That was also why the sect was not particularly strict about its requirements for elders' personal disciples.
Su Mianmian thought for a moment, then added, "Every time an elder ascends to the Spirit Severing Stage, another has to be selected. If that's how replacements work, the Azure Tide Sect must change elders very frequently."
Hong Ling nodded. "Very frequently indeed. So there's a strong chance that our ranks of elders will contain both wheat and chaff..."
Like now.
Elsewhere, Su Jiu and her companions gradually grew more vigilant, even speaking less among themselves.
At first, they could still hear birds calling in the woods, but as they ventured farther, those calls vanished completely at some unknown point. All that remained around them was the rustling of wind through the woodland leaves and branches.
Yun Chao unconsciously lightened each footstep. "Have you noticed? Ever since a little while ago, these woods have seemed shrouded in a layer of mist..."
"It isn't mist. It's yin qi, and it's growing steadily denser the farther we go." Although Gu Ningyun had not immediately detected the threads of cold, sinister energy in the air, after traveling some distance, she had clearly reached a conclusion.
Yun Huanling only felt the temperature around them dropping lower and lower. This was not the cold brought by Su Jiu's ice spiritual qi, but a sinister chill that seeped into the marrow and left him profoundly uncomfortable.
Under that chill's corrosive touch, every pore on his body trembled. He could only circulate his spiritual qi to resist the strange sensations in his body.
The night deepened, and brilliant stars rose once more in the dark sky.
Yun Huanling glanced up at the sky and abruptly stopped. First, he worked through a divinatory calculation on his fingers, but the result