“The idea is right, only too bad they haven’t put themselves in their proper place,” Li Fan commented.
The grand Dao starry sky he had shown in that thin slice was far too lofty for the ordinary world. It had even surpassed the limits that Xuanhuang Realm cultivators could imagine.
For ants on the ground, naturally they could not distinguish between the first heaven and the thirty-third heaven above.
The old Daoist thought what he had missed was merely a method to become an immortal, but in fact it was a heaven-reaching great Dao leading straight to the other shore.
“Now he still has pride unique to himself. Perhaps only when he falls and faces death in the future will he regret it too late.” Li Fan shook his head slightly.
For Li Fan, walking his own Dao and learning from other strong cultivators were not in conflict.
He could learn the transformation of true and false from Trueness, gain insight into limitless immortal arts from Mountains and Seas, and study the Great Dao of Longevity from the Mound-Guarding Lord. But none of this prevented Li Fan from ultimately walking his own path.
Even the sect leaders of the Ten Sects were, to Li Fan, no more than an insignificant ant in a drop of the river of time. Not worth investing too much attention in.
What Li Fan cared about was still this grand play he had carefully constructed.
As Li Fan’s fingers quietly plucked at it, the scales of victory gradually tilted toward the Taiyuan Realm side.
The “anomaly malfunction” of the Taiyuan Reincarnation Furnace seemed to have finally been repaired. And its resurrection efficiency was even greater than before. Although they did not understand the reason for this strange phenomenon, it did not stop Taiyuan Realm cultivators from seizing this excellent opportunity to counterattack swiftly, hoping to lock in victory.
The Xuanhuang Realm cultivators on the battlefield immediately felt the pressure.
Over the past half year, the Taiyuan Realm cultivators’ attacks lasted at most five or six days before temporarily withdrawing. But this attack was abnormal, unusually fierce.
The enemy died batch after batch, yet they seemed endless.
Even more shocking, on the same battlefield, two or three mutilated corpses of the same person appeared.
Even though the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao responded quickly and rapidly mobilized reserve reinforcements, the front lines were still forced to retreat continuously.
Territory of the Taiyuan Realm that had been difficult to occupy at the cost of countless sacrifices was lost inch by inch.
Surviving Xuanhuang Realm cultivators were gradually compressed into the last defensive circle.
As if after dozens of consecutive days of bitter fighting, the Taiyuan Realm side had also reached its limit. A rare moment of tranquility arrived on the battlefield, and all Xuanhuang soldiers seized this last chance to catch their breath and recover their strength with all their might.
However, under such high pressure, not a trace of “despair” ever surfaced in their minds. Only the firm belief remained to fight to the death with the enemy when they charged soon.
At the center of the Xuanhuang position, Sect Leader Qu Yixing of the Yishi Sect sat cross-legged in the void, expression serious.
Above his head, the power of the five elements circled around the two qi of yin and yang, rotating rapidly like a taiji. Mysterious waves spread from this vortex outward, influencing and changing the hearts and minds of the Xuanhuang cultivators on the battlefield.
“Brother Yixing, this method is wonderful, but it is not a long-term plan.”
“At most we can hold on for one more month. Otherwise, they will all become monsters who have completely lost their senses, with nothing but killing in their minds.” Situ Yao said in a heavy tone.
“One month… I fear the situation may not even hold that long. You should make a decision sooner rather than later.” The speaker was Sect Leader Fang Dingge of the Great Dao Sect.
“I have already asked Stone Mother to perform a hundred jing deductions; there is a fifty-six percent chance of success. The advantage is ours, so let’s make one bold move!”
A fifty-six percent chance, in Fang Dingge’s eyes, was as good as certain victory. No one present spoke in response.
“Of course, if anyone among you is confident they can sever the golden lock across the sky while guaranteeing the safety of the Xuanhuang Realm, then you may ignore my plan.” Fang Dingge’s sharp gaze swept over everyone.
“The safety of the Xuanhuang Realm cannot be fully guaranteed. But if it is only the safety of the Ten Sects, perhaps it can be done.” After a moment of silence, the speaker was a wrinkled yellow paper man.
The paper man sized up Fang Dingge with a strange and distorted expression, as if smiling yet not, as if crying yet not.
Hearing this, a flash of anger crossed Fang Dingge’s face: “Yi Jue! Don’t come peddling your Crossing Adversity plan again. In such a bloody battle, it’s one thing that none of you show up, but you still want to confuse and shake the army’s morale?!”
“If you do this again, don’t blame my Furnace of Burning the Dao for being merciless!”
Daoist Yi Jue of the Crossing Adversity Sect faced Fang Dingge’s threat without fear. He chuckled: “Sect Leader Fang, you are mistaken. The saying goes, plan for victory before considering defeat. You always like to gamble. Perhaps you can win countless times, but as long as you lose once, from then on it will be the end of body and soul destroyed. Tell me, in this world, who can always keep winning?”
Fang Dingge said coldly: “More talk is useless! Facts will prove everything. Moreover, besides my plan, is there a better method? Are you saying everyone should become a monster neither human nor ghost like you?”
“Neither human nor ghost, isn’t that an immortal? Since you are unwilling, I won’t force it. But don’t count on our Crossing Adversity Sect. This old Daoist is leaving~”
The lively expression on the paper man froze in an instant, then slowly drifted down to the ground.
Daoist Yi Jue of the Crossing Adversity Sect turned into a most ordinary sheet of paper.
The remaining people present were all silent.
“Hmph, I think that under the influence of Yi Jue this old madman, the Crossing Adversity Sect will sooner or later show signs of the whole sect turning into paper people. How about…” A dangerous light flashed in Fang Dingge’s eyes.
Situ Yao laughed dryly and hurriedly spoke to dissuade him: “The Ten Sects have always stood together like branches of the same tree. In the past, we have even experienced calamities far more dangerous than this. How could we ruin our friendship over this matter?”
Fang Dingge yielded not at all: “Times are different now. After several great battles, how much energy remains in the immortal artifacts in your hands? Without immortal spiritual energy, how are they different from scrap copper and rotten iron? Relying on these immortal treasures, you have luckily survived until now in this starry sky. In the future, if you cannot use immortal artifacts, where will you go?”
…
The various leaders of the Ten Sects argued endlessly.
Finally, a female cultivator clad in black gauze, with a graceful figure but a voice as grating as tearing metal, ended everyone’s quarrel.
“Since everyone has a point, why not hedge your bets. Don’t forget, Sect Leaders, we still have a captured immortal artifact.”
The Lord of Wuding Prison, Xiahou Yan, swept his gaze over everyone.
Everyone seemed to be struck by an invisible blade, instinctively narrowing their eyes and avoiding Xiahou Yan’s direct gaze.
“That immortal artifact is too strange. It’s best not to use it lightly…” Even Fang Dingge, after some hesitation, shook his head in rejection.
Xiahou Yan gave a cold laugh.
In front of all the sect leaders of the Ten Sects, he mocked openly: “The leaders of the Ten Sects should be the foremost heroes under heaven. But unexpectedly, you are a bunch of hedgers and double-dealers.”
Although the words were unpleasant, he had cursed himself along with them. The others merely showed embarrassed expressions and could not well blame anything.
“But I can’t blame you. The more power you hold, the more you need to consider. Sects, the world, all living beings…”
“Far less satisfying than when you were alone and roamed the world!” Xiahou Yan said in a calm tone.
It seemed to evoke memories of the past among everyone, and the field fell into silence for a moment.
It was still Xiahou Yan who spoke: “Consider this. The Bisection Immortal Seed, though bizarre, can bisect all of us without loss. Another choice, another retreat, another chance at life.”
“It should not have reached such a serious point.” Jiang Yixing and others still did not agree with Xiahou Yan’s opinion.
“The Bisection Immortal Seed is incomparably mysterious, but correspondingly, its side effects are truly too great. We used it once in the past, and it took nearly a hundred years to digest. Crossing Adversity Sect’s Lu Chengheng and Yi Jue, originally somewhat normal, have all become this mad appearance…”
“But didn’t we win in the end? And those three cultivation realms have long since turned to dust. Since we could endure once, we can endure a second time.” Xiahou Yan still insisted.
Until everyone looked at him with somewhat doubtful gazes. Only then did Xiahou Yan realize he had lost his composure somewhat.
Then he gave a cold snort and said nothing more.
Another long silence followed.
Situ Yao downed the fine wine in his gourd in one gulp, somewhat impatient: “I think Brother Dingge’s method is feasible. I witnessed the entire process of Stone Mother’s deduction. For ending the Taiyuan Realm’s war, there is some grasp of it.”
“If you are unwilling, then let me do it.”
“It’s nothing but death anyway. When have I, Situ Yao, ever been afraid!”
“Good!” Fang Dingge was elated to have finally gained a supporter.
When opinions began to unify, the remaining people had no choice but to start considering.
At this moment, a weak voice came from the corner.
“My Master says he agrees with Sect Leader Fang’s plan. However, our Taishang Sect will only send three people for support.” The speaker was Jiang Yingyue.
This female cultivator who had slaughtered enemies left and right on the battlefield and killed countless, before the various sect leaders was like a child, previously not daring to make a sound.
Until she received a message from her Master, only then did she weakly speak up.
Originally, everyone already had some objections to the old Daoist’s absence. Now hearing that the plan concerned the life and death of the Xuanhuang Realm, the Taishang Sect was actually only willing to send three people to participate. Their expressions were even less pleasant.
However, after seeing the three names formed by points of starlight appearing in Jiang Yingyue’s hand, everyone had no more objections.
Because these three were already the top combat power of the Great Dao Sect; the strength of any one of them would not be inferior to the people present by much.
After arguing for a while, they finally slowly reached a consensus.
The Ten Sects began to discuss specific battle details, and Fang Dingge restated: “The reason we have always been unable to win, being tightly entangled by the Taiyuan Realm, is precisely because of the existence of that immortal artifact, the Taiyuan Reincarnation Furnace.”
“Taiyuan Realm cultivators, whether in scale or strength, are far inferior to our Xuanhuang Realm. But they cannot be killed off. Even for us, after exchanging injuries with ten or so Dao Integration cultivators to the death, we need to recuperate properly. Yet they can appear on the battlefield unharmed a few days later.” Obviously having suffered a dark loss before, Fang Dingge said through gritted teeth.
“The key to breaking the deadlock is to destroy that Taiyuan Reincarnation Furnace. Previously we didn’t act because we could never determine its specific location. We tried schemes to probe it multiple times, but to no effect. However, now…”
A gleam flashed in Fang Dingge’s eyes: “Perhaps because it truly involves the safety of Xuanhuang, that Great Heavenly Venerable who is usually silent and unconcerned with worldly affairs has finally spoken to give guidance.”
Fang Dingge waved his hand, and a virtual shadow image of the Taiyuan Realm appeared in the field.
Among them, light points kept flickering, marking where the Taiyuan Reincarnation Furnace was.
“According to the Great Heavenly Venerable, this so-called Reincarnation Furnace is actually an ancient immortal-level array. As long as a few key nodes of the array are destroyed, its revival effect can be affected for a period of time.”
“Enough to let us completely sweep this realm!” Fang Dingge said in a deep voice.
“The corresponding position here is…” Jiang Yingyue looked at the image ahead, suddenly blanking out.
“Correct, deep in the Taiyuan Realm, where the Taiyuan Realm’s greatest cultivation sect, Tianyu Dao Palace, is located.”
“The entire Taiyuan Realm is covered by an immortal-level great array. Wanting to infiltrate deeply and successfully destroy the array is full of danger…”
“But our chances of victory are still somewhat higher!” Fang Dingge said.
“Since the war began, all cultivators who have appeared on the Taiyuan battlefield have been included in Stone Mother’s deduction calculations. There is even an extra one-third strength margin…”
“Even so, we have a fifty-six percent chance of success.”
Accompanying Fang Dingge’s words, hundreds of dense light points suddenly appeared on the Taiyuan shadow. Each light point represented a cultivator above Soul Formation Perfection who could threaten everyone’s plan.
When spiritual sense focused on these light points, the data of the cultivators they represented also surfaced. Besides their appearance and strength, there were also various divine abilities and spells they had displayed on the battlefield.
“Being able to resurrect infinitely is their absolute advantage. But it is also their fatal weakness.”
“They know nothing about us now, but we know them like the back of our hand.”
Everyone present had their minds captured by the scene before them.
Even Xiahou Yan and others who did not agree with Fang Dingge’s risky plan silently watched and thought.
And not far away, Li Fan, who had seen the Ten Sects’ secret discussion through Jiang Yingyue’s eyes, shook his head slightly.
“Even without me, counting on that bit of strength they’ve brought, don’t even think about breaking through layers of Taiyuan cultivators’ protection and destroying the immortal array.”
Li Fan saw at once where the fatal mistake in this plan lay.
The protective immortal array empowered by the Nine-Star Red Pearl was not merely about creating living beings. Not to mention many other abilities, the Watcher and Mender in the Taiyuan immortal array might not know how to activate it. But they could absolutely temporarily stimulate the potential of the created beings, causing their combat power to soar in a short time.
Although the price was quickly burning the lifespan of the created beings, as long as they blocked the Xuanhuang Realm adventurers for a moment, it would be enough to make their plan fail at the last moment.
It was even possible to bury the Xuanhuang Realm’s elites right there.
“Just like the Ten Sects’ plan to behead Chuanfa back then, cut from the same cloth.”
“But it seems, without my participation, they will all lose their bet.
Chapter 1538