Aynur is in a dour mood. Another disciples' clan has suffered a tragic end when its ties to the sect was exposed. Just three days back, the clan's stronghold has been destroyed in one grand explosion. From the limited information she has managed to collect, the explosion was caused by the enemies surrounding the clan. Some rumor claims that the explosion has wipe out half the enemies surrounding the clan and in some far-fetched rumor, all enemies has been wiped out. The site of the explosion is now one huge crater. Regardless, she guesses the clan's patriarch has decided to go out in glory, trying to bring down all his enemies to the underworld with him.
What befell the Menon clan is frustrating. In every single case, their clan's ties to Immortal Ascension Pavillion are not one of careless mistake but due to the betrayal of their own descendants. All is good when the disciples are still alive. They are able to keep their descendants in check and quietly dispose off any black sheep in the family. It is always after a disciple has passes away when their appointed successors sooner or later fail to weed out the black sheep in the clan leading to a tragic outcome.
It is not like Aynur doesn't want to go to the Menon clan's rescue but such action is out of the question. Early lesson from other worlds has taught her that things will only get worse by intervening. In the early days, other disciples have tried rescuing a disciple that was somehow discovered but that only made things even worse. Statistically, most of the victims are innocent and have no ties to the sect. If a force ever come to the rescue, they have always revealed their identity, thus vouching that the victim has no ties to Immortal Ascension Pavillion. It will become a big red flag when mysterious rescuers intervene because even deviant sects wouldn't care to hide their identity when coming to the rescue. Only the most wanted fugitives in the cultivation world are forced to conceal their identity. As such, the sect enemies will come out in full force if mysterious rescuers ever intervene.
Even if those they eliminate ultimately have nothing to do with the Immortal Ascension Pavillion, it is still worthwhile effort. Most of the cultivation world's most wanted fugitives fall mostly into two main groups. The first group, cultivators that practices a cultivation pathway that is so diabolical that even deviant sects can't tolerate. As for the second group, cultivators that need to go into hiding because they came into possession treasures or secrets that is so valuable, even the most powerful cultivation powerhouse out there will kill for it.
It has been more than two thousand years now since the sect is besieged and isolated from the rest of the worlds. At that time, Aynur has been under assignment in the lower realm, taking charge of a strategically important merchant house. Although she has been quick to act after receiving the sect's emergency retreat order, things have deteriorated so quickly that all bridge worlds have become too heavily guarded, rendering return to the sect's headquarter in the immortal realm impossible.
If Aynur is all on her own, things would have been easy to handle. Being an expert in the art of concealment, getting lost among the cultivators in the lower realm should just be a piece of cake for her. However, her identity is unique. As a direct disciple of one of the twelve pavilion masters, she is held to a higher standard. It is expected of her to protect all the disciples in the merchant house she took charge off. With more than forty sect disciples under her charge, that is not going to be easy.
After much deliberation, the best choice is still to blend in among the loose cultivators in the lower realm. As long as they conceal their cultivation realm and pretend to be a second major realm cultivator, tracking them down will be near impossible (provided they don't make a mistake). There are just far too many loose cultivators out in the cultivation world to make any systematic hunt to be feasible.
Aynur has given the disciples with her two choices. Option one, a disciple is to cut all ties with the sect, change their identity, find a place to settle down and start a family. It won't be anytime soon before they can return to sect. She has promised that if the sect managed to overcome this crisis, they can return to the sect without any question (no punishment will befall them for abandoning their identity).
The sect never asks for blind loyalty. Forcing their disciples senselessly killed will only diminish their loyalty. When the sect can't even protect itself, it is plain stupidity and suicidal to go out there proclaiming themselves being a disciple of Immortal Ascension Pavilion.
Disciples who choose the first option will need to be fully confident in their own ability though. Afterall, they will be on their own but the advantage is also obvious, no other disciple can ever betray them if any other disciples get caught.
As for the second option, it is for those disciples that still stubbornly hold on to their sect identity or not confident enough to make it on their own. There is always strength in numbers but if even one of the disciples get caught by their enemies, it will mean an entire network get compromised.
Aynur's solution to this risk is making herself the sole point of contact for all disciples that decided to stick together. As long as she is not caught, all other disciples will remain safe. Capturing her won't be easy though. As a cultivator in the fifth major realm, it won't be easy to defeat her in the lower realm where the highest cultivation is capped at the fourth major realm. Even if she is surrounded, she still has the option of revealing her true cultivation realm as a last resort. As long as she can survive long enough for the forced transition, it will give her another chance to escape and hide herself again in the immortal realm.
Disciples who chose the first option will stop being Aynur's problem the moment they left the group. Ultimately, twenty three disciples chose the second option and continue to b her responsibility. She has carefully selected the location each of those disciples settle down and also the main adviser helping each disciple to map out their growth trajectory. For more than two thousand years, she witnesses each disciple starting a family and slowly transforming that small family into a major clan in the local area. Even if Aynur and the sect disciples can no longer use any of the sect resources, it isn't exactly difficult when they have intrinsic knowledge on all the major players in the local area.
They know who they can work with, who they can't. And among those they can work with, who are trustworthy of long-term collaboration and who are backstabbers to be kept at distance, only viable for temporary collaboration. At the same time, she will also make some of the disciples' clan to clash openly as smokescreen. This will hopefully help to remove the suspicion from the other disciples' clan when one gets discovered. Despite her best effort, five clans still ended up destroyed after their founding ancestor passed away. The Menon clan being the latest casualty.
While sighing in regret for her helpless to protect the Menon clan, Aynur receives a message she least expects. The content of the message is even more shocking. She couldn't help being skeptical after reading the message but at the same time, she hopes that it is the truth.
The Immortal Ascension Pavillion has come to the Menon clan rescue.
*****
Aynur has been preparing the meeting spot for a week now. The Menon clan might claim that they have been rescued by the sect but this can be an elaborate plan by their sect's enemies to lure her out. She has prepared a level three puppet as the medium of contact with whoever is going to show up. At the same time, she has setup a concealing array nearby to witness the whole process. If the meeting is a trap, she will just have to sacrifice the puppet. However, this won't be the end of it. The fact that the meeting is a trap means the sect's enemies have gotten even nearer to capture all of them. She can no longer stays on Burkhana. As for the remaining disciples' descendants that have settled down, they will have destroy all evidence tying them to the sect.
Now, all she needs to do is send out the meeting coordinate.