Chapter 340 Chapter 340 – People of the Rivers
Three weeks passed, and Ken's entourage passed through the territories of the Tiger Fang Sect and the Sunfire Sect without any mishaps or remarkable events, arriving at the Divine Lightning Sect's area, formerly known as the Jade Sky Sect's place.
"Here we separate. Emrys, you are a beast, you don't cultivate. Keep doing whatever you're doing until you break through to the seventh rank. Pick one of the forests nearby and settle in it without pulling too much attention to yourself."
Ken had tied a short rope around the wolf's neck as a necklace with a small ring on it. Emrys learned long ago how to operate storage rings. Inside it was his pills supply for the next year and a token he could crush to call for help in case something out of the ordinary happened, putting him at risk. On the wolf's front legs were two silver bracelets with runes meant to suppress aura and presence.
Ken did not expect anything dangerous to happen, but both the big local sects had practitioners in the Supremacy Phase, so it was better to be cautious. He did not want to find out one day that the wolf he painstakingly raised was hunted by someone in his absence.
"Maria, it's time for you to return to your origins. Odette and Yuri, you are serving under her as underlings."
After Ken gave his orders, the three bowed with a quick "Yes, Young Master," and left the place to fulfill their roles. They were all in the lower phase of the sixth stage, and they could move about freely in this region governed by weaker sects.
"Atum, you should know the exact location of the Jade Sky Sect, right?"
"Yes."
"Good, settle in a city nearby. I want you to generate profits of at least a thousand high Qi Stones per month, you can do whatever you want in the rest of your time. Establish connections and present yourself as a fifth-stage cultivator. If anybody gives you problems, deal with them in secret."
Atum nodded and left the place. On their way, they passed through countless formations and scanning tools in the borders. The evil cultivator had his own ways of avoiding detection, developed by necessity due to his long life as a lone cultivator who hid from authorities. No sect would allow an evil Supremacy Phase practitioner to roam in their territory unchecked.
As for Ken and his group, they have already lowered their cultivation to the peak of the third stage. They have left every valuable object that was unlikely to be held by third-stage cultivators, including their weapons and Immortal Qi Stones, hidden. Some of those items were in the plain where they fought against Atum while some were left behind in the house rented in Blooming Lotus City.
"What's the plan?" Tiara asked as the five remained on their own.
"Elder Elmer gave me a list of a few informants who can help us join the Jade Sky Sect. We will pay one of them a visit."
Following the elder's instructions, they found a small house on the border with nearby woods. Perhaps that's where the Jade Sky Sect got its name from; most of their terrain was forests while the cities were placed on cleared areas.
Alaric walked first, knocking on the door and waiting for a response. Soon, a middle-aged man opened the door and looked at them suspiciously.
"Who are you?"
"We are the inhabitants of the rivers and the seas, we are here to seek guidance on the land."
The man threw his long black hair behind his back, tidying himself before bowing to the group. "Of course, are you thirsty?" he asked. He knew that inhabitants of the rivers meant representatives of the Serene Lotus Sect while those of the seas enjoyed a higher status and priority.
"We live in water, what we lack is direction."
This time it had no real meaning, it was just a password.
"Come on in." The man gestured and stepped aside. The five entered the small wooden house, scrutinizing the simple design. With their Qi, they could tell the place was separated into a living room and two bedrooms, while Henry and Vivienne also found a secret cellar underneath their legs.
"Welcome, I'm Niram. Here, this is a local tea I produce from the rose hips I'm raising behind the house." He served them the tea in porcelain cups as they sat down around a simple rectangle table. "What brings you here?"
Ken chose not to speak, letting Alaric do the talking.
"We want to join the Jade Sky Sect," Alaric said.
"Infiltrating mission?" Niram looked at them for a moment. It was weird to send a bunch of weaklings to infiltrate a powerful sect. While they wouldn't be detected, they also wouldn't get access to any important information or treasures.
"Yes, a long-term one. We will be called back to the sect when we reach bottlenecks in our cultivation and return immediately as we solve them."
Niram nodded slowly. It made sense; the earlier they joined the Jade Sky Sect, the less suspicious the sect would be, treating them as trustworthy people who have grown in the sect.
"If you are as young as you look, then you can join through the normal entrance exams. They are banned from conducting them outside their sect's grounds now, so you'll have to go there yourselves."
Throughout the continent, there were many small sects. However, all of them were based in territories controlled by the great twenty sects, as those controlled almost the entirety of the Verdant QI continent, aside from a few areas ruled by beasts.
Those smaller sects were allowed to exist, but they had limited rights. For example, they had to receive an affirmation from the ruling sect in order to conduct a public recruiting event. Without it, they were only allowed to do house-to-house recruiting or have the events in their sect's base, and only those with both interest and means of transportation would make it there.
Unfortunately, the Divine Lightning Sect wanted to weaken the Jade Sky Sect, thus not giving them their permission to recruit freely. Unwilling to open war yet, the Jade Sky Sect could only obey the rules until they couldn't take it anymore.
"Here's a map to where the test is. They accept people in the Foundation Phase to the outer sect. As third-stage cultivators, you'd have to be under twenty-four years old and preferably master at least one technique to the Advanced mastery realm."
He handed them a piece of paper and Alaric placed it in his ring after everyone took a glance at it. As sixth-stage cultivators with enhanced minds, they didn't need to look much to memorize something so simple, but they took it to avoid raising suspicion.
"Thank you. We will find a place to lodge in the meantime." Alaric threw him twenty medium Qi Stones as the five left. They only carried about thirty each, which would make them incredibly wealthy for their stage, but would still be believable.
"Of course, you can come any time for further help," the man smiled. He was at the fourth stage and he made about a hundred medium Qi Stones per year excluding payments for cooperating with other sects. For him, making ten Qi Stones for providing a bit of general information was a good trade.
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