"Fellow Daoist Ruogu, Fellow Daoist Shen."
Qi Sibai sat calmly before a low tea table, smiling as he nodded to the two who entered, gesturing for them to sit.
Before him, two cups of tea had already been set. Steam still rose gently, it was perfectly warm.
Clearly, this tea had been steeped for a while.
He had been waiting for a while.
Chen Kuang stepped forward and sat opposite him, getting straight to the point:
"Brother Qi, you already knew I'd encounter the Demon Sword?"
Qi Sibai smiled. "Did I not say before, Fellow Daoist Ruogu, that one's capabilities matter less than one's intention?"
He lifted his tea and took a sip, his tone unhurried:
"Looking back now, that address I left behind wasn't a waste after all."
Chen Kuang was speechless.
He had wondered how a mere Qi Opening Realm cultivator like himself, with no background and no resources, could possibly track down a Demon Sword as if searching for a needle in a haystack, yet Qi Sibai had even given him a location.
Clearly, the man had already seen something coming.
Well, that made sense. The Heavenly Observatory Division was known for their divination, after all...
At that thought, Chen Kuang's brow twitched slightly. But it seemed that aside from the Demon Sword, Qi Sibai hadn't divined anything else, such as his true identity.
Qi Sibai's next words only confirmed part of that suspicion.
He looked at Chen Kuang curiously. "Come to think of it, I'd just left that day when Brother Lin's tower ship was attacked. I vaguely recognized the sword light as the work of the Mysterious Divine Path Sect, but couldn't imagine why they would interfere."
"I assumed it had something to do with the Wind and Rain Tower and that Enlightenment Envoy who were eliminated..."
"But later, when I spoke to Brother Lin, who should've been the primary victim, he completely avoided the subject. I found it baffling."
"Since you were there, Fellow Daoist Ruogu, can you help clarify it for me?"
Chen Kuang asked in return, "You were able to divine that I'd encounter the Demon Sword, but you couldn't divine this?"
Qi Sibai gave a bitter smile. "Fellow Daoist Ruogu, do you know why the Heavenly Observatory Division declined?"
Their role had once been to observe, record, and pursue the Mandate of Heaven, a power that should have made them immensely powerful. If they still had it, they would not have faded into obscurity.
But that ability had not simply vanished without cause. The Division's legacy had never been severed.
Chen Kuang's heart stirred as he frowned.
"You mean... you can no longer divine the Mandate of Heaven?"
"Yes and no."
"The Heavenly Mandate is the natural order, the destined fate of all things."
Qi Sibai gently swirled the tea in his cup, his tone becoming somber.
"The Heavenly Observatory Division dates back to antiquity. Each of us would devote our entire lives to chasing after the thread of fate we had glimpsed."
"Until, at some point, the thread would vanish, as if snipped by an invisible pair of scissors."
He held up two fingers and made a cutting motion.
"To us, fate used to be a line, clear and continuous, with a beginning and an end."
"But since the end of the ancient era, since the War to Hunt the Heavens, when ten thousand ancient nations perished and the sects rose in their place... we can no longer see the start or end of that line."
"We can only faintly glimpse scattered branches, small omens. For instance, the moment I saw you, I knew you would come to me regarding the Demon Sword."
"It sounds mystical, but in truth, there are now other sects better at divination than us."
Qi Sibai shook his head and sighed. "And so, the Heavenly Observatory Division gradually faded into the background."
It seemed he had been holding this in for a long time and was finally venting it all.
Chen Kuang only half-understood.
He had seen mentions of the "War to Hunt the Heavens" in fragmented memories from the experience imparted by Huo Hengxuan.
In the ancient era, before the rise of sects, countless kingdoms coexisted. Back then, even nations had dragon veins and national fate, far more powerful than anything now.
Through prayer and worship, they drew power from the Mandate of Heaven, using it to strengthen their nation.
All citizens could cultivate through national fate, the stronger the nation's fate, the stronger its people. That gave rise to countless ancient powerhouses.
The greatest of these was the Human Sovereign, Shuo.
But one day, for unknown reasons, the Human Sovereign united all the kingdoms in a grand sacrificial ceremony, then declared war on the Heavens, intending to seize the Heavenly Mandate and give it to the people.
This became known as the War to Hunt the Heavens.
No one knew what truly transpired in that massive, earth-shaking conflict. But from then on, the nations vanished, the ancient era ended, and sects rose in their place.
It was widely believed that the Human Sovereign had lost.
Yet Qi Sibai's words hinted at a different possibility.
If the Heavenly Dao had remained unscathed, why would the threads of fate have become so vague and fragmented?
Qi Sibai gave a wry smile.
"I know. Reviving the Heavenly Observatory Division is probably impossible. This isn't something I can do alone."
"But the fragment of fate I've seen, at least that much, I must pursue."
Chen Kuang asked curiously, "And if that fragment of fate turns out to be meaningless?"
Qi Sibai paused, then smiled. "If I've done what I must, then it has meaning."
An idealist, Chen Kuang thought.
He could tell Qi Sibai wasn't lying. So he smiled back and said,
"I do know the truth of what happened that day. As it happens, it's connected to the fellow you and the others were discussing, Chen Kuang."
Qi Sibai froze. "Chen Kuang?"
Chen Kuang nodded.
"What Brother Qi may not know is, on that tower ship that day, Chen Kuang was present. The Wind and Rain Tower's Di Wu attempted to kill him, but was stopped by someone from the Mysterious Divine Path Sect."
Qi Sibai frowned. "But the Mysterious Divine Path Sect has always remained neutral."
Chen Kuang replied solemnly, "True. But the Sect is also a righteous and upright one. They won't stand by and let someone abuse their status to act lawlessly."
"And as for Brother Lin, though he is a top disciple of Liberty Mountain, he likely did not wish to get involved in that particular feud."
Shen Xingzhu:"..."
She had indeed acted to protect Shen Meinan, killing a member of the Martial Saint Pavilion. That had created quite the dispute.
But since she was a Dao Child, and Di Wu only a half-step Grandmaster, the Sect would undoubtedly clean up the mess for her.
Chen Kuang's statement wasn't technically false, but the top and bottom halves were barely connected.
As expected, Qi Sibai's mind filled in the blanks, falling for the misleading narrative. He fell silent for a long time, then said:
"On that tower ship... aside from the Wind and Rain Tower members, the only new addition... was you."
He looked toward Chen Kuang.
Chen Kuang cupped his hands and smiled.
"Apologies for stealing your thirty-third place in the Canglang Evaluation, Brother Qi."
Qi Sibai laughed dryly, then finally lifted his teacup.
"At this point, I must admit my admiration."
"Ruogu... or rather, I should now call you Brother Chen. Where did you encounter the Demon Sword?"
Chen Kuang raised his own cup, drinking as apology, just about to answer, when a commotion erupted outside.
He turned to look.
Down below, in one of the gazebos, was the group of scholars who had entered earlier, including his younger sister, Chen Ning.
They were currently locked in a confrontation with a young man.
Qi Sibai glanced over and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? That man..."
Chen Kuang asked, "Brother Qi knows him?"
Qi Sibai replied, "That is Fan Chuan, son of Fan Hailong, the head of Jishao Prefecture's Canal Guild."