Chapter 514: Alliance Leader Zuo Takes Office, the Protagonist Halo Has Formed

“It is truly a fortunate event that you are all willing to form an alliance with me to resist the Flame Demon and the Seven Kills Disciples,” Zuo Fan said with a faint smile.

He had hurried back to the Yanghuang Sect’s temporary base. The sect leaders of the four remaining major sects had been waiting for a long time, mainly because he had been delayed by healing his injuries on the road.

As for why only four major sects remained, the one that had vanished was, of course, annihilated by Mu Can, the Seven Kills Disciple.

Xu Ziyang, the Red Dragon Flame Demon, was busy healing and refining the Sect’s Spiritual Technique, *Flame Dragon True Qi*, so he had not been active.

And the Heavenly Dao Wooden Man had been captured by Qi Suian to be used as a test subject, so nothing more had come of it.

Therefore, the only one still active was Mu Can, who had never stopped his slaughter.

Because of Mu Can, even the number of Seven Kills Disciples had been drastically reduced.

After all, the greatest supplement in the *Blood Sea Killing Sutra* was other Spirit Masters who were also Seven Kills Disciples. Although Mu Can didn’t actively seek them out, he was bound to run into them as he killed his way across the land.

“This matter was indeed our folly. We misunderstood Alliance Leader Zuo’s good intentions,” the Sect Leader of Phoenix Dance Pavilion hurriedly chimed in.

He even called him Alliance Leader.

“It’s good that you understand. I established the Celestial Spirit Alliance, and while its rules are strict and may have displeased you, it was only for the sake of survival, not for my own personal gain.” Zuo Fan was not lying about this.

Before, he might have developed ambitions, but not now. The only option was to huddle together for warmth.

There were simply too many powerful enemies.

Fortunately, the four surviving major sects had recognized the gravity of the situation. They knew they couldn’t handle it themselves and decisively chose to merge with Zuo Fan’s Celestial Spirit Alliance.

“Now that our five sects are jointly building the Celestial Spirit Alliance, we should combine our forces in one location. Otherwise, we will definitely be picked off one by one,” Zuo Fan proposed a new requirement.

He used the phrase “picked off one by one” to save face for the four sect leaders. To put it more bluntly, without his top-tier strength leading the resistance, any of their four sects would be utterly slaughtered in minutes if they encountered the Heavenly Dao Wooden Man, Xu Ziyang, or Mu Can.

The four exchanged a glance. The Sect Leader of Phoenix Dance Pavilion braced himself and said, “Alliance Leader Zuo’s words are wise. However, the Alliance Leader must also know that our four great sects have a large number of people. The matter of relocation will likely be… difficult to manage.”

There were too many people and too many assets. Forcing them to consolidate into one place—not to mention the time it would take—would result in immense losses.

“Bring those who are willing to leave, and leave behind those who are not.”

“You don’t really believe that you can stand against either Xu Ziyang or Mu Can by mustering the full strength of your own sect, do you?” Zuo Fan said, raising an eyebrow in displeasure.

They couldn’t fight the enemy themselves but didn’t want to die. That left only one option: have Zuo Fan come to their doorsteps to protect them. This was the reason for his displeasure.

“Of course we can’t.” The Phoenix Dance Pavilion’s Sect Leader knew his own sect’s situation. Of the original nine major sects, only five remained, including the downtrodden Yanghuang Sect.

If his Phoenix Dance Pavilion truly possessed such strength, the title of the world’s number one sect would never have fallen to the Yanghuang Sect in the past.

“It’s just that relocating to Alliance Leader Zuo’s territory is too far, and this place is not large enough to support such a large population.”

“So, we would just like to ask Alliance Leader Zuo to designate another location, and we can all migrate there together,” the Sect Leader of Phoenix Dance Pavilion stated his idea.

Upon hearing this, Zuo Fan’s expression softened. He then said, “You are all my seniors. Your considerations are naturally more thorough.”

“You must have had a plan already. Why beat around the bush with me?”

“My experience is shallow; all I have is brute force. Why don’t you just tell me the location you’ve chosen, and I’ll take a look.”

“If it’s suitable, I am not an unreasonable person.”

These four were no pushovers. They were merely trying to give him some face and flatter him.

He was young and certainly had his shortcomings, but that didn’t mean he was a fool.

There is great terror between life and death. Having experienced so many life-or-death moments, his mentality had long been forced to mature.

Hearing this, the Sect Leader of Phoenix Dance Pavilion immediately took out a Geomancy Map. It depicted the topography of Red Meteor and was marked with the territories of the major sects.

However, due to the widespread slaughter, the territorial divisions had not been updated in time.

With so many dead, who was there to update it?

“This location, what do you think, Alliance Leader Zuo?” The Sect Leader of Phoenix Dance Pavilion pointed to an area on the Geomancy Map and said, “This place is easy to defend and difficult to attack. At the same time, farming the land is also possible…”

The man listed a plethora of benefits, causing Zuo Fan to nod repeatedly.

The area where the Yanghuang Sect survivors were settled, aside from being well-hidden, had numerous disadvantages, the most basic of which was the issue of food.

This forced everyone to scrimp and save, rationing their food to avoid consuming it too quickly.

“The remaining grain reserves can supply the Celestial Spirit Alliance for at least three years, which will be of great benefit to our long-term defense,” the Sect Leader of Phoenix Dance Pavilion concluded.

In their view, dealing with the Seven Kills Disciples would be a long-term war, and logistics needed to be well-secured.

As for Xu Ziyang and Mu Can, that was not something they needed to consider.

They had chosen to join the Celestial Spirit Alliance simply because of Zuo Fan’s power. Otherwise, if everyone was on the same level, why would they choose to submit?

So it was soldiers against soldiers, and generals against generals. If they were really asked to fight Xu Ziyang and Mu Can, they would not hesitate to rebel at the first opportunity.

They came here to save their lives, not to throw them away.

Therefore, their consideration was how to deal with the Seven Kills Disciples, which was why they chose the most advantageous terrain.

“You are truly venerable seniors. A treasure like this location is indeed suitable for our survival.” Zuo Fan was also inwardly delighted; the place was genuinely good.

In terms of vision and experience, he couldn’t hold a candle to these four sect leaders.

More importantly, the distance was also very suitable. Whether it was him relocating the Yanghuang Sect or the other four major sects, it would only take about ten days to get there.

Of course, he was referring to Spirit Masters. For ordinary people, the journey would certainly not be so fast.

“Then it’s settled. Sect Leaders, why don’t you return as soon as possible to arrange for the relocation?” This wasn’t Zuo Fan trying to drive them away; he just knew that the longer they delayed, the more variables could arise.

Especially with two murderous maniacs roaming the world—those two really did annihilate entire sects.

“The Alliance Leader’s insight is profound!” the Sect Leader of Phoenix Dance Pavilion immediately agreed.

The four then departed in a hurry.

Their goal had been achieved, so of course they had to leave. If they didn’t leave now and something unexpected happened, they would have no home to return to.

After the four had left, Zuo Fan finally calmed his mind and began to cultivate.

‘I’ve… reached Great Completion?’

In just an instant, he discovered that his *Undying Fire Element True Technique* had actually stepped into the realm of Great Completion.

But his expression was puzzled. ‘This shouldn’t be happening. Based on my progress, it should have taken at least another month to reach Great Completion.’

‘How did I suddenly break through? Could it be because my worries have been resolved, my thoughts are clear, and that allowed me to break through smoothly?’

Following the breakthrough of the *Undying Fire Element True Technique*, his *Pure Yang Wuji Heart Method*, *Innate Li Fire Sword Technique*, and *Flame Demon Body Refining Technique* also began to break through to the Great Completion realm one after another.

This made him breathe a sigh of relief. He had thought it was a false breakthrough.

‘Now that the *Flame Demon Body Refining Technique* has reached Great Completion, I can use the Flame Demon’s True Body without having to worry about being controlled by the killing intent anymore.’

‘And all the previous drawbacks have been resolved at this moment.’ A look of joy couldn’t help but appear on Zuo Fan’s face.

His strength had greatly improved, and his ability to protect himself had risen to a new level.

‘Perhaps, after I have perfected these four Spiritual Techniques, I can also cultivate the *Nine Fire True Yang Red Dragon Skill* and *Flame Dragon True Qi*, the two Sect’s Spiritual Techniques of the Yanghuang Sect.’

Zuo Fan’s joy quickly subsided as he thought of Xu Ziyang’s situation. Although the other man lacked the *Undying Fire Element True Technique*, he had found another way to grow stronger.

As long as one perfects a Sect’s Spiritual Technique, the speed of progressing from Entry to Great Completion in subsequent, similar techniques becomes incredibly fast.

Just like now, it wouldn’t take Zuo Fan much time to reach the Entry level for the *Nine Fire True Yang Red Dragon Skill* and *Flame Dragon True Qi*. At most, he could master the basics of both Spiritual Techniques in a single day.

Reaching Minor Completion would only take a month.

And he had only just cultivated these four Spiritual Techniques to Great Completion. Once he perfected them, cultivating other top-tier Yang- and Fire-type Spiritual Techniques would be even more efficient.

‘I still need to reach Perfection, but time is an issue… Otherwise, I could go find Uncle and see if he has any secret Spiritual Techniques up his sleeve that might help me break through,’ Zuo Fan said with a self-deprecating laugh.

But he was just saying that. How could there be so many top-tier Spiritual Techniques?

‘But it really has been a long time since I’ve seen Uncle. I should take this opportunity to visit him.’

* * *

“The protagonist’s halo has formed.”

“It really had to wait until you became Alliance Leader Zuo.” Qi Suian was slightly speechless. “What a weird obsession.”

“Trying to make up for the fact that Zuo Lengchan never got to be an Alliance Leader, are we?”

Qi Suian complained to himself while organizing the complete data on the protagonist’s halo.

This had been quite profitable for him, especially in helping him sort out his own rules, providing immense benefits.

The protagonist’s halo was, in essence, a type of world rule, and one that was quite common in its universality and compatibility.

Therefore, it was excellent for use in optimizing and refining his plans.

Universal, compatible, and common—these three words were not derogatory in Qi Suian’s eyes. To him, they were extremely practical.

“But the formation of this protagonist’s halo is just the beginning.”

“As the saying goes, water overflows when full, and the moon wanes after reaching its peak.”

“Data collection for the first phase is complete. Next is the second phase.”

In Qi Suian’s estimation, the protagonist’s halo was divided into three stages: Formation, Execution, and finally, Dissipation.

He had the data for the Formation stage. The Execution stage was about facing the tribulation and resolving karmic debts, which was now officially beginning.

As for the final Dissipation, that would naturally begin after the tribulation ended—time to get rid of the tool once it has served its purpose.

Of course, if the protagonist failed to resolve the tribulation, he would naturally perish, his dao extinguished.

The protagonist’s halo wasn’t an invincibility buff. Even with the world’s favor acting as a home-field advantage, success was not guaranteed.

However, without the interference of an external force like Qi Suian, the probability of success was still ninety-nine percent.

Otherwise, after consuming so many resources and receiving so much preferential treatment, if the protagonist still couldn’t succeed, what would be the point of the world creating a protagonist in the first place? It would be a pure waste of resources.

“I need to speed things up for him. His efficiency is a bit too slow,” Qi Suian muttered, looking at the data in his hand.