Meanwhile, in another part of the world, someone was struggling to process the unbelievable news that had just arrived.
"Is this information accurate?" an old man asked, his voice rough and trembling slightly with age, betraying a mix of disbelief and suppressed anger.
His gnarled hands clutched the jade slip as if holding it too tightly might force it to tell a different story.
He had cultivated in isolation for hours earlier, focusing on his internal energy, when an elder's urgent summons had demanded his immediate presence.
Reluctantly, he had abandoned his practice, hurrying to meet the emergency, and now, standing before the jade slip, he could hardly reconcile the words before him with reality.
"It is accurate, Sect Master. Do you wish me to recall them myself?" a woman replied, her voice soft yet firm, carrying the kind of authority that demanded attention.
