"...."
Silence pervaded the entire space around Rey.
The outer disciple quarters were spartan but clean—small room with sleeping mat, basic furniture, and storage space for cultivation materials and personal possessions.
Rey sat cross-legged on the mat, his enhanced consciousness already working through the next phase of his infiltration objectives.
Primary mission: identify source of corruption spreading through junior disciples. Secondary objective: eliminate corruption without triggering a sect-wide crisis. Tertiary goal: reach Heaven's Gate City for extraction within the remaining timeframe.
He'd achieved the preliminary insertion successfully despite complications.
Now began the actual intelligence operation that would determine his examination performance evaluation.
A knock at the door interrupted his tactical planning.
