The next morning me and Alice both went to the room of the academy Elder. Besides us and the Elder there were also more than a dozen cultivators in the room. On the academy Elder's desk was a small map detailing the Frontier that surrounded the Moon Flower Sect.

  The Elder pointed at a specific point on the map. The point was an area which wasn't that far from the sect. It was an area of the Frontier that was meant for Tier 1 cultivators. The Elder then spoke.

  "Adam will probably be in this area. He will most likely try to absorb as many elemental spirits as he can before venturing further into the Frontier to get even stronger. So our priority is searching this area which is great since a lot of you will have access to it."

  I contemplated the Elder's words for a moment before I opened my mouth to speak.

  "I don't think this is the case Elder." I said.

  Everyone turned to look at me and so I had to explain my reasoning.

  "We have to keep in mind that Adam is a impulsive person. When a opportunity to get quickly stronger presented itself he instantly took it without any worry for the consequences. So he will probably travel far into the Frontier in search of strong spirits to absorb. This will also prevent us from catching him easily since not many of us can venture that far."

  The Elder looked at me and then at the map. His face carried an expression of deep though. He was silent for a moment before once again opening his mouth.

  "This might me the case. This will complicate our search for Adam significantly but thank you Richard for pointing this out. If you hadn't we would've wasted a lot of resources."

  I nodded and waited for the Elder to speak again.

  "This sect has 16 cultivators who are Tier 2 but I have already decided Alexander won't participate in the search and Gregory is still recovering from his last expedition into the Frontier. That leaves us with 14 people which means we don't have a lot of resources. We will send out groups of 2 in each direction. While this won't cover the entire area it does give us the best opportunity to find Adam" The Elder instantly devised a new plan.

  Everyone in the room agreed to this plan and believed it was the best course of action. The Elder then announced the end of the meeting and we all walked out of the room.

  ...

  In the hallway I walked with Alice who was besides me. She had a somewhat angry expression on her face.

  "What's bothering you?" I asked.

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  "I'm just angry I won't be able to find Adam and kill him since he's in an area that's off limits to me." She explained.

  "You don't have to worry about that." I said.

  "Huh? Why not?" She asked curiously.

  "Because Adam isn't in that area at all. He's in the area where Tier 1 cultivators are allowed to go." I said.

  Alice stopped walking and her face went blank for a moment before turning into one of confusion.

  "W-What do you mean? Back at the meeting you were the one who said he would be farther in the Frontier then the others assumed." She reminded me.

  "Yes but that was a lie." I replied.

  "You lied? In front of the Elder?" Alice said in a shocked voice. She once again couldn't believe what she was hearing.

  "I made it seem like Adam was an impulsive person but in reality he was just being efficient. He knew that an opportunity to absorb as many spirits as he did wouldn't come again so he immediately took it when he was tasked with guarding the treasury. I simply claimed that this was because he was impulsive when in reality that wasn't the case. Adam can be patient which is the reason why he's probably near the sect, specifically the area accessible to Tier 1 cultivators. But due to my interference the Tier 2 cultivators are exploring a larger and more dangerous area even though Adam isn't even there." I explained my act of deception to Alice who could barely take in all the information at once.

  She then asked another question.

  "But why do all this?"

  I looked at her and gave her a gentle smile.

  "I believe you know the answer to that question." I said as I continued walking.

  Alice however stood in her place and was thinking about my words just know. She then had a look of realization on her face and then looked up. She noticed I had walked forward and then chased after me.

  Once she finally caught up she asked one more question.

  "Is it so you can find Adam yourself and get a reward which will allow you to get stronger?"

  "Exactly." I said.

  Alice then walked forward with me with a expression of...admiration.

  "You're really smart." She randomly blurted out a compliment.

  "Knowledge is another form of power and knowledge about manipulation and deception is the most important type of knowledge." I explained.

  "But even if we come across Adam we still aren't strong enough to defeat him. He's a Tier 2 cultivator while we are only Tier 1." She said with concern.

  "You don't have to worry about that. I have a plan." I said in an assuring voice.

  "What plan?" She asked.

  "My plan is to break into the treasury." I said in a calm voice.

  Alice stopped walking again.

  She couldn't believe it.

  She was absolutely flabbergasted by my response.

  "You never cease to amaze me." She said in a voice that seemed to carry a bit of exhaustion.

  "Well what is your grand plan to break into it?" She asked.

  "The hole on the treasury's roof still hasn't been fixed since everybody's been busy with Adam's betrayal. I will climb on top of the building, get in through the hole, absorb enough spirits to advance to Tier 2 and then leave." I explained.

  "Enough to advance to Tier 2? You're basically be stealing half of the sect's remaining Storm spirits. That's really risky. How will you hide your strength when you advance to Tier 2?" Alice asked in a tone that indicated she was now comfortable talking to me about committing crimes.

  "I will simply have Will hold all the absorbed energy within himself and not send it out into my body so that my physical capabilities aren't enhanced to the point it can be noticed I advanced to Tier 2." I explained.

  "Who is Will?" Alice asked.

  "Will is the name I gave to my Storm spirit." I answered.

  After hearing this Alice had one though running through her head.

  "Cute."