Inside a dimly lit altar chamber hidden deep within a mountain, several figures sat around a dark stone table, their expressions blank with confusion and frustration.
"How did that woman arrive at the destination on time and completely unscathed? Where were your people? They were supposed to intercept her halfway."
"I don't know, and we couldn't contact them no matter what method we tried. Their soul tokens have gone dark. Could someone have been secretly protecting her? But those were three seasoned Nascent Soul cultivators, a team that could even put up a decent fight against an early Divine Transformation expert if they coordinated well."
"Hmm."
The hall fell into a heavy silence as everyone exchanged wary glances before their collective focus settled on one individual dressed in alliance officer robes.
"I don't know either. I saw the mission appear on the public board myself. The issuance procedure was completely normal and wouldn't attract any special attention. Given her known strength, handling a minor Golden Core level impurity beast swarm shouldn't be an issue for her, so... did they betray us? Run off with the resources?"
The group looked at each other in utter confusion, utterly baffled despite racking their brains. What was even stranger was that after Lin Yao returned from the mission, she didn't say a word about the ambush, simply submitting the standard mission report about eliminating the Filth Beasts without mentioning the attempted assassination at all.
This behavior left the conspirators completely perplexed. After eliminating all other impossible explanations, only the least likely possibility remained, betrayal. But how could they possibly dare?
They were all bound by vicious soul contracts preventing any information leaks. The reason they didn't normally fear betrayal was simple, at their level, everyone understood their master's terrifying greatness. Betrayal would mean not just their own deaths, but their entire clans and descendants becoming future blood sacrifices upon the master's awakening.
Moreover, these three individuals were considered core members, perhaps not the strongest in combat, but certainly among the most loyal. As the group speculated wildly with no clear answer, in another secluded pocket dimension Su Min had created, Su Min expressionlessly tossed a headless corpse aside before turning her attention to the two remaining unconscious figures tied up behind her.
Soul Search Technique.
This was Su Min's first time using this forbidden method to directly extract memories from a living person's mind. A minor mishap had occurred with the first subject, she'd been slightly too forceful, triggering their soul contract's self destruct mechanism and causing their head to explode like an overripe watermelon.
With a resigned sigh, Su Min reminded herself to be more careful and gentle with the next two. It was a delicate process, like performing brain surgery with spiritual energy.
The other two remained deeply unconscious, which suited her purposes perfectly. She'd used this opportunity not just to gather information but to test the limits and triggers of their soul contracts. This initial attempt had already yielded significant intelligence about their organization's structure, and future attempts would undoubtedly reveal even more.
Most importantly, Su Min made a major discovery from the fragmented memories, they were actively preserving several Kirin eggs deep within one of their bases.
However, their exact location remained frustratingly unclear, obscured by mental blocks. Turning her attention to the remaining captives, Su Min willed one to float before her, her fingers glowing with a soft, dangerous light as she prepared for a more refined attempt.
Thirty minutes later...
"This is the limit. I can't extract more information without triggering the destruction sequence. Their minds are too heavily warded."
Surveying the three now headless corpses, Su Min snapped her fingers, a pale flame erupting to reduce the bodies to fine ashes before she flew away from the isolated pocket dimension. These three had been relatively core members, though not the absolute innermost circle, that level required at least Divine Transformation cultivation. Still, they'd provided valuable, actionable intelligence.
Soon, guided by the harvested memory fragments, Su Min arrived at a concealed mountain site far from any civilization. After navigating a series of winding, hidden paths shielded by illusion arrays, she reached a small, seemingly natural cave entrance.
"So this is one of their bases, a hollowed out section of the mountain core. The surrounding terrain and magnetic fields provide natural camouflage. No wonder it's so hard to find from the air or with spiritual senses."
The hiding spot was exceptionally well chosen. Without prior knowledge from the soul search, even she, with her enhanced Dao Comprehension stage perception, might have missed it. Her decision to avoid direct, brute force confrontation had been correct, subtlety was clearly the better approach here.
"Time, stand still here!!!"
Instantly, the flow of time froze across the entire mountain and its hidden interior. As a Dao Comprehension stage expert, when Su Min chose to operate covertly, only Unity stage powerhouses or specially crafted powerful detection arrays could potentially detect the subtle spiritual ripples of her presence.
In that frozen moment, Su Min became a ghost, traversing the entire base unseen, reaching a central altar chamber where she made a startling discovery.
In the deepest, most heavily warded chamber, resting on a pedestal of black jade, lay two pulsating eggs, one glowing with a warm red light, the other with a cool blue light, each emanating the distinctive, pure auras of divine beasts.
"Fire Kirin and Water Kirin eggs? Truly... How did these people even manage to infiltrate the Kirin ancestral grounds to steal these?"
Muttering to herself in disbelief, Su Min hesitated for a long moment, warring with her instincts, before ultimately leaving without touching them. Reappearing outside the mountain, she released the time freeze.
"Time, resume its flow."
With another thought, normal time resumed for the base and its inhabitants before she vanished in a streak of light. The eggs would remain safe for now, and Su Min had good reason for her restraint, she needed to avoid alerting the enemy that their security had been breached.
Finding a secluded spot miles away, she began rummaging through her spatial ring for suitable materials.
"These high grade spirit jades and aura mimicking talismans should work, I'll make some convincing fake eggs to replace them with."
Working with swift, practiced movements, Su Min assembled the components. As a master artificer and alchemist, she didn't strictly need reference formulas for something like this, especially for superficial replicas meant to fool spiritual scans, not actual incubation. Within minutes, two convincing looking "eggs" rested in her hands, thrumming with copied auras.
"I'm really going all out here, using infused ostrich eggs as the base. I wonder how the Kirin elders would react if they knew I swapped their precious, sacred eggs with oversized bird eggs."
The processed eggs were visually and aura wise indistinguishable from the originals to anyone below the Dao Comprehension stage, unless someone actually tried hatching them. Not that these fakes would ever produce ostriches anyway, they were just spiritual constructs.
Repeating her time stop maneuver, Su Min slipped back into the base and replaced the genuine eggs in the blink of a frozen second. The temporal freeze and swap went completely undetected by the stationed guards. Her methods made her a ghost, surpassing any legendary thief's techniques. By the time she departed with the real eggs securely in her possession, no one in the base had noticed anything amiss.
Returning to Lin Yao's quarters at the fortress, Su Min contemplated the two genuine Kirin eggs now floating before her with a growing headache. She had no idea how to properly incubate them, she couldn't exactly sit on them like a mother hen. Divine beast incubation methods were a complex art, completely different from mundane creatures. The Eastern Mulberry Continent's natural fire veins served as the Golden Crow's incubation grounds, but the specific methods for Kirin remained a mystery to her.
"I'll have to consult the dragon girl and Little Golden Crow later. They might know something. Better not experiment randomly and accidentally cook them."
Storing the eggs carefully in a special temporal spatial artifact, a self contained pocket dimension with limited capacity but perfect for preservation, Su Min turned her attention back to Lin Yao, a new plan forming.
"Mission one accomplished. Now to discuss phase two, using Lin Yao as bait since they're so determined to see her dead."
Having fully embraced the role of a schemer, Su Min felt no moral qualms about continuing her covert operations. In fact, she'd grown quite comfortable and effective in her role as a "scheming master" (or as some might say, an 'old six').
As Su Min lounged comfortably on the bed, snacking on Lin Yao's personal stash of provisions, the woman herself returned, looking dust covered and weary from her mission.
"I submitted the report exactly as you said, without mentioning the ambush at all. There must be high level moles within the alliance with direct access to the mission distribution systems, probably over a hundred individuals at the Nascent Soul level or above have that clearance. It's impossible to identify who specifically it was."
Like Su Min, Lin Yao doubted the low level mission notifier was the culprit, that would be far too obvious. The conspiracy clearly ran deep, its roots potentially extending into the upper echelons of the five great families themselves. With Su Min's backing, Lin Yao feared no direct physical threat, but the political aftermath of a purge concerned her. The alliance, flawed as it was, maintained crucial order against the impurity beasts. If Su Min acted too overtly or harshly, it could collapse the entire defensive system.
"This actually works well for us. They're probably utterly baffled about what happened to their team and are conducting frantic internal investigations right now. Let them waste their energy. No need for us to rush."
Noticing Lin Yao's underlying anxiety, Su Min offered a rare bit of reassurance before studying the woman from head to toe with a thoughtful, calculating intensity. The intense scrutiny made Lin Yao shiver involuntarily, but it also stirred a thread of excitement. She anticipated Su Min taking some kind of drastic action, perhaps repeating the harsh, unconventional training methods of the past. Unfortunately for any latent masochistic tendencies, Su Min's personal eccentricities didn't extend in that direction.
"Your cultivation base is still too low for what's coming. How about another round of intensive training with me? I have some new ideas."
"Ah..."
Lin Yao hesitated, a conflict clear on her face, before shaking her head with genuine regret.
"Oh? Something more important than power?"
Su Min tilted her head curiously, her interest piqued.
"I need to... I need to see my mother to her final rest. Her time is nearing its end."
"I see."
Su Min nodded, her expression softening with a rare hint of understanding. The tribulation of longevity was every cultivator's inevitable trial, watching mortals age and pass while they remained. Her own sect had many elders who faced similar struggles, as unresolved emotional attachments could create heart demons and hinder future breakthroughs.
"How is your family situation now?"
True cultivation, in Su Min's view, didn't require severing all emotions, but rather mastering them, understanding certain desires without becoming enslaved by them.
Lin Yao's father had likely passed some years ago, his severe original injuries and prolonged deterioration had been beyond even Su Min's advanced healing capabilities. Her mother, though previously worn down by overwork, now enjoyed a comfortable retirement thanks to Su Min's financial interventions and would likely live another decade or so in relative peace.
For a Golden Core cultivator like Lin Yao with centuries ahead of her, this timeline was manageable. Moreover, not entering long term closed door cultivation didn't necessarily preclude progress. Su Min privately estimated that once this chapter of Lin Yao's life closed, she could rapidly advance to the late Golden Core stage, preparing for her Nascent Soul breakthrough.
"My mother, and my ten year old brother... I've prepared plenty of resources and money for him, set up trusts, but his innate spiritual talent is limited. Reaching Foundation Establishment will be his absolute peak, if he can even manage that."
"..."
Su Min gave her a long, strange look, a complex emotion flickering in her eyes, but said nothing more on the subject. It was the way of things.
"In that case, focus on your missions and your family for now. The more you go out on assignments, the more opportunities we give them to make a move. Remember, I left powerful spiritual safeguards in your body. If you're in mortal danger, burn your essence blood as a signal, and I'll come immediately."
"..."
Now it was Lin Yao's turn for shock, her mouth slightly agape. Su Min's cultivation level was undoubtedly far beyond the Divine Transformation stage, yet every Divine Transformation expert she'd ever encountered carried themselves with an imposing dignity and grandeur, speaking in profound proverbs.
Her mentor's... decidedly unconventional and straightforward methods stood in stark contrast.
"Understood. I will, Senior."
She kept her bewildered thoughts to herself, resolved to follow Su Min's instructions to the letter. Little did she know, Su Min cared nothing for such pretenses and posturing. Those Divine Transformation experts maintained their lofty appearances precisely because they lacked absolute, overwhelming strength, something Su Min didn't need to worry about.
When she'd single handedly destroyed the mighty Future Maitreya Mountain as a mere Divine Transformation cultivator, she'd done so by uniting a massive coalition and using overwhelming force. Image was irrelevant when you possessed real, undeniable power. As for her current scheming tactics, well, had she confronted her enemies directly back in those early days, certain hidden old monsters might have emerged to kill her before she grew too strong.
Reflecting on this, Lin Yao grew quietly excited. There was something uniquely thrilling about operating from the shadows, leaving enemies bewildered and paranoid, how did their people die, why did their plans fail, all while they remained clueless about the true threat. And it was by far the safest approach, letting enemies walk into prepared traps while conserving one's own energy. As one seasoned scheming master and her newly enthusiastic apprentice happily set their trap, events unfolded exactly as predicted in a different, hidden location.
"No trace of them. Their clans and families know nothing either. They've just vanished. That branch altar showed no signs of struggle or intrusion. Did they encounter an alliance law enforcement patrol?"
"Impossible. The alliance high command knows nothing of our operation, I would have been informed. Unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless my cover has been blown! That girl has attracted the attention of someone much higher up!"
"Eh?"
"That's the only explanation! Many of the great families want to arrange marriages with their most promising descendants to her bloodline."
"But she's refused them all, publicly and firmly."
"Exactly! Which means she must have special, direct channels to report to certain powerful elders who have now begun secret investigations into the leaks. I can't transmit any more intelligence during this period, it's too risky."
"So be it... We'll go dark for now."
The group could only sigh in resigned frustration. If they couldn't find their people, they'd likely been secretly eliminated by this unknown protector. The woman must carry some powerful figure's spiritual token for summoning immediate help.
This seemed the only plausible explanation that fit the facts.
As for Su Min herself as a variable, they weren't completely unaware of her. Her recent activities had caused significant spiritual disturbances, but they'd only observed her from a distance twice, first when she emerged from nowhere to slay the Dao Comprehension stage beast, and then during her recent breakthrough that shook the planet's environment.
They logically assumed she'd already returned to her home realm after her business was done, given her complete disinterest in this world's resources and population. This formed a critical mental blind spot for them, they never seriously considered her continued involvement. Moreover, Lin Yao's growth from a nobody to a genius had been thoroughly documented and monitored. Her unique physique was formidable, but her background was verifiably clean, no one suspected a transcendent existence like Su Min stood behind her.
"What do we do now?"
Having resolved to lay low for a while, the conspirators continued planning their next moves in hushed tones.
"I heard she has a living mother and a younger brother. Should we target them? Apply pressure?"
"No, that's far too obvious and crude. Important figures' direct families receive strict, round the clock protection from the alliance. Attacking them would be a declaration of war and would almost certainly risk exposing my position."
The black clad mole spoke decisively. As their highest placed agent within the alliance leadership, his safety and cover took absolute priority. The group fell into a contemplative, frustrated silence.
"New report just came through the official channels, she's accepted another low level mission, a patrol near the western glacier zone. Her security clearance and access level remain completely unchanged."
"This..."
The new development baffled them. Was it possible the woman genuinely knew nothing about what happened? Was their team's disappearance just a bizarre, unrelated incident?
"Should we strike again? Our master's arrival is still centuries away. Leaving a talent like her unchecked is too great a risk."
"Not yet. Not until we understand what happened. I'll observe the situation further. Next time, if we get another clean opportunity, we'll send three Divine Transformation experts. Even if she has a powerful guardian, unless it's a Dao Comprehension expert themselves, no one could stop three Divine Transformation attackers from eliminating a single Golden Core cultivator. Unfortunately, while the alliance has over a dozen Divine Transformation cultivators on paper, none have reached even the half step to Dao Comprehension."
The mole's sinister, confident smile prompted grim nods from the others. They held the qualitative advantage.
Years of secret accumulation had given them nearly half the alliance's total Divine Transformation numbers, but more importantly, theirs were of higher average quality. They avoided open conflict primarily because of the impurity beasts, these corrupted creatures were their master's future "dining provisions," like herds maintained by nomadic tribes.
The alliance's role in managing and culling the impurity beast populations made it a useful tool, for now. But potential threats to their long term plan needed elimination, especially geniuses who could change the balance of power rapidly. Unaware that true Dao Comprehension experts couldn't traverse the unstable dimensional rifts to this world, they never considered certain possibilities.
"Prepare the assets for a second operation, but wait at least a year. Let the heat die down. That woman is also facing the longevity tribulation with her mother and won't be entering long term closed door cultivation or making any major breakthroughs soon... right?"
The speaker sounded uncertain by the end, but no one in the room contradicted him. The ways of geniuses were often inscrutable.
Meanwhile, inside the Earth Method Qiankun Gourd...
Thud!
Lin Yao slammed hard into the packed earth of the training dimension, embedding herself a few inches into the ground.
[Earth Method Qiankun Gourd (Earth Grade High Tier): Contains a special, stabilized miniature space capable of withstanding battle fluctuations up to the Nascent Soul stage.]
"How does it feel? Don't rely too much on your Netherworld Ghost Flame's inherent corrosion. Against experts with strong spiritual defenses, it's not an instant win."
Looking down at the battered and bruised Lin Yao, Su Min allowed a small, teasing smile. With time to spare while waiting for the enemy to make a move, she'd decided to help further strengthen Lin Yao's foundation through a brutal five elements tempering process, cycling the pure energies of her four divine artifacts through Lin Yao's body.
"Why does the Nanming Lihuo completely overpower mine when both are supposed to be heavenly divine flames? Isn't that unfair?"
Despite the beating, Lin Yao felt exhilarated by the progress, only the complete suppression of her own flame frustrated her. Heavenly divine flames had no inherent ranking, each was unique and excelled in different areas. Her Netherworld Ghost Flame was terrifying, able to corrode both flesh and soul upon contact, with effects scaling based on the cultivation difference between user and target.
Yet Su Min's flame, while just a manifestation, dominated hers completely in every clash.
"Hmph. You have one heavenly flame. I have four divine treasures that have undergone qualitative evolution."
Su Min chuckled. With the four celestial symbols united within her and four of the five elements of her Holy Body unlocked, her integrated divine artifacts had undergone profound, synergistic leaps in power. Naturally, they could easily overpower a lone heavenly flame. Only the complete, perfected Five Elements Holy Body could potentially harmonize and match them.
"And how can senior host four different divine artifacts without her body exploding? The energy conflicts should be catastrophic!"
This world didn't even have records of the Netherfire Physique, let alone the legendary, rarest of all, the Five Elements Holy Body. Lin Yao's confusion was understandable, as Su Min's very existence defied the conventional wisdom of this world.
"Little girl asks too many questions. Now, stop complaining. Five elements tempering is perfect for the Golden Core stage, it strengthens your foundation comprehensively, which greatly improves your future core shattering and Divine Transformation success rates without damaging your long term potential."
Su Min rolled her eyes, offering no further explanation. Some things were simply beyond current understanding.
"Fine then... Let's continue."
Lin Yao didn't press further, struggling to her feet with a wince. Despite the brutal, physical methods, Su Min's guidance was steadily and visibly improving her control and power density even at the early Golden Core stage. Her teaching philosophy could only be described as "simple and direct", and Lin Yao had lost count of the number of beatings she'd taken over the months.
"Over half a year has passed since the last attack, and they still haven't made a move. Their patience is... impressive."
Helping Lin Yao up with a tendril of spiritual energy, Su Min withdrew her combat aura. Since Lin Yao needed to remain in peak condition to complete her missions and act as bait, Su Min was careful to avoid causing any real, lasting damage. The conspirators' patience was a testament to the different perception of time that high level cultivators possessed, where years could pass in the blink of an eye.
"Indeed. It's almost as if nothing happened at all. My report is just sitting in the archives."
Lin Yao shared the frustration. The waiting game was mentally taxing.
"Annoying. Well, nothing to do but wait for them to slip up."
With a snap of her fingers, Su Min transported them both out of the artifact space and back into Lin Yao's room. She then turned her attention to the two preserved Kirin eggs, floating them before her for study.
Her weeks of research had revealed two key points, first, whatever had initially called to her spiritually resembled these eggs but wasn't either of them, the sensation was similar but distinct, like a different frequency. Second, these eggs contained undeveloped lifeforms, spiritual sparks that were alive but dormant, incapable of communication or conscious thought.
"Meaning there's very likely another Kirin egg somewhere, further along in development, probably with formed embryos."
The earlier psychic call for help had likely come from a more advanced embryo, one capable of sensing danger or having exhausted its own energy reserves trying to survive. This thought reassured Su Min, her initial theories seemed to be correct.
"What I'm truly curious about is that Mahayana expert's identity. To successfully steal eggs directly from the Kirin ancestral grounds... how embarrassingly lax was their security?"
Su Min smirked at the thought. The Kirin ancestral grounds, like the Eastern Mulberry lands of the Golden Crows and the dragonkind's Crystal Palace, were concealed pocket realms attached to her home world, not this minor, backwater realm.
Even a peak Mahayana expert couldn't have located them easily, especially during the era of heavenly restrictions. Only one explanation fit, the eggs had been stolen from the ancestral grounds in her home world, then brought here and deprived of proper incubation to serve as blood sacrifices for the Fallen One's awakening.
This realization brought a wave of relief. Any potential conflict with the Kirin clan might be avoidable after helping them recover their stolen young. Even if the Central Wutu Divine Earth was part of their heritage core, she could rightfully claim it as a reward.
The only remaining downside was, she still didn't know how to incubate the eggs, nor was it certain that hatched, juvenile Kirin would possess the knowledge or authority to help her obtain what she needed.
As Su Min pondered this circular problem, Lin Yao's voice came from outside the room, having just checked her messages.
"Another mission posting, but this one seems... unusual. It's not a standard patrol or beast clearing operation."
"Oh? What's unusual about it?" Su Min asked, dispersing the eggs back into storage.
"An ancient ruin has been identified, believed to be the tomb of a Divine Transformation stage expert from the last era. Preliminary scans indicate it has restrictions that only allow cultivators at or below the Golden Core stage to enter."
"A Divine Transformation expert's tomb? How... quaint."
"Should I accept it? It could be a trap, but the discovery is public knowledge now, many independent cultivators are heading there."
"Go ahead. Such places are typically designed as training grounds for juniors, the restrictions are real. But they can't stop someone like me from observing, or even intervening if needed."
Su Min yawned lazily, already mentally categorizing the tomb as a minor diversion. These sorts of places rarely held any real danger or value to someone of her level, but they were perfect environments for ambitious juniors to prove themselves and find resources. True experts rarely intervened directly in such trials.