The Baiyun Sect's higher-ups were clearly not fools. They represented the interests of the entire sect and lacked any shortsightedness. They wouldn't rashly eliminate those who reported the matter, ensuring a high degree of safety and no risk.
Indeed.
If they could truly report it to the Baiyun Sect and make all the sect's high-ranking members aware of the situation.
Those who reported it would certainly face no risk; instead, they would reap great rewards.
This was because while an individual might be shortsighted, the entire Baiyun Sect, as a whole, could not be. It wouldn't engage in killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
However, due to his youth.
The leading young man overlooked one fact: the vast Baiyun Sect, though a unified entity, was ultimately composed of individuals.
The entire Baiyun Sect would not err and could accommodate them.
But individuals might not.
Discovering a treasure and recognizing its importance, then choosing to report it to the Baiyun Sect, was theoretically a wise decision, as the sect would not mistreat him. But the mistake lay in the fact that the Baiyun Sect was made up of people.
Being composed of people meant that information had to be relayed through individuals of high status, step by step, for everyone in the Baiyun Sect to know.
And it was a very obvious fact.
That was it.
A mere handyman disciple, even with crucial intelligence to report or an immortal treasure to hand over, lacked the qualifications and channels to deliver it directly to the Baiyun Sect's sect leader.
It could only be reported through intermediary channels, and these channels involved more than one person.
The handyman disciple would report to the steward, the steward to the inner sect official, the inner sect official to the elder or protector, and only then could the elder or protector report to the sect leader.
These were several intermediary channels.
These intermediary channels were highly susceptible to problems.
Once a problem occurred in any of these channels, it meant the intelligence did not reach the highest level but was intercepted midway.
Reporting to the Baiyun Sect sounded simple; the entire sect had no selfish motives. But this did not mean that certain individuals within the Baiyun Sect did not have selfish motives. Just like now, they reported to Steward Liu, but Steward Liu did not wish to pass it up the chain. Instead, he wanted to intercept it and claim the immortal treasure for himself—silencing them directly. Not only would they gain no benefit, but they would also invite a deadly fate!
Reporting also carried risks.
Anyone who believed reporting was risk-free compared to exploring on their own was an idiot!
The leading young man was an idiot.
Therefore, he could only despairingly await death.
And Steward Liu, as the villain, would not leave the leading young man any hope, directly dispatching him.
After completely incinerating several corpses.
Steward Liu felt a sense of triumph.
He hadn't harbored murderous intent from the very beginning.
The possessions of handyman disciples were generally not of high value. Even if they owned some treasures, they often held little worth for Steward Liu.
Thus, when these handyman disciples approached him, Steward Liu had no intention of acting against them, nor did he intend for them to act first.
After all, disciples having secrets was normal; everyone had secrets. As long as they weren't too significant, Steward Liu could tolerate them.
Even for treasures that offered some benefits to inner disciples, Steward Liu didn't feel it was necessary to kill them to obtain them.
After all, there was no need to ruthlessly seize disciples' opportunities for certain non-essential gains.
But unfortunately.
The involvement of spatial items, with their immense value, directly swayed Steward Liu's heart.
The leading young man and the others, having just joined, only knew that spatial items were valuable, but this was a vague concept, not a concrete, clear understanding.
Steward Liu, however, knew how rare such spatial items were.
Whether it was possessing a small pocket dimension, a portable dwelling that could be used for secluded cultivation, or an item for traversing space that could silently pass through the sect's protective array, allowing free movement between the outside world and the Baiyun Sect.
Both possibilities represented immense value!
The sect's protective array was the foundation of the entire Baiyun Sect, a third-tier formation.
According to Steward Liu's knowledge, at least a third-tier formation-breaking talisman was required to breach this array.
This array had rarely been broken during conflicts between the Baiyun Sect and other sects. The difficulty of silently traversing it was unimaginable.
Even if it could only carry a low-level cultivator, compared to the lesser energy of high-level cultivators, they were like small fish that could pass through the net, while large fish could not. This somewhat reduced the difficulty.
But this was still considered a high-end spatial item.
To Steward Liu's knowledge, the Baiyun Sect possessed only a few such high-end spatial items.
As for portable dimensions, their value was even greater. While the Baiyun Sect had a location that, once opened, led to a blessed land,
This blessed land was filled with abundant spiritual energy. It was left by a former sect leader and was one of the foundations of the Baiyun Sect.
But it was fixed in place once opened and could not be moved!
And even for this blessed land, the sect leader at the time had expended countless efforts, using array formations and the combined power of many elders and protectors of the Baiyun Sect, to jointly create that pocket dimension.
A blessed land itself was already incredibly rare; the Baiyun Sect had only one, not multiple.
Portable dimensions, however, were only rumored to exist, possessed only by truly great sects and immortal cultivators.
The value of such treasures far surpassed that of items for traversing formations!
Therefore, after hearing the detailed accounts of the handyman disciples.
Steward Liu immediately recognized the treasure's value!
Report it?
Report it to the Baiyun Sect?
Steward Liu had not been uncultivated by the Baiyun Sect, nor did he lack affection for it.
If such a situation had occurred when he was young, before he missed that great opportunity,
Steward Liu would have considered reporting the situation and letting the sect handle the matter, prioritizing public interest over personal gain.
But now?
Already deeply regretting his wrong choice back then, which haunted him in his dreams, making him constantly ponder why he had made the wrong decision, Steward Liu.
Would not bother with reporting to the sect at all.
His mind was no longer on that. His mind was on monopolizing the immortal treasure!
Last time, he had made the wrong choice, leading to lifelong regret.
This time, he would not make that choice!
"Fang Ming..."
In mere moments, Steward Liu arrived at the door of Fang Ming's thatched hut.
He immediately extended his divine sense to investigate. Indeed, Fang Ming was nowhere to be seen.
It seemed to be a spatial treasure after all.
Following the accounts of those individuals, Steward Liu knew that Fang Ming had been gone for over ten days and would likely return after another ten days.