"...Me? Connected to the failure of this senior's heavenly tribulation?" Xuhan tried to laugh despite the furious thumping in his chest.

"Sect master, that sounds a bit far-fetched, don't you think?"

Fang Xie silently stared at him with the maximum possible intensity in his gaze. Xuan Zi leaned forward and said, "I did say it was unlikely, but my knowledge of heavenly tribulation says that this can be the only plausible reason. So you tell me, disciple; what should I believe?"

"That this senior is retarded and we shouldn't believe him at all...?" Han Xuhan muttered, his expression darkening with every syllable.

"Hm, That's fair," Fang Xie said with a thoughtful nod, getting Xuhan's hopes up. But then he kicked it down by adding, "But if old Zi could do that, he wouldn't be having this conversation with you right now."

"Look," Xuhan began speaking, his mind on overdrive. "That day, I simply went to visit the orphanage I used to live in. I don't know you, neither do I have anything to do with your tribulation. I grew up in that place since my birth and the first time I came into contact with the world of cultivation was a few months ago during the sect's disciple acceptance ceremony. The fact that you've had a few hunches during your episodic loss of sanity while we met doesn't mean anything in a logical sense!"

"If it meant something, Xuan Zi wouldn't be able to stop me from experimenting on you until I figure out what it exactly is," Fang Xie replied in a heavy tone.

"The fact remains that a cultivator of my level would rarely have wrong instinctive reactions in a situation like this. The only significant incident I've encountered in the recent times is my failure during the tribulation, which is well known for damaging a cultivator's spirit, soul, and the memories of the tribulation. And then I met you while I was recovering. Somehow, your very existence makes me reel in shock and anger inside. I cannot ignore such a massive instinctive response!"

"And this reminds me of something strange, disciple," Xuan Zi said with a frown.

"Had you really grown up in an orphanage in your hometown, Fang Xie should have met you before that incident considering how long he has been stationed there. At the very least, he should have been familiar with your face, yes?"

Xuan Zi's question was directed toward Fang Xie this time, who blinked in response, a hint of surprise appearing behind his gaze.

"Indeed, I know almost everybody in that town..." Fang Xie muttered in a worried tone.

A bone-chilling cold wave ran through Xuhan's spine. He did not like the rabbit-hole this investigation was leading them into.

"Disciple Han, did your orphanage have a name? Could you tell Fang Xie about a few of its key characteristics so that he can identify your origins? That would be an excellent way to wash off some doubts he has about you."

Even though the room was lit with bright, warm daylight, Han Xuhan felt like he was sitting inside a dark cave facing two terrifying monsters. One wasn't particularly interested in him....But the other one's motives ran far deeper than just interest or curiosity.

And the thing that scared him the most was...Xuan Zi was quite possibly the latter.

"The orphanage was named Sunflower Garden," Xuhan said in a low voice.

Xuan Zi turned to observe Fang Xie's expression, and his eyes gained a cold layer of emotions instantly as he heard Fang Xie's reply.

"There is no such orphanage in that town."

"...."

The room sank into a deep, silent duel of mental battles, a three-way war of lies and deceit.

"A claim so simple can easily be verified," Xuan Zi said in a grave tone.

Fang Xie chuckled. "Be my guest. It's your disciple who's lying. You'll be just wasting everyone's time."

As Xuan Zi got up from his seat, Xuhan finally gathered his thoughts from the chaotic mess they'd been rendered into.

It was time to minimize the damage the harsh reality had caused. Truth, lies, nothing mattered too much, for now. The important thing was to take control, at least a certain degree of it, and drive the flow of events in a way that could only benefit him in the long run. The fact that the mystery of his orphanage had been compromised so fast and so easily was a sign of how difficult the task ahead of him was. He could not rely on luck to cover his tracks. In fact, he had to actively ward off his atrocious bad luck. Survival was the goal, and trying to deceive these old monsters in front of him would only make that harder.

So far, his interactions with the two senior cultivators had gained him a vague overview of the power dynamics between them.

Fang Xie was a member of an 'organization' from the so-called celestial realm. Xuan Zi, a leader of a tiny sect, clearly did not wish to offend this organization that could send powerful cultivators to monitor whole planets.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

But in the same vein, Fang Xie was definitely wary of Xuan Zi.

Xuhan did not know if it was Xuan Zi's personal ability like his unknown realm of cultivation or whether Xuan Zi's background was so intimidating that someone with Fang Xie's background and rank would show him respect. Clearly, Xuan Zi was the only obstacle stopping Fang Xie from outright kidnapping Xuhan from the sect.

So what if the issue with his orphanage got leaked to these people? At his current power level, Xuhan was in no way fit to solve the mystery by himself. Maybe Xuan Zi, whose goodwill toward him wasn't absolutely zero, could help him....?

By the time Xuan Zi had reached the door, Han Xuhan made his decision.

"Sect master, I think it is unnecessary to validate my words. Senior Fang Xie isn't wrong. There is no such orphanage in my hometown."

Xuan Zi turned to look at him with an unreadable expression. Fang Xie simply snickered.

"But there once was," Xuhan added calmly, his gaze radiating confidence and honesty.

Those long hours he had spent practicing his acting skills in front of his mirror sure had been useful!

"Sounds very interesting. Why don't you elaborate a bit more, disciple?" Xuan Zi walked back to his seat and said without a pause.

"I believe you remember the strange disappearance of the Pine town, sect master. It vanished without a trace in a single night."

"And you're trying to say that the same exact situation took place in your hometown? That your orphanage disappeared so tracelessly that not even a cultivator of Fang Xie's caliber remembers its existence?"

"Yes, sect master. That day I went to visit the orphanage and met senior Xie on the way. Later, when I reached the area where the orphanage was supposed to be in, I found it to be completely empty. Nobody nearby had any recollection of its existence either. It was as if I was a deluded person with a wrong set of memories. But I recognized all of them while none of them seemed to know me. My personal belief is that whoever it was behind the disappearance of Pine Town decided to take some form of revenge by attacking my home since I am one of the three witnesses of their crime. So I obviously came to suspect senior Xie, as he was someone I'd never met in that town before. His crazy behavior and pretense of being familiar with me unlike the rest of the townsfolk fueled my suspicion. But I also knew that I was way too weak to do anything about it. My opponent, whether it was senior Xie or someone else, was extremely powerful. In the end, I returned to the sect and started the indirect investigation through the task administration pavilion."

In one breath, Xuhan explained most of the incident and his own point of view while editing some of it to fit into a more predictable narrative. His audience listened calmly and continued to maintain their silence even after he had finished speaking.

Seeing his chance to mine some precious information, Xuhan went all out and threw out several questions that had been bothering him.

"But how did senior Fang Xie track me down though?" He said, his eyes flickering towards the man in the question nervously.

"....Your sect uniform, you dumb brat."

A hot wave of embarrassment ran through his face as Xuhan recalled putting on his uniform rather flamboyantly that day in order to show off to his peers in the orphanage. Well, at least Fang Xie hadn't used any sort of magical tracking methods on him. That was good to know.

"And uhh....sect master, how did you know it was me who had issued the mission? Were my minions that incompetent? I can't be the only one practicing undead summoning techniques in this sect, right?"

Xuan Zi started laughing despite the grave atmosphere in the room.

"Incompetent? Hah- that's a good joke, disciple. I created several memories that evening that I'd rather not remember for the rest of my life! I almost mistook your minions for powerful experts hiding their realm of cultivation! They were quite competent, I'd say.

But you need to go a long, long way before you can comprehend how powerful you need to be in order to deceive a cultivator at the peak of the Dao Genesis realm, hahahaha!"

"Wait a damn minute old Zi, last time I asked you about your cultivation, you said you still hadn't finished your Origin Nurturing!" Fang Xie suddenly said in an alarmed tone.

"....Oh? I said that?" Xuan Zi asked, sounding stunned.

"Yeah. I remember it clearly!"

"I must've lied."

"....Fuck you! I almost attacked you in front of the Purple Empress that day thinking I could win!"

"Then you should thank the heavens for your good luck then, right? Why are you throwing a fit?" Xuan Zi asked in a genuinely puzzled tone.

As if they'd forgotten that a serious discussion was taking place in that room that concerned Han Xuhan's very existence, both the seniors started bantering back and forth making references to random incidents of their past. Meanwhile, Xuhan memorized the phrase 'Dao Genesis' realm. The teachers in the sect rarely entertained the students' questions about higher realms of power. It seemed to be a tacit agreement of some sort. So far, Xuhan knew about the soul reformation realm above his current physique transformation realm. Now a new realm had been revealed to him, one that could definitely be several levels above his own considering Fang Xie's complaints.

Origin Nurturing? That should be the component of another realm lower than the Dao Genesis realm...

"So, exactly how did you find out that it was me, sect master?" He asked in the end, realizing that the argument between the two ''old monsters'' was getting more and more heated. Sect master Zi and retarded Xie seemed to have a run-down version of a love-hate relationship. They clearly were acquaintances with a long history. No wonder Fang Xie hadn't directly tried to do anything funny despite his backing. And this made Xuhan all the more curious about Xuan Zi's actual background. How powerful was it?

....Maybe he had found himself another golden thigh to hug!

Hearing his pointed question, Xuan Zi stopped bickering with Fang Xie and leaned back into his seat with a complicated expression on his face. Then he dropped a bomb that blew Xuhan's mind away.

"Disciple, the technique you used to summon skeleton soldiers, the Skeletal Monarch Technique, was created by my father."

Explosions after explosions flooded Xuhan's mind. What in the world-

"Duotian, the genius expert who created my main cultivation technique, is your father, master?" He asked with wide eyes, just to confirm that he hadn't misheard. This was amazing news!

He had been worried about where to find the later volumes of the technique. Moreover, he needed urgent guidance from someone with proper experience in it. The heavens had presented him with an opportunity that couldn't be missed!

Xuan Zi's face turned purple.

"H-he liked to uh....exaggerate things a bit. At the peak of his life, he reached the seventh layer of the soul reformation realm, after which he went through a qi deviation and lost his cultivation. He died not long after."

The atmosphere in the room turned cold once more, but not as cold as Xuhan's blood.

Good grief! Could the day get any worse?

"I'm pretty sure you're aware of the issues with the skeletal monarch technique. My father never had the chance to perfect the technique in the soul reformation realm. It was obviously not his main cultivation technique either. So whatever you do, don't put your hopes on that hodgepodge. Find a better one to replace it as your main cultivation technique."

Expression somber, Han Xuhan looked outside through the window.

It was a bright day. The sky was full of white balls of clouds. Under the sun, who else was being made to suffer like his poor self?

The heavens are unjust, but he had come to accept that. Complaining about fairness while enjoying the hard mode did not befit a man who could achieve anything decent.

He simply let his anger and frustrations pass. He had more important matters to attend to.

"I see. So it wasn't a fault in my planning then. It was just my luck that got me caught."

Xuan Zi gave him a tight smile. "While it is almost impossible for me to track my targets through a multi-dimensional, cross-cosmic teleportation, it isn't difficult to learn where my target might end up after some calculations. You too will learn how to pick up clues from temporary dimensional rifts that open up cosmic gateways and use the data to calculate the approximate coordinates of the other side. It is quite a simple one compared to the rest of the mathematical formulae in that special curriculum!"

"...."

Xuhan didn't know whether to categorize that as good news or bad news. On one hand, the prospect of facing complex mathematical problems was terrible. On the other hand, the fact that it actually had some usage in real life, an incredibly cool one at that too, was exhilarating.

"So when it became apparent that the coordinates of the other side did not belong to our world, I became certain that my targets did not belong to this world either. A few more clues here and there told me that they might be undead too. So it wasn't a difficult conclusion to reach that they were quite possibly summoned creatures who were very familiar with the terrain of this sect. After that, I decided to scan the sect for any active summoning spells for the rest of the night. Fortunately, you were caught almost instantly. I originally didn't want to intervene in your personal matters, disciple. But then came along Fang Xie and here we are!"