"SPIES, YOU WANT TO SEND SPIES?! Have you gone mad?"
Deep within the confines of the Rocky Mountains that Feng Zheming and Mu Han were traveling to, two people were arguing in an empty hall.
The hall itself was modestly built with a balanced contrast between black and golden colors, a smell of herbal tea permeated throughout the room.
The one who had shouted was a round old man that seemed to be in his 50s, with a clean shave and a grey cultivator robe. If Feng Zhiming had been here, he would have recognized within his buried memory that this person was the second elder.
Within the Heavenly Divine Demon Sect, a strict hierarchy was in place. The matriarch was the leader, below her were the five primal demons, they usually kept out of sect matters and only interfered in matters of battle.
Equal to the five primal demons were the two elders of the sect, they were responsible for managing major sect decisions, everyone at this level was at the Heavenly Eye level or higher.
Below the elders were the supervisors, they were all at the Spiritual Awakening stage.
Below the supervisors were the students of the sect, anywhere from Body Refining to the Ethereal Core realm.
"It is the will of the Matriarch."
The man who was speaking now wore a similar grey cultivator robe, he looked to also be in his fifties but with a whole head of white hair, additionally he was taller than the other man and quite lean in addition to having a small beard.
*BANG*
The second elder smashed his fist down on to the table in front of him, where he had placed his cup of tea.
"Me and you both know Spiritual Awakening experts cannot infiltrate the orthodox factions, they will be discovered immediately."
The first elder slowly raised his cup and took a sip without responding.
"You want to send hatchlings of the Ethereal Core realm to their death, the moment they use their demonic phenomena or unique techniques they will be exposed."
The second elder gritted his teeth as he spoke.
"We have no other option, either we send them and learn of those hypocrites plans, or we sit here and wait for them to strike."
Silence fell over the hall for a moment.
"They dare to be this forward only because of one reason." the second elder exhaled deeply and accepted the outcome.
The first elder stood up.
"Regardless, we must operate under these circumstances, find a suitable Quasi Ethereal Core cultivator to go undercover into the orthodoxy."
Finding a wild ethereal core expert is already rare, at least someone at the Quasi stage would be a more believable find than an expert at the Actualized stage.
The second elder vanished from his seat, making it look like he had never been there in the first place.
The first elder walked out of the hall and gazed upon the entirety of the sect, he had his hands behind his back and clenched them slightly.
"All is for the heavenly demon."
…
Mu Han and Feng Zhiming arrived at the peak of a mountain, which looked down into a valley.
The valley is where the sect was located, it was formerly known as the Demonic Divine valley. The sect itself was massive, from the peak of the mountain it seemed to span for at least 50 miles, nearly covering the entirety of the valley.
It seemed to follow a standard format, the initial exterior seemed to be fortified and fulled with structures intended for security, following this the residential zone appeared and beyond the residential zone was the training grounds and the core of the sect.
At the very end of the sect there was a large building that seemed to be a type of meeting hall, it had stairs leading up to it and overlooked the entirety of the sect.
"Senior brother, how can the elders think of sending spies? Wouldn't our demonic cultivation expose us immediately."
Demonic cultivators even at the start of the body refining followed a different path than the orthodoxy.
Where an orthodox cultivator would mainly rely on herbs for refining their body, demonic cultivators would rely on less conventional methods such as being thrown into a boiling vat of water and healed constantly, or bathing in the blood of cultivators.
"Some demonic cultivation methods are more apparent than others, naturally they would choose someone that is not easily exposed."
They arrived at the gate of the sect.
"OPEN THE DOOR, YOU SLACKERS!" Mu Han yelled with all his strength.
Someone peeked over the wall.
Feng Zhiming tensed up for a moment, even the gatekeeper was a Spiritual Awakening expert, this was truly a major sect.
"Oh, so it's Disciple Mu and Disciple Feng."
The huge door was pushed to the side and they walked in.
Mu Han walked up to him and handed him a few gold coins.
"Did the old man find out we were in town?"
"You're safe, run along."
Feng Zhiming remembered another important fact, Mu han was the grandson of the second elder, no wonder he was able to call a Spiritual Awakening cultivator a slacker.
"I have something to do, I'll talk to you later."
He took flight and shot towards his residence, it was time to come up with a plan of action.