No Choice There

The Elders immediately went to go and make the decision. Meanwhile, Sect Master Zhang went to the storage buildings of the sect, stepped inside, and looked at the materials that were waiting there to be used.

Clearly, they had to move a step forward. It might actually be too late now but it was better to do something late than not doing it at all just because they feared it might be too late. The first step should be to not only send more disciples over there but to connect better with the other three righteous sects. For that, having transportation arrays of their own was vital.

He grabbed the materials for one only to furrow his brows. Normally, each sect should give the materials for one array so the strain on each of them wouldn't be that big. But the problem was that their sect was in a peculiar situation. From what the letter had said, the other sects hadn't found anything so far so they might currently be suspicious. Who knew if the other sects would be willing to take out the materials to create these arrays? He couldn't say for sure but since this was something he regarded as indispensable, it would be better to make some kind of peace offering.

He sighed and grabbed another three sets of materials, looking at the things that were left with a pained expression. He knew it was necessary but that still didn't mean that he liked this. It would be so much nicer if he could count on the help of others. Well, maybe he was thinking too much and the other sects wouldn't mind helping out indeed. Then, he would've worried needlessly and the materials would be brought back later on anyway. That would definitely be the best outcome.

He put the materials into an empty spatial bag and then stepped out of the storage building again, returning to his own palace. The first Elders had already returned, two or three of their disciples in tow.

Seeing who exactly they had chosen, Zhang Guan Yu nodded his head, quite satisfied with this. It seemed that the Elders had indeed understood just how grave the situation was. He went to sit down in his seat, nodding at the ones that had already gathered. "It seems that you have made your choice. I would suggest that you set off together with Elder Xing in one group so it will be safer. We can never know if the other side doesn't know about the message that has been sent to us and will try to ambush you."

The Elders and disciples nodded and then stood to the side. Soon enough, the others had also returned.

Zhang Guan Yu motioned at Elder Xing to come over and then handed the spatial bag to him. "These are the materials for a transportation array. I want you to take them back to the border region and then go and discuss with the other sects. I suggest either you or Elder Baili do that personally. This kind of thing can't be haggled over by just the disciples on their own or they won't take it seriously."

Elder Xing nodded and took the spatial bag from him, stashing it away safely. Then, he turned to look at the disciples. "It is time to go then. I hope all of you know what you're getting into."

The disciples nodded and the group finally set off quietly, rushing to the border region at the fastest speed possible. When they finally arrived, it was still the evening of that day already. Today, they definitely couldn't move out anymore. There also wouldn't be a chance to contact the other sects for now. Anything they had to do could only be done starting tomorrow morning.

Elder Xing arranged the accommodations for the disciples and then went to see Elder Baili to discuss what had happened at the sect.

Baili Chao was relieved when he heard that several strong disciples had been sent over. All of them were at least in the middle reaches of the core formation stage and there were even some that had made it to the early nascent soul level. A group like that would definitely be able to check out that cavern with the arrays. It seemed he didn't need to worry about that anymore. "Well, those are the first good news in a while. Did the Sect Master give any other commands?"

Elder Xing nodded. "Yes, we're supposed to contact the other sects to talk about creating transportation arrays of our own. He has given me a spatial bag with the necessary ingredients already so that we can start as soon as we have the go-ahead from the others."

"Do you think they will agree just like that? The situation right now …"

Elder Xing shook his head. "There's no way to say. But as long as at least one of them agrees, we will already be in a better situation. Also, the others might not be unreasonable. Even if they haven't found any hints yet, this is the border region after all. It stands to reason that it would do us good to be able to contact each other on short notice. After all, we do know that things have been getting tense around here. That news wasn't discovered by our sect alone."

Elder Baili nodded slowly. "Well, that's true as well. I guess it remains to be seen. Most likely, it would also depend on who is in charge of the respective camps. Mei Chao Bing mentioned that it was Elder Fa over at the Zhen Yan Sect. She's definitely somebody that is easy to talk to and likes to keep the bigger picture in mind. As for the other sects, things might be a bit more difficult. That Elder Cai from the Jian Chu Sect can be a little indecisive. I'm afraid he will want to contact his own sect first instead of making the decision on his own."

Elder Xing nodded at that. "Then again, it might be the same for the others. They probably won't have the materials readily available at the camp. If they did, it would have to come out of the personal possessions of the Elders and a full set might be difficult to gather. Not to mention whether they will be willing to sacrifice that for the time being. Who knows if the sect would reimburse them?"

Elder Baili sighed. "If that is still the type of thing we're worried about … I'm not quite sure if we're ready to confront the demonic practitioners."

Elder Xing could only smile wryly. "I don't think we have a choice there."