Taking the Reins

Shameless! At this moment, Jing Zhengyang, Wu Changfeng, Lu Qianshan, and Li Guiren were all cursing Yaoguang's shamelessness in their hearts at practically the exact same time. If Yaoguang had dared utter such words before taking control of the rank-thirteen Tiandu Dragon Slaying Formation, with two Void Refining experts like Wu Changfeng and Jing Zhengyang, plus more than a dozen Void Piercing powerhouses present, things might truly have played out as he said: their tempers would flare, they would lose all reason, eliminate this deputy sect master on the spot, and then find a way to pin the blame on demonic cultivators of the Shadow Moon Sect. Yet now, he held the city defense formation in the palm of his hand. With a Void Refining powerhouse presiding over it, the might of a rank-thirteen formation was such that even a grand elder at the Void Shattering realm risked being trapped and ground to death inside. Did their two Void Refining experts and dozen-odd Void Piercing cultivators dare challenge a fellow Void Refining powerhouse like Yaoguang under these conditions? They would have to have a death wish. Then again, without control of the Tiandu Dragon Slaying Formation, Yaoguang might not have been willing to enter Nandu in the first place. Nor would he have overturned the table so brazenly. Ultimately, Yaoguang held the supreme moral high ground and official mandate, granting him an overwhelming advantage. Their hidden cards were completely mismatched; they could not even stage a mutually destructive struggle. As long as Yaoguang acted forcefully, he had countless ways to keep them under his thumb. Yaoguang clearly understood this, and that was precisely what he had done. Yet… Neither Wu Changfeng nor Jing Zhengyang dared make a move. Because the moment they struck, even if they somehow won in the end, their lives would certainly be forfeit to pay for Yaoguang's death. The death of a deputy sect master was too monumental an event. Even if the grand elders and the sect master joined forces, they could not sweep it under the rug. Not to mention, they were not even guaranteed to win. With neither Void Refining expert daring to act rashly, and lacking anyone to lead them, the dozen or so Void Piercing powerhouses fell silent as cicadas in winter. Their momentum was utterly suppressed by Yaoguang. "Heh... Sect Master Yaoguang, please calm your anger. Clan Head Jing merely had a bit too much to drink just now. Muddled by wine, he spoke without thinking and offended you. Please forgive him." After a good while, Wu Changfeng finally stepped forward again to smooth things over with a genial smile. "Today is the day we welcome Sect Master Yaoguang and wash away the dust of travel. We should not dwell on unpleasant matters, nor should we let other concerns interrupt us. Just as Sect Master Yaoguang said—come, come, let us continue drinking." "Oh? Is that so?" Yaoguang looked thoughtful. "Of course, of course." Wu Changfeng hurriedly nudged Jing Zhengyang under the table. Recalling the terrifying might of the Tiandu Dragon Slaying Formation, and seeing that Wu Changfeng clearly had no intention of fighting alongside him to the bitter end, Jing Zhengyang also cooled down. Forcing a smile onto his face, he said, "I drank too much and spoke nonsensically. Please forgive me, Sect Master Yaoguang. I shall penalize myself with a cup." Witnessing this scene, the other Void Piercing cultivators in the hall understood clearly that in this round of confrontation with Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang, Jing Zhengyang and Wu Changfeng had lost. A crushing defeat. This deputy sect master was truly no pushover. The Southern Domain… The skies here were about to change. "Then let the music play on, let the dancers dance, and let no outside matters spoil our good spirits," Yaoguang's voice rang through the banquet hall once more. The tense, blade-drawn atmosphere melted away in an instant. ... This welcoming banquet lasted for three days, throughout which everyone wore forced smiles while the food tasted like sawdust. On the third day, the formation isolating divine mind and communications suddenly dissipated. Instantly, all manner of messages flooded everyone's transmission talismans. At that moment, countless faces turned unsightly beyond measure. Yaoguang, ever considerate, raised his cup once more. "I have fully felt everyone's warmth and hospitality. Moving forward, we shall likely be working together for a very long time. I hope we can coexist in harmony and create great achievements together in this Southern Domain." The others raised their cups as well, forcing pained smiles onto their faces in response. "I see that everyone is anxious to return home, so I will not detain you any longer. Let us conclude this welcoming banquet here. Please, see yourselves out." With those words, Yaoguang brought the banquet to an end. The moment he finished speaking, except for Wu Changfeng, Jing Zhengyang, Lu Qianshan, Li Guiren, and the other Void Piercing experts departed as swiftly as humanly possible. They had to hurry back to clean up the mess and tally their losses. "Does True Monarch Wu have no matters to attend to?" Yaoguang asked. "There are still many affairs within the Domain Lord's Estate that must be handed over to Sect Master Yaoguang. Whenever the Sect Master has time, I shall report them to you one by one," Wu Changfeng inquired with an amiable smile. "Oh?" Yaoguang glanced at him. Compared to the others, this Void Refining expert... was evidently far more difficult to handle. No matter. In a world where all power was gathered within individual might, so long as one wielded sufficient strength, any matter could be handled with consummate ease. When officials in an imperial court pointed to a deer and called it a horse, or pointed to a rat and called it a duck, were they truly blind or brain-damaged? Anyone who thought so was truly naive and laughable. Before the powerful, everything absurd became reasonable. "Then go prepare at once. Bring me a detailed report on the Southern Domain," Yaoguang said. "Understood," Wu Changfeng replied respectfully before taking his leave. After Wu Changfeng left, Qi Sha, shrouded in a thick scent of blood and slaughter, walked in calmly from the other side. "Master." After offering his greeting, he went straight to the point. "In your name, we issued invitations to a total of 1,071 merchant guilds. Only 391 attended. Under the pretext of 'colluding with Shadow Moon Sect demonic cultivators,' we led forces to purge the rest. We completely wiped out 311 guilds and severely punished 259. As for the remainder, because they responded quickly and possessed relatively solid reputations, we showed them leniency..." Listening intently, Yaoguang nodded slightly and soon instructed, "Turn the merchant guilds that were destroyed and purged over to the Ling family, the Chi family, and my lineage to manage jointly. They shall serve as direct industries of the Domain Lord's Estate..." "Understood," Qi Sha acknowledged. Immediately afterward, as if recalling something, Qi Sha added, "One strange detail: the obstinate ones mostly belonged to the Jing, Lu, and Li families. However, the properties that originally belonged to Sect Master Zong Wenxian were remarkably compliant. While some of their establishments did receive punishments, they admitted fault so readily that we had no good pretext to wipe them out completely." "It seems this Void Refining cultivator is indeed tricky to deal with," Yaoguang remarked with a smile. Yet he felt no great burden in his heart. By taking control of Nandu, he had already secured a foundation on which to stand. Moving forward, he only needed to settle down and firmly consolidate his footing in the Void Refining realm. With the Dao arts he commanded, his experience from the Void Refining and Void Shattering realms, and the Dao artifacts in his possession, claiming to be invincible within his realm was no exaggeration. Not to mention, he also had the Tiandu Dragon Slaying Formation. Wu Changfeng was not truly considered a member of the Heavenly Dao Sect. To some extent, he was merely a dependent of Zong Wenxian, representing Zong Wenxian's will. Yet precisely because Wu Changfeng held no official status within the Heavenly Dao Sect, even if Yaoguang struck and killed him, it would only draw Zong Wenxian's personal wrath, without handing the Heavenly Dao Sect an excuse to move against him. "Restore order to Nandu as quickly as possible," Yaoguang instructed, glancing upward. "Every day the Tiandu Dragon Slaying Formation remains active consumes hundreds of thousands of Pure Yang Great Pills." "Understood." Qi Sha nodded and quickly withdrew. After Qi Sha departed, Wan Liugui arrived at Yaoguang's quarters in the Domain Lord's Estate. "Sect Master." His expression was grave. "Over the past few days, we looked briefly into the industries outside Nandu. Many of the ventures are held tightly by the Lu, Li, and Jing families. Ten years from now—or rather, precisely six years from now—when we must deliver the tribute to the sect, they will definitely trip us up... unless you plan to cover the difference out of pocket, Deputy Sect Master." "A minor matter," Yaoguang said placidly. "We simply need to reclaim those resource points within six years." "That... they likely will not agree... Worse, if we force the issue and they resort to sabotage... our revenue will take a severe hit for a long time to come, while the tribute owed to the sect will not be discounted in the slightest," Wan Liugui said. "Have you still not seen through them? These people are nothing more than paper tigers," Yaoguang said calmly. "They kept using 'Shadow Moon Sect demonic cultivators' as an excuse, and I think that excuse is rather marvelous. When the time comes, we will go and seize those resource points under the banner of helping them fight off 'Shadow Moon Sect demonic cultivators.' If they actually dare to sabotage those points... let the sect seek compensation from the peak masters, or even the grand elders behind them." "This..." Wan Liugui was somewhat dumbfounded. Did Yaoguang plan to refuse to pay the tribute materials? That would infringe on the interests of everyone in the Heavenly Dao Sect. One wrong move, and it would provoke backlash across the entire sect. When that happened, his predicament might mirror that of Sect Master Song years ago, resulting in him being directly quelled as a rebel. "When all is said and done, the Heavenly Dao Sect is nothing more than a coalition of interests. As long as I can show them greater profit, even if I slaughter several batches of special envoys sent by Zong Wenxian, his orders to move against me will never pass the Supreme Elder Council," Yaoguang explained. "As for the so-called profit..." He glanced at Wan Liugui. "You and Qi Sha must stabilize the situation in Nandu as quickly as possible. In three to five years at the earliest, or seven to eight years at the latest, Nandu will host an auction renowned far and wide. As long as that auction succeeds, the Southern Domain's growth will proceed without worry for a long time to come." Although Wan Liugui did not understand where Yaoguang's confidence came from, he still complied. "I shall attend to it immediately." Yaoguang nodded. Having just arrived in Nandu, there were naturally countless matters of every scale to address. Yet Yaoguang delegated all of them to Chi Yu, Ling Ruogu, Wan Liugui, and the others. When opposing factions needed purging, he dispatched Qi Sha. He himself sat firmly in the heart of the Tiandu Dragon Slaying Formation, commanding Nandu's ultimate instrument of slaughter. With this lethal weapon in his grasp, no matter how upside down the world turned beyond Nandu, he could rest easy and remain in absolute command of the overall situation. Half a month later, Wu Changfeng paid another visit to Yaoguang, presenting a detailed intelligence dossier on the Southern Domain. Compared to the surface-level information gathered by the likes of Ling Ruogu and Chi Yu, this dossier was unquestionably far more exhaustive. It laid bare virtually every factional entanglement and network of connections across the Southern Domain before him without holding anything back. This outcome took Yaoguang somewhat by surprise. This Wu Changfeng... had behaved far too obediently. Was this the calm before the storm? Biding his time for an opportunity? Or perhaps... was he itching to see Yaoguang clash with Zong Wenxian? After Wu Changfeng delivered this meticulously detailed dossier and dutifully took his leave once more, Yaoguang found himself unable to see through him. "So, just who do you represent? Zong Wenxian? Remnants left behind by Sect Master Song? Or... true demonic cultivators of the Shadow Moon Sect?"