Days passed.
The rumors finally reached their peak.
By then, nearly every major city, branch, trade route, academy, and market had heard of Lootwell's supposed intercontinental teleportation array.
Some people treated it as hope.
Some treated it as nonsense.
Some treated it as inevitable because Lootwell had already developed a habit of making impossible things look administrative.
The suspicious factions treated it as a knife.
At first, they endured.
They sent people to Lootwell branches to ask whether the rumor was true.
But Lootwell gave no answer.
Lootwell did not confirm it nor deny it.
That silence became more frightening than any announcement.
If it was false, why not deny it?
If it was true, why not announce it?
The suspicious factions could no longer dismiss the matter as idle talk.
So they moved.
Carefully.
Or at least, they thought they were careful.
They sent ordinary disciples on ordinary errands.
They changed meeting locations under ordinary excuses.
