Three days after the purification, Raon found himself unable to sleep.
The guard barracks were quiet, filled with the soft snores of his fellow guards, some of them. But Raon's mind raced, replaying the well incident over and over. The spy's final words echoed: "Because you're already dying... you just don't know it."
**You've been staring at the ceiling for two hours. That's not healthy.**
"Something's wrong," Raon whispered. "That spy wasn't working alone. The poisoning was too sophisticated, too precisely timed."
**Obviously. Demonic Alliance infiltration 101: never send just one spy. They work in cells.**
"Which means there are more."
**Probably three to five operatives minimum, possibly more. Standard practice for a sect this size.**
Raon sat up, rubbing his face. The increased security patrols weren't enough. Guards watching guards, disciples suspicious of disciples, that would only breed paranoia without actually catching anyone.
What they needed was a way to observe everyone simultaneously, to force every sect member to reveal their true cultivation...
The idea hit him like cold water.
"A tournament," he muttered.
**Did you just propose a shonen anime arc? I'm impressed and horrified.**
But the more Raon thought about it, the more sense it made. A sect-wide tournament would require everyone to fight, to channel their Qi openly. And if the System could detect demonic corruption during active cultivation...
He needed to talk to Jin. Now.
Raon found Jin in the strategy pavilion an hour before dawn. The Young Master was alone, surrounded by maps and reports, a single candle casting shadows across his tired face.
"Do you ever sleep?" Raon asked, announcing his presence.
Jin looked up, unsurprised. "Do you? I saw you pacing the eastern courtyard at midnight."
"Couldn't sleep."
"Neither could I." Jin gestured to the papers. "I've been reviewing security protocols. We've doubled patrols, implemented random inspections, restricted access to sensitive areas. But it all feels... insufficient."
"That's because we're trying to find needles in a haystack," Raon said, stepping inside and closing the door. "We don't know who we're looking for."
"Exactly." Jin's frustration was evident. "The spy at the well self-destructed. We have no leads, no descriptions of other infiltrators. For all we know, they could be anyone, guards, disciples, even instructors."
"That's why I have an idea." Raon sat across from him. "We need a tournament."
Jin blinked. "A... tournament?"
"A sect-wide martial arts competition. Every member participates, disciples, guards, junior instructors, everyone." Raon leaned forward. "Think about it. In a tournament, everyone has to fight. Everyone has to use their techniques openly, channel their Qi, demonstrate their abilities."
Understanding dawned in Jin's eyes. "And we could observe the any changes."
Raon nodded. "With the help of the elders also monitoring it would be easier for them to sense change in Internal energy fluctuations"
**Plus it'll distract from all the pesky 'who is this suspicious guard with impossible knowledge' business. Two birds, one martial arts trope.**
Jin stood, pacing thoughtfully. "The elders won't approve easily. Tournaments require resources, prize money, medical staff, arena preparations. And we're still recovering from the poisoning incident."
"Frame it as a morale boost," Raon suggested. "A way to show the sect that we're not cowering after the attack. After the spy infiltration and poisoning, everyone's scared and suspicious. This way we give them something positive to focus on."
"That's not a bad angle," Jin admitted.
Jin's expression shifted from skeptical to intrigued. "A practical justification wrapped in a morale boosting event."
"Exactly. Plus..." Raon hesitated, then continued. "It would let us showcase the corrected techniques. Show the other sects that the Blue Pearl Sect is recovering its strength. Right now, everyone sees us as declining. A tournament where our disciples demonstrate superior methods? That changes the narrative."
**Look at you, thinking politically. Character growth!**
Jin stopped pacing, his decision made. "I'll propose it at tomorrow's council meeting. But Raon, if we do this, if we find infiltrators this way, we'll need to handle them carefully. We need can't risk the lives of any disciples or guards."
"I know," Raon said quietly. "But if we don't root them out now, they'll poison another well. Or sabotage a formation. Or assassinate someone important during the next attack." He met Jin's gaze. "We need to know who the enemy is before they strike again, plus we'll have elder practitioners among us, what could go wrong."
**Are you trying to trigger a death flag?**
"That... actually makes sense" Jin agreed. He gathered the maps, his exhaustion replaced by determination. "I'll need your help selling this to the elders. Not directly, you're still controversial. But I'll need talking points."
They spent the next two hours planning the proposal, anticipating objections, preparing counterarguments. By the time the sun rose, they had a strategy.
"This is either brilliant or insane," Jin said as Raon prepared to leave.
"Maybe both," Raon replied. "But we're out of safe options."