Chapter 932: Eliminating Dissent?

The Immortal Alliance is an organization jointly founded by the major forces of Zhong Tian Zhi Yu, intended to gather all living forces to counter the Demon Race's offensive during the war between humans and demons.

Zhong Tian Zhi Yu has fifteen continents; because the Demon Race sparked a war, the Otherworldly Race continent has already been seized by the demons, and this is the Human Continent Qinghengzhou, the closest to the Otherworldly Race.

Qinghengzhou is mountainous and watery, naturally a hard‑to‑attack yet easy‑to‑defend land, and being near the Otherworldly Race continent, many areas lack spiritual energy, so few humans reside there.

Cangwu City is the largest Immortal City in the region; the rest are mostly small towns or market settlements.

The Immortal Alliance is a coalition formed by the continents themselves; although it lacks a nominal leader, to preserve order and fairness it has invited several highly respected Great Vehicle Stage itinerant cultivators from the Zhong Tian cultivation world to take up residence. These itinerants belong to no sect, so there is no conflict of interest or collusion, making their presence more trustworthy.

However, when Lin Qingli ordered an investigation of the stationed cultivators who had fled back, many expressed discontent. After all, those cultivators had endured a brutal battle and surviving was already difficult; now being investigated naturally made them feel aggrieved and angry.

Nevertheless, despite the resentment, the Demon Extermination Department already holds the authority to investigate cultivators and has its own rhetoric. They would question the returning cultivators: "Everyone else died in battle; why did you escape? Don't tell me it's luck—perhaps you're colluding with the Demon Race, and they deliberately spared you as spies!"

In such a situation, even an Inspector finds it hard to say more. After all, the Demon Extermination Department's duty is to safeguard the cultivation world's safety and fairness; if collusion with the Demon Race truly existed, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Yet, the Inspector keenly sensed something amiss.

He thought the matter was not that simple; convicting those cultivators solely on superficial evidence seemed rash. Thus, he decided to investigate further.

"That scoundrel is brazenly making a fuss; perhaps someone is secretly backing her. Who exactly is plotting against me? I ask myself, I have no deep enmity with anyone—why would anyone go to such lengths to target me?!" the Inspector mused, his brows knitting tightly.

At that moment, several Elders hurried in, faces solemn; upon seeing the Inspector they immediately knelt and shouted in unison, "Sir! You must arbitrate for us!"

Seeing this, the Inspector's heart tightened, and he hurriedly asked, "What exactly happened? Speak quickly!"

"Sir, Lin Qingli is downright lawless! Not only has she begun arresting cultivators linked to those previously captured, she has escalated further, leading a group to investigate the sects surrounding the Immortal City! This turmoil has left the sects around the Immortal City in chaos, the populace anxious. Sir, you must intervene with her!"

"What?!" Upon hearing this, the Inspector's face darkened instantly; his eyes widened as he shouted in disbelief, "She still dares to continue the investigation?! Has Lin Qingli swallowed a bear's heart and a leopard's gall? She was investigated once before, which proved those people were innocent, so she should have stopped! Now she launches such a massive search again—does she not fear inciting public anger? By acting this way, isn't she treating all forces that joined the Immortal Alliance from Qinghengzhou as soft, squishable persimmons?!"

"Yes, sir! Please stop her quickly!"

The Inspector shifted his tone, saying lightly, "That may be so, but I have no good way to stop her. As you all know, an Inspector is dispatched from elsewhere to oversee inter‑continental affairs; although theoretically endowed with supervisory authority, in practice those powers are granted by the local forces."

Within the Immortal Alliance, Inspectors are rarely appointed from local‑origin cultivators; they are transferred between continents.

Although each continent's Immortal Alliance organization follows the Alliance's standard structure, regional differences inevitably breed grudges among the powers. Consequently, key departments such as the Demon Extermination Department and Internal Affairs Department are usually contested by local forces, leaving outsiders little chance to intervene.

The Jin Que Men behind Lin Qingli is a powerful force in Qinghengzhou. Previously, the Inspector supported Lin Qingli's rise partly to win over Jin Que Men. He never expected, however, that Lin Qingli would turn on him.

The Inspector refrains from covertly acting against Lin Qingli because, on one hand, he fears Jin Que Men, and on the other, he worries that Jin Que Men may have struck a deal with Inspectors from other continents to oust him. After all, power struggles within the Immortal Alliance are fierce.

If he acts against Lin Qingli now and she meets misfortune, Jin Que Men will likely erupt. They would report the incident to the Immortal Alliance headquarters, and he would certainly reap no good. In such a massive organization, no faction can be easily ignored.

"Sir, you…?" the surrounding Elders' faces turned grim.

The Inspector squinted; he didn't want to be inexplicably removed from his post, but for the sake of his reputation, he rose and said:

"Since you all are dissatisfied with Lord Lin's actions, why not go straight to Jin Que Men?"

"Jin Que Men…," the Elders' faces remained grim.

Jin Que Men is a major force in Qinghengzhou; although no prodigies have emerged in recent years, it controls over half of the Spiritual Material reserves stored in the cultivators' Accumulation Devices.

In short, it's wealthy.

Moreover, the founder of Jin Que Men is said to be a Tribulation Crossing Stage cultivator who has been in seclusion for millennia; though his life status is unknown, within the rule‑bound Zhong Tian Zhi Yu, no one dares to act against Jin Que Men directly.

The Inspector smiled lightly, "You might ask Jin Que Men whether they intend to purge dissenters or to dominate Qinghengzhou alone. Now Lord Lin holds the Demon Extermination Department, bestows rewards generously, and enjoys unified support; that's not easy to dismantle."

The surrounding Elders immediately realized that the Inspector probably intended to use them as tools against Lin Qingli.

But considering the safety of themselves and their disciples, the Elders gritted their teeth and began to discuss.