Chapter 352: Arrangements

Because of Yaoguang’s advancement to the Void-Refining Realm, a series of open and hidden conflicts emerged within the Heavenly Dao Sect.

However, things were calm and peaceful in the Taiyi Immortal Sect.

At most, they were slightly surprised that the Heavenly Dao Sect had gained such a young Void-Refining expert.

But after learning the inside story and finding out that Yaoguang was very likely a chess piece of the Penglai Dao Lord, some higher-ups even gloated a little, seemingly waiting to watch the Heavenly Dao Sect’s drama unfold.

Only the Jade Emperor reacted, summoning Mo Shan immediately.

"How is Sixteen doing now? Has he completed the relevant preparations to break through to the Void-Piercing Realm?"

He had accepted sixteen disciples in total. Heavenly Venerable Jiang was the youngest one, so he was often called Sixteen.

"Reporting to my lord, Young Master had originally adjusted his state of mind and intended to make the final push, but not long ago, he obtained a secret art. It is greatly beneficial to opening his grotto-heaven when the time comes and can increase his chances by ten percent, so he plans to spend over ten years mastering this secret technique," Mo Shan answered honestly.

However, hearing that clearly made the Supreme Jade Emperor dissatisfied. "Over ten years? Just to increase his success rate by ten percent?"

Mo Shan was slightly stunned, not knowing where his lord’s dissatisfaction came from.

However, he had followed Heavenly Venerable Jiang for decades. In the end, he still intended to put in a few good words for him. "Young Master has only cultivated for a little over a hundred years so far. Spending ten years in exchange for an additional ten percent chance of success is definitely worthwhile. When the time comes, and with your protection, my lord, his chance of advancing will be between fifty and sixty percent, which is not far from being completely secure.[1] In the future, he will have a strong chance of reaching the Void-Refining Realm within a thousand years and becoming a deputy sect master of the Taiyi Immortal Sect."

"After delaying for over ten years, his success rate is still only fifty to sixty percent, which means there is still nearly a fifty percent chance of failure..." After hearing this, the Supreme Jade Emperor snorted lightly. "Absolute trash!"

Mo Shan knew that Heavenly Venerable Jiang’s talent absolutely counted as that of a top genius, so the Jade Emperor's comment naturally had no basis. In all likelihood, something had happened that made his lord unhappy.

And since the matter had something to do with Heavenly Venerable Jiang...

"Is it the Cangwu lineage? Or did that Yaoguang cause another commotion?" Mo Shan asked.

"Commotion?" The Supreme Jade Emperor snorted lightly. "This is far more than a mere commotion. If this kind of thing happened in our Taiyi Immortal Sect, it would be enough to cause a massive sensation!"

He glanced at Mo Shan. "Do you know that Yaoguang has already fused his Dao Seed with his grotto-heaven and broken through to the Void-Refining Realm?"

"Fused his Dao Seed with his grotto-heaven?" Mo Shan was slightly startled. Immediately afterward, his pupils constricted sharply. "Void-Refining Realm?!"

"That’s right." This Void-Shattering Realm supreme elder nodded. "Although he picked the most common Dao, the Dao of void, which has the advantage of countless cultivators whose experience he can learn from... Cultivation resources related to the Void-Refining Realm are more expensive than other resources, even if they're easier to obtain. Either way, the Void-Refining Realm is still the Void-Refining Realm! And he is a hundred-year-old Void-Refining Realm cultivator. In any major sect, he could serve as a deputy sect master! Sixteen did not know what was good for him and made an enemy of such a genius... It seems like I have indulged him too much over the years!" The Supreme Jade Emperor snorted with disdain as he finished talking.

"Uhh..." For a moment, Mo Shan simply could not recover from this shocking news.

After quite some time, he could not help but say, "Didn’t Yaoguang only break through to the Void-Piercing Realm ten years ago? H-How is he already at the Void-Refining Realm?!"

"It is said to be related to the Penglai Dao Lord..." As the Supreme Jade Emperor spoke, he frowned. "However, being valued by a Dao Lord is itself a reflection of one’s ability and talent. No matter the reason, the fact remains that he has reached the Void-Refining Realm and obtained tangible benefits!"

What did a few rumors matter? Many things were already very clear to those who had cultivated to their level.

Risk and reward had always coexisted. As long as one could grasp the rewards, that was enough.

It was just like him. If the Penglai Dao Lord promised to keep him by her side and guide him, he would be willing to betray the Taiyi Immortal Sect immediately.

But if he was merely joining the Penglai Immortal Sect as a Void-Shattering cultivator, waiting for the day he rendered merit and received a little guidance from the Penglai Dao Lord, then forget it.

In the end, they only cared whether the benefits were great enough and whether the profit was large enough.

"Forget it." Looking at Mo Shan, who did not know how to respond, the Supreme Jade Emperor waved his hand. "If he wants to practice that secret technique, I will give him time to do so. However, he cannot keep delaying like this. Twenty years. I will give him twenty years. Once the time is up, he must attempt to break through to the Void-Piercing Realm."

He snorted lightly. "You two heavenly geniuses from the Great Cangwu World were competing with each other back then and caused quite a stir. But now, one has already reached the Void-Refining Realm, while the other is still wasting away at the Golden Core Realm... I cannot afford to lose face!"

"Yes, I will inform Young Master immediately," Mo Shan quickly responded.

***

The news of Yaoguang’s advancement to the Void-Refining Realm had become a heated topic in the Heavenly Dao Sect, so the Cangwu lineage within the Taiyi Immortal Sect naturally received the news as well.

The Cangwu battle immortals who had gathered together looked at one another and smiled bitterly at the same time.

"Short-sighted! How short-sighted we were! An unparalleled heavenly genius was right before our eyes, yet we failed to recognize him. Instead, we placed all our energy on someone whose loyalties are dubious at best... Laughable. Truly laughable." Xie Xiong called it laughable, but there was not the slightest smile on his face.

"Fortunately, Wan Liugui did not attack Yaoguang at the time and even left a bit of goodwill behind. Otherwise, our Cangwu lineage would have become the greatest joke under heaven." Greene was filled with relief at this moment.

Li An glanced at him. What "otherwise"? At this point, the Cangwu lineage has probably already become a joke in many people’s minds. It's just that no one has stepped forward to say it.

He was not the only one who thought this way. The other Void-Piercing battle immortals felt the same.

After quite some time, Xie Xiong finally let out a long breath. "Forget it, forget it. Our current Cangwu lineage and Wan Liugui’s Cangwu lineage have already been separated. From now on, whether we live well or poorly will depend entirely on ourselves."

Greene and Li An did not respond further.

That was the only way. What else could they do?

***

On the other side, after ten days of preparation, the immortal lineage, which was responsible for handling the Heavenly Dao Sect’s various affairs, had properly arranged Yaoguang's celebratory banquet for his promotion to deputy sect master.

The birth of a Void-Refining deputy sect master should have been celebrated grandly no matter what. They should even have invited fellow Daoists from the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects to attend the banquet.

However, Yaoguang himself was unwilling to make it a grand affair. And Zong Wenxian also had other ideas.

Most importantly, this deputy sect master’s relationship with the Penglai Immortal Sect was unclear. If they made a huge show of holding a promotion banquet for him now, only for this deputy sect master to defect to the Penglai Immortal Sect in a decade or so, the Heavenly Dao Sect wouldn't find a hole deep enough to bury themselves in.

Under these circumstances, this celebratory banquet only appeared to be extremely grand. The entire Heavenly Dao Sect was filled with an atmosphere of joy and celebration, but in reality, compared to some other celebrations held for Void-Piercing cultivators advancing to the Void-Refining Realm, it was clearly a little shabby.

***

One peak master and elder after another who had free time arrived at the sect's main hall. The three deputy sect masters each sent representative figures to attend the banquet. Even four supreme elders came.

One was the chief supreme elder, Zhen Xuanyuan, the most influential figure in the Supreme Elder Council, who also had the authority to contact the Central Heaven Dao Lord directly.

Another was Perfected Lord Chi Yun, a Void-Shattering expert who had been famous for many years.

Among the Heavenly Dao Sect’s three deputy sect masters, Shen Junyan was backed by this supreme elder.

The other two supreme elders were also key figures in the sect. Each of them had at least one peak master under their command.

As for the true disciples and inner sect disciples, they also attended the banquet on the plaza outside the hall, but did not have the qualifications to enter the main hall.

During the early and middle phases of the banquet, the atmosphere was naturally very lively.

No matter what those Void-Piercing elders and Void-Refining peak masters truly thought, when facing Yaoguang, a Void-Refining expert who was suspected to be supported by a Dao Lord, they at least would not openly offend him. On the surface, they still had to maintain appearances.

During this process, Yaoguang experienced the foundation of a sect like the Heavenly Dao Sect.

In the Penglai Immortal Sect, the entire sect only had three Void-Shattering cultivators. One of them was Shi Lin, whom the Penglai Dao Lord had forcefully raised up through a method akin to pulling seedlings to help them grow.

But in the Heavenly Dao Sect... Four Void-Shattering cultivators had attended a single banquet. And this was not even the full number of supreme elders in the Heavenly Dao Sect.

From this point alone, if war truly broke out, putting aside the power of Dao Lords, the Heavenly Dao Sect could easily defeat the Penglai Immortal Sect even with only half its strength.

After a round of congratulations, Yaoguang started accepting the many congratulatory gifts which had been brought, some expensive and some less so.

When the banquet reached its end, Zong Wenxian, the sect master of the Heavenly Dao Sect, finally stood up.

"With an unparalleled figure like Yaoguang assisting our sect, we will surely create even greater glory in the future. As a deputy sect master of our sect, while enjoying the various privileges of the sect, he should also shoulder the responsibility of guarding the sect." As he stood and spoke, everyone seemed to know what he meant, and the surrounding discussions died down at the same time.

Some people even looked at him with a trace of amusement.

"The territory of our sect is roughly divided into five major domains: east, south, west, north, and center. Aside from the central domain directly governed by the sect master, we have always had the tradition of having deputy sect masters oversee the four domains to defend the center! Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang must also take up this burden." Zong Wenxian had a smile on his face.

"I have only reached where I am today because of the sect’s nurturing. Since the sect has a need for me, I naturally will not shirk my duty!" Yaoguang also stood, gave a fist-and-palm salute, and began going through the motions.

"Good. Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang’s sincere devotion is truly moving. In that case, I can rest easy entrusting you with the task of overseeing a domain." As Zong Wenxian spoke, his tone suddenly changed. "For several decades, Deputy Sect Master Shen of the eastern domain has complained to me more than once, saying that an external Fiendish Dao faction has arrived at the eastern domain, stirring up trouble and causing immense destruction there. Although our sect has sent many reinforcements over, the situation in the eastern domain has not improved much. In fact, the eastern domain’s tribute last period, when converted into Pure Yang Grand Pills, had already fallen to eight hundred and sixty million."

The eastern domain? When Zong Wenxian suddenly turned the topic in this direction, the expression of Supreme Elder Chi Yun changed.

However, Zong Wenxian had already quickly continued, "All kinds of information indicate that Deputy Sect Master Shen is showing signs of losing control over the situation in the eastern domain. This is truly regrettable. Meanwhile, when Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang had just reached the Void-Piercing Realm, he was already able to go to the Deep-Blue Sea and crush the demons. The number of Void-Piercing demon kings he killed cannot even be counted on one hand, which shows how fierce and remarkable his battle strength is. Therefore..."

He smiled. "Let Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang go to the eastern domain to oversee it, crush the fiends, slay the wicked, and return peace to the eastern domain! This will also allow the eastern domain’s tribute to return to normal!"

1. Editor's thoughts: I'm not sure how a coin flip ends up being completely secure, but sure...let's go with that. ☜