Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 359: Origin

One day ago, Punishment Peak.

The sky hung low, lead-gray clouds seemingly within reach, pressing heavily upon the undulating black mountain ridges. Here, there was none of the flowing, colorful light of Formation Peak, nor the sharp, piercing edge of Sword Peak, only a solemnity that felt nearly solidified.

A dim streak of light skimmed the ground from the Outer Sect direction, silently slicing through the thick mist shrouding the mountainside, and landed before the steward's platform halfway up Punishment Peak.

As the light faded, it revealed a middle-aged man in gray robes. His face was gaunt, his eye sockets slightly sunken, and his entire person resembled a lifeless, withered tree. This man was precisely Punishment Peak's Shadow Hall steward, Li Mo. As a cultivator in the late Foundation Establishment stage, his aura was restrained to the extreme; if not for being seen with the naked eye, a divine sense sweep would only perceive a flowing mass of air there.

Li Mo did not linger. The moment he landed, he strode swiftly toward the peak. Wind stirred beneath his feet, yet not a speck of dust was raised. His figure weaved through the layered curtains of restrictive formations with a practiced ease akin to a fish returning to the sea.

Passing by the corridors of the Discipline Hall on the way, a completely black "Truth-Hearing Spirit Hound," large as a lion, was dozing in the shadows beneath the walkway. This spirit hound, raised from a pup by Punishment Peak, possessed a supernatural sense of smell and was most adept at discerning lies and karmic retribution.

As Li Mo passed the corridor corner, the hound, whose breathing had been long and steady, suddenly trembled its eyelids and abruptly lifted its massive head.

Its pair of dark golden vertical pupils fixed intently on the empty ground where Li Mo had just walked. Its nostrils flared violently, and a low growl full of wariness and suspicion rolled from deep within its throat: "Woo—Woof!"

The sound was abrupt and sharp, shattering the deathly silence of the corridor.

Li Mo's footsteps paused imperceptibly, but he did not look back."Blacktooth, quiet!"

The disciple on guard duty hurried forward, forming a hand seal to pacify the agitated hound, while looking somewhat puzzled at Li Mo's retreating back. "Steward Li, this beast doesn't know what's gotten into it today, disturbing you..."

Li Mo waved a hand, his voice raspy. "It's fine."

gesture, and his brows drew together slightly. Blacktooth was usually highly perceptive of human nature. Such

Corridor, at its end lay the "Shadow Hall,"

Li Mo took out his waist token, channeled spiritual energy into it, and the heavy stone door slid open silently, revealing a sliver

Only a few glowstones embedded

in a wide black robe. The person seemed to merge with the surrounding darkness, only a pair of emotionless gray eyes gleamed

was the Punishment Peak Master, the sharpest "blade"

stone desk, and

"Peak Master."

palms. Three jade slips of aged hue, a stack of well-preserved shadowstone records, and several yellowed documents stamped with the bright red

Su Ming. The investigation lasted seven days, traveling back and forth to the Great Xing Kingdom, the northern border exile

Mo's voice was flat and toneless, as if reciting a dry scripture.

Peak Master did not speak. A pale, slender hand emerged from

topmost document bearing the mortal

Great

swept

bowed his head. "First point of

According to testimonies from local neighbors and the village head, Su Ming displayed average abilities

Since the 'Jinghe Reforms' sixty years ago, the Great Xing imperial family has pursued a policy of 'Severing Heaven from Earth,' viewing cultivators as sources of chaos. Throughout the entire country, all texts and artifacts

the Great Xing Kingdom's State Pacification Bureau to investigate. Within a five-hundred-li radius of Su Family Village, there have been

the desktop, producing crisp "tap, tap" sounds that echoed in the

"Continue."

Li Mo pointed to another shadowstone. "In the year Su Ming turned seventeen, his family was sentenced to exile to the northern border due to his father's involvement in a grain tax case. During the journey, they encountered a mudslide. Both parents perished, and he went missing for three months. When he reappeared, he had reached our Cloud Hidden Sect's outer sect

who had never learned to read or write, relying solely on three months, without a teacher or guide, managed