Most of the western side of the city constituted a large fortress, which was also a temple, barracks, training grounds, and living quarters for warriors of Wuyun sect. Erected long ago as a castle to ward against the invasions from tribal north, the menacing complex predates the city of Kiyi, which grew around its perimeter in times where security was the scarcest resource. No one but sect cultivators and selected few pureblooded human servants had the right of entry to the inner parts of the building. There was a good reason for this level of security-the Kiyi castle was one of the main treasuries of the sect, housing precious artifacts gathered all over the land.

However, the items enclosed here were no mere jewelry. They were all immensely powerful, magical devices, capable of altering the flow of qi just as cultivators do. The label assigned to them-demonic-perfectly described their abhorrent nature. As per the Treaty of Changan from almost a century ago, all such artifacts, if deemed too dangerous to use, and proven impossible to destroy, were to be scattered around the world and placed in secret vaults.

The precise location of these vaults was known only to local sects tasked with the tremendous responsibility of guarding them. Only a few selected masters in each generation were deemed of noble character and strong enough combat ability not to fall to the temptation of using these accursed devices and protect them from greedy paws of anyone who would dream to take forbidden shortcuts on the path of cultivation.

Bai Zihan, the Supreme Leader of the Wuyun sect, thought that such a world order is too fragile to sustain. As long as such dangerous artifacts remained in existence, there was always a danger that some madman, blinded by grief, greed, or ambition, would attempt to use them to his short-sighted ends. Treaties can be broken, and once righteous people can be corrupted.

There is truly no long-term benefit in walking the path of devil cultivation-none who ever did so reached a happy ending. Incorrect cultivation damages the mind and destroys the body. But humans are foolish, emotional creatures, and their capacity to make mistakes when under pressure should not be underestimated.

For example, who was to guarantee that a deranged sect master, sensing his death, wouldn’t draw upon the power of such a device to prolong his fleeting lifespan? Who was to guarantee that a once noble person wouldn’t go mad with grief upon the death of their friend, and make an uninformed choice of using what must never be used to avenge them? Last but not least, the most dangerous types are the ones driven by scientific curiosity-these people would bury themselves and the entire world just to uncover some dark secrets, acting in good faith, and becoming corrupted in the process.

Bai Zihan had a different vision of world order. She believed that it would be for the best if all civilized world was united under one sect, bringing true peace and prosperity to the land, creating a civilization free from petty sectarian squabbles and rivalry. All demonic artifacts would be gathered in one place, their location and count known to the public, and their guardians regularly scrutinized for even the slightest signs of corruption. And should threats within or without arise-a single political entity is far better equipped to deal with them than countless small ones.

Ever since she became a sect grandmaster 30 years ago, she devoted her life to that goal alone. Establishing a most advanced intelligence network in the middle kingdom, then subduing the other sects one by one, under her efficient leadership, Wuyun had risen from local group to the greatest power in the known world. All the densely populated and prosperous central lowlands belonged to them, and their former rivals were either incorporated or destroyed.

It was, perhaps, a bit unfortunate that short-sighted people deemed her efficient methods as “ruthless”, “inhuman” or “power-hungry”. Blinded by jealousy, these fools failed to understand the bigger picture. They judged her based on the form, failing to see the essence of her efforts. Which only certified that she was right and unification was the only way for the cultivation world to move forward.

However, there was still much work to be done until that goal is achieved. Two major areas of the known world remained free from Wuyun control.

One was the untamed south, where humans generally did not dare to live.

However, its native inhabitants, composed mostly of yaren and rare pureblooded beastmen, were known to occasionally give shelter to exiled devil cultivators. These madmen, tampering in forbidden techniques and degenerate in both soul and body in their short-sighted pursuit of power, were until recently thought to be a danger primarily to themselves. As abhorrent as they were, as long as they lived away from civilization, a silent consensus was to avoid spending a tremendous amount of manpower and resources to attempt the impossible task of trying to root these rogue elements out.

Until fairly recently when a certain heretic clan, braver and more foolish than the others, got hold of some particularly nasty artifacts. Nobody knew how they obtained them, but through them, the blasphemers were able to tamper with fundamental laws of reality. Their military strength started growing, and local primitive tribes flocked to them, attracted to power like flies to feces. It was estimated that if nothing was done, in about ten years or so, the middle kingdom would face an invasion of unprecedented proportions. An expeditionary force was assembled, and a preemptive strike was launched.

This military operation’s codename was Jianding.

After a short, but gruesome, campaign aimed at the accursed ancient temple that served as the enemy capital, the heretics were all but exterminated. The fruits of their unholy research were destroyed, and the yaren clans that allied with them scattered into four winds. A tremendous amount of artifacts was recovered from the corpses of miscreants-most damaged over the course of the fighting, and the ones that weren’t, were melted in the heat of the furnace.

Still, despite the happy ending, that entire affair proved that the cultivation world in general, and Wuyun sect in particular, needed to eventually expand their network of spies towards the southern bamboo forest, as colossal a task as it was. Such a threat must never be allowed to rise again.

Bai Zihan smacked her lips in displeasure and took a sip of her favorite white liquor. Her preferred way of drinking was most curious- instead of swallowing it at once, she’d keep it in her mouth for several dozen seconds, allowing the alcoholic odor to irritate her nose and numb the gums. The strong, burning taste dispelled whatever worries were clouding her mind just a moment ago. South can wait. For now, there were more pressing matters at hand.

The north was culturally much closer to the lowlands. Once, it was inhabited by primitive, nomadic mix of humans and yaren, not unlike the modern-day southern wildlands. Historically, these barbarians would raid and threaten the civilized central plains on many occasions, and many terrible wars were fought against them over the course of known history.

However, these tribes have long since settled and adapted the southern language, customs, currency. Most importantly, they accepted the southern, sectarian cultivation culture, and in this day and age, the northern sects and clans constituted a part of the same cultivation world as the south. This made the area an attractive target, and logical next step in her world conquest.

Nonetheless, there were some problems. For example, geography. Currently, there were hundreds of tiny villages sprawled over the inaccessible mountainous areas, and to make things more annoying, each of them had its local cultivator sect, usually closely related to the native population. This made the northerners not only logistically difficult to subdue, but also gave them a fiercely patriotic-at least on local level-and well trained partisan force. Even if Wuyun was to swarm them with troops, holding these territories by force seemed to be nearly impossible.

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Therefore, a diplomatic approach was chosen. The bloody southern campaign a decade ago, waged by combined forces of north and south, brought many cultivators and masters together. Naturally, the leader of the most powerful faction in the known world did not fail to use this opportunity to make connections…and plant spies. For the following years, she’d put pressure on various masters, both from within and without, as well as closely monitored their actions, looking for traces of demonic powers or other violations of Treaty of Changan.

Should such arise, that’s spectacularly good news-she was only waiting to throw a wrench into northern unity, and use these problems as a justification of how necessary closer union with the south is. Alas, the north stood righteous, and throughout these 10 years, not a single cultivator was reported to have strayed from the correct path. Bai Zihan was ashamed to admit, same could not be said about the lowlands.

Just when it seemed that she wouldn’t live to see North kneel to her, a spectacular opportunity presented itself.

The master of one of the southernmost mountain village sects was reported to be demented and had fallen into lunacy. This was the man she needed! If she could obtain the evidence of his madness, it could be an opening of long negotiations and reevaluations that would slowly cloister the north under her sphere of influence.

To that end, she sent a group of envoys, which included her own grand-nephew and esteemed master Bao Zimo, who was said to have known the miscreant in their younger days and was thus best equipped to judge if something is truly amiss. Although the official reason for their visit was the establishment of diplomatic relations, their secret orders were to prove the rogue master’s guilt and obtain evidence of countless violations that no doubt had already arisen under the mistaken guidance of an unworthy leader.

And in the unlikely event of failing to find any such incriminating evidence, they were supposed to fabricate it and plant it on the person of Lan Caolu.

Compared to some other tasks that the intelligence department frequently undertakes, that mission was both simple and pleasant. Some of the cultivators in the delegation, such as Bai Yunru, were chosen especially for the lack of experience in subterfuge, and this was supposed to be a great opportunity for them to learn the practical basics in a relatively safe and easy environment.

However, some unknown mastermind had not only foreseen her intentions but also acted as if they were several steps ahead of her. Bai Zihan gritted her teeth and took another sip of the Baijiu to calm her nerves.

A terrible conspiracy saw Lan Caolu killed even before her people could reach him, and the ones blamed for the murder were none else than Wuyun envoys. Only two out of ten cultivators she dispatched to Chenfei returned to Kiyi alive to report this unfortunate turn of events.

That meant only one thing-her intelligence network was compromised. Past weeks were spent meticulously cleansing the sect of suspect elements, and even the branches outside Kiyi weren’t safe from Supreme Leader’s wrath. There weren’t many people she felt she could trust anymore, and one of those few who were trustworthy beyond doubt just returned to give her report of her city-wide investigation.

After Mei Rulan finished reporting her findings and narrating the results of Fuhei’s interrogation, she saluted and silently stood in her office, wordlessly awaiting the feedback from the supreme leader. It was already past midnight, and she was no doubt tired. Why force herself to act all formal?

Bai Zihan waved her hand dismissively and shrugged, taking another sip of colorless liquor.

“There is no need to strain yourself when we are alone”

She was, in fact, quite fond of the girl. Well, actually, perhaps referring to her as a girl is a bit obnoxious, Mei Rulan’s age was already that of an adult woman.

However, for Bai Zihan, who took her in many years ago when the Chuhua outcast was but a little brat and personally raised her to be a competent cultivator, it was hard to ever see her as anything other than a child.

“Care to taste some baijiu?”

“No, thank you.”

“You sure? You look rather tired. A little drink keeps one’s demons away….”

“Still, I’d rather not.”

Bai Zihan sighed. As stubborn as ever. Fine. Let’s get down to business.

“Did you share the information you received from that Fuhei with anyone else?”

“No, of course not”

“Did he share it with anyone else?”

“That’s yet to be determined. For now, I’ll let him soak in the dungeon for a couple of days, then interrogate him again.”

“A reasonable approach. After you’re certain he told you everything he knew, execute him. Don’t let anyone else speak to him!…and after you’re finished with him, I’ll have another task for you…related to the name he gave you.”

“So shall it be done. So….Do you know who that Bai Caoren is?” inquired Mei Rulan, dropping the pretense of honorific, genuine curiosity painted on her face.

That’s good, there is no need to act before me, thought Bai Zihan, pleased.

Still…Bai Caoren…she cringed involuntary, recalling memories of that morbid creep. She hoped she’d never hear that name again, alas, the reality wasn’t that forgiving.

“Of course I know who that is. It’s my little sister”

“….!”

“Well, I have a lot of siblings, and she was never particularly prominent, so perhaps it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that you never heard of her. Especially considering the nature of the job she had within the sect…”

“….her job?” Mei Rulan furrowed her brows, but seeing how the Supreme Leader didn’t say anything else, carefully inquired further “Was she part of the intelligence department, like me?”

“Hoho, that she was. In fact, she was one of the highest-ranked members, though the knowledge of that was reserved only for the chosen few….”

“…was?”

“Indeed. She’s dead. Or…at least she’s supposed to be.”

When news of Bai Caoren’s suicide reached the extended family, no one was particularly surprised. For all her intellect, she was known to be a total freak, crazy in the head, so to speak. Some people marveled that she didn’t kill herself sooner, all things considered.

After her death, the position and responsibilities of intelligence supervisor for the northern region were smoothly divided among several other people. Knowing that a suspicious mind is a healthy mind, Bai Zihan wasn’t content with transferring all the power her sister held to just a single individual, unless that individual was to be Bai Zihan herself.

At any rate, the situation was crystal clear. Either that wretch was still alive, secretly giving orders and laughing from beyond the shadows, or she’s really dead and someone pretends to be her. And one certain way to confirm that is….

“I have, therefore, a secret mission for you. You will be acting alone, and you will not trust anyone other than myself, nor share the name of Bai Caoren or the details of the mission with anyone, no matter what their supposed rank within the sect is. The assignment will take you to far northern mountain, and you might spend several weeks, if not months, traveling the wilderness….”

Mei Rulan nodded enthusiastically, a spark lighting up her eyes. That girl was happiest when traveling alone, away from civilization. Perhaps it was a mistake to temporarily promote her to head of the local intelligence department, but at the moment, there wasn’t anyone else who’d be trustworthy enough to get that job.

The Supreme Leader extended her hand forward theatrically, like she always did whenever dispatching her subordinates personally, and proclaimed:

“Your objective: travel to the town of Yafan, where Bai Caoren lived, and learn everything you can about her life and circumstances of her death, her family, her friends, her servants. Then dig out her grave and examine its contents! If there are bones, examine them and bring back the bones. If there are some items, bring back the items. If there is nothing, keep looking until you find something- but make sure you won’t be detected, and stay alive to report back!”