Midnight, Hidden Council Room, Main Palace of the 'Three Hills Sect'.

Nine tall throne-like chairs were placed around a strange-looking statue that looked like a deformed lock and occupied most of the room.

People sat on five of them but their bodies and especially faces were obscured and so except for the white robes they were dressed in, nothing would hint at their identity.

Seemingly this was made so by some effect that came from the chairs which with a closer observation would reveal to be made of crystal and covered in runes.

All the chairs had a character engraved on them and in the case that someone observed them, he would read that the occupied chairs were so with the characters 'Martial', 'Disciplinary', 'Treasure', 'Hall', 'Elder' and 'Core'.

And by looking at the ones not occupied, one would see the characters 'Head', 'Wisdom' and 'Successor'.

Such a setup would make most of the people think that this was some kind of council room and in truth, it was, except that no one could access it without being a member and so, it was unknown to everyone apart of them.

Seemingly the meeting had not yet begun and the first words that were said by someone confirmed it.

The lack of understanding who spoke was because the faces were obscured and the voice came from everywhere in the room, making it almost impossible to determine who it was. But more careful observation of the movements that accompanied the words would point that it was the person occupying the 'Core' chair who spoke

"Wisdom is away and so we will proceed without him. Let's begin"

As these words were said something occurred to the strange-looking sculpture made of the same crystal as the chairs. The best way to describe it would be to say it began glowing, but only if one could call the grayness that it started spreading as light.

This gray glow indicated something to the present people as they started speaking in turns.

As they spoke any outsider would be surprised to hear that their voices sounded absolutely equal and so could only guess if that was also an effect of the chairs on which they sat. And with the voice coming equally from all directions, the only fact that confirmed the speaker to be different was the wording of the phrases. Still, it was impossible to find out who was speaking at what time as during all the conversation that followed, nobody moved at all.

"The roots of the organization behind this can be traced back to the Eagle Kingdom"

"It is confirmed. The previously unknown Master Zao has been identified as Wang Zuo of the Black Eagles"

"Several runeships of unknown allegiance had been seen sailing around the Great Mountains and the Demonic Plateau. My people could not confirm it, but they probably had made landfall"

"Several assassinations have taken place in Coastal Hill City and Flowing Leaves City, traces indicate 'Underhill' involvement, but they did not announce themselves as normally"

"Wisdom confirmed the disappearance of several elder-class executives and fighters of the Wei Family"

"I validated the information that the boy found and found similar cases. In total, I was able to confirm 132 cases of prisoners disappearing from prisons and resurfacing as bandits. Three were captured but could not be interrogated as they had blocks of unseen potency"

"A testimony from a Snake Clan hunter has been found and examined. It confirms that three cultivators were seen near the Demonic Cliff before this year's Death Rain. She did not establish contact with them but at least she remembered and showed us the place where they were seen. No tracks or traces were left, but it's near the only usable descent to the sea in the grasslands"

"Several merchant companies and individual ships that trade with the Eagle Kingdom were infiltrated as well an official delegation from the Sect will be sent to the Military Academy with an offer to discuss an exchange. Any information that either of them finds shall be sent immediately. I judge that it will take about three weeks for the first missive to arrive"

"The Holy Monastery has been contacted via a message-stone, but it seems that they are currently dealing with a possible escalation of a small incident with the Burning Sun Sect and so have been limited in their contact with the Kingdom and so can not provide any information"

As these short and cut reports were exchanged and silence reigned in the room, the Stone glow increased and a strange mechanical voice came from it

"I thank you for the reports. It seems that the Eagle Kingdom got their eyes on Half-Island as expected. I wish you luck and hope that the key will be completed in time. I will be severing the connection, no qi left. Let the Three Hills Stand!"

"Let the Three Hills Stand!" All of the present people exclaimed in unison and right afterward the lock-shaped sculpture stopped glowing.

After a brief moment, another change occurred in the room as the light flashed away momentarily and when it returned the effects from the chairs went away as well.

The identities of the people that occupied the chairs could be now be seen and if a knowledgeable member of the sect was present all of them would be easily identified, but even so, the fact that two of these people occupied such a high position would be unknown even to an Inner Elder, not to mention the disciples.

The five people in the room exhaled almost in unison as the chair effects were removed from them and on a close look, they could only be described as very tired, to the point that all of them were covered in sweat and to a different degree were either pale or even shaking.

"So even the five of us using nine-tenths of our qi only can maintain the connection open for a quarter of an hour or so" These were the first words that sounded after everyone took a few breaths and assumed a more relaxed position. They were said by someone that Wu Guang would easily identify, but would never expect to see him in such a high position even though he had realized that he was not dealing with a normal elder. The person in question was Elder Mo and the chair he has been sitting on read 'Core' which identified him as the principal core elder of the sect and so in cases of emergency, made him the acting headmaster.

"It is me or it's starting to become more difficult to open the connection?" The person asking was the Disciplinary Palace Master, Master Sikou. And as it could be guessed, the chair he occupied read 'Discipline'.

"Indeed, I feel that the previous time we had to spend less time for preparation" The one to second the previous phrase was the Martial Master Zhen who sat in the 'Martial' chair.

"It's expected, after all, they have been locked in the pocket realm for over four months now. If the size of it it's considered, the qi in there is starting to run thin. Especially as it has been being used by three hundred disciples and a dozen of elders for nourishment without stop" These words came from an old elder that occupied the 'Hall' chair. The elder looked to be old but his actual age could not be discerned as he did not have a single hair on his body and was so thin that he could only be described as skin and bones.

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"Excuse me, everyone, I seem to have lost a bit more qi than expected... So I will be retiring to recuperate if nobody needs me for anything" This was said in a tired but still jovial tone by the person who one would never expect to see in such a high-level company, albeit after noticing the robes he was dressed in, one would actually doubt that the person is the same. And in truth, who would expect that Elder Di who was supposedly an outer elder be present in the room and do so while dressed in the white robes similar to the Palace Masters ones. Even with that aside, the fact that he had been occupying the 'Elder' seat meant that actually, Elder Di was the head elder for the entirety of Inner and Outer circle elders.

"And where will you do so? In that small shack that you call your residence? I have not yet understood why you even bother to hide your cultivation and real position" Such words could be taken as hostile by anyone, but seemingly this appeared normal to the present people and so it was not paid attention. As for who said this, it was the Elder that occupied the 'Treasure' chair.

The elder in question looked like one of the youngest people present as he sported the looks of thirty years or so man of average looks. Not tall enough to be called such and neither good looking enough as well, but he did have a detail impossible to overlook. This detail was actually the fact that the man's body looked to be fake. Even when he spoke the mouth did not move and if observed carefully, no signs of breathing or natural things as blinking were present.

"It's all in the founder's words... So, will you accompany me, head treasurer?" From the response of Elder Di, it could be confirmed that such interaction between them was normal.

"Yes. Then permit me to take my leave as well, although I plan to rest as intended and not in the shack of an outer elder like some"

"Yes, go ahead. I need to discuss a pair of things more with the Palace chairs" Elder Mo casually said this but even an idiot would feel that he was the one whose permission was being asked.

As both left, Elder Mo turned to Master Zhen and asked

"You met the boy today?"

"Indeed"

"And what is your impression?"

"Very talented. He is hiding something but from what I can sense it's nothing bad for the sect"

"Indeed he is talented, after all, how much time has passed since Chen Deming found him? Two months? And he is already at the 4th level of the Spirit realm. Well, I concur with you about him hiding something and so even tried to find out what it is. And after some investigation, we have agreed on a theory"

"Can it be shared with us? I don't intend to go against any made decisions, but I am still worried about the role assigned to the boy"

"Oh, there's no problem in sharing. See, both I and Chen Deming came to the conclusion that he had been granted the memories of someone... or something"

"Memories? Bloodline or from outside?"

"That's obviously unknown to us and will remain as such until he tells us himself"

"I see"

"Well, continuing on the theory part. We can assume that the memories come from a fairly powerful cultivator and most probably from a human. The latter is mostly because of the fact he did not change much after obtaining them"

"Are we sure of that?"

"Well, can you trust Rui Lang's opinion?"

"Obviously"

"And you Zhen Gan?"

"How could I mistrust the person who taught me and after leaving the martial world still went so far as to work in Boundary Hill City only to keep an eye on my brother?"

"Well, then I trust that there will no issues with the fact that Rui Lang himself confirmed the boy character. He also had seen the boy before and assured me that there is not much difference between the old and the current one. Oh and before you lay me out your worries about his role, trust me, I know all of them. But it's a matter that was accepted by the headmaster, so we have no more say in that. Plus I agree to create our own savior, especially if the savior leaves the plane after the deed"

"Oh? And he will?"

"Yes. This was confirmed by him and in truth, his actions speak far louder of it. He was not interested at all in the palaces or even the core of the Sect at all. Chen Deming was the one who spoke with him about it and he did not only simply speak"

"You mean he used the 'Truth Seeker'?"

"Yes"

"I understand now. Excuse me for questioning"

"Do not think about it Discipline Seat, you must confirm every detail and you are doing so"

After this phrase, Elder Mo indicated that the talk had finished and rose up to leave, but as he was doing so he suddenly asked

"Has anyone of you been in contact with the lord of Coastal Hill?"

"No" Master Sikou was the first to answer

"Yes"

"I see. Then pen him a letter about Wu Guang's claim on his family estate and inform him that the sect will help our disciple if needed"

"Isn't he a bit young to claim it? And if he intends to leave the plane, why would he bother with such?"

"Martial Master, it seems that you don't understand the implications of this matter. He is young by age standards, but as an Inner Circle disciple of the Sect, he can represent himself legally. And it does not matter if he leaves or not, the fact that it's his family estate will show us if he is really still the original Wu Guang or his new memories took over him"

"I have not been much for all that shadowy and legal stuff. Anyway, I will send the letter. We fought together during the primal crabs' migration, so I doubt he will not heed my words"

"I will leave it to you then" With these words the conversation ended and Elder Mo left the room.

"Zhen Gan, wait a moment!"

"What do you need Sikou Dai?"

"Well, if we are creating a savior, he will need a few more won battles, does he not?"

"Probably, why do you ask?"

"Do you mind sending some of your palace disciples to show themselves around the northern road?"

"Well, I don't mind doing so, but why should I?"

"I was informed that there is a bandit group in there and if they see a battle group of Sect disciples, they will run to the south"

"And south of the Northern road is... the road to Coastal Hill City"

"Indeed, the one and only path for the caravan to reach their destination"

"I don't like doing such things, but indeed the boy needs more fights. I will see what I can do"