"Who knows? Perhaps he had been planning it all along and truly possessed the exact coordinates of a lost interface, or perhaps some accident occurred and he fled into one inadvertently. But the fact that this traitor was able to escape our Jiuyuan Observatory's pursuit so easily while carrying the treasure clearly means someone was pulling strings behind the scenes. Otherwise, even if you gave him a hundred times his courage, he would never have dared to rebel against our Observatory." The black-faced Daoist seemed to have thought of something as he spoke in a meaningful tone.
"There's nothing to guess about. It's most likely that the person behind it all is one of those who personally intervened to block your Grand Master." The woman let out a cold laugh.
The black-faced Daoist nodded, clearly of the same opinion.
"Enough. Matters at your Grand Master's level are not something you or I can interfere with. What I'm more curious about is — if there truly is a way to send someone to the lost interface, which disciple would the Observatory send to the lower realm? Nephew-Disciple Li, would you have any interest in that?" The purple-robed woman suddenly asked with a light laugh.
"Aunt-Master jests! With my meager cultivation, I'm hardly suited for such a heavy responsibility. Besides, those senior brothers of ours who know nothing of worldly affairs would most likely be unsuited for this task as well. That traitor's cultivation is extraordinary — he was already among the top disciples of his generation in the Observatory. While he may seem unable to even protect himself in the lower realm now, we can't rule out the possibility that he's deliberately feigning weakness. Moreover, if he truly has been suppressed down there, that wouldn't be good news either. It would mean that world harbors an existence of formidable power, and an ordinary disciple sent down there, if lacking in both cunning and cultivation, would not necessarily be able to intimidate the strong ones of that realm and accomplish the mission successfully." The black-faced Daoist waved his hands repeatedly as he spoke.
"Oh? If that's how you put it, then we can only choose from among those disciples who frequently travel the outside world. Nephew-Disciple Zhu and Nephew-Disciple Wu are both outstanding among them — they should be the most likely candidates, wouldn't you say?" The purple-robed woman spoke with a half-smile.
"Senior Brother Zhu and Junior Brother Wu — one is steady and composed, the other resourceful and adaptable. Both are certainly fine candidates, but compared to another person, they still fall somewhat short." The black-faced Daoist's eyes flashed as he spoke with a hint of something unusual in his tone.
"Another person? You mean..." The purple-roled woman was taken aback.
"Aunt-Master may not yet have heard the news — Senior Brother Ma has already completed his wall-facing confinement and come out." The black-faced Daoist said slowly.
"What? That rascal Ma Liang has finished his punishment? How come I haven't received any word of it?" The smile vanished entirely from the purple-robed woman's face upon hearing this.
"I only found out a few days ago myself, when I happened to run into a junior brother from the Observatory outside. Very few people actually know about this now. And given Senior Brother Ma's cultivation and methods, there's a strong possibility the Senior Uncles will send him on this important mission." The black-faced Daoist said gravely.
"Hmph, that's not necessarily the case. Ma Liang's strength is considerable, but his temperament is far too extreme. To refine a single treasure in the past, he once conducted a blood sacrifice on hundreds of millions of living beings in some small nation of the lower realm, causing who knows how much trouble for our Observatory. If it weren't for your Grand Master — who valued his exceptional talent and the many great services he had rendered to the Observatory — the matter would never have been settled with merely ten thousand years of wall-facing confinement. If he were truly sent to a lost interface where no one could interfere, I fear it would provoke an even greater disaster." The purple-robed woman said coldly.
"Aunt-Master makes a fair point. But Aunt-Master must not forget how important that item in the traitor's possession is to our Observatory and Grand Master. Just for the sake of recovering it, the Senior Uncles would very likely allow him to descend and capture that traitor." The black-faced Daoist chuckled.
"With those old fellows' temperament, there really is such a possibility. If it truly is Ma Liang who descends to the lower realm, even though his cultivation and magical power will be suppressed, with his methods, retrieving that item would be a near certainty. Forget it — this isn't something for you and me to meddle with. You're merely a minor task-keeping disciple, and I'm nothing more than a nominal Palace Mistress. But no matter which disciple they send down, I expect it will require your Grand Master's personal approval. By then, there may yet be further changes. However, once you truly have exact information about the interface where that traitor is located, don't forget to inform me." The purple-roled woman thought for a moment before speaking.
"Yes, Nephew-Disciple will certainly do his utmost." The black-faced Daoist replied respectfully.
"Is there anything else? If not, I'm going to rest." The purple-roled woman asked noncommittally.
"That is all I came to report today — there is nothing else. Nephew-Disciple will take his leave." The black-faced Daoist rose to his feet and bowed upon hearing this.
The purple-robed woman simply gave a slight nod, seemingly having lost all interest in conversation.
The black-faced Daoist took his leave and turned toward the grand doors.
The instant his feet stepped beyond the threshold, spatial ripples shimmered, and his entire figure vanished into thin air.
The next moment, the black-faced Daoist found his vision brighten as he reappeared on the grassland. The surrounding trees were exactly as before — only behind him was there nothing but empty space, with not a trace of the palace or the purple-robed woman to be seen.
The black-faced Daoist glanced back twice, then stepped forward without hesitation, following the garden path he had come by.
A quarter of an hour later, a dragon's cry echoed before the massive gates of the Golden Radiance Immortal Palace. A blue ice wyrm soared into the sky once more, flickering several times before vanishing behind the distant peaks.
At the same time, in the mysterious hall, the purple-robed woman remained seated in her chair in contemplation. After a good while, she murmured to herself with a cold smile: "A lost interface... Ma Liang... Heh, this works well enough..."
Her voice gradually trailed off to an inaudible whisper. A halo of radiance swept across her body, and her figure blurred and disappeared.
……
The Spirit World, within a restricted area of Fuling Mountain.
The white-robed elder, Han Li, Mo Jianli, Xue Ran, and the other Mahayana-stage powerhouses stood before an enormous magical formation.
The formation was roughly an acre in size. Not only was its entire surface inscribed with gold and silver spirit patterns, but each corner was studded with neatly arranged top-grade spirit stones of various colors — well over a hundred of them.
Behind them, further away, the bald man and the other eight Integration-stage Spirit Clan members stood at respectful attention.
Han Li and most of the others quietly observed the massive formation with their gaze, while the white-robed elder looked up at the sky, holding a compass-like magic artifact in one hand while forming seal gestures with the other, as if calculating something.
"It's almost time. If we depart now, the timing will be just right." The white-robed elder's expression shifted slightly, and he stopped his finger gestures as he spoke.
"Very well. Mo and the others won't stand on ceremony." Mo Jianli's spirits lifted upon hearing this, and he strode toward the formation with great steps.