Following the intense, strategically vital council within the subterranean chambers of the Isle of Whispering Petals, Wang Jian had officially sent the three Shadow Flowers—Qiu Yun, Su Ning, and Bai Xue—back to their respective, heavily monitored factions. His parting orders had been absolute, laced with meticulous, paranoid calculation: they were to entirely, flawlessly conceal the terrifying truth of their rapid, pill-induced breakthroughs to the Core Formation Realm. They were explicitly forbidden from displaying their new, overwhelming power immediately. Instead, over the course of the next few months, they were to slowly, subtly, and methodically reveal their newly acquired strength. They were instructed to carefully fabricate highly believable stories of miraculous fortunes, ancient legacies discovered in treacherous, uncharted ruins, or sudden, heaven-sent enlightenment during life-or-death missions.
