Long Ling and the others were old foxes. They could see the crux of the matter at a glance: the only way to resolve Heavenly One Path's current crisis was to find out who had the Enlightenment Sacred Tree. So they had begun secretly investigating long ago.
Every major superpower planted spies in the other major factions, so there was still a chance of finding out.
"Although we have spies we can use, whoever obtained the Enlightenment Sacred Tree will surely be extremely cautious. It won't be easy to ferret them out," Tian Longzi said, frowning. "All sides are on tenterhooks right now. We don't know when the fighting will break out, or whether we even have time to get to the bottom of this."
"Exactly. Far-off water won't put out a nearby fire," Long Tan said, looking at Long Ling. "Martial Brother, do you have any other ideas?"
He had asked casually, but Long Ling nodded. "I do."
"You really have a way?!" Tian Longzi grew excited. He looked at Long Ling reproachfully. "Martial Brother, if you had a plan, why didn't you say so earlier? Then Heavenly One Path's crisis would already have been resolved."
"That plan wouldn't have worked before. It can only become effective gradually, with the passage of time," Long Ling said. Seeing how expectantly the two men looked at him, he continued, "We have spies in other sects, and they must have planted spies here as well. We want to find out who captured the Enlightenment Sacred Tree, and they must want the same. As long as we insist that the tree isn't here, and let them know that we're also searching for it, some of them should believe that it isn't in our hands."
After a moment's thought, Tian Longzi nodded. "Although this