Zheng Zhuxi? The Zheng Zhuxi from the Brightnight Sect that Brother Youyang mentioned? Ding Songyan suddenly felt he had finally found the right person after searching high and low.

He had long wanted direct contact with someone from the Brightnight Sect but had never managed it. Only a few scattered words were exchanged in passing. Looking back now, this was probably because Yan Changqing’s "old acquaintance" had been influencing his thoughts, making him "voluntarily" find all manner of reasons to delay the matter. Once Yan Changqing planted the "seed," he barely even thought about it anymore.

After all the twists and turns, Zheng Zhuxi, the very person Ren Youyang called trustworthy, had come to him today of her own accord.

Studying the girl’s expression and bearing and recalling her tone and choice of words, Ding Songyan formed a rough assessment.

A deeply proud person.

This fits perfectly with the descriptions and rumors. Her mother is the Brightnight Sect Master; her father is a high court official, and she has exceptional talent... These thoughts flashed through Ding Songyan’s mind as he cupped his hands toward Zheng Zhuxi with visible respect.

"Greetings, Heroine Zheng."

All he hoped right now was that she was as Ren Youyang described: righteous, and especially willing to help those without status or standing.

Zheng Zhuxi gave a slight nod and asked directly, "I’ve read your file. Do you truly not remember what treasure you traded with Chen Yuliang?"

Hearing this, countless thoughts surged through Ding Songyan’s mind, colliding into spark after spark.

He seized one, let difficulty and fear show on his face, and finally spoke with hesitation.

"Heroine Zheng, I dare not hide anything while standing before you. I had forgotten, but at the time, Wang Yishu mentioned that it was the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas."

Faced with someone this proud, you had to let them easily discover something others could not, that they had effortlessly drawn out truths others had failed to extract. Only then would they develop a favorable impression of the person they were questioning.

Moreover, Ding Songyan was also gambling.

After handling the Chen Yuliang aftermath, the party most likely to have obtained that copy of the Secret Classic was the Zhen household!

This meant the authorities, represented by the Yi clan and the Brightnight Sect, would inevitably focus their attention on the Zhen household. With them watching, whatever might happen tomorrow would have a favorable variable.

Though this would also place Ding Songyan himself under suspicion, compared to his other troubles, it was nothing. Between two evils, choose the lesser!

He was walking on a mountain ridge with cliffs on both sides. He could not afford to worry about everything.

Zheng Zhuxi listened quietly. A smile gradually surfaced, two shallow dimples appearing, nearly rivaling the brightness of the moon above.

"The Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas... Why didn’t you say so before?"

"I heard that the major sects don’t permit anyone to privately possess or come in contact with the Secret Classic. I was afraid that speaking up would land me in a cell," Ding Songyan answered honestly. "But Heroine Zheng, your reputation precedes you. You are known to pity the weak and protect the innocent. I’m willing to trust you."

The corners of Zheng Zhuxi’s mouth curved as she nodded, amusement in her eyes.

"The Zhen household probably also told you not to speak of it. Why tell me?"

"The Zhen household may have harmful intentions against me." Having found topics that neither the hazy "seed" nor Yan Changqing’s "old acquaintance" would restrict, Ding Songyan answered without the slightest stammer. "Brother Youyang informed me that the Zhen household has been having retainers follow me."

Zheng Zhuxi acknowledged tersely and glanced at the finely crafted glass palace lantern in her hand.

"You’re acquainted with Ren Youyang of the True Spirit Sect?"

"We have some friendship." Ding Songyan did not exaggerate.

Zheng Zhuxi’s luminous eyes moved slightly.

"Then why have you continued going to the Zhen estate every day these past few days?"

Ding Songyan tried answering, "The Zhen household won’t let me tell others."

Wait, I can say that!

On the surface, this sentence seemed unremarkable. But placed alongside his willingness moments ago to reveal the Zhen household’s involvement with the Secret Classic, the contradiction between the two immediately became peculiar, inviting deeper thought.

Both matters involved the Zhen household. Why could one be shared while the other could not? What was the difference? What restriction existed?

And being able to say this sentence also confirmed something Ding Songyan had been feeling.

Ever since Zheng Zhuxi appeared with that lantern, shining its light on his face, the hazy "seed" in his sea of consciousness had become less active, as though suppressed by something inherently opposed to it. If Zheng Zhuxi’s cultivation were deeper and her power greater, he might have been able to temporarily break free of Yan Changqing’s and his "old acquaintance’s" restrictions entirely.

So that’s how it works. Many of the peripheral restrictions have loosened... Is this a manifestation of the ’penetrates the deepest dark’ trait from the two goddesses Brightnight and Candleflame’s descriptions? At this thought, Ding Songyan wished he could immediately visit Zheng Zhuxi’s mother—the Brightnight Sect Master, that formidable figure ranked among the Dharma Realm’s finest—and ask her to properly illuminate him.

Zheng Zhuxi pressed her lips together, clearly having noticed the inconsistency as well.

She changed her question thoughtfully.

"Do you know that besides the Zhen household’s retainers, people from the Moth-God Sect who had been secretly controlling Chen Yuliang are also following you?"

"I do." Ding Songyan was perfectly candid.

"Ren Youyang told you?" Zheng Zhuxi was not surprised.

Ding Songyan deliberated his choice of words.

"Brother Youyang did discover the second group of tails. But the Moth-God Sect connection was something I told him."

"You? No wonder he suddenly came to the county office asking for Moth-God Sect intelligence." Zheng Zhuxi looked at Ding Songyan with puzzlement. "How did you find out?"

Ding Songyan closed his mouth, smiling without a word.

He had already forgotten what he was supposed to say.

Core matters were still restricted.

Zheng Zhuxi raised an eyebrow. Connecting this to the contradictions in his earlier words, her eyelids lowered slightly, lost in thought.

After only a few breaths, her smile returned, dimples showing once more.

In that moment, Ding Songyan felt as though he were watching a rising sun begin to radiate its light.

"Do you trust me?" Zheng Zhuxi asked with a smile.

"I am willing to trust you, Heroine Zheng." Ding Songyan did not hesitate.

At this point, he would beg even a dog by the roadside for help, grasp at straw floating over the river. It was needless to say when it came to someone like her.

Zheng Zhuxi nodded with satisfaction. She handed the glass palace lantern to a fellow disciple, then drew her sword from its gold-and-red sheath in one clean motion.

The sword was like a pool of autumn water, quickly taking on a warm, amber candlelight glow.

Zheng Zhuxi smiled faintly.

"If you trust me, then open your body and mind completely. I will lend you a thread of sword intent.

"This sword intent will settle in your Shanzhong acupoint, the central dantian known as the Crimson Palace. It can last three days.

"During those three days, if anyone uses a moth seed, gu-sorcery, or any other method to make you do something against your will, you can use this sword intent to illuminate your inner sea and block it once."

When she said "any other method," the amusement in Zheng Zhuxi’s eyes deepened.

"Heroine Zheng, I am deeply grateful!" Ding Songyan could not have asked for more.

This was exactly what he needed.

His only concern was whether Zheng Zhuxi’s sword intent could truly block one forced compulsion from Yan Changqing or his "old acquaintance."

After all, based on the jianghu rumors Ding Songyan had gathered these past days, this Heroine Zheng was only twenty years old. She had begun aperture forging barely over half a year ago. The Orchid Rankings placed her at "Anomaly Manifested," the sixth rank. She was not even as high as Chen Yuliang.

If it were her mother, Tao Wenshu, a first-rank Grandmaster, Ding Songyan would feel absolute confidence.

As things stood, he could only pray that the Brightnight Sect’s art inherently countered Yan Changqing’s and his "old acquaintance’s" divine art, giving it exceptional effect in this specific regard.

He was not asking the sword intent to truly block a forced compulsion outright. It would be enough if it could simply wake him in time or create an inner struggle.

"Protecting the realm and safeguarding the people is the Brightnight Sect’s duty." Zheng Zhuxi thrust the sword now glowing with warm amber candlelight toward Ding Songyan’s chest.

Ding Songyan did not dodge or resist. As Zheng Zhuxi requested, he opened himself completely, body and mind.

The sword pierced his clothes, touching his skin.

The warm, amber light on the blade flashed once and vanished, sinking into his chest and entering the Shanzhong acupoint.

It swiftly transformed into a stub of candle shaped like a short sword, its amber flame flickering, barely illuminating the Crimson Palace, a place that inherently represented the fire of the heart and the convergence of all qi. The deep darkness retreated to the outer layers.

With a clear ring, Zheng Zhuxi sheathed her sword. She gave Ding Songyan a small nod.

"You truly have no martial cultivation.

"I’ve asked what I needed to ask. Is there anything else you wish to say?"

Ding Songyan considered which things he could say and which he could not, and among those he could, which would most effectively reveal the situation and draw the Brightnight Sect’s attention.

Quickly, he chose to accept the risk. He asked with unconcealed curiosity, "Heroine Zheng, where do you think a nearly complete Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas might have come from?"

Wait, I can ask this too... Is it Zheng Zhuxi’s art weakening the restrictions to this degree, or did one of the two influencing my mind actually want this information to get out? Ding Songyan was puzzled at first, then found his answer.

Right. It was Wang Yishu and Chen Yuliang who "told" me the Secret Classic was genuine and complete! And they were jointly controlled by Ding Shengyi the "moth patriarch" and Yan Changqing’s "old acquaintance." If they didn’t want me to eventually have the opportunity to ask this question, they never needed to mention it in the first place!

"Nearly complete?" Zheng Zhuxi’s expression changed slightly.

Then, thinking it through, she said, "Either there exists a powerful, hidden organization with highly placed agents inside every major sect, which, through repeated comparison and assembly of each sect’s partial copies, finally produced such a volume.

"Or someone found the long-vanished Mount Kunlun and entered the Celestial Thearch’s palace."

Found the long-vanished Mount Kunlun and entered the Celestial Thearch’s palace... Ding Songyan’s gaze froze. It was as though lightning had struck inside his mind.

He still remembered what Yan Changqing had said—he had betrayed his sect to seize a treasure, sustained grievous injuries, and ended up in his current predicament.

Did it not all fit together now?

A treasure that could make Zhen Qianfan so greedy he betrayed his greatest supporter was no ordinary thing.

A treasure that could make someone of at least Supreme Master level like Yan Changqing betray his own sect was rarer still.

The vanished Mount Kunlun, the palace left behind by the Celestial Thearch—that explained everything.

That Secret Classic was probably transcribed by Yan Changqing himself while looking at the Emperor-Annotated Classic. No wonder he could divine that I’d read it...

Was the Secret Classic placed at the treasure’s hiding spot in advance and dug up by someone else, or did it leak out from the Zhen estate? If the latter, what was the Zhen household’s purpose in letting it out?

As Ding Songyan’s thoughts churned, Zheng Zhuxi also fell silent, her expression visibly shifting.