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Chapter 183: Chapter 180: Tremor
"Venerable Daoist Liu... about Elder Gu and Dragon Sparrow Manor..."
It took a while before Lu Dengxian turned to Liu Jingtiao.
Before he could finish his words, Liu Jingtiao fiercely flicked his sleeve and scolded, "What ’Elder Gu’? Do you have no sense of seniority? Address him as ’Venerable Daoist Gu’!"
"Venerable... Venerable Daoist?"
Lu Dengxian immediately widened his eyes in surprise.
"Venerable Daoist Gu was able to kill two Primordial Spirits and four Divinity Transformations with his own power from the hands of two Primordial Spirit True Monarchs and seven Divinity Transformation Cultivators. Even though he was aided by the power of the Heavenly Sword, as a Heavenly Monarch, external objects are inherently part of their strength. With such power, what’s wrong with him becoming the fourth Supreme Elder of our Purgatory Sect!?"
"The fourth Supreme Elder..."
Lu Dengxian was dumbfounded.
This...
He has become the fourth Supreme Elder already?
Even though Gu Jinlai had already been promoted to Red Robed Elder and was only waiting for the annual Elder Council to convene so he could immediately become the equivalent of an Elder in the decision-making echelons of the Purgatory Sect.
But...
But the Elder Council hasn’t even convened yet, right?
And now, he’s been directly promoted to Supreme Elder?
This promotion speed... not even riding a flying sword could be this fast, right?
"I will discuss this matter personally with Zhang Liefeng and Lu Zhanxian, the two Venerable Daoists," Liu Jingtiao said gravely. "The Divine Sword Assembly is about to commence. Whoever gets the recognition of the Sky Extreme Sword will become the leader in name of the Ten Demonic Sects. This is a vow established by everyone including Di Luo. As the Heavenly Monarch most likely to be recognized by the Sky Extreme Sword—If Venerable Daoist Gu truly gets its recognition, his status will most certainly rise. A Supreme Elder is indispensable."
As he said this, his tone paused: "If Venerable Daoist Gu unfortunately fails to be recognized by the Sky Extreme Sword and doesn’t obtain its approval, during the integration process of the Ten Demonic Sects, our Purgatory Sect must be as strong as possible. Only then can we gain more benefits in this alliance. Therefore, having one more Supreme Elder, especially one who has a record of killing two Primordial Spirit Monarchs and four Divinity Transformation Cultivators, is only beneficial and harmless to our Purgatory Sect."
Listening to Liu Jingtiao’s words, Lu Dengxian gained understanding in his heart.
The considerations of these Sect Masters and Hall Masters have always been about the Purgatory Sect itself and the strategies and development with respect to surrounding forces.
But the Supreme Elders’ planning encompasses the future of the Purgatory Sect.
Their visions are completely different.
In the short term, with Gu Jinlai becoming a Supreme Elder of the Purgatory Sect, he will certainly divide a significant amount of power.
But looking at the bigger picture, gaining one more Supreme Elder means the Purgatory Sect can grow their pie even larger.
Like twenty percent of a million compared to ten percent of three million.
In the end, the benefits the Purgatory Sect can obtain will only add on top of the interests they expend now.
Moreover...
Having annihilated two Primordial Spirits and four Divinity Transformations of Dragon Sparrow Manor in one battle, Gu Jinlai has already shown the possibility of unifying Star State. With such a foundation, who benefits more from his becoming a Supreme Elder of the Purgatory Sect is not necessarily clear.
"I will personally persuade the two Venerable Daoists about the Supreme Elder matter. Now, Lu Zhanfeng, you take Shi Chen and Sha Wujin to go apologize to Gu Jinlai and resolve this grievance as soon as possible. And the three of you, from now on, will stay by Gu Jinlai’s side and convey the attitude of our Purgatory Sect," Liu Jingtiao said in a deep voice.
"Lingxiao City’s forces are not bad, but they have developed too quickly, creating a massive gap in the Divinity Transformation and Refining God stages. Even though they can just barely make up for these deficiencies with the Demon God Guards, right now their armies are mobilized to aid the Star Sky Alliance..." He paused again, "They are planning to take over Star State."
Lu Dengxian and the others nodded.
"If they are planning to take over Star State, lacking manpower will become an inevitable fact they have to face. Therefore, inviting him to become a Supreme Elder of the Purgatory Sect at this time and sending you to help him take over Star State is a win-win situation," Liu Jingtiao explained.
Lu Zhanfeng quickly grasped the meaning of the Venerable Daoist upon contemplation.
"I will make another trip to Lingxiao City at once."
"Go ahead, but do not go empty-handed. Bring along a congratulatory gift from us."
"Since we plan to invite him to become one of our four Supreme Elders of the Purgatory Sect, we must show more sincerity," Liu Jingtiao said.
"Venerable Daoist means..."
"Since Venerable Daoist Gu is a Heavenly Monarch, then we should offer assistance in that aspect. I recall, from the ruins explored by Emperor Tianji and the others, we acquired some spiritual materials, didn’t we?"
Spiritual materials are not the same as materials for Spiritual Artifacts.
Like the Shuo Guang Stone that Gu Jinlai once obtained, which could be used for casting Spiritual Artifacts, aiding better derivation and stimulation of spirituality.
But spiritual materials...
They inherently possess divine traits.
This kind of material is often used for forging Dao Artifacts.
Its value simply cannot be measured with money.
"We did acquire some spiritual materials indeed, but they’ve all been used up. Now, we only have the Yunxiao Wood and the Void Stone, both carrying the ’Breaking the Sky’ trait, and also a piece with the ’Tenacity’ trait—the Jade Dragon Scale."
Lu Dengxian replied.
"Send them over," Liu Jingtiao directed.
"All of them? The value of these items..."
Lu Dengxian hesitated for a moment.
Spiritual materials, after all.
Especially the Void Stone, which belongs to top-grade spiritual materials.
That was a treasure capable of refining a top-grade Dao Artifact.
Although none of them were the main materials for crafting Dao Artifacts, these three spiritual materials were, in terms of value, not much less than a supreme grade Spirit Sword or two top-grade Spirit Swords.
"As a Supreme Elder, is it too much to give away one supreme grade Spirit Artifact and two top-grade treasure armors?"
Liu Jingtiao gave him a glance.
"I understand."
Lu Dengxian hastily responded, "I’ll get ready right away."
...
As an ally of Lingxiao City, Purgatory Sect was the first to receive the news of the deaths of the Primordial Spirit True Monarchs, Wang Yinfeng and Ye Wuxia, and they quickly responded.
And right after them, Dragon Sparrow Manor, which acted in concord with the State Lord Mansion, also learned of the incident.
When Elder Long Xuanguang, who was specifically in charge of the Star State battle situation, hurriedly brought the news to the main hall, the manor master, who was looking over a large map that included key points marked with flags of Dragon Sparrow Manor, such as Lingxiao City, Baihe City, and Yuanhua City, was dumbstruck.
In this moment, he felt that the map, punctuated with the flags belonging to Dragon Sparrow Manor, appeared extremely glaring to him.
The whole world seemed filled with endless malice, ridiculing their Dragon Sparrow Manor’s arrogant actions.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Long Yinfeng, facing the Divinity Transformation Cultivator who could be considered a relative, could not believe it and went forward to ask urgently, "How could Venerable Daoist Ye and Venerable Daoist Wang, who went to ambush a mere Gu Jinlai, possibly die? This can’t be true! Tell me it’s not true!"
"I would like to say that, but..."
Long Xuanguang’s eyes flickered with profound pain, "We underestimated Gu Jinlai! His strength alone was formidable, and although he killed the Demon Ape Commander who was gravely injured, his power was already not much less than an Upper-level Demon. We overlooked his strongest advantage... He is a Heavenly Monarch!"
"Heavenly Monarch!?"
"Yes!"
Long Xuanguang nodded, "His most powerful weapon has never been himself, but rather the Slaughter Spirit Artifacts he crafted using the power of a Heavenly Monarch!"
He quickly continued, "Gu Jinlai, this devil, crafted three unique flying swords called Heavenly Swords. Although these flying swords are one-time use treasures, their power is frighteningly great. Not only does their speed exceed the limit of Primordial Spirit True Monarchs’ sword control, their power is even far greater than that of Primordial Spirit True Monarchs... He named these Slaughter Spirit Artifacts Heavenly Sword, showing they are comparable to a strike from Devas..."
As he spoke, a look of sorrow reappeared in his eyes, "Each Heavenly Sword is equivalent to a blow from Devas sword control! It was with these three Heavenly Swords that this devil managed to kill two of our Dragon Sparrow Manor’s Venerable Daoists."
"Heavenly Sword! Heavenly Sword! Comparable to the Devas Sword, the Heavenly Sword..."
Listening to Long Xuanguang’s explanation, Long Yinfeng suddenly felt as if all his strength had drained away, and he slumped into his seat.
Dragon Sparrow Manor...
Had lost two Venerable Daoist Elders!
Had lost four Elders!
He dared not imagine the incredible turmoil that would arise when this news spread.
"Manor Master, now is not the time to grieve, this matter affects Dragon Sparrow Manor greatly, one misstep and our six hundred years of inheritance might all crumble. We must report to the Supreme Elders as soon as possible," urged Long Xuanguang.
Long Yinfeng heard this and tried to focus his energy, rallying his spirit, "Yes... we must report to the Supreme Elders immediately..."
But he knew that his role as Manor Master...
Would likely come to an end.
The death of two Venerable Daoist Elders due to misinformation he provided meant someone had to pay for such a mistake, and he as the Manor Master was the most obvious target.
...
Dragon Sparrow Manor was in disarray.
Mysteriously, there was not much of a stir at the State Lord Mansion...
The reason?
It was Su Wen!
In his days with the Meteor Star Guard, Su Wen was involved in intelligence work.
After joining the State Lord Mansion, he was still in charge of intelligence probing. It was even him who initiated the renewed cooperation with Dragon Sparrow Manor, and together with Wen Rulong, he went to negotiate at Dragon Sparrow Manor.
After witnessing Gu Jinlai’s strength, being so formidable that he could turn the tide and slay two Primordial Spirit True Monarchs and four Divinity Transformation Cultivators, even amidst the attack from Dragon Sparrow Manor’s two Venerable Daoist Elders and seven Divinity Transformation Cultivators, he realized that Gu Jinlai’s rise was unstoppable.
Let alone their State Lord Mansion, even Dragon Sparrow Manor would no longer be a match for such a terrifying existence.
So, after escaping with his life, he hurried back to his residence at the fastest speed, and having packed all his precious belongings, he took only his closest associates and left directly.
Yes!
He fled.
He was well aware that with his feud with Gu Jinlai, once Gu Jinlai took command of Star State, there would be no place for him here.
Even the Upper State south of Tianhe, the Five Middle States, and the Eight Lower States might not be safe.
Fortuitously, the devils lurking in Tianhe were forced to temporarily recede due to the convening of the Ten Demonic Sects’ Divine Sword conference, indirectly opening the passage through Daqian. So, he simply led his relatives and assets across Tianhe, fleeing to the Imperial Capital.
If you can’t face your enemy, then avoid them.
After all, as a Divinity Transformation Cultivator, he would be considered a first-class expert in the Imperial Capital and survival would be easy.
He’s gone.
And he’s not coming back.
