Inside the Ten Thousand Scrolls Tower, the lights were ablaze. Originally, the guards stationed there should have been from the three great families of Heaven Revelation City. Having received the elders' orders, they had all swiftly withdrawn. Su Muyu walked through the deserted tower, observing the densely packed iron shelves lined with tightly sealed wooden compartments. Each row of shelves bore a large wooden plaque inscribed with the names of cities—for instance, the largest, Heaven Revelation City, occupied nearly an entire floor.
Su Muyu ascended the stairs to the second floor, where he spotted the markers for Snow Moon City and Peerless City. Passing by, he noticed Baili Dongjun's name—intelligence about him filled an entire row of shelves, an imposing sight. Su Muyu casually opened one of the compartments, revealing a letter inside. He chuckled and shook his head. "Even if you knew every detail about him, what then? He remains the world's number one, and you still can't defeat him." Without reading the letter, he closed the compartment.
Had any major sect leader from the martial world stepped into this place, they would have been struck with unprecedented horror. Many of the records stored within these compartments contained information even they had long forgotten—yet these were precisely the details that could prove fatal. Correspondingly, one could also find intelligence on countless enemies here, enough to doom them with a single acquisition. Of course, while these secrets were worth a fortune to others, they meant nothing to Su Muyu.
"That piece of paper you just put down is worth a hundred taels of gold," a youthful voice suddenly spoke up behind Su Muyu.
Turning slightly, Su Muyu saw the master archer Xie Zaiye standing by the staircase. Puzzled, he asked, "You haven’t left yet?"
"Grandfather told me to stay. He said you might need my help," Xie Zaiye replied slowly.
Su Muyu shook his head. "I don’t need help. All I need is to burn this place down."
"Few can remain indifferent in the face of such intelligence. Any seasoned martial artist would recognize the immense value hidden here," Xie Zaiye said with a smile. "But as the head of the Su Family, these mean nothing to you. You can afford not to care."
"The greater their value, the heavier the price of possessing them," Su Muyu continued climbing upward. "Leave now, and convey my thanks to Elder Xie."
"But if you truly didn’t care at all, you could have just set the place ablaze. Why bother inspecting each floor? Whatever you’re looking for, I can help you find it." Xie Zaiye stepped ahead of Su Muyu, leading him straight to the sixth floor—the level just below the tower’s summit.
The entrance to the top floor was barred by an iron gate, upon which four words were inscribed: Land of No Return.
"What is the Land of No Return?" Su Muyu asked.
"He seems omnipresent yet untraceable, hidden within the world yet influencing its winds and clouds—that is the so-called Land of No Return." Xie Zaiye drew a key from his pocket, stepped forward, and unlocked the brass padlock on the gate. "You should count yourself lucky to have met me. Otherwise, in such a short time, you’d never find this place even if you searched the entire Ten Thousand Scrolls Tower."The iron door creaked open, revealing pitch-black darkness inside. Xie Zaiye took out a feathered arrow, snapped off its head, and lit it with a nearby torch before shooting it into the room. The arrow spun in a circle midair, and in an instant, the previously impenetrable darkness gave way to light. Black iron shelves lined both sides of the room, and before Su Muyu and Xie Zaiye stood a sculpture of a black eagle with wings spread wide, as if ready to take flight.
"This was the Shadow Sect's totem back in the day—the black eagle, a fearsome raptor that hunts only at night," Xie Zaiye explained. "As for what you're seeking, it's right here."
"Carefree State's Windrider Sect, Peerless Sword Sect, Heavenly Waters and Clouds Realm—these are all sects that vanished from the martial world years ago," Su Muyu murmured, frowning slightly as he read the names of the sects listed on the left-hand shelves.
"Seemingly vanished, yet still hidden in the wilderness and alleys of the world. Who can say for sure?" Xie Zaiye shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Hall of Know-All, Phoenix Roost Pavilion..." Su Muyu turned his gaze to the right, where the names of renowned yet elusive sects were displayed. "Dark River!"
"Indeed. All of Dark River's intelligence is here," Xie Zaiye said with a smile. "This must be what you're looking for, though I can't guarantee it contains what you seek. The Shadow Sect isn't omniscient—otherwise, the Hall of Know-All wouldn't hold the title of 'Know-All.'"
"You haven't read it?" Su Muyu asked.
Xie Zaiye shook his head. "Without special permission, no one is allowed to casually browse any of the intelligence in this tower. As the tower's guardian, I've sworn an oath never to read a single piece of information here in my lifetime. Had I looked, perhaps I would have known you were a descendant of Swordless City. If Grandfather and the others had been prepared earlier, they might not have suffered such a crushing defeat."
"I see." Su Muyu walked over to the iron shelf labeled "Dark River." On the far left of one row was the label "Nameless Ones," with small wooden compartments bearing each person's name. Among them, the names Su Muyu and Su Changhe were marked in red, standing out conspicuously.
"Of course, I can't be certain whether your identity as the young master of Swordless City was uncovered from the start. When the Nameless Ones project was first established, there was considerable internal debate within the Shadow Sect. Some Nameless Ones underwent thorough background investigations, while others were forcibly recruited by Dark River families to bolster their own strength," Xie Zaiye mused quietly.
"I never held much hope to begin with." Su Muyu pushed open the compartment bearing his name. Inside lay a stack of papers—neither too thick nor too thin. His hand trembled slightly, an unprecedented reaction, and he hesitated for a moment before reaching in to retrieve the documents about himself. He opened them and began reading, his head bowed.
Xie Zaiye observed Su Muyu's expression closely. Even the typically impassive Su Muyu couldn't hide the dilation of his pupils, though he quickly regained control of his emotions and chose not to read further, instead tucking the papers into his robe. Xie Zaiye chuckled. "So, the answer is—yes."Su Muyu did not respond to his words. Instead, he opened the wooden compartment labeled "Su Changhe" beside him and, without even glancing at its contents, tucked the stack of papers inside into his robe. Then, without another look at the compartments, he turned and walked to Xie Zaiye's side: "Burn this entire building down."
"Burn it?" Xie Zaiye was also startled. "The whole building?"
"Yes, burn it. The entire building." Su Muyu nodded.
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