---Scattered Crown Province---
In the darkness deep below the shattered mountains, something slithered, awoken from an unpleasant dream. Dark scales shone in the glow of magma, the only light in this hollow earth. As the massive body moved, the whole region shook.
"Great Lord, what is it that brought you unrest?" a servant called out. They wore several thick layers of scuffed leather, making their voice muffled and obscuring the shape of their body. They were slapped by a thing, a scaly tentacle, and slammed into a thick stone pillar.
The servant gasped but was able to get up almost unharmed, thanks to the thick padding. When they looked up again, they faced a giant, green pupil the size of a farm field. The darkness beyond the eyes concealed the form of the lord.
"It's little shadow... It actually lost its life in a backwater like the Western Expanse," the great lord lamented. Although it quite unthankfully ran away, he had expected it to return in a couple of centuries, but now..? He had taught it only half-heartedly, but never expected it could lose its life in such a place.
"Send someone to the Western Expanse. I want to know who did it," the king below the scattered crown commanded his men to investigate.
---Azure Chain Province, Dragon Reach Palace--
Two figures walked side by side through vast halls with pillars carved from blood coral. In the background, you could witness a dark blue sky with plays of light, as if the palace was built at the bottom of the sea.
"Will you really go to the Western Expanse for the sake of a runaway disciple? You aren't even sure something happened," the figure in sage-colored robes asked sternly. The man was very handsome, with a pair of antlers sticking out from his forehead, above his sword-like eyebrows.
The man he was talking to was of imposing size, both in height and width. His outfit was monochrome, with black and gray inner robes covered by a white overcoat. His beard was cut in a peculiar fashion, trimmed into several short, dense streaks running down his face and neck.
"Are you doubting my divination?" the portly man with the crazy beard asked him, slightly offended by the lack of trust in his skills.
"As should you. You know that divinations should never be fully trusted. Leaving the sect at this time is not wise. They will definitely use this chance to weaken your standing. By the time you return, you may not have a place here anymore," the horned man insisted.
The elder in monochrome robes halted for a moment, as if taking a moment to think, before his steps resumed.
"If that is what happens, then it was supposed to happen from the beginning. Now that you say it, maybe it would be best not to go alone," he pondered as they walked toward the giant gates that led out of the inner palace.
They were carved from the pearly white bones of an Empyrian Leviathan and inlaid with precious metals. The carvings covering the whole gate displayed the story of the beasts' capture and the founding of the sect in the place it ultimately fell.
Stepping outside, they looked down at a bustling metropolis, covered by a shield that held up the ocean above. The horned elder could see his compatriot look at the sect with a gaze of nostalgia. This looked as if he was already saying his goodbyes; he knew there was no way to change his decision anymore. However-
"What do you mean you are not going alone? Don't tell me you are...?" he left the question open ended, hoping his friend would deny the implication.
"I will be taking my disciples and anyone who wishes to follow me along," the elder confirmed the others' fears. His warning had the opposite effect. Since his place here may vanish, he would just take his place with him.
"You know that would mean the whole Bone Peak will leave the sect to follow you! You can't do that. They will never allow it!" the horned elder tried to argue, but he knew himself that his words were not necessarily correct.
"Hmph. The Bone Peak is just one of 13 peaks. You know that they are eager to replace me. My views are a thorn in their sides. You are my only ally, I'm sure the other high elders and the new sect leader will welcome my departure with anyone that could get in their way," he said, melancholically.
"Tsk, you know that you are not leaving me with a choice then..." the horned man said bitterly.
"I'm sorry, my old friend. I know how hard you worked to become a high elder," the rotund man said with a tinge of regret.
"Ugh, whatever. When you are gone, I will be the next. Then I can just as well leave with you and make sure you don't die a dog's death in the boonies," he said resignedly, scratching the back of his head.
....
---Emerald Blight Province, Myriad Gu Sect ---
5 lanterns lost their light. In a damp hall, illuminated by thousands of intricate oil lamps made of brass and hundreds of lanterns, one would think the loss of 5 small lights would not be noticed. However, among this sea of stars, a figure rose from meditation
Their skinny, almost skeletal hand, stroked the five soul lanterns that had lost their light one by one, uttering the names written on them, while transmitting them to the sect's elder of internal affairs.
An hour later, the elder of internal affairs arrived at the audience hall of the sect leader. Other elders were seated in the shadows at the left and right, while he kneeled before the bamboo screen that concealed the appearance of the sect leader.
"You may rise. What is it you have to report, Elder Lu?" the gentle voice of the sect leader asked the old man kneeling at the screen. Elder Lu Huadian rose to a sitting position to report the news.
"Sect leader, the soul lanterns of the five inner disciples we sent to the Gu Family of the Western Expanse have lost their light," he revealed. The hall fell silent. The atmosphere had turned more serious upon hearing of the loss of a couple of talents.
Even if they were sent to the sticks, they were still disciples with the talent to rise to the inner sect. They were still considered part of the sect's future and had learned all the core techniques. It had been decades since the Myriad Gu Sect suffered the loss of an inner disciple. Now five were gone at once.
"Guardian of the Lights, are there any clues of what happened?" the sect leader asked, addressing the dark figure seated in the shadows beyond the elders. It was the hooded person, guarding the soul lamps and lanterns of the sect.
"Nothing. I can only say that nothing of them remained to return to the lanterns. No essence soul, no energy, not even a sliver of their consciousness. Whoever killed them was thorough," the guardian explained emotionlessly.
"Elder Lu, what about the Gu Family?" The sect leader turned back to the elder of internal affairs.
"They have not answered any of our attempts to contact them through long-distance methods. Our own sources in the clan have also fallen silent. Either the Gu Family has completely cut ties with our Sect, or they have faced a calamity," the elder concluded.
Although nobody said a word, the consensus among the elders was unanimous. Nobody believed the Gu Family could have been eradicated to the point that nobody could answer their communication attempts.
The Gu Family was one of many outer factions in other provinces that the Myriad Gu Sect used to supply Human Gu for the main sect. Recently, reports suggested they had struck it rich, gaining many promising resources for human gu creation.
It was not the first time a subordinate sect got drunk on the little bit of power they had amassed and tried to separate from them. The fact that they went as far as killing the inner disciples even suggested they managed to steal their secrets for human gu cultivation.
"We can not allow such presumptuous actions to go without consequences," the elder of external affairs exclaimed. Murmurs agreeing with the elder filled the room for a moment before the sect's leader spoke.
"Whether the Gu Family betrayed us, or face a calamity, we will have to send a unit to investigate. Elder Han, you prepare a team to investigate. If the Gu Family truly severed ties with us, wipe them out," the sect leader's soft voice had grown hard and emotionless, like a taut steel wire.
"Yes, sect leader."