Chapter 59

  Songs of Prelude (II)

  Elder Zhang carefully unfurled the small parchment that was tied to a Firebird. It was eight familiar symbols that he memorized before burning the paper and killing the bird, swallowing its corpse in one go, and processing it into small bits of Fire Qi.

  He carefully looked around before sighing and retreating toward the Verdant Arch Peak. These past few days, he'd experienced a gnawing feeling in his chest any time he went out to receive instructions. It was a familiar feeling, the one he'd experienced a thousand times before in his life--it was his instincts telling him that something was off.

  It was just that... for the life of him, he could not figure out what. He thought somebody had discovered his true self, but if they had, he would have definitely been captured or killed by now. Which led him to believe it was perhaps simply a byproduct of his general anxiety: the two sects would soon declare a war on each other, and though, on the surface, it would be a Competition War, it was just a distraction...

  ... distraction that would allow him to sneak in elite members of the Fire Sun Sect and raze the Spirit Sword Sect to the ground in the absence of its most senior figures. He had been working toward this goal for over a hundred and fifty years, seeking holes in the sect-wide formations, passages and paths they could take not to alert Spirit Sage, and ways and means in which to do the most damage in the least amount of time.

  And now, finally, it was all ready.

  Yes, that was it--he concluded. The ending of his lifetime-long pursuit was just at the horizon, fast approaching, and he was simply... anxious, excitedly so.

  On his way back, he glided over the befouled Lonesome Peak, his mood immediately souring further; he had to do six circulations of Qi to calm himself down, an inch away from storming up the mountain and causing chaos.

  But he couldn't; not yet.

  However hateful that vermin was, he was not worth potentially exposing himself after over a century of careful planning. Once the Spirit Sword Sect was ashes and dust, and Lu Qi had nowhere to go... there would be plenty of time to quell the ravaging fire in his heart.

  For today, however, he merely passed through and on toward the peak. On his way, countless disciples greeted him, but he ignored them all; it wasn't strange. After all, he had over three hundred disciples, officially, and could not be bothered with remembering them all.

  Besides, the vast majority of them were loyal to the Spirit Sword Sect. To him, they were worthless.

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  The few that he cared for... they all welcomed him as he landed on the peak. Four in total, three boys and a girl. Three of them were Core Disciples and one was an Inner Disciple, and they were all loyal to him and not the sect.

  He'd taught them a few Fire Sun Mantras in secret and spared no expense in helping them become stronger, and it had paid dividends as they were all counted on to achieve victories in the war... which they would never do.

  "Everything is almost ready," he said, cutting through the surrounding pavilions and pagodas and moving toward the treasury. "Have you all learned your assignments?"

  "Yes, Master!" they responded as a choir before the oldest of them spoke further. "Draw out the fights and inevitably surrender. Maintain a facade until the sect's interrupted on their way back."

  "Good, good," Elder Zhang grinned as they reached the deepest ends of the peak where the treasury was located. Even with having a spatial ring, space therein was ultimately limited; he only carried the most essential things, storing all others within the luxurious pagoda, enriched with over twelve defensive arrays. Even Spirit Sage himself would struggle to break through immediately.

  He used the three keys to selectively unlock the arrays and pushed open the doors, tossing an array of fiery Qi toward the hanging torches. They caught fire quickly and illuminated the vast hall full of treasures and riches, amassed wealth that would make other Elders green with envy--was. It was all gone.

  **

  "WHO THE HELL WAS IT??!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!!!"

  Whelp, there go my eardrums.

  I quickly used Qi to subdue the pain and calm my raging heart.

  The bastard actually did it. Oh my God. Why did I agree to this?! Won't he suspect it was me immediately?! After all, he stiffed me not a week ago, and now all his wealth was gone!

  Aah, I can only hope Elder Qin shows up on time to protect me...

  I left the house and raced down the mountain, as I imagine every other Elder is currently doing the same thing. Regardless, I have to at least put up a front.

  Even before I fully descended, I noticed something... strange.

  One of the peaks was on fire.

  As in, everything was burning.

  Trees, buildings, even paved roads. It was all on fire.

  And there was a ring of lights above it currently engaged in a battle. Because of how far away I was, and because staring at it for too long made my eyes prickly, I couldn't actually discern directly what was happening but could make a fair few assumptions.

  System had already alluded to the fact that Elder Zhang wasn't exactly in full control of his emotions; take that with the anxiety of the upcoming war, me sort of spitting in his face, and suddenly realizing everything he owned was gone... yeah, I can imagine he just completely lost it and went belly-up.

  Other Elders must have noticed the strange arts he was using and probably recognized them, and now... well, now they were beating the shit out of each other.

  I purposefully slowed down because--well, let's be honest, I did not belong there. The only thing I could achieve by going there is dying. And die in a rather painful way at that.

  By the time I descended all the way to the valley, it had all quieted down. I waited for a little while for the bell to ring and all Elders to be summoned... yet, it never came. Hubbub between disciples was going strong, and everyone was wondering what was happening, but it was strangely quiet for over an hour before one piece of news was disseminated:

  An alchemical cauldron accidentally exploded and set fire to the Verdant Peak; there were some injured, but no casualties.

  ... hm?

  What?

  Anyone actually buying this crap--no, wait, they are. Everyone who heard the news just knowingly nodded and went their way. Really? Are exploding cauldrons setting mountains on fire such a common occurrence that nobody bats an eye?!

  Yeah.

  I should never try becoming an alchemist...