Chapter 357: Control

A rebellion? Mobilizing a great army to suppress it? Raze the city and wipe out every last one of us?

The great families of the Southern Capital that had banded together heard Wan Liugui's announcement through psychic thought, and one by one, they were left completely stunned.

Weren't you guys the ones to make the first move? We haven't even taken any concrete action yet, and we are already branded as rebels, as remnants of the previous rebellion?

If that identity were allowed to stick, countless factions would seize the opportunity to intervene, using the pretext of suppressing a rebellion to plunder the Southern Capital.

As for Yaoguang, he had not yet set foot in the Southern Capital. Since he had not yet entered the city, the responsibility would not fall on him but could instead be pushed onto Sect Master Zong Wenxian.

After all, it had been Zong Wenxian who had been managing the Southern Capital all these years, overseeing its affairs large and small. If Yaoguang were to return to the sect and report this matter, it would be no different than flipping the table.

"This Yaoguang has absolutely no regard for the rules!" Lu Qianshan, the Void-Piercing Realm elder of the Lu family, couldn't help but curse.

"He wants to draw other factions into this? If they get involved, they'll inevitably plunder the Southern Capital without mercy, and the Southern Capital will be greatly damaged. Such an approach would be no different than a pyrrhic victory." Li Guiren of the Li family raged with equal fury.

Wu Changfeng, however, had already begun to sense Yaoguang's true intentions. "I had told you that we should've allowed Yaoguang to enter the Southern Capital. Once he was in charge of the southern domain, then whatever happened next, the sect master would've been able to blame him for being too incompetent to govern. That would've been enough to strip away his authority. By showing our hand like this, we've only done the opposite."

He swept his gaze across the assembled group. "As for whether his is a pyrrhic victory... We've already made our hostility plain for all to see. You can imagine the resistance he'd face trying to take control now. Rather than struggle against that, he'd rather tear down the Southern Capital and rebuild it from scratch, purge every faction in the southern domain, and leave it a blank slate. At that point, it would be easy for him to operate as he pleased."

Several of the weaker Void-Piercing Realm cultivators went pale upon hearing that comment.

Going by Wu Changfeng's reasoning, is Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang actually serious?! Are they really going to report to the sect and use the southern domain's rebellion as justification to drown the Southern Capital in blood, slaughtering countless cultivators and exterminating entire families?!

"Elder Wu... He wouldn't dare go that far, would he?" Some had already been frightened.

"Why wouldn't he? The southern domain isn't his territory yet. Would you spare a thought for a brutal massacre happening inside another faction's lands? Not gloating over it would already be a sign of decent conscience."

Wu Changfeng shook his head. "Besides, if the southern domain were really purged clean, every faction would walk away with enormous gains. Afterward, he could easily propose that, for the sake of the southern domain's recovery, taxes and levies be reduced for the next century. None of the other elders would dissent... And with those conditions in place, the southern domain would flourish again before long."

He glanced up at the vast, boundless star-filled sky overhead. "After all, on the North Sea Star, cultivators have never been in short supply. At every moment, new cultivators from all across the stars come flocking in, seeking that chance at immortality."

Those who heard Wu Changfeng speak went pale, their gazes drifting almost involuntarily toward the Jing family's head.

The one who had insisted on giving Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang a humbling lesson and teaching him what it meant to behave was none other than that very family head: Jing Zhengyang.

Within the southern domain, though they presented a united front to the outside world, quiet rivalries still simmered beneath the surface, split into two factions: one led by the Jing family with Supreme Elder Jing Yuntian at its head, and the other by Wu Changfeng, who answered to Sect Master Zong Wenxian.

In ordinary times, Wu Changfeng's faction generally held the upper hand, but when it came to humbling Yaoguang, Wu Changfeng had made no real effort to stop it, letting Jing Zhengyang stoke everyone's sentiments. In hindsight, his motives were anything but innocent!

"Hmph!" Jing Zhengyang noticed the stares and snorted with disdain. "Nobody could have predicted that Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang would have so little regard for the rules. If he had sent someone ahead to negotiate how interests would be divided, rather than arriving the way he did, radiating killing intent and demanding to take charge of the Southern Capital without even asking us first, none of this would have happened!"

"Family Head Jing, now is not the time for grievances about how things were supposed to go. Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang is about to leave, and if we don't go and explain ourselves, the Southern Capital may face destruction," Wu Changfeng said.

Wu Changfeng wore the expression of someone acting purely for everyone's benefit, and the looks of the other, more fearful factions directed at Jing Zhengyang grew urgent.

Seeing this, Jing Zhengyang understood that if he dug in any further, even if the crisis were resolved later, he would have lost the trust of those around him.

"Then let's go and meet this deputy sect master," Jing Zhengyang said.

"Since we've decided to meet him, make sure your attitude is right. Otherwise, you'll only push the conflict past the point of no return," Wu Changfeng said, letting out a slow breath. "Supreme Elder Jing Yuntian cannot stand against the full force of the sect, and frankly, not even all the sect's forces together can stand against the rules written into the Great Dao Golden Book!"

Hearing Wu Changfeng invoke Jing Yuntian, the Jing family's most powerful backer, Jing Zhengyang reined in his temper and said in a measured tone, "That much is obvious. I am not someone who can't take a loss."

With the two of them in the lead, they brought Lu Qianshan, Li Guiren, and the other Void-Piercing Realm cultivators along, rising on their travel lights and racing to catch up with Yaoguang's fleet.

Yaoguang's vast fleet had not yet completed its turn when the people from the Southern Capital arrived in streaks of evasion light.

"Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang, please wait!"

"This is a misunderstanding, only a misunderstanding! The Yin Lunar Sect has been sending fiends into the Southern Capital to stir up trouble, leaving the city in a state of unrest, and we had no choice but to raise the level of alert throughout the city. The patrol officers had no idea Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang had arrived in person. They have offended both you and the sect master with their actions, and I will see to it that they are severely punished."

The two men at the front spoke quickly.

Aboard the Heavenly Ruin Hall's warship, Yaoguang looked at the two of them. "Jing Zhengyang. Wu Changfeng."

Both men hurriedly gave a fist-and-palm salute. "We pay our respects to Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang. We have already prepared a banquet in your honor to welcome your arrival. If you would please..."

"There's no rush," Yaoguang said calmly. "Didn't you just say the offenders would be severely punished? How, exactly, do you intend to punish them?"

Wu Changfeng and Jing Zhengyang froze. They hadn't expected Yaoguang to press the point over something so minor. It had just been a throwaway line to smooth things over. Was he really...

"He's forcing us to move against our own people and undermine our own authority, but we have no choice, because if we don't, he'll turn around and leave, mark my words." Wu Changfeng's psychic thought reached Jing Zhengyang swiftly, for the ones who had intercepted Yaoguang were Jing Zhengyang's people.

The Jing family's head was equally decisive. With a brief flick of his hand, a Void-Piercing cultivator from the Jing family moved at once. A streak of golden light cut through the void like a flash of lightning and struck down a minor patrol captain in the distance.

A ripple of unease passed through the crowd, but within moments it settled back down.

Jing Zhengyang's expression twitched. He gave a fist-and-palm salute and said, "These men had eyes but failed to see. They offended Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang. They deserved to die."

Wu Changfeng chimed in at just the right moment. "Please be assured, Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang. Everyone in the Southern Capital warmly welcomes your arrival. After all these years of waiting, a leader has finally come who can guide us to glory and bring the Southern Capital to true greatness."

"There's no rush." Yaoguang raised his hand. "The moment I arrived at the Southern Capital, I was blocked and attacked, and now you're hastily inviting me inside. I find it hard not to suspect that some kind of trap is waiting in there, ready to spring the moment I step through and bury me along with every person I've brought with me."

"Absolutely not!" Wu Changfeng replied immediately, his words firm. "Even given ten thousand times our courage, we would never dare act against you, Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang..."

"But I am responsible for the lives of the people I brought with me, and frankly, I'm a timid man. After the fright I just received, everything around me feels like a potential threat," Yaoguang said calmly, gesturing forward with one hand. "Hand over control of the Southern Capital's city-protecting array. That, and that alone, would convince me your intentions are genuine. Besides, as the master of the southern domain, it is only right and proper that I hold command over the Southern Capital's array, wouldn't you agree?"

The moment those words left his mouth, Jing Zhengyang's and Wu Changfeng's expressions darkened again.

Before Wu Changfeng could speak, Jing Zhengyang got there first. "Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang, the Yin Lunar Sect has sent fiendish cultivators into the Southern Capital, causing widespread damage. The city-protecting array has sustained considerable harm as a result, so it isn't that we're unwilling to transfer control to you immediately; it's just that—Ah? Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang?"

He hadn't even finished speaking. Yaoguang had already turned his warship around and was calling out as he left: "The Southern Capital has been breached by the Yin Lunar Sect, and the city-protecting array has fallen into their hands! Come, we must petition the supreme elder at once to cleanse the Southern Capital and reclaim it from the Yin Lunar Sect!"

Watching Yaoguang leave without even letting him finish, throwing out a pretext not much less terrifying than the original accusation of rebellion and threatening to bathe the Southern Capital in blood once again, both Jing Zhengyang and Wu Changfeng's faces went black as the bottom of a pot.

F*ck! Jing Zhengyang was so furious he was cursing inwardly. Is this man shameless? At the slightest inconvenience, the Southern Capital has supposedly been occupied, so he'd bring in the supreme elder to slaughter the city. Is there simply no room for a proper conversation, no room for negotiation? Does he really intend to see all of the Southern Capital destroyed?

"Enough. Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang seems genuinely willing to see the Southern Capital reduced to rubble if it means bringing the southern domain entirely under his control. Unless we really want a fight to the death, struggling against him over this cannot be won." Wu Changfeng transmitted through psychic thought. "The stakes on either side simply aren't at the same level. We can't match him."

A fight to the death... but in the end, the Southern Capital would undoubtedly be the one destroyed, and the losses on their side would be devastating. And Yaoguang? At worst, the southern domain would bring him less wealth than it might otherwise have.

And that wasn't necessarily true. With every faction purged clean, his final gains might not be any less. In other words, they would be the only ones suffering while Yaoguang walked away with no damage.

"Hand over the city-protecting array's control hub. Whatever happens, let him take charge of the southern domain first, and we'll fight him slowly from there." Wu Changfeng transmitted his psychic thought gravely. "Block his orders from leaving the Southern Capital. Cut off his ability to collect resources from the surrounding territories. There's no shortage of ways to hem him in. Once the deadline to pay tribute comes, ten years from now, and he can't produce enough... The sect master and the factions backing you will naturally seize the moment to strike."

Though Jing Zhengyang was far from willing, he had no choice but to nod. Reluctantly, together with Wu Changfeng and the others, he surrendered the sigils of the city-protecting array one by one.

Yaoguang raised a hand, and Ling Ruogu and Chi Yu moved swiftly with their people, seizing control of the array.

With that, they had finally taken charge of Southern Capital.