"First... Let's have what you got, Sister Ellisa." Ureff uttered, then took Ellisa's paper.
"That paper will be our future, Ureff."
At how Ellisa sounded, Ureff didn't react to it at all and just silently read all the contents.
Ellisa, just after Ureff left the lodging house, went straight to the registrar's office. She then searched for essential information there using some illusion magic that would make her look like an official of the registrar's office.
After that, she then learned that the Profound Symbol Sect has 30 participants, with one of them being the special competitor. With this, Ellisa discovered that the top ten contenders previously had the option of sending one participant into the quarterfinals without having to compete in the brackets.
The competition had three categories in terms of contending. There is a solo, partners, and groups, and the special competitor always has a part in the solo.
Thus, after it, she then looked at how many sect elders they had. Of course, in case they wanted to ambush them, they should be aware of the capabilities of their enemies. It is only natural.
After that, she then searched for what the sect's specialty was, and she learned that their sect is good at array formations.
"Really? You only learned this after one hour? Too bad and good for you because I had another method." While he reads through the contents, Ureff comments.
"We have different methods, Brother Ureff, and your method just compliments with you as you are a vampire."
Ureff didn't react to her remarks and just continued reading her report. He then learned that after Ellisa visited the registrar's office, she went to other sects to learn what the Profound Symbol's reputation was.
The Profound Symbol Sect has a good reputation for being humble at times. Despite her reservations about this reputation, she persisted in her investigation.
Apart from the reputation of the sect in array formation mastery, they also have good practices in martial arts and slight mystical arts. For these things, Ellisa couldn't help but compare them to the Cliff Golden Sect.
"Really? You don't need to write about your insights into the Cliff Golden Sect and that sect." Then again, Ureff commented.
"Just shut up and continue reading. I am waiting for you to finish it so that I can also start reading yours." Ellisa retorted.
"Alright, alright."
Ureff cleared his throat and continued reading. He then learned that after learning the sect's reputation, Ellisa had, at that time, visited the Profound Symbol Sect by acting as an admirer of them.
It was impossible to be with them, but as she used her privileged identification as she came from a higher sect, she was allowed to be near the Profound Symbol Sect.
She was even asked why she admired them if she was from a higher sect. Her answer: because of their profundity in array formation and that they still practice martial arts. It wasn't an insult to them, but they could only think that this was normal.
Then, Ellisa proceeds to ask for their handshakes and secretly drain their stamina. She couldn't overpower their Qi control because they were talented in that field due to the array formation, so she had no choice but to drain their stamina.
After the 29th handshake, Ellisa searched for the last participant, who is the special competitor for the solo category of the competition. But she failed to do so.
She was informed that the special competitor was their captain, but even with him being the captain, they did not meet with him as he was also eccentric in some ways.
Ellisa just ignored it and, as she let them see that she had left, she sneakily went back to the special competitors' room.
But as she tried to sneak inside the room, she was blocked by a strong force field. It was something that her special ability couldn't even drain.
She even tried to destroy it, but she couldn't. Even with her Emperor Spirit Realm cultivation base, she can't handle the strength of the force field.
"I think we had a similar encounter with that special competitor, Sister Ellisa."
Ellisa raised her eyebrows and asked, "What do you mean?"
Ellisa nodded and read all that Ureff had learned.
After he left with his blood arts, he went straight to the Profound Symbol's staying place. From asking through different people, as he knew that this sect was quite famous, he didn't face a hard time finding their place.
***
So, when he got to their location, he then infiltrated it using his blood arts again.
Ureff then extracted information by manipulating their minds with his blood arts. Apart from the offensive, creation, and movement techniques that the art could be used for, blood arts have the ability to manipulate their minds for a short time.
However, this manipulation is only for the use of those truth pills that would answer any question without any restrictions. That is how limited his ability to manipulate minds is unless they become his minions.
However, as Ureff only sees them as extras, they don't usually get his attention, making them his minions. They don't have much potential to become the best vampires. As the noblest of the vampires in their previous world, Ureff has high standards for making minions.
And thus, after he slowly extracted the information, he then finalized it.
The sect always takes part in the quadrennial competition of the Southern Region that is always held in Southern Bridge. And as they joined, they were always in the sixth, seventh, or, if they were lucky, fourth place.
However, the selection of their participants still remains a mystery to the disciples of the sect, and only the participants know how they were chosen.
The factions created were the reason for all of it. There will always be a friendly competition that happens once in a while to filter out talents. That is how they do it.
But the factions for the disciples were to pressure them into pursuing joining factions instead of joining competitions. That is why the selection still remains a mystery for them.
The next piece of crucial information Ureff had was from the special competitor of their sect, acting eccentrically. Through their memories, a blurred person was standing still with a formidable aura. As he tried to uncover the veil blurring the person's face, he got weak as if it was draining him.
He even cursed himself for becoming too weak and simply stopping extracting information from them.
He then moved to the last one, the room of the special competitor. It was for him to confront that person and also ask how he did it. But as he tries to pass through the force field created by the special competitor around his room, he seems to be unable to crack it.
Irritated by it, he then used his blood arts to create a drill to pierce through the protection. However, as he was drilling it, it was as if it was embedded with regenerating ability, as it instantly returned to its previous state.
He was intimidated, and he realized he had no choice but to observe it, so he left the Profound Symbol Sect's staying place.
"That's it? Do you only have this information? How could that be useful?" Ellisa tried to sneer at him, but Ureff hushed her.
"Useless? I have plenty of information from brainwashing their minds for a short while, but they weren't that helpful for this current situation. At least I had learned some things about our environment, like what the Southern Region is."
Ellisa's eyes widened as she heard that notion from Ureff. They still don't know the Southern Region as a whole, but since they only had a deal to collect useful information about the Profound Symbol Sect, those memories aren't illegible as a part of the deal.
"Tsk. Forget about the bet. Since I obviously won, you're supposed to give me a level of your cultivation. But since you got more important information that we could use in the future, I will let you go from your punishment." Ellisa stated it without any other choice.
Since searching for their master was more important than the current event they were facing, Ellisa had to make a choice. And that choice made Uref smile widely.
"That is good of you, Sister Ellisa," Ureff remarked.
But as Ellisa was still curious about something, she pointed out something.
"Who really is their special competitor? Do you think if we fight with him, we can easily continue our mission? I mean, I can't call it a mission since it was basically a request from Liam, but even still, it would benefit us. Argh!"
"Calm down, Sister Ellisa. I think their special competitor can rival our power individually, but together, he can't defeat us." Ureff said.
"How can you say so? It is obviously a play and a trick, his possible age is near 30 years old, but can he be able to protect himself from our hijacking? Do you think he is doing the same as us, faking his bones' age?" Ellisa commented.
Those words made Ureff silent and take a pause for a moment. He had never thought of it, but as Ellisa displayed it, he couldn't help but entertain it.