Chapter 231: Who is Leading the Rhythm?

Lin Bai's words were broadcast live by players, synchronously reaching the ears of all the natives.

It was one thing for sects like Illusion Valley, which had a Heaven's Pride sitting in command.

The other sects, which at most possessed a single Spirit Transformation ancestor, were in a state of constant panic, urgently discussing countermeasures; Lin Bai's unscrupulous, rogue tactics left them at a loss.

They wanted to resist, but how could they fight?

On one side was the Justice and Evil Extermination Order, and on the other was Lin Bai, who could arrive at their doorstep at any moment.

Anxious emotions were spreading; the sect leaders around Qian City, Zhen City, and Xun Cheng were as anxious as ants on a hot pan. They had originally planned to form a coalition army to defend together.

But the articles in "Heavenly Dao Review" that sowed discord were still fresh in their minds.

Who is first, who is second?

Who is unworthy of their reputation?

If a coalition army were formed, who would lead it, and whose sect would be defended?

Letting others lead—is that an admission that one is inferior to them?

If one leads oneself, will others listen?

Even sects close to Illusion Valley, knowing there was a Heaven's Pride in command there, were unwilling to go and ask for help.

At the end of the day, that was someone else's Heaven's Pride; if their own Heaven's Pride came, what would they think?

Heavenly Descended were everywhere, and there were no secrets left in the world; Lin Bai would certainly not miss this opportunity to humiliate them.

Once publicized by "Justice Weekly," even if they defeated Lin Bai in the future, their superior sects would not give them a chance to survive in the world. Sects were important, but face was even more important!

……

These sects had originally not thought "Heavenly Dao Review" was of any use.

Once Lin Bai was defeated, the public discussion about them would naturally dissipate.

But when the matter came to a head, they realized those articles had long since become a thorn planted in their hearts, isolating them into lonely islands.

At this moment.

They wanted to start their own publication to counter Lin Bai, but they had no way to begin; the dirty water had already been splashed, and it wouldn't be easy to wash it clean...

As for the Justice Alliance that was smearing Lin Bai?

The Justice Alliance had public opinion momentum from the start and was deeply rooted among the people; they had opened Alchemy Rooms and Artifact Refining Workshops, only to have them forcibly shut down. Being first to act, their smearing would likely have the opposite effect...

The strategies originally decided upon, such as stealing Lin Bai's home, had also failed.

You want to steal? Go ahead.

It was obvious Lin Bai did not care.

All his belongings were things he had snatched in a short time, so he wouldn't feel a shred of heartache if he lost them, but they could not afford such losses. No matter how they calculated it, they were the ones losing...

How did the Cultivation World produce such a villain as Lin Bai, who was covered in thorns!

Letters of distress were sent to the Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects through the players.

Now, they only hoped that the Heaven's Pride powerhouses above would arrive soon, at least to give them a backbone.

Of course.

They hoped even more that Lin Bai would go attack other sects first, letting their brother sects delay Lin Bai's footsteps.

At this juncture.

Whether a sect could survive seemed to depend entirely on luck.

They transferred assets, distributing Dharma Treasures, weapons, and pills they were usually reluctant to give out to the elite disciples within the sect; using them for their own people was better than leaving them for the enemy.

……

Because of Lin Bai's pre-battle mobilization, their own sects had fallen into chaos, as if the end of the world had arrived early.

The players were extremely disappointed.

Sure enough.

There was only one Lin Bai in this world; counting on this group of vulgar people to eradicate Lin Bai was basically impossible.

However.

Compared to the NPCs of their own sects, the players also didn't know how the game would continue.

Was their fate destined to be merged into the Justice Alliance, becoming lower-class players inferior to Beggar Sect disciples, cheering for Lin Bai in the game while surviving and developing?

This was not the game life they wanted!

Damn the developers; the designed plot was not reasonable at all and was too unfriendly to them.

No players were going to the forums to protest anymore; no matter what they said, the game officials ignored it. Rather than doing that useless work, it was better to find a way to solve the current predicament.

Players in Taichu Kingdom and Taihao Kingdom basically held an attitude of watching the show.

After all.

Lin Bai was too far away from them. Even if Lin Bai conquered Taiyi Kingdom at the fastest speed, it would take at least two or three months to travel to them. By then, they would have already developed.

In this game, there were no spells like teleportation arrays. Traveling relied on Dharma Treasures or one's own spells. Lin Bai might travel fast himself, but dragging his family and followers along, he would at best have the speed of a Golden Core True Person.

The ideas offered by enthusiastic cultivation-world masses to players around Qian City, excluding the miscellaneous suggestions, were best summarized by the word "wait."

Wait for the Heaven's Pride of the Seven Righteous Sects to step forward and kill Lin Bai, or wait for the war to enter a stalemate so the players would be forced to grow;

Or, embroider the flags of the Justice Alliance in advance, and once Lin Bai conquered their sects, join the Justice Alliance to enjoy the alliance's benefits. Like the Beggar Sect players, they could take advantage of Lin Bai's campaigns to use every opportunity to grind levels and practice, and once they grew up, raise the banner of justice to overthrow the rule of the Great Demon King Lin Bai.

Other than that, there was no better method.

Of course.

Although the players around Qian City were in a precarious situation, they had also benefited from this war that had attracted all eyes.

As one of the two warring sides, they also had the opportunity to use advertisements and live streaming to generate income.

Although it couldn't compare to the Beggar Sect's luxurious advertising camp, it was much better than before.

Painful, yet happy.

The only one unhappy about this is likely the Shanlu Group of Yinmucheng. They had originally intended to gradually gain a voice among the major sects and the Taiyi Kingdom through economic means and employees planted in various sects, but after this commotion by Lin Bai, all their previous layouts and invested capital were wasted.

Nowadays, all the indigenous people have their minds set on Lin Bai; the employees of the Shanlu Group were marginalized almost overnight. In the face of Lin Bai's absolute strength, the suggestions they offered to the sects would simply not be adopted.

They once thought of finding a heaven-gifted talent similar to Lin Bai and building a layout centered around them, but now it seems that no heaven-gifted talent can compare to a single Lin Bai!

The most critical point is that the Shanlu Group is also worried about being swallowed by the Justice Alliance. It wouldn't matter if individual players were swallowed, but they are a Group, and one that claimed to be the first large-scale group to enter the game, having been popular on the game forums for quite a while. If they were to be acquired by the Justice Alliance in such a disheveled state, ending up with the same status as the Beggar Sect, the Group would lose all its face.

At this very moment.

All the high-level executives of the Shanlu Group are even more desperate to eliminate Lin Bai than the indigenous people are.

……

Meanwhile, Lin Bai and his Justice Alliance Army were traveling leisurely, eating hot pot and singing songs, taking a shortcut straight toward the Beast Taming Studio.

Lin Bai couldn't care less about the duel appointment from the heaven-gifted talent of Illusion Valley!

To him, everyone around is an enemy; he just needs to crush them one by one. To skip nearby sects for the sake of pride and go specifically to challenge some heaven-gifted talent would be utter stupidity.

He has awakened the War God System, and any local war will increase his strength. Since that is the case, why not pick the soft persimmons to squeeze!

Along the way, they passed by the Blood Shadow Sect, the Canyang Sect, and the Xuanming Sect.

After the Righteous and Evil Execution Order was issued, these sects unilaterally announced that they had drawn a line with the disciples of their own sects who had joined the Justice Alliance, but once Lin Bai's army arrived.

Without even needing Lin Bai to take action, these fence-sitters nimbly pushed out a few scapegoats, raised the banner of the Justice Alliance, and brought their family assets to join the Yuanyuanjun of the Justice Alliance Army, further strengthening the power of the Yuanyuanjun.

Distant water cannot quench near thirst; in the face of life and death, to hell with the Righteous and Evil Execution Order!

Also knowing how to adapt to circumstances was the City Lord of Binghuo City. He had originally banned all the industries of the Beggar Sect, waiting quietly for Lin Bai to be executed. As a result, with the army pressing on the border, the old City Lord, in front of all the citizens of the city, gracefully "ran to the moon" once, then signed an agreement during a friendly negotiation with Lin Bai, restarted the Beggar Sect's industries, and even had the honor of completing the ribbon-cutting ceremony with Lin Bai while smiling in front of all the citizens.

Because Lin Bai's team has plenty of Pill Refinement masters and Weapon Refinement masters.

That day, the newly opened Justice Alliance pill shop and Artifact Refining Workshop were filled with goods, and the grand opening promotion gave the citizens of Binghuo City real benefits. Regardless of how the Cultivation World views Lin Bai, the Justice Alliance Army has received rave reviews among the common people...

……

That day.

The supplement of "Justice Weekly" reported in detail on the new opening of the Justice Alliance in Binghuo City.

The messy hair and forced smile on the face of the Binghuo City City Lord formed a sharp contrast with the simple and unadorned smiles of the surrounding citizens.

The article described in detail how the Justice Alliance Army is loved by the common people, how the old City Lord of Binghuo City repented and corrected his mistakes in time, and how the Alliance Leader Lin Bai let bygones be bygones, etc.

The headline was lively yet serious: "Justice Alliance Enters Binghuo City, Cultivation Resources Benefit Ten Thousand Families."

A county magistrate is no match for the current administrator; Yimu City and Dinghuo City, after seeing the encounter of the Binghuo City City Lord, opened the closed Beggar Sect industries at the first opportunity.

Unless some great power can capture Lin Bai, they have no intention of paying attention to the so-called Righteous and Evil Execution Order.

They have finally seen it clearly.

Neither the Seven Righteous Sects nor the Demonic Five Sects can keep up with Lin Bai's rhythm at all.

In an era where information is completely transparent, it would be strange if they didn't get led by the nose by Lin Bai while continuing to act according to traditional patterns...

If they really wanted to carry out some Righteous and Evil Execution Order, they should have hidden it from the Heavenly Descended, issued it secretly, mobilized troops and generals, and taken him down in one go while Lin Bai was relaxed.

How could it be like this now, where a single Righteous and Evil Execution Order didn't scare Lin Bai, but instead made the Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects look incompetent, being led by the nose by Lin Bai everywhere.

……

During this period.

Lin Bai seized the time to complete the task of the Great Language System regarding "concise and comprehensive language," obtaining the new Skill "Silence."

Everyone around is his own people.

Everyone is counting on Lin Bai's cultivation to advance further; when Lin Bai says a word to grind the task of "Words Follow the Law," no one fails to cooperate.

After all.

For every bit Lin Bai's ability improves, their chances of winning increase by a bit.

Subsequently.

The Great Language System gave a new task:

"The Art of Pungent: The purpose of language is communication. You must appropriately leave opportunities for others to express themselves, be a listener, and use appropriate sentences to catch the other party's words, making the other party feel very comfortable and harmonious when talking to you; Reward: Provocation (When using this skill, no matter what you say, it will cause the other party to develop hostility toward you)."

Not to mention how bizarre the task is.

The reward for the new task looks very attractive!

What is Provocation?

Isn't it just a weakened version of Zhaofeng?

In any game, Zhaofeng to draw aggro is a standard skill in a team. If used well, it can completely influence the victory of a war.

But it's not so wonderful if it's oneself drawing the Zhaofeng!

His health is too thin!

It would be much more useful if this skill could be transferred to a Puppet!

(End of this chapter)