Mo Duan could feel his mind racing as he flew to Patriarch Songyu’s valley as quickly as he could without causing a panic. No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t think of a plausible explanation for why Elder Yuanlei would call for an emergency meeting over a few unknown flowers.

Given how many strange and fantastical things there were in this world, it was technically possible that the flowers just happened to be extremely dangerous, but even that didn’t make much sense to Mo Duan. According to his memories, the flowers had already been there for years without causing any issues, and the sect Elders already planned to meet in a few weeks anyway. Neither the Patriarch nor the Elders would be very happy to be called to an emergency meeting for something that could have waited, which meant that this matter was both time-sensitive and extremely important.

Just what kind of flowers are they?

As a result of his cultivation method, Mo Duan’s predecessor had put a lot of effort into learning everything that he could about Spiritual Plants, so it was very strange that he actually couldn’t recognize the flowers. It was possible that they could just be extraordinarily valuable, but Mo Duan wouldn’t expect them to invite him so quickly if that was the case. After all, he was just a Guest-Elder…

After spending a few more moments thinking it over as he approached his destination, Mo Duan decided to stop worrying about it and just wait for Elder Yuanlei’s explanation. Without more information, anything that he could think of would just be useless conjecture.

Mo Duan hummed in admiration as he caught sight of Swift Edge Valley. The valley itself didn’t look much different than the others that he had seen, aside from the large bamboo forest that surrounded it, but Mo Duan could clearly sense the Ascending Dragon Caverns despite being so far away.

One of the benefits of being the strongest cultivator around was that Patriarch Songyu got to claim the most Qi-rich environment in the sect for his valley. The Ascending Dragon Caverns were one of the primary reasons that the Patriarch’s disciples tended to have higher cultivation on average compared to the rest of the sect. Mo Duan was allowed to access them himself because he was an Elder, but the rest of his disciples wouldn’t be permitted to do so unless they did something extraordinary.

I wonder if I can negotiate access for Xiao Li and Xue Chenying, Mo Duan mused to himself as he descended toward the valley. It’d increase their chances of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment plane when they’re ready.

As he drew closer, Mo Duan took in the sight of the building which served as both a meeting place for the Elders and the traditional residence of the sect’s leader, the Verdant Pagoda. It was a massive, multi-level tower that stood far taller than any other building in the sect. Although the building itself was far less ornate than Mo Duan would have expected, likely due to a cultural emphasis on humility, the sheer amount of power that it radiated was enough to create a sense of awe in anyone who could sense Qi.

He had no doubt that it was probably completely covered in the sect's most powerful formations.

Mo Duan didn’t see any need to hide his cultivation, so the two Foundation Establishment disciples guarding the entrance to the pagoda immediately bowed and greeted him as he stepped off his flying tool, “Elder Mo, welcome to Swift Edge Valley! We’ve been told to expect your arrival and allow your entrance into the pagoda as soon as you arrive. Aside from Elder Feng, all of the other Elders are waiting inside.”

Mo Duan quickly thanked the disciples and made his way into the Verdant Pagoda. It was immediately obvious to him that the pagoda’s interior had been spatially expanded by formations because the first room that Mo Duan stepped into was a large hall. Although it seemed unusually empty at first glance, he knew for a fact that several guards were hiding throughout the pagoda, and wouldn’t hesitate to confront him if he tried to go somewhere that he shouldn’t.

Not only that, but Mo Duan became completely unable to expand his spiritual sense more than a few feet from his body the moment that he entered the building.

Many of the sect’s most important treasures were held within the Verdant Pagoda, so its security was taken very seriously.

Mo Duan followed the stairs up the pagoda until he reached the building’s second-highest level, where the Elder Council Meetings were typically held. Once he finally passed through the many defensive formations and reached his destination, he took a deep breath to center himself before calmly entering the meeting room.

Compelled by his predecessor’s memories, Mo Duan found himself immediately scanning the room for any unexpected dangers and then relaxing when he found none.

The room was rather sparsely furnished, with a long table in the center surrounded by a few chairs, a tea table that Mo Duan had never actually seen used, and a shelf that usually held important documents relevant to the meeting. Compared to his last meeting, the only difference that Mo Duan could see was that one of the multi-colored flowers that had prompted the emergency meeting was floating over the center of the table.

Mo Duan bowed politely to Patriarch Songyu, who was sitting at the end of the table with his typical faint smile. The patriarch acknowledged him with a nod but didn’t otherwise react.

Elder Wuxing, sitting to the side of the Patriarch, had his arms crossed over his chest and had a distinctly annoyed expression on his face, while Elder Ying studied the flower with open curiosity from the seat next to him. As Mo Duan shifted his focus to Elder Yuanlei, a sense of unsettling tension began to grow inside him.

Having interacted with her frequently over the past few months, Mo Duan had grown to know Elder Yuanlei better than any other Elder in the sect. That was probably why seeing an expression of unprecedented severity on her face filled him with an ominous sense of foreboding.

“Greetings, fellow cultivators,” said Mo Duan as he took a seat next to Elder Yuanlei. “I was rather surprised to find that I wasn’t the last one to arrive for this emergency meeting.”

It had taken him a while to get his affairs in order, so Mo Duan had been expecting to be the last one to arrive.

Elder Wuxing scoffed and rolled his eyes, but didn’t bother to comment. Mo Duan’s confusion must have been obvious because Elder Ying seemed to take pity on him and offered an explanation, “Senior Feng has a tendency to become a bit… single-minded when it comes to his experiments. It hasn’t happened in recent years since his head disciple started scheduling around these meetings, but there was a time when he never arrived without being late.”

“Hmph. That lunatic’s been obsessing over those Jiangshi talismans for the past month,” Elder Wuxing said with a scowl. “I doubt we’ll see him anytime soon.”

“I’m sure Elder Feng will be arriving shortly,” said Patriarch Songyu with certainty. “I predicted that he might be more distracted than usual with his current duties, and sent one of my disciples to ensure that he arrives within a reasonable amount of time.”

Elder Wuxing let out an amused chuckle before responding, “I’d hate to be whichever disciple got on your bad side and was sent to pull Feng Ke from his little workshop.”

Patriarch Songyu smiled mildly but didn’t respond.

Mo Duan stayed mostly silent as the Elders made light conversation and waited for the last of their peers to arrive. Thankfully, whichever disciple was sent to retrieve him must have been fairly persistent because it wasn’t too long before Elder Feng finally appeared.

“I sincerely hope that whatever prompted this meeting was truly an emergency,” said Elder Feng as he took his seat, directing his words to Elder Yuanlei. “If my research was interrupted for some trivial matter, then I won’t be pleased.”

“I promise you, this is anything but trivial,” said Elder Yuanlei, her voice as serious as her expression. “If my suspicions are correct, which they nearly always are, then this matter concerns the fate of the entire sect.”

The tension in the room increased notably at such a bold and ominous statement.

“Hmm, I don’t seem to recognize it,” said Elder Feng as he observed the flower floating over the desk. “Aside from being strangely colored and lacking a significant Qi presence, I don’t see what’s so special about it. Would you care to share what you’ve discovered, Elder Yuanlei?”

“Now that we’ve all arrived, I will. For those of you who don’t know, Elder Mo retrieved this flower from the depths of the Vanishing Mist Forest and asked for my assistance in identifying it,” said Elder Yuanlei, causing the rest of the Elders to glance at Mo Duan in surprise. His predecessor had tended to keep to himself, so approaching Yuanlei for assistance was unusual for him. “He believed that these flowers might be responsible for the strange occurrences happening in the Woods, and he was partially correct. That, however, is not exactly why I called for this emergency meeting.”

“Then why did you?” Elder Wuxing asked impatiently. “Hurry up and get to the point, Elder Yuanlei. What’s so special about these plants?”

“I was just about to explain that to you, but since you seem to lack the patience to listen to me speak for more than a few minutes, I’ll ‘get to the point,’ said Elder Yuanlei, sneering disdainfully. “These flowers are known as Prismatic Veil Blooms, and there are no records of them ever being seen since prior to the Separation.”

At Elder Yuanlei’s words, any trace of impatience or disinterest instantly disappeared from the room. Mo Duan could feel his eyes grow wide as he stared at the multi-colored flowers in a new light.

It was a well-known fact in the cultivation community that their plane of existence was not the only one out there; In fact, there was once a time when cultivators were able to travel to other realities relatively easily.

Nobody knew very much about them in modern times, but there are many legends about the so-called ‘Higher Planes’ in the cultivation community.

The Qi in ‘Lower Planes’ was sparse and cultivators would typically either ignore them, look down on them disdainfully, or recruit the few talented individuals produced by these planes.

If these planes possessed a denser level of Qi, then they were generally referred to as a ‘Higher Plane,’ and it was said that they were home to all kinds of fantastical cultivation resources that couldn’t be found in a weaker realm. There were innumerable stories about cultivators finding some kind of treasure from a Higher Plane and instantly soaring to new heights of power, which resulted in most cultivators looking up to these planes and speaking of them with reverence.

However, Mo Duan did not know how many of the stories were historical events or just the results of wishful thinking.

Nobody knew how it happened, but their plane had suddenly become completely and utterly isolated from all other planes in an event that cultivators referred to as the Separation. This event happened so long ago that the exact date was unknown, and there were hardly any records of what life used to be like before the incident.

A truly unfathomable amount of time, effort, and resources had been put into discovering the source of the Separation at first. This was because without access to the resources of a Higher Plane, it was nearly impossible to reach certain levels of cultivation. Nearly overnight, the cultivators of this world had found their path of cultivation inexplicably restricted, and they did everything they could to end the Separation.

After their efforts utterly failed to produce any results, however, the vast majority of cultivators had eventually given up. There were still a few sects who still dedicated themselves to studying the Separation in hopes that they could one day end it, but it was generally considered to be an eccentric pursuit.

There might eventually come a time when people even forgot the Higher Planes completely, but that time had not yet come.

The fact that the Prismatic Veil Blooms hadn’t been seen since before the Separation implied that they had come from a Higher Plane, which was no small matter.

Shouldn't this be a good thing, Mo Duan wondered as he took in Elder Yuanlei's expression. If these flowers are from before the Separation, then they must be extremely valuable. Yet she looks as if someone declared war on the sect.

“This little flower is Pre-Separation?” asked Elder Wuxing, ignoring the tension in the room and studying the flower with far more interest. “What does it do?”

“As its name suggests, the Prismatic Veil Bloom has the unique ability to create a powerful veil around its environment that causes cultivators to become lost and eventually wander into danger,” Elder Yuanlei explained. “It is highly adaptive to its environment, and it is almost certainly the reason that the Vanishing Mist Woods has become so dangerous in recent times.”

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“Truly? How fascinating,” said Elder Feng as he also scrutinized the flower. “There are many Spiritual Plants that can do something similar, but none that are both adaptable enough to adjust to their environments and powerful enough to fool cultivators of our strength. The Higher Planes must have truly been a land of wonder.”

“I confess, Elder Yuanlei, I was expecting something a tad more dangerous given how urgent you seemed in your letters,” Elder Ying said doubtfully. “I also notice that these flowers don’t seem to explain why the Spiritual Beasts in the woods have been gradually increasing in cultivation.”

“I’m also surprised that you managed to learn anything about the flower in the first place if it really hasn’t been seen since before the Separation,” Mo Duan stated with more than a little curiosity. “I’ve done a lot of research into Spiritual Plants, so I know how difficult it is to learn about anything from so long into the past.”

Everyone pulled their attention from the Spiritual Plant and turned their focus to Elder Yuanlei, more interested than ever to hear why she called for an emergency meeting.

“The only reason that I was able to so easily discover the identity of the Prismatic Veil Bloom is because they were rather famous during the Pre-Separation era for their unique growing requirements” Elder Yuanlei explained. “While these flowers are very adaptable once they reach a certain level of maturity, they are only able to develop to that point while inside of a Secret Realm.”

It took a few moments for Mo Duan to process the full implications of what Elder Yuanlei had just said, but only barely stopped his mouth from falling open in shock once he did.

Holy shit.

Everyone else must have reached the same conclusion that Mo Duan did because every cultivator in the room now wore grave expressions

“Are you implying, Elder Yuanlei, that a Secret Realm that was created before the Separation has opened within the territory of my sect?” Patriarch Songyu asked with audible shock.

“Yes, Patriarch. That’s exactly what I’m implying.”

The room was quiet for several moments before the silence was broken by Elder Wuxing, “Well, fuck. That changes a lot, doesn’t it?”

That’s an understatement.

Secret Realms were basically small little dimensions that were usually abundant with Qi and held unique treasures for cultivators to plunder. Many of them had been artificially created by sects or powerful cultivators for the purpose of training future generations, but there were also a few that were naturally occurring. Although Mo Duan didn’t actually have any idea how that happened.

Some Secret Realms produced treasures so valuable that entire sects were built around them, and they were often the source of intense conflict.

In a world that was ruled by violence, a treasure that was beyond a person’s ability to protect would become nothing more than a curse. While the Verdant Valley Sect was a fairly powerful and well-respected sect, a treasure as valuable as a Secret Realm from before the Separation would more than likely bring calamity to them if its existence were to be discovered by outsiders.

An outsider like me…

Once he had that thought, Mo Duan immediately felt his heart drop and he glanced warily at Patriarch Songyu. While the others hadn’t yet caught on, both Elder Wuxing and Patriarch Songyu were both studying him closely.

Fuck.

Mo Duan was actually fairly confident in his ability to fight against most of the other Elders. When compared, demonic cultivators were generally more powerful than their righteous counterparts with similar levels of cultivation. The only Elder who could probably fight head-on against him in single combat was Elder Wuxing, and even then Mo Duan had confidence in his ability to win.

However, he didn’t have confidence that he would even be able to escape with his life if Patriarch Songyu decided to kill him.

Mo Duan could feel himself tense as Elder Wuxing seemed to prepare to leap at him from across the table.

“Elder Mo, you seem like a wise and reasonable person, so I’m sure you can understand that circumstances have changed with this recent development,” Patriarch Songyu said calmly, his words instantly putting a pause on the impending conflict. The other Elders had noticed what was going on at this point and the tension in the room had reached a peak. “I have a responsibility to do what is best for my sect, and I’m afraid ensuring secrecy on this matter is going to require us to… renegotiate our agreement with you.”

Mo Duan held back a curse as he understood the thinly veiled threat. While Patriarch Songyu spoke softly and his words were completely reasonable, he seemed more like a mob boss than a gentleman from Mo Duan’s perspective.

“I understand, Patriarch. What did you have in mind?” Mo Duan asked after a few moments of consideration. It really wasn’t in his interest to pick a fight in his current situation, especially when he would more than likely lose.

Mo Duan glanced at Elder Yuanlei and felt a hint of betrayal rise up inside him. He had no doubt that a woman as smart as her would have predicted this outcome when she chose to invite him.

“Good, I’m glad to see that you’re as reasonable as I thought you were, Elder Mo,” said Patriarch Songyu with a self-satisfied smile on his face. “Please forgive me for being blunt, but my highest priority is ensuring that nobody outside of this room discovers the true value of this Secret Realm. In order to do that, I’m unfortunately going to have to insist that you take on a stringent Oath of Confidentiality to prevent this information from being shared.”

Mo Duan considered it and found the Patriarch’s request to be fairly reasonable… at least on its face. An Oath of Confidentiality did pretty much exactly as its name suggested, and was basically a common cultivation technique that allowed cultivators to ensure that people kept their secrets. His predecessor had already taken a similar Oath when he first agreed to join the Verdant Valley Sect.

If Mo Duan were to break the oath, then he would suffer severe damage to his cultivation.

However, these oaths were not without their weaknesses, which was exactly why Mo Duan felt a bit worried about the Patriarch’s proposal. There were a few relatively rare methods through which the backlash from breaking an Oath of Confidentiality could be mitigated. This meant that the sect would still consider him a potential threat even after taking on an oath.

Given how high the stakes were, that was an unacceptable outcome from Mo Duan’s perspective.

“That seems completely reasonable, Patriarch,” Mo Duan said politely after spending a few more moments considering his options. “It’s to your credit that you care so deeply about the safety of your sect, but I’m afraid that I’ll have to ask for something in return if I’m to take on a new oath.”

The threatening glare the Elder Wuxing was throwing Mo Duan’s way immediately intensified at his words, “What makes you think that you’re in a position to negotiate? Do you think that you’re irreplaceable just because you’re the only one here who can get through the Woods? We could always find someone else, or we could just pull those damned flowers out of the ground.”

“You could, but are you certain that would be in the sect’s best interests, Elder Wuxing?” Mo Duan asked calmly, not at all bothered by the Elder’s rude words. His memories made it clear to him that cultivators only stayed polite up until the point that large enough benefits became involved. “While my abilities are not entirely unique, they certainly aren’t common enough that you could replace me any time soon. As for your idea about uprooting the Prismatic Veil Blooms, I think you should ask Elder Yuanlei why that would be something that the sect would rather avoid.”

Everyone looked to Elder Yuanlei, who pursed her lips before responding, “The Prismatic Veil Blooms serve as the perfect way to conceal the Secret Realm from outsiders. While we could always remove the flowers and simply hide it with a formation, our enemies are familiar with formations and would know what to look for if they became suspicious.”

“Which means that we’ll need Elder Mo to escort both us and our disciples through the Woods,” Elder Ying said thoughtfully. “Senior Feng, would you be able to make a technique or a talisman that would allow us to safely navigate the woods now that you know the source of the problem?”

“Not anytime soon,” Elder Feng immediately answered. “Anything from a Higher Plane almost certainly operates on principles that I’m unfamiliar with. Creating such a talisman would take a significant amount of research.”

“Then are we just going to sit back and allow ourselves to be taken advantage of?” asked Elder Wuxing, scowling darkly in Mo Duan’s direction.

“Please calm down, Elder Wuxing. There’s no reason to believe that Elder Mo has any intention of taking advantage of our sect,” said Patriarch Songyu placatingly. Mo Duan was starting to get the feeling that the Patriarch preferred to play the good guy in negotiations like this. “Isn’t that right, Elder Mo?”

“Of course, Patriarch. This sect has been nothing but fair in its dealings with me and I have no intention of responding to that with ingratitude,” said Mo Duan, his tone of voice flattering. “I would simply ask that in exchange for taking on a new oath that I receive the same benefits as every other Elder, as well as reasonable access to the Secret Realm for both me and my disciples. After all, I’ve been intending for some time to integrate myself more closely with the sect.”

Mo Duan hid a smile as he saw a flash of intrigue pass through the Patriarch’s expression. He was in effect asking to formally join the Verdant Valley Sect, which was probably not what the Patriarch had been expecting.

Mo Duan had been intending for some time to become a formal Elder rather than just a Guest-Elder, but he hadn’t expected that an opportunity would come so soon. This course of action solved many of his problems because it effectively tied his fortunes to the sect, which gave them a reason to trust him.

After all, Mo Duan would have no real reason to spread dangerous secrets if he benefited from the Secret Realm the same as everyone else.

Plus, I might be able to find something there that can help with my demonic cultivation, Mo Duan thought to himself.

Patriarch Songyu must have seen the benefit of tying Mo Duan closer to the sect because he seemed fairly pleased with the proposal, “You do understand what you’re implying? This would mean that you wouldn’t be allowed to freely leave the sect after your initial twenty years have been concluded.”

It's not like there was any chance of me leaving peacefully at this point anyway…

“Yes, Patriarch. I understand,” Mo Duan said confidently. His memories made it perfectly clear to him that life as a wandering cultivator wasn’t exactly pleasant.

Besides, access to a Pre-Separation Secret Realm was too tempting to walk away from.

“Very well then. I accept the terms of your agreement. Elder Feng, please administer an oath of confidentiality that explicitly protects the secrecy of the Secret Realm.”

The process was a quick one, as Elder Feng used a cultivation technique to send a small wisp of Qi through his meridians and into his Spiritual Sea. The technique required consent from both parties to take effect, and Mo Duan could have easily prevented it from working, but he didn’t.

He knew that this was the only way that the meeting wouldn’t end in a conflict that he would undoubtedly lose.

Mo Duan could feel the moment that the technique took effect, and he instinctively knew that speaking about the Secret Realm with anyone who didn’t already know about it would result in him suffering catastrophic damage to his cultivation.

Mo Duan nodded stoically to the Patriarch once it was done.

The Patriarch quickly thanked him again for his cooperation before turning to address the other Elders, “It goes without saying that depending on its contents, such a valuable Secret Realm has the potential to completely upset the balance of power in the region. We won’t know by how much until we actually examine its contents, but its existence cannot be discovered by outsiders under any circumstances. Am I understood?”

After everyone gave a round of agreement, Elder Yuanlei decided to speak up next, “Although we have a fairly good relationship with the Radiant Dawn Monastery, there’s no doubt that both the Celestial Blades Sect and the Endless Sea Sect wouldn’t hesitate to cause trouble if they hear that we have even a normal Secret Realm. Neither of them can afford to allow us to surpass them.”

The Radiant Dawn Monastery was a powerful organization of monks and was the sect's only real ally in the region. The Celestial Blades and the Endless Sea sects were more often than not competitors, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to fight over territory.

“I expect that if it became known that the Secret Realm was from before the Separation, then we might even attract the attention of the Empress,” Patriarch Songyu said thoughtfully.

The Celestial Jade Empire generally had a hands-off approach toward the sects that operated in its territory. It was nearly impossible for the Empire to administrate all of its land due to the existence of Spiritual Beasts. Without cultivators to protect mortals from such dangers, there was no real way for land to develop and become productive.

That was why sects were usually allowed to operate as de facto fiefdoms that ruled over portions of the Empire’s land. As long as they didn’t forget who was ultimately in charge, the sects pretty much had sanction to do as they pleased.

Such a policy was obviously subject to change if valuable enough treasures were involved. The Empress probably wouldn’t just take whatever she wanted, but she probably wouldn’t just leave them be either.

“We also need to worry about the Secret Realm being discovered by demonic cultivators as well,” said Elder Feng. “Our Jiangshi problem remains unsolved despite our attempts to kill them all with poison.”

The conversation continued for nearly an hour as they discussed potential threats, benefits, and made contingency plans for a variety of scenarios. It didn’t take them very long to decide that they would monopolize the Secret Realm and get as many resources out of it as possible. The conversation eventually turned into a discussion over how the realm's resources would be distributed, and whose disciples would get the most access.

“I believe you all are forgetting something,” said Elder Yuanlei, interrupting the discussion before it could grow into an argument. “Not only do we not know the Secret Realm’s actual contents, but the only one here who can easily access it is Elder Mo.”

Mo Duan had barely spoken at all throughout the conversation, so the other Elders had barely paid him any attention until now.

“You are quite right, Elder Yuanlei. It makes little sense for us to argue over benefits while we still don’t know for certain what exactly we’re arguing over,” said Patriarch Songyu. “Elder Mo, are you able to escort others safely through the Vanishing Mist Woods?”

Mo Duan considered it for a moment before deciding that he could, “That shouldn’t be a problem, Patriarch.”

“Good, then I suggest that we visit this Secret Realm and see it with our own eyes. With Elder Mo’s assistance, of course,” said Patriarch Songyu, sounding pleased. “Not only would it allow us to have a better idea of what we’re dealing with, but I think it would be a good opportunity for us to become better acquainted with our newest Elder.”

Mo Duan had a feeling that the Patriarch was more interested in keeping an eye on him than anything else…

The other Elders immediately agreed with the Patriarch’s proposal and began planning the details for their trip to the Secret Realm. All the while, Mo Duan anxiously considered the implications of his new circumstances.