Chapter 2936: Talking With The Saintess
Chapter 2936: Talking With The Saintess
Lin Mu watched the Saintess carefully as her gaze stretched far beyond the mists, far beyond even this world, it seemed. Her expression was calm, but her eyes—though veiled—carried the weight of distant recognition.
"Where are you looking?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "I can’t see it, but... is it a marsh?"
The Saintess gave a small nod, her voice soft. "Yes."
Lin Mu exhaled through his nose, the threads in his mind weaving together.
"Marshes of the Silent Skies," he muttered.
The Saintess glanced at him. "You know it?"
"I do, I learned about it from one of thier pawns before." Lin Mu said. "I already had reason to believe that the main hideout of the Crimson Root... or rather, the remnants of the Ephemera Sect, were hidden there. You just confirmed it."
The Saintess gave no reply, but her silence was telling.
"Can you see anything else?" Lin Mu asked. "Details? Structures? Beings?"
She shook her head slowly. "No. Even with my abilities, it is impossible to see clearly through that place. It is enshrouded in a dense mass of baleful energy—thick, chaotic, ancient. Vision, divination, spiritual sense... nothing can pierce it."
Her tone turned solemn, almost cautionary.
"It is not a place meant for the living. Even Transcendents have perished upon stepping foot within. That marsh devours all."
Lin Mu furrowed his brows. His thoughts churned like storm clouds. ’A fortress shrouded in poison and death. A den of secrets buried under foul fog...’
"A place even Transcendents can’t cross easily," he said under his breath. "Then how do they survive in there? Or is something else shielding them?"
The Saintess didn’t answer directly. Her gaze still lingered on the horizon, as though she were unwilling to describe the nightmare slumbering in those mists.
Lin Mu’s eyes darkened.
"Then I’ll have to find another way," he said simply.
The Saintess finally looked back at him. "You intend to go?"
"Eventually," Lin Mu replied, shrugging one shoulder. "That place is a knot in the world’s weave. I can’t leave it alone, not when they’re targeting me. But before that..." he tilted his head, "you mentioned something strange earlier. You called the Ephemera Sect the dregs of the Taowu Order. What did you mean by that?"
Her expression shifted, just slightly. A flicker of cold disdain passed over her lips.
"The Ephemera Sect—those remnants hiding beneath false names—were not always as they are now," she began, her voice laced with ancient memories. "They are descendants of a faction once known as the Taowu Order."
"I’ve never heard the name before," Lin Mu said. "Who are they?"
"Most records were purged," the Saintess replied. "For good reason."
She looked out over the valley again, the breeze lifting the edges of her veil.
"The Taowu Order was not merely a sect—it was a doctrine, a belief in transcendence through corruption, evolution through regret and obsession. They believed that sorrow was the truest form of truth, and that from it, divinity could be shaped."
She paused.
"The Ephemera Trees are the last echoes of that twisted ideal. Not inherently evil—but used, grown, and fed by that same madness. The three factions you heard of—Crimson Root, Crimson Thorn, and Crimson Eye—were once disciples of that original order. The Hollow Eye Sect you just crushed was only one branch of the Crimson Eye, and even they’ve forgotten their roots."
Lin Mu’s brows drew together.
"So they’re broken fragments," he said. "Still alive, but wandering in ignorance."
"Yes," the Saintess replied. "Dregs. Pretenders wearing masks they’ve long forgotten how to remove. You saw how easily they tried to tempt you. They don’t understand the very power they offer. They only repeat what they were once taught... like hollow ghosts reciting scriptures they no longer comprehend."
A silence hung between them for a moment, heavy with thought.
Then Lin Mu spoke, his tone sharp.
"If they were part of the Taowu Order... then they’re part of its sins."
"They are," the Saintess said without hesitation. "And you were wise not to take the path they offered. The fruit of the Ephemera Tree might grant power... but it is power that brands your soul with sorrow, forever."
Lin Mu’s expression hardened, the weight of everything sinking into his mind.
"Sorrow as a foundation... no wonder it all felt wrong. Everything about that place stank of lies."
He clenched his fists.
"And if that marsh really is where the main body is hidden... I’ll burn it all down when the time comes."
The Saintess gave a rare smile.
"Then I will walk beside you," she said.
The mists still stirred quietly around them, carrying the scent of damp soil and something more ancient, something forgotten. Lin Mu stood silently, letting the silence settle as the Saintess continued to peer toward the distant unseen Marshes of the Silent Skies.
After a moment, her voice came again, soft yet clear as a chime in still water.
"There’s something more you should know, Lin Mu," she said.
He turned to her, sensing the gravity in her words.
"The Taowu Order... they are not merely a cult or broken sect," she said slowly. "They are kin. Kin to the Hundun Imperial Order."
Lin Mu’s breath caught. His body tensed.
"The Hundun Imperial Order?" he repeated, stunned. "You mean... that Hundun Imperial Order?"
The Saintess gave a single nod. "Yes. The very one. The one that shelters the Indigo World Hegemony, among others."
The name echoed in Lin Mu’s mind. The Indigo World Hegemony—one of the veiled giants in the cosmos, whispered of in hidden records, with threads of fate reaching across galaxies.
"How?" Lin Mu asked, eyes narrowing. "How are they connected? The Hundun are still a great power albeit hidden. The Taowu Order is a broken remnant. How can they be related?"
The Saintess’s gaze turned distant again, as if reaching back through the veils of time itself.
"Once," she began, "long, long ago... there were four such powers. Not one. Four."
Lin Mu listened intently, not daring to interrupt.