Shockwaves

Lei Meng saw through Song You's intentions at a glance. He said calmly, "The so-called playing tricks is merely because your ability is lacking, leaving you unable to see through their reality." "Lord Lei Meng speaks the truth." Song You nodded respectfully. "However, if we cannot check the Nine Cauldrons Sect's momentum this time, they will inevitably conquer territory across the East Sea, perhaps even reclaiming it entirely. When that happens, the Nine Cauldrons Sect's power will surge immensely, and they will truly possess the prestige of an immortal sect." "Reclaim the East Sea? Heh, does the Great Sun Sword Sect agree? Does our Wuji Astral Palace agree?" Lei Meng chuckled faintly. Even so, considering that the pawn of the Xuanming Sect was still quite useful, he eventually said, "I'll help you contact our Wuji Astral Palace's Heavenly Palace cultivators... Oh, what terrible timing. The Heavenly Palace cultivators in that sector have all been deployed to the Heiyan Continent. You'll have to wait another half hour." Many factions on the Heiyan Continent had originally belonged to the Northern Alliance. Even though the Northern Alliance had disbanded, far too many factions remained hostile toward the Wuji Astral Palace, forcing them to divert greater strength to monitor every move of powers like the Sacred Flame Cult, the Blue Sea Holy Land, the Astral Sect, and the Crimson Moon Gate. "Half an hour..." Song You's heart sank. He could not resist asking, "If the Heavenly Palace cultivators are unavailable for the moment, would it be possible to request the intervention of a Dharma Idol Heavenly Lord from above the Nine Heavens...?" "Pfft!" Before Song You could finish, Lei Meng burst out laughing. It took him a while to compose himself, and he shrugged. "I don't possess the kind of influence to mobilize a Dharma Idol Heavenly Lord. Or why don't you try reaching out yourself? All right, just wait patiently. When there's news, I'll notify you." With that, he hung up the communication. That dismissive attitude made Song You grind his teeth in secret. Yet in the end... He dared not vent the slightest resentment, even maintaining that respectful posture for quite some time. After all, the one speaking to him was none other than the Deputy Hall Master of the War Hall of the Wuji Astral Palace—a force so colossal it had obliterated large factions like the Liusha Sect with overwhelming ease. Right then... Upon the raised dais ahead, one soul lamp after another began to extinguish. This was... "Fangyuan Island!?" Song You snapped his head up. The extinguishing of that soul lamp triggered an immediate chain reaction. A second, a third, a fourth... One after another snuffed out in rapid succession. "Impossible!" Song You could not help rushing forward, wishing he could shield those life flames with his own hands so they would not suffer the chill of the wind. Yet it was completely futile. Above all... At the very top, practically on par with Song Xuan's life flame, the flame belonging to the Xuanming Sect's War Hall Master flickered violently, then snuffed out. Song You, the Sect Master of the Xuanming Sect, could endure it no longer. He collapsed painfully to his knees, a cry of despair tearing from his throat. "No! No! No!" *** Great Sun Sword Sect. Chisongzi, Deputy Hall Master of the War Hall and concurrently Minister of East Sea Archipelago Affairs, was studying the map before him. Two regions on the map were shaded in red. One was the East Sea Archipelago adjacent to the Nine Cauldrons Sect; the other, an even larger expanse, was the Sea of Storms bordering the Myriad Beasts Sect. However, while the Sea of Storms was slightly larger than the East Sea Archipelago, the competitor in that maritime territory was the ancient Myriad Beasts Sect, the strongest among the Six Great Immortal Sects. Although the spiritual beasts and divine beasts bred by the Myriad Beasts Sect differed from human cultivators—far slower in their iterative development and somewhat lagging behind the times—their sheer numbers were simply overwhelming. Their vast host of spiritual and divine beasts granted the Myriad Beasts Sect a deterrent force far surpassing any large sect. Even though the Great Sun Sword Sect had already launched its sixth sky-patrol warship into the skies, it was still insufficient to face the Myriad Beasts Sect. "Perhaps we must deepen our cooperation with the Wuji Astral Palace," Chisongzi mused, his gaze drifting with some reluctance back toward the East Sea Archipelago. If they could not secure the Sea of Storms, they could only settle for pocketing the East Sea Archipelago first. Just then, an urgent strand of divine sense arrived: "Hall Master, disaster! There is a sudden development in the East Sea!" Immediately after, Nan Bisheng, Minister of the East Sea Situation Awareness Department directly subordinate to the Heavenly Palace Hall in charge of intelligence, came tearing through the air. "In such a fluster—where are your manners...? Has fighting broken out?" Chisongzi's expression darkened with displeasure. Yet Nan Bisheng had no time to explain, instantly projecting an image of light and shadow. "Hall Master, look! The Nine Cauldrons Sect just made an announcement in the Virtual Spirit Realm... The Xuanming Sect's forces in the East Sea... are finished!" "The Xuanming Sect's forces in the East Sea are finished?" Chisongzi froze slightly. He immediately turned his gaze to the projection Nan Bisheng had cast. By this time, the press conference seemed to have moved on to the question-and-answer segment, but after a quick adjustment from Nan Bisheng, the footage jumped back to the start of the conference. Within the projection, Zhou Lijian, Hall Master of the External Publicity Hall, spoke with solemn righteousness: "In recent years, the Xuanming Sect has disregarded the facts, ignored diplomatic relations between our two sects, and shown complete contempt for the Cangwu Great World Joint Charter by occupying our East Sea waters. Furthermore, they turned a blind eye to our repeated evacuation orders. To defend our territorial integrity and uphold the diplomatic conventions of the Cangwu Alliance, our Nine Cauldrons Sect took action to expel and eradicate the Xuanming Sect's forces in the East Sea. Such action is entirely reasonable, fair, just, and fully compliant with the laws and regulations of the Cangwu Great World..." "They... actually went through with it!?" Chisongzi was momentarily taken aback. Yet he was not overly surprised. When the Nine Cauldrons Sect mobilized in force and marched out from Jiuxiao Domain, many had foreseen that they meant business this time. Now that battle had truly been joined... There was only one question he cared about. "What are the casualties on both sides?" "We are investigating with all our might, but... judging from the count of flying sword rays observed by our Heavenly Palace cultivators so far... the Nine Cauldrons Sect suffered very few casualties. Estimated at... fewer than twenty." "Fewer than twenty?" Chisongzi gasped in shock. "How is that possible? The Xuanming Sect committed more than half of its Great Cultivators to the East Sea... In terms of raw combat power alone, that accounts for seventy to eighty percent of their total strength! Going by Zhou Lijian's statement, they have already expelled and shattered the Xuanming Sect, which means they have secured a total victory! If so, how could they have done it without paying a heavy price?" In the memory of this Deputy Hall Master of the Great Sun Sword Sect's War Hall, the Nine Cauldrons Sect's Great Cultivators were roughly on par with the Xuanming Sect's, possessing at best a half-step advantage. If the two sides fought, even if it did not end in mutual destruction, both should have suffered grievous losses. He immediately pressed, "What about the Xuanming Sect? Have you contacted them? Their cultivators couldn't have collapsed at the first blow and surrendered their splendid position in the East Sea without a fight, could they?" "No, the Xuanming Sect put up fierce resistance. According to the earliest intelligence I obtained from their side... Sect Master Song You was so devastated by the state of Changming Hall that his mind fell into chaos, and he nearly collapsed unconscious." Nan Bisheng spoke with a hint of lingering dread. "By conservative estimates, three hundred Great Cultivators of the Xuanming Sect have fallen this time! And their finest elite, at that!" "Three hundred!?" Chisongzi shot to his feet. "You're telling me the Nine Cauldrons Sect achieved a casualty ratio of three hundred to twenty against the Xuanming Sect!?" "Yes..." Nan Bisheng nodded. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Chisongzi waved his hand dismissively. Even in tactical simulations between the Great Sun Sword Sect and the Nine Cauldrons Sect, their loss ratio was forty to seven, and against the Xuanming Sect, it was forty to five. For the Nine Cauldrons Sect to achieve such a casualty ratio against the Xuanming Sect... Meant they were outperforming even the Great Sun Sword Sect!? How could the Nine Cauldrons Sect, established less than ninety years ago, have developed so rapidly?! "That is indeed what the Heavenly Palace cultivators observed..." Nan Bisheng murmured. "During the battle, the Nine Cauldrons Sect's Heavenly Palace cultivators jammed that entire sea region. Perhaps they are bluffing. Once we cross-check the casualties among the personnel they deployed, we should have precise figures..." Although the Great Sun Sword Sect had no Golden Core cultivator holding the fort, they maintained excellent relations with the Wuji Astral Palace and had paid handsome sums to have them construct several Heavenly Palaces. While their numbers lagged behind the Nine Cauldrons Sect, they utilized the Wuji Astral Palace's technology, so their information-gathering capability was quite solid. At worst, because they possessed fewer Heavenly Palaces, their surveillance coverage was limited and had longer blind intervals. "Then what are you waiting for!?" Chisongzi barked. "I want to know the exact status of every single one of the one hundred and sixty-six Great Cultivators deployed by the Nine Cauldrons Sect! Did they truly lose fewer than twenty men, or are they faking a victory...?" "Understood." Nan Bisheng quickly went off to mobilize the full strength of the Heavenly Palace Hall for an all-out investigation. Chisongzi logged into the Virtual Spirit Realm. Watching Zhou Lijian conduct the press conference, his expression turned grave in the extreme. If this news was true... The strength of the Nine Cauldrons Sect... Was likely far greater than any of them had anticipated. *** Longxiang Taixue Academy. At this moment, Su Yaoshuang, a student majoring in New Media, was standing on the lecture platform assisting the instructor with a dataset presentation. Dressed in a pristine white gown, a striking blue ribbon bow pinned at her chest, her supple, jet-black hair cascaded over her shoulders, accented by faint beige floral ribbons. Her entire presence carried an indescribable pure and lovely charm. In truth, over her first year of enrollment, blessed by the fine genetics of the Su family, dressed in top-tier attire, bolstered by her fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivation, and aided by her own impeccable fashion sense, Su Yaoshuang had already become the white moonlight in the hearts of many. Above all, she was gentle, amiable, and exceptionally approachable. Compared to the aloof, icy fairies of grander backgrounds, she effortlessly won people's affection. In the rankings of Longxiang Taixue Academy's Top Ten Fairies compiled by enthusiastic onlookers, Su Yaoshuang was a frequent fixture. Right now, she was explaining the training dataset in a gentle, pleasant voice. Her clear, melodious enunciation was a delight to the ears of everyone present. Yet right then, a student in the back row who usually lagged behind his peers suddenly let out a screech, shattering the classroom's atmosphere: "Holy crap! Huge news, brothers!" Instantly, the dissatisfied glares of nearly a hundred students fell upon him simultaneously. Yet he was completely oblivious, paying no heed even to the instructor's freezing glare as he shouted excitedly, "Check the Virtual Spirit Realm! Something massive went down! The External Publicity Hall just made a statement—we're at war with the Xuanming Sect! Not reprimands or condemnations—actual war! And we won! Hall Master Zhou can barely hold back his grin! Look at the War Section too—it was a magnificent victory! Every report is full of words like 'overwhelming triumph' and 'complete victory'!" Carried away by his fervor, he sprang to his feet, impassioned and pumped with adrenaline: "We rose up! We've finally risen up, brothers!"