Duality of Shadows

Only a few hours were left until the opening of the Nine Red Lotus world. Inside the Sacred Pavilion, an Elder from the radical faction was on guard, silently watching over the place.

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Under the orders of the High Elders from his faction, he couldn’t allow any disciples to approach the formation where the beast runes were. Two days had already passed, but fortunately, no disciple had come near the Sacred Pavilion.

All the disciples from the Heroic Pill Hall were heading to the Nine Red Lotus world. Since no one had shown up so far and the opening was just around the corner, the chances of anyone arriving were practically zero. The Elder sighed and closed his eyes, entering meditation.

This place only allowed disciples to enter because all the Elders and important figures had their chances in the past. The goal here was to defeat powerful fire beasts and absorb their bloodline. The younger and less experienced they were, the better the assimilation. Although Elders could also enter, it would be a waste, as only the young would fully benefit.

That Elder accepted this job as a way to accumulate merit points with the sect, because that was the only way to acquire valuable resources that couldn’t be obtained with money from selling pills in the outside world. The sect used this tactic to ensure that their alchemists worked for them.

Feeling safe, the Elder sank into deep meditation, sure that nothing could disturb him inside the Sacred Pavilion. Even if someone showed up, they’d have to knock at the entrance, waking him up.

Meditative states are when all cultivators are most vulnerable; they need to be sure they’re safe, which is why they choose to do this only in very well-guarded places. But what could threaten him in that heavily protected building?

At that moment, a faint and almost imperceptible soul fluctuation slipped through his senses, approaching stealthily.

The Elder would never know what happened. The instant he entered that deep state, something invaded his mental sea. Within seconds, his soul was completely sealed, and his memories erased.

His eyes opened, revealing a twisted smile and a dark glimmer. ’Excellent, right on time,’ Bruno murmured with excitement.

The secret location where Raoni was stayed directly beneath the Sacred Pavilion, surrounded by a perfect concealment formation. This place was very well protected, making it hard for the conservative faction to guess its location. The best hiding spot was indeed in the least expected place.

Alm and Bruno waited patiently for a moment when they would be free. Splitting his soul, Bruno left the spot and snuck into the Sacred Pavilion, hiding from the Elder’s senses.

Now, the golden opportunity had arrived. Without hesitating, Bruno invaded and took over the Elder’s body. He immediately headed to the area where the sect’s techniques were stored.

The first time they were there, they easily dominated the formation that released the techniques, but only found pill recipes and fire techniques. Surely, something more important and valuable was out of reach for the disciples.

Bruno searched the Elder’s spatial ring and found his sect Elder emblem. Arriving at the sphere that connected to the formation, he used the emblem. Immediately, something inside the formation recognized the symbol.

Bruno’s eyes sparkled with excitement. A new exclusive session for the Elders popped up.

Laughing with satisfaction, Bruno read everything. They were top-level formations from the universe and some exotic techniques; nothing directly related to alchemy, but secret treasures of the Phoenix Cry sect. Now, it was all his. Within minutes, he had absorbed all the available information.

Quickly exiting that place, he made his way to the area where the fire beast runes were. They had already taken half the runes before, but now he came to grab the rest.

Alm and Bruno deliberately absorbed as many runes as possible, knowing that Zemuo wouldn’t mind breaking a few sect rules. They dug into this opportunity, but the outcome was way better than they expected. Zemuo had indeed used an Elder in charge of the place to seal the area.

Now, they could steal everything without the sect noticing until they were far away. Bruno placed all the runes into a spatial ring and quietly left the Sacred Pavilion.

At that moment, Raoni opened his eyes underground. Zemuo wasn’t there, just a High Elder watching him.

"Time to go," the High Elder said upon seeing Raoni wake up. "What’s your mission?"

"Finish off everyone from the conservative faction and the Phoenix Feather people," Raoni replied coldly.

"Right. Go, blend in with the disciples without attracting attention and only act when you’re inside. Remember, avoid killing anyone from our faction."

After the High Elder’s instructions, Raoni nodded, bowing slightly before leaving.

Outside, he walked alone, as if nothing was happening. He passed by a tree and picked something up, storing it in his inventory. Invisibly, something also returned to his body unnoticed.

Bruno returned to his place inside the pill, feeling excited. ’Raoni can now feel avenged and reincarnate in peace.’

Bruno acted subtly and flawlessly. The Elder never realized what was happening the whole time. He didn’t kill him, and before leaving the body, he altered and added some interesting memories.

When the sect discovered that all the runes were stolen, they would investigate the Elder responsible for the place. In his memories, they’d see something disturbing: Zemuo and all the members of the radical faction conspiring to overthrow the sect leader and secretly collaborating with the Shadow God sect.

This event never happened, but it was serious enough that everyone would have their memories read; the sect would definitely find even more incriminating stuff during the investigations. Just the events leading to the real Raoni’s death already showed the level of these High Elders.

Zemuo would wish for death, but he wouldn’t have that privilege. The sect leader, who appeared to be just, would deal with him and his whole faction mercilessly. Meanwhile, the ones who actually stole the runes would be far away and never found.

The orders from Zemuo and the High Elders for Raoni had been given a long time ago. Those idiots were sure everything was perfect. The power of the flame fluctuations in Raoni’s body kept others from noticing the slave seal, but it also stopped them from realizing that the seal had been completely destroyed.

’In the end, we managed to invade the sect and steal a bunch of things perfectly. Now we just need to complete the mission,’ Alm murmured mentally. However, something felt off to both of them. They knew things rarely went smoothly without big problems.

Before long, they reached the central region of the sect, where nearly a million disciples were waiting in silence. Half were alchemists from the Heroic Pill Hall, and the rest were fighters from the Phoenix Feather.

When Raoni arrived, his intense flame fluctuations caught everyone’s attention. There was surprise, admiration, and even fear. This young guy had just recently joined the sect but had already caused such a huge storm that he would be remembered forever.

Raoni found a place to sit calmly and waited with his eyes closed, sensing the people around him.

In the Phoenix Feather area, there was a clear division among five groups. Among them were five heroic disciples from the Phoenix Cry sect. Almin was one of those disciples, with the lowest cultivation among them. Among the other four was the woman they had saved, the leader’s daughter.

Interestingly, she wasn’t an alchemist but a regular cultivator. Being the leader’s daughter, she had many privileges, and after the creation of the Phoenix Feather, she revealed her true worth, immediately becoming a heroic disciple.

The sect had other heroic disciples, but they were at much higher cultivation levels. So they were focused on exploring the higher-level sealed worlds of the galaxy.

Alm and Bruno watched Celilia and the neutral disciples they had helped. Under their orders, they pretended to have no connection with Raoni. However, Alm and Bruno assessed their fluctuations and auras; their effort to help them hadn’t been in vain. Now, they seemed ready to fight and would likely join the Phoenix Feather and Almin’s group in the future.

When they beat up Almin, it wasn’t just for fun... maybe a little; but they attacked to hide something. With each blow, they also sent hidden information directly to his mind.

Almin discovered who they were and, broadly, what their mission was. They also revealed the truth about Kanci and the neutral disciples who had helped.

Bruno learned from the memories he acquired where Kanci was. After the events, Almin went to the conservative faction and protected it, preventing any retaliation.

Kanci was currently with the sect leader while the investigations against the High Elders moved forward. Soon it would be proven that she was innocent, and the slave seal would be removed.

Unfortunately, Alci died, but he got what he wanted: his sister would be freed. The sect leader would have to acknowledge the mistake and reward her for everything, and surely Almin would take care of her in the future.

Two hours passed, and countless figures appeared in the sky.

A woman with a stern look emerged. Alm and Bruno recognized her as the new vice-leader of the sect.

"I will take you to the Nine Red Lotus world," she announced loudly. "You already know the basic rules, but some things have changed in this new opening."

All the disciples had studied the previous openings, and hearing this, they looked at the woman with doubtful expressions.

"This time, you won’t have a month to explore. You’ll have only fifteen days, and then you must return. Also, no one is allowed to approach the central big red lotus. You must keep your distance; if you try to get close, you’ll be killed immediately. Understood?"

She spoke seriously, and everyone nodded. That was the most dangerous area, known to all; practically no one was crazy enough to try to enter, so the rule didn’t have a big impact.

"Other than that, the rules remain the same. Defeat as many beasts as you can and absorb their bloodlines immediately. The Nine Red Lotus world is literally an entire planet. You don’t need to risk your lives or kill each other. But... don’t trust anyone and always stay alert."

With those words, she waved, and countless runes began to expand across the sky, enveloping all the disciples. Soon, a spatial distortion engulfed the sea of disciples, transporting them directly to the legendary location.