Recently, Xia Jiye had been feeling a bit unsettled.
Although he knew that the characteristic of the Separation Tower was that tasks were completed rather slowly.
This was also related to the fact that the Separation Tower often disguised murders as accidents.
But this time, after waiting a whole month without any movement, Xia Jiye was somewhat agitated.
At the same time, he kept a close eye on the developments of the outer sect.
At first, he intended to watch the failures of Qin Jianji and Zhao Ya.
Because, in his view, with Azure Dragon Temple’s current reputation, it was really hard to attract the noble clan’s descendants to come for gilding.
However, he never expected that Zhao Ya and the others would take a completely different approach, abandoning the idea of attracting noble clans’ descendants, and instead, started recruiting those from well-off but poor families.
This decision also received strong support from Grand Elder Guan Xuejiang, who offered both manpower and financial resources generously.
So, in just a month, the outer sect developed quite well.
Regarding this, Xia Jiye felt uneasy.
Although the outer sect is just getting started, whether in terms of disciple numbers or otherwise, it is far from being comparable to his side.
But Xia Jiye still saw a bad omen in it.
Could it be that Guan Xuejiang intends to bypass people like him through the matter of rebuilding the outer sect and replace the Instructor Elder?
At the thought of this, Xia Jiye felt an even stronger urge to kill Zhao Ya.
He knew very well that the rapid development of the outer sect was primarily due to Zhao Ya.
Otherwise, relying on Qin Jianji and his disciple Tian Yixin alone would never achieve such strong execution capability.
Because of this, he went to the mountain at the back every day over the past few days to send carrier pigeons, trying to contact people from the Separation Tower.
It was not until yesterday that he received a reply. It mentioned that Zhao Ya’s daily routine had been figured out, and the attack would take place no later than the next day or two.
Xia Jiye had high hopes for this, because, to make this matter flawless, he had spent a considerable amount.
Despite Zhao Ya being only in the Fifth Realm, Xia Jiye spent enough money that could kill two Meridian Opening level individuals.
Therefore, Xia Jiye believed that it was a sure thing.
After secretly comforting himself like this, Xia Jiye finally felt much more at ease.
But just as he raised a cup of tea, before he could drink it, someone suddenly rushed in hurriedly—it was a disciple Xia Jiye usually trusted greatly.
At this moment, the disciple looked anxious, and after barging in, he didn’t bother with formalities but spoke directly.
"Master, something has happened."
Xia Jiye’s heart skipped a beat, but to maintain his authority as a master, he pretended to say calmly.
"What does it look like to be flustered, regardless of how serious the matter is, one must have inner calm, that’s the attitude needed for great accomplishments."
"Yes, Master!" The disciple reluctantly responded with a lowered head.
"Speak, what is the matter?"
"Just received news that Zhao Ya broke through to Meridian Opening!"
"What!?"
Just now saying that to accomplish great things one needs calm, Xia Jiye abruptly stood up upon hearing this, unaware that the tea in his cup was spilling out.
"What do you mean?"
"Master, Zhao Ya broke through to Meridian Opening."
Xia Jiye’s expression changed unpredictably, with shock, confusion, and resentment.
Suddenly.
He thought of something and promptly asked, "Was it Guo Luming who guarded him or Shen Yunshen, or did Guan Xuejiang personally act?"
"None of them."
"None of them?" Xia Jiye frowned, "Could it be Qin Jianji?"
The disciple smiled bitterly, "Master, what I mean by none is that no one guarded this Zhao Ya, he broke through on his own."
"Impossible!" Xia Jiye blurted out, his face full of a mocking smile.
"This is definitely false news! Even if Zhao Ya is extremely talented, he couldn’t have opened his meridians without any guidance or protection."
But just as he thought his disciple was talking nonsense, someone else burst in.
"Elder Xia, have you heard?" The newcomer was an Instructor Elder, equally anxious.
"Heard what?"
"That Zhao Ya broke through to Meridian Opening!"
Now Xia Jiye couldn’t help but believe it.
A cup of tea later, after understanding what happened outside in detail, Xia Jiye sat back in his chair despondently, muttering.
"How could this be...?"
What shocked him wasn’t Zhao Ya’s breakthrough, but the rumor that he suddenly attained enlightenment while contemplating the Cliff Dragon Painting.
It sounded absurd, yet it was the most reasonable assumption.
Because in such a short time, without anyone’s guidance, it was impossible for Zhao Ya to open the Ren and Du Meridians.
The only explanation was that he encountered some extraordinary opportunity.
Suddenly, Xia Jiye shivered with fear.
He thought of a terrible consequence.
If all this was true, and if his dealings with the Separation Tower to target Zhao Ya were exposed, the situation would be drastically different.
After all, Zhao Ya was just a somewhat talented disciple before, but now it was entirely different.
Thinking of this, Xia Jiye stood up, intending to go to the mountain at the back to send a message, urging the Separation Tower to stop their actions immediately.
But at this moment, another piece of news forced Xia Jiye back into his chair.
"It’s said that this time Zhao Ya even encountered the Separation Tower’s assassins in Qujiang City, and managed to drive them off. Despite this, the Grand Elder was very furious and has already ordered Shen Yunshen to personally lead the team to take down the Separation Tower."
Xia Jiye’s heart sank, knowing it was over.
He was still a step too late; the Separation Tower had already acted.
And the Grand Elder’s decision to have Shen Yunshen lead the team to eliminate the Separation Tower was partly to establish authority and partly to warn him.
Xia Jiye’s face turned ashen, suddenly feeling some regret for having opposed Zhao Ya in the first place.
But it was too late to say anything now.
Xia Jiye could only hope that the people from the Separation Tower could hide quickly and wouldn’t sell him out.
The Grand Elder hadn’t made a move against him because there was no concrete evidence, but once they obtained it, he would be doomed.
-----------------
Organizing a team to uproot the Separation Tower was no simple task, at least Shen Yunshen needed to select a capable team.
Therefore, after receiving the task, he went about his work, while Zhao Ya returned to the Library to research materials.
But after spending half a day, Zhao Ya didn’t gain much, so he asked Guo Luming.
"What exactly is the existence of the Separation Tower, and why don’t we have much information about them in our library?"
"Of course not, because the Separation Tower is just an assassin organization that’s emerged in the last ten years," Guo Luming said.
An organization that has emerged in the last ten years...
Zhao Ya suddenly thought of something and asked, "Elder, what do you think of the Wu Bao’Er I encountered, and which sect or school do you think she belongs to?"