Yan Ling pulled Liang Chen away from the ruins of his old house, ignoring the curious stares of the onlookers as she pulled him through the streets until she found a small alley that was somewhat well-hidden from sight. Looking at her actions, it seemed like she didn't want others to hear about the plan she had come up with.
After they reached the alley, Yan Ling waved her hand and caused a strong wind to blow around them, preventing anyone outside the wind from hearing their voices. She then swept the surroundings with a quick gaze, making sure that she hadn't overlooked anyone when she ran into the alley. Only once she had done all this did she speak up and explain the plan she had come up with.
"In seven days, the Qing clan is going to host a small gathering for the younger generation, a little party where the younger members of the five clans can meet up and socialize, maybe even compare their strength. The people we are hunting are of course going to show up during this meeting, it's a perfect chance for the Qing clan to show some strength."
It wasn't uncommon for the clans to host parties for the younger generation, even the great sects occasionally did that. The excuse was that the parties were set in place for the younger generation to socialize and make friends, but the truth was that they were set up so that each clan could show that their disciples were stronger and better. After making sure that Liang Chen was still listening, Yan Ling continued to explain.
"I got the news about this party from Big Brother, and he also told me that the Bai clan is sending over a few people to participate in this party. Using these masks, we can hide our identities and infiltrate the party. All we have to do then is cause a bit of chaos, and then we can take advantage of the chaos to round up and kill the targets."
Since the Bai clan was controlled by the Storm Wolf sect, Yan Ling could easily order them to let the two of them take up two of the spots they had received for their own clan members. Liang Chen quickly threw away the melancholy he felt earlier, shifting his focus onto the mission ahead of them. He rubbed his chin slightly, voicing a question he had.
"The plan isn't terrible. As long as the only cultivators that are present during the party are people who have reached the Heaven's Gat realm or below, it should indeed be possible. But how would we go about causing chaos without drawing the attention of everyone? If they know that we are the ones who have caused chaos, everyone might just gang up on us. And where would this party take place? It would be hard to flee from the headquarters of the Qing clan after killing some of their disciples."
Yan Ling's plan was better than anything Liang Chen had come up with, mainly because he didn't really have a plan in place just yet. But with any plan that involved infiltration, it of course carried risks that they had to keep in mind. Yan Ling seemed to have already guessed that Liang Chen would ask such questions, as she gave the answer right after he stopped talking.
"The party is going to take place in a small city located on the other side of Sky Piercer Forest, a place called Mountain's Gate city. There's no need to worry about any cultivators above the Heaven's Gate realm being there, the Qing clan and the other clans don't dare send any people of that cultivation realm. If any of the clans were to do so, it would only result in the other clans banding together and wiping out that clan."
Above the Heaven's Gate realm was the Soaring Immortal realm, and cultivators of this realm were valued even by the great sects. But the reason none of the clans dared send any people of this cultivation realm was the simple fact that doing so would cause the other clans to believe that the clan who sent the cultivator was planning on using him to kill the disciples sent by the other clans.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Even if this wasn't true, the other clans could use this slandering as an excuse to band together and wipe out one of the clans, meaning that they themselves would be able to acquire a bit more power. Because of this, the various clans could only send cultivators of appropriate strength and leave it up to them to represent them.
Yan Ling's lips curved into a devious smile as she was about to continue her sentence, immediately filling Liang Chen with a sense of foreboding. Whenever Yan Ling ended up smiling like this, it would always end up somehow involving and affecting Liang Chen. His thoughts were quickly proven correct when Yan Ling stated how she intended to cause chaos.
"You want to know how we are going to cause chaos? Don't we have a walking bag of poison right here? I wonder what would happen if you were to poison the food and drinks, activating the poison at an appropriate time? We might even be able to kill the targets straight away like this! One of the Bai clan spies is part of the cooking staff, so we'll just have you take his place and then you'll have plenty of time to seep all kinds of poisons into the food and drinks."
Liang Chen had read all the books in the Storm Wolf sect libraries, so he already knew about the infiltration technique that the clans and sects used, reincarnating one of their own members into one of the other clans. With one of the Bai clan spies serving as one of the cooking staff, it saved the two of them the trouble of having to knock out or kill one of the cooking staff so that they could take their place. Liang Chen raised an eyebrow after hearing the full plan, looking at Yan Ling with a dubious gaze.
"I can't help but notice that this infiltration plan doesn't really involve you, you don't intend to laze around while I do all the work, right?"
The plan seemed sound, poison the food, cause a disturbance, try to use the chance to assassinate the targets. But not once while explaining the plan did Yan Ling mention what she was going to do, it was all Liang Chen. Yan Ling coughed slightly after hearing Liang Chen's question and seeing his dubious gaze. She quickly puffed out her chest and let out a snort, defending herself.
"Of course not! I'm going to sneak in as one of the Bai clan members and sample some of the food and drinks that you haven't made, making sure that they aren't poisoned! At the same time, I'll also be keeping an eye out for our targets, making sure that things go according to plan, and even ask around to see if I can find out where your parents are buried!"
She explained it in an eloquent way, but Liang Chen could explain it in far simpler terms, she intended to eat plenty of food and relax while Liang Chen was doing the rest of the work. He wanted to say something, but he could only shake his head, it was truly a Yan Ling type of plan. Yan Ling simply giggled when she saw his actions, not having the slightest bit of shame. Liang Chen gave the plan a bit more thought, eventually swiping his interspatial ring and taking out an empty waterskin.
"Alright, I'll go along with what you planned, but you need to create some water for me, just enough to fill this one."
Yan Ling didn't quite understand why Liang Chen wanted her to fill up the waterskin, but as she had already started gaining insight into the law of water, it was no problem for her. After she filled up the waterskin, Yan Ling seemed to suddenly remember something, swiping her own interspatial ring and taking out a cherry-sized orb of blue jade.
"You should take this. You haven't really left the sect much, so I completely forgot to give it to you. You've probably already read about it, so I won't bother explaining what it does. Right now it only has my mark in it, so you can only contact me."
Liang Chen accepted the orb and gave it a quick inspection, his finger sliding over the completely smooth surface. He had indeed read about this item before, it was an item simply titled communication jade. Using an array inside the jade, others could leave a mark using a different communication jade, allowing the two people to contact each other across vast distances with just a bit of Qi. As it made the delivering of information easier, it was commonly used in all clans and sects.
Liang Chen tested the communication jade once, and after the two made sure that it worked, he stored both the jade and the waterskin into his interspatial ring. The two of them shared a glance and nodded their heads, splitting up to set their plan in motion.