Chapter 175 - Meng Qiewei: Unlikely

In the quaint courtyard, Meng Qiewei gazed at the teacup on the table before picking it up and pouring its contents over the crabapple blossoms.Instantly, Spiritual Qi flared, nourishing the crabapple blossoms.

"These flowers haven’t withered in years," Qing Dai said thoughtfully. "Miss, maybe we should plant a fruit tree. I think it would grow very well here."

As she spoke, she poured another cup of tea for Meng Qiewei.

Meng Qiewei averted her gaze. Speaking of the one who had left the Palm Seal, she said, "This person is rather arrogant."

"A little, yes. But to leave a Palm Seal at the very top proves they’re anything but ordinary," Qing Dai continued. "It’s strange, though. A total of three people left Palm Seals, but only two have been identified."

"The third person is nowhere to be found."

"Which one?" Meng Qiewei asked casually.

Qing Dai shook her head. "I don’t know. There’s no news yet, but a list should be coming out soon. They say there’s an exceptionally young genius, but no one knows which Palm Seal is his."

"A genius?" Meng Qiewei glanced at her attendant with a flicker of curiosity.

Qing Dai nodded. "They say he has been in Cultivation for less than three years. To leave a Palm Seal on the Five Elements Stele with that little experience is enough to draw a lot of attention."

Meng Qiewei’s interest faded.

’It’s not him.’

She then lowered her gaze to the teacup, staring into the pale tea, lost in thought.

"Miss, what are your thoughts on the Five Elements Secret Realm?" Qing Dai asked.

Meng Qiewei just replied casually, "What are people on the outside saying?"

Qing Dai answered frankly, "They believe the goal of this generation’s Celestial Prides is related to the Unparalleled Celestial Pride Fate Chart. They think everything they’re doing now is to find the person with that Fate Chart, or perhaps to use their own talent to draw the Fate Chart back to them."

"Based on that, they think there’s a good chance... your husband is still alive."

After a brief pause, Qing Dai looked at her mistress and asked curiously, "Miss, are they right?"

Meng Qiewei lifted her teacup, but only glanced at the tea before setting it back down. "What do you think?" she asked softly.

"Everything I know is just hearsay. I couldn’t possibly guess," Qing Dai said.

’I think the Young Master is already dead,’ she thought to herself. ’The Miss probably buried him somewhere scenic. Wuyun Sect would be a nice spot.’

Meng Qiewei paid her no mind, pouring out the tea once more. "Have the investigators from the Immortal Sect been reassigned?"

"Not yet. However, the checks at Magpie Bridge have gotten stricter. They feel that investigating everyone on the list is too difficult, so they’re looking for preliminary clues to narrow their focus." Qing Dai poured her mistress some tea, thought for a moment, then continued, "Logically, anyone who crossed would have left a trace. The Immortal Sect will find them sooner or later, but Magpie Bridge is a special case. It will take a great deal of time and effort."

"They’ve also started running simulations on everyone on the list."

"For instance, they’ll use rumors and personal circumstances to simulate a person’s motive for crossing Magpie Bridge."

"Based on this, they’ve divided people into three categories."

"The first category is for those with a clear motive. The second is for those with a possible motive. The third is for those with no discernible motive yet."

"You, Miss, are currently in the first category: clear motive."

"A young lady who showed no interest in marriage suddenly gets wed. It’s bound to raise suspicion."

Meng Qiewei’s gaze hardened as she stared into her tea. A chill emanated from her, as if she were displeased with the drink itself.

Then she asked, "And if it really is someone on the list, what does the Immortal Sect intend to do?"

That question stumped Qing Dai.

’What *would* the Immortal Sect do?’

’They can’t just move against someone on that list.’

’But the Immortal Sect isn’t some toothless tiger. It’s truly powerful.’

’They could have any number of other objectives, too.’

「Inside the Secret Realm.」

After finishing off a Demon Beast, Jiang Man also saw the light.

He looked up.

And saw that Palm Seals had appeared on the stone stele that towered into the clouds.

If he remembered correctly, the highest Palm Seal was the one he had left.

But soon, his brow furrowed.

He had discovered quite a few new Palm Seals below his.

Far more than he’d seen before.

And many of them didn’t seem to have any writing on them.

He remembered the stele he’d seen before having writing on nearly all of them.

"Strange."

Jiang Man shook his head and didn’t give it much more thought.

’It doesn’t matter.’

’I already left my mark at the stele’s absolute limit anyway.’

’If someone else wants to try for that spot, I have no objection.’

’Some people reach the top because that’s the limit of their strength.’

’But I reached the top because that’s the limit of the stele.’

’There’s a difference between being first and *the* first.’

"Looks like some more Palm Seals have appeared up there," said Number Ninety-nine.

"A lot more?" Jiang Man asked.

"Not really. Just the highest one, I think. The other sections only have one or two new ones at most. I didn’t keep a precise count, but it’s not a lot," Number Ninety-nine replied.

Jiang Man nodded.

’So it really is different from the stele I saw before.’

"Let’s get back to raising our ranks," Jiang Man said.

The other two naturally had no objections.

Still, they were curious what kind of person could leave a Palm Seal on the stele.

Especially the one at the very top. That person was clearly no simple character.

Unfortunately, they had been focused on clearing out Demon Beasts the entire time, so they knew very little about these things.

’But what’s any of that compared to following Number 210?’

’He just casually hands out top-grade techniques.’

’Making the right choice really is more important than just working hard.’

’An opportunity like this will probably never come again.’

「On the evening of the fifteenth day.」

Jiang Man sighed. He had no choice but to go back and check the rankings.

Then he had to find Number Sixty-six and ask for a Spiritual Source.

Raising his rank in here was just too difficult.

By the time he returned to the stele, it was nearly midnight.

He had wasted almost no time.

Jiang Man glanced at his rank, which had settled at twenty-four.

But before he could even start wondering how much Spiritual Source he would get, his rank suddenly flickered.

He had dropped from twenty-fourth to twenty-fifth.