Chapter 697: Prepared
About an hour later, Saintly Peace and Dreaming Cloud arrived at the location, accompanied by eight B-rank members. There was no doubt that Qi Xuansu was an anomaly, always moving alone and out of sync with the group. It seemed Madam Qi had intentionally erected a thick barrier between him and the Qingping Society, leaving him nearly ignorant of the upper ranks before becoming a B-rank member.
All eight B-rank members were Heavenly Beings. That did not mean all B-rank members of the Qingping Society were of that level. Rather, those like Li Qingnu, who lacked combat ability, had no place in this operation. Only the ones who could fight had been selected.
This was the Qingping Society’s style, choosing quality over quantity. They operated with a small elite force and high mobility. In contrast, the large numbers of The Inn seemed bloated and clumsy by comparison.
The twelve operated as one. Saintly Peace, though wearing the mask of an A-rank member, exuded a noble and regal air. He gazed toward Qingyuan County from afar as he asked Ceremony Prelude, “Has The Inn’s location been confirmed?”
Ceremony Prelude nodded and pointed southeast. “There’s a City God Temple 25 kilometers from here. The Inn’s main branch in the Zhili region lies beneath it.”
Saintly Peace rose into the air first, the others following swiftly behind.
For Heavenly Beings, flying 25 kilometers took no time at all. Upon arrival, they saw the place was full of gnarled trees and scattered graves. The City God Temple was dilapidated, long repurposed as a public morgue. The whole place resembled a mass unmarked burial ground.
Ceremony Prelude said nothing. The eye slots of her mask suddenly lit up, and a talisman shaped like an eye appeared above her, projecting a beam of light.
This was the Diviner’s Seer Eye, used to dispel illusions.
The talisman slowly rotated, and the beam moved with it. Wherever it passed, the scenery distorted, like a moon reflected in rippling water. The graves and twisted trees dissolved like dream bubbles.
The City God Temple itself remained unchanged, clearly not an illusion. But all the gloomy, decaying atmosphere was swept away, revealing its true form, which was majestic and grand, on par with the Daoist temple in the city.