After returning to his cave abode, Li Yu paced back and forth in his room, thinking.
Although he had taken the initiative to steer clear, if the Heavenly Change Sect truly raised the banner of rebellion, the wavering Five Lotus Sect might well send another batch of people to fill the front lines. Those people would certainly be of no value to the sect, allowing it to wash its hands of the matter afterward by claiming the disciples had acted of their own accord.
As it happened, those who failed at Foundation Establishment had generally exhausted their potential. Even if they were all discarded, the higher-ups would not bat an eye.
"Looks like I need to find a long-term mission and leave," Li Yu murmured to himself.
Although he had obtained the fortuitous opportunity of the tablet, he had yet to turn it into strength of his own. What he lacked most now was time.
With that thought, Li Yu immediately headed for the sect's main peak.
The Five Lotus Sect had three halls, three offices, three bureaus, and three departments.
The three halls formed its core, overseeing the three offices, three bureaus, and three departments.
The offices, bureaus, and departments handled the practical work that kept the sect running. Among the three departments, the External Affairs Department specifically handled issuing and signing off on Sect Missions.
After arriving, Li Yu soon discovered that quite a few missions requiring travel far from the Eastern Lands, which had once attracted virtually no interest, had now been taken.
Looks like those True Disciples or inner disciples got the news long ago, Li Yu thought.
On reflection, if the Heavenly Change Sect had sent invitations to all the Ten Great Sects of the Mystic Dao, there really was no keeping it secret.
But did even something as momentous as rebellion have to be so brazen?
Li Yu could not understand it, but his determination to leave and lie low only grew stronger.
The mission that would currently take him farthest from the sect was a trip to the Gentleman Kingdom in the Southern Lands to investigate a shipment of Sword Embryos the sect had ordered there, only for someone to seize it.
The mission looked dangerous at a glance. Even at his peak, Li Yu would not have dared accept it.
But if he had no intention of completing the mission and merely wanted to make his escape, there would be no problem at all.
Besides that, Li Yu also selected a pearl-gathering mission in the Zhao Kingdom.
The Zhao Kingdom was a coastal vassal state in the Eastern Lands. It was not part of the Five Lotus Sect's territory, but belonged to the Rizhao Hao Clan, the foremost immortal clan in the Eastern Lands.
The Rizhao Hao Clan descended from an Ancient Sage King and had also been the original rulers of the Eastern Lands. When Emperor Tianyi overthrew the Tianxia Dynasty, this Lineage had earned the greatest share of the credit.
Over time, the Rizhao Hao Clan had declined somewhat, but its formidable foundations still kept it among the Ten Great Sects of the Mystic Dao.
The Five Lotus Sect shared a border with the Rizhao Hao Clan. Although friction arose occasionally, they remained friendly allies overall.
The Eastern Lands bordered the sea, whose waters were rich in resources, and each of the Ten Great Sects of the Mystic Dao occupied a portion. The Zhao Kingdom housed the most important port in the Eastern Lands. Whatever rare treasures or sea beasts appeared in the ten sects' waters, aside from what they retained for their own use, were generally bought and sold there.
The Five Lotus Sect's waters lay south of the Zhao Kingdom's waters. The sect maintained a set of Pearl-Gathering Grounds there. Since pearls containing spiritual energy were found deep beneath the sea, beyond the reach of ordinary mortals, it frequently issued missions for Qi Refinement disciples to gather them.
However, gathering pearls at sea meant harsh conditions and depended on luck. Sometimes, it could take years to gather the number of Spirit Pearls required by a mission, so few people accepted them.
For Li Yu, however, it was an excellent fit.
As long as he never had enough Spirit Pearls, he would have a reason not to return.
Moreover, he could put out to sea at any time. If things went wrong, he could flee straight across the sea to the Southern Lands, using the investigation of the stolen Sword Embryos in the Gentleman Kingdom as his excuse.
After thinking everything through, Li Yu approached the External Affairs Department's counter. A junior sister responsible for registration took his selections and approved the Sword Embryo mission. The other one, however, made her click her tongue in wonder. "Pearl gathering used to attract hardly anyone. Why do so many people want it today? Could they have found a Supreme Spirit Pearl at the Pearl-Gathering Grounds?"
A single Supreme Spirit Pearl was a spiritual treasure suitable for Foundation Establishment. Many Qi Refinement cultivators in the Five Lotus Sect would choose to venture into the deep sea and gamble on their luck when they truly had no other options.
Li Yu merely smiled without answering, but made a mental note of that information.
After registering his missions, Li Yu received two bamboo slips briefly recording the date, the mission details, and his name.
Leaving the External Affairs Department, Li Yu went to the Secret Arts Bureau, where the sect stored its cultivation manuals and scriptures.
With the tablet's fortuitous opportunity, he believed he could achieve Foundation Establishment, but the Taiyi Scripture he had only covered Qi Refinement through early Foundation Establishment. He had no idea when he would return after leaving this time, and hoped to obtain more of it.
The person on duty at the Secret Arts Bureau today was a slightly plump senior brother named Ma Song, with a round belly. After hearing Li Yu's request, he shook his head. "Junior brother, your access only allows you to view material up to early Foundation Establishment. Anything beyond that, you'll have to pay for yourself, and you'll also need a Foundation Establishment elder to vouch for you."
The price for paying his own way was manageable: one hundred spirit stones. Li Yu happened to have that much from Li Hun. But getting a Foundation Establishment elder to vouch for him would be troublesome.
Remembering something he had previously heard from an outer sect senior brother on another peak, Li Yu took out a spirit stone and slipped it into Ma Song's hand. "Senior brother, I know you have connections. Could you help me out?"
Ma Song looked troubled, so Li Yu slipped him another two stones. But Ma Song pushed them back with a rueful smile. "At any other time, it would be manageable, junior brother, but so many of you are asking me to do this now. The elders I know are all rather cautious, and they've recently made it clear they won't take this kind of business anymore."
Li Yu inwardly lamented that he had received the news too late. Still, he was not quite willing to give up. "May I ask how many spirit stones it would cost to view the Complete Taiyi Scripture, senior brother?"
Ma Song picked up a specially made jade slip from the table and swept his right index finger through the air. The two characters for "Taiyi" appeared within it, and a series of relevant entries soon emerged, each marked with its price and requirements.
"The full Taiyi Scripture in the Secret Arts Pavilion only goes as far as Golden Core. Viewing it won't cost many spirit stones, but you'll need signed permission from an elder of the Transmission Hall, or you'll have to reach perfected Foundation Establishment yourself." Ma Song conscientiously explained the relevant details to Li Yu.
The Transmission Hall was one of the Five Lotus Sect's three great halls and safeguarded the sect's most essential inheritances. Every elder who held a place in it was at least at the Golden Core realm.
Li Yu only knew Wen Weilan, but she had been in seclusion for a long time and certainly could not sign a guarantee for him.
"Is the Nascent Soul cultivation portion of the Taiyi Scripture in the Transmission Hall?" Li Yu continued asking.
The Taiyi Scripture had been created by Jiang Taiyi, supposedly to fuse the Five Lotus Sect's five Primordial Spirit cultivation methods into one harmonious whole. Many disciples with lofty ambitions chose to cultivate it. Even if they later discovered they were not cut out for it, they could switch to another method at will.
"Not even the Transmission Hall has it. It's only in the hands of the peak masters of Taiyi Peak and Hanging Moon Peak." Ma Song shook his head.
That answer
brought a look of understanding to Li Yu's face.
After Jiang Taiyi passed away in seated meditation, his eldest disciple, Lu Lingxiao, and his second disciple, Wen Weilan, inherited most of his legacy. Lu Lingxiao was the peak master of Taiyi Peak.
Because Li Fulai and Lu Lingxiao were on poor terms, members of the Li Lineage generally did not join Taiyi Peak.
Li Yu was not one to reach greedily beyond his grasp. Since he could not view the Complete Taiyi Scripture, he bid farewell.
But just as he was leaving, Ma Song suddenly stopped him and spoke with an air of mystery. "Junior brother, would you be interested in the edition of the Taiyi Scripture supplied exclusively to inner sect True Disciples?"
Before you continue