Chapter 47: Dead End
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The Wu tribe knew about the huge movement happening in the Untainted Land. When they heard that, during the third Teaching in Zixiao Palace, Hongjun had conferred the title of Sage upon the Goddess Nvywa and granted a placement to the listeners. The Twelve Ancestors of Sorcery were shocked and could no longer keep their cool.
In the hall of Pangu, the Twelve Ancestors of Sorcery gathered with discoloration filling their faces. It was obvious that they were disturbed by the placement of the Seven Sages, and the Sage that caused the most headache for them was Goddess Nvywa. Three Pure Ones were still alright, as they were from the same lineage under Pangu, so they would not do any harm to the Wu tribe.
From the west, Jieyin and Zhun Ti did not have any contact nor any beef with the Wu tribe, so they definitely would not strike out at the Wu tribe. Goddess Nvywa was different. Once she became a Sage, the Demon tribe would become invincible. When it was time, the Wu tribe would be under incredible pressure. This was not what the Twelve Ancestors of Sorcery wanted to see.
As the head of Twelve of Ancestors of Sorcery, Emperor Jiang asked, "How do you all think of this situation? You may speak your mind." Zhurong roared, "Big Brother, what’s there to think of? Let’s just go and barge into the Heavenly Court to kill that sniveling little thing and snatch her sage placement."
An Ancestor of Sorcery sitting beside Zhurong spoke out. His aura and thoughts were totally opposite of Zhurong. If Zhurong was to be described as fire, he would be water. He was indeed the Ancestor in charge of the water element, Gonggong. "Zhurong, are you serious? Is the Heavenly Court that easy to get in? You go, but I won’t."
Zhurong flared up upon hearing what Gonggong said. "Gonggong, what do you mean? You’re the most stupid one. Come and fight me if you dare. Don’t be sarcastic and think that I can’t hear it!" Gonggong challenged Zhurong back, "Come on then. I’m not afraid. Let’s do it."
Hearing Zhurong and Gonggong quarreling, Emperor Jiang flew into a rage. He said, "Both of you, shut up! We should be discussing strategies, not arguing. Sit down, both of you. Jiuyin, what do you think we should do?"
Zhurong and Gonggong were two individuals with totally opposite personalities. They would fight whenever they saw each other, and no one could stop nor control them, except Emperor Jiang.
For the sake of peace for the tribe, Emperor Jiang specifically separated them to the north and south out of fear that if their villages were to next to each other, a war might break out. Instead of two villages going to war, a battle between both Zhurong and Gonggong would be better for the sake of peace for the Wu tribe.
Seeing Emperor Jiang raged, Zhurong and Gonggong glared at each other before sitting back down. Other Ancestors of Sorcery looked at this familiar scene helplessly, but thankfully, Emperor Jiang was able to settle them down.
Zhurong and Gonggong finally quietened down. Zhu Jiuyin said, "What Zhurong said made some sense." Zhurong turned to Gonggong, lifting his brows and sneering when hearing this. Gonggong snorted and ignored him.
Zhu Jiuyin shook his head when he saw Zhurong’s attitude and continued. "But the Heavenly Court is heavily guarded. Even if we used all of our forces to attack the Heavenly Court and killed Nvywa, I’m afraid we will suffer major casualties. Plus the most important point, Hongjun."
Zhu Jiuyin knew that the Wu tribe did not respect Hongjun at all, but he went on and said, "The Wu tribe only respect the Father God but Hongjun is a Sage now. And though he is already one with the Great Way, he will not allow Nvywa to die. Previously, when Hongjun became a sage, we felt the strong aura of the sage. So even if we use our last resort, we are most definitely not Hongjun’s opponent."
Listening to his analysis, the rest of the Ancestors went silent. Zhu Jiuyin continued, "That is why this is not the best idea." Emperor Jiang’s eyes flashed. "Jiuyin, since the battle is not the best idea, what other ideas do you have?"
Zhu Jiuyin nodded and replied, "Of course. With our tribe’s current prowess, we can still beat the Demon tribe. We have to train our people strictly while perfecting the Twelve Divine Beings Killing Formation. On the other hand, we need to keep a close watch on the movements of Heavenly Court. Once Nvywa makes any movement, we have to stop her. As long as Nvywa does not become a sage, she is not a threat to us. This is the second best strategy."
Sitting at the back, Hou Tu questioned. "Then Jiuyin, what is your best strategy?" A menacing look materialized on Zhu Jiuyin’s face. "Eliminate Hongyun. Snatch his Foundation of Great Way. Though Hongyun has some ability, he is definitely not an opponent for most individual cultivators of the Untainted Land. Moreover, Emperor Jun of the Demon tribe is ambitious. He will set his eyes on Hongyun as well. If we do not strike, he will. If he managed to get it, then... "
Zhu Jiuyin stopped. But the other Ancestors knew what he was trying to say. If that were true, that two Sages appeared in the Demon tribe, and then the Wu tribe would be facing destruction. This was what they were trying to avoid. So they might as well they try to snatch the Foundation of Great Way, then maybe the Wu tribe can also produce a Sage.
Emperor Jiang commented after listening. "Alright. Then we’ll do as Jiuyin said. We’ll carry out both the best and second-best strategy, in case of any sudden changes in the situation. From now on, send someone to keep an eye on the Demon tribe and Wuzhuang Taoist Temple. The moment Emperor Jun or Nvywa make any movement, we must stop them."
All the Ancestors of Sorcery agreed with what Emperor Jiang said. Once the Ancestors had a plan, the whole Wu tribe started to implement it. It was alright if only the Wu tribe had a plan but now the Demon tribe also had a plan of their own. With both the Wu and Demon tribe proceeding with their act, the air in the Untainted Land became taut with tension. Many incredibly skilled individual cultivators did not dare to act in fear of being dragged into it.
Somewhere in the Blood Sea, Minghe noticed what had gone on in the Untainted Land. Nearly a thousand years had passed since he returned from the Zixiao Palace. The Untainted Land became eerily peaceful and Minghe automatically knew, this was the last peaceful moment till the next cultivation tribulation and the spark to end this peacefulness was Hongyun.
Minghe had been in Closed Door Meditation since he returned and was enlightened in the way of origin taught by Hongjun. The teachings were deep yet rewarding. Minghe and the Red Lotus Taoist Sage-to-be peak realm was stabilized. The Taoist of heaven also broke through the sage-to-be peak level realm, with three Sage-to-be peak realm battle power, Minghe was the strongest after the Sage.
But this was not what he wanted. Despite the fact that he seems to be very powerful, being unable to enter the Origin, he was still considered as a nonentity. Though Minghe and his second separation reached the Sage-to-be peak realm, he was still far from the Origin. With the enlightenment on the way of the Origin, Minghe could feel the difference in between the Origin and Sage-to-be even more distinctly.
With a battle ensuing, the cultivation tribulation might occur at any moment. Soon, Sages would begin to appear, so of course Minghe would be nervous. Reaching the state of enlightenment was not easy for Minghe, to hasten The Divine Law of Prediction into the Origin, Minghe only had two choices.
One was to depend on the Magical Tao Mirror. Minghe does have many treasures to offer up to it, at most, he just used up the treasures that he kept in his treasure vault. But even if it was the Magical Tao Mirror, it could not be done on a whim, time was needed for prediction. Minghe was afraid that time was what he lacked.
The other choice was Hongyun, or more accurately, the Hong Meng Immortal Qi on Hongyun. Hongyun being dead or alive had nothing to do with him. It was obviously a stage set by Hongjun, a stage filled with plenty of malicious intent.
There were five batches of people hitting on the idea of Hongyun. The first batch, the Demon tribe of the Heavenly Court. Emperor Jun would not let the chance of getting the Foundation of Great Way to slip through his fingers. The second batch, still the Demon tribe, but this time it was the Northern Underworld Demon tribe of Kunpeng. He hated Hongyun and now Hongyun owns the Foundation of Great Way, how could Kunpeng just leave it be.
The third batch would naturally be the Wu tribe. Nvywa already held a Sage placement and the Wu tribe could not bear to see the Demon tribe produce another Sage. They would desire a Sage placement for themselves as well, so that the advantage that the Demon tribe had with a Sage in their tribe would be nullified.
The fourth batch would naturally be those Sage-to-be individual cultivators, and they would definitely not pass up on a chance like this. The last batch would be those Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals. Five batches fighting for the Hong Meng Immortal Qi on Hongyun... The outcome was obvious.
The strength of Wu tribe and Demon tribe was immense. Those who died were mainly individual cultivators of Sage-to-be and the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Realm. The impact of the death of so many individual cultivators was great; they were no longer a threat to the Wu and Demon Tribes. Both Tribes could fight in peace. Hongjun naturally achieved his motive of clearing the Untainted Land of skilled and powerful cultivators, especially those of the Sage-to-be realm.