"I don't know if Hu Qiu told you much. To some of you, it may have come as a surprise why someone who poisoned you is seated here when what he did is tantamount to betrayal of the sect.
First I want to offer my apologies for poisoning you and keeping you in the dark about certain matters," said Peng Zhen as he got up and bowed.
He was right. Among the elders present, most kept throwing strange looks Peng Zhen's way throughout the whole meeting. A couple of them even wanted to interrupt the sect master's speech but the news was too huge for them to interrupt.
"Who you once knew as Dong Yanlin is a member of the scarlet blood ghost hands. He used me and placed a seal on me to try and infiltrate the sect so he can target the tupelo tree.
With him closely monitoring my movements I couldn't let you all know and could only involve Cheng Yuan, Gui, and Hu Qiu here. The smaller the group the less likely he would notice anything off.
We decided the best cause of action was to lure him out and confront him outside the sect. The dispute with Wen Chang was all a ruse and the involvement of the Order was to leave a path for survival for the sect in case the worst happened.
At the time we didn't know he was a member of the scarlet blood ghost hands. It was only later when Gui, I, and the Tupelo tree almost perished confronting him did we discover that terrifying fact.
Jia Tingfeng and Hao Ye died under his hands. Though they were traitors who put their selfish needs before the sect so it's no loss to the sect.
We don't know if Dong Yanlin was working alone or he was under orders. We can only hope he was working alone otherwise if it's the latter we may have to consider relocating if a monolith such as the scarlet blood ghost hands targets us," Peng Zhen solemnly said.
Everyone within the room was visibly shaken. They already knew about scarlet blood ghost hands from the sect founder's records and how he had run away from one of their members all the way to the green fog region.
The whole matter sent them all on edge with blood draining from their faces. This was a solid rank 1 organization that was notorious for its unscrupulous means even among underworld organizations. They were just a rank 4 sect, just a sneeze from them was sufficient to blow the green fog swamp sect from existence.
"Things may not turn out as bad as we think. For one Dong Yanlin seemed utterly selfish, greedy, and ambitious so he may have been acting on his own. Even if he wasn't the matter is now under the Order's eye seeing how Dong Yanlin is already in their custody," Peng Zhen said trying to lift their moods. It seemed to have worked though the crowd was still petrified some color had returnedd to their skin.
"All right that is all. I will hold an assembly in three days' time after which I will be going into seclusion," Cheng Yuan said as he closed off the meeting.
All the elders got up and left leaving behind Peng Zhen, Hu Qiu the head of the alchemy division and Shi Rong.
"Shi Rong with me going into seclusion and the Tupelo tree in hibernation you will no longer cultivate on this peak but will instead move to Peng Zhen's peak and when he is absent you will also be the temporary master of that peak," said Cheng Yuan with his gaze turning gentle from his earlier stern and solemn look.
"I will do as master asks," Shi Rong said as he performed a curt bow.
"Go on then," Cheng Yuan said as he lightly smiled with Peng Zhen showing a softer expression too like watching their grandchild leave.
"That child is a blessing to this sect. I only hope the sect survives to help him reach his true potential," Hu Qiu said as he sighed.
Mmmh.
Both Cheng Yuan and Peng Zhen nodded in agreement.
"With you going into seclusion and things already resolved you will be needing this back," Hu Qiu said as he took out a vial that had a pure white liquid that had an almost ethereal feel to it with a faint cloudy wisp floating above it.
"We really danced by the skin of our teeth," Cheng Yuan said as he took the vial and uncorked it. The white liquid turned to vapor as it diffused into Cheng Yuan's body via his nose, eyes, and ears.
Cheng Yuan who looked like a haggard old geezer staring at death's door now suddenly transformed as his skin got tighter and rosier. His greying hair turned glossy black with only a few greying temples remaining. His body turned firmer and straight like a spear. His eyes were no longer turbid but with a deep black clarity.
"It feels good to get part of my soul back.,"Just as Cheng Yuan was about to continue he quickly froze.
"So that's the trick you used to seal your memories huh..a soul-splitting technique," a lazy teasing voice sounded in Cheng Yuan's mental sea before it manifested into a gigantic image with two moons for eyes.
Cheng Yuan gulped once he saw this figure because he had seen it once before. It was earlier today when Yang Qing intervened before Wen Chang could go berserk.
"Not good sect master Cheng Yuan..I'll keep this short and quick since this is a timed delay art.
Sect master Cheng Yuan I Judge Yang Qing hereby find you guilty of breaking the full divulging article both willingly and knowingly as such your sentence shall be mmh let's see the green fog swamp sect is skilled in alchemy and Feng Xin did say the area is filled with all sorts of herbs.
Very well, Cheng Yuan, you shall provide the Order with a botany catalog of the plants in the green fog region. The catalog shall contain a brief physical description of the plant, its habitat, and chemical characteristics.
The grade of plants in your reports shall be left to your discretion whether they are of mortal rank, earth rank or sky rank.
However, do note you will be graded and the better your grade the quicker your sentence will be completed.
The timing of your sentence is indeterminate. It will only end when the review committee in charge of your supervision decides you have provided results to a satisfactory level. Don't worry they will give you the grading system they will be working with so you can monitor your progress.
In addition, you can also provide information on current events whether strange or normal that have happened in your zone or any other region you may have information access to. This will also go towards reducing your sentence so be as detailed and thorough as you can.
That is all. All the best sect master Cheng Yuan. I will now be sealing your mental sea with ten seals. They will be unlocked by the review committee every time you hit a mile mark or target in your sentence.
Goodbye," Yang Qing's figure burst into mots of lights that congealed together into huge chains filled with white ancient looking scribblings that locked Cheng Yuan's mental sea as a huge moon and sun floated above the Chains.
Cheng Yuan coughed blood as his skin grew paler.
"Cheng, what's wrong?" Peng Zhen hurried to Cheng Yuan's side once he saw him vomit blood with Hu Qiu doing the same.
"Did the reattachment backfire? But it shouldn't, should it?" said Hu Qiu in a panic.
"It didn't fail. The Order found out about our little trick and punished me for it," Cheng Yuan said as he ruefully smiled.
"How?" Peng Zhen shockingly asked.
"Judge Yang Qing knew from the very beginning. He seemed to have anticipated it as he placed some sort of time-delayed art on me that would only be triggered if my state changed," Cheng Yuan said as he tried to stabilize himself.
Having his mental sea sealed he felt as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to his head and eyes. The mental sea was what controlled a cultivator's spiritual sense without it they couldn't use their spiritual senses.
A cultivator's spiritual sense was more reliable than using their eyes, nose, ears or touch when sensing their surroundings. The details one could see through the spiritual sense were much higher and finer no matter whether it was day or night. To a cultivator's spiritual sense, there was no distinction and the spiritual sense detection only got better the more powerful the cultivator became. It went to the extent that they could even detect budding souls with their spitirual sense such as those in the palace realm.
They could detect the budding spirits of artifacts and weapons. The uses of spiritual sense only got more and more diverse the more powerful one became. It was one of the most integral parts of a cultivator. What most called a cultivator's intuition was mostly a reflex built from a honed spiritual sense.
Cheng Yuan felt naked and unprotected without his. He had grown so used to having his spiritual sense always activated within a 200-meter radius around him that he now felt completely exposed and unsafe without it.
Before the seals in his mental sea got unlocked he would have to rely on his eyes and other physical senses to get by.
He quickly informed Peng Zhen and Hu Qiu what his sentencing was before he decided to shut himself off for seclusion. With his mental sea shackled he might as well close himself in and ensure his realm was raised to a sufficient level to increase his odds of survival, especially with the looming threat from the black cosmos caiman.
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