The meeting spot was arranged, and Sam needs to go there along with his team the next day.
Sam sent the bird puppets there and let the team rest and prepare for the next day.
The location of the meeting is the forest. Sam looked at the screen to make sure that the tundra sect is not doing anything fishy.
While Sam is doing this, the sect had another meeting. It is not about how to deal with Sam's matter, rather it is to discuss the possibilities on how their location might have been revealed and how they should overcome it.
For then, being hidden is a necessity and there shouldn't be any problems regarding that matter.
As for why they are leisurely chatting about this instead of thinking of ways to deal with Sam, in their opinion, Sam is already done for.
Once they met with him in the meeting, everything would be easy. That is what they thought and they believed it wholeheartedly. In their opinion, their only problem at the moment is to find a way to rectify the mistake.
"Why don't we just wait, sect leader? We can interrogate him tomorrow and ask him how he found it." As soon as the elder spoke, the sect leader shot him a glare.
He gave a sweeping glance to the rest and said.
"What do you guys think? Do you really think that nobody would make Hel give us such a warning personally? What if he already estimated that he might die and gave the secret to someone else? If that is true, what if he rather died and not told us anything? Hell, what if he is currently trying to sell this information? Do you know how many people are currently waiting to find our hidden location and do you know how many people would flock here if they really managed to find our location and our real identities are revealed?
Just don't be dumb and think we are invincible. That is what the sect's ancestors did and here we are. In this shitty realm now trying to think of ways to not reveal ourselves like some cowards and all because of a brat who is still green behind his ears."
The whole room turned silent, nobody even dared to make eye contact with the sect leader.
At this moment, one core disciple spoke.
"I think the problem is with the spiritual imprint detection."
When he said this, everyone looked at it him as if he was an idiot.
"What do you mean by the problem being the spiritual imprint detection? As soon as the imprint reached the end of the water current and the mouth of the entrance, all kinds of spiritual imprints not only will be detected but also destroyed at the same time. What could be wrong with that? Even the spiritual imprint he left was destroyed the same."
The core disciple whose golem was marked by Sam spoke. He is already having a tough time because he let Sam imprint his golem for the past few days, now if someone really said that it is the only reason why they are in this situation, he wouldn't be able to hear the end from his peers.
"That is the problem in itself. Think carefully, the underground water current is actually quite deep and even our sect leader uses his spiritual sense from the surface it wouldn't be detected but what if there is another method to see things that are not right in front of our eyes and beyond spiritual sense.
Most of the time even if someone used the spiritual imprint and followed the path, they would be fooled as they wouldn't expect us to use a current of underground water, and even some meticulous people will be fooled by the formations we placed along the way that helped us avoid the detection.
But what if someone took the time to examine the path carefully and managed to spot the traces of the water current.
That is a possibility that we cannot eliminate."
The sect leader looked at him and nodded in satisfaction.
He knew a bit about spiritual imprints as they use golems. There is a possibility to track the real-time movements of the imprint and once a person puts their mind to it, it is indeed possible for them to think of some possibilities.
"You come with us tomorrow." The sect leader said and turned to the rest of the group.
"Think of a way overcome this. Dismissed."
The meeting was over.
The next day, the sect members that are selected for the task all went to the forest.
Sam and his team also arrived soon after the sect members arrived.
This forest is full of tall trees that towered them over. Everyone looked so small and insignificant compared to the trees beside them.
Within this forest, there is a large patch in the middle. The sect members are all standing there.
Sam and his team arrived on the other end and stood face to face.
"So, did you bring the blade? What do you want for it in exchange?"
The sect leader looked at Sam who just spoke as he sized him up.
"Do you really think that we would bring the blade to you? Do you really believe that we will sell it directly?"
Sam chuckled and said.
"Not really, I am just asking for courtesy. I know for a fact that you would never sell it. I just asked so that I would feel less guilty when I snatch it from you."
"To snatch it, you must stay alive first. Since you know that we are not giving it away, I hope you are prepared to die."
With that, he slammed his foot on the ground and a large energy movement occurred in the forest.
Sam was a bit surprised, but he didn't show it in his face, he immediately activated energy vision as he looked at the energy moving around activating a large formation bit by bit, when saw this, he took out a throwing knife and filled it with fire elemental energy and threw it in a specific direction.
The knife enveloped with golden flames zoomed through the air as it was lodged into the tree making it burn in flames.
The formation which was still in the activation mode suddenly stopped spreading to the side.
It was now only partially activated.
Everyone from the sect's side was shocked by Sam's sudden move and when they saw the effect of they were shocked beyond belief.
This is the formation the sect arranged a long time ago. This is one of the places where they train and cultivate and this formation is made to support their ice elemental attributes.
They didn't expect Sam to counter it. But the sect leader didn't worry too much. Even though the formation is only partially activated, the effects will still be there. Maybe not to their desired extent but they would be sufficient to give them a decent advantage.
Meanwhile, Sam's team felt the effects of the formation. The formation increased the intensity and density of the ice elemental energy in the air. It is almost like the normal spiritual energy in the air is completely replaced by ice elemental energy.
As they tried to absorb the energy by instinct, they could feel the freezing cold seeping into their bodies.
They are sure that even with their cultivation, they shouldn't stay in this place for a prolonged period of time.
The team immediately jumped to battle mode.
"Try to use as little energy as possible. I will find a way to get rid of the formation."
With that, Sam took off on the harbinger as he dodged an attack.
Night Ghost and the sect leader stood face to face while the rest of the team started fighting with the remaining elders and the core disciples.
Sam was confronted by the core disciple whose golem is in the shape of a wyvern and could fly a little.
"You are mine."
The core disciple said as he threw an icicle on Sam. But Sam just dodged it and took out the executioner sword. He increased his speed suddenly which made the other party stunned for a second as he swung his sword at him,
The sword's aura is completely different from before. Since it has a spirit, it can accumulate energy with time and increase the effectiveness of the attack.
The core disciple felt threatened and instinctually used the golem to block.
The sword slid through the golem as if it is cutting through the air and the surrounding ice near the slash turned purple as the corrosive poison spread into it, the ice corroded a bit, but it didn't spread like it did when it was used against cultivators and other creatures.
Sam took a hard turn and stabbed at the core disciple once again, but the strike was once again blocked with the golem, but this time, the wing was used and the stab made a crack appear on the wings.
Sam took advantage of it and stabbed once again to make a hole appear in the wing.
The Golem lost its balance in the air and almost crashed into the ground which was stopped by the core disciple.
Sam didn't pay him much attention and activated his energy vision to take a look at the formation.
