Chapter 929: Unexpected Truth

The eastern part of Flowing Cloud City was once a continuous mountainous region, but it had long since been flattened by the Divine Phoenix Army.

Although Yun Che grew up in Flowing Cloud City, he had never visited this specific area before the age of sixteen. While Xiao Lie didn't strictly forbid him from entering the back mountains—an area inhabited by many low-level profound beasts—especially when accompanied by Xiao Lingxi or Xia Yuanba, he absolutely prohibited Yun Che and Xiao Lingxi from going to the mountainous region east of the city. Perhaps this was due to its distance from Flowing Cloud City, which made him concerned for their safety.

Yun Che ascended into the air and swiftly unleashed his spiritual perception, enveloping the land that had been trampled by the Divine Phoenix Army.

Although very faint, Yun Che could still vaguely sense that a profound sealing formation had once covered this area. It was clear that the Phoenix Divine Sect, upon discovering the purple crystal mine, had immediately erected an invisible isolation barrier to prevent the purple crystal's aura from being detected.

Surprisingly, however, his spiritual perception extended twenty *li* without detecting any trace of purple crystals.

Undoubtedly, the Phoenix Divine Sect had been exceptionally careful, meticulously clearing the area and leaving no trace. After all, for them at that time, detection by the Four Great Sacred Grounds would have led to extremely dangerous consequences.

Yun Che descended from the air, landing on the now solid ground. He frowned in thought, still unable to comprehend why such a large quantity—hundreds of *jin*—of Purple Vein Divine Crystal would be found here.

Previously, this question had only briefly crossed his mind, and with so many subsequent events, he had put the mystery of the Purple Vein Divine Crystal aside. However, while dealing with Xuanyuan Wentian, he suddenly remembered something highly unusual: a hundred *jin* of Purple Vein Divine Crystal, even if buried deeply, would undoubtedly emit an extraordinary profound crystal aura. It was already highly abnormal that the Four Great Sacred Grounds had never discovered it. Moreover, twenty-four years ago, individuals from the Heavenly Sword Villa and Sun Moon Divine Hall had visited Flowing Cloud City while pursuing his parents, Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou—it was then that Xiao Ying was also killed.

If they had merely visited and failed to discover it, that might be somewhat understandable. However, after arriving in Flowing Cloud City, they had clearly searched the surrounding areas for several days, practically digging up the earth. Given the spiritual perception capabilities of those from the Sacred Grounds, how could they have completely failed to detect such a massive and high-grade purple crystal mine?

Moreover, those dispatched to pursue Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou must have been cultivators at the Emperor level—Xuanyuan Wentian, the young master, even personally led the contingent from the Sword Domain.

Could it be that the purple crystal mine simply didn't exist back then?

No, that's impossible. A purple crystal mine of this magnitude must have formed over an immense span of time; it couldn't have appeared in just over two decades.

Furthermore, his spiritual perception revealed that the ground beneath had been secretly excavated to a depth indicating that the purple crystal mine was not buried deep at all; in fact, it was quite shallow, with its closest point to the surface being less than twenty *zhang*. The Divine Phoenix Army had originally deployed 200,000 troops here, creating loud disturbances through daily "drills" specifically to mask the sounds of extracting the shallow purple crystal.

Yun Che stood there for a long time, utterly perplexed. While one might勉强 explain that the Four Great Sacred Grounds had never come close to this land over thousands of years and thus never detected it, claiming that all Sacred Ground cultivators who visited Flowing Cloud City were somehow mentally impaired or unobservant was simply illogical.

Just as Yun Che was contemplating whether to delve beneath the mountainous terrain to investigate further, a figure suddenly appeared from the west, slowly approaching him.

Yun Che turned his gaze, seeing a moderately built, kind-faced old man. His eyes lit up, and he flew over, landing in front of the elder. "Grandpa Hong," Yun Che greeted, "what brings you here so suddenly?"

The old man stopped and smiled. "Ah, it's the young master," he said. "Sigh, it's almost Madam's death anniversary again, and Master asked me to gather some of the wild orchids she loved most. Young Master, what brings you here?"

Within the Xiao Sect, Yun Che held Xiao Lie in the highest regard, with Xiao Hong coming in a close second. Xiao Hong wasn't originally part of the Xiao Sect; he had been rescued by Xiao Lie's father during his travels, brought back, and given the surname Xiao. He had looked after Xiao Lie since childhood, demonstrating unwavering loyalty. When Yun Che married Xia Qingyue, it was Xiao Hong who had accompanied him to retrieve his bride.

Every year on the anniversary of his deceased wife's passing, Xiao Lie would bring a large bouquet of wild orchids, as they were her favorite flowers. Both Yun Che and Xiao Lingxi had known this since childhood.

"I came on a whim, just to look around," Yun Che said, glancing about. "There don't seem to be any wild orchids nearby. Shall I go with you to search elsewhere, Grandpa Hong?"

"No need," Xiao Hong said, shaking his head with a smile. "Young Master, you are a person of great importance now; how could I ask you to join me in such a trivial task? In previous years, wild orchids were abundant here at this time of year, but since the Divine Phoenix Army flattened this area, they've become difficult to find. Sigh."

"So, the wild orchids from previous years were always gathered here," Yun Che said with a touch of emotion. "Come to think of it, Grandpa never allowed my aunt and me to play here when we were children. I don't even know what this place looked like before."

"Heh heh, of course," Xiao Hong chuckled, a hint of melancholy in his voice. "After all, this is a place of sorrow for Master. Even he rarely visits here anymore."

"A place of sorrow?" Yun Che was slightly startled. "What happened here? Why is this Grandpa's place of sorrow?"

"Oh?" Xiao Hong looked surprised. "Has Master never mentioned it to you, Young Master? Oh... heh heh, I suppose it's not surprising. Master wouldn't voluntarily bring up such a matter with you. After all, it's the most painful memory in his heart."

Yun Che remained silent. Sensing the unusual nature of the situation, Yun Che pressed on, "Grandpa Hong, what exactly happened here? Why is this the most painful place for Grandpa? If you know, please tell me in detail. After all, I'm no longer a child. Perhaps, once I know, I can find a way to help Grandpa overcome this shadow."

Xiao Hong, however, shook his head. "There's nothing to be done, as the deceased are gone," he said. "However, there's no harm in telling Young Master, especially since you've grown into such an extraordinary person."

"Young Master, do you know how Madam passed away back then?" Xiao Hong suddenly asked.

Yun Che replied, "I was told that Uncle Xiao Ying met a tragic end, his wife committed suicide in grief, and their child's fate remained unknown. Grandma, overwhelmed by sorrow, fell ill with depression and passed away shortly after giving birth to my aunt... Although Grandpa never told me this directly, that's the common account within the Xiao Sect and Flowing Cloud City. Is there more to the story?"

Before he was sixteen, Yun Che had never doubted that Xiao Lie's wife died of grief after giving birth to Xiao Lingxi, devastated by the loss of her son. However, after he gained the memories of the Azure Cloud Continent, recalling this incident while possessing his medical knowledge naturally stirred doubts in his mind.

The saying goes: "Though women are inherently gentle, they become strong as mothers." Despite the profound grief of losing a child, Xiao Lie's wife, upon giving birth to Lingxi, would have instinctively redirected all her attention and maternal affection to her newborn daughter. No matter how immense her sorrow, she would have striven to be strong—this is a mother's natural instinct and her greatest quality.

There was no way she would have abandoned her newborn daughter and simply "died of grief."

Furthermore, she was not alone; she had Xiao Lie, whose affection for her was profound.

Therefore, both from a medical standpoint and the perspective of human nature, Xiao Lie's wife should not have simply "died of grief." There had to be another cause, perhaps... an illness?

Xiao Hong looked toward the flattened mountains to the east and slowly began to recount: "Back then, Young Master Xiao Ying met a tragic end, and the young master (Yun Che) was missing, presumed lost. Madam was devastated, crying constantly, and she was also six months pregnant at the time. Master feared her excessive grief would harm her health, so he tried every day to comfort and cheer her up... Sigh, Master himself was deeply heartbroken then, but his affection for Madam was truly profound."

Yun Che remained silent.

"When Madam was about six months pregnant with Young Miss Lingxi, the wild orchids here were in full bloom. Since they were Madam's favorite flowers, Master brought her here to quietly admire them, hoping to ease her grief over losing their son. I was attending to them nearby."

"From morning until evening, Madam's mood showed a rare improvement. But just as Master was preparing to take her back to Flowing Cloud City, a sudden, unforeseen accident occurred."

"What kind of accident?" Yun Che immediately pressed.

"Madam... was suddenly struck by lightning." More than two decades had passed since that moment, but recalling it still filled Xiao Hong's face with terror.

"Struck by... lightning?" Yun Che froze, his mind struggling to process the information. "What do you mean? How could she simply... be struck by lightning?"

"Master and I were equally baffled," Xiao Hong sighed. "The wild orchids were in bloom, and the sky was clear for miles—there wasn't even a wisp of cloud, let alone a storm cloud. Yet, a bolt of lightning suddenly descended from the sky, striking Madam directly... and that lightning was strangely black."

"Black!?"

"Yes, Master and I both saw it clearly. It was indeed a black lightning bolt, something neither of us had ever witnessed before. Its color and sudden appearance were utterly bizarre. Master initially thought it was an ambush, believing that the villain who killed Young Master Xiao Ying had returned to finish us off. He searched furiously, but there was no one else in the entire mountainous area apart from the three of us, and no other incidents occurred afterward."

"What happened after that? What became of Grandma after she was struck by the black lightning?" Yun Che asked urgently, his brows tightly furrowed.

Lightning striking from a clear sky was highly abnormal. If Yun Che had encountered it, his first thought would certainly have been that it was man-made. And black lightning... The basic color of profound lightning energy was purple. His Yun Family's Purple Cloud Arts would transform into red lightning at very high levels. However, whether in the Profound Sky Continent, the Illusory Demon Realm, or the ancient Azure Cloud Continent, he had never seen or heard of anyone or any sect whose lightning power was pitch black.

While Fen Juechen and Xuanyuan Wentian's highly compressed dark profound energy could sometimes form lightning-like profound light, appearing like black lightning, dark profound energy simply didn't exist on the Profound Sky Continent over twenty years ago. The only individual capable of wielding it, the Moon Slaughter Devil Sovereign, was securely sealed away in the Moon Slaughter Devil Den beyond the continent.

"Madam immediately fell unconscious from the lightning strike and remained so for three full days before finally waking. Strangely, though, there were no visible marks or injuries on her body from the lightning. However, afterward, Madam's health rapidly deteriorated. She suffered frequent convulsions during the day and constant nightmares at night. Master sought out renowned doctors from both inside and outside the city, trying various tonics, but nothing helped. Later, Madam was pregnant for a full thirteen months before finally giving birth to Young Miss Lingxi. Following that, her health worsened day by day, and she passed away not long after..."