As the celebrations were a day away from starting, Wu Long comfortably sat at the end of a half-dark long room, which normally was used for meetings, but now was empty.

The last direct rays of light disappeared over the horizon, leaving the Sect in a very brief moment between dusk and darkness.

Butler Bang finished making tea, serving it to the small table near Wu Long and then standing to the side.

“Boss”

Old Yen appeared in the room without making any noise, getting on one knee on the floor without delay.

“Mm, good work during the final battle.

Raise your head. As I already told you, no need for such formal bows. How is the progress?”

Wu Long nodded, taking the teacup and opening the lid, letting the aroma of the tea fill his lungs.

“Yes.

We have tracked the remaining forces of the Alchemy Tower, eliminating them as we went.

The Golden Ox Trading Company has been completely dismantled, and is ready for Lady Sui to acquire its merchandise stocks and other capital assets”

Old Yen stood up and, placing his hands together in front of him, proceeded to report.

“Hmm, merchandise aside, the other assets, especially land, are better off liquidated into cash. But that’ll be arranged by Luxiao.

What of the other task?”

Wu Long sipped his tea and nodded.

“We have tracked and located all Lust Cultivators who went into hiding last year after the destruction of the Supreme Master Pavilion, and also identified those who were hidden among the masses in other Kingdoms and Empire like the first one you met.

As you instructed, we have not made any actions against any of them”

Old Yen spoke with a bit of confusion as Wu Long only asked to identify and locate the targets without eliminating them.

“Hmm, very good.

You can give that information directly to Min’er.

She has a group of ladies who need to get some real world experience, including combat, and would also greatly benefit from some form of closure”

Wu Long nodded with a smile as Old Yen finally understood, shuddering as he remembered seeing the “group of ladies” Wu Long spoke about.

Named “Veiled Sentinels” by Shen Min, and nicknamed as “Shen Min’s Invisible Hand” by Hua Ziyan and Luo Mingyu, it was a group especially selected by her from the victims of the Supreme Master Pavilion.

They were then trained in the utmost secrecy by her with support from Wu Long, both in increasing their cultivations and strength, but also receiving guidance from her to conceal their emotions and intentions, blending in and manipulating their surroundings into making them look harmless.

Outside of Wu Long’s Dao Family, only Old Yen and Butler Bang knew about their existence, as they would be later entering all forces that follow Wu Long and his women.

The cold, merciless gazes of those women during combat training, heavily contrasting with their innocent, meek, naive and even somewhat vulnerable demeanor in normal times, gave even Old Yen a chill.

Lately, as Xue Bing joined the Dao Family, Shen Min was considering asking her for help in training them as she was also sensitive to emotional state and could give them more insight from another viewpoint.

However, it was undeniable that they already were a formidable force in their own right.

“Understood”

Old Yen lowered his head with a bead of sweat going down the side of his face.

“Now, on to the next report”

Wu Long placed the empty teacup on the small table beside his chair, and Butler Bang moved to take it away.

“Yes, the main forces of Transcendents fighting against the Azure Eagles in the final battle were defeated as you predicted.

After all without Gu Zhen they were not enemies to the Spiritual Beasts, not to mention that they were lacking members who were sent to the other places, while the Azure Eagles gathered all their allies”

Old Yen nodded, moving on to the report he gathered in this time.

“It is just… as you suspected from the time of arrival of the Azure Eagles in the Alchemy Tower headquarters, they did not finish everyone off.

As soon as they tipped the scales of the battle in their favor and ensured their victory, they left the rest to their human Transcendent allies who vastly outnumbered their opponents, and left to later meet with you.

Most of Gu Zhen’s Transcendent allies were cornered and killed, but there were two who did manage to break out from the encirclement, and flee.

The witness reports have their traces leaving this continent in the direction of the Cloud Piercing Continent”

Butler Bang came back with a new cup of tea that Wu Long accepted with a nod, as Old Yen proceeded with the report.

Wu Long’s eyebrows slightly frowned at having his suspicions confirmed, as the rash actions of the Azure Eagles led to unfortunate consequences.

“Haa~ I just knew when I saw them that they were a bit too early to have already won the battle…

So, who’s left?”

He sighed as he now had a small problem to worry about, since he planned to leave for the Wood Spirit Continent with his ladies not long after the celebration.

“Yes, it is the Golden Ox Mercenary Corps leader, Ma Hui, and the leader of the Golden Ox Trading Company Dong Shuo”

Old Yen’s words made a light of annoyance appear in Wu Long’s eyes.

“Tch, it just had to be the most troublesome combo.

If it was just Ma Hui, he would have likely already surfaced to try and kill me.

That man is not the brightest one, after all, but holds a grudge.

However, the shrewd one next to him needs Ma Hui as muscle, and has connections all over that continent as he traded with them.

He is likely to keep Ma Hui from acting rashly and find a refuge for the two of them, as they wait for their chance…”

Wu Long traced his chin as he thought about this small inconvenience.

While they were not someone he considered dangerous, that was only in his perspective, as the two could bring great devastation to Mortals.

Not to mention that he did not like leaving even small factors of concern, as they could, and from his experience had the tendency to, surface at the worst timing possible.

“Hmm, it seems I will need to visit the Cloud Piercing Continent directly after Wood Spirit Continent, a bit ahead of time.

I should try and advance my cultivation further before that though”

Wu Long nodded as he thought out loud while Old Yen and Butler Bang widened their eyes.

In their view, Wu Long already had nothing to fear on all Three Continents, but unexpectedly was cautions about the Cloud Piercing Continent even now.

“Anyway, you did a good job both in the last year and especially in the past few weeks.

Take a good rest, and use this opportunity to unwind. Enjoy some wine and good food, as there will be busy days ahead.

You two, Butler Bang, make sure to relax for a bit”

Wu Long stood up, giving the two a look of praise for the good work.

“Thank you, Young Master”

“Thank you, Boss”

Both knew that he would not accept objections like “I don’t need rest”, so they simply bowed cupping their hands to acknowledge his words.

“Boss…”

However, as Wu Long moved toward the exit, Old Yen’s voice reluctantly resounded behind his back.

“If you let this subordinate act after the celebrations,

I can travel to the Cloud Piercing Continent ahead of time to locate the two, as well as keep an eye on them in case they move…”

He proposed as Wu Long stopped and turned to listen.

The latter touched his chin in thought as the idea was not bad.

Communication talismans did not work between continents only because of the anomaly in the Central Sea.

But as they now had a Grand Formation of the Brilliant Sun Temple in the Northern Islands which was connected into the network of Formations on this continent, it was possible to make special communication talismans that worked through the Formations instead of directly, bypassing around the Central Sea.

It only required adding a small touch to the main Formation beneath the Sect which was not at all a problem for Lian Zhiqiu.

Old Yen would have to find a secure spot to bury an array circle somewhere on the Western part of the Cloud Piercing Continent, to act as a relay point, and Lian Zhiqiu could add some more while they passed through the Southern Archipelago and the Wood Spirit Continent, effectively creating a communication network.

“Hmm, I will think about it, but it is a good idea.

You would have to be extra careful though, act mainly through the hired hands and not directly.

You also can’t act freely there, maintaining as low profile as possible and under no circumstances try to do more than just gain information on the two”

Wu Long spoke, looking Old Yen directly in the eyes to underscore how serious his instructions were to be taken.

“Understood, thank you for giving me this chance, Boss”

Old Yen bowed again, as Wu Long nodded and left the room.

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