Hearing that they had finally gotten to finding some of the people, the patriarchs felt elated, but at the same time they knew it was not a matter to be excited. If anything, they needed to be far more careful than ever before.

"That is excellent. Keep us updated about everything and hopefully we can catch them unaware without any losses on our end." Patriarch Shandian spoke.

The Patriarch of the Light Harmony sect thought seemed to be thinking about something and spoke up.

"Where exactly is the location of these suspects?" Patriarch Mingliang questioned.

"It is near a town called Black Orchard in the kingdom of Shu." The Black Dune sect elder answered.

"The kingdom of Shu again huh… seems like we should consider it one of the kingdoms lost for now." Patriarch Mingling replied.

"That will be a alarming choice… but also a cautious one." Patriarch You Yi responded.

"At the current times, it is best we think a few steps ahead. Especially since we already know the Mountain brush sect is under the control of Gu Yao." Patriarch Mingling stated.

"Hmm… it shall be done, then. Only those that are safe from the control of Gu Yao will be allowed to operate there other than the elders at the Dao Shell realm and above." Patriarch You Yi declared.

With the orders given, the elder went to do his duty while the discussion in the hall continued. It was evident that the choice Lin Mu had made was right. Now even in his absence, the duties that he was burdened with were being carried out.

Still there were other forces in action that would not simply sit and watch.

…

In a desolate forest stood a large pavilion surrounded by hundred of buildings. All of the buildings had a crest hanging from them that held the character 'Gu' written on them. 

The pavilion from outside looked rather simple, having almost no decorations, only defensive structures around it like walls and many formation arrays that protected it. Even the interior of the pavilion was empty, having only a single large hall.

And in this hall sat a man. His dark hair was long enough to reach the floor with him sitting down and he had a red mark on his forehead. It looked like a rune of some kind, but could not be understood.

Waves of spirit Qi regularly erupted from the man and spread in the surroundings, only to be blocked by the barrier formations of the pavilion. 

The man had his eyes closed and his breathing was even. He seemed to be rather peaceful, but suddenly his eyes opened. His pupils were dark like the night and shone in the dim hall under the light of the formations.

"Why have you come?" The man questioned in a deep voice.

"My lord," A person dressed in black robes appeared in the hall. 

He was wearing a mask and looked to be rather tall.

"A few pests have been buzzing around one of our sites." The masked man spoke.

"And why is it that you need to come and disturb me for that?" The black haired man asked, his tone a bit cold.

"The pests belong to the Black Dune sect. Should we follow the same protocol as before, my lord?" The masked man replied.

"… so they finally decided to act." The Black haired man said after a pause.

"What do we do, my lord? We have a lot of sensitive materials at the site currently and the our Northern Compatriots are also taking rest there." The masked man questioned.

"Seems like the time has come…" The black haired man spoke.

Hearing this, the masked man seemed to be a bit surprised as his breath fastened.

"But won't that be going against the orders of our northern compatriots?" The masked man asked, feeling doubtful.

"They have wasted our time for far too long now. I think it is in our best interest that we begin our own work. So far, we've done as they asked and gotten them the things they wanted along with the locations they wanted." The black haired man said before taking a pause. 

"And since they haven't even come close to fulfilling their earlier promises… we have no obligation to continue obeying them… at least not until the next step begins." He added.

The breathing of the masked man seemed to have sped up again, and it looked like he was excited now.

"Then… shall we do 'that'?" the masked man asked.

"No, that will be for later. Once I'm done here and the formation array is completed, I will be able to breakthrough. That will be the day we will show our true force." The black haired man replied.

"I see… so we only eliminated the pests for now and send a warning?" The masked man guessed his master's thoughts.

"Indeed. Do that and send a few more warnings. The Long Cloud Alliance has been spreading its wings a little too much with the leeway we gave them. Get the Zither Wind alliance to start its opposition." The black haired man ordered.

"It shall be done!" The masked man said as he quickly stood up and flew away.

Once the masked man was gone, the Black haired man stood up and tapped his finger in the air.

~SHUA~

A formation array revealed its presence and appeared around the man. It consisted of several circles, all of which were linked by strings of runes on the ground. But the most eye catching part was the illusory figures that were there in these circles.

If someone more knowledgeable saw these figures, they would be very shocked as these figures all belonged to very influential people of the empire. Some of them even belonging to the sect patriarchs and high elders of various cultivation sects.

~Humm~

But along with the circles, the illusory figure of a red crystal also materialized in the black haired man's hands.

"I will soon fulfill the wishes of our ancestors, father… The entire Empire will know the name of Gu Yao then and the Gu Clan will rise once again!" 

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