Aynur Hashur
Aynur has to wait for half a day before someone finally shows up at the meeting point. The person that finally shows up is both unexpected and surprising. It is Conrad Balthazar, the third disciple of the ninth pavilion hall master. However, as far has she can remember, Conrad shouldn't be in the lower realm. His assignment is in the immortal realm. Even if Conrad managed to make it back to the sect headquarter, he should be stuck inside the sect. Descending to the lower realm shouldn't be possible with all bridge worlds heavily guarded by the sect enemies.
In the case that Conrad fails to make it back to the sect, he should be in a similar situation to her. As per the sect's last directive, all disciples that fails to make it back need to go dark. The last directive has explicitly warned that moles are still hidden within the sect and everyone should exercise extreme caution when reaching out to any other sect disciples.
It is because of this sect's warning that Aynur couldn't help being suspicious of Conrad. Under normal circumstances, there is no reason for her to suspect another direct disciple of a pavilion master. However, it has been public knowledge for two thousand years now that the sect current crisis is thanks to the betrayal of the previous sect leader's eldest direct disciple. If the sect leader's own direct disciple can betray the sect, there is no guarantee this won't happen with all other pavilion masters' disciples as well.
As Aynur delves deeper into it, it wouldn't make sense for the sect to send any other random disciple either. Trust is a luxury she can ill afford at this point in time. At least Conrad is a familiar face. Being the direct disciple of another pavilion master, at least they ran in the same social circle and know each other. An unfamiliar disciple might just complicate matters.
There risk is there regardless of whomever the sect sent. More importantly, Aynur doesn't has much of a choice if rescue is just around the corner. As the sect's direct disciple, her inability to protect the four clans that has been destroyed is eating her up. When a fifth clan is to become the latest statistic, the Menon clan got rescued. If there is no deception involved, she can finally keep all the disciples' descendants that have stuck to her safe. No more living in fear of being discovered by the sect's enemy and senseless massacre.
It is finally time to act. Aynur has made all the necessary precaution. If that's still not enough, she will have to accept her fate. She activates the prepared puppet and comes out from a pile of dried leaves nearby. "Conrad?"
Conrad recognized the voice belongs to Aynur but it seems she has used a proxy instead. He can tell that it is a high-quality puppet that can be controlled from a few hundred miles away. If he is an enemy. It won't be easy to track her down. There are two small cities, more than ten towns of varying sizes and hundreds of villages from where the puppet controller can stay hidden.
"I see that you have used a proxy. You are right to be cautious given the circumstances. But before anything else, I am so glad that you survived the hunt. My luck is slightly worse but I definitely can't complain about the final outcome." Conrad answers.
As the puppet controlled by Aynur gets nearer to Conrad, she discovered an obvious mismatch. Conrad should have been in the sixth major realm. If he somehow managed to descend to the lower realm, his cultivation will need to be sealed and it shouldn't give off the natural spirit energy signature of a cultivator in the fourth major realm. She cautiously asks. "What happened to your cultivation?"
Probably sensing Aynur's unease with a tinge of wariness in her voice, Conrad quickly reassures her. "Didn't I just mention that my luck is not as good as yours? Long story short, I lost my physical body in the immortal realm and was forced to flee with just my nascent soul to the lower realm. The sect managed to rescue me just a few years back. This is a new physical body that my master has created for me. The fourth major realm body is intentional but this is not the right place to talk about it. Let's start with the security authentication."
Conrad takes out a metal plate that Aynur quickly recognizes. It is a token of authority that represents a pavilion master. Each token is made using the sect's proprietary and most advance technology, making counterfeiting impossible. At the very least, there has never been a successful case of the token ever being successfully counterfeited.
"I acknowledge the authenticity of the token." Aynur quickly confirms the token's authenticity. The token is exuding a unique spirit energy signature that all sect disciples are trained to recognize.
"Now that my identity has been verified. It is your turn. Please understand, this is a sensitive time and the sect needs to make sure you are who you claim to be. I need you to come in person and give me a drop of your blood." Conrad explains.
Aynur couldn't help hesitating for a moment. The request for blood is new and given his identity as a direct disciple, she should be aware of all methods the sect used to authenticate a disciple's identity. The usage of blood is definitely not one of them. However, the token of authority is without a doubt genuine. There is no way it is an enemy agent masquerading as Conrad. She quickly deactivates the concealing array and reveals herself.
"I must say, your concealing skill has always been one of the best among all the pavilion masters' direct disciples. It seems it has gotten even better now. Unconventional and I highly doubt anyone would ever suspect you are actually nearby. Given your puppet range, I had actually assumed you are hidden safely in a well-protected bunker hundreds of miles away. Tracking you down will be a nightmare." Conrad praises.
"When you have to keep practicing such an important survival skill for two thousand years, I will be a hopeless idiot if there is no improvement at all." Aynur says. "Let's get my identity verified."
Conrad immediately takes out an artifact that Aynur doesn't recognize. That explains the need for blood. The artifact should be a new invention the sect has come up with since losing all communication with the sect.
"Place a drop of your blood on the black surface of the artifact." Conrad instructs. After Aynur follows his instruction, a holographic screen immediately appears revealing the progress rate of analysing the blood.
Seeing the curiosity on Aynur's face, Conrad explains. "This is a new technology developed by the sect in recent years. It uses your genetic as well as your spirit energy signature to verify your identity. It is impressive right? I always knew everyone spirit energy signature is slightly different because of the cultivation pathway we choose but it has now been confirmed everyone's spirit energy is also unique."
A life lamp needs blood before in can be activated. The sect has used the blood left by all disciples in their life lamp sanctuary to build up the security database that Conrad is using now. A minute later, the verification process reached a hundred percent and reveals Aynur's profile, confirming she is who she claims to be.
"Now that the security process has been completed. Let's get out of here first." Conrad explains as he takes out another artifact she has never seen before. A portal appears ten minutes he activated the artifact.
"After you." Conrad wave her to enters the portal.
*****
Aynur is shocked by what she is seeing the moment she steps out of the portal. Aside from the mini gateway she has just steps out from, there are nine other similar mini gateways spaced at an equal distance between each of them. What is even more impressive are the three major gateways in front of her.
The layout of the gateways makes no sense. She can tell that she is still in the lower realm base on the spirit energy density in the air. A level four spirit gathering array will at most be able to power one major gateway but there will be a distance limitation to the portal opened. There is no way the sect will be able gather enough spirit energy to power so many gateways at the same time.
If this is the immortal realm, she estimates only a level seven spirit energy gathering array might provide enough spirit energy to power all the gateways at the same time. However, this is the lower realm. The fact that aside from the minor gateway she just steps out of has been activated, two of the major gateway and five of the minor gateways are active at the same time should be an impossible feat.
"Where are we? Did the sect managed to find a new bridge world unknown to the rest of the cultivation world? Is that how the sect managed to send disciples down to the lower realm and rebuild? More importantly, where does all the spirit energy to activate all the portals come from. We are definitely still in the lower realm. Opening so many portals at the same time should be impossible." Aynur couldn't stop asking questions.