Negotiations

After demonstrating the Nine Cauldrons Sect's might to the world, the entire sect developed at a rapid pace. Wielding two trump cards—the Xuan Yuan Creation Technique representing martial power, and the improved spirit-gathering formation representing economic strength—they rapidly expanded across the Cangwu Great World. To secure the Beihai Star legacy ahead of time and gain a ten- to twenty-year head start, sect after sect flocked to align with the Nine Cauldrons Sect. The Nine Cauldrons Sect's influence and voice in the Cangwu World began to skyrocket. Yet right at this time... Ill tidings quickly followed. ... "Rumors?" Inside the Virtual Spirit Realm, Yaoguang met with Li Qingshan and Zhou Lijian. The Hall Master of the External Publicity Hall spoke cautiously: "Yes. Many rumors harmful to us have surfaced in the Virtual Spirit Realm, especially concerning the Xuan Yuan Creation Technique. These rumors claim that our cultivation method harbors massive hidden flaws, and that anyone who seeks quick success by cultivating it will inevitably find themselves unable to advance to higher realms in the future..." At this point, he quickly added, "Although these claims are completely baseless, repeated slander can take hold. Once widely circulated, it will severely disrupt our plans..." "It's the work of the Immortal Alliance and the Wuji Astral Palace, isn't it?" Yaoguang said, "Between the two of them, they not only possess three Dharma Idols, but also a vast number of Heavenly Palace cultivators. They completely dominate public opinion and discourse across the Cangwu Great World. Not even the Myriad Beasts Sect can compete with them on that front." "Indeed. According to our investigation, the source of many of these rumors first originated from the Virtual Spirit Realms of the Immortal Alliance and the Wuji Astral Palace," Zhou Lijian said. "I understand." Not a trace of anxiety showed on Yaoguang's face. "In fact, when we planned to publicize the Xuan Yuan Creation Technique, we already anticipated that the Immortal Alliance and the Wuji Astral Palace would launch counter-measures against us. I assumed they would resort to more sophisticated methods—like producing a technique showing quicker results than the Xuan Yuan Creation Technique in the short term, or perhaps grooming a few prodigies as examples to challenge us. Who would have thought... that's all they have?" He smiled faintly. "They still think that public opinion and the Virtual Spirit Realm of this world remain entirely in their grasp." The moment he finished speaking, his immense divine mind directly permeated into the Virtual Spirit Realm. The spirit-refining method he cultivated was the Taiyuan Spirit Refining Art. While bolstering one's divine mind, each layer of advancement allowed the practitioner to divide a portion of their divine mind. Cultivated to the absolute peak, one would possess 129,600 strands of divine mind. Naturally, as the strands multiplied, individual strength decreased to some extent. But for tracing these rumors... It was more than sufficient. As 120,000 strands of divine mind swept through the Virtual Spirit Realm, rumor after rumor was pinpointed with unerring accuracy. Although the spreaders of these rumors had been reasonably cautious, when virtually the entire Virtual Spirit Realm fell under the tracking of his divine mind, any caution became completely meaningless. He directly gathered the traced rumors, along with the locations of the originators behind them and the supporting evidence, and handed them over to Zhou Lijian. However... Merely doing this was clearly not enough. Digging deeper and deliberately hunting for specific rumors, Yaoguang soon arrived at the private Virtual Spirit Realms opened by the three Dharma Idols: Feng Ao, Linden, and Luofu. After recording the traces of their activities, his 129,600 strands of divine mind rapidly converged. Once condensed to a certain intensity, the divine mind coalesced like a razor-sharp blade, instantly piercing straight through the Virtual Spirit Realms established by the three Dharma Idols. ... At this moment, within those Dharma Idols' Virtual Spirit Realms, cultivators who believed themselves to be completely secure were busily discussing ways to sabotage the "Cultivation Path Community" plan. When Yaoguang's divine mind instantly pierced the realm, the imagery of their discussions and the data of their divine minds were fully "seen" by him and recorded one by one. Precisely as he breached the Virtual Spirit Realms of the three Dharma Idols, Feng Ao, Linden, and Luofu snapped to attention simultaneously. "Who goes there?!" "Yaoguang?! What... what are you trying to do?! Are you trying to reignite war between us?!" "Not good! Quickly obliterate this divine mind of his!" The three Dharma Idol cultivators reacted with remarkable speed. However... Before they could even take action to disperse the invading strands of divine mind, an even more colossal force of divine mind slammed into their realms like a raging tsunami, causing their Virtual Spirit Realms to continuously fracture and collapse on the spot. As the realms crumbled, the recorded information was swiftly drawn back and transmitted into Yaoguang's Virtual Spirit Realm as evidence. Displaying a portion of it, Yaoguang demanded directly, "It seems to me that the ones eager to reignite war with our Nine Cauldrons Sect are none other than you! Shouldn't your two sects offer me an explanation for these rumors?" The faces of the three Dharma Idols drained of color. Their divine minds erupted completely, attempting to break out and invade the Virtual Spirit Realm opened by Yaoguang in order to destroy all of the "evidence." Yet no matter how they struggled, Yaoguang's divine mind pressed down upon them like a world-suppressing boundary mountain, pinning their divine minds firmly in place and preventing them from extending even half an inch beyond their own realms. Not only that, but because the battlefield lay inside their realms, the violent clash of divine minds caused their Virtual Spirit Realms to fracture inch by inch, rapidly caving in. To be pressed down and beaten so thoroughly even on their own "home turf" filled the three Dharma Idol cultivators with sheer disbelief and profound shock. "How is this possible..." "How could the gap be this enormous?!" "Didn't they say his cultivation was at most at the peak of Dharma Idol? Is this the power of a peak Dharma Idol?!" Amidst their furious struggles, the shock and horror in the hearts of the three Dharma Idols gradually turned into terror. Moreover... The harder they struggled and resisted, the more overwhelming that terror became. Before formally clashing with Yaoguang, they had known he was powerful and suspected he was a peak Dharma Idol. But because this world had never possessed a peak Dharma Idol, they had had no concept of just how terrifying Yaoguang's strength truly was. And now... Even after fighting back with all their might within their own forged realms, they were still routed at every turn, to the point where their very Virtual Spirit Realms were on the verge of being shattered completely. Only now did they truly comprehend what kind of hopeless disparity separated them. "We can't fight him—we can't fight him at all!" "How is his Dharma Idol strength so much greater than his qi-refining strength?! In terms of qi refining, two or three Golden Cores working together might be able to slay him at the cost of one or two lives, but his Dharma Idol... how could his Dharma Idol be powerful to such an absurd degree?!" "My Virtual Spirit Realm... Stop! Stop at once!" Panic and dread overtook the Dharma Idols. In merely a dozen breaths of clashing divine minds, Linden's Virtual Spirit Realm—which bore the brunt of Yaoguang's focus—had already collapsed by nearly half. This terrifying disparity completely crushed their confidence. "Zhan Ke, Qiao An, hurry, tell Yaoguang to stop!" Linden's divine mind trembled violently. The entire public Virtual Spirit Realm erupted into turmoil. Such drastic disturbances naturally drew the attention of various Golden Cores and Star God-level powerhouses. Among them were spectators like Yelisa, who never passed up a spectacle. "What happened? Why did a fight suddenly break out?" "Feng Ao of the Immortal Alliance, and Linden and Luofu of the Wuji Astral Palace... why do they look so miserable? Are their Virtual Spirit Realms about to be smashed to pieces?" "I heard long ago that Yaoguang practiced both body refining and spirit refining on the side, even reaching the Star God and Dharma Idol realms. But... can spirit-refining strength that pins down three Dharma Idols and pummels them really be called a secondary discipline?! He clearly majors in spirit refining, with body and qi refining as his side pursuits!" The Virtual Spirit Realm grew intensely lively in an instant. Countless figures gathered to witness this grand clash taking place within the realm. Fortunately, while there were those like Yelisa and Fu Long who simply enjoyed watching the commotion, many others stepped forward to mediate. "Daoist Yaoguang, let us discuss this calmly. We still share a common enemy in the Moon Demon Empire. If this turns into a fight to the death, won't it only bring grief to friends and joy to foes?" "The Cangwu Great World has weathered multiple upheavals over the years and can no longer bear clashes between top-tier powerhouses. Daoist Yaoguang, please, withdraw your divine ability." "Could there be some misunderstanding here? If our Immortal Alliance has offended Daoist Yaoguang, we are willing to offer compensation." The divine senses of various Golden Core Daoists constantly reached toward Yaoguang within the Virtual Spirit Realm. Meanwhile, high in the distant nine heavens, the Golden Cores of the Immortal Alliance and the Wuji Astral Palace were forced to leave the formations stabilizing their Golden Cores and advance toward the palace where Li Hanqiu and Yaoguang resided. If Yaoguang truly refused to spare Linden, Feng Ao, and Luofu in the Virtual Spirit Realm, they would have no choice but to compel him to stop on a physical level. Naturally, Yaoguang understood that the Immortal Alliance and the Wuji Astral Palace would never sit idly by and watch him slay the three Dharma Idols. With that in mind, he slightly pulled back his divine mind, no longer bombarding the Virtual Spirit Realms they had established. Yet his formidable divine mind remained spread like a massive net, binding their realms while dividing his attention three ways, entirely preventing the divine minds of the three Dharma Idols from extending outside. At the same time, the "evidence" proving that the Immortal Alliance and the Wuji Astral Palace had spread the rumors was laid out before all: "Take a look for yourselves, everyone. This is hardly me making trouble without reason. It was your Immortal Alliance and Wuji Astral Palace who acted aggressively and employed underhanded schemes first." Many present did not even need to examine the "evidence" regarding the rumors. When rumors had first run rampant in the outside world, they had already known it had to be the work of the Immortal Alliance and the Wuji Astral Palace. Yet knowing they were responsible was one thing; being caught red-handed was another matter entirely... Looking at the Virtual Spirit Realms that had been nearly crushed with overwhelming force, the onlookers felt that perhaps one could not blame the Dharma Idols of the two factions for being careless. The truth was... The disparity was simply too vast. Now that Yaoguang held the evidence, occupied the moral high ground, and had virtually captured the three Dharma Idols—Linden, Feng Ao, and Luofu—the situation was entirely different. Right away, Lu Xi of the Immortal Alliance erupted in furious indignation: "How could such a thing happen?! The Nine Cauldrons Sect's promotion of the 'Cultivation Path Community' is a great deed meant to benefit the entire world. I never imagined that people within our Immortal Alliance would actually spread slanderous rumors! Daoist Yaoguang, we will certainly give you an accounting for this!" "I have seen the evidence provided by Daoist Yaoguang. This matter was carried out by our Wuji Astral Palace's Deputy Hall Master of the Heavenly Palace Hall and the Hall Master of the External Publicity Hall. We had no prior knowledge of it. Rest assured, Daoist Yaoguang, we will severely punish them and will never again allow them to speak recklessly in the Virtual Spirit Realm," Qiao Zhi likewise declared, making his stance clear. At this moment, he deeply understood the meaning of circumstances forcing one's hand. In the past, it had always been the Wuji Astral Palace and the Immortal Alliance who used their overwhelming might to crush others. Yet today, it was Yaoguang who wielded the power of a Dharma Idol to utterly suppress both the Immortal Alliance and the Wuji Astral Palace.