Before passing by other mountain peaks, Liang Yi had already heard the term "Shadow Sect" mentioned several times among the people's conversations. Associating it with the integration of the Shadow Law and the Secret Realm created by Wan Tinggui, it seemed that the Shadow Sect was also her doing.

Liang Yi now holds increasing admiration for Wan Tinggui. Within just a year or two, under the envelopment of the Abyss Will, she had managed to accomplish so much, which was truly astonishing.

On this solitary mountain peak, unlike the other peaks with various sect buildings, there was only a bluestone courtyard surrounded by lawns located at the summit.

Although the courtyard was extremely elegant, it had nothing particularly special and was also desolately unpopulated.

Liang Yi and the others merely glanced casually and could tell that this vast estate, though seemingly prepared for Wan Tinggui, was seldom visited by her. Luckily, the existing arrays prevented the bluestone courtyard from gathering dust.

However, what puzzled Liang Yi was, if it was merely for resting, wasn't this estate rather too large?

"Please help yourself!"

After following Wan Tinggui into a guest hall within the estate, despite being a cultivator at the peak of the Ninth Realm, Wen Mengxia still presented a maid's demeanor in front of Wan Tinggui, making tea for everyone neatly yet beautifully.

"Oh, thank you!"

Su Youyi, feeling somewhat flattered, hurriedly took it and expressed her thanks.

Being served tea by a cultivator of the Ninth Realm was truly a first-time experience for her.

The fresh aroma of tea instantly filled the room, reviving everyone's spirits.

"Thank you! Hmm?"

After thanking and receiving the tea, Liang Yi looked up unexpectedly and saw a portrait hanging on the side of the guest hall. The woman in the painting bore an eighty to ninety percent resemblance to Wan Tinggui.

That breathtakingly beautiful woman was dressed in a plain white long gown, with no makeup whatsoever, merely sitting quietly amidst flowers. As if someone called her, she suddenly turned around, her lips curving into a smile.

If one had to point it out, the smiling woman in the painting seemed to possess a gentler and more tender demeanor, completely different from Wan Tinggui, who exuded mystery from head to toe.

It was this difference that made Liang Yi certain that the person in the painting was not Wan Tinggui.

After all, the smiles Liang Yi had seen on Wan Tinggui always carried various implications, never as purely simple as the one in the painting.

Following Liang Yi's gaze, Su Youyi naturally also saw the painting on the wall, and couldn't help but compare it slightly with Wan Tinggui, finding the two strikingly identical.

"Sisters? Or mother and daughter?"

Due to the painting depicting a very young woman, Su Youyi was even somewhat unsure of their relationship.

He Zhiqing and the others, curious as they were, naturally did not feel it was appropriate to ask as guests.

"That is my mother, Wan Qiuchun. She died seventeen years ago at the hands of Tian Anyu, and I was only three years old at that time."

Noticing the gaze of Liang Yi, Su Youyi, and others, Wan Tinggui set down her teacup and her eyes flickered with a trace of sorrow as she looked at the painting.

Images flashed through Liang Yi's mind, and he suddenly recalled the words Wan Tinggui had said when she sought an alliance: to kill her father, Tian Anyu, and destroy the dream he had pursued all his life!

Seeing the intense sadness on Wan Tinggui's face and the deep-seated hatred in her eyes, Liang Yi suddenly understood why Wan Tinggui had been so angry about being deceived by Shao Du before:

Her goal was to kill that powerful man; naturally, she would not allow herself to fail before killing that man.

"Those who walk the Heartless Path are all madmen, and Tian Anyu is an aware madman!"

Wan Tinggui clenched her fists tightly, her teeth gritted as she spoke.

"At that time, he was facing the shackles of the Great Perfection of the Seventh Realm. In order to break these shackles, he voluntarily sealed his memories of falling in love and becoming dao companions with my mother, intending to walk the Heartless Path when the love reached its peak."

After sighing, Wen Mengxia covered Wan Tinggui's tightly clenched fists with her hand, memories of the lady's once innocent and cheerful smile surfacing in her mind.

"Afterward, you all can guess the result—Tian Anyu successfully broke the shackles of cultivation. And this is precisely why I chose to defect from the Devouring Spirit Scripture, not only to protect myself but also to avenge my deceased mother! That man, Tian Anyu! He must die!"

The hatred in Wan Tinggui's eyes blazed like a fierce flame, as if transcending space and time to target someone far away, vowing to make them pay with their life!

"Is that so?"

He Zhiqing suddenly realized, and Wan Tinggui's words finally cleared the doubts in his heart.

Before this, he had wondered why Wan Tinggui, a genius of the Devouring Spirit Sect, would lead a group of sect members to defect.

Although ideological differences sounded quite reasonable, it still wasn't enough to fully convince He Zhiqing. But since his master Fang Zhi and the Banished Immortal predecessors had always trusted Wan Tinggui, He Zhiqing suppressed his confusion and chose to follow his master's orders to cooperate with Wan Tinggui.

Today, what Wan Tinggui said regarding Tian Anyu being her father, or even her biological father being the murderer of her mother, unexpectedly shocked He Zhiqing, but it indeed alleviated most of his doubts.

Beside him, Ke Mengzhan and Pang Qingshi also remained silent for a long time, silently digesting this massive revelation.

So, the Devouring Spirit Sect Saintess has been bearing such deep blood vengeance all along? For seventeen years, she pretended to be someone else to face her father who wanted to kill her to obtain power—such mental fortitude moved them.

Su Youyi found herself somewhat empathizing with Wan Tinggui, although the specific situations differed, she saw similarities with her own situation in Wan Tinggui.

Liang Yi sighed quietly. People like Tian Anyu surely cared about themselves the most, even the slightly transforming and strengthening Devouring Spirit Sect probably didn't hold a high place in his heart.

Moreover, Tian Anyu was once capable of contending with their master, and the Devouring Spirit Scripture he created is still praised by their master today. The difficulty of killing such a talented individual can be imagined.

But Wan Tinggui has at least made a good start by slightly clipping his wings. What remains is merely to strengthen oneself and weaken the adversary.

"However, Tian Anyu must also be nearing the Great Perfection of the Ninth Realm. Although I desire revenge, it isn't the right time yet; there are more important things for us to do right now."

Wan Tinggui didn't let hatred control her for too long; to her, hatred was merely a motivation to move forward. After releasing Wen Mengxia's hand, she quickly entered the state and began to discuss her preparations in the Abyss.

"Shadow was the first organization I founded, as you know, and here in the Abyss, I established the intelligence organization Shadow Sect, with Shadow as the core members."

Wan Tinggui took out a badge from the Storage Ring and handed it to everyone.

Liang Yi and others took it over and saw it was a small badge made of ordinary refined iron, with a dark shadow stain on it.

"There are various intelligence organizations led by Little Bamboo House in the Mystical Mechanism Continent, but although there are intelligence organizations in the Abyss, they are scattered across different domains and not influential. So, I want to integrate these intelligence organizations into a single one that spans the five major domains."

Wan Tinggui calmly pointed to the badge in Liang Yi's hand.

"This is Shadow!"

"So, was the earlier connection with Little Bamboo House about cooperating on this?"

Liang Yi gently rubbed the cold badge in his hand and suddenly spoke.

"Yes! After all, Little Bamboo House is experienced in this field, they are the best at it, so Shadow was established after consulting them. Although we don't have the convenient tools like the Eight Desolate Spirit Realm Bamboo, we do have this Secret Realm hidden within the Shadow Law, making it a place where we can quickly return to convey intelligence."

Wan Tinggui nodded and explained.

"The lowest members of the Shadow Sect don't know our real details. Only the core members of Shadow know a little bit of the inside story. I oversee the Moro Domain, while Wen Mengxia and Saint Senior are responsible for the Moro Domain, Beisheng Domain, Shiji Domain, and Jinghe Domain."

"And how is Shadow Sect's situation in the Abyss now···"

He Zhiqing initially wanted to inquire further about the development of Shadow Sect, but he suddenly stopped.

Because just now, Wen Mengxia had mentioned "she had already organized the intelligence related to Xia Kun," and gathering intelligence to the level of an Abyss Envoy, wasn't the development of Shadow Sect clear?

"So, our next investigation about the direction of the Abyss Spirit Veins will be based on the intelligence from Shadow Sect."

Wan Tinggui looked at the people, already having a preliminary plan in mind for the next steps.