"True Master Chilong?"

Chen Che looked up.

"Throughout history, there have been quite a few Golden Core True Masters. Even if we narrow it down to Beast Masters, three or four have been active or have appeared in this land."

Meng Changtu nodded and said gravely,

"However, the others either passed away peacefully in meditation, died of old age, or suffered from cultivation deviation. He is the only one whose whereabouts are unknown!"

Chen Che nodded in agreement.

Whether they passed away in meditation or died of old age, their souls would either enter the cycle of reincarnation or dissipate on the spot, so those possibilities were unlikely.

Only the one whose whereabouts were unknown...

"True Master Chilong was known to have a fierce and violent temperament. He was famous for possessing a Red Flame Flood Dragon and was active over a thousand years ago, during the same era as True Master Chixia. It’s said he even held a grudge against True Master Chixia."

Meng Changtu looked at his future son-in-law.

"What kind of grudge?"

Chen Che caught the key point.

"Who could possibly know the secrets of a thousand years ago?"

Meng Changtu shook his head.

"To beings like them, we are merely ants. You need to be at least at the Foundation Establishment Great Perfection realm to even be worthy of interacting with them. Only after reaching Core Formation can you truly enter their circle. Otherwise, you can only wait for them to show you favor."

’Just like the difference between Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining,’ Chen Che added internally. Seeing Meng Changtu get up and head for the door, he immediately followed.

The two walked toward the core of the clan’s territory and finally entered a library.

The one guarding the door was a female Foundation Establishment Cultivator whom he had just seen at the family meeting. According to seniority, he had to call her "Aunt." After greeting him, she enthusiastically invited Chen Che to her home for sweet soup.

"These are miscellaneous texts that I and the family have collected over many years, but it’s hard to tell fact from fiction in most of them. You might even find two different books with completely contradictory accounts. However, the one thing we can be sure of is that True Master Chilong reached the late-stage Golden Core realm before he died."

The library was inlaid with Luminous Beads, making it as bright as day.

Countless bookshelves stood in neat, dense rows, forming a Mountain of Books and Sea of Knowledge.

"Late-stage Golden Core..."

Chen Che was lost in thought, but he wasn’t surprised by what Meng Changtu had said.

In this world, there were no proper history books, nor were there official historians to record history. At most, there were mortals’ journals, but those would be purged or destroyed with the fall of a dynasty.

As for the Cultivation World, all records mostly relied on word of mouth, hearsay, eyewitness accounts, and the personal records of Cultivators. It wasn’t easy to find information about those who came before, which is why the truth is so easily lost to time.

Moreover, even the records that did survive could have been fabricated by later generations.

"These few books record events from True Master Chilong’s life. Although I think some of it is fake, you can always find useful information if you look hard enough."

Walking up to a bookshelf, Meng Changtu casually pulled out a few books and handed them to Chen Che.

"There are also records of other Golden Core True Masters from the same period. Even if it isn’t him, we need to be on guard. Although the entity is just a remnant soul now, it still possesses all the cultivation experience from its past life. I suspect that’s how Sun Hao was able to reach Foundation Establishment so quickly..."

"Perhaps your Beast Pet is also hiding a secret!"

As he spoke, Meng Changtu glanced at the Little Chick perched on Chen Che’s shoulder, which had shrunk itself to the size of a house sparrow.

"At the very least, in all my years, I’ve never seen a Great Demon reach Foundation Establishment so quickly. Forget True Master Chilong—if you weren’t my son-in-law, even I would be tempted to snatch it!"

Could a Demon Beast targeted by a Golden Core Remnant Soul be anything ordinary?

Forget Tier Three.

It might even be Tier Four.

It wouldn’t even matter if you became its enemy in the process. Once subdued, the benefits would be unimaginably huge.

The Little Chick, who was preening its feathers, heard this. It turned to glance at Chen Che and transmitted its voice gleefully,

"Master, someone’s complimenting your bird."

Meng Changtu gave the Little Chick a surprised look. Its intelligence was so high that even he couldn’t help but feel tempted.

"But you don’t have to worry. This information won’t get out easily. In fact, that entity probably wants to keep this secret even more than you do! If your pet were to be stolen or fall into the hands of a stronger power, he might not get a chance to take it for himself either."

"Understood!"

Chen Che reached out and took the books.

"Alright, you stay here for a few days and read up on True Master Chilong. Get a good grasp of the situation so you can be prepared if you ever run into him. As for Sun Hao, I’ll have people look into it... I’ll notify you as soon as I get any news."

Meng Changtu added this final instruction, then walked out of the library, closing the door behind him.

Chen Che looked away from the door and glanced around the library again, inwardly praising his father-in-law’s thoroughness.

There had to be at least a hundred thousand volumes here. If he had to search for them one by one, when would he ever find them?

"True Master Chilong came from a Cultivation Clan? So he wasn’t from a humble background this time? He could speak at birth, compose poetry at three, and reached Foundation Establishment at ten? That must be a Celestial Spirit Root, even more amazing than Old Li’s sister!"

"Wait, why does this book say he was a late bloomer? Reached Foundation Establishment at sixty-two? Is that a Middle Spirit Root or a Lower Spirit Root?"

Chen Che skimmed through the books, reading ten lines at a glance, and quickly developed a headache.

It was just as Meng Changtu had said; the accounts in these miscellaneous texts were full of contradictions. Many were so exaggerated that you could tell they were false at a glance: True Master Chilong was thirty feet tall, fed on moonlight, and the Red Dragon at his feet was ten thousand feet long, capable of eclipsing the sun and moon when it flew.

The person who wrote this text clearly held endless admiration and reverence for True Master Chilong.

But another book claimed True Master Chilong was a hideous monster who raped, pillaged, and committed every evil imaginable, not even sparing seventy-year-old women.

’Looks like I’ll have to appoint a historian in Jinyun Valley in the future,’ Chen Che grumbled to himself. ’At least then we could get the facts straight...’

For the next several days, whenever he had free time, Chen Che would either wander through the Meng Family Beast Garden or stroll around the Market. The rest of his time was spent immersed in the library. Every time he went, the "Aunt" guarding the door would enthusiastically invite him to her home for sweet soup.

By synthesizing and extrapolating from the information, he managed to piece together a preliminary account of the True Master’s life:

He came from a Cultivation Clan, but his talent was not apparent at first. Later, he joined a Sect to pursue Cultivation.

He eventually reached Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, traveled abroad for over twenty years, and finally returned after achieving Core Formation. He became known as True Master Chilong after taming a Red Flame Flood Dragon. When he returned to his clan, he found it in ruins, so he gathered the surviving members and rebuilt the family.

Later, he offended True Master Chixia in a dispute over resources. Not only was his family annihilated, but he himself was hunted by True Master Chixia and vanished for nearly a hundred years.

In his last known appearance, he was suspected to have been ambushed by four Golden Core True Masters. His whereabouts have been unknown ever since.

"That’s more or less the gist of it..."

"Unfortunately, the authors had limited knowledge or weren’t high-level enough, so many details are vague. However, the fact that he disappeared in Yunzhou is extremely important... It seems this point matches up with Sun Hao’s story!"

Chen Che closed the book. With this much information, he was eighty percent certain that the remnant soul possessing Sun Hao was indeed True Master Chilong.

"Valley Master Chen, you have some free time today. Care to come to my home for sweet soup?"

Just as he stepped out of the library, the still-charming female Cultivator called out to him enthusiastically.

The corner of Chen Che’s mouth twitched.

"Aunt, I’m really not into that..."

...

...

「In the blink of an eye.」

Over half a month had passed at the Meng Family’s residence. Aside from a few restricted areas and not having met the old master of the Meng Family who was in seclusion, Chen Che had basically visited every corner of the Meng territory and met every member of the family.

Not only had Chen Che finished reading about True Master Chilong’s life, but he had also read the records of several other Golden Core Cultivators from the same era. He finally had some understanding of that generation of Golden Core True Masters from a thousand years ago.

On this day, just as Chen Che walked out of the library and once again declined his "Aunt’s" invitation, he was considering taking his leave and returning to Jinyun Valley when Meng Changtu suddenly appeared and threw him a mask.

"Come with me!"

"Are we going to the exchange meet? Didn’t you say it’s only once a year? There should still be a few months left!"

Putting on the mask he had worn to the previous exchange meet, Chen Che followed Meng Changtu out through a side path. His father-in-law’s hurried movements took him by surprise.

"Or did something happen?"

"We have news about Sun Hao."

Meng Changtu let out a long whistle. A ten-foot-long Black Tiger, a Great Demon, immediately came running from the distant mountain forest. He vaulted onto its back and glanced at the stunned Chen Che. "We have a report that he’s heading toward Ten Thousand Fire Mountain..."

Ten Thousand Fire Mountain?

’Could his Cave Mansion be there?’ a thought struck Chen Che, recalling the records from those miscellaneous texts.

According to the miscellaneous texts, True Master Chilong often appeared in and around Ten Thousand Fire Mountain.

Therefore, many people speculated that his Cave Mansion was located in that area.

"Exactly!"

Meng Changtu grabbed the mane on the back of the Black Tiger’s neck. The beast instantly broke into a wild sprint, its Demon Essence surging as it seemed to fly through the air.

The Little Chick transformed, returning to its true form. Chen Che stepped onto its back and caught up to them. "Is this information reliable?"

"I’m only seventy percent sure, but the message came from an old friend of many years. However, for something like this, even if there’s only a one-percent chance, we have to take a gamble. As for whether the remnant soul is really attached to Sun Hao..."

Watching Chen Che catch up, he narrowed his eyes.

"Even a sliver of suspicion is enough!"

The fear that Cultivators in this world held for higher-level beings was immense. Who knew if Sun Hao would rely on that entity to reach Core Formation? If he succeeded, not only Jinyun Valley but even the Meng Family could be implicated.

"I know..."

Chen Che’s gaze sharpened.

...

「Three days later.」

Crimson flames surged to the heavens, the volcanoes like coiled dragons.

In the distance, hundreds of volcanoes were now visible on the horizon.

At this moment, the two had already reached the border of Xingzhou. They had crossed four prefectures from Jinyun Valley.

"We’re here!"

Meng Changtu stopped in front of a dense forest a hundred li from Ten Thousand Fire Mountain. Perched atop the Black Tiger, he surveyed the surroundings. "Wait a moment. My old friend will be here soon..."

Chen Che looked up to see the volcanic range stretching between heaven and earth, extending beyond the horizon. Billowing smoke churned like black dragons, roiling toward the sky. The air was thick with a dense concentration of the Fire Element; with every breath, a wave of heat like a scorching flame entered his body.

"True Master Chilong’s Cave Mansion is here?"

Chen Che looked around.

Just then, a figure suddenly appeared from the depths of the forest, soaring through the air and rapidly approaching the two of them.