Chapter 238 - 135: Crushing the Withered, Ascending the Stage (Part 2)

Chapter 238: Chapter 135: Crushing the Withered, Ascending the Stage (Part 2)

"In that case, it can be renamed the True Form Domain in the future." Xuzhuang’s words left the Hundred Feet Taoist speechless. He finally let out a soft snort and said, "I ask that you speak your mind plainly, Fellow Daoist. Otherwise, there is no need to speak at all."

The Hundred Feet Taoist showed no anger. He cleared his throat and said, "For ten thousand years, the Celestial Permanence Sect has single-handedly spread the Celestial Waterfall Blessings, creating the Celestial Waterfall Domain—a territory spanning hundreds of thousands of miles, vaster than all sixteen provinces combined. It is only with their countless disciples that the Celestial Permanence Domain has been governed in such an orderly fashion."

"Your esteemed sect, after all, has a short lineage and at most has experience governing a single province. If you were to replace the Celestial Permanence Sect today, would you truly be able to govern an entire domain?"

Xuzhuang replied calmly, "That is not something you need to trouble yourself with, Fellow Daoist."

The Hundred Feet Taoist frowned and earnestly pleaded, "Venerable, the Celestial Waterfall Realm’s current prosperity is the result of the arduous governance by our generation of cultivators. If your esteemed sect is incapable of governing a domain, I fear it is the countless living beings who will suffer, Venerable..."

Before the Hundred Feet Taoist could finish, a voice suddenly drifted over from the Dragon Image Sect’s area, saying leisurely, "Fellow Daoist Bai Zhang, there is no need to worry."

Everyone was stunned by the words, but a smile appeared on Xuzhuang’s face. Yang Bijie slowly rose to his feet and said, "The True Form Temple’s achievements in governing Yunlan Province have always been witnessed by my Dragon Image Sect. The True Form Temple’s Daoist arts are profound, their conduct is virtuous, and both Fellow Daoist Xu and Fellow Daoist Meng are men of noble character. They will surely govern the Celestial Permanence Domain without any oversight."

Yang Bijie’s sudden speech astonished the crowd, but no one was a fool; they immediately understood what was happening.

Even if the True Form Temple hadn’t colluded with the Dragon Image Sect beforehand, they were still close allies. In contrast, the Celestial Permanence Sect had schemed against the Dragon Image Sect for a Grotto Heaven position, nearly causing the downfall of their Dao lineage. It wasn’t entirely unexpected that the Dragon Image Sect wouldn’t side with the other three sects.

The Hundred Feet Taoist’s brow twitched as he argued, "Sect Master Yang, this is not a matter of character. The truth is, the True Form Temple has too few disciples and truly lacks the capacity to shoulder such a heavy responsibility..."

Yang Bijie smiled faintly and interrupted again, "That is not a problem. For the sake of the countless living beings, my Dragon Image Sect has decided to spare no effort in supporting the True Form Temple. We will provide six Rain-Bringing Jiao Dragons and over a dozen Flood Dragon Eggs, and we will dispatch our disciples to assist. I am certain this will help the True Form Temple smoothly shoulder the responsibility of governing a domain."

Hearing this, the disciples of the three sects were all shaken. Yang Bijie was dead set on supporting the True Form Temple in replacing Celestial Permanence. And according to his words, he had indeed compensated for the True Form Temple’s final weakness. Though everyone wore different expressions, they no longer had any reason to stop the True Form Temple’s rise. A silence fell over them.

The Hundred Feet Taoist’s brow twitched again and again. With a sigh, he performed a bow and said, "In that case, this old Daoist has been reckless." Then he retreated and returned to his seat.

Seeing this, Xuzhuang smiled faintly. He called Meng Fusheng over, and under the watchful eyes of the crowd, they slowly descended onto the Celestial Permanence Sect’s Jade Platform. He praised lightly, "This view isn’t half bad."

The presiding Daoist, an expert at reading the room, saw that the four sects had fallen silent. He immediately stood up, bowed, and announced, "In the contest between the True Form Temple and the Celestial Permanence Sect, the True Form Temple is victorious. According to the laws of the Celestial Waterfall Immortal Sect Assembly, they may take charge of the Celestial Domain. If the Celestial Permanence Sect resists, they have the right... the right to shatter their mountains and raze their temples."

Although he had been prepared, he still couldn’t help but stumble over the last words. But Xuzhuang paid it no mind. He listened with his hands clasped behind his back, calmly responding with a single word: "Good."

And just like that, at the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly, the True Form Temple had taken the Celestial Permanence Sect’s seat and replaced them!

However, the True Form Temple’s position was far from being as stable as Mount Tai. The Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly, in the end, only decided the seating arrangement. Whether they could truly occupy that position would likely involve another storm of blood. Everyone understood this principle, and Xuzhuang was no exception.

But just as Xuzhuang was pondering this, his expression suddenly shifted. Yang Bijie’s nearly inaudible voice transmission reached his ears, saying, "Fellow Daoist Xu, at this point, there is nothing I cannot say."

"For this Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly, I had already made up my mind. If we truly could not defeat the Divine Flow Sect, my Dragon Image Sect would have destroyed our own Grotto Heaven. We would rather be shattered jade than an intact tile."

Hearing this, the look in Xuzhuang’s eyes couldn’t help but change slightly. No wonder Yang Bijie had yielded even the final, crucial position in the formation battle to him. Although it was the optimal choice from every angle, entrusting the life and death of one’s sect to an outsider was not a display of ordinary courage.

Although the Dragon Image Sect had some understanding of the Tai Su Sect’s power, it surely wasn’t enough to make Yang Bijie trust them completely. It was obvious Yang Bijie had long known that the Dragon Image Sect could not overcome this calamity with their own strength, which was why he dared to take such a risky gambit.

At the assembly, if Xuzhuang could truly win the victory for Dragon Image, that would be for the best. If he couldn’t... it would just be shattered jade.

And now that Yang Bijie had mentioned this to him, Xuzhuang instantly understood the implications.

The Celestial Permanence Sect couldn’t have prepared for this in advance, but if news of what happened at the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly got back to them, there was no telling how they would react. Even if they lacked the nerve to destroy their own Grotto Heaven, they would definitely activate their grand defensive formation and turtle up. A struggle would be inevitable then, and if pushed into a corner, they might even fight to the death.

’It seems this matter cannot be delayed.’ Xuzhuang narrowed his eyes and nodded at Yang Bijie, who responded with a smile.

The Dragon Image Sect had relied on Xuzhuang’s help to survive this calamity, but that was fine, as no outsiders knew the full story. But now, during the True Form Temple’s ascension, the Dragon Image Sect had given them concrete support and picked a side. It was only natural for them to offer a small hint like this, currying a little more favor to facilitate future relations between the two sects.

Xuzhuang understood Yang Bijie’s intentions completely. He returned the gesture with a cupped-fist salute, then raised his voice and said to the presiding Daoist, "Our sect’s seating has been decided, and we have many urgent matters to attend to. If there are no other issues, we will take our leave first."

"This?" The presiding Daoist was taken aback, and before he could decide how to respond, Xuzhuang had already called over Meng Fusheng, summoned a cloud, and departed, leaving the Daoist speechless.

Everyone knew that the True Form Temple must have urgent matters to attend to, but to act so brazenly still sparked considerable discussion. Among the three sects, especially, some people could no longer contain their anger upon seeing Xuzhuang leave and began to denounce him.

On the Westyi Sect’s Jade Platform, Venerable Youming watched the direction of Xuzhuang’s departure, a complicated look in her eyes.

From an emotional standpoint, the Celestial Permanence Sect shared their Earth Immortal Dao Lineage and had jointly ruled the Five Domains for ten thousand years. Although Celestial Permanence had schemed against Dragon Image first, seeing them replaced by an outsider like this was certainly not what the Westyi Sect wished to see.

But from a rational standpoint, the rules of the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly were the rules of the Celestial Waterfall Realm, and the Five Domains Great Sects had upheld them for ten thousand years.

Without the rules of the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly, what would the Celestial Waterfall Realm look like?

Perhaps the Five Domains, and even the sixteen provinces, could maintain relative stability. But in the distant prefectures and counties, a small Celestial Waterfall might have just changed its managing sect one day, only for another sect to attack the next.

Sects, and even smaller, unestablished powers, would endlessly attack and plunder one another, with no mind for self-cultivation, regulating celestial phenomena, or blessing the living.

Over time, many of the smaller Celestial Waterfalls would likely be extinguished, and the people would be plunged into misery...

The True Form Temple had genuinely defeated the Celestial Permanence Sect at the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly to claim their position. If the three sects ended up breaking the rules themselves to stop the True Form Temple from replacing Celestial Permanence, causing the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly to lose its credibility, the consequences would be unimaginable to Venerable Youming.

Therefore, aside from Dragon Image, the other three sects might have had their own opinions about the Divine Flow Sect replacing the Dragon Image Sect, and now the True Form Temple replacing the Celestial Permanence Sect. They might have been deeply resentful, but no one dared to openly oppose it.

Unless a Grotto Heaven Zhenren from their sect issued a decree.

Venerable Youming closed her eyes. Fortunately, when Dao Miao had defeated Jiang Chengzi, she had already ordered Deming to send a message back to the sect. Whether to let the True Form Temple replace Celestial Permanence, or to ignore the ten-thousand-year-old rules of the Celestial Waterfall Dharma Assembly to preserve the Celestial Permanence Sect, which shared their Earth Immortal Dao Lineage—that was a problem for the Zhenren to worry about.

Venerable Youming was clearly not the only one with this thought. That was why, no matter how heated the discussions among the disciples of the three sects became, their leaders all remained silent with their eyes closed.