The people of the River Bending Axe Sect stood at the previous site of Lin Mu’s camp.
"There haven’t been any reports of them arriving from our informants," a disciple reported upon checking his jade slip.
The Elder stood there in silence, staring at the empty ground that only had a depression left behind.
"We’ll return for now. Get the intelligence department to investigate this ’Lin Mu,’" the Elder commanded.
Unknown to Lin Mu, the River Bending Axe Sect had intensified their search. They had learned his name but had failed to locate him.
The entire Ram Orchard City had been thrown into an uproar when the news spread—the man who had not only killed the disciples that night but had also defeated the Inner Court and Core Disciples of the sect. And they intended to make him pay.
But in order to make him pay, they had to first find him, which had been incredibly frustrating for them. There were no leads even though they knew his name. They had consulted their informants and found that Lin Mu was a VIP of the Ten Petals Company. They had tried to get information from the company directly, but the company had simply denied them.
Even if they were a ruling Immortal Sect of the city, the Ten Petals Company was far larger and operated in multiple cities across the empire. Many powerful entities had vested interests in them, making them untouchable by force.
This was why they had resorted to the crude method of manually searching for Lin Mu.
"I’ll relay your message to the intelligence department, Elder," the disciple replied and quickly did so.
"What do we do for now, Elder?" another disciple asked.
"Call over more disciples from the sect. I want them to search the entire forest," the Elder stated.
"The entire Ram Orchard Forest?" The disciple was surprised. "But Elder, that will take at least five hundred disciples to cover just the middle ring and central ring. They’ll have to be Inner Court Disciples. The Outer Disciples won’t be strong enough." He expressed his concern.
"Then, I want five hundred Inner Court Disciples searching the forest," the Elder said, turning to the disciple with a serious expression.
"Y-yes!" the disciple hurriedly replied.
He didn’t know how this was going to be done. While the River Bending Axe Sect had over a hundred thousand disciples, about 85% of them were Outer Court Disciples, and only about 10% were actual Inner Court Disciples. The Core Disciples one the otherhand were just 1% of all Disciples.
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The remaining members were either servants handling miscellaneous tasks in the sect or slaves captured by the sect.
Ten percent was still ten thousand Inner Court Disciples, but all of them had their own tasks and duties unless they were in seclusion. The majority were assigned to various divisions such as the Formation Hall, Alchemy Hall, Herb Hall, and more. Finding five hundred Inner Court Disciples for this mission would be difficult, requiring significant reassignments.
Even if five hundred of them were sent, it did not mean the search would be completed in a day. It could take weeks before they found even a single clue. And during those weeks, the sect would have to endure certain losses.
Still, they had no choice. The disciple would leave the rest to the sect administration to handle.
After the disciple finished relaying the orders, the Elder thought of something.
"Wait," the Elder spoke.
"What is it?" the disciple asked.
"Contact the Punishment Hall… We need High Elder Yannan as well," the Elder said with a mixed expression.
"High Elder Yannan?" The disciple’s eyes widened.
"Isn’t he still in seclusion?" the disciples at the back whispered among themselves.
"Yeah, and he hasn’t come out in a hundred years… Will he even listen?" they wondered.
"Well, if the Sect Patriarch asks, then he’ll have to listen… Though with his personality… it’s hard to say."
"Who’s High Elder Yannan?" a disciple asked.
"Ah, you just joined the Inner Court, so you probably don’t know. High Elder Yannan is the fourth strongest expert in our sect," another Inner Court Disciple replied.
"The fourth strongest?" The new disciple tried to recall the rankings. "The Patriarch is first, then the Grand Elder, and the First High Elder… You mean to say he’s ranked second among the High Elders?" he realized.
"No, he’s ranked tenth… the lowest among them," the other disciple corrected.
"How is he the lowest then?" The new disciple was confused.
"High Elder Yannan doesn’t have the best personality and has been in conflict with most of the other High Elders. Not to mention, he was once the junior brother of our Patriarch and was in competition for the position of Patriarch. Their rivalry is quite old."
"Damn… I didn’t expect that." The new disciple was surprised.
"I still remember when High Elder Yannan came for a mission last time. He punished so many disciples for tiny mistakes. I remember half of them left with broken bones," another disciple said, shivering.
"If he comes here, won’t we be in trouble?" the new disciple asked.
"Probably… but he’s also our best chance of finding Lin Mu. He’s an expert in scouting and assassinations from what I know."
The Elder ignored the disciples’ murmurs and let out a sigh.
’Even I don’t want him involved in this… but we cannot let such a transgression go unpunished,’ he thought.
A while later, at the River Bending Axe Sect, multiple orders were sent out, and disciples received their missions. Among them, one was assigned to the Punishment Hall to report the task.
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The disciples at the Punishment Hall were surprised but accepted the order nonetheless. They proceeded to the deep chambers of the hall, where High Elder Yannan was in seclusion.
Standing before a massive stone door adorned with ancient runes, they activated the array to summon the High Elder.
Moments later, a chilling aura seeped through the door, making the disciples shudder involuntarily.
A voice, deep and menacing, echoed from within.
"Who dares disturb my seclusion?"