After preparing everything, Chen Ping did not linger long in Qingfeng Town. Instead, he swiftly departed, finding a remote, desolate valley on the outskirts of the Myriad Swords Mountain Range where human traces were rare and spiritual qi was thin.
His first task was to forge a demonic sect secret order convincing enough to pass as genuine.
Taking out the highest-quality blank jade slip, Chen Ping sat cross-legged, sinking his divine sense into it.
He mobilised his vast, ocean-like divine soul power, beginning to meticulously simulate the unique yin cold, treacherous aura of the Myriad Souls Demonic Sect’s demonic essence, laced with soul fluctuations.
With extreme caution, he inscribed within the jade slip the information content he had long conceived.
He carefully recalled every detail about the Myriad Souls Demonic Sect’s writing style, habitual phrasing, and internal hierarchy, gathered from Shi Yan and Ying Wu’s accounts, as well as the sect items and classics seized earlier.
He strove to make every word and phrase align perfectly with the demonic sect’s tone, leaving no flaws.
The content in the jade slip was meticulously crafted as an absolutely confidential directive personally issued by Sect Master Hun Sha to a latent agent leader codenamed “Shadow”, long embedded within the Profound Heaven Sword Sect’s sphere of influence.
“Shadow, heed this order: The sect has resolved to wage full-scale war against the Profound Heaven Sword Sect, avenging past humiliation and thoroughly seizing the spiritual veins and resources of the Myriad Swords Mountain Range!”
“You and your subordinates are hereby commanded to closely monitor the sword sect’s movements. At the exact hour of zi three days hence, coordinate with the sect’s main force in a pincer attack from within and without. Launch a surprise assault on the ‘Shaking Light’ array eye of the sect-protecting grand array, the ‘Big Dipper Sword Gang Array’!”
“This is one of the seven core nodes of the ‘Big Dipper Sword Gang Array’, and the key to breaking the formation. At all costs, destroy it or temporarily paralyse it!”
“At that time, this seat will personally lead the sect’s main force in a frontal assault. With attacks from both inside and outside, we shall surely breach the Profound Heaven Sword Sect’s mountain gate in one strike, laying the foundation for eternal dominion! This battle concerns the sect’s rise or fall, survival or extinction. Success is the only option; failure is not permitted! Should you delay the opportunity or leak any information, come see me with your head!”
The “Big Dipper Sword Gang Array” and “Shaking Light array eye” were deduced by Chen Ping as one of the most likely key nodes of the sect-protecting grand array, based on scattered rumours in the market, miscellaneous records about the Profound Heaven Sword Sect’s history he had purchased, and his own profound understanding of arrays.
Choosing to target the core array eye of the sect-protecting grand array was an utterly intolerable, naked declaration of war for any sect, sufficient to instantly detonate all contradictions.
After inscribing the secret order’s content, Chen Ping’s work was not yet complete.
The most crucial step lay in that unique soul seal.
He took out the Thousand Illusion Spiritual Clay, using it as a medium and mixing in a trace of source demonic qi extracted and refined from those damaged demonic sect artefacts.
Then, mobilising his divine soul power, he extremely carefully and meticulously simulated and constructed the distinctive, powerful soul imprint fluctuations unique to Hun Sha.
This process demanded control over energy and soul fluctuations at a subtle, microscopic level. The slightest error would ruin everything.
Chen Ping focused fully, spiritual light flickering around his fingertips as if performing the most precise carving. It took a full half hour before a soul seal emitting pure, yin cold pressure characteristic of Hun Sha was perfectly imprinted at the end of the jade slip.
Having completed all this, Chen Ping let out a long breath. He carefully examined the jade slip several times, confirming that from the material, information content, writing style, to the most critical soul imprint, everything reached a near-flawless, utterly convincing level.
Unless Hun Sha himself personally held the jade slip and probed it repeatedly, it would be impossible to detect as a forgery.
A secret order alone was not enough. It needed actual actions to corroborate its authenticity.
Chen Ping’s figure melted into the night once more, like an intangible ghost. He silently infiltrated the vicinity of a relatively remote outpost on the periphery of the Profound Heaven Sword Sect’s mountain gate, where guard forces were not overly strong.
He did not harm those guarding sword sect disciples. Instead, with speed far exceeding their reaction limits, he struck instantly, using skilful force to subdue them and render them temporarily unconscious.
