Chapter 404: Making a Move

"So, something went wrong?"

Yaoguang was a little surprised, but on second thought, it made sense. This had to be a contingency Zong Wenxian had left behind.

"Something we don't know about must have happened." Chi Yun nodded. "Originally, the only ones backing Zong Wenxian were Jing Yuntian and Gu Li, while our side had Supreme Zhen Xuanyuan and me. Two against two, and with you having reached the Void-Shattering Realm yourself, the odds of toppling him while he was away were high. At worst, we would still have damaged his prestige and laid the groundwork for the next move. But now that Supreme Zhen Xuanyuan has changed his mind, things might be more difficult."

"Difficult?" Yaoguang smiled. "You don't even know what I'm planning to do next."

Supreme Chi Yun was taken aback.

Yaoguang pondered for a moment, then said, "Since the situation has changed, we might as well start ahead of schedule. It will also let me formally make my voice heard in the Heavenly Dao Sect."

He called toward the outside, "Qi Sha."

"Deputy Sect Master!" Qi Sha's psychic thought came back at once.

"Prepare for battle. Take the Heavenly Ruin Hall and surround Skyview Peak," he ordered calmly.

The words left Chi Yun stunned. Skyview Peak?! The Jing family's Skyview Peak, at the Heavenly Dao Sect's headquarters? The Skyview Peak where Supreme Elder Jing Yuntian resided? Had Yaoguang just ordered his men to surround that mountain peak?!

A second later, even Chi Yun, who had already reached the Void-Shattering Realm, felt a jolt run through him. He shot to his feet. "Yaoguang, what are you doing?! Surrounding Skyview Peak? Are you trying to start a civil war within the Heavenly Dao Sect?"

Yaoguang gave a small, composed smile. "I didn't come to the Heavenly Dao Sect to hold my Void-Shattering Realm advancement ceremony just for show. I came for one purpose only: to accomplish what I set out to do."

"Calm down. This is the Heavenly Dao Sect, not the Southern Capital. If things blow up, even the Golden Book Venerable will step in and intervene," Supreme Chi Yun said hurriedly.

"Relax, I know what I'm doing," Yaoguang said. "Under normal circumstances, surrounding Skyview Peak would naturally carry serious consequences. But what if I had proof that the Jing family colluded with the fiendish cultivators of the Yin Lunar Sect against me, the Heavenly Dao Sect's deputy sect master?"

At those words, Chi Yun's pupils contracted. His mind instantly went to the incident in which the Yin Lunar Sect's two great Void-Shattering fiendish lords had led five Void-Refining fiendish cultivators in an assault on the Southern Capital.

If anyone claimed no one had secretly coordinated that attack from within, Chi Yun would be the first to doubt their words. He had originally suspected the hidden collaborator might be someone Zong Wenxian had planted, but now it turned out to be the Jing family? Then, again, it made sense...

"You actually have proof?" Supreme Chi Yun said, then immediately caught himself. "No, wait. If you had proof, you should have reported it back when you crushed those two Void-Shattering and five Void-Refining fiendish cultivators. Why would you—"

"Every scheme and plot, in the end, needs someone to carry it out! Against a cultivator who concentrates untold power in a single body, if you cannot crush him by force, no amount of evidence means anything. If he denies it, even someone as strong as the Golden Book Venerable won't be able to step in and resolve the matter," Yaoguang explained calmly. "The old me didn't have that kind of strength. But now... I just about do."

Chi Yun understood what Yaoguang meant. He had previously been a mere Void-Refining cultivator. Perhaps he had been unmatched at the Void-Refining Realm, with battle strength rivaling a Void-Shattering cultivator, but he still had no certainty of defeating someone like Jing Yuntian, long famed among the Void-Shattering cultivators. But now, he had reached the Void-Shattering Realm...

Supreme Chi Yun drew a deep breath. "Your concern was valid. No matter what evidence you hold, if Jing Yuntian denies it, the problem can ultimately only be settled by force."

Yaoguang nodded. He had learned that lesson back in the Great Cangwu World.

In those days, the Infinite Star Palace had done as it pleased, wantonly invading small sects and plundering the resources of the small and mid-sized ones. Even when those sects could produce evidence of the aggression, no power had been able to bring them to judgment, simply because the Infinite Star Palace was too strong.

The North Sea Star was the same. When a Void-Shattering cultivator standing at the peak of the world denied something until his dying day, the weak had no recourse.

Only someone like Yaoguang, pairing evidence with the strength to resolve the problem, could nail down a Void-Shattering supreme elder.

"It seems like you've made up your mind to make an example of the Jing family. But be very careful. Jing Yuntian's strength is nothing like that of the Eight Desolations and Dark Fiend Lords. Fiendish cultivators excel at self-preservation, stealth, and infiltration, not at combat. But Jing Yuntian's Myriad Forms World has crushed more than one fiendish cultivator in open battle," Chi Yun warned gravely.

"I know what I'm doing," Yaoguang replied.

With that, Chi Yun said no more. "I'll do my best to tie down Gu Li for you. The rest is up to you."

Yaoguang had chosen this moment to act not because he now had the strength to defeat Jing Yuntian, but because he was already confident that even if Jing Yuntian, Gu Li, Perfected Lord Bu Zhou, and Zong Wenxian all returned together, he could stand against all four of them. Only with that assurance had he decided to move.

Whether or not Chi Yun was willing to pin down Gu Li did not actually matter, but since this supreme had shown a measure of goodwill, he saw no reason to refuse.

Once he became sect master of the Heavenly Dao Sect, he would need enough people to carry out his orders, and nothing drew two sides closer together or built trust faster than standing in the same camp against a common enemy.

Chi Yun soon departed. After he left, Yaoguang summoned Li Hanqiu, Chi Yu, and Ling Ruogu directly, along with Qin Shiyue and Chu Gushan, the two peak masters who had only just pledged themselves to him. A head-on clash like this was the surest test of whether a person's allegiance was sincere or hollow.

"What happened?" Li Hanqiu asked, his expression solemn. "I just saw Hall Master Qi Sha assembling everyone in the Heavenly Ruin Hall. It looks like they're mobilizing for battle?"

"I have confirmed that the Southern Capital was attacked by the Yin Lunar Sect's fiendish cultivators back then because someone inside the Heavenly Dao Sect colluded with them and provided support. At the most critical moment, they even interfered with the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array, nearly managing to stop its activation. In that battle, without the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array, not only would we have died, but everyone in the Southern Capital would have perished with us!" Yaoguang declared righteously. "Traitors who collude with fiendish cultivators against their own sect's deputy sect master must be brought to justice and made to pay for everything they have done!"

The faces of the several Void-Piercing cultivators and the two newly joined peak masters changed at once.

Anyone could guess something had been off about the Yin Lunar Sect going to such lengths, dispatching two great Void-Shattering fiendish cultivators and five Void-Refining fiendish cultivators to attack the Southern Capital.

Especially since, right after the attack, the Heavenly Dao Sect's teleportation array had conveniently broken down. The fact that a hidden hand was manipulating things could not have been more blatant.

The affair had stirred widespread resentment within the Heavenly Dao Sect as well; many believed the sect master's faction had gone completely over the line in its oppression of the deputy sect master.

But since Yaoguang, the intended victim, had stayed silent and shown no intention of seeking justice, the clamor eventually died down, and the matter seemed to be forgotten. No one had expected Yaoguang to suddenly strike at this moment.

"Vermin like this must be punished without mercy. Otherwise, what cohesion would the Heavenly Dao Sect have left?" Qin Shiyue, the newly sworn peak master, was the first to voice his support. "Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang, if you have orders, just say the word. Whatever I can do, I will give my all."

"Indeed. Colluding with fiendish cultivators to scheme against our deputy sect master? Such conduct can never be tolerated!" Chu Gushan chimed in.

For Yaoguang to dare raise this matter now, he had to be sure of himself. And since Chu Gushan had already boarded Yaoguang's ship, he could only follow the road to its end.

"Good. You will all come with me. At the same time, spread the word, so our fellow members of the Heavenly Dao Sect don't misunderstand. Perfected Lord Li, you will stay behind at the Nine Cauldrons Peak and activate its array art, in case anyone tries to drag the Nine Cauldrons Peak disciples into this!" Yaoguang said sternly. "I hold ironclad proof of those who colluded with the fiendish cultivators. I will not wrong a single innocent, nor will I let a single guilty one escape."

"Yes!" Everyone who received his orders responded in unison and quickly set to work.

As Li Hanqiu took over control of the Nine Cauldrons Peak's array art, he said gravely, "Be careful! If it can't be done, don't force it. With your talent, time is on our side."

"Relax, I've made thorough preparations. Otherwise, I wouldn't have chosen this moment to hold the Void-Shattering Realm advancement ceremony, nor would I have held it at the Heavenly Dao Sect." Yaoguang nodded toward Li Hanqiu and then rose into the air, heading straight for the Heavenly Ruin Hall, which stood ready.

At Qi Sha's command, thirteen main combat vessels out of thirty warships took off toward the sky, carrying the Heavenly Ruin Hall along with its newest additions, which included disciples of the Chi, Shu, Ling, and other families, totaling at least a thousand people. They went straight for Skyview Peak.

Yaoguang already had all eyes in the Heavenly Dao Sect on him. Seeing him lead the fully armed Heavenly Ruin Hall, blazing with killing intent, away from the Nine Cauldrons Peak and descending upon the nearby Skyview Peak, the scene instantly seized everyone's attention.

Just then, his people spread the news through their respective channels. When everyone learned that Yaoguang had obtained proof of the Jing family's collusion with the Yin Lunar Sect's fiendish cultivators and was out to seek justice, it all seemed perfectly natural.

In fact, the moment Yaoguang had chosen to hold his Void-Shattering Realm advancement ceremony at the Heavenly Dao Sect rather than the Southern Capital, many had already known that Yaoguang was bound to make a major move. They just had not expected it to come so fast.

In an instant, one Void-Piercing and Void-Refining cultivator after another was alerted, and even supreme elders like Zhen Xuanyuan were no exception.

By the time Yaoguang and the Heavenly Ruin Hall reached Skyview Peak and surrounded it, no one was particularly surprised. There was nothing new under the sun.

When it came to colluding with the Yin Lunar Sect against Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang, the Jing family was indeed the prime suspect.

What came next was to see who would prove more skilled at fighting between Yaoguang, the deputy sect master who had just advanced to the Void-Shattering Realm, and Jing Yuntian, a supreme elder who had lived for thousands of years.