Chapter 394: Leaders Gather Together
The next day, the leaders of the six major sects in the Chaos Camp received messages from Tai Xu one after another. “The Messenger of the Spirit Realm has summoned us to Tai Yi Gate to state our own demands and the types of rewards we hope to obtain…”
Upon receiving the message, Tian Xin, the leader of Tian Xin Pavilion, showed delight and said to his two junior brothers, “I never expected that the rewards mentioned by Tai Xu’s leader could be obtained so quickly, and we can even propose our own requests. Brothers, tell me, if we really get a top-grade Dao artifact as a reward, should we go for offensive or defensive artifacts?”
“I think it should be a defensive artifact,” said Gu You, the second elder, who was calm and steady. “Look at Tian Yuan Zong’s Tian Yu—although he possesses vast wealth, his cultivation level isn’t high, yet no one in the Qi Yuan Star cultivation world can match him. This shows that having a defensive treasure allows one to remain invincible first and foremost.”
“I disagree!” Gu Lie, the third elder, with an impatient temper, immediately retorted, “The best defense is offense. If we have an offensive top-grade Dao artifact, even with all his wealth, Tian Yu would be unable to resist us and might even be killed.”
Gu You shook his head and added, “A top-grade defensive Dao artifact isn’t just for individual combat. It can also greatly enhance the defensive effects of the sect’s protective arrays. After all, the foundation of the sect is what matters most…”
“Brother, you always think in terms of passively taking hits,” Gu Lie raised his voice. “Why let others attack us? Why not trap them in our stronghold and make them too afraid to show up?”
Tian Xin smiled faintly, listening silently to the argument between his two junior brothers. In his view, whether it was a defensive or offensive treasure, having the chance to obtain a top-grade Dao artifact was a great fortune for the sect.
Moreover, besides the top-grade Dao artifact, there would be other rewards as well. Going to Tai Yi Gate in three days was definitely necessary—there was no doubt about that!
The other three sects, Tian Yao Mountain, Blood God Sect, and Holy Sword Demon Sect, whose situations were similar to Tian Xin Pavilion, were also extremely delighted and excited upon receiving the message from Tai Xu.
A top-grade Dao artifact, two or three middle-grade Dao artifacts, along with top-tier cultivation techniques, secret manuals, miraculous medicines, rare materials, and more… Such rewards were highly anticipated, and it seemed they could be obtained soon.
Another slightly different person is the most mysterious leader of the Illusion Demon Sect. Upon receiving this message from the Void, she showed no reaction, merely sitting there quietly, with the misty veil on her face drifting slowly—no one knew what she was thinking. She didn’t even inform the other three Nascent Soul elders of the sect about this matter.
The other sect is the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sect. Like the Taiyi Sect, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sect also possesses a special treasure that allows communication with the Spirit Realm. However, since the envoy from the Spirit Realm belongs to the Immortal Path and disapproves of the sect’s demonic background, they usually communicate more with the Taiyi Sect. Today, after receiving the message from the Void, the Elder Demon of the Ten Thousand Ghosts gathered his three junior disciples to inform them of the situation.
The Elder Demon of Extreme Horror was also very pleased at the prospect of receiving rewards from the Spirit Realm, though he felt somewhat resentful. He grumbled, “It’s the Taiyi Sect again. The envoy from the Spirit Realm is too biased.”
The Elder Demon of Yin Evil said in a deep voice, “There’s nothing we can do about it. They follow the Immortal Path, while we follow the demonic path. As the saying goes, those with different paths cannot work together. I guess when that envoy talks to us, he must find our gloomy aura extremely repulsive.”
“That doesn’t matter much,” the Elder Demon of the Ten Thousand Ghosts waved his hand. “I just find it strange. After all, I’ve communicated with that envoy a few times before. He seemed extremely arrogant and looked down on cultivators from the lower realms. It’s hard to talk to such a person. How come this time he’s so considerate, allowing us to state our requests, and then preparing corresponding rewards in the Spirit Realm according to what we ask for…”
The Elder Demon of the Ten Thousand Ghosts believed it was unlikely for that envoy to be so gentle and considerate. Instead, he thought it should be something like: “I’m giving you rewards—whatever it is, as long as I give it to you, that’s good enough. There’s no need to be picky and make demands…” That’s how it should be.
“Senior Brother, the sect leader, must be overthinking it,” the Elder Demon of Yin Evil said with a smile. “That envoy indeed has an arrogant personality, but in the Spirit Realm, he’s just a messenger doing chores. I think the decision to grant us rewards isn’t up to him at all; it’s decided by the real power holders. He’s just following orders. Even if he looks down on us, he still has to carry out his task diligently.”
“Maybe…” The Elder Demon of the Ten Thousand Ghosts nodded slightly, his doubts eased a bit.
The Elder Demon of Extreme Horror asked tentatively, “Senior Brother, sect leader, do you not plan to go to the Taiyi Sect? If everyone else goes and only you stay behind, won’t that offend that envoy from the Spirit Realm?”
The Old Demon of Ten Thousand Ghosts thought for a moment before saying, “Go. We definitely have to go. I believe that the old Taiyi doesn’t have the courage to falsely issue orders from the upper realms and use messengers from the Spirit Realm as a pretext to play tricks. He wouldn’t dare do that, and neither will I…”
“Yes,” the Old Ghost of Extreme Horror chuckled. “We haven’t had much contact with those people from the Spirit Realm. Who knows what they’re thinking? But since they’ve given orders, we just need to follow them.”
The Old Demon of Ten Thousand Ghosts nodded slightly again. Though he still had doubts, he didn’t dare openly defy the summons from the Spirit Realm’s messenger. He still had to go to Taiyi Gate in three days.
Out of caution, however, he made some secret preparations. It wasn’t until the early morning of the third day that he left the Sect of Ten Thousand Ghosts and flew toward Taiyi Gate.
The Sect of Ten Thousand Ghosts bordered Taiyi Gate’s territory and was the closest, only a few tens of thousands of miles away. With his cultivation at the late Yuan Ying stage, he could reach there in less than fifteen minutes. So, although he set off last, he was the first to arrive at Taiyi Gate.
Outside the gate, the Old Demon of Ten Thousand Ghosts didn’t enter rashly. Instead, he sent a message to an insider lurking inside Taiyi Gate. Soon after, a clerk from Taiyi Gate’s internal affairs department, who was at the middle stage of the Foundation Building phase, quietly approached him and bowed deeply as a disciple.
“Have the leaders of other sects arrived?” the Old Demon of Ten Thousand Ghosts asked in a deep voice.
“Reporting to the sect master and ancestor, as far as I know, no leaders from other sects have come to Taiyi Gate in recent times,” the insider disciple replied cautiously.
This person’s status was too low; he couldn’t possibly know about the secret actions carried out by Taixu and Su Che.
Still, the Old Demon of Ten Thousand Ghosts could be sure that he was likely the first to arrive. He asked again, “Tell me everything strange, unusual, or significant that has happened at Taiyi Gate in recent months. Anything you think is suspicious can be mentioned—no matter what, I won’t blame you.”
“Yes.”
The subordinate disciple bowed respectfully and began to recount some of the things he found somewhat odd.
From time to time, the Old Demon of Ten Thousand Ghosts would interrupt, saying, “This isn’t important. Skip it and move on to the next thing.”
After talking for over half an hour about trivial matters, he finally concluded that nothing significant had happened at Taiyi Gate—everything seemed quite normal.
Yet, despite his extreme caution, he still refused to be the first to enter the Taiyi Mountain gates and waited outside until Master Tianxin and the Patriarch Haotian of Lingyao Mountain arrived. Only then did he join them, and the three of them entered the main hall of Taiyi Mountain together.
Taixu and Taihua welcomed and entertained the three masters. The five of them sat in the main hall, chatting casually while waiting for the arrival of the other three masters.
However, the “Taihua” here today was actually Su Che in disguise. While chatting with the Three Ghost Demons, the real Taihua was in the Immortal Prison, constantly guiding Su Che on how to respond so as not to make mistakes. With such coordination, no flaws could be exposed.
To be honest, no matter how intelligent the Three Ghost Demons were, they could never have imagined that Master Taixu would become Su Che’s loyal servant. Even if they were killed, they wouldn’t have thought of this possibility. At most, they might have feared that Taixu, that old fox, might use some tricks to give Taiyi Mountain an advantage and cause slight losses to other sects.
In general, even the Three Ghost Demons believed that before the task assigned by the Spirit Realm was completed, none of the seven sects in the chaotic faction would dare to engage in foolish internal strife.
After waiting for a while, the “Patriarch Junsha” of the Holy Sword Demon Sect and the Patriarch of the Blood Sacred Religion arrived together. Yet, after waiting even longer, the Patriarch of the Illusion Demon Sect still did not show up.
“Does Fellow Daoist Illusion Demon have something urgent that keeps him away, or hasn’t he received my message?” Taixu asked in confusion.
The other five masters shook their heads, each saying that no one had gone to the Illusion Demon Sect along the way and they didn’t know why.
The Three Ghost Demons asked, “Brother Taixu, has a specific time been set for the summons by the envoy from the Spirit Realm?”
“There wasn’t a specifically set time,” Taixu replied. “The envoy merely said to arrive at Taiyi Mountain today and be ready for summons at any time.”
The Three Ghost Demons nodded in agreement, thinking that such a handling style was quite in line with the arrogance and aloofness of that envoy from the Spirit Realm.
Seeing the gloomy expression of the Three Ghost Demons, which was far less cheerful than that of the other four masters, Taixu deliberately asked, “Fellow Daoist Three Ghosts seems to be preoccupied. The rewards bestowed by the upper realm are approaching, and the strength of our sects will greatly increase—what a joyous occasion! Why do you make me feel such gloom?”
Before the Old Demon of Ten Thousand Ghosts could reply, the Blood Sacred Sect Leader, who was always sharp-tongued, giggled and said, “Tai Xu, you’re asking this on purpose, aren’t you? Both of your factions possess a treasure that can communicate with the upper realms. But that envoy only has eyes for the Taiyi Sect and not the Sect of Ten Thousand Ghosts. The Sect of Ten Thousand Ghosts will surely be upset and displeased.”
“Oh?” Tai Xu said with a smile, “I don’t believe Fellow Daoist of Ten Thousand Ghosts would be so magnanimous. It surely isn’t because of this.”
The Old Demon of Ten Thousand Ghosts smiled awkwardly and said, “It seems Brother Tai Xu understands me better. It indeed isn’t because of this. To be honest, I just feel that that envoy is usually cold and aloof. How could he be so gentle and considerate this time, allowing us to propose rewards on our own? Plus, Fellow Daoist of Illusory Demons still hasn’t arrived. For some reason, I can’t shake this strange feeling in my heart.”
“Such a trivial matter makes you suspicious? You’re really getting more timid with each passing day,” the Blood Sacred Sect Leader said, casting a look full of disdain at him.
Of course, with her charming and alluring temperament, any look from her seemed like a seductive glance. As for her sharp tongue, the Yuan Ying ancestors present had long gotten used to it. No one would argue with her; they could only smile and let it go.