof, he couldn't believe a word the figure said.
"Believe it or not, you'll understand in time," the black-robed figure replied, refusing to say more.
"You expect me to trust someone hiding their face?" Liu Wuxie narrowed his eyes and activated the Ghost Eye again, trying to pierce the obscuring veil.
The energy ripples around the black-robed figure began trembling. Liu Wuxie's Ghost Eye, now far stronger after absorbing the Ghost King's laws, was starting to break through them.
Many cultivators had reached halfway up the altar and were just as curious about the mysterious black-robed figure's identity.
The chaos had already begun, exposing the Golden Cauldron Pavilion's secrets. Amidst the earlier chaos, Liu Wuxie and others searched the soul seas of many cultivators. The pavilion master could no longer hide everything.
To control this, many experts across the Central Plains required unimaginable power. Most sects couldn't achieve it; only the two great academies could even come close.
Moreover, their forces deployed the cultivators in no fixed pattern and scattered them throughout the Central Plains. This allowed the Golden Cauldron Pavilion to gather an entire army at a moment's notice.
"Curious about me?" the black-robed figure asked with a teasing tone.
Suddenly, the veil of ripples surged and formed a powerful barrier that completely blocked Liu Wuxie's Ghost Eye.
Liu Wuxie stopped. He was interrupted just as he was about to uncover the man's face.
"So the master of the Golden Cauldron Pavilion won't even show their face?" Liu Wuxie said coldly.
Whispers spread across the altar the moment he spoke. Many had long suspected the Golden Cauldron Pavilion's secrets, but no one had dared voice them until now.
And no one had expected the pavilion master to appear in person, finally.
"So eager to know me?" the black-robed figure asked again, turning toward Liu Wuxie. The figure concealed all features except for a pair of gleaming eyes.
"Are you so ugly that you have to hide your face?" Liu Wuxie sneered.
Everyone focused on the black-robed figure. For a single person to shake the very foundation of the Central Plains—it was no ordinary feat.
With one command, the Golden Cauldron Pavilion could rise as a dominant force, perhaps even surpassing the two academies.
"If you want to see my face, agree to one condition," the black-robed figure said, laughing lightly. The voice was neither distinctly male nor female, cloaked in eerie androginity. "If you agree, I'll reveal my identity and tell you who truly poisoned your grandfather."
"A condition?" Liu Wuxie frowned. He wanted to know the truth more than anything, but he wouldn't accept a deal blindly, especially not one that violated his principles.
After all, the black-robed figure was none other than the Golden Cauldron Pavilion's master. And there was no reason to explain on Jiao Ba's behalf unless the claim held some weight.
Liu Wuxie knew there was much he didn't understand. Liu Xiaotian was the one who brought Jiao Ba to the Liu Clan, which suggested that he was part of the Golden Cauldron Pavilion.
And yet, Liu Xiaotian's soul sea bore no trace of the mysterious imprint.
"Tell me the condition first," Liu Wuxie said after a pause. He needed to know what this man—or woman—truly wanted.
"I will tell you only if you agree to my terms," the black-robed figure replied flatly.
Meanwhile, the Central Plains cultivators had already advanced to the center of the altar and were nearing the summit.
"If you won't say it, then I'll capture him and search his soul myself," Liu Wuxie declared, turning toward Jiao Ba.
Jiao Ba glared back at him. His fists were clenched, ready to fight.
The moment reached a standstill. Without Liu Wuxie's agreement, the black-robed figure wouldn't speak, and Liu Wuxie wouldn't back down without the truth.
"Big Brother Liu, they're not bad people. Let's agree for now," Xu Lingxue said softly. If not for Jiao Ba and the black-robed figure, the three women couldn't have remained unharmed.
"One can know the face, but not the heart," Liu Wuxie muttered, shaking his head. Until he understood the whole picture, he wouldn't trust anyone.
"Master, this man's an ungrateful dog!" Jiao Ba spat, kneeling before the black-robed figure. "If not for us, his grandfather and the entire Liu Clan would've been wiped out. Why waste time here?"
Liu Wuxie frowned. Jiao Ba's anger didn't seem like an act.
However, all signs suggested that Jiao Ba had poisoned his grandfather. The contradiction only deepened Liu Wuxie's confusion. Someone—either Jiao Ba or Liu Xiaotian had lied.
"I'll accept your condition as long as it doesn't go against my morals or principles," Liu Wuxie finally said.
He had to know who was behind the attack on the Liu Clan. Without that knowledge, they would remain vulnerable.
"Help me retrieve what lies within the altar," said the black-robed figure. As they spoke, they pulled back their hood. The black-robed figure's obsidian hair spilled across her back, fluttering like silk in the wind.
Her face was revealed; it was stunning and unforgettable.
"Ye Hongyi!" Liu Wuxie staggered, nearly falling to his knees in shock.
Behind him, the three women stepped forward.
"Lady Ye, we didn't expect it to be you. You've saved our lives again," said Murong Qianxue gratefully.
Jian Xing'er and Xu Lingxue both nodded in agreement.
She realized that Jiao Ba had saved them because Ye Hongyi had ordered him to do so.
Despite leading the Golden Cauldron Pavilion, Ye Hongyi showed no arrogance in front of the three women. She mingled with them casually, smiling and chatting without a care, ignoring the chaos around her.
"Liu Wuxie, didn't you once say that you'll help me if I ever needed a favor? This isn't too much to ask, is it?" Ye Hongyi's eyes shimmered with seductive charm and irresistible beauty.
Back on Eternal Spirit Mountain, she had saved Xu Lingxue and the others from the Black Plume Pavilion's assassins. He owed her a favor, though he hadn't expected her to collect it so soon.
"It's nothing much," Liu Wuxie said, shaking his head.
Even without her words just now, he wouldn't have refused her.
The onlookers stared in disbelief. None of them could have imagined that the mastermind shaking the entire Central Plains would turn out to be such a peerless beauty.
To the onlookers, Ye Hongyi and the three women looked like celestial fairies. Each of them was stunning and uniquely enchanting.
"Once it's done, I'll tell you who was truly behind your grandfather's poisoning," Ye Hongyi said. She brushed back her hair, then tore away a portion of her robe, revealing an alluring figure that drew gasps from the crowd.
She exposed her long legs through a dangerously high slit, captivating every eye. She was the embodiment of the word "enchantment."
"You give me too much credit. Surrounded by this many experts, I can't do it alone," Liu Wuxie said bitterly.
He came to Eternal Spirit Mountain to avenge his grandfather and uncover the truth by slaying the real culprit. Yet everything had veered off course.
He wasn't lying either. While he could hold his own against Quasi-Heaven Profound Realm cultivators, there were dozens at the Heaven Profound Realm below, and even more in the Quasi-Heaven range.
"I believe Young Master Liu will find a way. I must retrieve what lies within, so I'll leave the rest to you," Ye Hongyi said. Her gaze was encouraging, silently telling him that he could do it.
Xu Lingxue and the others shifted with unease. Ye Hongyi had saved their lives, so refusing her request felt unforgivable.
With her message delivered, Ye Hongyi turned and walked toward the altar's center. Jiao Ba stayed behind, clearly intending to help Liu Wuxie.
"We can't let them take all the treasures for themselves! Attack!" Bai Wensheng shouted, finally losing patience and charging toward Liu Wuxie.
The remaining cultivators of the Golden Cauldron Pavilion retreated quickly. They lacked the strength to resist the Heaven Profound Realm's overwhelming assault.
Liu Wuxie summoned the Heretic Blade. There was no turning back now. Even if they had rejected Ye Hongyi's request, Bai Wensheng and Ji Yuzhen still wouldn't have let them go.
Since that was the case, he had no choice but to fight with everything he had.
As battle loomed, Hei Kui rushed over. Liu Wuxie entrusted the three women to Hei Kui and ordered them to retreat far from the battlefield.
"Fight!" Liu Wuxie roared, his fighting will bursting out in a violent shockwave.
"Jiao Ba!" Liu Wuxie called out suddenly, turning to him. "I don't care if your words are true or not. If I die here, protect them and get them out of the heavenly coffin alive."
"Alright," Jiao Ba answered, unexpectedly calm.
Liu Wuxie rolled his eyes. From that answer alone, it sounded like Jiao Ba already believed that he was dead.
Without delay, Liu Wuxie charged into the fray, swinging the Heretic Blade down with all his might.
"Liu Wuxie, die!" countless voices shouted.
Experts from the Profound Cloud Sect, Scarlet Dragon Cult, and the three clans surged forward in unison. Thousands of cultivators surged forward like a terrifying wave, threatening to consume him whole.
A powerful shockwave burst outward, forcing the weaker cultivators to back away.
Bai Wensheng unleashed a powerful strike, colliding head-on with Liu Wuxie's blade aura.
Ji Yuzhen followed with a deadly sword ray that streaked straight for Liu Wuxie's throat.
At this rate, they would cut Liu Wuxie down in less than three moves.