The Ei Sect disciple watched as Sol and Gion went to the Underground Academy.
She then held her chest in an attempt to calm her rapidly beating heart after they were gone.
Gion’s reputation in the Academy was not to be underestimated.
He was like that one strict teacher any student would fear upsetting.
She was also equally as nervous about eting Sol, but for a completely different reason.
"I heard he already has a girlfriend."
The girl sighed with regret, and after calming herself down, she went to sit at her desk. However, she suddenly felt sothing wrap around her wrist.
"Wha-What?"
The girl looked down at her wrist to see that a black, shadowy hand had co out of her shadow to grab her.
A chilling sensation rose in her heart, and she was about to release a terrified scream; however, the figure this hand belonged to ca out of her shadow to cover her mouth.
Several other hands appeared to slowly pull her inside the shadow.
The girl had tears pouring out of her eyes as she helplessly watched the shadow figure co out and look down at her.
This figure had no facial features, and it didn’t seem to be human.
But a second later, the appearance of this shadowy figure began to change. It slowly transford into the girl, even wearing the sa clothes as her.
The girl’s wide eyes were filled with horror when she saw this.
The shadowy figure placed a finger to her lips and said in a distorted voice.
"Don’t struggle, and I won’t harm you. I just need to spy on Big Brother for a while."
By the end of its sentence, the shadowy figure’s voice shifted through several tones until it sounded just like the girl’s voice.
After the girl was dragged into its shadow, this impostor sat at the desk like nothing had ever happened.
....
After listening to Gion’s words, Sol asked.
"What exactly do these Factions do in the Academy besides spying on disciples?"
Gion shook his head.
"That’s out of necessity."
"Is it?"
Sol was still nervous that there could be evidence of his connection with the Forgotten Sect, but Gion changed the topic by explaining.
"The Jieun Clan created the Shadow Sect, a Sect known for dealing with assassinations and intelligence gathering. Being that the Ei Sect is in the business of intelligence gathering as well, the two chose to cooperate. Using their vast resources, they both oversee the administrative duties of the Academy. From organizing the Academy’s Entrance Tests to registering new disciples, they operate the backend of the Academy. They are also the ones responsible for operating the Marital Hall Pagoda, as well as the Mission Hall and the special Training Grounds the Academy provides for its disciples."
It was a bit surprising for Sol that the extent of the Ei Sect and Jieun Clan’s roles in the Academy stretched this far.
"Here. We’ll go over the lists of people who ca here when the false report was made, and cross-reference it with the list of suspects I gathered."
Sol glanced at the jade slip Gion was handing him before shaking his head.
"I’ve already morized Brother Gion’s list of suspects."
Gion looked taken aback when he heard this. After a pause, he retrieved the jade slip.
"Why does it feel like your mory is better than mine?"
Gion said.
For a Spiritual Realm cultivator who could use Divine Sense, their thought processing speed and mory were beyond what a normal person was capable of.
It made it easy for them to learn Martial Art Techniques and Skills.
But thinking back on the rumors of Sol learning the Wudang Sect’s Core Martial Art just by seeing a disciple use it, Gion realized Sol was an anomaly.
"Brother Gion, let cross-reference your list of suspects with the ones you’ve just received. I should be able to finish it quickly."
Being curious about Sol’s ability, Gion handed over the jade slip he received from the girl.
There were several thousand nas on that jade slip, and Sol wanted to look through all of them to find if any of the suspects had co here on the day the false report was made.
Gion sat back and watched Sol go through the nas without helping him. He kept a ntal note of the ti that passed.
However, after a minute had passed, Sol placed down the jade slip.
"There are four suspects who were here on the day the false report was made."
Gion froze before looking at Sol with skepticism.
"You... Did you really go through all those nas already?"
"Yeah, and I’ve marked the four nas. However, if I recall correctly, one of them was a fourth-year disciple that’s currently outside of the Academy according to your notes."
Gion recovered from his surprise before placing the jade slip into his storage ring.
He then took out another jade slip that was of a similar white color to his Disciple Token and gave it to Sol.
"Why are you giving this?"
Sol asked while examining the jade slip in his hand.
"It’s a Disciple Token that will give you the perks of a Disciplinary Disciple. It will allow you to access that pillar which contains the information of all the disciples in the Lower Academy."
Gion said while pointing at one of the seven pillars in the cave that was behind Sol.
Sol glanced at it as Gion said again, while pointing at another pillar.
"And I’ll head to that pillar to find more information about that fourth-year disciple in the Upper Academy. We’ll et back here to go over the information."
"Wait, Brother Gion."
Sol stopped Gion, who was about to walk away.
"You haven’t answered my question. If these pillars record disciples’ location in the Academy, does it monitor their movents outside the Academy?"
Gion paused, then said.
"It can, but it has to be requested to be activated by the disciples themselves. It was a feature designed for disciples of high status as a way for the powers behind them to ensure their safety."
Sol released a sigh of relief internally.
Gion glanced at him but said nothing.
"Do you have any more questions?"
Sol nodded.
"What’s the purpose of the other five pillars if those two store the information of the disciples on the Lower and Upper Academy?"
"The Ei Sect has brothels all over Jianghu that act as information brokers. The information that those brothels collect is stored here. It’s the sa for the information the Shadow Sect manages to obtain. With this, disciples of the Academy can co here and seek information on the Missions they accepted at the Mission Hall."
"And it’s all free?"
Gion nodded.
"This is one of the reasons why the Martial Alliance Academy is known to be the best place for cultivation. Just a portion of the information they’re willing to give out for free, if sold in the outside world, would cost a fortune. Even though it’s prohibited, it’s not unheard of for disciples to sell information to the smaller Sects and Clans in Jianghu for a large sum of money."
’I can see that being the case.’
Sol thought to himself.
"I’d advise you not to go down that route, since if you were caught, the punishnt would start with your cultivation being abolished before being kicked out of the Academy."
"Ah, I wasn’t thinking of doing it."
Sol said, waving his hands.
Gion nodded.
"Aside from that, try not to tamper with the disciples’ information or your own. It would reflect badly on since I was the one who gave you that jade slip."
Sol nodded before watching Gion walk towards the pillar containing the Upper Academy disciples’ files.
Hurriedly getting up, Sol rushed over to the other pillar.
The only disciples who had access to these pillars were disciples from the Disciplinary Pavilion.
So Sol drew attention from the ones around the pillar as he approached.
However, when they saw him place the jade slip Gion had gifted him onto the pillar, they all looked away.
Either he was given that jade slip and was allowed access to this pillar, or Sol had stolen it.
If he indeed had stolen it, then Sol would have been an idiot to use it so openly. So it should be the forr, which wasn’t against the rules, just changing the information was.
After Sol placed the jade slip against the pillar, several complicated runes appeared on it and produced a white light that encapsulated him. He was then drawn into an illusion.
Inside the illusion, Sol looked around. He was floating inside a completely dark void.
Then, in the distance, he saw a white light.
Swoosh!
Sol’s body was suddenly pulled towards this white light. Or was the light approaching him? Sol wasn’t sure; his senses and perception were quite limited in this illusion to know the answer.
In a flash, the dark void surrounding Sol beca a bright white landscape that forced him to close his eyes.
When he opened them, Sol saw that there were rows upon rows of bookshelves around him.
Just one of these rows of shelves extended up, far past the point where he could see the top.
It seed as if Sol was transported to a separate dinsion that had an endless library inside.
After looking around for a bit, Sol approached one of the shelves and reached out to pick up a book. However, this book suddenly disappeared.
"Huh?"
Sol was taken aback, but when he saw another book close by similarly vanish, he realized what was happening.
The vanished books were due to the other disciples picking them up.
Sol had never seen a formation like this before. Despite being an illusion, it acted like a separate dinsion as well.
Sol reached over to another book and picked it up.
Inside was information about a female disciple. Her na, age, and description were all inside.
Sol continued to flip the pages to see additional information about this female disciple.
Her current cultivation, the type of Martial Arts she was learning, and the Pavilion she was in.
’This is really thorough.’
Soon, Sol reached the page that recorded the places she’d been to in the Academy, as well as outside.
"She’s soone from the Spring Flower Sect, a dium-sized Sect. Her Mother is the Sect Leader, so I suppose she chose to have her movents tracked outside of the Academy."
Sol frowned before he placed the book back.
"How do I find my own?"
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