Cautious Man Gu

When the righteous and demonic paths reach an agreement on a matter, every former obstacle transforms into present momentum. Both the actual controller and the event organizer of the Dao Seeking Sect had agreed to Tang Yunsheng's proposal. Completely foolproof. "What's our move? Should we contact the other three demonic cults, bring out the immortal treasures we keep at the bottom of our trunks, raise an army in rebellion, storm the Dao Seeking Sect's lair, capture the eight elders, and take control of the entire Dao Seeking Sect? Then sweep through the four great immortal sects and the Great Xia Dynasty to unite the Central Continent, backstab the other three demonic cults, merge the four into one to form the Immortal Divine Cult, seize every advantage in the struggle of the Golden Age, become immortals and patriarchs, and roam free and unfettered?" Lu Yang enthusiastically suggested. As the Cult Master of the Immortal Cult, Lu Yang needed a grand vision, carefully laying out plans to secure a bright future for the cult. "Hey, aren't you just a branch master in our cult?" the Immortal Fairy clamored within his spiritual space. "You can't look at it like that. Fairy, think about it: if you put me and the Cult Master of the Immortal Cult side by side, who would you choose as Cult Master?" "I'd choose you." The Immortal Fairy did not hesitate. Naturally, she would choose someone she knew as cult master. "See? Isn't that it? As the source of the faith, even you acknowledge me as the Cult Master. That means I'm the genuine Cult Master, and the current one is an impostor." The Immortal Fairy nodded, finding Lu Yang's words quite reasonable. "Makes sense! Then this Immortal hereby appoints you Cult Master of the Immortal Cult!" Tang Yunsheng was startled by Lu Yang's grand plan. This kid was genuinely audacious. "No, no, no, nothing that extreme. Our Immortal Cult hasn't planned that far ahead yet, and this operation is strictly our Immortal Cult alone." Lu Yang showed great disappointment; the Immortal Cult had no ambition. "Then how do we plan to pull off a big job at the Dao Seeking Sect?" Meng Jingzhou asked. Tang Yunsheng pondered for a moment. "We don't know the Dao Seeking Sect's exact itinerary for hosting the Five Elements Sect yet, but I can roughly guess the steps. For instance, the first step will definitely be a welcoming ceremony. Speeches by both sect masters, performances, banquets with food and wine—the usual things..." The Immortal Fairy hurriedly brought out a small notebook and jotted it down. She had been worrying about how to formulate the hosting itinerary, and someone had just delivered a ready-made plan right into her hands! *What a good believer! I appoint you Vice Cult Master.* Vice Cult Master Tang Yunsheng continued, "Next will be sparring matches. Both sides will send elite disciples to compete, establishing tournament rules, boundaries, and prizes. "Finally, the closing ceremony. That will be our chance. After going through the welcoming ceremony and the elite disciple matches, everyone will be utterly exhausted, their vigilance and defenses unconsciously lowered. At that moment, our hidden operatives will strike together, sabotaging the Dao Seeking Sect and showing the righteous path the might of our Immortal Cult, exalting the majesty of the Immortal Celestial!" Lu Yang gasped in shock. "As far as I know, all eight elders of the Dao Seeking Sect are either late Body Integration or peak Body Integration, with virtually no rivals at the same level—not to mention the mighty figures from the Five Elements Sect! Facing opponents like that, we can still pull off a successful ambush? Is the Cult Master himself going to make a move?!" Tang Yunsheng shook his head. "The Cult Master commands the overall situation and will not act personally. The organizers and executors of this plan are two Vice Cult Masters and five other senior figures. They will activate the immortal treasure, the Yellow Millet Pillow, to drag everyone into a dream realm. Once we control the dream realm, we can manipulate them however we please!" The Immortal Cult had one Cult Master and three Vice Cult Masters. In reality, Tang Yunsheng had heard rumors that the Cult Master was severely injured and recuperating, unable to attend to anything else, and completely unaware of this sneak attack on the Dao Seeking Sect. However, there was no need to tell these three about something that would shake morale. Thinking of this, Tang Yunsheng curled his lip in a cold sneer. Once inside the dream realm, whether the Dao Seeking Sect and Five Elements Sect lived or died would be entirely up to their whims! Even if they couldn't harm the elders or disciples with deep cultivation, slaughtering a batch of promising elite disciples would be more than enough! "The Yellow Millet Pillow? Isn't that the pillow I used for sleeping?" the Immortal Fairy asked in surprise. These people really were her believers; they even possessed one of her relics. Lu Yang was even more surprised than the Immortal Fairy. "Do celestials even need to sleep?" The Immortal Fairy said displeasedly, "Why can't celestials sleep? I've already cultivated to the very peak anyway. Meditating won't build up any more dharmic power, so can't I enjoy myself a little?" Lu Yang actually found her explanation quite convincing. Meng Jingzhou asked again, "Then how will the Vice Cult Masters and the other senior figures get into the Dao Seeking Sect?" Tang Yunsheng had long since figured out a way. "Just put in a word with the management. Tell them the barbecue business will be swamped during the exchange between the two sects, so you need to bring in a few outsiders for temporary help. I've already looked into it—such things happen during past exchange events all the time, and they generally approve it without fuss. "The Vice Cult Masters and the others will carry a talisman that temporarily conceals their cultivation, which will be more than enough to deceive the Dao Seeking Sect!" The three of them nodded; the Immortal Cult had truly thought of everything. At that moment, Man Gu raised a very specific question: "Do the Vice Cult Masters and the others know how to grill skewers?" Tang Yunsheng froze. That was indeed something he hadn't considered. However, he couldn't let it show in front of these three. Nodding with steady composure, he said: "Good, very thoughtful of you. But the Vice Cult Masters possess vast supernatural powers. Grilling skewers, cooking dishes, scrubbing plates, washing dishes—there's nothing they can't do. Your worry is unnecessary." The four of them finalized several more details, all revolving around various possibilities during the exchange gathering. The Immortal Fairy nodded repeatedly as she listened, gaining a rough idea of how to organize the event. After watching Lu Yang and the other two leave, Tang Yunsheng turned and departed. He ran for four to six hours before arriving at a secret stronghold. "Little Tang, you're back. How did the briefing go?" a young man asked with a smile. He looked young, but his actual age was old enough to be Tang Yunsheng's ancestor. "Replying to Vice Cult Master Liu: the briefing is complete. It seems those three are doing very well in the Dao Seeking Sect and have gathered plenty of useful intelligence. However, the one named Man Gu spotted a flaw in the details." "What?" Vice Cult Master Liu frowned. They had spent all night deducing and refining this plan; there shouldn't have been any flaws. Tang Yunsheng spoke cautiously, looking up to gauge the man's reaction. "You and the others don't seem to know how to grill skewers." Vice Cult Master Liu flew into a rage, an eerie, terrifying aura bursting from his entire body. "Preposterous! With our status, do you really expect us to grill skewers?!" Tang Yunsheng urged persuasively, "Please think about it, Vice Cult Master. Our stronghold in the Dao Seeking Sect is a barbecue restaurant, and we're entering under the pretext of being kitchen help. If we can't grill skewers, our cover could easily be blown!" Vice Cult Master Liu calmed down, realizing there was some truth to Tang Yunsheng's words. In a muffled voice, he said, "Go buy some meat, bamboo skewers, charcoal, and other barbecue supplies. Find a skewer-grilling chef, too. The few of us will learn." "Understood." After Tang Yunsheng left, a cruel sneer curled on Vice Cult Master Liu's lips. "I hear the barbecue restaurant those three opened in Yanjiang Commandery was wildly popular. Heh, it's not that I can't do it; if I apply myself, what difficulty could mere barbecue pose?"