Yun Jin quickly browsed through the mission list in the Mission Hall for anything related to the Nanlan Continent.
Her eyes landed on the first one that caught her interest—the Shi Tribe mission. There weren't many of those.
After using the search function, only three appeared. The highest-ranked was an A-rank mission.
[A-rank Mission: The Choice (Solo Mission)
Mission Description: The royal bloodline of the Shi Tribe hasn't produced a new heir bearing the King Stone for many years. Within the royal city, a conspiracy brews—a plan to establish a new royal family.
Mission Objective: Help overthrow the Shi Tribe royal family and crown a new royal line.]
Help the Shi Tribe royals maintain their rule and reunify their people.
It was a rare mission with two possible paths.
Two sides, one conflict.
One side stood with the Shi Tribe's royal family.
The other, with the rebels.
No matter which side she chose, as long as her chosen faction won in the end, the mission would be considered complete.
Without hesitation, Yun Jin accepted the mission.
Before leaving, she turned to Qin Ping. "Yuan Yuan will open a channel to the Boundless Sea. Bai Yiran should soon excavate a large batch of Water-Avoiding Pearls. When the time comes, even disciples without the Water Spirit Root can head to the sea floor. If manpower's still short on the Eastern Sea side, help Yiran organize the teams."
Qin Ping nodded. "Sect Master, are you planning to go to the Nanlan Continent yourself?"
She nodded. "The disciples there aren't in any real danger, but they've been gone far too long. Something must've happened. I'll go take a look."
If Yun Jin went personally, there wouldn't be any problems. Qin Ping instantly relaxed.
After settling a few remaining sect affairs, Yun Jin vanished from the Mission Hall.
[Please select a landing site.]
The system prompt rang out.
She picked a wide, empty spot on the map and descended. She landed in the middle of a desert.
Endless dunes stretched in every direction, not a trace of life in sight. According to the map, however, if she traveled another ten li, she'd reach a Shi Tribe city.
Yun Jin took a deep breath. A faint gleam flashed in her eyes.
The density of earth-element energy here far surpassed the other four elements, dominating the entire region. The Shi Tribe's territory really was an excellent place for cultivating the Primordial Earth.
She'd already comprehended the Primordial Water. Now it was time to choose her next main focus.
Comprehending the Primordial Water had taken her four months. There were only twenty months left before the Sky City closed. In that time, she still had to comprehend both the Primordial Earth and the Primordial Metal.
And finally, inside the Trial Tower, she needed to merge the five Primordial Forces into the ultimate Primordial Five Elements.
The time wasn't too tight, but it wasn't exactly generous either. Her progress with the Primordial Water had gone smoothly, but the next two wouldn't be so easy.
"The Primordial Earth's comprehension will probably depend on the Shi Tribe," she murmured.
On her system panel, her Primordial Earth progress had already reached ninety percent. Only the final ten percent remained.
After all, as the Wushuang Sect kept growing stronger, her disciples' insights directly converted into her own. Even if she wanted to slow down, she couldn't.
Still, the Primordial Force could wait. For now, she had to confirm her disciples' situation. After arriving in this region, she used the Sect Master's Residence function to locate her disciples.
When she opened the map, her brows rose slightly. All of the disciples' red markers had gathered in one spot. That place was... the Shi Tribe's royal city!
No matter what missions they'd received, every single Wushuang Sect disciple had somehow ended up there. And judging from their map icons, they were freely moving around, not imprisoned or injured. Each one's status showed as "Full Condition."
Yun Jin immediately understood. So it wasn't that something had happened to them...
They were deliberately delaying their return. A mass gathering of Wushuang Sect disciples in one place could only mean one thing—
They were planning something.
Good.
They'd learned well. If her disciples were the ones stirring trouble, not the ones being dragged into it, she didn't need to worry.
Instead of rushing over, she decided to observe first, to see how the Shi Tribe cultivated. After confirming the nearest city on her map, Yun Jin rose into the air and flew in that direction.
Meanwhile, inside the royal city...
Twenty-three Wushuang Sect disciples were temporarily gathered in a hidden courtyard.
"Brother Yue, we've got intel. They're planning to launch their full attack in half a month."
"From what I found, they've already contacted other races outside the city. Looks like they're planning to strike from both inside and out."
"We've only been here for a short time. Even though we've done enough to earn some trust, it's not enough to access deeper secrets. This is all we could find."
Yue Zhao nodded calmly. "You've all done well. In these two weeks, we've gathered plenty of useful information. It's clear something big's about to happen in the royal city."
He turned toward the silent Yu Songnian. "Songnian, anything we can dig up in two weeks, the royals must already know too. They can't be unaware of these movements. But without a new heir bearing the King Stone, even if they know rebellion's coming, they can only sit and watch."
Si Wanning asked directly, "So what do we do? Do we go back to the royals, or pretend we don't know anything?"
If this were just about completing their missions, it didn't matter which side they chose. Their objective was to restore the Shi Tribe's power, not the royal family's specifically.
Yu Songnian stayed silent for a moment, a trace of emotion flickering in his eyes. Many of these disciples had nothing to do with the Shi Tribe mission. But the moment their Senior Brother asked for help, they'd all come without hesitation. That kind of loyalty... he had no idea how he could ever repay it.
Seeing his expression, Yue Zhao said gently, "Don't think too much about it. If any of us face trouble one day, you'll definitely return the favor."
"Yeah, Brother Yu, quit worrying. Just tell us what you're thinking."
Everyone turned to Yu Songnian. After all, this mission was closely tied to his past. Whatever they did next depended on him.
Yu Songnian took a deep breath, suppressing the rush of emotion in his chest. Then determination filled his eyes. "Before we decide, I want to visit the Shi Tribe's royal palace myself."
He wanted to know—
Why his mother had left the Nanlan Continent and traveled all the way to the Human Domain's central region.