Meanwhile, in the Chen family compound's audience chamber, the Chen family head listened to a female elder, Chen Xing, giving her report as his annoyance grew.
"You mean to tell me that that bitch is still alive? And you didn't even learn anything useful?" Lord Chen Liang asked.
Chen Xing swallowed hard. Her face was a mask of tight muscles. "Only that she's more formidable than we expected and the Pan family was ready for such an attempt," she said.
"And it didn't occur to you to attack when she wasn't surrounded by guards?" Chen Liang asked.
"The choice was not mine, but the assassins we hired. I ensured it could not be traced back to us, my lord. Managing them directly would've interfered with that. The guards kept a close watch on the girl and she was always with two of the best of the Pan family's younger generation. So, a great deal of protection was given to them. I doubt they would ever have found a time when she wasn't guarded," said Chen Xing.
He could sense the cold sweat running down her back as she spoke.
"Then they should've snuck inside the Pan family's mansion and gutted her like a fish while she slept!" Chen Liang said.
Even as he said the words, he knew such a task wasn't nearly so easy. Between the formations and excellent patrols, only the strongest in the region could even attempt such a thing. And Chen Liang had no wish to lower himself to perform such a task personally, even if he didn't fear the death that might befall him...
He stroked his chin. Just how powerful would her guards have to be to absorb so much Essence and yet remain otherwise undetectable to even the headmaster of the Crimson Academy?
"And you learned nothing? No guards showed up? She didn't expose some kind of weakness? Something we can use?" Chen Liang asked.
"No guards revealed themselves, my lord. It's possible that Elder Kanev and the others were incorrect about that. But, she wasn't in a position to force their hand. It could be that they didn't wish to interfere with a chance to temper herself through combat," Chen Xing said.
Chen Liang nodded absently, his mind already turning over thoughts. "Yes... it doesn't mean anything. We must still be careful," he said, "did you learn nothing else?"
"No--well... there was one thing, but I'm unsure if it's of any importance," said the woman.
Chen Liang snorted. "Speak. I will determine what is important or not, fool," he said.
"The girl didn't kill any of the assassins," said the woman.
Chen Liang raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said she was formidable? Did she not fight?" he asked.
"No, she fought and fought well. But, she never executed a killing move, my lord. It looked intentional," said the woman.
Chen Liang smiled darkly. "Ah, saving them for later torture," he said. His eyes sparkled as he said it and the other family elders shuddered.
"I don't believe so, my lord," Chen Xing said with a slight quiver in her otherwise controlled voice, "she allowed the guards to kill the assassins and take a few prisoner. It seemed she had little interest in them and was happy to allow others to deal with them."
Chen Liang nodded. "She couldn't be bothered to dirty her hands? She must be from an important family or sect for sure then. It's good you didn't intervene. Her guards would likely have traced it back to us and I'm not sure we could stop them," he said.
"But surely they'll assume it was us anyway?" asked another elder.
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"Perhaps they will," Chen Liang said, "but, there's no reason to make it a certainty. Doubt we can work with. Perhaps even turn to our advantage. This girl must die, but we cannot afford to open ourselves to reprisal so easily."
He paused then, unsure as to why he had bothered to explain himself. He waved his hand dismissively toward Chen Xing.
"Hire some more assassins if you wish. Just make sure our family cannot be connected to it. And choose stronger ones next time. I grow tired of underestimating this Liu Jie. The next time she exposes herself, I want her dead. Am I understood?" he asked.
Chen Xing bowed deeply in response. "As you will it, my lord," she said.
One of the family elders cleared his throat nervously. "What is to be done about this mysterious expert that appeared within the city, my lord?" he asked.
"Find out what you can. Be discrete and do not provoke them. Do what is necessary to keep our rivals from recruiting them to their cause. I must see to our future," Chen Liang said.
The elders stood from their seats as he did and bowed their heads deeply as Chen Liang left the audience chamber.
He walked through the winding, dimly lit bowels of the family compound. In the deepest, darkest part of their dungeon. A place not even the screams of their prisoners could reach. He checked the formations as he walked to ensure utter privacy.
Chen Liang approached a large set of elaborate doors that'd be more at home in a temple than a dungeon. And pushed them open, feeling protective enchantments and formations wash over him as he did so.
Decorative banners and statues lined the room. Liberally painted with layer upon layer of dried blood.
An altar rested on a raised dais on the far side of the room. It was a carefully crafted thing of metal and bone with dark symbols inscribed upon its surface. There was a wrongness to it that made it uncomfortable to look at even for Chen Liang.
He stopped at the foot of the dais and kowtowed before the altar. Performing such an abject display of submission irritated Chen Liang, but the prizes to be gained were worth it. For now at least.
Nothing happened for a long moment before shadows rose up out of the inscriptions on the altar and formed a dark cloud above it. The cloud took the shape of a skeleton wreathed in shadow.
"Your humility is false. It shouldn't be," the skeletal man said. His voice was hollow and empty like air moving through an abandoned home. Yet it carried such power that the stone floor vibrated and the banners rustled as though caught by the wind.
Chen Liang bowed further until his forehead rested on the cold stone floor. A pose he had never used before meeting those of real power.
"What progress have you made?" asked the man.
"With the resources you have so generously given, I have recruited many allies, and begun bolstering the strength of my family. The city will soon be mine, Lord Yin," Chen Liang said.
"The city? You are to take the world. The master has a special interest in Xiannu," said Yin Bai.
"Of course... I pledge to take all the world for the Great One. But... I do not possess your power. I must start with but a single city," Chen Liang said.
"How long?" Yin Bai asked.
"A decade or two at the most," Chen Liang said.
"Too long," Yin Bai said.
His empty voice scraped along Chen Liang's bones. Chen Liang remained motionless, prostrate before a man whose power dwarfed his own. He dared not speak. Yin Bai never expressed anger, or any emotion at all, but that didn't mean he would tolerate insolence. It only made Chen Liang all the more afraid. There would be no warning. Only death. A horrifying death, and eternal servitude...
"You are indeed too weak. But the master is unconvinced of your potential. There are others on Xiannu. Many of whom have been more successful than you," Yin Bai said.
Chen Liang gritted his teeth. Who were these people? How dare they compete with him for this prize! For this chance at ultimate power and the opportunity to rule an entire world!
"What can I do to prove my worth, Lord Yin?" Chen Liang asked. As the question left his lips his spine prickled from the looming danger and he waited for death.
"Take the city before five years pass, and we shall see if you can handle the master's first gift," Yin Bai said, "In the meantime, you will receive more resources to aid you in your task."
"Your generosity is boundless," Chen Liang said. Though in truth he knew that the vast wealth and resources given to him by Yin Bai were seen as less than table scraps in Yin Bai's eyes.
Yin Bai said nothing. Chen Liang dared to look up, but the shadowy form was gone.
Chen Liang gnashed his teeth and shot to his feet, his fists clenched tight as his aura fluctuated wildly. But, there was nothing in this room he could even scratch.
"I am Chen Liang! Your master will see my worth! Mark my words! I shall have your place! How dare you treat me as trash! Soon it will be you who bows to me!" he snarled, confident that he could not be heard.
As he ranted madly, Yin Bai watched with hollow eyes as he considered what the master's 'gift' would do to this man. But he could not bring himself to care. Not anymore.