Xuan Zi knocked on the door of the residence politely and waited for a response , something that he hadn't done ever since he became the sect master of the Crimson Snow Sect . His posture was solemn and his face rather rigid , sect master Xuan Zi looked ready for a serious arguement .

"Come in ," a tired voice sounded from the other within the room . Xuan Zi entered the room with a relieved expression on his face .

Inside , a man who looked slightly older than sect master himself sat in meditation . The room was full of blood-smeared towels and precious natural treasures . Xuan Zi carefully avoided the littered parts of the floor and sat down on a relatively clean cushion on the floor .

"How much have you recovered , your excellency ?" He then asked the old man occupying the room .

"Another week is enough . I should be able to bear the pressure of the returning journey by then . The spatial intersections at the edge of your region are getting more and more polluted by the unidentified energies . I should have been more cautious..."

The old man rambled on for a few seconds , and Xuan Zi nodded in return .

"I have a rather serious matter to report . The sect may face the wrath of an expert in near future . It'd be best if your excellency were to deal with it yourself ."

The old man gave him a sharp glance and nodded after a few seconds of contemplation .

"Explain ."

"A sealed realm has surfaced not far from here . The disciples who were nearby at that time investigated it , and their report confirms our past theories regarding the sealed realm . It is a subsidiary branch of one of the major Law Manipulator factions from the central worlds. Apparently , some sort of disaster had taken place in there in the past , which has turned it into a wasteland surrounded by intricate law-type seals . According to the disciples who visited the place, the threat inside should be limited to the peak of soul reformation realm ."

The old man frowned as Xuan Zi stopped for a moment.

"How is that even a threat ?" He asked in puzzlement .

"It's what that come after is the threat . While the disciples were escaping the sealed realm , they discovered that the town adjacent to the sealed realm has disappeared ," Xuan Zi explained patiently .

"Disappeared...as in just the superficial elements like the townsfolk and other living inhabitants or...?" The old man asked immediately , a tone of alarm subtly creeping into his voice .

"The other type of disappearance ," Xuan Zi answered gravely .

"Even the non living elements like buildings and roads no longer exist . The locals who had prior contact with the town also seems to have forgotten that it existed ."

For the first time since Xuan Zi had entered the room , the old man properly straightened up and looked alert . Both of them stared at each other's face for a few seconds as a silent conversation seemed to take place .

"A new rogue in the family ? I can't see who else would be bold enough to undergo their integration this close to the sect . How come I was never made aware of their existence when I took over this sect ? " Xuan Zi asked in a rather displeased tone , breaking the silence .

"Impossible . Rogues of our family would avoid these regions like plague . And the number of rogue cultivators at that realm are all documented and tracked subtly . An entire town , you say ? That's at least a fourth realm expert..."

The old man started muttering to himself wildly in the end . Xuan Zi's eyes twitched at the mention of the fourth realm and his lips curved upward for a fraction of a second , both of which the old man missed .

"I wouldn’t say it's impossible , your excellency . After all , something similar happened just one month ago ," Xuan Zi pointed out , interrupting the agitated old man .

"That was an entirely different matter ! Fang Xie is a raving lunatic half the time and you know it ! Not to mention , he suffered a qi deviation for real this time ! Or do you honestly believe that his integration process was hijacked by an entity so powerful that even the best divination expert of the family couldn’t catch a whiff of it ? And oh, let's not forget why this super expert in his story did that . To take away a portion of his integration elements ! Utter bullshit !"

Seeing that the old man had snapped , Xuan Zi restrained himself and tried to steer the conversation away into another direction .

"Well , if Fang Xie's lunacy is so apparent , maybe you should reconsider moving him away from this small region of mine ? Obviously , he needs a better environment than the chaotic neutral regions this solar system is in ."

The old man deflated upon hearing Xuan Zi's suggestion . His response came as rather lifeless .

"The family heads do not trust you that much , little Zi . Don't get ahead of yourself . You'll have plenty of opportunities to amass power when you find a way to move to a better region . I'm afraid you must bear with Fang Xie until then ."

Xuan Zi's lips pressed together into a thin line . But he didn’t voice his displeasure and let the old man sort his thoughts out .

"Damned rogues...This is of utmost importance . Go make some preparations , ready some emergency contact methods in case we need the help of a main branch . I'll go there and look into it right now ."

Xuan Zi nodded in agreement and stood up to leave . But then he remembered another issue that had been bothering him for a while . Hesitating for a moment , he asked the old man who was looking more and more disturbed with each passing second .

"Is the record of ancestry handed down by the family to distant branches like ours incomplete , your excellency ? Can I apply to the patriarch for the complete version through you ?"

"Record of Ancestry ? Why the hell would it be incomplete ? Bloodlines hardly matter in the central realms these days ."

Xuan Zi took out a tiny vial from his robe and handed it to the puzzled old man upon hearing his answer .

"Then how about you explain this ? There is no record of that type of result in the archives ."

The old man closely observed the vial Xuan Zi had given him . It contained a black , oily liquid that gave off a faint stench of rotten eggs despite being sealed inside . Undoing the seal , he dipped his finger in it lightly and licked it .

"Ugh...ack..."

Xuan Zi watched with schadenfreude as the old man gagged and keeled over . Clearly , he knew exactly what would happen when the old man had tried tasting it , perhaps from first-hand experience .

"This is nothing but an outdated ancestry determinant potion . There is not even a speck of ancestral factor mixed within . Maybe I'm getting old , but I fail to see how this is funny , Xuan Zi ," the old man said in a thunderous tone after recovering his bearings . But Xuan Zi stood his ground unabashedly .

"Exactly . During the entrance test this year , a new disciple's results were contained in that vial . It matches no record of existing ancestral factors . I ask your excellency for guidance on this ."

Stumped out of his wit for the second time that day , the old man sourly looked at the vial on his hand for a few seconds before sealing it and pocketing it . The whole thing looked like a childish prank to him , considering it was pretty much impossible for any type of ancestry , even mortal ones , to provide a result that wasn't recorded in the archives . Even a bloodline that had never existed in the distant past or a mutation of a rare one would display familiar results . The vial on his hand , however , did not even seem to contain anything remotely close to those .

Xuan Zi took his leave in silence while the old man pondered over all of these sudden, troublesome issues hounding his thoughts .

Finally gathering himself , he walked out of the room shakily and cast a glance at the dense mountains surrounding his residence . This particular branch of the Crimson Snow sect was not doing particularly well , but the old man was not bothered . It was up to Xuan Zi to elevate the sect's position , and he knew Xuan Zi well enough to gauge his ambitious plans . But even Xuan Zi's grand ambitions would have to be put on a hold if the incident of the disappearance proved to be the birth of another rogue cultivator of their own faction . Xuan Zi would need to show brilliant results to make the family heads care about this branch . And for that , Xuan Zi would need to nurture monstrously talented disciples...which was an unlikely possibility .

Briefly , the old man couldn't help but wonder about a certain young man he had accompanied during his journey to this branch sect .

"Huh... that Xuhan kid didn't seem half bad in terms of talent . I wonder if he's still alive. Probably dead by now..."