It was a long time before the sightseeing bus reached the Office of Strategic Deception’s northern square. This square was where all the sect disciples of the Office of Strategic Deception did their morning exercise. It was hideously big, stretching as far as the eye could see… And most importantly, the Office of Strategic Deception still had three more squares like this.

　　Lu Youming and the other sect heads were all hit one after another.

　　This sect was just blatantly flaunting its wealth, wasn’t it?!

　　Jealousy was truly a scary thing, and even Void Refinement big shot sect leaders couldn’t escape it. Cultivators could expel toxins and impurities from their bodies as well as purify their spirits through cultivation, but they couldn’t completely eradicate the emotions and desires of the heart.

　　In a sense, a person who could completely abandon all emotions and desires would have already lost his soul as a human being…

　　After bringing the sect leaders to the northern square, Professor Yang looked at the time and said, “There’s still half an hour to the opening ceremony. Everyone else is still on the way. Since you are our Office of Strategic Deception’s VIP guests, the sightseeing bus took the green passage just now. The wooden house next to the square is a guest teahouse which has drinks and pastries. Sect leaders, please help yourself.”

　　“Alright, many thanks, Professor Yang.” Lu Youming nodded.

　　Actually, while he had been speaking, Professor Yang had already noticed that a few of the sect heads seemed to have disappeared…

　　Hm, they had probably gone to carry out their plan.

　　But Professor Yang didn’t raise the alert or even ask any questions, and simply turned a blind eye.

　　Conversely, however, it was this display which made Lu Youming very uneasy.

　　Because everything was proceeding too smoothly…

　　On the way here, Lu Youming had already felt that something wasn’t right with Professor Yang’s expression; it felt like the other side had already learned about their operation…

　　Lu Youming was restless as he sat inside the guest teahouse on the edge of the northern square and gazed out the window.

　　At that moment, a new message popped up in the Alliance chat group.

　　Everything was already in place.

　　Sect Leader Sun had led four other sect heads to the location specified by that Long clan descendant senior.

　　Sun Hanzhe: “President Lu, we’ve already set up the transmission crystals!”

　　“They look a little like the type used especially for summons. Who knows what this senior will summon later.” A few of the sect leaders started speculating in the group. On the other side of the screen, Lu Youming could sense their excitement.

　　“The few of you, come back quickly…” Lu Youming said nothing more.

　　The place where the transmission crystals were set up actually wasn’t far from the northern square.

　　“President Lu, can it be that you’re scared?” Sun Hanzhe laughed. “Lord President, don’t worry. We’re using invisibility talismans, and the other side can’t see us at all. When I placed the crystals down just now, some people whom I assume are sect disciples of the Office of Strategic Deception walked past me, but didn’t notice me!”

　　Lu Youming sighed and swiftly typed, “Everyone, remember that the reason we agreed to this in the first place was because there’s basically no risk involved and it’s something we can do in passing. But even then, be a little more prudent; nothing good comes out of going too wild…”

　　“Ha ha ha! Lord President, you’re too cautious. We’ll be right back!” Sect Leader Sun said.

　　This Sect Leader Sun was clearly completely unaware of how dangerous the situation was.

　　While President Lu was waiting in the teahouse, Professor Yang walked in with a silk pouch, his face all smiles. “Sect Leader Lu, I forgot to give you this earlier!”

　　Lu Youming: “This silk pouch is…?”

　　Professor Yang: “We have gifts for all the distinguished guests who’ve come to our sect this time. There are seventeen pieces of green jade inside this silk pouch. Sect Leader Lu can hand them out.”

　　Lu Youming’s forehead was still sweating.

　　He had been startled when Yang Bingchuan suddenly came in.

　　“Then many thanks, Professor Yang… But this green jade probably isn’t simply an ornament, is it?”

　　“Of course.” Professor Yang nodded. “When you wear this jade, it can gather a fixed amount of spirit energy as there is a small spirit-gathering array embedded in it. Additionally, these jade pieces are also ID tags for our Office of Strategic Deception’s VIP guests. Our sect’s protective barrier was activated ten minutes ago, but as long as you carry this jade on you, you’ll be able to bypass some of the restrictions.”

　　“Re- restrictions?”

　　“All large sects basically have a protective barrier, don’t they? After entering a sect’s protective barrier, you’re restricted from flying, casting spells, and so forth. Does Sect Leader Lu’s sect not have one?”

　　“Mm… of course it does…” Lu Youming was sweating.

　　He had been observing every single movement in his surroundings from the teahouse, but completely hadn’t sensed the Office of Strategic Deception’s protective barrier being activated… How brilliant was the array maker, for that to be possible? To actually mask his movements to the point that there wasn’t the least bit activity?

　　President Lu vaguely felt that things weren’t looking good…

　　Just as he was about to send a text to Sect Leader Sun and the others to hurry up and come back, Professor Yang continued, “May I trouble Sect Leader Lu to please hand the jade pieces out as quickly as possible? The protective barrier is now active. If you’re not wearing this jade, not only will you be subjected to flight and spell restrictions within the sect, even the talismans you carry on you won’t work!”

　　Lu Youming: “…”

　　…

　　On the other side, on the top of a mountain not far from the northern square, Sect Leader Sun led four other sect heads as they completed their mission of setting up the crystals. However, they weren’t in a hurry to leave.

　　It took them just five minutes to set up these crystals, and there were still twenty-five minutes left to the start of the opening ceremony.

　　When they passed through here earlier, they unexpectedly discovered a natural hot spring halfway up the mountain; this hot spring was currently under the jurisdiction of the Office of Strategic Deception’s hot springs team.

　　“This Office of Strategic Deception really has a lot of trade!” All the sect leaders were deeply jealous.

　　Because the Office of Strategic Deception had over fifty natural hot springs like this one…

　　All kinds of supply chains, and abundant and diverse resources for the development of the sect… the Office of Strategic Deception had brought together almost all current sect businesses. This sect was simply like a paradise; who wouldn’t want to come here?

　　After setting up the crystals, Sect Leader Sun received a message from President Lu urging him to hurry up and go back.

　　Standing on the edge of the cliff as the wind blew, Sect Leader Sun looked down at the magnificent Office of Strategic Deception below, and felt unsatisfied in his heart.

　　He wondered how long the Office of Strategic Deception could be complacent for…

　　“President Lu urged us to go back. To be on the safe side, let’s take a shortcut.” Sect Leader Sun let out a long breath.

　　“Alright!” The other sect leaders nodded.

　　“Then, who’s first?” Sect Leader Sun asked.

　　They were all at the Void Refinement stage, so they planned to jump straight down from here.

　　“How about together?”

　　“Alright.” Sect Leader Sun nodded.

　　Then they all jumped.

　　They were using invisibility talismans, and thought that no one would see them jump off the cliff.

　　But they had no idea at all that the sect’s protective barrier had already been activated.

　　So, as they were falling, they noticed that something wasn’t right about the situation…

　　Because they realized that there was actually a group of reporters holding all types of recording equipment at the bottom of the cliff.

　　These reporters were on their way to the northern square…