Chapter 293: Coping

"Deng Cancan probably doesn't have the face to log on anymore, right?" 【Bitter Melon Vine】 said.

"It's not about having no face, it's that he doesn't dare to log on. He cursed Lin Bai in public; do you think Xu Longyun and the others would spare him? Just now, the look in Xu Longyun's eyes was enough to kill," 【Silver】 said.

"Why is he so unable to let go? Why on earth did he go and curse Lin Bai?" 【Tiger Descending the Mountain】 said.

"Think about his experiences all this time. From the beginning, he usurped Lin Bai's name, and later he was tortured by Lin Bai every step of the way. Just when he finally saw hope, Lin Bai lightly stripped away his hope and the halo on his body again. Anyone would be unable to take that!" 【Huangye Lang】 said with pity.

"Most likely he deleted his account and started over! He should be like Gugao Laoren, a lifelong hater of Lin Bai from now on," 【Silver】 said.

"Lao Gu has the ability to stir up trouble, but what does he have? You overestimate him too much," 【I Am Not a Smurf】 scoffed. "If he had even half of Lao Gu's brains, holding the identity of Lin Bai's disciple, he would have been flourishing long ago. How could he have ended up as obscure as he is now? Even Lao Mi is more ruthless than him..."

"That's true," 【Silver】 laughed. "From Gugao Laoren to Deng Li Buduo, Shopkeeper Lin doesn't care about the players at all!"

"In Shopkeeper Lin's heart, he has always regarded players as a catastrophe," 【I Am Not a Smurf】 said. "Even though he keeps saying he wants to let the Heavenly Descended integrate into this world, deep down, he still wants to drive the players out of this world, just like what the nine ancestors of the Justice Gate are doing—solving the problem of the Heavenly Descended from the root."

"Besides, we don't have anything worth him caring about," 【Huangye Lang】 said. "Except for *Justice Weekly* and *Heavenly Dao Review*, we are dispensable in the Justice Alliance and can be replaced by anyone at any time."

A single sentence.

The players fell into silence simultaneously.

"Our levels are too low," 【Longxi】 said.

"Perhaps Shopkeeper Lin's Teacher Dao was never meant for players; Deng Li Buduo was just an accident. After all, the players' cultivation speed is already very fast. Teacher Dao is meant to smooth out the cultivation gap between NPCs and players, preventing the balance between the two from spiraling out of control once players' levels rise," 【Crazy Man】 said. "That Faith Dao which boosts combat power seems specifically prepared for players."

"Faith means no betrayal, and no betrayal brings a combat power bonus," 【Huangye Lang】 said. "Faith Dao is more like a way to distinguish factions. In other words, once you join the Justice Alliance, you can no longer betray them."

"The current Lin Bai Support Group is almost entirely female players, acting as cheerleaders and shouting slogans. Even if they increase their combat power by ten percent, what can they do?" 【Bitter Melon Vine】 said.

"Don't underestimate female fans. For the sake of their idol, they can erupt with even stronger combat power," 【Silver】 said. "Besides, Lin Bai's various Fazhe Zhidao can all be upgraded. Now it's a ten percent increase, but who knows how much it will increase in the future?"

"I want to join the Support Group!" 【Longxi】 said.

"They have to let you in first," 【Bitter Melon Vine】 glanced at the few Support Group representatives over there, smiling somewhat evilly.

Increasing combat power by ten percent is not bad at all!

For someone in the Great Vehicle Realm, an additional ten percent combat power is enough to crush a comparable opponent.

The many natives in the hall felt their hearts skip a beat once again.

"Alliance Leader, what are the requirements for the Faith Dao?" Xiao Yu asked.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, the requirements for the Faith Dao are actually quite high," Lin Bai smiled bashfully, pointing at the few Heavenly Descended in the Support Group. "At the very least, one must be like them—worshiping and obsessing over me crazily, believing that everything I do is right. Even if I do something wrong, they can still find a suitable reason to explain it for me..."

"..." Everyone looked toward the direction of the Support Group in unison. Looking at the clothes they wore printed with Lin Bai's cartoon head, the Lin Bai dolls tied to their braids, and thinking back to their crazy screaming and shouting on the battlefield, often saying "Lin Bai Lin Bai I love you," "White God White God you're the best," they couldn't help but get goosebumps. They couldn't do that.

The conditions were too harsh.

"Alliance Leader, is there still a chance to be your disciple?" Xiao Yu asked, unwilling to give up.

"Naturally. Once my Teacher Dao improves, anyone will have the chance to be my disciple."

Lin Bai didn't care about the expelled 【Deng Li Buduo】 at all.

Taking him as a disciple in the first place was merely for the sake of a task from the Haoweirenshi System System System.

Now that his strength had soared to the Great Vehicle Realm, he no longer cared for the meager Spiritual Power fed back by 【Deng Li Buduo】. Even if Ye Song's Virtue Value wasn't enough, the one percent of Spiritual Power he fed back was still more substantial than 【Deng Li Buduo】's fifteen percent.

Moreover, 【Deng Li Buduo】 really had no bright spots; there wasn't a single place worth cultivating.

"Master, are there any special requirements for cultivating the Teacher Dao?" Ye Song looked at Ye Lan and asked.

The moment Lin Bai acknowledged his status as a disciple, Ye Song felt his own Spiritual Power circulation speed suddenly accelerate significantly. Enjoying such immediate benefits, he immediately thought of his lover and fellow disciple...

It's like nesting dolls!

Lin Bai glanced at him and said, "You have to figure that out yourself. When I wanted to cultivate the Teacher Dao, the corresponding divine abilities were born naturally. If you asked me to teach you the Teacher Dao, I really couldn't say. However, you can try the Faith Dao. Maintain your own characteristics and charm, let more people unconsciously become obsessed with you, and the Faith Dao should be cultivated..."

The Justice Alliance's post-war meeting drifted off-topic without anyone noticing, turning into a discussion on laws.

And the impact caused by the battle of Zhen City was far greater than Lin Bai had imagined.

Especially after the meeting content was spread through *Justice Weekly* and the players, it quickly triggered a strong earthquake among the common people and the Cultivation World.

The Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects, which had poured out in full force, had to stop in their tracks and re-discuss how to deal with the Justice Alliance.

Lin Bai's growth speed was too fast.

His ability to fight across realms using Fazhe Zhidao also drew the attention of all the sects.

They had to urgently convene a new meeting through the players.

"That brat is arrogant! We lost more than ten Great Vehicle Realm experts, and he still dares to demand compensation from us? Who gave him the guts?" Yi Wuji, the Sect Master of the Weapon Refinement Sect, roared in anger, completely disregarding whether his emotions could be transmitted through the Heavenly Descended.

"Sect Master Yi, please suppress your thunderous rage. Since things have reached this point, we must come up with a strategy to deal with Lin Bai as soon as possible," a player named 【Spirit Tool】 mimicked the Sect Master of the Danling Sect, Gu Shang, vividly.

At this moment.

Standing in front of Yi Wuji were eleven players, representing eleven sect masters, logging on and off, transmitting content back and forth, busy to their hearts' content.

After many times of grinding, both the natives and the players had adapted to this novel way of communication.

The Group's entry had standardized the players' behavior and put an end to the bad habit of tampering with call content. To deal with NPCs for a long time, one must win their trust.

Such low-level conduct as tampering with call content was easily exposed and was not worth the loss.

And the players who acted as telephones were also regarded as confidants by the sect members, always reaping more cultivation resources and techniques; they themselves were unwilling to lose this profession.

"What if he has the cultivation of the Great Vehicle Realm? No matter how capable he is, can he withstand our twelve sects joining forces? Even with him, the Justice Alliance only has nine Great Vehicle Realm experts. Do the defectors like Ye Song and the others have the guts to resist once they know we have arrived?" said Qu Chaoan, the Blood Sect Master.

"Sect Master Qu is right. Lin Bai's growth speed is too fast. If we don't eliminate this hidden danger in time and let him grow, it won't be long before the Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects no longer exist in this world," the Holy Master of the Shengji Sect said gloomily. "In just three short months, from an ordinary martial artist to having the cultivation of the Great Vehicle Realm—such speed is unprecedented and will never be seen again."

"It's just external force, after all," the Demon Lord of Tianmo Mountain retorted. "He turns Golden Core cultivators into Puppets, and he has the cultivation of the Golden Core Realm; he turns Spirit Transformation cultivators into Puppets, and he has the cultivation of the Spirit Transformation Realm; he turns Great Vehicle Realm cultivators into Puppets, and he has the cultivation of the Great Vehicle Realm. None of his cultivation comes from himself. Break his Puppetry. Even if he has mastered many laws, I'm afraid he won't be able to cause any harm to any of us."

"The Holy Master is right. Looking at all of Lin Bai's battles, there has never been a time where his Fazhe Zhidao directly harmed someone. To date, his strongest strike didn't look like a law, but rather like a sonic technique. He used that sonic technique once and never used it again; there must be some taboo, or he himself cannot withstand it," said the Frost Sword Saint of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

"Lin Bai claims he wants to cultivate the Heavenly Dao; perhaps the Law of Cultivation does not allow him to commit more slaughter," said Zen Master Hui Guang of the Buddha Spirit Sect.

"The so-called laws like Binding Immortal, Moon Chasing, and Heavenly River, while seemingly powerful, are not fatal and always have ways to be broken. The only thing that can cause us harm is his Forced Marriage. That method is silent and impossible to guard against. Once he connects a marriage, even one's thoughts will be changed. It is truly the nemesis of us cultivators," said Sect Master Qiushui Chen of the Danling Sect.

"Sect Master Qiushui is right. Being bound in marriage to an outsider is not scary; what is scary is being bound in marriage to one of Lin Bai's Puppets. One will unconsciously protect the safety of the Puppet and subsequently be instigated by Lin Bai—it is disgusting to the extreme," said the Poison Sect Master Ye Luo. "He has used this move at least three times."

"When all is said and done, we must still eliminate his Puppets completely," said the Frost Cold Sword Saint of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

"With the Magpie Bridge in existence, it is already very difficult to capture Lin Bai," said the Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Sect, who had been silent until now. "Otherwise, he would not be so fearless, using his sect to threaten us. You all know his 'enemy retreats, I harass' tactic of swapping bases; if he were to steal our base, what face would the seven righteous sects have left?"

"Patriarch Yuan Qing is mistaken. Our sects have operated for tens of thousands of years; even if all those in the Great Vehicle Realm were to leave, we still have ancestors in the Tribulation Transcendence Stage sitting in the sect. If we anger the ancestors and they are willing to have the Tribulation Lightning possess them to strike, how many Lin Bais could withstand it?" said the Holy Master of the Shengji Sect. "Patriarch Yuan Qing, surely you aren't truly frightened by Lin Bai to the point of not even daring to make a move!"

"Holy Master, tell me then, how do we deal with Lin Bai's Magpie Bridge?" said Patriarch Yuan Qing of the Heavenly Dao Sect. "With the Magpie Bridge there, how much certainty do you all have of killing all the Puppets in Lin Bai's hands in one go? From the time Lin Bai entered the world until now, he has never been defeated; how do you know he is just fear-mongering? When he was in the Void Refinement Realm, he could already turn those in the Great Vehicle Realm into Puppets. If he were to do the same in our sects and turn our Tribulation Transcendence Stage ancestors into Puppets, what would we do then?"

"If he turns a Tribulation Transcendence Stage ancestor into a Puppet, it would actually be a good thing for us," said Bahuang, Sect Master of the Beast Taming Sect. "Once they reach the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, the moment they make a move, they trigger the Tribulation Lightning; the Justice Alliance would then be ours to manipulate."

"If a Tribulation Transcendence Stage ancestor is willing to sacrifice themselves, sparing no cost to die, and drags Lin Bai into the Tribulation Lightning, then no matter how great his abilities are, it would all be over," said Lu Wei, Valley Master of the Wanhun Valley. "Throughout history, not a single Cultivator caught in the Tribulation Lightning has survived; even if he has the Magpie Bridge, he cannot escape the lock-on of the Tribulation Lightning."

"Valley Master Lu's suggestion is not without merit," the Sect Master of the Shengji Sect laughed. "However, to kill a twenty-something-year-old brat, we would have to sacrifice a Tribulation Transcendence Stage ancestor. If this were to spread, what face would the seven righteous sects and the five demonic sects have to continue their legacy? At that point, I fear everyone would want to practice the Law of Cultivation. If the world produces a few more monsters like Lin Bai, are we to exhaust our Tribulation Transcendence Stage ancestors one by one? What if one day, we ourselves reach the Tribulation Transcendence Stage?"

Everyone fell into silence.

After a long while.

Qu Chaoan of the Blood Sect finally said: "This won't work, that won't work; are we just going to watch as Lin Bai eats away at our resources step by step, growing into a behemoth and annexing us one by one?"

Patriarch Yuan Qing of the Heavenly Dao Sect said: "Perhaps there is no such thing as a law in this world; everything is merely a means for Lin Bai to strengthen himself. The so-called law is more like a demonic path. We should find a way to appease Lin Bai, then gradually reverse the world's impression of him and change the world's view on the Law of Cultivation. By proceeding slowly, we might be able to stop Lin Bai's growth."

The Sect Master of the Poison Sect sneered: "Patriarch Yuan Qing has good methods; the strategy I just heard from Chilian has already been proposed by you first."

Patriarch Yuan Qing said: "With the Heavenly Descended in the world, there are no more secrets. Sect Master Ye need not be so concerned. It is Sect Master Ye who, despite having a good plan to deal with Lin Bai, hides it and does not share it with everyone. In our several battles with Lin Bai, the seven righteous sects and the five demonic sects have been thwarted at every turn precisely because we guarded against each other and acted on our own. If we do not learn our lesson, that is the path to destruction."

"Appease him, how do we appease him?" the Poison Sect Sect Master raged. "Are we to agree to his conditions, pay him war reparations, and then hand over my Poison Sect's Chilian and the Blood Sect's Song Yaoqing to Lin Bai to apologize? Can you not see that Lin Bai wants to use this opportunity to stall for time and spread his Magpie Bridge across the entire world?"

"If it is for the sake of the world, sacrificing Chilian and Song Yaoqing is not unreasonable," said the Heavenly Sword Sect Sect Master. "After all, this chaos was incited by them; using them to temporarily appease Lin Bai is appropriate."

"Patriarch Yuan Qing also knows that there are no secrets among the Heavenly Descended. By openly stating the method to deal with Lin Bai here, are you not worried about it reaching Lin Bai's ears?" Qu Chaoan of the Blood Sect said coldly.

"If I don't say it, do you think Lin Bai won't know?" said Patriarch Yuan Qing of the Heavenly Dao Sect. "Why did Lin Bai make the contents of the Justice Alliance public? Wouldn't it have been better to hide them? The Justice Alliance is his personal domain; it would have been much easier for him to hide it than for us, yet he still revealed it. This is enough to prove that he also has an intention to compromise! As things stand, the chaos in the world is already set; giving both sides a chance to catch their breath is beneficial to everyone."

(End of chapter)