Several productive weeks passed as Laude, Elder Ohtal, and the rest of the Head Elders spent their time managing various projects in a tremendous hurry. All of White Dew Society had become a beehive of activity as disciples flocked in large clusters across all the Mountain-Sanctuaries performing hundreds of different tasks.

All across the Society, groups of sweaty disciples could be seen constructing brand new buildings, placing magical arrays across the borders of the Society, and repairing old, outdated traps and defensive barriers. And inside the Society's halls, an equally large amount of disciples spent their days creating combat talismans and practicing their self-defense skills.

In the blink of an eye, the once humble Society had transformed itself into a formidable little fortress full of vigor and spirit. Had everyone not been so caught up in the exhilarating new changes across the Society, they would have been as stunned as Vateria and Shorea Ingel.

The pair of siblings were rooted at the front gate of Society with their jaws open in shock as they goggled at the downright insane transformation their home had undergone.

Unlike their peers, the sibling pair and a handful of other disciples had been on a scouting mission to monitor for strange activity in the Janusphere Empire for the past month. The sudden movement or suspicious changes in any neighboring Societies, the Royal Sects, or an influx of foreign cultivators were among the most important events that they had been assigned to investigate.

As Vateria observed the construction of four imposing ten-story pagodas and a large park filled with rare spirit plants and trees, she mused if this would count as something reportable to the Head Elders. Because what they had seen out in the field paled compared to what was happening here...

Despite having grown up in White Dew Society for most of his life, Shorea felt astonishingly awkward as he walked into his home and took in the sights. It felt as if he was still asleep and stuck in a wild fever dream from which he could not wake up.

Aesthetic changes aside, even the air inside the Society's wall changed — the moment Shorea fully stepped past the front gate, he was struck by a sensory explosion he had never experienced. He felt a sudden wave of nausea come over him, and he stumbled as if drunk for a couple of feet before finally regaining his balance.

A vigorous tide of Spiritual Qi had rushed into his body, resulting in his unprepared body reacting the way it had. Shorea's body had naturally never encountered such a robust presence of Spiritual Qi.

Unlike other Societies in the Janusphere Empire, White Dew Society never had much in terms of resources or wealth, even during its prime years centuries ago. Such was the fate of a Society that had lacked the manpower and initiative to compete for a hotly contested Spiritual Leyline full of Spiritual Qi.

It was unsurprising since the Head Elders had always prioritized the safety and well-being of their disciples. They also comprehended they would not have been able to protect a potent Spiritual Leyline for long even if they paid a hefty price in blood. No matter how precious it seemed, there was no point in coveting a treasure that would inevitably get them killed.

On the contrary, the Head Elders sought to remain as inconspicuous as possible during those turbulent times and settled on a relatively paltry Spiritual Leyline on the fringes of nowhere...

This doesn't make any sense at all. How is this even possible? Our Spiritual Leyline has been drying out for years! The ambient Spiritual Qi is high enough to rival one of our specialized cultivation chambers!

Looking for answers, Shorea found a younger disciple he was familiar with and asked about what was going on with the Society, but his response only confused him.

The Head Elders said they found a method to revitalize the Society's leyline? What a load of bullshit. I have personally visited the leyline's conflux point before — where the leyline releases the most Spiritual Qi. I saw it with my own eyes. Our leyline was almost completely depleted.

Vateria gave her older brother a subtle nod, and he replied in the affirmative with a silent expression that only she understood. Something was happening that the Head Elders didn't want the disciples to know. Something dire, judging from the current state of affairs.

Although numerous renovations were happening across the entire Society, some changes alarmed the sibling pair more than others. Though Shorea wasn't an expert in talismans and array formations, he could tell that a large-scale array of some type was being constructed throughout the entire Society.

He and Vateria also noticed the increased strength and stability of the shield barrier and the illusion-maze array that misdirected uninvited guests away from the Society. Although the younger disciples might not have a clue, anyone older than them with half a brain must have already guessed what was happening.

There was a big storm on the way... and the White Dew Society was preparing for the inevitable day it reached its doorstep.

Atop the highest level of the tallest building in the Society, the Observatorium, a young man stood alone as he surveyed an endless sea of clouds that extended out into the horizon. Though he enjoyed the unique view above the cloud layer, he had not come to sightsee or get away from the hectic work that was happening down below.

Laude had not gotten a good night's worth of rest in more than a week, not that he really needed it. He recently discovered that if he pushed himself hard enough, he could power on for days without any need for basic needs such as nutrition, water, or even sleep.

All Laude had to do was ignore the ringing alarm bells in his head, urging him to save himself. It was hard initially, but after the fourth day, he unwittingly broke through a mental threshold and attained a clarity of the mind that rivaled that of an experienced ascetic.

Laude was searching for a path that would result in the least amount of deaths and suffering for White Dew Society. If possible, he wished to find a path that would not spill a drop of blood. Though the Society had prepared a great deal for a potential confrontation, Laude was still worried it would not be enough.

And whether he liked it or not, the day when he would finally depart from this little Society was fast approaching, and it would be a long time before he would be able to return, if ever — should things go awry.

To safely visit White Dew Society without causing problems in the future, Laude would need to personally become strong enough to deter any would-be troublemakers or gain powerful enough backing from a powerful group or entity. Attempting to return under any other circumstances would be too irresponsible, and Laude refused to give White Dew Society any more trouble. He already owed them far, far too much.

Truth be told, Laude had already developed a plan that would divert the danger away from White Dew Society, but he wasn't sure if he should enact it or not. He was a little wary about the potential ramifications that would arise from it...

Nevertheless, there were many things Laude still had left to do: He had to prepare and secure food rations, cultivation tools, a couple of sets of blank talismans, extra clothing, cooking utensils, and what seemed like a hundred other items on a neverending checklist of things.

Thankfully, the one thing that Laude would not have to worry about was how he would carry all that damned luggage. Elder Ohtal had already solved that problem for him. He turned his sights to an old rickety ship not too far away from him and sighed deeply.

Back in the day when White Dew Society had not been as destitute, the Observatorium had actually served as an airport for a couple of flying ships that used to ferry disciples across the Janusphere Empire on educational field trips and missions. But when the Society's coffers ran dry, the Head Elders traded all the flying ships to neighboring Societies for much-needed resources.

Well, all the ships except one... that no one would buy because it was such an old model. It was an unsightly, weathered flying ship that bore the extremely fitting name "Endurance" on her starboard bow.

The only good advantage of the antique boat was that it consumed very little Spiritual Qi. Of course, this meant that it did not fly fast at all. The Endurance was not the ship you wanted to board if you wanted to arrive anywhere in a fashionable amount of time. It was the ship you boarded to turn simple trips to nearby locations into miniature odysseys.

At least no one will try to rob me... After all, who would want to rob someone who owned a ship as terrible as this? In a humiliating way, the Endurance's hideousness will probably serve as excellent camouflage.

As sad as it is, no one gives a second thought to the poor in the mortal world. I'm sure it'll be the same in the cultivation world too...

As a large map of the world gently floated in front of Laude, he thought about how much White Dew Society had grown on him over the short two years he had been allowed to stay as a guest. He had never imagined that he would have been pulled into the mystical world that cultivators were a part of, let alone by an act of providence.

What surprised Laude the most, though, was the fact that his hatred for all cultivators had practically faded into nothingness. The generosity and kindness that White Dew Society had shown him had slowly but surely softened his narrow-minded and cynical heart. Lukewarm embarrassment coursed through his flushed face when he thought back on his former self.

They aren't all bad people... it's just those guys that are total pieces of fucking garbage. They're the ones who need to be punished.

Hatred flooded his veins the more Laude thought about the Royal Sects that served the Janusphere Empire and the vile acts he had witnessed them perform during his tenure as a civil servant in Alora. And whenever he recalled the memory of that night, a terrible thirst would gnaw at his mind, threatening to overwhelm him.

It was a maddening, unadulterated thirst for blood. Even though Laude knew that it would never be enough to atone for the sin he committed that night, deep in his heart, he desired vengeance. He wanted to flay those two bastards alive more than anything else. The mere thought of their screams was enough to get his mind racing with excitement, but... harsh reality would seep in before his twisted daydreams would go too far.

A wave of sobering shame washed over him when he thought about what Alnus, the Head Elders, Belladonna, and the rest of the White Dew Society would think of him if they knew what his heart truly desired, let alone what would happen if he did it. He would never be able to show his face to them again if he followed through with his dark impulses.

Acts of vengeance were deeply frowned upon by both the orthodox and righteous factions of the cultivation world, as they were deemed seeds of neverending conflict and hatred. Creating an endless chain of hate and violence was easy, but it was tough to destroy one.

Hatred, anger, and malicious intent were signs of a polluted mind and soul. They were the marks of a person that had been ensnared by one of the Three Poisons, specifically the profane serpent who bore the name Dvesha.

A cultivator who had lost themselves to avarice and lust had become prey of the lowly falcon who bore the name Raga, the second of the Three Poisons.

And those who had become enchanted by ignorance, delusions, and worldly obsessions had become slaves to the wretched pig who bore the name Moha, the last of the Three Poisons.

Almost all cultivators who succumbed to the Three Poisons would eventually become rogue cultivators who disregarded the laws and customs in pursuit of their desires. Only a handful of cultivators afflicted by the Three Poisons would ever escape the inevitable descent into immorality.

Laude contemplated the potential reprecussions as he stared at the plum branch in his hands. He wasn't powerless anymore. He could do it...

Back then, I lamented that I couldn't do anything because I was a powerless mortal. But things have changed now. If I do nothing, it'd be tantamount to me admitting that my thoughts about getting revenge were nothing but the delusional fantasies of a spineless coward.

Still... given the unique identities those two shitbags have, I'd never escape the royal capital alive if I killed them. I'd be hunted down and caught by the end of the day, only to be executed the next morning.

And once they find out that I can't die... No. I can't act rashly. I can't expose myself. Yes, I've gotta play the long game...

The Heavens might be blind, but I've got two working eyes... and it'd be a shame not to put them to good use.

Had anyone with an attentive eye stood beside Laude during that fateful moment, they would have noticed what could only have been described as... a small patch of golden scales that vanished as quickly they had appeared.