Hidden Moth-Chapter 498 - 283: Arrogant Proclamations Reveal Ambition

He Kao watched as Elder Gu’s figure disappeared into the night; the elder didn’t fly away into the sky but passed through the mountain’s dense forest, leapt down Dragon Scale Slope, and vanished in an instant.

With He Kao’s divine sense being so strong, he still failed to detect Gu Chun’s traces.

Gu Chun must have perfected the Heart Plate Sect’s "Earth Formation Skill," using the mountains and rivers as his heart plate, akin to a drop of water merging into a river, nearly achieving a realm of truly moving with the wind, shifting with the earth.

He Kao’s divine sense, which can cover close distances and scan distant mountains and rivers, finds Gu Chun’s form and spirit as elusive as the blowing wind and flowing water. Unless he could lock onto him from the beginning, it’s impossible to discern.

Divine sense is an active perception ability that surpasses ordinary sensory organs, incredibly wondrous. After breaking through Tier Four, He Kao experienced various changes in its application, feeling almost invincible.

Gu Chun inadvertently taught him a lesson just now; since it is a perception ability, it is not omnipotent, and there will always be situations it cannot sense or distinguish... one wonders if the elder did it intentionally.

This lesson is crucial for Hidden Moth; whether directly traversing space or instantly moving within the range of his divine sense, the prerequisite is not to be detected, and Gu Chun provided a live demonstration.

On the other hand, if he is to undertake any tracking or monitoring tasks in the future, encountering such masters requires awareness.

He Kao couldn’t help but sigh, realizing his cultivation is still too shallow. Even though he has reached Tier Four Perfection, many secret techniques of the Heart Plate Sect, including his own Sect, have not been cultivated to a profound enough level.

In a fleeting thought, he considered Elder Gu’s means of deceiving reality and illusion; maybe the elder carries some magical treasure that conceals his traces?

He Kao instinctively took out his phone to check the time. No wonder Elder Li liked meeting him here, and Elder Gu also asked him to bring it here; strangely, Dragon Scale Slope has cell phone signal, and a good one at that.

In the morning, Geng Yanxin, accompanied by three high-tier sorcerers, passed through the portal into the Immortal Pot Grotto Heaven and arrived at the Sect Ancestral Hall. According to each Magic Sect’s precedent, the guardian of a Grotto Heaven is not just one steward, usually accompanied by three high-tier sorcerers.

Some sects like the Lingxi Sect have too few disciples and if three can’t be gathered, then two would suffice.

The number of Alchemy Sect disciples, of course, is much larger, so they typically won’t face such challenges. The Grotto Heaven Blessed Land is an excellent place for seclusion cultivation, and normally many disciples cultivate here, like how Mei Guyu once stayed long-term in the Immortal Pot Grotto Heaven.

Those who can cultivate in the Grotto Heaven are usually high-tier sorcerers with responsibilities within the sect, which can be considered a perk.

High-tier sorcerers like Qian Guran, who don’t typically serve the sect, will only heed summoning when necessary. Although the Magic Sect won’t have them work for free, they don’t enjoy these benefits usually.

However, the Alchemy Sect has been somewhat chaotic recently, with nearly all cultivators with sect duties being dispatched by the Ancestral Hall due to the vast number of leads to investigate. Since the matter primarily involves the Alchemy Sect, they will naturally pull personnel from here first.

Thus, the current Immortal Pot Grotto Heaven appears somewhat empty, with no one besides the on-duty cultivators.

Upon arriving at the Sect Ancestral Hall, they habitually burned incense and worshipped the ancestral masters, then Geng Yanxin and Wu Chongshan conducted the transfer, all of which went smoothly without any unforeseen circumstances.

By noon, Wu Chongshan left the Grotto Heaven with three high-tier sorcerers who had completed their duty, handing over the fundamental territory of the sect to Geng Yanxin for management.

The layout of the Ancestral Hall is similar across major Grotto Heavens; it’s an ancient architectural complex, with the most prominent central hall akin to the main hall of a temple, where ancestral masters are worshipped and ceremonies and rituals are conducted.

On both sides are additional halls, courtyards, and side rooms, with the sect’s warehouse and the library for storing books and archives being particularly important.

In fact, the most central area of the Ancestral Hall is not the central hall but the deepest structure behind it. It’s a pavilion built against a mountain; from the outside, it looks like a two-story eave, but upon entering, one finds it connects to a mountain stone niche. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The stone niche front has a stone wall, with stone strips laid horizontally below it, resembling an incense table. The natural patterns on the stone wall remarkably resemble the view when looking from Cai Ping Village towards Phoenix Tail Town.

If the Grotto Heaven Blessed Land is likened to a barrier array, then here is where the array core is located.

Why is Tier Five Cultivation the minimum requirement for a steward? Because only a Tier Five Cultivation can barely take over the array core, and controlling each Grotto Heaven array core requires using the secret techniques corresponding to each sect.

Theoretically, controlling the array core means managing the Grotto Heaven. Through the marvelous uses of the array core, one’s primordial spirit can perceive everything within the whole Grotto Heaven, harness the Power of Heaven and Earth for personal use, and even call the wind and rain, directing lightning in this world.

But this is just theoretical; what can actually be achieved depends on cultivation.

Only with Tier Five Cultivation can one open form and spirit to merge with this world, surveying mountains and rivers as if introspecting oneself, but still unable to see every detail in a single thought.

Under normal circumstances, a Tier Five Steward can use the array core to detect movements throughout the Grotto Heaven, then precisely locate and understand the situation there, allowing the divine sense to reach unobstructed and various techniques to be performed across space.

Most importantly, it’s possible to manage the Grotto Heaven Gate in this way; no one can enter or exit without being monitored, and all disguises and stealth tactics can be seen through, and, of course, the gate can be opened or closed.