novelraw Chapter 997: A Hidden Enemy Within Their Home
Chapter 997: A Hidden Enemy Within Their Home
The old man slowly stood.
"This operation could not have been carried out by merely one or two people."
His hand moved and the formation projection changed.
Deaths.
Explosions.
Destroyed peaks.
Tournament incidents.
Every event appeared suspended in the air.
"Information gathering."
"Coordination."
"Observation."
"Timing."
"Execution."
He looked around the hall.
"This required preparation."
His voice became heavier.
"This required communication."
The Patriarch’s gaze sharpened slightly.
The old elder finished.
"There is a faction."
The room froze.
Not one traitor.
Not one infiltrator.
A faction.
An organized group hidden inside the sect.
The implication struck everyone heavily.
Suddenly many events began fitting together.
The precise timings.
The information gathering.
The knowledge of sect structure.
The awareness of important targets.
It all seemed to support the theory.
Discussions immediately exploded.
Some suspected internal factions.
Others rejected it instantly.
A Peak Head slammed the table.
"No internal faction would destroy inheritances!"
Several elders nodded.
That point alone destroyed many possibilities. The factions competing for influence all wished to inherit the sect one day. Destroying the sect’s future power made no sense. Even those opposing the Patriarch desired authority.
Authority over a stronger sect.
Not ruins.
The slave control factions were examined.
Their members were investigated.
The elders skilled in mind manipulation came under scrutiny. Yet these people remained among the Patriarch’s closest supporters. Even the Supreme Elder known for slave techniques had personally joined investigations.
No one believed he was involved.
Slowly another possibility emerged.
An ancient enemy.
The Blood Sect had conquered too much.
Destroyed too many clans.
Erased countless inheritances.
Even if most enemies had vanished, everyone knew remnants likely survived somewhere.
Hidden descendants.
Secret survivors.
Ancient bloodlines.
Revenge that had fermented across centuries.
The more they thought about it, the more reasonable it sounded.
Someone had infiltrated the sect.
Someone patient.
Someone organized.
Someone who had waited generations.
And now they were striking.
Far away from all these discussions sat Han Yu.
He listened through his Jiangshi.
Every word.
Every theory.
Every conclusion.
His expression remained calm.
Inside, however, satisfaction slowly rose.
The effects had exceeded even his expectations.
He originally intended chaos.
Instead he had created paranoia.
The sect no longer trusted itself.
Peak Heads suspected hidden factions.
Elders watched each other.
Disciples feared their seniors.
Now even the Patriarch had begun considering betrayal within his own court.
Han Yu sat together with the other Legacy disciples inside one of Heart Peak’s protected halls when the official briefing arrived. All thirteen gathered to be told about what had happened.
Their expressions varied from grim to shocked.
Daoist Blood Pool slammed his cup down.
"This is insane!"
Another Legacy disciple nodded.
"Two entire inheritances..."
Someone muttered.
"Whoever did this has gone mad."
Bai Langya remained unusually quiet.
His peak had almost become involved earlier.
The man still looked pale.
Lady Rot Rose sat calmly smoking her pipe while listening.
Even she looked more serious than usual.
One disciple spoke hesitantly.
"Do you think there really is a hidden faction?"
Silence followed.
Nobody answered immediately.
Finally Daoist Blood Pool spoke.
"If there is..."
His eyes darkened.
"They’re terrifying."
Han Yu sat quietly among them.
Outwardly, his expression showed the same shock as everyone else.
Inside, he almost laughed.
Because the terrifying hidden faction everyone feared...
Was him.
One person.
One soul.
Sitting quietly beneath their noses.
At Heart Peak, the Patriarch stood before the great hall window.
His expression was heavy.
Behind him stood several Peak Heads.
"The enemy grows bolder," one elder muttered.
The Patriarch looked toward the distant Lung Peaks.
Smoke still rose faintly there.
His voice remained calm.
"Find them."
The pressure in the room rose.
"Whatever the cost."
Deep beneath Heart Peak, ancient chambers remained silent.
Yet within the darkness, several old eyes had already opened.
The hidden ancestors were watching.
And for the first time in countless years...
Even they felt unease.
A month passed in tense peace.
Han Yu sat quietly within his chamber at Heart Peak while icy mist drifted around him in slow waves, his expression calm as if he were merely cultivating. Outside, the entire sect still lived beneath the shadow of fear.
The destruction of the Lung Peak libraries had left wounds that were still bleeding and even now the atmosphere across the sect had yet to recover. Disciples whispered less. Elders walked faster. Every person watched the surroundings with suspicion.
And within all this chaos, one thought appeared in Han Yu’s mind.
If they already believed there was a hidden faction... Then perhaps he should simply give them one.
The thought lingered in his mind for a long while.
At first, he had only intended to weaken the sect and create internal disorder. But now things had progressed beyond his original plans. The elders themselves had already begun constructing the framework. They believed there were infiltrators. They believed there was coordination. They believed some ancient enemy had entered the sect and was waiting for revenge.
Han Yu only needed to push them one step further.
Of course, this could not be done carelessly.
His earlier methods would no longer work well.
Back then he had freedom. He had his peak. He had movement range and time. Now he sat under supervision inside Heart Peak. His physical body remained under observation almost constantly and while his soul could still move unseen, the distance restriction created limits.
He needed pieces.
Real people.
People who could become the face of this nonexistent faction.
Thus began three months of observation.
Han Yu used both his soul form and the Jiangshi spread across the sect. Every movement, every conversation, every duty assignment, every hidden relationship was quietly recorded.
He observed dozens of elders.
Hundreds of disciples.
Core disciples.
Personal disciples.
Stewards.
Servants.
He eliminated one target after another.
Too visible.
Too influential.
Too many connections.
Too suspicious.
Eventually only two remained.
Hong Yao and Hong Yura.
Han Yu slowly opened his eyes.
A faint coldness appeared within them.
Old memories surfaced.
Blood.
Screams.
The purge.
He remembered it all.
He remembered the Twin Leaf Peak disciples dying.
He remembered hiding.
Watching.
Helpless.