Chapter 172: The Future of Cultivation in the Eastern Domain

Chapter 172: Chapter 172: The Future of Cultivation in the Eastern Domain

In the side hall, the atmosphere wasn’t as tense as it had been the past two days, but arguments still broke out.

From the moment everyone gathered early in the morning, the faces of Hu Jishan, Zou Yuting, and the others were exceptionally foul; after all, they had lost a considerable amount of face last night.

The occupants of the forty chairs were clearly divided today.

For the past two days, everyone had been seated roughly according to their Sect’s power, with the Six Sects and Eight Gates closer to the center and the Minor Sects on the outside.

But today was different. Although the general arrangement of the Six Sects and Eight Gates on the inside and the Minor Sects on the outside remained, those like Hu Jishan who disagreed with Cheng Shimo’s proposal had gathered in one direction. The neutral parties sat together, and those like Li Qingyuan and Cheng Shimo, who supported Great Xia’s unification of the Eastern Domain, also sat with each other.

The supporters accounted for nearly half of the total, in contrast to the opposition and neutral parties. Even among the fourteen Sects of the Six Sects and Eight Gates—or thirteen, with the Fiery Fire Sect expelled—there were six supporters: the Profound Celestial Sect, the Mixed Element Sect, the Purple Gold Sect, the Cyan Cloud Sect, the Xuandao Sect, and the Dark Moon Sect.

Among the Minor Sects, there were a total of thirteen supporters, including the Celestial Heart Hall and the Earth Universe Pavilion.

Therefore, whether considering only the thirteen remaining Sects of the Six Sects and Eight Gates or all thirty-nine Sects present, the supporters of Cheng Shimo’s proposal were one vote short of a majority—and the missing vote was from one of the Six Sects and Eight Gates.

Surveying the room, everyone understood the state of affairs.

Li Qingyuan was the first to speak, his gaze fixed on Jing’an. "Sect Leader Jing, I wonder if you relayed what I said yesterday to your Lord? Is Zhou Yi still in the hall? And when will this Lord of yours appear?"

Jing’an stood, saluted Li Qingyuan with clasped hands, and replied, "To answer Sect Leader Li, my Lord will come here with his wife after the winner of the tournament is decided. As for Zhou Yi, he left last night following our Lord’s arrangements to purge the Fiery Fire Sect. If there are no surprises, you will all receive word that the Fiery Fire Sect has been completely wiped out by the day after tomorrow at the latest."

Hu Jishan shot back, "Jing’an, are your actions not far too extreme? The Fiery Fire Sect was founded 3,700 years ago! Over these millennia, they have made outstanding contributions to the development of the Eastern Domain. How can a Second-class Sect like yours just wipe them out on a whim? Do you have any respect for the Six Sects and Eight Gates?"

Jing’an shook his head. "Sect Leader Hu, why fixate on this? I do not know what contributions the Fiery Fire Sect has made to the Eastern Domain, but their evil deeds are too numerous to list. I have no desire to rehash them now, as many Sect Leaders here already reviewed the records yesterday. As for whether we respect the Six Sects and Eight Gates, that’s a matter of perspective. For those whose hearts are not righteous, we would hold no respect for them, be they part of the Six Sects and Eight Gates or even the number one Sect under heaven. But for those whose hearts are true, my Lord would show them the utmost respect, even if they were but a commoner."

Lü Hongshao interjected, "Let it go. The Fiery Fire Sect truly deserved to be destroyed. Our purpose today isn’t to debate their fate, but to discuss how we can unite to exterminate the Red Blood Mansion. We cannot let them continue to wreak havoc in the Eastern Domain. We should also use this opportunity to establish a code of conduct for all Cultivators in the Eastern Domain. If we don’t have rules to bind us, as the number of Cultivators increases, it will bring disaster to the common folk and throw the world into chaos."

Hu Jishan said, "If it’s a matter of uniting all the Sects under heaven to destroy the Red Blood Mansion, my Celestial Sect will participate, down to the very last man and at any cost. A binding code of conduct is also acceptable. But as for Sect Leader Cheng’s proposal to support the Great Xia Empire’s unification of the Eastern Domain, the Celestial Sect does not agree."

"Exactly," said Zou Yuting. "Sect Leader Hu spoke my mind. Why should a mortal Empire interfere in the affairs of us Cultivators? To be constrained by their laws? Such a thing is unheard of in this world."

As the two of them finished speaking, many others voiced their agreement.

However, at that very moment, an ancient voice echoed from beyond the hall doors.

"The matters of the Chenqing Sect are not for you, Zou Yuting, to decide alone. The unification of the Eastern Domain must proceed."

As the voice faded, the hall doors swung open under the crowd’s confused stares. An ancient, decrepit man appeared. His white hair was as sparse and tangled as dried grass, his gaunt face was mottled with age spots, and his robes hung incongruously on his small, frail body.

But the pressure emanating from this man, who looked to have one foot in the grave, felt like a mountain crashing down upon them.

"An-Ancestor!" Zou Yuting stammered. He scrambled from his chair and prostrated himself on the floor.

Everyone was shocked and bewildered. Why had the great ancestor of the Chenqing Sect appeared here?

"Greetings, Elder Li!" Li Qingyuan also stepped away from his seat and bowed respectfully to the old man.

"Xiaolizi," the old man said, his sleepy eyes gazing at Li Qingyuan. "The last time we saw each other was over a hundred and twenty years ago, wasn’t it? You were in your prime then, but now you’ve gotten old too!"

Zou Yuting remained kneeling. The old man gave no sign for him to rise, simply walking past him and sitting down in the chair Zou Yuting had just vacated.

Everyone rose to their feet as he passed.

"Please, sit," the old man said with a wave of his hand. "This old relic only came here today to represent the Chenqing Sect in supporting the Great Xia’s unification of the Eastern Domain. All of Zou Yuting’s prior statements are hereby null and void. Continue your discussions. Just pretend this old bag of bones is a mere spectator."

"Yuting, you may rise. Come and stand beside me. After this summit concludes, you will temporarily hand over all Sect affairs to Congzhang. You are to enter secluded Cultivation and are forbidden from emerging until you reach the Integration Realm."

"Ancestor, this is..."

"What? Do my words no longer count?"

"This descendant would not dare!"

The elder’s words were tantamount to placing Zou Yuting under house arrest. He was currently only at Divine Seperation Realm Tier Five, and he was forbidden to leave seclusion until he reached the Integration Realm. Never mind being at Tier Five; even a cultivator at the Divinity Separation Realm Peak might spend their entire life unable to break through the final bottleneck and reach the Integration Realm.

The old man then settled into the chair, closed his eyes, and everyone soon heard the sound of light snores, as if he had fallen deep asleep.

Most of the people in the hall had no idea what was happening.

However, a limited few knew that this was just another part of the plan set in motion by the Lord whom Jing’an served.

Hu Jishan’s face was flushed crimson. The Chenqing Sect had been his staunchest ally; he had never imagined such a reversal. Meanwhile, the Wuji Sect and the Celestial Derivation Sect had already been half-destroyed by the Red Blood Mansion.

And the Lingyun Sect and Xuanming Sect had always been on the fence.

Given the current situation, it seemed the unification under the Great Xia was now unstoppable.

But even so, Hu Jishan had no intention of giving up. He was still determined to make a final stand.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the hall.

Since the doors hadn’t been closed after the Chenqing Sect’s ancestor entered, the situation outside was clearly visible.

Everyone could see a young man and woman being stopped by the Cyan Cloud Sect disciples on guard duty.

"Let them go. Let them in!" Wang Zhiheng called out to the guards when he saw who had arrived.

The disciples on duty stepped aside, but it wasn’t just the young man and woman who entered the hall. Following behind them were five experts of the Divine Separation Realm.

The moment the man and woman stepped through the door, Jing’an and Lan Bing rushed from their seats and bowed deeply to them.

"Your subordinates greet you, my Lord, and my Lady!"

Many people were utterly astonished.

’Their so-called "Lord" is this young man?’

’Isn’t he Zhu Pingyong?’

’Isn’t he a disciple of the Celestial Heart Hall?’

’What is going on?’