Updated Status Quo
“Why don’t you try learning Shadow Synthesis?” Xiaoshuai suggested. “Maybe your shadow is obedient.”
“If it went so smoothly, Shadow Syndicate wouldn’t exist,” Mu Yu disputed.
“Aw, I was hoping to see if your shadow was more handsome than you.”
Mu Yu peered down to his feet. “That’s a terrible joke. I’m more handsome.”
“Welp, no choice but to have Qiao Xue master the ninth level to kill Xuan Ming, then.”
“It’s not that easy; you can’t just jump straight to level nine. That being said, I will help her merge.”
“You really not going to kill me?” questioned Ju Mang.
“Come on. Don’t make me repeat myself. It’s not like you don’t know I always honour my word.”
“You’re very different to the cowardly humans I know.”
“Did it really take you that long to realise?” Mu Yu stashed away the metal rock Cheng Yan gave him.
“But you’re going to kill Xuan Ming.”
“My deal is with you, not Xuan Ming.”
“I meant that wood demons and water demons have been allies since forever. Cultivating together grants them double the results of cultivating independently. I’m not saying I like Xuan Ming. I would hate to see her die if all I’m saying.”
“The sun is on the right side. Yep, I’m not convinced.”
“You’ve believed you like Qiao Xue because of my connection to Xuan Ming. Whether you like her is not something we influence. It’s your choice who you like and her choice to choose someone she likes.”
“What, you’re saying you and Xuan Ming don’t play a role in our feelings?”
“That means you two mutually like each other,” Xiaoshuai pointed out.
“Cut to the chase,” Mu Yu demanded.
“If you die reviving Ku Mu, I’ll watch over Tian Ran and Qiao Xue for you as my way of showing appreciation for sparing me.”
“Well, thank you in advance.”
“Right back at you.”
***
“Palace Guardian died?” repeated Bai Jie, with an exasperated undertone. “You lost your arm, and there’s nothing that can be done because Cheng Yan wiped out the vitality at the wound? Can nobody do something right for once?”
“My Lord, cultivators have started to question us and the eight great sects. It is all because of Mu Yu. Please allow me to personally bring him in,” requested a tall and domineering member, Hun Kui, standing out from the rest of the trembling members.
“Not just Mu Yu. All five of them must be eliminated. Previously, I needed to ensure we were worshipped. Now, it doesn’t matter. This is the final leg of our plan. Mu Yu and his friends will not stand in my way!” Tapping his jade armchair with a finger for some time, Bai Jie continued, “We’ve finally found a loophole in Sword Shadow Dust Gale’s defence system for Third Heaven. I’m going to go destroy the defences, so I will be absent for some time. Do not make the same arrogant mistake Palace Guardian did, and avoid crowds whenever you engage enemies. Now that Mu Yu knows how to leverage support from cultivators against us, you need to be careful. I’ve had enough with these failures resulting from hubristic behaviour!”
“Yes, My Lord.”
“We can’t delay the activation of Ultimate Immortals Monument any further. Until I am back, Hun Kui will be interim leader. Make sure we have, at least, one mystic immortal in our grip.”
“Your subject will not let your down,” pledged Hun Kui.
Another member voiced, “My Lord, why do we not just kill all the cultivators? We have more than enough power to do so now.”
“Idiot, what did I just tell you about underestimating them? If it was so easy to eradicate Third Heaven, they’d have been dead for five thousand years,” admonished Bai Jie.
“Your subject apologises.”
“No more reckless attacks on cities until I dismantle Sword Shadow Dust Gale’s defence system, or everything will have been for naught. We have plenty of time to kill them once we’re done. Hun Kui, I trust you know what to do?”
“Yes, My Lord,” responded Hun Kui.
***
“Third Heaven Palace has started to pull the plug on their ostentatious operations, including attacks on cities,” noted Zhuge Xiaosheng, assessing the map in Formation Palace.
Caressing his beard, Village Chief Bu deliberated the topic, then proposed, “I suspect they are planning to commence some plan. They must have been forcing engagements between elemental demons and humans for something in the bigger picture and, therefore, no longer need war to farm soul energy.”
“What purpose might that have been?”
“I do not know yet, but my hunch tells me the real war is only beginning.”
“The recent upheaval has only been a ruse?”
“I would say so. This feels like the calm before the storm. I reckon Third Heaven Palace only needs one or two mystic immortals under their control. Either way, the status quo is not in our favour. If I was to bet, I would bet on the top five ultimate immortals being Apotheosis Realm cultivators.”
“Five of them?! What chances would we have, then?”
“From what we know, the nine mystic immortals can cooperate to control celestial preservation energy. If they stop just one of the nine from working with the others, then they cannot control celestial preservation energy, the strongest energy source in this realm and the biggest threat to Third Heaven Palace’s design. That much is obvious. What I am trying to work out is what their real plan is.
“The good news is that Mu Yu has given us the blueprint to counter soul energy. Our job is to now spread the information. If cultivators are prudent, they will realise that unity is the sharp blade that can severe Third Heaven Palace’s power.”
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