In front of him sat a man, none other than Qi Shuo, the High rit Elder of the Yellow Sky Sect.
Qi Shuo waited quietly.
After a mont, Taoist Taiping opened his eyes and looked toward Qi Shuo. "Junior Brother Qi."
Qi Shuo bowed his head. "Sect Leader, the sumr solstice is upon us."
Taoist Taiping asked, "Is Ye Moquan certain to confront Xu Yuanzhen?"
Qi Shuo said, "As you predicted, Sect Leader, the crux for the Celestial Master Mansion this ti lies with Xu Yuanzhen. However, as things stand, the matter has beco increasingly complicated; it’s no longer a battle just between Xu Yuanzhen and Ye Moquan."
Taoist Taiping nodded slightly. "Indeed, when snipes and clams grapple, it seems like an opportunity for the fisherman to benefit. But for us, with our internal discord, rash actions might backfire."
Startled, Qi Shuo looked up at Taoist Taiping. "Sect Leader... The Wilderness Enlightening Jade is precious. Without it, we cannot cast the Three Caverns Desolate Divine Tribulation. Everything I have done has been for Our Sect, with absolutely no selfish intentions. It’s just a pity that we ultimately failed to enact the Three Caverns Desolate Divine Tribulation."
Taoist Taiping said, "You all have worked hard these past few years. Without external aid, it would be difficult for Our Sect to hold on. I understand that."
Qi Shuo bowed his head. "Thank you, Sect Leader."
Taoist Taiping asked, "What about the people Junior Brother Zhao contacted?"
Qi Shuo replied, "That matter is extrely mysterious. In all these years, I have been unable to uncover any clues."
Taoist Taiping stood up. "That’s why internal strife spells certain defeat. This ti is not our opportunity to benefit like fishern, but a ti to purge internal threats."
He instructed, "Summon Junior Brother Zhao to see ."
Qi Shuo responded, "Yes, Sect Leader."
「At the Ye Clan Ancestral Land in Jinzhou.」
Ye Wei arrived at the main house and t with his father, Ye Moquan, the old Clan Chief.
"Father, everything is ready here in Jinzhou," Ye Wei said softly.
The old man replied, "Good, proceed as planned."
Ye Wei continued, "The Nanzong Lin Clan has received the esoteric knowledge transmitted from that hidden realm and has crafted most of the ritual implents."
Ye Moquan nodded gently.
Ye Wei went on, "Father, they still lack a Great Scholar of the Statecraft Realm."
Currently, the Nanzong Lin Clan only had one expert of the Eighth Heavenly Layer: Lin Yuwei.
Lin Yuwei was a cultivator of the Confucian Divine Archery Lineage and had achieved the Expansion Realm within the Eighth Heavenly Layer. However, he was not of the Scripture Studies lineage that attained the Statecraft Realm, also within the Eighth Heavenly Layer.
"It doesn’t matter. As long as there are those in the Seventh Heavenly Layer who are well-versed in the classics, it will be sufficient," the old man stated, looking out the window. "The key is to maintain secrecy and not let any information leak."
Last winter, when Ye Moquan went to assist the Youzhou Lin Clan, he had also crossed swords with Xu Yuanzhen.
He knew that against this opponent, any strategy would only be effective the first ti by catching her off guard. Otherwise, its effectiveness would be substantially diminished.
"They are in direct, single-line contact with the hidden realm, not going through any other families. This is precisely for that consideration," Ye Wei said.
The old man nodded slowly.
After a mont, he suddenly asked, "Are there any leads on the Taoist Sect External Alchemy cultivator who assisted the Celestial Master Mansion in Jiangzhou that day?"
Ye Wei answered, "We can only confirm that during the internal strife at Mount Shu, so individuals did indeed fake their deaths and go into hiding. The most likely candidates have been listed, but not yet confird, and their motives remain unclear."
The old man nodded silently and stood up.
His previously hunched figure straightened up once again.
「Lei Jun spread out a large sheet of yellow paper, simultaneously arranging his writing brush and ink.」
Then, every few days, ambient qi would be drawn to guide the brush. It moved on its own across the Taoist yellow paper, words and sentences flowing like dragons and phoenixes.
Simultaneously, these words also successfully appeared on the scrolls manifested by the Confucian Sect’s Seeing the Words as if Seeing the Person Technique.
However, unbeknownst to anyone, in another location, an ink brush continued to write tirelessly on a Taoist yellow paper.
After stopping the brush, Lei Jun examined one of the yellow papers.
In the depths of his pupils, Talisman Scriptures shimred brightly, and from the center of his brow, a faint ray of light shone forth.
The Seeing the Words as if Seeing the Person Technique is a School of Dharma that Confucian Cultivators with at least Middle Three Heavens cultivation can practice.
The Nanzong Lin Clan was severely depleted due to previous losses, with even fewer Middle Three Heavens Cultivators.
Lei Jun felt quite regretful during this period due to the lack of a large number of ’guinea pigs.’
Until one day, he "intercepted" a communication sent via the Seeing the Words as if Seeing the Person Technique. It originated from one of the few remaining Upper Three Heavens Cultivators in the Nanzong Lin Clan.
"A big fish indeed..." Lei Jun read this ssage exceptionally slowly.
According to the ssage, a substantial amount of supplies from the North had been successfully transported to the Nanzong Lin Clan.
But these were not to help them settle down or even to continue their Cultural Pulse; rather, they were connected to the upcoming battle between Xu and Ye.
Lei Jun composed himself and didn’t imdiately publicize the information. Instead, he continued to carefully intercept and gather intelligence. As he collected more, Lei Jun gradually began to understand the situation.
The relocated Nanzong Lin Clan, aided by other noble families, had also secretly undertaken so tasks: crafting certain ritual implents that would be of great use during the upcoming sumr solstice.
It seed that because much of the external attention was focused on the conflict between Xu and Ye, the Nanzong Lin Clan, having already lost more than half its strength, was relatively inconspicuous and thus able to maintain secrecy.
Often, secrecy is the best form of protection.
...That’s how it should have been.
But with Lei Jun unexpectedly monitoring them in secret, the situation had changed.
The information itself was highly valuable. However, as Lei Jun acquired more intelligence, he gradually noticed sothing unusual.
"Senior Sister, I recall that the mber of the Imperial Clan who accompanied you to explore that hidden realm was Prince Huayang Zhang Rui, correct?" Lei Jun contacted Xu Yuanzhen again.
Xu Yuanzhen replied, "Correct."
Lei Jun stated, "He might be a problem."
According to Xu Yuanzhen, she hadn’t discussed their recent exploration of the hidden realm much with the Capital City yet, planning to submit a full report upon her return.
However, based on what Lei Jun knew about the Nanzong Lin Clan, so of the ritual implents they were crafting were related to the hidden realm Xu Yuanzhen and Zhang Rui had recently explored.
Xu Yuanzhen herself would not have leaked this information. That could only an Prince Huayang Zhang Rui was not as loyal to the Empress as he appeared.
To put it another way, he might not have truly sided with the Noble Clans and Renowned Families. It was more likely that he was secretly colluding with them, playing both sides against each other.
Overall, Lei Jun was not particularly surprised by this revelation.
Such individuals likely existed not only within the Tang Imperial Court but also among the Prestigious Families, and at very high levels.
Therefore, during the earlier critical battle at Great Black Mountain in the Northern Border, when the Prestigious Families secretly banded together, the Empress acted decisively and swiftly. She also pressed her advantage relentlessly, putting the Prestigious Families in a bind.
As a result, both the North and South Lin Clans suffered heavy losses.
In retrospect, it was less that the Empress’s response was rely decisive and more likely that she had been prepared all along, waiting for that very mont. Most likely, soone had tipped her off.
This past winter and spring, purges were reportedly carried out within various Noble Clans, and these actions were not unfounded.
Correspondingly, not everything was perfectly tranquil within the Tang Imperial Court either.
Few would have guessed that during the Battle of Youzhou, when Chu Yu and Prince Huayang Zhang Rui went together to oversee the situation in the Northern Border, Zhang Rui had his own agenda.
Looking back now, the events of that ti seed to carry a different implication.
During this recent exploration of the special hidden realm, Zhang Rui had also made so subtle moves.
"Let’s not move against him yet. We’ll leave it for Zhang Wantong to handle later. For now, let them be."
Xu Yuanzhen’s voice carried a hint of amusent. "I have a rough idea of what they’re planning. A return gift is waiting for them."
Lei Jun said, "The sumr solstice is fast approaching."
Xu Yuanzhen spoke casually, "Yes, I’ll be heading to Jinzhou in a couple of days."
She was more interested in Lei Jun’s self-created spell. "Your technique is interesting."
Lei Jun replied, "It’s not yet perfected, just a rough prototype."
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