by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
The Alchemy Pavilion Master had only dared to do what he had done because of his status as part of Pill Valley. According to reason, if he had truly committed such a grave crime, the Xuantian Dao Sect should have first alerted Pill Valley. With his status, he couldn’t be killed just because they wanted to kill him.
And so Pill Valley’s people had come for an explanation. Seeing this, Long Chen sank into thought. It seemed this matter was growing more and more complicated.
“Scram!”
In front of these tyrannical experts from Pill Valley, the Xuan Master’s reply was just a single word. It was curt and sharp, clearly expressing his attitude.
Those Pill Valley experts were all infuriated. They represented Pill Valley, but they had been told to scram?
Their leader shouted, “How brazen! Do you realize what you’re doing?”
Suddenly, the Xuantian Tower located at the center of the sect lit up with blazing light, and a terrifying pressure descended.
“I’ll give you to the count of three. Scram or die. Choose for yourself.” The Xuan Master’s icy voice rang out once more.
“Fine! Then let’s wait and see! I hope your Xuantian Dao Sect can stay so obstinate to the end! Don’t come crawling on your knees to my Pill Valley!”
With a final roar, the Pill Valley experts left. All the Elders were worried. The usually refined and patient Xuan Master had actually become this coarse. He even completely offended Pill Valley.
With their Alchemy Pavilion and medicinal fields destroyed, the Xuantian Dao Sect would quickly reach the point of despair.
“Long Chen, come to my room.” Just as Long Chen was watching Pill Valley’s experts leave, the Xuan Master’s voice rang out in his head.
When he arrived, he was surprised to see that the Xuan Master’s expression was very relaxed. He was leisurely steeping some tea.
“What? Is my expression different from what you imagined?” The Xuan Master smiled.
“Cough, maybe a bit.” Long Chen sat beside the tea table. He saw the tea had just finished steeping and was about to pour some.
But the Xuan Master beat him to it, pouring tea into Long Chen’s cup. At this time, the Xuan Master didn’t have any bit of a sect leader’s imposing dignity. Instead, he seemed like an ordinary elder.
“Do you have many questions?” The Xuan Master pushed the teacup in front of Long Chen.
Long Chen hastily received it with both his hands. He nodded. “Yes. But I’m afraid that once I ask, you’ll once again say that it’s not something I should know. Then I won’t have any face and I’ll feel like a foolish child.”
“You are a baby barely into his twenties. Compared to us, you are naturally a child. You’re still in the process of learning how to walk and accumulating experience. The more you fall, the more you’ll learn.
“Some things can’t be told to you because of karmic restrictions, and some things would not be the slightest bit beneficial to you if you learned them. Instead, they would rattle your Dao-heart. But, as long as certain things are within the right scope, you can still learn them,” said the Xuan Master with a smile.
“Then disciple won’t stand on courtesy. I want to know, what was that figure that only appeared for a flash in the scene that day? Was it someone from Pill Valley?”
The Xuan Master laughed, “Child, your eyes are sharp. I put it away so quickly, but you still noticed. Yes, that person is truly from Pill Valley. In fact, he’s one of the people that came today.”
“Then does that mean you are completely clear about everything that happened?”
“Correct. Other than the Tower Department Head, no one else knows this, but every action, every movement in the Xuantian Dao Sect is under the surveillance of the Reincarnation Mirror. The only exception is you.”
Hearing that everyone was under the Reincarnation Mirror’s supervision startled him. Then wouldn’t that mean his secrets had been exposed?
“In truth, I’m quite curious about your secrets. I’d be interested in knowing what trump cards you have. But the Reincarnation Mirror was once injured because of you, and it doesn’t dare to watch over you any longer as it is afraid of being infected by karma.” The Xuan Master helplessly shook his head.
Back in the Eastern Wasteland’s branch sect’s trial, Long Chen had suddenly encountered the soul of an expert from the Corrupt path. It had helped him activate the Future Lake within the trial, which had allowed him to look at his origins.
But only a few scenes had appeared before everything had vanished. In order to con the soul, he had then asked it to help him deduce the origin of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.
Future Lake was a projection of the Reincarnation Mirror. Deducing the origin of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art had almost caused the Reincarnation Mirror to be permanently damaged, so as soon as he arrived in the Xuantian Dao Sect, the Reincarnation Mirror had noticed him, which was why the Xuan Master and patriarch had immediately taken note of him.
“I am very clear on what happened with the Alchemy Pavilion. In fact, I intentionally allowed it. Zhao Changting was actually a chess piece that Pill Valley placed inside my Xuantian Dao Sect to keep watch over us. You don’t need to find that strange. Pill Valley is far greater than you imagined. Although Pill Valley claims that it doesn’t participate in the cultivation world’s struggles and is neutral, it actually secretly controls countless sects. That’s because all the large sects are dependent on it. Although the Dao Sect treated Zhao Changting well, his aspirations were too high. Even though this matter was a result of Pill Valley’s decision as well, the original idea definitely didn’t come from them.”
“Disciple doesn’t understand.”
“Pill Valley has an outer valley and inner valley. The inner valley rarely gets involved in mundane matters. Instead, they focus on cultivation and researching the Pill Dao. But the outer valley is in charge of Pill Valley’s regular operations and businesses. It is in charge of the Pill Towers that interact with the rest of the world. There are four hundred and eighty Pill Towers in the Central Plains, all of them in charge of the supply of medicinal pills in different regions. The group of people that just came are in charge of the Pill Tower in the region we are in, and their relationship with the Heaven Suppressing Magic Sect is very good. Now do you understand?” explained the Xuan Master.
Now Long Chen understood. This matter had been done intentionally by Pill Tower because of their relationship with the Heaven Suppressing Magic Sect.
The Alchemy Pavilion Master wished to become a true member of Pill Valley, which was a sacred land for alchemists. As long as the Pill Tower set up a few conditions and made a few promises, guaranteeing that the Xuan Master wouldn’t do anything to him, the Alchemy Pavilion Master wouldn’t possibly be able to resist their enticement. That was what had caused the Alchemy Pavilion to explode.
But the Alchemy Pavilion Master hadn’t thought that his protective talisman would be completely useless. The Xuan Master hadn’t even given him a chance.
“Is the Pill Tower really so brazen? Isn’t the Xuantian Dao Sect one of the three great heavenly sects? They dare to treat us like this?” asked Long Chen.
“Yes, we are part of the three great heavenly sects. But the three great heavenly sects have long since declined. That saying is just a sign of our former glory. Now, there are other more powerful sects, and the three great sects are only a bit above middle-level powers. We fell from the ranks of the top sects a long time ago.
“The most important thing is that the Pill Tower’s people know that no matter what, Pill Valley will protect them. Pill Valley’s power is so great that as long as they declare you are black, you will never be white again. Furthermore, Zhao Changting’s actions will cause us to be dependent on Pill Valley, so they wouldn’t punish anyone. Instead, they would secretly reward the Pill Tower for this,” said the Xuan Master indifferently.
“Then aren’t we currently in a grave crisis?”
“We entered a
constant state of crisis a long time ago. The dangers you can see aren’t fearsome. The worst danger is the one of the frog being boiled alive in a slowly heating pot of water. By the time you react, it would be too late. Now, the danger is crystal clear. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. As for those people from the Pill Tower, they’re trying to hit us while we’re down. They want us to be completely under the banner of Pill Valley. Rather than that, having them directly scram will make the Dao Sect’s interior much cleaner and is even beneficial,” said the Xuan Master.
“But our medicinal pills and medicinal fields…”
“Foolish child, since I could allow Zhao Changting to do this, how could I not have my own preparations? Four hundred years ago, I secretly created another alchemy region and recruited quite a few alchemists. Although it wasn’t as much as the Alchemy Pavilion, there are enough stores of medicinal pills to last us a few years.” The Xuan Master involuntarily laughed.
Long Chen also awkwardly laughed. But his laugh was a bit forced.
“Do you feel like I’m too cruel?” asked the Xuan Master.
“Perhaps it just really is like you say. I’m not suited to be a ruler.” Long Chen couldn’t help but sigh emotionally. This matter had killed so many people. The Xuan Master had clearly known that would happen, but he had still allowed it to occur.
Although to a ruler, doing such a thing wasn’t a problem, Long Chen still felt uncomfortable with it. He definitely wouldn’t just watch as members of his Dragonblood Legion died, not even one.
“There is no absolute right and wrong in this world. The only thing that matters is the final result. If there comes a day that you have to sacrifice a part of your Dragonblood Legion to save the majority, what would you do?” The Xuan Master looked at Long Chen.
“I wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen.”
“But what if it did happen? What would you choose? If you hesitate, it will only cause more people to die.”
“If such a thing truly happened, I wouldn’t sacrifice a part. I would bring everyone to die along with them! Hypothetical questions are all senseless things.” Long Chen smiled, completely calm.
The Xuan Master was startled. He hadn’t thought about this answer. After a long moment, he sighed. Long Chen’s style of handling things was too domineering. But compared to a soft approach, hard things snapped easier. Long Chen’s character was lacking elasticity.
“Alright, then let’s talk about proper things. I’m preparing to send you to get a large sum of money,” said the Xuan Master.
Chapter 1136 Two Large Powers
The next day after Long Chen left the Xuan Master’s room, all the inner sect disciples were gathered once more. This included the disciples from the senior generation.
The announcement was that all inner sect disciples were to be sent to the Xuantian Dao Sect’s defensive territory bordering the eastern sea.
The new disciples were still puzzled, but the old disciples were delighted.
The eastern sea referred to the part of the Martial Heaven Sea-Ring that bordered the eastern part of the Martial Heaven Continent. The Xuantian Dao Sect had a four million mile zone there that they were to defend.
Other than the natural defenses, the places where the sea-ring met the continent were all defended by the various large sects. They had all established defensive fortifications against sea demons.
All sects with any fame were in charge of an area. The stronger the sect, the greater the area they would defend. And the greater the area, the more manpower they would need to spend on defending.
However, there were also benefits. Taking the edges of their defensive regions and drawing straight lines until they reached the Eastern Wasteland, all the resources found within that region of the sea would go to the defender.
The Martial Heaven Sea-Ring not only had countless sea demons, but it was also filled with countless mineral deposits.
There were many rare ores present in the sea. But due to the rampant sea demons, mining those ores was difficult. Without a certain amount of power, any sect attempting such a thing would pay a heavy price instead of making money.
As for the region the Xuantian Dao Sect was in charge of, there were three rare ore deposits, as well as an artificial breeding zone where a few precious sea demons were being raised.
This region was one of the pillars of the Xuantian Dao Sect. Each year, the sect would take in a large amount of wealth from this region.
There was plenty of profit to be made here, even by disciples. The previous generation’s disciples had not only gained a huge number of points for their work, but when they had time off, they could even go hunting in the sea. Any treasures they obtained would be theirs. It was the best opportunity to get rich.
It could be said that other than the Infernal Devil Abyss, this was the best place to get points. And there wasn’t much danger there.
“You’re not going for fun. According to the scouts, the sea’s tide is starting to rise, and it’s very likely that a huge beast tide will pour out of the sea not long from now. Your mission is to kill as many sea demons as possible before the beast tide comes. This is a rare opportunity. Although there aren’t any points given for this, the corpses and cores of the sea demons you kill will be yours. However, I don’t want to see people fighting each other because of money.
“This time, the leaders of the expedition will be Long Chen and Gao Xianyang. The two of them have different leadership styles, but their combat power is about the same. So you can all choose which side to join for yourselves. Once you choose, you won’t be able to switch, and their orders must be executed regardless of any circumstances. Otherwise, the Elder Hall will decide the punishment,” said Liu Cang, the new vice Xuan Master.
Everyone was surprised to hear there would be two leaders. Clearly, the Dao Sect was aware that the two of them couldn’t work together. Forcing them to do so would only cause chaos.
In other words, the factions were essentially dissolved. In the future, the Xuantian Dao Sect would only have two factions. Either choose Long Chen’s, or choose Gao Xianyang’s.
“Stand behind whoever you choose. I’ll give you fifteen minutes. Choose well,” said Liu Cang.
The Heaven Female Alliance was the first to burst into cheers and run to the Dragonblood Legion’s side.
Hua Shiyu clenched her teeth in fury. “You immoral girls, you’re all thankless wretches! I can’t believe I ever treated you so well! He doesn’t even need to seduce you for you to go running to him!”
“Haha, big sister Shiyu, they’re just excited. You’re naturally the big sister we respect the most,” comforted Zhao Ziyan.
She knew Hua Shiyu’s character. She was very obstinate, and she didn’t like men. Even if she admired Long Chen, seeing all her people immediately run to his side naturally irritated her, causing her to feel betrayed.
Zhao Ziyan pulled Hua Shiyu over and winked to Long Chen. He immediately understood.
“Fairy Shiyu, we’ll be able to fight side by side again in the future. Control your army of fairies. I don’t want to see my brothers run off because they were seduced,” laughed Long Chen.
“Tch, if you have any ability, just try seducing anyone!” Hua Shiyu frowned.
But Long Chen’s words still caused her to relax greatly. His meaning was clear. The Heaven Female Alliance was still the Heaven Female Alliance. The Dragonblood Legion wouldn’t touch them.
Although Hua Shiyu had also known that Long Chen wasn’t such a person, she didn’t like the feeling of having the power taken from her. Furthermore, she was still sensitive after her previous loss.
She was even afraid that others would begin looking down on her. Although Zhao Ziyan had constantly comforted and encouraged her, and the other disciples had increased their care of her, she still didn’t feel any sense of security.
But Long Chen’s words, although they also contained a somewhat provoking air, put her at ease.
“Boss, even fairy Shiyu
is telling you to try seducing one! Why don’t you show off your pick-up techniques for your brothers?” laughed Guo Ran.
Long Chen was speechless. This fool was truly incurable. All the words he had said last time were forgotten now.
“Aiya!” Guo Ran’s laughter came to a halt as he was kicked away by Tang Wan-er.
Even after being beaten a hundred times, he didn’t learn his lesson. Was he a pig? He only remembered eating but didn’t remember being beaten. Long Chen acted like he didn’t see anything.
After kicking away Guo Ran, Tang Wan-er went over to welcome Hua Shiyu. The two of them had ended up particularly close.
That was because last time, Tang Wan-er had been defeated while trying to get revenge for Hua Shiyu, and that one action made Hua Shiyu feel extremely grateful to her. Besides, their characters were both similarly fiery, so it had been easy for them to find common ground.
Wang Zhen also led his Ten Thousand Insect Guild’s disciples over. Long Chen patted him on the shoulder and didn’t say anything.
Wang Zhen wasn’t too fond of words. Sometimes, a single action was enough to express everything. There was no need for so many words.
What Long Chen hadn’t expected was for members from the Hegemon Hall, Flame Gate, and Divine Beast Mansion to also come over.
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, we admire you and want to follow you! Please take us!” said one of Flame Gate’s disciples hopefully.
“Tch, if those words had come from a beauty, I’d be much happier. Coming from a man, I’ll cough up what I ate last night. If you want to fight alongside me, then there’s no need for such words, nor do you need to say anything about devoting your heart to me. I’m sure you know what kind of person I am, so you can just come right over,” said Long Chen.
