Walker Of The Worlds

2724  Finding The Source

(Check Author note at the bottom)

”Where is the High Elderʼs residence?” Lin Mu asked. ”Perhaps we can start from there.”

”The High Elderʼs residence?” The Grand Elder turned to look at the sunken island. ”Well… down there.” He pointed.

Seeing that, an awkward expression appeared on Lin Muʼs face.

”No way weʼll find anything there,” Daoist Chu said. ”It would have been destroyed entirely by Lin Muʼs attack.”

Lin Mu knew this too, as Metal Devastator would have obliterated all arrays and anything hidden there.

They were now at a dead end again.

”We can still look at the residences of the disciples and a few elders,” the First Elder suggested. ”Some structures are still standing, while others have collapsed, but there might be things left intact under the rubble.”

”Very well, we can start from there.” Lin Mu reckoned it was at least something.

With that decided, everyone began moving, including the disciples. They were ordered to report anything suspicious they found or sensed. The Buddhist monks also split up, with one monk assigned to every hundred disciples.

That way, if they sensed something strange, they would be able to alert the others.

It took them an hour before they finally got their first report.

”Abbot! I sense something strange here,” one of the monks spoke up.

”Me too!” Another monk quickly followed.

”Here as well!”

One by one, more monks announced their findings, making the others exchange glances of surprise.

Lin Mu and the elders gathered at the first site, which was one of the intact disciple houses.

”Where is it?” Lin Mu asked.

”There.” The monk pointed to a prayer mat.

”Here?” Lin Mu raised a brow and lifted the mat, but saw nothing underneath.

Knowing this might not be the whole picture, he chanted the Calming Heart Sutra and focused his senses.

SHUA!

Sure enough, he detected something.

”The same foul energy… Thereʼs a minute trace of it here,” Lin Mu said.

”How did it get here?” Daoist Chu asked, frowning.

”I donʼt know… but it seems to be in the floor.” Lin Mu unsheathed his sword and carefully cut out that section.

Inspecting the chunk, he found the trace embedded within it.

”Hmm… We need to check the others too,” Lin Mu said. This single clue wasnʼt enough.

A minute later, they arrived at another house and found the same trace hidden beneath the floor.

”Another… and another…” Lin Mu muttered.

Every house they checked was the same.

The trace of foul energy was always beneath the prayer mats.

”Why is it always under the prayer mats?” Monk Hushu wondered aloud.

Hearing this, something clicked for Daoist Chu.

”The array! The Qi Channeling Array!” Daoist Chu exclaimed.

The prayer mats were not ordinary—they were amplification nodes for the Qi Channeling Array. Disciples and elders would cultivate while sitting upon them, boosting their cultivation speed.

”Did the foul energy come from the Qi Channeling Array?” The Grand Elder was shocked. ”How is that possible?”

”The Qi Channeling Array connects every part of the sect,” Lin Mu said. ”That would have given the Cursed Energy of Pestilence the perfect way to spread.

”But once I attacked, the arrayʼs connections collapsed, cutting off the energy flow.”

”This means that if we hadnʼt investigated now, the traces would have likely faded away,” Daoist Chu noted.

”Heavens… we might have avoided an even worse fate.” The First Elder shuddered. ”Had we discovered this later, we wouldnʼt have been able to trace it at all.”

”Letʼs check the Inner Disciple areas. I have a hunch that the traces there will be stronger,” Lin Mu said, his expression darkening.

WHOOSH!

The group flew over to the nearest reported site.

CRACK!

Sure enough, after Lin Mu unearthed the flooring, he found an even bigger trace of the foul energy.

”Just as I thought. Itʼs stronger here,” Lin Mu stated grimly.

”The Qi Channeling Array supplies more Qi to higher-ranked members,” Daoist Chu speculated. ”That means the Cursed Energy had an even greater effect on the Inner Court disciples.”

”I suspect the same pattern will hold for Core disciples and Elders,” Lin Mu said, his brows furrowing deeper.

”But why didnʼt the Grand Elder and First Elder show any traces of it?” one of the monks asked.

”I have been busy for months and had no time to cultivate,” the Grand Elder admitted. ”Forget cultivating—I havenʼt had a wink of sleep in the last six months.”

”Same here. I was handling the formalities of the new mines,” the First Elder added. ”Several of the elders were busy with the same thing.”

”And where are those elders now?” Lin Mu asked.

”Gone… They fled faster than the others once they realized the sectʼs condition,” the First Elder answered.

”Smart people.” Daoist Chu smirked. ”Since they werenʼt affected by the Cursed Energy of Pestilence, their minds were clear enough to get out while they still could.”

”At least we now have a basic hypothesis,” Lin Mu said. ”But what about the Patriarch? Was he not busy?”

”The Patriarch assigns most of the duties to us so he has time to cultivate,” the Grand Elder replied. ”If I recall correctly, until last week, he was focused on cultivation.

”He only emerged when the situation became dire.”

”Then, considering the Qi Channeling Array provided the strongest energy supply in his residence…” Lin Muʼs expression darkened.

”…itʼs likely he was affected the most.”

”The effects of Cursed Energy start with altering oneʼs mental state, then it affects cultivation,” Xukong spoke in Lin Muʼs mind.

”Since the Patriarch was already strained by the sectʼs crisis, he broke down and went on a rampage. That was before the Cursed Energy fully took hold and pushed him into a Qi deviation.”

”If he hadnʼt rampaged, the energy would still have ruined his cultivation later.”

”In time, he would have developed physical symptoms as well.”

Hearing all this, Lin Mu knew they were getting close to the source of this all. But to pin point this he needed to ask a few more questions.