Cultivation Online

Chapter 1736  Internal Strife

"W-wait a second. Repeat that, and speak slower this time." Senior Bai said, doubting his hearing just now.

Kelan cleared his throat and repeated in a slow and clear voice, "Yuan has returned from the Primal Expanse, and the mysterious monster surnamed Xiao I wanted you to recruit turned out to be Yuan in disguise… I just found this out…"

"Yuan is back from the Primal Expanse…?" Xu Jiaqi muttered in a dazed voice.

"You… you fool! How could you put Yuan's existence in the spotlight when we've been trying to keep him hidden for as long as possible!" Senior Bai began lecturing him after comprehending the situation. "Now, the majority of the upper ranks and even two Celestial Overlords are aware of him!"

"B-but you were the one who revealed this information to them… I only wanted you to speak with Celestial Overlord Xu…" Kelan said.

"..." Senior Bai fell silent. He wanted to rebuke Kelan, but he found himself unable to do so, as he'd realized his own mistake.

"What should we do now, Lady Xu? It'll only be a matter of time before the rest of the faction is aware of Yuan's existence. The other groups will definitely try to covet him." Senior Bai looked at Xu Jiaqi.

"I think we can still keep his existence hidden. After all, nobody but the three of us are aware of the truth. We can just have Yuan continue his disguise for the time being." Kelan said.

Xu Jiaqi nodded, "That's a good idea. However, he's still part of our faction, which poses some risks and problems."

In fact, Kelan could've figured out Yuan's identity if he'd tried to locate Yuan since he has access to the location of all members with a lower rank. However, since he didn't know Yuan had left the Primal Expanse, he had no reason to try to locate Yuan or suspect his disguise, something that had to be done manually.

Another way of exposing Yuan would be to use an identifying talisman, which will automatically glow if they are near a member of the faction.

Commanders like Kelan and those of higher rank possess the ability to forcefully reveal a member's rank. However, since no one would suspect that Yuan is already part of the Celestial Overlords, the likelihood of this happening remains low.

"What if we temporarily remove him from the faction?" Kelan suddenly suggested.

"..."

Senior Bai and Xu Jiaqi frowned at his outrageous suggestion.

"Why are you looking at me like that? You trust him, right? In that case, you don't really have to worry about him going off to another faction."

Kelan's suggestion was logical and would definitely work. However, Xu Jiaqi didn't like the idea of removing Yuan from the faction, as it'd reset his progress and contributions to the faction. In other words, Yuan would have to start from the lowest rank when he rejoins the faction in the future.

"If you're worried about his rank… Well, there's not much we can really do about that. However, it's probably still better than exposing his existence to the faction, which will definitely stir the already unstable hornet's nest."

Xu Jiaqi clenched her fists. She wanted to keep Yuan a secret from the rest of the faction until he was strong enough or she had enough control of the faction.

'If the others find out about Yuan, they will definitely fight over him, especially that madman. I have to avoid this at all costs since it will, without a doubt, give the Celestial Overlords a good reason to divide the faction finally.'

The Celestial Overlords may seem perfect in the eyes of outsiders, but there was a serious power struggle within the upper ranks, with each Celestial Overlord trying to gain more authority and control over the other.

"While he may lose his progress, we can still give him special promotions." Senior Bai suddenly said. "He's only a General right now, and Kelan has the authority to promote an Apprentice to a Warrior, even Captain. I can promote him to General, and if needed, Lady Xu could promote him even further."

"I thought we cannot give out special promotions willy-nilly?" Kelan said.

"No, but there are ways around that. We can discuss that in the future." Senior Bai said.

"Alright. Let's remove Yuan from the faction temporarily for his safety and the stability of our faction." Xu Jiaqi eventually made a decision.

"There's another issue, but you will have to hear it from Yuan." Kelan then said.

"Why can't you tell us here?" Xu Jiaqi frowned.

"Because you probably won't believe me, and Yuan requested this himself." Kelan shrugged.

"Fine. He's in the Myriad of Techniques right now, right?" "Indeed."

"You can return first." Senior Bai said.

"Yes!"

Kelan bowed to them before leaving.

"I hope he won't hold a grudge for removing him, even if it's only temporary…" Xu Jiaqi sighed.

"Yuan isn't that kind of person. He'll surely understand why it must be done." Senior Bai said.

Kelan returned to the Myriad of Techniques sometime later.

"Where's Senior Bai and Miss Xu?" Yuan asked Kelan when he returned.

"They'll be coming later. While we wait for them, I need to talk to you for a moment." Kelan looked at him with a serious expression.

"What happened?"

Kelan proceeded to explain the situation and that they had decided to temporarily remove him from the faction.

"Miss Xu is worried that my existence might start a war in the faction and divide them, so she'd been keeping my existence a secret this entire time?" Yuan was dumbfounded after hearing this information.

Kelan sighed and explained, "You will eventually learn about this, so I might as well tell you now. Our situation isn't as good as it appears from the outside. Due to the other Celestial Overlords' ambitions, the faction has been split into four different groups, and we have internal fights almost daily. For the record, I am on Celestial Overlord Xu's side, and you're technically also on our side since she personally recruited you."

"Divided into four groups? Internal fights? Ambitions? What the hell is happening to my faction?" Yuan muttered in a dazed voice.

"Your faction?" Kelan raised an eyebrow at his weird phrasing.