Translator: 549690339                     —

East Saint’s residence.

At the very top, a huge palace.

One could vaguely see the splendid golden splendor and grandeur of the palace in bygone eras.

However, now, only futons were laid out.

Simple and unadorned.

At the top, Sect Hierarch Ning Daohuan, Tianmen Cult’s leader, was sitting cross-legged on a futon, reviving his spirits with closed eyes.

Several people were also sitting on the futons placed closest to him.

Soon, one person after another entered from the outside of the main hall.

Some were reticent, some were flamboyant, some were cold and solemn, some were lewd, some were proud, some were full of righteous indignation…

Lu Yuansheng was also among them, seated at the back.

These people one after another took their seats.

It was only after filling all the futons in the main hall that Ning Daohuan finally opened his eyes.

His eyes were filled with brilliance.

For a moment, everyone felt as if the hall had darkened for an instant.

They all bowed their heads respectfully.

“Greetings, Sect Hierarch!”

Ning Daohuan accepted their salutations nonchalantly, glanced around at everyone, and said:

“The reason I have called all the elders here today is to discuss the current stalemate between our sect and the five sects of Chen State.”

The people below remained silent.

Seeing that no one spoke up, Ning Daohuan furrowed his brows slightly and looked towards the back of the crowd:

“Yuan Sheng, you describe the current situation.”

Lu Yuansheng, whose name had been called, quickly stood up and saluted Ning Daohuan with a lift of his hand:

“At the Sect Hierarch’s command.”

Subsequently, he cleared his throat and spoke in a low voice:

“As you all know. Since the battle in Yushui City, the other four sects of Chen State, besides East Saint Sect, have also made no secret of their hostility towards our sect. Over the past several years, they have sealed off the expansion of the Incense Fire Dao from three directions: east, west, and south. Leaving nothing but empty cities and mortals behind, they forced the Incense Fire Dao to turn towards our sect.”

“To prevent the five sects from enacting their plan, our sect quickly carried out a purge of the Incense Fire Dao, in the absence of their Golden Core Cultivators.”

“However, this Incense Fire Dao is somewhat strange. It was initially about to be completely cleared, but a few years ago, a group of strong second-grade cultivators suddenly emerged from nowhere. Especially Zheng Yuanhua and two others leading them, none of our Foundation Establishment disciples, except for martial nephews Bai and Yan, are a match for them.”

As he spoke, a look of shame appeared on Lu Yuansheng’s handsome face: “This is also due to my incompetence. After breaking through, I was entrusted with the task in a crisis, but was unable to turn the tide…”

At this point, a young Daoist who was sitting a few spots below Ning Daohuan suddenly spoke up:

“I somewhat disagree with what martial brother Lu said.”

Lu Yuansheng’s face stiffened upon hearing this.

The elders nearby also turned their gazes onto the young Daoist.

Even Ning Daohuan slightly narrowed his eyes.

The young Daoist remained calm:

“Martial brother Lu, you only just emerged from seclusion not long ago and already have slain quite a number of Incense Fire Dao cultivators. Although the leader has not been eliminated, you have nevertheless achieved something. How can this be called incompetence?”

“Moreover, although the Incense Fire Dao is annoying, it is currently just a minor nuisance. The real problem for our sect lies with Chen State’s allegiance to Jin. Once our sect truly starts a war with the five sects, its magnitude will surely be known to Jin. If they step in to stop it, we would have exposed our strength in vain, with nothing to show for it.”

“However, if we can find an opportunity to break one of their fingers, seize everything they have, perhaps we can intimidate others and stop them from confronting our sect.”

“But before the opportunity arises, the current situation is the best one.”

I he young Daoist’s words eased Lu Yuansheng’s expression slightly, and Ning Daohuan nodded slightly.

However, an old woman then spoke:

“Hehe, does martial brother Bei feel that certain of victory? This Chen State is different from the one sect and one school we dealt with in the Chu Dynasty. The three major sects in Chu are at odds, causing the vassal sects within the smaller kingdoms to each have their own agenda, leading to a superficial unity with differences in intentions. As long as we are cautious, we can slowly dismantle and dissolve them, naturally allowing us to occupy a territory and have a safe place to recuperate.”

“However, the five sects in Chen State are different from any we’ve encountered before. Who could’ve imagined that before the East Saint Sect was annihilated, the other four sects would’ve stood up for them?”

“In my view, instead of a head-on confrontation with Chen State’s five sects, wasting disciples and resources, why not withdraw to Chu and plot against ’ some smaller kingdoms!”

“After all, we are cultivators, not mortal armies. Land of a country or sect has

no value to us if it brings no benefits, so it’s better to let it go.”

The old woman’s remarks got many of the elders below nodding their heads in agreement.

The young Daoist responded helplessly: “Senior Sister Hu, I didn’t say that exactly, I was merely speaking about the matter at hand.”

“Humph.”

The old woman snorted coldly.

Ning Daohuan neither agreed nor disagreed, but looked at Lu Yuansheng again: “What do you think?”

Lu Yuansheng quickly raised his hand and said, “Senior Sister Hu and Brother Bei both make good points. It is my mistake for having such a low perspective and only considering the Incense Fire Dao.”

Upon hearing this, Ning Daohuan shook his head: “You’re a smooth talker, avoiding offending both sides.”

Lu Yuansheng could only give a wry smile.

Ning Daohuan didn’t reprimand him further, but looked around at the others and asked, “Does anyone else have anything to say?”

Everyone below remained silent.

Ning Daohuan was not surprised and then spoke, “I think 1 understand. Elder Bei means if we can’t defeat them with one move, then we might as well maintain the status quo.”

Elder Hu suggests that instead of guarding this East Saint stronghold, we’d better return to Chu and look for other opportunities.”

“However….”

“Those who do not plan for the future cannot plan for the present!”

“The situation in the Fenglin Continent is becoming increasingly clear.”

“As Elder Hu said, the three main sects within Chu Dynasty are divided, and the vassal states underneath are also fighting amongst each other, while the Incense Fire Dao from the southeast continues to invade Chu and Qi territories, If we stay there, we will be swallowed up by the Incense Fire Dao sooner or later!”

“Either move west into Jin or move north into Yan.”

Ning Daohuan’s eyes glittered:

“The Yan Demon Dynasty… They are all wolves and tigers. Do you really believe we can establish a foothold there?”

“So, although we seem to have a lot of choices, in reality, our only option is to join Jin!”

“What do you all think?”

“Good!”

The concern of our Hierarch is indeed necessary!”

“We indeed have short-sighted.”

The elders below expressed their agreement one after another.

Ning Daohuan raised his hand slightly, and everything was immediately quiet below: “In that case, we cannot avoid fighting with the five sects!”

“However… who to attack, when to attack, and whom to attack will all be instructed by me, your Sect Hierarch!”

“Yuan Sheng.”

“Yes!”

Immediately after being signaled, Lu Yuansheng stood up and said:

“Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, I received information not long ago that the Longevity Sect, on the coast of the West Sea, got into some trouble when suppressing the remaining inhabitants of the two continents. The four sects of Jin will probably be unable to take care of themselves soon, and our opportunity is coming!”

At that moment.

The various elders below finally started to react.

Their eyes couldn’t help but move back and forth between Lu Yuansheng and the young cultivator.

Obviously, this was a play arranged by the Hierarch himself. He was just waiting for others to fall into the trap.

However, now that all possible excuses had been blocked, they had no choice but to obey, so they saluted one after another:

“We will all obey the Hierarch’s commands!”

When everyone dispersed.

In the grand hall, only Ning Daohuan and Lu Yuansheng remained.

Lu Yuansheng came up to Ning Daohuan, his handsome face showing a hint of satisfaction:

“Finally, all the elders were persuaded.”

Ning Daohuan snorted: “Not persuaded, rather they knew that they had no choice but to agree today.”

“Do you think they really don’t understand the current situation? Heh, they all have a clear understanding, but the resources they have seized are enough for them to utilize temporarily. They all want to go further and don’t want to cause other trouble.”

After hearing these words, Lu Yuansheng inevitably felt a chill in his heart, realizing that he had underestimated their senior brothers and sisters.

“How are the preparations on your side?”

Ning Daohuan asked.

“On the side of the Mountain Sea Sect, all the dark chess pieces have been

buried, waiting for the time to come.”

Lu Yuansheng promptly replied.

“Hmm, I completely trust your ability to handle things.”

Ning Daohuan nodded slightly, and then he seemed to remember something,

“Yes, how is the cultivation of the Spirit Chicken going?”

“Cheng Shu has been cultivating the Class II middle-grade Spirit Chicken. I have already collected a part of Fanming’s Primordial Spirit and poured it into it… so far, our methodology is not wrong, and this Spirit Chicken can now briefly promote to Class II top-grade.”

“Class II top-grade… it’s still not enough. Let this Cheng Shu continue to cultivate and try to cultivate the upper-grade, the higher, the better.”

“Yes.” Lu Yuansheng nodded promptly.

“I almost forgot, there’s also the issue of the East Saint Sect.”

Ning Daohuan thought of something again: “Huh, they are so interested in recovering Fanming…”

‘ I hey will not be allowed to accomplish what they wish!”

Lu Yuansheng immediately stated.

“No… let’s give them a bit satisfaction.”

A cold gleam flashed in Ning Daohuan’s eyes.

Two months later.

Looking at the Eel-tail Clam’s organ that had been dissected in an instant, Wang Ba finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Finally, it’s done!”

With the basis of manually dissecting Eel-tail Clams before, with the help of his Spiritual Sence, he spent two months and was finally able to dissect the Eel-tail Clam with his Mana in an instant – with a level of precision no less than the previous manual method.

This meant that he had finally completed the first step.

The next step was to go to Jiantao Station to find Bao Chao and learn the second step.

Wang Ba was not in a rush to leave. He calmly waited for the newest batch of Precious Chickens and Spirit Turtles to hatch, and then he infused them with lifespan.

The further it went, the more difficult it was for these spirit beasts to upgrade their grades. Over the past two months, although there were a large number of Class I top-grade spirit beasts, there were still very few Class II spirit beasts.

However, perhaps due to its high starting point, the Spiritual Ghost Eel had a few more Class II top-grade ones.

Yet, it must be said that its power on land is truly unsatisfactory.

Wang Ba had a match with Jia 15 with these Spiritual Ghost Eels, and Jia 15, a Class II middle-grade, managed to defeat them in a one-on-one situation.’

Had it not been for Wang Ba’s quick reactions, the heart of the Spiritual Ghost Eel would have probably been pecked out.

Wang Ba expected this, so he didn’t feel any disappointment. After all, compared to the difficulty of breeding Spirit Chickens, the difficulty of breeding Spiritual Ghost Eels was practically a peculiar incident.

It was just a by-product.

And if the quality isn’t enough, there would be quantity to make up for it. When more than a dozen Class II top-grade Spiritual Ghost Eels were released together, the two Class II middle-grade Spirit Chickens, Jia 15 and Jia 16, still had to flee in a hurry.

On the other hand, the Azure Spirit Turtle population had grown quite a bit.

This was the advantage of Spirit Turtles compared to Spirit Chickens – despite their long incubation period, their growth was extremely stable.

Unlike Spirit Chickens, the massive amount of Class I lower-grade Spirit Chickens would plummet when they reached Class I middle-grade.

As a result, Wang Ba, who had already established his foundation, could only continue to consume the Spirit Chicken Essence made from Class I lower-grade Spirit Chickens.

Soon, it was time for the Teleportation Array to open up again, and Wang Ba took a batch of Spirit Chickens back to Jiantao Station..