599 Perilous Situation

*Bang!* 

The sound of slammed doors echoed through the room. Inside the room, a few people were sitting against each other in a round table, sipping their own tea. The loud sound alarmed them and got their attention. 

"Who dares to trespass this room? What can the guards in front do?" An old man, who sat on the furthest seat, stood up and shouted out loud. His voice mixed with his anger because it was his turn to say something.

Albeit, the words stuck on his throat upon finding the man, who interrupted him, was none other than the fifth elder. His look was distorted and had a severe case of exhaustion.

"Sect… Sect Master Ti… Tian." The fifth elder tried to utter the sect master name but fumbled because of the exhaustion. Without even saying anything, all of them knew that the fifth elder had used almost his Spiritual Energy.

Sect Master Tian furrowed his eyebrows and ran toward him. Even the other elders were shocked and stood up, watching the fifth elder. "What happened to you? Isn't today the day where the secret realm opens again?"

After asking the question, he looked at the fifth elder. His clothes stuck on his skin because of sweat, while those in his forehead streamed down furiously. The sect master didn't know anything about this and still acted calm but curious. 

"We were attacked by someone… All the elders died. The seventh elder even sacrificed his life for me to escape." The fifth elder clenched his hand tightly so that even his palm started bleeding. 

"Attacked by someone?" The sect master furrowed his eyebrows, looking down for a few seconds to think a few things. "Who has the audacity to attack us?" 

"I don't know." The fifth elder shook his head helplessly, closed his eyes, and said in anguish. "I don't know anything, including the fate of our disciples.

"What?!" The other elders began walking toward them in shock. They demanded an explanation from the fifth elder. 

"Fifth Elder, can you tell us what happened?" The sect master tried his best to keep his calm. He knew that the fifth elder wasn't in his right mind after this much exhaustion, so he asked him with a soft tone to calm him down.

"Ha… ha…" The fifth elder struggled to say a single word, so he took a few deep breaths. "First…"

The fifth elder began telling them his own story from how they came to the Special Realm until the sudden attack from a mysterious organization. The fifth elder didn't know a single thing about the fact Jeanne had told some truth about their relationship with the Ancient Blue Family.

His story stunned everyone, including the sect master. It was only broken when the sect master suddenly released his Martial Monarch Energy as well as his hatred.

"Then how about the other disciples? How about Moar, one of the successor candidates?" The sect master roared.

"We can't link our life to the soul stone where we can check each other's lives because of our Blood Pill. This…" The sect master gritted his teeth, finally experiencing the rebound of the blood pill in the worst way possible.

The blood pill contained many people's souls and blood, mixing them inside a single body. On the other hand, the soul stone would only record someone's soul and blood and link it with their life. This was the Soul Stone principle, the stone that Joyful Union Sect and many other influences, used to know their people's conditions.

However, many souls and blood inside the blood pill confused the Soul Stone, so they couldn't record all of them. To put it simply, their soul would be filled with ninety percent of the deaths while the living life occupied ten percent. The Soul Stone couldn't record such a thing, and couldn't be activated.

"Sect Master Tian. This is a perilous situation. We are discussing the message from the Ancient Blue Family right now… and this…" One of the elders said out loud.

"Kh!" The sect master bit his lips until blood began flowing down. 

The fifth elder looked confused, and asked, "What did you say? What message?"

Looking at how the sect master fell into deep thought, one of the elders came to the fifth elder and explained.

"We just received a message from the Ancient Blue Family." The elder said while frowning. 

"Message from Ancient Blue Family? Is it concerning this matter? How can their message arrive first?" The fifth elder was bewildered. This matter indeed gave him another blow. He had been flying nonstop for the past three weeks, and to think someone actually beat him. It was incomprehensible.

The elder shook his head. "Unlike you, they have stationed many elders and spies in the territory. After getting past to one point, they will change with the other person and relay the message, just like how we need to change a normal horse after having them running for a whole day. This was the reason why they could arrive before you. However, I can't say anything about you because we need to learn everything you saw a few weeks ago. So, as much as I want to ask you to rest, you need to be here and clarify everything." 

"Yes." The fifth elder didn't know whether he was angry because of this or Alex. In the end, he thought he was angry at everything. "If it means they will suffer, then I will give my testament even if you ask me for one week straight."

The elder nodded his head before explaining the content of the letter. The fifth elder was utterly shocked when he heard that their agreement with the Ancient Blue Family had been discovered, and it became a huge thing.

After a few minutes, the sect master finally finished his thought and released his killing intent. "We can't search for them since they will surely have left the Martial Arts Pavilion. We will assume that the disciples there have died. The matter we need to focus on now is the hidden influence.

"Seeing how the agreement is exposed, the Ancient Blue Family won't be able to cooperate with us. At most, they will only stay still because the other three influences will investigate their relationship with us. In other words, we can only rely on ourselves to deal with this problem.

"First of all, we need to check their real base and target. Supposed they were telling the truth that our enemy right now is a hidden influence, we need to be careful. However, they said that they would surely attack or even annihilate us from this continent. As a big sect on this continent, I wouldn't let such a thing.

"Since they want a war, then I will give them a war. First of all, we will search around our area before expanding our range of investigation to the other influences. That's why I want to make ten thousand… no, fifteen thousand people for this investigation." The sect master needed to catch his breath after taking so long in anger. 

"But Sect Master Tian… they are strong enough to make the Fifth Elder tremble at fear, they must have strength above us." One of the elders exclaimed.

"I know. We will fight quality with quantity. Three thousand people should be enough to deal with them for a few days. I can only do this because I need to assume that our one thousand Martial Emperors have died in their hands." The sect master said out loud. 

"How about their proportion, Sect Master?"

"We will have 10 Martial Monarchs to accompany each group. This is to tell them we are strong. After that, we will only have one hundred Martial Emperors in each group. The rest will be filled with Martial Kings. It should be enough to fight this hidden influence."

The elders exchanged looks after listening to his plan. They abruptly nodded after a few seconds, knowing it was their best choice for the time being. 

The sect master nodded and continued. "In the meantime, we will proceed in raising the other Martial Kings and Martial Lords to replace their spots. Our Blood Pill storage will surely take a hit, but it's something necessary at the moment. We can replenish our storage later, but we can't build our sect again if we die. I will tell you my plan."

The elders listened to him attentively, making sure to not leave any details behind.

Unbeknownst to them, there was a shadow that had an eye inside the room. The eye was hidden behind the vase before it abruptly disappeared when they finished their discussion. Just like that, a handsome young boy left the sect to inform his Master.

When all of them were busy, Alex teleported himself to a certain forest, and before long, he met Anya. Without even saying anything, Anya already gave him the report. 

"You are seriously taking your time. According to Nelson, they seriously want to kill you." She paused for a moment before saying, "As you predicted, they managed to slip into our spider web."

Alex nodded with a smile. "I couldn't ask for more. The moment they send a few thousand disciples to investigate us will be the day of our first victory."

"Nelson said they would most likely need around a week to gather enough numbers to start their investigation. Considering their plan, the distance between each army wouldn't be more than two days." Anya said with a poker face.

"Really? The battle won't even take a day, though." Alex shrugged. 

"If it's a normal influence, then it surely won't last a day. However, you need to know that we are a bit different than them and rely too much on the True Spirit Body. Losing these two points, we will just be your average warrior." Anya complained.

"I'm just trying to liven up the mood." Alex chuckled before brushing the matter off. "Anyway, I will practice the array first. Their preparation will take a week while we need another week to wait for them to lower their guard. In the meantime, I should be able to learn Illusion Array, Simulation Room, and the rank 7 Barrier Array. We can't have them escape after all." 

"Since you are going to do that, I will be joining Nelson to search for a good spot to attack them, investigating their weak points, and finding the best tactic to kill them." Anya nodded. 

"Yeah. Thank you." Alex smiled. He thought this was the matter that he promised to Zwaka, but his spirits were actually the ones who did the most. He couldn't help but be ashamed.

Anya didn't say anything and left his side. Alex looked at her back before shaking his head helplessly. He began making a barrier to have a temporary safe place in this forest.