Chapter 612: The Treacherous Old Thief of Master Tushan

Many Nascent Soul Zhenjuns immediately felt it was a thorny problem.

Their batch, in fact, had only come as the vanguard of reinforcements; it would be best if they could slay the opponent.

But after all, this was the fiend who had killed Master Dinghai Zhenjun Zhenjun Shen Ya, not even allowing his Nascent Soul to escape — even if they could defeat him, killing him would not be easy.

If they could not slay him, they had to pin him down, then seek a gap in the battle and invite freaks like Six-Fingered Tiangui Laoguai and other peak Nascent Soul cultivators to strike personally, smiting him with thunder — even if it meant the Dari Sect's defensive line would be shaken for it, they would not hesitate.

The point was to use the harshest, most ruthless means to slay a Nascent Soul who had challenged the Zhengmo Alliance's order!

By this, to intimidate those stirring restlessly within.

But now…

"Master Tushan Tiangui Laoguai once appeared in a remote place, and even used the alias Jin Dan to establish a faction. Although the journey is long, perhaps we could…"

Bingxuedian's Nascent Soul cultivator Master Dinghai Zhenjun Bingyu was an ice-mountain beauty with a cold temperament; at this moment she seemed to recall something and spoke.

"The odds are too slim."

Tian Hua Master Dinghai Zhenjun shook his head, not optimistic.

"A minor Jin Dan faction built on a whim — not even the sect he originated from — could it possibly threaten the man?"

"Useless."

The other Nascent Soul cultivators also sighed.

Before coming, they had read the relevant intelligence: a few mere Foundation Establishment ants, without even the status of disciples, wanting to threaten a Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Zhenjun — that was truly a pipe dream.

Master Dinghai Zhenjun Bingyu likewise sighed faintly, also feeling it unworkable.

"I have a premonition: Master Tushan Tiangui Laoguai will not be the last."

"Killing Master Dinghai Zhenjun Zhenjun Shen Ya, destroying General General Heishi's Master Tushan Xiancheng."

Zhenjun He Huan Sect's Master Dinghai Zhenjun Zhenjun He Huan wore a gossamer-thin, semi-transparent silk gown as light as a cicada's wing; her chest rose towering and cloud-high, snowy-white and fine, profoundly deep, constantly radiating a fatal allure. In a languid voice she said: "As we cannot finely control the Northern Plains, outside Nascent Souls, and Nascent Souls of outside surnames born within the Northern Plains will grow ever more numerous, occupying every place. Sooner or later, a day will come when this kind of thing happens again, and we cannot even muster six or seven Nascent Soul cultivators to encircle and kill — we can only let it be."

"We cannot keep hugging the old ways."

The other Nascent Soul cultivators were silent, offering no reply.

A Master Dinghai Zhenjun's lifespan ran over a thousand years; naturally they would not be so short-sighted as to fail to see trends developing a mere few centuries ahead.

It's just that…

Reform is not something merely wagged about with one's lips.

It requires carving out tangible benefits.

The top-tier cultivation resources that originally belonged exclusively to their own sons and daughters, descendants — the great abundance of heavenly treasures that let their Dao path run smooth, at the very least allowing cultivation to Jin Dan, with some hope of Nascent Soul — should they now portion off some, or even most, to gifted collateral descendants?

Once these collateral descendants achieved Nascent Soul and were honored as Master Dinghai Zhenjun, with a lifespan of one thousand two hundred years, would they willingly accept the main-line Nascent Souls' commands, charge forward at a word, and face death as home?

Or, under shifting circumstances,

would they simply seize the magpie's nest, drive out or kill the original main line, and become the new main line themselves?

Moreover, to cultivate and take in the collateral line, one could no longer dump these gifted people in large numbers into the blood pools of the bloodline spiritual-root sacrifice art.

Then how would the main-line cultivators' talent and spiritual roots be improved?

One must know that, let alone heavenly spiritual roots or variant spiritual roots, even dual spiritual roots were exceedingly rare under natural birth.

High-level cultivators birthing mortals without spiritual roots was a sight seen from time to time.

In the past it was fine — one could improve them — but now?

Just watch helplessly as one's own sons and daughters became mortals, spending their whole lives dying when their hundred-year lifespan ran out?

With so many such possibilities, how could these Nascent Soul cultivators, who had seen and taken part in all manner of human evil, let go and push reform, yielding up great benefits, without fearing the aftercalamities?

"Man determines the outcome!"

"The system our ancestors set down let our Northern Plains clans flourish for ten thousand years — this must be without error. So long as we unite as one and surmount every difficulty, we will surely rise again."

Master Dinghai Zhenjun Zhenjun Gui Fu, as if he had not caught the unspoken meaning in Master Dinghai Zhenjun Zhenjun He Huan's words, said in a heavy voice: "How shall the General Heishi be settled?"

"Everyone ought to deliberate a set of rules; in the future, should any of our clans suffer a great calamity, we shall handle it by the same precedent."

The other Nascent Soul cultivators had not paid it much mind at first, but upon hearing that last sentence, their expressions grew solemn as they fell into thought.

"If the General Heishi are to continue to exist, a Nascent Soul cultivator must be stationed to hold them. Who is willing?"

Master Dinghai Zhenjun Zhenjun Gui Fu continued to ask: "During the stationing, this place's spirit veins, mineral outputs, heavenly treasures and spirit medicines shall all belong to that person. However, they must preserve the General Heishi's ancestral rites, and set aside some heavenly treasures to cultivate at least one Nascent Soul seed of the General Heishi, until the General Heishi give birth to a new Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Zhenjun."

He laid down some rules, and seeing no one object, only then cast an inquiring gaze at those around him.

No one answered.

Master Dinghai Zhenjun Zhenjun Gui Fu looked especially toward Master Dinghai Zhenjun Bingyu of Bingxuedian, and Master Dinghai Zhenjun Zhenjun He Huan of Zhenjun He Huan Sect.

These two great powers were both neighbors of the General Heishi; in the past they had often had various disputes with the General Heishi over territory and interests, and historically had taken up arms many times, with Nascent Souls even falling.

The two Zhenjuns deliberated for a long while, and one after another shook their heads.

The General Heishi, even when Master Dinghai Zhenjun Zhenjun Shen Ya was still alive, had already faced the predicament of Jin Dan and Nascent Soul withering away, unable to hold down their vast territory.

They themselves were in the same straits.

Indeed, because Zhenjun He Huan Sect and Bingxuedian were in a period of strength, their territories were larger, and the situation they faced was even worse.

Without acknowledging the rule of loose cultivators, apart from the core territories their strength could directly radiate over, chaos reigned everywhere, and many loose cultivators rose amid the disorder.

Once they held Master Tushan Xiancheng for long, their own clan's homeland might even be in danger.

Moreover, the General Heishi clan formation had already been destroyed; without the array, standing alone made safety a major problem — no one would lightly leave their clan's territory.

It would be better to wait a few hundred years.

By then, new Nascent Soul cultivators would be born within the clan, and this place would become hotly contested, sparking fierce battles—unlike now.

"Since the two of you are unwilling to take it over,"

Master Dinghai Zhenjun Zhenjun Gui Fu sighed inwardly: "then let each of us take away a portion of the General Heishi main line, send them into our households, and treat them as resources raised several grades above vassal clans — to be supplied and driven. We shall not impose prohibitions, nor restrict their advancement."

"If in the future one or two people of outstanding talent and great fortune advance to Nascent Soul, then let them return home and restore the General Heishi's Liezulie Sect rites; at that time we may also lend a bit of help."

"What say you all?"

"Agreed."

"This is a prudent move. Brother Zhenjun Gui Fu has considered every aspect."

The surrounding Nascent Soul cultivators did not hesitate and agreed at once.

Even the two Master Dinghai Zhenjun, Zhenjun He Huan Master Dinghai Zhenjun and Bingyu Master Dinghai Zhenjun, who had been on bad terms with the Tie family of Guishan in recent years over the matter of reform, now showed a look of admiration in their eyes.

The Tie family of Guishan had many faults — stubborn, overbearing, rigid.

But in protecting the interests of the direct bloodlines of the great clans, they had made the greatest effort, as all could plainly see.

Precisely because of this, though many within the clans were annoyed and there were countless quarrels, an alliance to utterly annihilate the Tie family had never once formed, and the offerings of tribute continued to flow in without cease.

"As for Master Tushan Xiancheng here…"

Master Dinghai Master Dinghai Zhenjun deliberated for a long while, then said: "It is, after all, a fourth-tier spirit vein, with countless heaven-sent treasures. Leaving it to rogue cultivators would be too great a pity. Since none of you are willing to garrison it, how about each of us dispatching a few Jin Dan juniors to take it over?"

Naturally, if they were to encounter a Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Zhenjun, death would be certain.

But for a Jin Dan cultivator to enjoy a fourth-tier spirit vein — even direct-line descendants of Nascent Soul clans were not all qualified for such a thing. It was a great opportunity, enough to outweigh many dangers.

"Agreed."

The surrounding Nascent Soul cultivators had no objections.

"Lastly, there are two matters."

On Master Dinghai Master Dinghai Zhenjun's rigid, square face, a killing intent icy enough to pierce bone suddenly appeared: "First, those Jin Dan who murdered their masters must die. Their clans must be utterly exterminated, and their divine souls sent into the Tianyin Lamp to be burned, so that they may wail in agony for ten thousand years, never to be reborn across all eternity!"

"Second, the rebel Dong Xue Dong Xue Liuyun and his band, who stole the Northern Plateau's dragon qi, must be slaughtered to the last man, as a warning to others!"

(End of this chapter)