Spies
“Find out who they are as soon as you can, and stop them from advancing. A new Greater Heaven Stage disciple won’t be able to change much. Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Zhou Jinglin treated himself to a nip of tea.”
“Yes, Shifu.”
“You two have not let us down all these years. You haven’t been able to reach Greater Heaven Stage; however, you have prevented Heaven Stage disciples from advancing, consequently stopping them from beating us. Without you two providing insider information, we would still be struggling to steal their business,” applauded Zhou Jinglin, smiling wryly.
“It is our honour to serve you, Shifu.”
“No, no, you are serving Talisman Sect. Patriarch has promised to reward both of you handsomely once we bring down Formation Sect. You two may even be named Formation Sect’s new patriarchs.”
The two spies went down on their knees to express their gratitude.
Ten years ago, the two spies entered Formation Sect as Heaven Stage Disciples. The initial plan was for them to become Greater Heaven Stage disciples in order to access more important information in the sect. Sadly, they lacked the competence to advance further. With Zhou Jinglin’s guidance, the two progressed as individuals until they were in a position of power amongst their cohorts. With the two of them extorting the Heaven Stage disciples, the disciples struggled to progress.
To avoid suspicion, the two pretended to be at odds with each other and encouraged their followers to fight. If anyone showed threatening potential, they’d team up to ensure the disciple never accomplished anything. They never took the test to become professional casters and remained disciples so that they could stop others from progressing.
Due to their meddling, they were the only two disciples Formation Sect could send out at the annual tournament. How that went needed no repeat. Finally, they revealed business information to Zhou Jinglin so that the latter could steal clients from Formation Sect.
“Mu Chenghong, Ultimate Immortal Rankings’ rank ten, is the only Greater Heaven Stage disciple, and he is far from being a threat to us. You must off any potential second ones before they can shine.” Zhou Jinglin placed two pill vials onto the table and continued, “I bought you two rank five body severing pills even though it cost me three hundred spirit stones. Ascend to Body Severing Realm as soon as possible so that you can do more for Talisman Sect.”
The two only received five or six spirit stones a month from extortion; body severing pills were way out of their reach. Accordingly, they were delighted to receive the gift.
“Wenkai won his bout last year, so it’s our turn this year, Feilong. I will let our contestants know beforehand.”
“Understood, Shifu.”
Since the two spies’ matches were fixed, all they had to do was supply Zhou Jinglin with information on the other contestant, and Talisman Sect would have a counter in place to walk away with a victory before the contest even started.
“Including you two, we have fifty-seven spies in Formation Sect. Sixteen are now Heaven Stage casters. The more of you there are, the higher the chances of them catching on. Therefore, we won’t send anymore spies in. You two look over the other fifty-five, and make sure they don’t act rashly. They, too, shall be rewarded once this is over.”
Talisman Sect couldn’t send in Greater Heaven Stage disciples as spies for they didn’t have many of their own to begin with. Nothing ventured, nothing gained was an undeniable fact. Howbeit, trying to learn talismans and formations simultaneously most likely resulted in them succeeding in neither subject. That was yet another reason the two schools of belief had to split. Talisman Sect didn’t want to sacrifice their disciple to learn something they evaluated to be inferior to their own style just to go undercover. Since they didn’t have a shortage of Heaven Stage disciples, they had no qualms sending Ji Wenkai and Luo Feilong.
“Shifu, when we will be bringing down Formation Sect?” Luo Feilong queried.
“If all goes according to plan, we will launch the operation during this year’s tournament. Stay prepared so as to not miss the opportunity to accomplish yourselves.”
“What about Chen Tiandao, Shifu? Even though we are granted the privilege of entering the forbidden zone after winning a round at the annual tournament, we have never met him before. Do we have a strategy to take care of him?” asked Ji Wenkai.
An arrogant triumph came to Zhou Jinglin’s lips. “Chen Tiandao? From what I know, he has his own troubles. Anyway, you two should get going now. Wait for a few more months to harvest your fruits of labour.”
“Those two are totally oblivious, aren’t they? They think we’re going to back them up? They expect us to keep feeding them when we’ve already spent so many spirit stones on them, yet they’ve continued to fail to become Greater Heaven Stage disciples?” condescendingly commented the youth with Zhou Jinglin, after the two spies left.
“It was worth the investment. We’ve earned more from their efforts than we’ve invested in them. Furthermore, Formation Sect’s test is as difficult to pass as ours. Whether or not we can accept them in the future will be something they’ll find out. For now, we still need them.”
By the time Ji Wenkai and Luo Feilong completed their mission, they would’ve been too deep into formations and behind on talisman skills. The two didn’t have the faintest idea that had already been abandoned. It was too late to return and too late to pull out. There was no chance Formation Sect would let them defect, either, after all of their misdeeds.
Mu Yu hoped to find out what Talisman Sect’s plot was. Alas, Zhou Jinglin and the youth bid the abode farewell.
Mu Yu: What did he mean when he said Chen Tiandao is in trouble already? Don’t tell me Third Heaven Palace has already dealt with Chen Tiandao…
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