Chapter 410: Extermination

"Convene the Supreme Elder Council and simply announce it?" Zhen Xuanyuan was momentarily taken aback.

This was the sect master's position, an important role that held supreme authority over one of the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects. Was such a monumental change really being handled this casually?

But having only just kept his life under Yaoguang's sword, he didn't dare harbor the slightest defiance now. "I will summon the supreme elders at once," he answered.

Gu Li, off to the side, could no longer sit still. This was the sect master's seat! For the Golden Book Venerable to make Zong Wenxian surrender the position this easily was treating the matter like a game.

Most critically, Zong Wenxian wasn't even in the Heavenly Dao Sect. He had left for the starry sky beyond as the Heavenly Dao Sect's sect master; if he came back demoted to supreme elder, he would have nowhere to cry about it.

Gu Li even set aside the threat of Yaoguang standing within arm's reach. "Venerable, this concerns the succession of the sect master's position. I believe we should wait until Sect Master Zong returns from the starry sky, and until more than half the supreme elders are assembled, before deciding in council. Announcing it just like this seems a little..."

"A little what?" The Golden Book Venerable glanced at him. "That is what the rules say. Is there a problem?"

"Sect Master Zong is leading a force abroad for the sect's development, fighting against the divine race. If he returned only to find himself dismissed as sect master, it would chill people's hearts," Gu Li said, steeling himself.

"Oh? So as long as one campaigns abroad, one may sit on the sect master's throne indefinitely? Then in the future, every sect master who realizes his ability is no longer enough to lead the sect will simply never come home and will command from afar instead. What meaning would be left in the competitive succession system the Heavenly Dao Sect established?" the Golden Book Venerable said without any particular emotion.

"That..." Gu Li had no answer.

Still, no one who became a supreme elder was a fool. He said gravely, "Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang's management of the southern domain has indeed produced excellent growth. But as for the central domain... Sect Master Zong has also been pursuing a new major revenue stream. If it can be developed properly, the profit it ultimately brings to the sect will not be merely several hundred million or several billion. It could well be an income on the level of tens of billions, even a hundred billion!"

"Tens of billions, a hundred billion." At that, Golden Book Venerable did change his stance. "In that case, having Yaoguang take over as sect master outright would indeed be inappropriate."

He addressed Yaoguang directly. "You and Zong Wenxian will each submit a hundred-year plan. I will judge between them and make the final choice."

He added, "If it really proves too difficult to decide, I will send your plans to the Central Heaven Dao Lord for the final ruling."

"A hundred years?" Yaoguang frowned. "Isn't that too long? Ten years seems about right to me."

"Ten years?" The Golden Book Venerable was somewhat surprised.

Gu Li jumped in at once as well. "How could ten years possibly be enough? A round trip through the starry sky takes one or two years at least. With the slightest delay, the travel alone could eat up eight or ten years. How could revenue in the tens or hundreds of billions be earned that quickly?"

"If I were given charge of the Heavenly Dao Sect now and led all our artifact refiners into producing Jiuzhou warships and forging flying swords and spirit artifacts, then within a hundred years, even if I couldn't add a hundred billion to the Heavenly Dao Sect's income, twenty or thirty billion would be no trouble at all," Yaoguang said bluntly.

"Twenty or thirty billion!" Even a supreme elder like Gu Li couldn't keep his heart from trembling at that number.

With wealth on that scale, never mind ordinary Dao Artifacts; they could even try for a high-grade Dao Artifact. High-grade Dao Artifacts counted as strategic resources in every top faction and were almost never sold, but with enough money, there would always be some Void-Shattering cultivator willing to bring one out to trade.

At this point, Zhen Xuanyuan, eager to extend goodwill and mend his relationship with Yaoguang, spoke up. "The venture Sect Master Zong is developing calls for combat personnel. Its demand for refiners, array specialists, alchemists, and the like is low. Why not place those people under Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang's command? That way no talent goes to waste, and everyone works together to develop the sect and make the Heavenly Dao Sect more prosperous than ever."

"What are your thoughts?" The Golden Book Venerable looked at Yaoguang.

Yaoguang considered for a moment. He hadn't taken the position outright, but he had known all along that an opportunistic gambit like his wasn't likely to succeed.

Luring talent away to the southern domain was no bad outcome either. Besides, this battle had already accomplished his purpose.

With the strength he had displayed today, on top of the southern domain's ability to rake in money, there would be no shortage of Void-Piercing elders and Void-Refining peak masters changing sides to stand under his banner.

If things went smoothly, after a few decades of development, whether the Heavenly Dao Sect's headquarters would end up in the central domain or the southern domain was anyone's guess.

He nodded. "Acceptable."

Then he added, "But if some are willing to follow me to the southern domain, Sect Master Zong must not stand in their way."

"I will inform Sect Master Zong. I expect he won't refuse," Gu Li hurriedly agreed.

Preserving Zong Wenxian's position as the sect master was already the limit of what he could do. Anything more was truly beyond his power. Yaoguang was too terrifying.

"Then that settles it," the Golden Book Venerable said. "And don't bother submitting your plans to me. Send them straight to the Central Heaven Dao Lord when the time comes."

He clearly had little interest in managing the Heavenly Dao Sect's internal affairs.

"Yes." Zhen Xuanyuan hastily complied.

Within the Heavenly Dao Sect, aside from the Golden Book Venerable himself, only he, Zong Wenxian, and Perfected Lord Jinghong held the authority to contact the Central Heaven Dao Lord directly.

"That will be all. You belong to the same sect. Less killing, and less trouble for the Dao Lord." With that, the Golden Book Venerable's figure flickered and vanished without a trace.

Once the Golden Book Venerable was gone, Yaoguang's gaze returned to Zhen Xuanyuan. "Jing Yuntian is dead, but the evidence that the Jing family colluded with the Yin Lunar Sect's fiendish cultivators is ironclad. What do you have to say, Supreme Elder Xuanyuan?"

"They must be punished severely, without leniency. I leave the matter entirely in your hands." Zhen Xuanyuan made his position clear. Then, seeming to feel he had no face left to linger at the scene, he quickly added, "Today's events were really a misunderstanding. Once you have finished dealing with the Jing family, I will prepare generous gifts and come in person to apologize."

Yaoguang gave a slight nod. He did, in fact, want to know why Zhen Xuanyuan had switched positions so abruptly, and what exactly the project Gu Li had mentioned, supposedly worth tens or hundreds of billions, really was.

Zhen Xuanyuan gave a fist-and-palm salute, and his figure vanished. In this battle, he had burned through every life-saving treasure he had accumulated over several thousand years. It was a catastrophic loss!

Seeing Zhen Xuanyuan go, Gu Li didn't dare linger either. The Golden Book Venerable might have warned them against further killing, but he still feared Yaoguang would find some pretext to take his head with a single strike. He didn't want to waste his life for nothing.

So he also departed with haste. Even after leaving, he didn't dare remain on his own peak for long; he quickly sealed it off and set out at once for the starry sky beyond.

A Heavenly Dao Sect with Yaoguang in it was simply too dangerous. An utterly unremarkable Void-Shattering cultivator like him was best off putting as much distance between them as possible.

With the two supreme elders gone, Yaoguang turned his gaze back to the battlefield, which had ground to a halt when Zhen Xuanyuan and Gu Li had first made their moves.

"Have you all heard?" he said. "The evidence of the Jing family's collusion with the Yin Lunar Sect's fiendish cultivators is ironclad, and the supreme elders have placed the matter entirely in my hands. By the rules of the Heavenly Dao Sect, those who collude with fiendish cultivators to frame a true disciple of the sect or anyone of higher standing..."

He swept out a hand and spat out a few words. "Will be killed without mercy."

"Yes!" Qi Sha, Chu Gushan, Qin Shiyue, and the others roared with fervor at the command.

Having watched with their own eyes as Yaoguang fought three supreme elders at once and crushed them, they no longer held the slightest doubt about whether he could one day rule the Heavenly Dao Sect.

Even if Zong Wenxian really defied fate, finding some treasure trove and holding on to his seat, he would not escape ending up a figurehead. On the North Sea Star, strength had the final say, even among members of the same sect.

Faced with Yaoguang's order, the two peak masters who had already glimpsed a boundless future, along with the Void-Piercing elders who had already pledged themselves to him, naturally spared no effort to prove their worth.

It wasn't just Qin Shiyue and Chu Gushan; other peak masters and elders who sensed an opportunity also leaped forward at that moment, not wanting to miss it.

"Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang will soon be the sect master of our sect! Any act against him is treason against the sect! For the Jing family to commit such evil, their crime deserves death!"

"To think the Jing family dared collude with the Yin Lunar Sect's fiendish cultivators to frame Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang! No Heavenly Dao Sect member with a conscience could allow such a thing. Today I will act for the Heavenly Dao Sect and for Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang, and clean our own house!"

"Jing family! Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang represents the future of our sect, and you dared to frame him. You truly deserve to die!"

In an instant, the Jing family seemed to have drawn the wrath of the masses upon them. Well over half of the Heavenly Dao Sect's Void-Piercing and Void-Refining cultivators appeared one after another to condemn them, and some threw themselves straight into the fighting, declaring their stance through action.

The factions that had once been close to the Jing family were the fastest to turn their blades on them, not showing the slightest hesitation, as if only that could draw a clean line between them.

"No! This is not our fault! Our family was only following orders..." Jing Zhengyang, the head of the Jing family, watched his clansmen being surrounded and slaughtered one after another and couldn't hold back his anguished cries. He turned to Yaoguang. "Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang, we really only acted on Zong Wenxian's orders..."

"Oh? So Zong Wenxian held a sword to your necks?" Yaoguang regarded the family head with indifference. "This was nothing but an example of shared interests. You keep insisting it was Zong Wenxian's order, but in truth, you obeyed his commands because you feared losing your benefits. Otherwise, how could Zong Wenxian order a Void-Shattering family around at all?"

In an avalanche, no snowflake is innocent.

After saying that, Yaoguang turned away and headed for the Nine Cauldrons Peak.

Qi Sha and the others understood the meaning of his action. The master of the Heavenly Ruin battle hall raised the Annihilation Sword in his hand. "They betrayed the sect. Kill the Jing family, leaving no one alive!"

"Kill!"

Amid the screams of despair coming from Jing Zhengyang and all his kin, the surging tide of cultivators roared and stormed Skyview Peak, exterminating the Jing family.