"I can't believe I will have to stand guard with her at this base for the next five years," the young man thought as he lamented his future.

"No I won't be alone, luckily Elder Shi is here with me. He knows how to reign her in," Lifen thought in relief as he eyed the elderly man with a look of worship.

"Lifen, I'll be heading back to the sect to inform them of the news we just got. Information as pertinent as this needs to be delivered in person.

You will be in charge of the place until I come back. Considering the gravity of the situation, you and Ya'er will be here alone for a while.

I'll be handing control of the array to you.

Make sure not to leave the courtyard no matter what, and at the slightest sign of trouble you are to trigger the array instantly.

Don't hesitate, you hear me?" the elderly man said as his solemn gaze fell on the two disciples.

"We will do as Elder Shi says," they simultaneously said as they cupped their fists in acceptance of the orders.

The elderly man changed a few seals on the formation disc he had in his hand and then handed it to the young man.

The young man formed a few seals of his own on the formation disc so he could have temporary control of it.

Once he had confirmed everything was in order, the elderly man poured his qi into a small pebble-sized blue pearl which transformed him into a streak of blue light that charged in the direction of the dome that was two hundred meters away from the courtyard.

Lifen had a heavy expression appear on his face when he saw the blue streak disappear into the dome.

The source of his heavy expression was unknown.

Was it because the responsibility of maintaining the security of the sect's outpost weighed heavily on him or was it because of another graver matter? No one knew, except him."Senior brother Lifen, how old are you by the way? I heard someone in the sect say you were about 178 years old. Mmmh, would that make you my senior brother or elder first? Elder senior brother, grandfather senior brother, I wonder which one works best?"

….

kilometers away from the Spiritual temperance sect

Yang Qing was leisurely seated on top of Ellie with a snow blossom peach in one hand, and a communication talisman in the other.

"I've already informed them of the matter and given them a recording of the events, but given their way of doing things, I think it would be more prudent if a branch was established there.

The region is already chaotic enough, the Order's presence is needed to monitor things and also to deter other organizations like the Dark Helminth Ghost sect, from setting up base there.

Also, I feel the region may experience a change in dynamics in the near future. It wouldn't be impossible for three more rank 3 organizations from sprouting in there,"

"Which ones?"

"The Summerfield kingdom is one. I saw something in one of their fields that made me reevaluate them,

Then there is the Broken Peak sect. I evaluated their sect master and vice sect master. They are brothers who have the treefolk bloodline. The bloodline itself is thin but if they use their quota from the Order well, it wouldn't be an impossibility for them to reach the palace realm.

As for the last one," Yang Qing paused as he lightly chuckled when he remembered the young man who kept nagging him to escort him back to his clan or for techniques that could lower the ranks of his pillars.

"There was someone by the name of Lin Mu. He has quite the personality. Even though he is from a small cultivation clan, he managed to form blue-grade pillars.

If he had better resources, I have no doubt he would have probably gotten a quasi-gold-grade pillar at the very least.

Of the three organizations, the Lin family is the one I think has the highest odds of becoming a rank 3 organization, barring any unfortunate circumstances.

I think we should put them in the nurturing program."

"You think highly of him that much?"

"I do," Yang Qing firmly replied.

"Well, I'll pass on your thoughts. But they will still have to be vetted first to pass the preliminary review before they can be considered for nomination along with the other candidates.

But with your recommendation, their odds should be better.

When you get back you'll have to give an exposition on everything, moreso on the situation regarding the Spiritual temperance sect's territory, especially if you want to make a case for a branch to be established there.

You know very well with how tight our resources are, branch placements are not done lightly. For one to be placed in the Spiritual temperance sect's region, it would have to be at the expense of one of the new proposed branches.

For such a case, you will be making the report to the Spirit Council when you get back, so prepare yourself….and make sure to finish the evaluations on time. Don't bother coming back until they are all completed."

Before Yang Qing could reply, the connection had already been cut off like usual, leaving him with a belly full of anger.

Shrrieeeeeeek!!!

Yang Qing had accidentally pulled on some of Ellie's feathers with nowhere to vent his frustration.

"I'm sorry Ellie," he said as he smiled in embarrassment. Unbeknownst to him, Ellie had a cunning glint flash in her eyes in the midst of her painful shriek.

The place Yang Qing had pulled on, suddenly started bleeding like a geyser as Ellie shrieked in even more pain, even her qi became slightly erratic.

"If you're going to exaggerate, atleast make it believable," Yang Qing said as he tiredly sighed at her theatrics.

As a spirit beast with a powerful bloodline, she had enough vitality to rival some palace realm cultivators but here she was pretending that a feather pull was enough to make her bleed so profusely when even the sharpest top-tier sky-rank weapon couldn't leave a dent on her nails.

Ellie still stubbornly continued her theatrics as she ruptured a few other blood vessels.

"Fine' I'll share some of my spirit lake basses with you," Yang Qing said in defeat as he removed a few from his storage ring.

Ellie screeched in joy as her wounds closed in an instant, and the feathers Yang Qing had pulled off were regrowing at an astronomical speed. In just a minute and a half, all the missing feathers had been fully regrown.

"How can one be this shameless?"