Chapter 3463: Learning All Their Secrets The Dead Needle Abyss was a web. Cells spread across worlds, each one barely knowing the others. Orders came through layers of messengers, encrypted jade slips, spirit seals that burned after use. He remembered arriving in the Martial Fist King World one month ago, guided by a man with a scar across his face. Their mission had been clear. Find Lin Mu. Find Meng Bai. Observe. Wait for the right moment. Why, he did not know. But the bounty was enormous. Another memory followed. This one belonged to a woman who had posed as a wandering healer. She remembered receiving a sealed order marked with a black needle symbol. "Primary target: Daoist Lin Mu." "Secondary target: His disciple, Meng Bai." "Method: Prefer assassination. If impossible, create chaos." She remembered asking why. The messenger had only said, "Because he should not exist." No further explanation. She remembered watching Lin Mu from afar during the tournament. Watching him fight. Watching him destroy experts. Fear had grown in her heart. She remembered arguing that assassinating Lin Mu directly was suicide. So they had changed the plan. Kill the disciple. Break his heart. Lure him into madness. Another soul showed Lin Mu more. This one had been a coordinator. He remembered the true structure of the Dead Needle Abyss. At the top was something called the Black Council. No one saw their faces. No one knew their names. Only symbols. Needle. Thread. Veil. Each council member controlled dozens of sub networks. Orders filtered down like poison dripping through layers of cloth. He remembered that this operation was ordered by Needle Two. Needle Two had personally demanded Lin Mu’s death. Why? He did not know. He only knew that the bounty attached was high enough to buy a small world. Lin Mu’s fists tightened. More memories flooded in. One assassin had memories of killing a royal family in a small world. Another had memories of poisoning an entire sect’s water supply Array. Another had memories of assassinating children with rare physiques before they could grow too strong. Another had memories of killing a pregnant cultivator because her unborn child carried a special bloodline. Millions of deaths. All for money. All for contracts. All for the Dead Needle Abyss. Lin Mu’s aura grew heavier. He learned that their temporary base was hidden in a mountain range about a thousand kilometers away. A place shielded by illusion arrays and cursed terrain. He saw the layout in memories. A black stone fortress carved into a mountain. Hidden tunnels. Storage chambers. Poison laboratories. Assassin training halls. He saw the faces of leaders there. Not the Black Council, but regional commanders. He learned their names, their techniques, their habits. He saw how they communicated with the council. Through blood burning talismans that disintegrated after one use. He learned how long they had been searching. They had arrived before Meng Bai even joined the tournament. They had watched Lin Mu from afar. They had learned of him fighting Transcendents. They had debated whether to cancel the mission. But Needle Two had insisted. "Even if he is a monster, monsters bleed." Lin Mu opened his eyes. The prison chamber was silent now. Bodies lay slumped; some living, some dead. Little Shrubby looked up at him, growling softly. Inside his mind, Lin Mo finally spoke. "You know what to do." Lin Mu nodded slightly. They were in true agreement this time. "This cannot go unanswered." Xukong’s voice echoed from the ring. "When someone touches your own, you make sure they can never do it again." Lin Mu exhaled slowly. The anger in him was not wild anymore. It was sharp and focused. He looked at the few remaining alive. "You will guide me," Lin Mu said calmly. "Or you will beg for death and not receive it." Their eyes broke. Within minutes, trembling voices told him everything they still could. Exact coordinates. Passwords. Hidden paths. Emergency escape routes. Names of leaders. Names of suppliers. Names of informants in nearby cities. When he was done, Lin Mu left the prison. The Patriarch’s seal still covered the city. Elders waited anxiously outside. Lin Mu walked past them and spoke only once. "I have what I need." "What about them?" one elder asked. "They are already dead," Lin Mu replied. Not all of them had stopped breathing, but all of them were finished. Lin Mu stepped into the sky and Little Shrubby leapt after him, flames trailing. His destination was clear. A thousand kilometers away, on a mountain that hid murder and a fortress built on blood. The Dead Needle Abyss had reached for his disciple. Now Lin Mu was going to reach for their throat. And this time, he would not just kill assassins... He would erase a poison that had infested countless worlds. Not for justice. Not for fame. But because someone had dared to touch one of his own. And that was something Lin Mu would never... ever forgive. Cattaleya, Elyon and Daoist Chu saw Lin Mu’s figure disappear in the horizon along with Little Shrubby. As much as they wished to assist him, they knew this was something he needed to do on his own. Plus, they knew his methods were not exactly that others should know or witness. The less they knew, the better it was. They had been with Lin Mu long enough to know this. And they weren’t the only one’s watching either. Far above the skies of the Martial Fist King World, almost at the border of the Space, a large platform made out of Clouds floated. Seated upon this cloud was none other than the Saintess. She had witnessed all that had happened. She had even acted, to slow down the poison that infected Meng Bai. This was another reason Meng Bai had been fine for so long. But she knew the twins had been watching as such she didn’t need to act alone. But now that they knew who was behind it all, there was no way she was going to wait either. "Dead Needle Abyss... Looks like another bunch of fools that no longer need to exist."