Spying and the Thousand Faces Devil Cultivators
The night was as dark as ink, enveloping the entire Mount Taiyi that stretched for thousands of miles.
The residences for the participating cultivators are built against the mountain, with elegant blue stone courtyards scattered among the spiritual trees. Each courtyard is equipped with basic Spirit Gathering Formation and Soundproofing Formation, creating a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere filled with Spiritual Qi energy.
Li Yunjing sat alone at the stone table in the courtyard, his fingertips gently stroking the jade token he had received during the day. The Taiyi Dao patterns on the token shimmered faintly in the moonlight.
He did not rush to adjust his breathing and cultivate.
During the day, the faint, almost imperceptible demonic aura emanating from Li Changgeng's illusion felt like a thorn pricking his heart.
The extent to which demonic influence had penetrated was far beyond his imagination.
Recalling the daytime spying that had been broken, Li Yunjing sighed.
"Chu Lingxiao's arrival couldn't have been more at a worse time," Li Yunjing muttered to himself.
However, at that moment, Li Yunjing's Divine Sense suddenly detected a strange fluctuation.
He raised his hand and waved it, and a pale blue light screen spread out from his fingertips. The power of the Supreme Unity Pure Subtlety Scripture to Shatter Illusions quietly operated, like invisible ripples, slowly sweeping across the entire courtyard.
The next moment, Li Yunjing's brows furrowed slightly.
The Spirit Gathering Formation and Soundproofing Formation surrounding the courtyard appeared to be intact, but in reality, a miniature spying array flag had been silently embedded deep within the nodes of the array.
This array flag was extremely well concealed and perfectly integrated with the standard array formations of the Taiyi Immortal Sect. If Li Yunjing had not also been an array master and possessed the ability to Void Breaking the "Supreme Unity Pure Subtlety Scripture," he would have been completely unable to detect it.
"Is someone spying on me... specifically on me, or on others as well?"
A cold glint flashed in Li Yunjing's eyes.
He made no announcement, nor did he rashly destroy the battle flag.
With a mere flick of his fingertips, he activated the Ten Thousand Formations Celestial Pivot Banner within his Dantian, and with lightning speed, inscribed a subtle counter-rune at the core of the flag.
In this way, not only will the other party be unable to detect any movement inside the courtyard, but they will also be tracked by Li Yunjing. As long as the other party activates the array flags again, he can instantly lock onto their location.
After doing all this, Li Yunjing withdrew his spiritual power and sat back down at the stone table, as if nothing had happened.
After sitting for a while, Li Yunjing decided to go and see Xiao Tianxing.
He wanted to verify one thing: whether the spying flag was specifically targeted at him, or at everyone.
If it's specifically targeting him, Li Yunjing will have to be even more careful; he might not even participate in this year's Immortal Ceremony.
Li Yunjing got up, opened the courtyard gate, and left his small courtyard.
He knew where Xiao Tianxing's courtyard was, so he walked towards it.
Before long, Li Yunjing arrived at the entrance of the courtyard where Xiao Tianxing was.
A knock came at the courtyard gate, Xiao Tianxing's voice rang out. "Who is it?"
"It's me, Senior Brother Xiao," Li Yunjing said.
A moment later, the courtyard gate opened.
"Yunjing, why are you here so late?" Xiao Tianxing asked curiously, stepping aside to gesture for Li Yunjing to come inside.
After Li Yunjing walked in, he said, "Come and have a word with Senior Brother Xiao."
At the same time, Li Yunjing released his Divine Sense to check if the spying array flag existed.
"There are some too."
As Li Yunjing examined the array structure throughout the courtyard, he discovered an identical spying array flag.
This means that the existence of the spying array flags was not targeted at him alone, but at all the cultivators participating in this Immortal Ceremony.
Seeing this, Li Yunjing immediately activated the Ten Thousand Formations Celestial Pivot Banner his Dantian and, as before, laid down a counter-rune.
"You're being watched here," Li Yunjing said in a low voice, his tone grave. "The array in the courtyard has been tampered with; your every move here can be seen."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Tianxing's pupils dilated in shock.
"Such a thing actually happened!?"
Xiao Tianxing immediately became alert.
Li Yunjing patted Xiao Tianxing on the shoulder and smiled, "Don't worry, I've already set up counter-runes, so there's no problem for now."
Hearing this, Xiao Tianxing relaxed a little.
But immediately, Xiao Tianxing tensed up again. "Yunjing, the courtyard you're in..."
"It was also tampered with. That's what I noticed, which is why I came to see you," Li Yunjing said.
"Judging from the current situation, it is estimated that the courtyards throughout the entire residential area have been tampered with."
Someone is watching our every move as cultivators participating in the Immortal Ceremony from behind the scenes.
Upon hearing Xiao Tianxing fell silent.
He hadn't expected this to happen.
"Who could have done this?" Xiao Tianxing.
Li Yunjing shook his head. "I don't know either, but during the day today..."
Li Yunjing told Xiao Tianxing about what happened when he encountered Li Changgeng's illusion earlier that day.
"The demonic path?" Xiao Tianxing frowned.
"This demonic path is truly persistent; they're actually trying to cause trouble again."
Immediately afterwards, Xiao Tianxing told Li Yunjing something.
"About a month ago, the Immortal Alliance suddenly received a message." Xiao Tianxing took out a Jade Slip from his Storage Bag and handed it to Li Yunjing. "Three cultivators have gone missing, but strangely, their soul lamps haven't gone out."
Li Yunjing took the Jade Slip, infused it with spiritual energy, and quickly browsed its contents.
The Jade Slip contained detailed information about the three missing cultivators. They all came from different low- to mid-level sects, and all had cultivation levels at the Nascent Soul Early Stage. They had nothing in common except that they had all been to Howling Wind Valley.
After reading the message, Li Yunjing tapped his fingertips lightly on the stone table, lost in thought.
The missing cultivators had all been to Howling Wind Valley, which, coincidentally, was once a stronghold of a Demonic Sect Howling Wind Valley.
However, that Demonic Sect was destroyed.
This Demonic Sect is called the Thousand Faces Sect, and they are extremely skilled at disguise.
To infiltrate the Taiyi Immortal Sect, one must possess exceptional disguise skills.
Could it be that the identities of the three missing cultivators were used to allow the Devil Cultivator of the Thousand Faces Sect to infiltrate the area?
But the Thousand Faces Sect was destroyed long ago, so where would Devil Cultivator from the Thousand Faces Sect come from?
Li Yunjing looked at Xiao Tianxing and stated his deduction.
Xiao Tianxing shook his head. "No, although these three cultivators are unknown, their information has been registered by the Immortal Alliance."
If these three appear in the Taiyi Immortal Ceremony, the Immortal Alliance will surely learn of it.
Even if the Devil Cultivator cultivators of the Thousand Faces Sect were to return with a vengeance, they wouldn't make such a foolish mistake.
Li Yunjing nodded slightly. "By the way, were all the cultivators of the Thousand Faces Sect truly wiped out?"
"It's hard to say." Xiao Tianxing his forehead, feeling helpless.
"The Devil Cultivator of the Thousand Faces Sect are extremely skilled at disguise. Although the Thousand Faces Sect was destroyed back then, it is unknown whether some of the Devil Cultivator of the Thousand Faces Sect had already disguised themselves outside and had not revealed their identities."
If so, then...
Li Yunjing fell silent. If there was such a thing, it meant that the Thousand Faces Sect's lineage had not been broken.
The Devil Cultivator currently within the Taiyi Immortal Sect are very likely to be Devil Cultivator from the Thousand Faces Sect!
"It seems the demonic path's conspiracy began long ago." Li Yunjing's tone grew increasingly grave.
"Senior Brother Xiao, you'd better be careful in future assessments."
Xiao Tianxing nodded. "I understand."
The two whispered for a long time, agreeing on a secret code for communication during the assessment and a plan for handling emergencies.
It wasn't until the moon was high in the sky that Li Yunjing got up to take his leave, disappearing silently into the night as he had come.