"As you all very well know our sect once had 3 palace stage experts however they disappeared about 400 years ago when they were exploring a mysterious realm.
We haven't been able to confirm whether they are dead or alive but it's more likely that the former happened because we haven't heard even a single rumor about them for the past 400 years.
We tried tracking down the realm they had gone to in search of better opportunities for the sect but we couldn't find it despite them leaving the exact coordinates of its whereabouts.
Based on our experience, a mysterious realm disappearing could be a result of a few things: Either the entrance got closed off once certain requirements were met such as the number of cultivators in the realm reaching a certain threshold or the entrance swaps spatial nodes so it could have appeared someplace different or the last ominous option which we've been hoping didn't happen which is the mysterious realm had a problem that led it to disappear into the void," said Han Qingling as his voice shook a little.
As a sect, they tried to keep their hope alive that the previous sect master and the two grand elders that went along with him were still alive. They were still hopeful when the first century passed by. Due to the long life spans of cultivators a single century was just the blink of an eye since just breaking through to the foundation stage gives a cultivator 1,000 years waiting a 100 was nothing.
But when 200 years passed by, the sect as a whole couldn't help but worry considering in those 200 years they heard nothing despite mobilizing all their resources and channels to try and locate that mysterious realm or detect any news of their sect master and the grand elders.
After hearing nothing for all this time a massive seed of doubt, worry and dread was planted in their hearts.
What if the mysterious realm lost its anchor and got lost in the void? This was the explanation that made the most sense but it was also the one they found the most difficult to accept.
Yang Qing and the rest could understand sect master Han Qingling's worry.
When it came to mysterious realms there were two types of mysterious realms; Natural mysterious realms and man-made mysterious realms.
Mysterious realms were considered pocket spaces around the world. Natural mysterious realms were usually formed by treasures or spiritual plants with space-bending properties. These kinds of realms though they had a degree of danger to them in some regards they were considered safer compared to their counterparts, the man-made mysterious realms. This was because of spatial stability.
Natural mysterious realms were more stable than manmade mysterious realms because they conformed with the laws of the world rather than tearing through it. At their foundation, they had the support of the world itself. This is why treasures and spiritual plants with space-bending properties were highly coveted and would cause battles of epic proportions when spotted.
But when it came to manmade mysterious realms, it was much more complicated. Not just anyone could build one because they wanted to. They had to have a profound understanding of the dao of space so they could detect places where the space had overlapped. It also had to be fragile enough that they could pull it apart. Only cultivators who were at the soul formation could attempt such a thing and they had to be proficient in the dao of space too as not all soul formation cultivators could do it efficiently.
Once the overlapping space is separated they would then use artifacts and arrays and a mountain of energy-giving treasures to anchor the area between those overlapping spaces to the world. Without an anchor, the area would suffer spatial breaks which would lead to its decimation as it disappears into the void as the world seals the space in an attempt to mend itself.
This was the real danger of manmade mysterious realms. If there is a problem with the anchor the whole realm becomes destroyed due to the unstable spatial barrier as it cracks apart and disappears into the void. Once in the void, anybody in the domain realm and below dies with the domain experts holding out just slightly longer. Those at the soul formation stage may survive as long as they find a weak spatial node to reenter the world from but even then they end up with heavy injuries caused by the spatial storms and void current that take a long time to heal.
Han Qingling and the other sect members were justifiable in their worry because if there was an anchor break then the previous sect master and the two grand elders were surely dead.
...
Han Qingling paused to get his emotions in check before he could continue. Over the past century since he inherited the seat as sect master he hasn't had a single moment of respite, especially with the wolves encircling them adding to the turmoil of the potential loss of their strongest pillars.
"Our incessant search for the previous sect master and the grand elders alerted others to our situation. We knew it was a risk with the amount of fanfare we caused searching for them but it was a risk we had to take especially in a situation where every second counts.
But as time passed by with no information about our palace stage experts the curious looks we got from those sniffing around soon turned into greedy, covetous, and vengeful looks.
In our rise, we had no shortage of enemies. Friends believe in your potential and enemies push you to live up to it. We lived up to our potential alright but now the thing that drove us to prominence is now threatening our destruction.
The enemies we knew started baring their fangs then those we didn't even know joined in and finally the friends we thought we had, joined the other side.
The past 200 years have truly been the longest years of my life," Han Qingling said as he gave a tired self-deprecating smile.
"After 200 years passed by, these unlikely motley association of greedy wolves started probing us by attacking our small-scale businesses then they moved to the mildly important ones and some mines once they saw no retaliation from us. Their appetites and range of activity have only grown since then.
Currently, we are only left with half of what we once had. The only reason that half hasn't been targeted is that those are our core businesses and are located within a distance from the sect that we can safely reinforce and their base protections are sufficient enough to hold out against attacks from late-stage core formation experts.
As for the businesses that we lost, we couldn't risk protecting them as we had to concentrate all our manpower against these many foes and the most important reason is, four of those sects attacking us each have a palace stage expert.
They haven't yet made a move but their presence is enough to deter us from sending our sect members that far out. We even had to close all our branches because of them and to cut on cost," Han Qingling paused once more as he stared in Zhao Qi's direction with regret and self-blame flashing in his eyes.
"Losing half our resources and businesses hurt our foundations even if we still retained our core businesses. It was for that reason we had to take a lot of loans to maintain the running of the sect and also use the channels of those merchant organizations to find information on our enemies.
It was through those channels that we learned a bit of information that made us reevaluate our plans and priorities.
The only reason the four palace stage experts haven't attacked us is that they have a formation art that requires five palace stage experts to work. With that formation, they would be confident in their chances of breaking our sect protection array.
They have to be pretty confident about its might since our array was set by one of the palace stage grand elder who is….
was a blue-grade formation master," Han Qingling painfully sighed once he said this. He couldn't admit this in front of the rest of the elders but he too was one of those who believed the previous sect master and the two grand elders were already dead.
"The array can last a whole month from a barrage of attacks from a palace realm expert in the middle stages and that is without feeding it spirit stones for recharging.
I'm confident in our elder's work but as a sect master I have to consider the possibilities and the might of five palace stage experts condensed in a formation isn't something I can overlook.
And two years ago they found the missing piece. A rogue cultivator in the early stages of the palace realm joined their cause.
They may strike any minute now. I have confidence in the sect protection array holding out but just in case it doesn't we need an alternative which brings me to Zhao Qi's situation.
Over the past few years, we have been secretly sending out some of our most gifted disciples to different locations so they may not be targeted. Even among them, Zhao Qi's talent is definitely the best and he has the right attitude to go along with it," Han Qingling said as he gave a look of pride and admiration in Zhao Qi's compartment.
"If circumstances were different we'd happily nurture him even if he decided to build his foundation for 500 years but time is running out and the best we can do for him now is give him a way out just like the other disciples so we can preserve the embers of the Yellow lotus sect.
Thus we decided to run his name through the mud, discredit him and show the outside forces we want nothing to do with him. Of the many merchant organizations we deal with most have already been infiltrated feeding information to our enemies.
The Mountain spring pavilion approaching us was an opportunity we couldn't let go of. They were fairly new, had a decent reputation as far as I could tell, our enemies hadn't sunk their teeth into them yet and the most important reason was Liu Yun's character.
The only good thing that came from me being the sect master in these past 200 years of dealing with schemes and duplicity is it helped me improve my ability to read someone. Though I'd trade that for a single peaceful place and day just to cultivate. I'm not sure what the elders were thinking throwing this hot seat to me. I've always preferred being in seclusion to dealing with people.
I'm the least suited to hold this post.
Sorry about that I deviated from the topic," Han Qingling laughed in embarrassment at speaking his true thoughts out. Yang Qing smiled at this while Mao Yunru…..
Well, Mao Yunru had pulled out 6 more white jade talismans in the duration of the Yellow sect master's narration bringing the count of the white jade recording talismans on her desk to 10.
Han Qingling was too engrossed in his testimony to notice while Yang Qing and Yi Jie knew well enough than to comment. As for Su Jinjing, she was holding back her tears as she stared at the sect master while she whispered to her spear.
"Anyway after interacting with Liu Yun, I could tell he had a forthright character. This guess was further reaffirmed by how he acted even when we missed out on the monthly payment or treated him after. It's an unlikely trait to have as a merchant but as someone I wanted to entrust Zhao Qi with, it was the best character to have. Were Zhao Qi to end up with the Mountain spring pavilion I know he'd look out for him and Zhao Qi would have a safe space to grow.
We intended to pay their debt back through secret channels in a year and also a note for them to let Zhao Qi stay in their care but he had already filed the complaint with the Order before we could do so.
With the suit filed we decided to continue along with the reuse to add further credence that we want nothing to do with Zhao Qi.
I can only imagine how much anguish this did to Zhao Qi and I didn't wish to do this to him or the Mountain spring pavilion but it's the only way we can guarantee his safety and reduce the pavilion's risk of harboring him.
As for us, should the sect protecting array break we have every intention OF BURYING EVERYONE who budges in with us. It's the least us old foggies can do for the little sprouts," said Han Qingling as his eyes flashed with murderous intent and pride as a sect master.
