The grand-master's promises were spun out of thin air, but Wang Yulou genuinely believed them.
It was the Mang Xiang version of "The Emperor's New Clothes," except that this grand-master was far more terrifying than any mortal emperor. His words might not have been formal decrees, but more often than not, they carried the force of absolute, self-executing law.
Many people shared Wang Yulou's line of thinking.
A lowborn wretch like Mang Xiang might be a piece of trash, but out of the twenty Purple Palace seats he promised, surely three or five would materialize, right?
Even if three or five was stretching it, two or three would do. After all, there were only a few dozen veterans in the Red Lantern Illumination Sect who were actually qualified to touch the barrier of the Purple Palace stage. If there were two or three spots, everyone stood a chance.
Under Mang Xiang's ultimate carrot, the Red Lantern Illumination forces on the front lines of the two-sect war seed to have been wound up tight. Those seasoned Foundation Establishnt cultivators who had previously been coasting because they lacked a Purple Mansion opportunity had now completely transford.
Of course, if one were to speak of the single greatest change, it had to be Wang Yulou.
Six months ago, True Person Gua's roar had shattered the Middle Front. Half of the cultivators stationed there died. It was only because Immortal Venerable Mangxiang stepped in that the line didn't completely collapse.
However, the massive gap left in their defenses beca the focal point of the struggle between the two sects.
The prestige of the Middle Front's town guard had risen so high under Wang Yulou that he practically rivaled the sect master. In fact, Old Huang had never dared to give him reckless orders.
"In truth, expanding the scope of the Foundation Establishnt conscription ahead of schedule is a good thing for everyone.
If we wait until the fighting becos critical to drag people in, we would only be harming them.
Arriving at the front line early lets them adapt to the rhythm of the war. Only then can they survive it."
The man clad in a golden spiritual artifact robe sat high in the main hall of the Middle Front guard office. His voice carried past the screens in the hall, reaching the ears of the few individuals standing below.
In a grand war, even Foundation Establishnt cultivators beca fodder to fill the lines. In Wang Yulou's eyes, their lives had already hardened into re numbers.
A soft heart couldn't hold a firm footing. If Wang Yulou had continued to indulge in naive, sentintal solutions after Mang Xiang appointed him as the Middle Front's town guard, Mang Xiang would have disposed of him instead.
Besides, Wang Yulou wasn't wrong. The Sky Serpent Sect was already raising the stakes.
If the Red Lantern Illumination Sect didn't match them imdiately, if the Middle Front didn't adjust right away, the reinforcent cultivators from the Sky Serpent Sect would adapt to the battlefield. By the ti Wang Yulou threw in temporary conscripts to plug the gaps, it would only result in another boundless sea of blood.
The Immortal Alliance had been stable for too many years. The Foundation Establishnt cultivators under its governance were highly restricted by its laws, leaving most of them completely unfamiliar with magical combat at the Foundation Establishnt realm.
Without adapting beforehand, dragging them onto the battlefield blindly could easily result in an atrocious ten-to-three casualty exchange ratio.
The grand-master's Great Favor Distribution had been ongoing for many years. The Foundation Establishnt cultivators of the Red Lantern Illumination Sect were already slightly inferior to those of the Sky Serpent Sect. As the Middle Front's town guard, Wang Yulou had to serve the victory of the war.
Even if victory was difficult to achieve, he had to at least ensure they didn't lose.
"Fellow Daoist Yuque, reinforcing the lines is easy to say, but we are nearly out of funds for the death indemnities.
The Sect Master's Hall sent a letter stating that we should pay the Foundation Establishnt cultivators first and let the Qi Refining cultivators wait, promising to make it up to them in a lump sum in six months.
But three months ago, the Sect Master's Hall gave the exact sa reply. Three months after three months, six months after six months—if this keeps up, I won't be able to stay in this seat."
A seasoned Foundation Establishnt cultivator complained with a bitter face.
The Red Lantern Illumination Sect did not lack resources, but vast amounts of wealth were consud by routine sect expenditures, leaving very little that could be flexibly withdrawn.
Huang Qiusheng squeezed and scraped, and in the end, he could only squeeze the Qi Refining beasts of burden on the front lines.
Could you say Huang Qiusheng was evil?
No. Put anyone else in his position, and they would have to resort to the exact sa asures.
Without strength, one had no voice in the cultivation world.
"This is indeed an issue, a real issue."
Wang Yulou pondered for a mont but offered no further solution. The cultivators in the hall looked at one another, left with no choice but to wait.
"The grand war has been raging for nearly a year. During this ti, even the Purple Mansion cultivators of the Sky Serpent Sect have made moves.
The trend toward a long-term, normalized conflict is glaringly obvious.
Immortal Venerable Mangxiang entrusted the responsibility of guarding the Middle Front to , and I absolutely cannot fail the Immortal Venerable's deep trust.
How to gain an advantage in a long-term standoff is a major question. I have been reflecting on it lately, and I've finally gathered so thoughts."
He trailed off. Mid-sentence, this little wretch Wang Yulou suddenly stopped talking.
"We pray for Fellow Daoist Yuque's guidance."
"No, it's far from guidance. I was just thinking whether we should strengthen our connections with the various forces, large and small, within a few hundred li behind the battle lines.
That way, if an ergency arises on the front lines again, we can call upon them for tily support.
I am rely throwing out a crude idea to invite better ones. Every Fellow Daoist here possesses a higher cultivation base than Yulou. In the end, the execution of these matters relies entirely on you."
The benefits of the grand-master's frantic carrot-dangling were fully evident at this mont. The personnel within the Central Line Defense Pass included plenty of mbers from other factions.
Yet, when Wang Yulou utilized them, he always treated them as his own.
The Purple Mansion opportunity dangled by Mang Xiang was like the shadow of a beauty cast upon a paper window screen. Though blurry and indistinct, it was incredibly alluring, leaving those cultivators who still dread of reaching the Purple Palace realm completely lightheaded.
Qing Xirui of the Fuyan Faction quickly spoke up.
"Fellow Daoist Yuque's idea is magnificent! The previous node defense and reinforcent models have gradually been figured out by the Sky Serpent Sect..."
It was unclear whether this female cultivator with a seasoned Foundation Establishnt cultivation base genuinely failed to read between the lines of Wang Yulou's speech. Regardless, she expressed her support for Wang Yulou with utmost sincerity and enthusiasm.
The future of the dual-venerable joint governance had not yet been realized, but the disciples under the Purple Mansion masters of the Fuyan Faction had already begun to shift their allegiances.
The grand-master had brought the phrase "as long as you hold on, everything will get better" to its absolute peak performance.
Before the war, his path to the Golden Core was still subject to doubt. After the war began, neither the Red Lantern Illumination Sect nor the Sky Serpent Sect could easily back down, and the grand-master's Golden Core realm path gradually beca clear.
Aside from not knowing exactly when the grand-master intended to attain his core, anyone who had witnessed the two Immortal Venerables' wariness toward Mang Xiang knew that the grand-master's Golden Core was a certainty.
"What do you know? If that guy farts, you lot take it as gospel! How many Purple Mansion cultivators does the Red Lantern Illumination Sect even have for him to dare promise twenty more?
Wang Yulou, your Mangxiang Faction is using this war to seize power again, even trying to expand your reach several hundred li behind the Middle Front.
Just how many li do you want?"
The speaker was Zou Tianhang's younger brother, Zou Dide. He could no longer endure it.
The big picture of the two-sect war was important, but the big picture of the Illuminating Faction was also important. He had to defend both, and if he couldn't have both, then naturally, the interests of the Illuminating Faction took precedence.
The concrete case of dual-venerable governance could be observed in Dripdrop Cave. As a "Little General of Mang Xiang" personally acknowledged by Mang Xiang, Wang Yulou's future was bound to be riddled with obstacles.
"What is the aning of this? I rely suggested strengthening our connections. How did Senior Brother Dide twist it into seizing power?
Immortal Venerable Mangxiang once said: the sect must be united, the disciples must be harmonious, and no one is permitted to pull the rug from under another's feet.
Yulou dares not forget these words for a single mont. Senior Brother Dide must not slander ."
With Zou Dide and Wang Yulou trading barbs, the others didn't dare chi in.
Of course, the matter was ultimately carried out according to Wang Yulou's wishes—all for the sake of victory.
After concluding a day of routine internal strife, Wang Yulou invited Qing Xirui to a small gathering in his residence.
Qing Xirui had nearly a hundred descendants combined, so Wang Yulou naturally wouldn't have any romantic entanglents with her.
"...Senior Martial Sister Xirui, the situation is exactly as it seems. Whoever brings in more forces and more Foundation Establishnt cultivators will naturally receive more of our attention.
The Immortal Alliance has existed stably for so many years. The grand-master needs so many Purple Palace cultivators because he might want to ignite a civil war within the Immortal Alliance soday.
In war, everyone encounters danger, but opportunities that would normally remain hidden also reveal themselves.
I hope you can properly convey these intentions for Yulou, Senior Martial Sister. As for you... you are already one of our own."
After seeing Qing Xirui off, Wang Yulou sank into deep thought.
In theory, strengthening connections was ant to establish a more stable defensive layout. Objectively, this process also served to expand the Behemoth Lineage.
Expanding their base of power wasn't about mindlessly accepting people. If anyone could just kowtow in front of Xuanzhuan and Danri to slap on the Behemoth Lineage label, then that label would be far too cheap.
The core, inner circle, periphery, and fringes of a faction required a corresponding system to be built. Equality for all was a lie. There were only so many opportunities, and those who seized them were inherently unequal compared to those who remained obscure.
Furthermore, Wang Yulou had another consideration for pushing this matter.
It was still that sa bottom-up logic. He had pulled three thousand Qi Refining cultivators from the West Sea. Yi Zouri slaughtered them down to two thousand, and True Person Gua slaughtered them down to just one thousand.
Out of one thousand Qi Refining cultivators, whether they could produce even fifty Foundation Establishnt cultivators was a question.
Therefore, Wang Yulou had to consider the issue of his future base of power within the Behemoth Lineage.
The Wang Clan was undoubtedly Wang Yulou's aid, but the clan's scale was only a little over two hundred people. Could they support two Purple Palace cultivators under Mang Xiang's tutelage?
Absolutely not.
Attaining the Purple Palace was simple; it was what ca after that was difficult.
Fighting alone was certain death. Jumping between sides ant nobody would trust you. A Purple Palace cultivator without a Golden Core Immortal Venerable as a backer would be even worse off than Zhou Bojiao.
Thinking up to this point, Yulou looked in the direction of the West Sea.
My dear father-in-law, are you doing well?
Although Shen Guang was a Golden Core, his foundation was far too unusual.
Although Mu Changze was a Purple Palace cultivator, he had attained his realm far too opportunistically.
Wang Yulou guessed that Old Mu's situation was likely not very carefree.
——
Mu Changze's situation was more than just not carefree.
The Immortal Kingdom, the Immortal King's Palace.
True Person Shunmu, who had been lying prone by the Auspicious Deer's heart taking beautiful, deep gulps of blood, raised his head. He wiped his catfish mouth in dissatisfaction and muttered.
"Here, eat these blood-generating spiritual pills. The heartblood is too scarce; it's not satisfying enough to drink."
As it turned out, Old Mu hadn't been eaten to death by a thousand cuts outright. Instead, he was being consud in a slow, steady trickle.
Eaten while being healed. It was thanks to the imnse vitality of a wood-attribute Demon King like the Auspicious Deer that he could withstand such blood-sucking and marrow-eating.
Having his spiritual blood sucked out while alive, Mu Changze's soul was completely numb. He could control his pain receptors, so he didn't feel agony.
The numbness stemd from his inability to see the end of these days.
He numbly swallowed the spiritual pills. Before the dicinal efficacy could even be refined, Shunmu sliced another massive chunk of at from the inside of Mu Changze's spine.
"Rest well for half a month. We'll cut more at then. Changze, you need to look at the bigger picture.
The imdiate predicant is severe, but you attained the Purple Palace realm. You can't possibly expect to pay no price at all, can you?
Recover well and absolutely do not despair. We will let you go in a hundred years."
The giant-like True Person Shunmu stood up, thoughtfully patting Mu Changze's deer head with two fingers.
This was the true status of a worthless Purple Palace cultivator.
For a bottom-tier Purple Palace cultivator, their magical combat ability was virtually non-existent among peers of the sa realm, and their proficiency in other areas couldn't compete with the veteran Purple Palace masters either.
On top of that, Mu Changze lacked his own followers, disciples, and harvestable resources.
Naturally, a Mu Changze like this had no capacity to resist—even if he wanted to sell his life, no one would necessarily be willing to buy it.
At the end of the day, it was simply because Shen Guang was too weak.
Thinking of Shen Guang, Mu Changze closed his eyes. The dicinal power repaired his body, which was missing chunks here and there, but it couldn't repair the pain in his heart.
Did he regret it?
A little. If the only result of sacrificing everything along the way was to serve himself up onto the dining table of the truly strong, then this process of cultivation seed far too cruel.
——
While Mu Changze obsessively thought about Shen Guang, even harboring so hatred, Shen Guang hadn't spared a single thought for him.
In Shen Guang's eyes, offering the Purple Mansion opportunity in exchange for acting as an ingredient for a hundred years was a trade where Mu Changze suffered no loss.
After all, finding a second grand cultivator within the Immortal Alliance as devoid of rules as Shen Guang would be exceedingly difficult.
Shen Guang had been in a good mood lately. Wang Yulou, whom he had his eye on, had actually managed to sit smoothly in the position of the Middle Front's town guard for the Red Lantern Illumination Sect.
Even if Wang Yulou didn't enter under his tutelage, as a promising seedling Shen Guang had discovered, his display of extraordinary capability was naturally sothing Shen Guang was happy to see—it proved there was nothing wrong with his judgnt.
However, the thing that brought Shen Guang the most joy was that, perhaps due to growing proficiency, the speed of his grotto-heaven's transformation had suddenly increased.
Inside Shen Guang's grotto-heaven, that massive sphere continued to spin day and night. However, unlike before, Shen Guang's grotto-heaven now possessed the concept of north, south, east, and west for the first ti.
This was the first stage of grotto-heaven cultivation: Setting the Four Directions.
Once this step was completed, the next would be the Return of the Five Elents.
Yet Shen Guang was astonished to discover that the speed of the Return of the Five Elents was also a margin faster than expected.
This ant that the accelerated speed of Setting the Four Directions wasn't due to his increased proficiency, but for another reason. Otherwise, the Return of the Five Elents wouldn't be this fast either.
"Those damned old fogeys. Old and refusing to die, nothing but thieves. Stealing the myriad spirits' opportunities for enlightennt, stealing the resources of the Great Heaven.
It would be one thing if they just stole, but they don't even say a word about it! Dammit, truly damned!"
Wang Yulou probably couldn't imagine that in this cultivation world, Immortal Venerables were equally subjected to the predicant of being harvested by information gaps.
Shen Guang's Golden Core thod was given to him by a Demon King of the Demon Nation, but the Demon King didn't give him the thods for what ca after the Golden Core.
The Grotto-heaven Law might seem like a simple concept, but the Grotto-heaven Law of different individuals varied completely.
Shen Guang's Grotto-heaven Law was uniquely his own, heavily modified after purchasing it from Qingrui.
This was also one of the main reasons Shen Guang imdiately shrank his head back when Qingrui sent people to the West Sea.
He was truly afraid.
——
Red Lantern Illumination Sect, Mang Xiang Mountain, Yan Family Detached Courtyard.
Similar to Shen Guang's confusion over the sudden acceleration of his grotto-heaven transformation, Yan Keli was also bewildered by the loosened barrier to the Purple Palace realm.
Why did it suddenly feel like attaining the Purple Palace had beco sowhat easier lately?
After feeling it out carefully for half a month and making a few attempts, he beca increasingly certain that his intuition wasn't wrong.
The Great Heaven's resistance against his attempt to open his Purple Palace seed to have lessened. But it wasn't a strict decrease; one day, it suddenly spiked massively again.
However, after the resistance spiked, it didn't continue to grow. Instead, it maintained an overall decreasing trend.
Yan Keli waited for many days until the Great Heaven's resistance finally shrank back to its previous lower limit.
Afraid that this was the absolute minimum and that it would suddenly shoot back up, Yan Keli didn't dare delay. He imdiately began his official charge at the Purple Palace barrier.
Different Purple Palace cultivators experienced different processes when breaking through. Wang Yulou understood this point, but the majority of people within the Red Lantern Illumination Sect did not.
To open his Purple Palace, Yan Keli used the ancient and diocre Acupoint Connection Purple Mansion thod. It offered no extra longevity and no special assistance. The only benefit was the ability to cultivate divine abilities much faster.
With more acupoints, divine abilities beca easier to practice. Purple Palace divine abilities were vastly more complex than those at Foundation Establishnt, easily requiring over a hundred acupoints, whereas Peak Foundation Establishnt only offered thirty-six.
By opening the Purple Palace with the Acupoint Connection thod, one could shift the work of refining acupoints forward to the Foundation Establishnt stage, thereby saving so of the trouble of opening them after reaching the Purple Palace.
Therefore, the Acupoint Connection Purple Mansion thod wasn't actually that terrible. The real reason it was phased out was that the Grotto-heaven Purple Palace thod completely abandoned the ancient path of using acupoints to bear divine abilities.
Grand cultivators who practiced the Grotto-heaven Purple Palace thod could use their own grotto-heavens to bear their divine abilities. Compared to tiny acupoints, a grotto-heaven that spanned hundreds of li as a baseline was naturally far more powerful.
As an old cultivation art, the Acupoint Connection thod's approach to opening the Purple Palace was incredibly crude. Describing it as brute force driving a brick wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Different cultivators connected different acupoint locations. For instance, those who practiced wood arts often needed to connect more acupoints in the liver among the five viscera, while those practicing fire arts typically connected heart acupoints.
Yan Keli practiced earth arts, aning his acupoint connections centered around his spleen. Over the past few decades of cultivating regardless of the cost, he had opened another fifty-three acupoints on top of his baseline thirty-six.
Thus, he had eighty-nine.
Majestic magical power gathered from the eighty-nine acupoints, acting like eighty-nine blazing suns scorching the shackles that barricaded the Purple Palace in his mind.
In legends, the Purple Palace was the dwelling of immortals. Later, after ancient cultivators attained the Purple Palace realm, they effectively gained longevity and imnse power, becoming "immortals" in reality.
Thus, the Purple Palace stage was born.
The Great Heaven's resistance against Yan Keli was indeed much smaller. In just half a day, the shackles stretching across the barrier to his Purple Palace had already been mostly ground away by the continuous stream of magical power suns from his acupoints.
Even Yan Keli himself never imagined that opening the Purple Palace could be this simple.
It even seed sowhat simpler than when he first established his foundation...
In truth, this wasn't strange. When Yan Keli established his foundation, it felt difficult because he had only just set foot on the path of cultivation. He hadn't understood its profound mysteries, let alone possessed the composure honed through long-term tempering.
And now, his ability to open the Purple Palace was because he was one of the most extraordinary Foundation Establishnt cultivators under Mang Xiang's tutelage.
For a seasoned Foundation Establishnt cultivator like Yan Keli, if the Purple Palace thods hadn't been restricted, and if the interests involved in opening the Purple Palace weren't so troubleso, it would only be normal for his attempt to open it to be easier.
After spending a day and a half, Yan Keli cautiously shattered the Purple Palace barrier.
With the barrier broken, the next step was for his divine sense to enter the Purple Palace and freely obtain longevity.
However...
Abruptly, Yan Keli suddenly felt the Great Heaven's resistance strengthen by several tis in an instant.
He watched helplessly as the Purple Palace barrier he had just shattered rged back together once again.
——
The saying "when the ti is right, heaven and earth lend their strength" was utter nonsense. White Li never believed it.
If a cultivator entrusted their fate to ethereal, illusory luck, they would undoubtedly et with extre misfortune.
What White Li believed was that as long as she acted and tried, there would be opportunities, and there would be change.
The ups and downs of fate were perfectly ordinary. What was extraordinary were the individuals themselves, surging upstream against the current of a turbulent era.
No era was particularly special; it was always those who dared to act who reached the absolute peak.
She casually crushed the letter Wang Yulou had written to her. The paper dissolved into a mist of water, scattering into the heaven and earth of Dripdrop Cave with a single gust of wind.
As the master of this grotto-heaven, White Li could achieve almost anything she desired.
This stretch of heaven and earth had been forged by her hands. Whatever happened here was naturally up to her.
Starting from when Stone Ancestor revealed himself half a year ago, Wang Yulou had sent a letter into Dripdrop Cave every single month.
To cover up the fact that the letters were specifically for Bai Xiaoyu, Wang Yulou had even gone through the trouble of establishing a "Fellow Daoist Yuque Contact chanism."
He had a dedicated Foundation Establishnt cultivator by his side tasked with managing the delivery of letters to Wang Yulou's fellow Daoists.
For ordinary Daoist friends like Zheng Yan from the West Sea, a letter was sent every three months just to say hello.
For close Daoist friends like Mo Yunshu from the West Sea, a letter was sent every month and a half to foster their bond.
For special relatives and friends like Bai Xiaoyu, a letter was sent once a month to exchange updates.
The true objective, naturally, were the letters sent into Dripdrop Cave, directly into Bai Xiaoyu's hands.
However, the Immortal Venerable was fond of leaving him on read.
Even though Wang Yulou had doted on the Little Fish of the past, they had lived apart for many years.
As for the Little Fish of today, no matter how hard Wang Yulou tried to climb the social ladder, he couldn't even get a single reply.
Of course, Wang Yulou guessed that Little Fish might be wary of Mang Xiang.
In reality, his guess wasn't entirely correct.
Inside Droplet Cave Heaven, White Li raised her hand and counted on her fingers.
Her jade-like fingers, resembling little white radishes, intertwined beautifully. It was truly a pity that Xiao Wang couldn't see it.
Hong Li seed to sense sothing. She suddenly appeared within the river bend Detached Courtyard and stood by White Li's side.
"Sister, isn't this too rushed?" Perfected Man Hongli asked worriedly.
White Li shook her head. The natal magic treasure that had accompanied her through ten thousand years of cultivation appeared in her hand.
It was a tiny seashell, only the size of a knuckle, but its shape was virtually identical to the shell held by the Immortal Venerable's statue in the main hall of Droplet Heaven Palace.
"While waiting, one always expects a better opportunity to arrive, but that is rely an illusion.
No one can predict the future. If it's rushed, then let it be rushed!"
As White Li spoke, she took flight from the river bend Detached Courtyard.
As she ascended, the magical robe she wore transford into a genuine magic treasure.
Top-grade spirit treasure magical robe—Liuqiong Xiri.
Spirit treasure ankle ring—Piercing Sky.
Top-grade spirit treasure hair hairpin—Vermillion Gold Flower Hairpin.
Low-grade immortal artifact armguard—True Dragon Retreat.
Natal magic treasure and mid-grade immortal artifact—Water Drop Immortal Shell.
The grotto-heaven of Immortal Venerable Di Shui spanned a radius of two thousand li, significantly larger than Mang Xiang's.
As an Immortal Venerable who had attained her Dao far earlier than Mang Xiang, White Li's strength and accumulated reserves naturally needed no elaboration.
Therefore, it wasn't strange at all for her to carry an assortnt of tyrannical magic treasures and even immortal artifacts.
Mang Xiang was incredibly formidable, but his strength lay in the fact that as long as Golden Core cultivators didn't show themselves, he could roam the world unchallenged.
However, compared to a true Golden Core... one could only say that compared to a true Golden Core, Mang Xiang still needed more practice.
Even if Mang Xiang successfully attained the Golden Core, he would still have to fight Shen Guang for the position of being the absolute floor of the Golden Core realm.
Inside Dripdrop Cave, Zhang Xuewu acutely sensed the change. Naturally, he couldn't see White Li revealing her true form, but he could feel that everything within the grotto-heaven was shifting.
Of course, in the end, things were carried out according to Wang Yulou's wishes—all for the sake of victory, after all.
Ending his day of routine internal strife, Wang Yulou invited Qing Xirui for a small gathering at his residence.
Qing Xirui was soone whose children and grandchildren numbered close to a hundred. Naturally, Wang Yulou had no intention of pursuing any romantic entanglents with her.
"...Senior Martial Sister Xirui, the situation is exactly as it stands. Whoever brings in more forces and more Foundation Establishnt cultivators will naturally receive greater appreciation from us.
"The Immortal Alliance has existed stably for many years. The patriarch requires so many Purple Mansion seats because he likely intends to trigger an internal war within the Immortal Alliance in the future.
"In war, everyone faces danger, but opportunities that are normally hidden will also erge.
"I hope Senior Martial Sister will convey this ssage on my behalf. As for you... you are already one of our own."
After seeing Qing Xirui out, Wang Yulou fell into deep thought.
Theoretically, strengthening connections was ant to establish a more stable defensive frawork. Objectively, this process also served to expand the influence of the Behemoth Lineage.
Expanding their foundational power structure wasn't about mindlessly recruiting just anyone. If everyone could simply kowtow before Xuanzhuan and Danri to be stamped with the Behemoth Lineage's label, then that label would be far too cheap.
The core, inner circle, periphery, and fringes of a faction required a corresponding structural frawork. Universal equality was a lie; there were only so many opportunities, and those who seized them were inherently unequal compared to those who remained obscure.
Furthermore, Wang Yulou had another consideration for pushing this matter forward.
It ca back to that bottom-up logic. He had brought three thousand Qi Refining cultivators from the West Sea. Yi Zouri's actions had left him with only two thousand, and True Person Gua's assault had further reduced them to one thousand.
Whether a thousand Qi Refining cultivators could even produce fifty Foundation Establishnt cultivators was a massive question mark.
Therefore, Wang Yulou had to consider his own foundational power base within the Behemoth Lineage for the future.
The Wang Clan was certainly Wang Yulou's helping hand, but the clan only had around two hundred mbers. Could they really support two Purple Mansion cultivators under Mangxiang's lineage?
Absolutely not.
Opening the Purple Palace was the simple part; the matters that followed were what was truly difficult.
Fighting alone ant certain death. Wavering between sides ant no one would trust you. A Purple Mansion cultivator without a Golden Core Immortal Venerable as a backer would end up in an even worse state than Zhou Bojiao.
With these thoughts in mind, Yulou looked toward the West Sea.
'My dear patron, are you doing well?'
Though Shen Guang was a Golden Core Immortal Venerable, his foundational base was far too peculiar.
Though Mu Changze was a Purple Mansion cultivator, his breakthrough had been far too opportunistic.
Wang Yulou deduced that Old Mu's circumstances were likely far from pleasant.
---
Mu Changze's circumstances were far worse than rely unpleasant.
The Demon Nation, inside the Immortal King Palace.
True Person Shunmu, crouched near the heart of an Auspicious Deer drinking a deep, satisfying draft of blood, raised his head. He wiped his catfish mouth in dissatisfaction and grumbled.
"Co, swallow these blood-generating spiritual pills. Your heart-blood is too ager; it's not enough to satisfy my thirst."
As it turned out, Old Mu had not been directly sliced to pieces and devoured. Instead, he was being consud slowly, like a trickling stream.
They fed on him while simultaneously healing him. It was fortunate that wood-attribute demon kings like the Auspicious Deer possessed imnse vitality, allowing them to withstand such continuous, agonizing consumption of their blood and marrow.
Having his spiritual blood actively drained left Mu Changze's very soul numb. He could control his own perception of pain, so he felt no physical agony.
The numbness stemd from the fact that he could see no end to this tornt.
He numbly swallowed the spiritual pills. Before the dicinal efficacy could even be refined, Shunmu carved another massive chunk of flesh from the inner side of Mu Changze's spine.
"Rest well for half a month. We will carve more flesh then. Changze, you must look at the long term.
"Your imdiate predicant is indeed severe, but you reached the Purple Palace stage; surely you didn't expect to pay no price at all, right?
"Recover well, and absolutely do not despair. We will release you in a hundred years."
The giant-like True Person Shunmu stood up and considerately patted Mu Changze's deer head with two fingers.
This was the true status of a Purple Mansion cultivator who possessed no intrinsic value.
A bottom-tier Purple Mansion cultivator possessed next to no combat capability compared to peers of the sa level, and their expertise in other fields couldn't compete with veteran Purple Mansion masters.
On top of that, Mu Changze lacked his own sect, disciples, or subordinates to exploit.
A cultivator like Mu Changze naturally lacked any ability to resist—even if he wanted to sell his life, no one would necessarily want to buy it.
Ultimately, it was because Shen Guang was too weak.
Thinking of Shen Guang, Mu Changze closed his eyes. The dicinal force repaired his body, which was missing chunks of flesh here and there, but it could not nd the ache in his heart.
Did he regret it?
Slightly. If the goal of sacrificing everything along the path was rely to deliver oneself onto the dining table of a true powerhouse, then this path of cultivation was simply far too cruel.
---
Mu Changze's mind was consud by thoughts of Shen Guang, even harboring a trace of hatred, yet Shen Guang didn't spare a single thought for him.
In Shen Guang's view, giving Mu Changze the opportunity to reach the Purple Palace stage in exchange for acting as an ingredient for a hundred years was a deal where Mu Changze hadn't lost out.
After all, finding a second grand cultivator within the Immortal Alliance as unconstrained by rules as Shen Guang was incredibly difficult.
Shen Guang had been in a fine mood recently. Wang Yulou, whom he had taken a liking to, had actually managed to smoothly ascend to the position of Town Guard of the Middle Front for the Red Lantern Illumination Sect.
Even if Wang Yulou wouldn't officially join his lineage, as a fine seedling he had personally discovered, seeing Wang Yulou display such extraordinary talent naturally pleased Shen Guang—it proved his judgnt had not been flawed.
But what brought Shen Guang the greatest joy was that, perhaps due to his growing familiarity with it, the speed of his grotto-heaven transformation had suddenly accelerated.
Within Shen Guang's grotto-heaven, that massive sphere was still spinning day and night. However, unlike before, the concepts of east, south, west, and north had manifested inside for the very first ti.
This marked the first stage of grotto-heaven cultivation: Fixing the Four Directions.
Once this step was completed, the next would be the Convergence of the Five Elents.
Yet, Shen Guang discovered to his astonishnt that the speed of the Convergence of the Five Elents was also a notch faster than anticipated.
This ant that the previous acceleration in Fixing the Four Directions wasn't because his own proficiency had improved, but due to so other underlying cause. Otherwise, the Convergence of the Five Elents wouldn't be progressing so rapidly.
"Those damned old bastards. Living so long without dying makes them thieves—stealing the paths to enlightennt of myriad spirits, stealing the resources of the Macrocosm.
"Stealing is one thing, but they keep absolutely quiet about it. Damned, truly damned!"
Wang Yulou likely could never imagine that even an Immortal Venerable in this cultivation world had to suffer the predicant of being exploited through information asymtry.
Shen Guang's Golden Core thod had been obtained from a demon king of the Demon Nation, but the demon king had not granted him the thods for the realms following the Golden Core.
The Grotto-heaven Law seed like a simple concept, but its concrete implentation varied completely from person to person.
Shen Guang's Grotto-heaven Law was a technique he had purchased from Qingrui and subsequently modified, turning it into a thod exclusive to him.
This was also one of the vital reasons why Shen Guang had imdiately backed down when Qingrui sent people to the West Sea back then.
He was truly terrified.
---
The Red Lantern Illumination Sect, Mang Xiang Mountain, the Yan Family Detached Courtyard.
Much like Shen Guang's bewildernt over the sudden acceleration of his grotto-heaven transformation, Yan Keli was also mystified by the barrier to the Purple Palace stage, which had suddenly beco much looser.
Why did it suddenly feel as though breaking through to the Purple Palace stage had beco sowhat easier recently?
He sensed it carefully for half a month, probing it a few tis, and beca increasingly certain that his intuition was correct.
The sense of obstruction imposed by the Macrocosm against his breakthrough to the Purple Palace stage seed to have lessened slightly. However, it wasn't a permanent reduction; on one particular day, the resistance had suddenly surged significantly.
Nevertheless, after that surge, the obstruction did not continue to grow. Instead, it maintained a downward trend.
Yan Keli waited for many days until the Macrocosm's obstruction finally shrank to its previous limit.
Fearing this might be its absolute limit before it suddenly spiked again, Yan Keli did not dare delay. He imdiately comnced his official charge against the Purple Mansion barrier.
Different Purple Mansion cultivators experienced different breakthrough processes. Wang Yulou was aware of this, but the majority of people within the Red Lantern Illumination Sect remained completely oblivious.
Yan Keli's breakthrough utilized the ancient, diocre Acupoint Connection Purple Mansion thod. It offered no extra longevity or special auxiliary support. Its sole benefit lay in allowing a faster mastery of divine abilities.
With more connected acupoints, divine abilities beca easier to practice. The divine abilities of the Purple Mansion realm were vastly more complex than those of the Foundation Establishnt stage, frequently requiring over a hundred acupoints, whereas the Peak Foundation Establishnt stage utilized only thirty-six.
Breaking through via the Acupoint Connection thod allowed a cultivator to shift the laborious work of polishing acupoints from the post-Purple Mansion stage to the Foundation Establishnt stage, bypassing so of the trouble they would encounter later on.
Hence, the Acupoint Connection Purple Mansion thod wasn't actually that terrible. The true reason it had been phased out was because the Grotto-heaven Law completely abandoned the ancient pathway of using acupoints to bear divine abilities.
Grand cultivators who practiced the Grotto-heaven Law could use their personal grotto-heavens to sustain divine abilities. Compared to a minuscule acupoint, a grotto-heaven that spanned hundreds of li was naturally infinitely more powerful.
As an ancient thod, the Acupoint Connection thod's approach to opening the Purple Palace was incredibly crude, not unlike forcing a square peg through a round hole with brute strength.
Different cultivators connected different acupoint locations. For instance, those practicing wood-elent arts often needed to connect more acupoints in the liver portion of the five viscera, while those practicing fire-elent arts connected the heart acupoints.
Yan Keli practiced earth-elent arts, using the spleen as the core of his connected acupoints. Over the past several decades, he had spared no expense in his cultivation. On top of the basic thirty-six acupoints, he had opened an additional fifty-three.
This brought his total to eighty-nine.
Boundless spiritual energy gathered from the eighty-nine acupoints, resembling eighty-nine miniature suns radiating blistering light, scorching the shackles that barred the way to the Purple Palace outside his mind.
Legend held that the Purple Mansion was the residence of immortals. Later on, ancient cultivators who reached the Purple Mansion stage practically gained longevity and supre authority, effectively becoming "immortals."
Thus, the Purple Mansion stage was born.
The sense of obstruction from heaven and earth against Yan Keli had indeed lessened significantly. In just half a day, the shackles spanning his Purple Mansion barrier had been nearly worn away by the continuous stream of spiritual power from the miniature suns in his acupoints.
Even Yan Keli himself had not anticipated that breaking through to the Purple Palace stage would be this simple.
In fact, it almost seed easier than his initial Foundation Establishnt breakthrough...
This wasn't actually surprising. When Yan Keli broke through to Foundation Establishnt, he found it difficult because he had rely taken his first steps onto the path of cultivation, lacking an understanding of its profound mysteries and the composure forged from long-term tempering.
Now, he could open his Purple Palace because he ranked among the most extraordinary Foundation Establishnt cultivators under Mangxiang's lineage.
For a seasoned Foundation Establishnt cultivator like Yan Keli, if the Purple Mansion thods weren't restricted and the interests tied to opening the Purple Palace weren't so troubleso, it was only natural for his breakthrough to be relatively relaxed.
After a day and a half, Yan Keli ticulously breached the Purple Mansion barrier.
With the barrier broken, the next step was for his divine sense to enter the Purple Palace, allowing him to enjoy the longevity of a master.
However—
Abruptly, Yan Keli felt the Macrocosm's sense of obstruction instantly intensify several tis over.
He watched helplessly as his newly breached Purple Mansion barrier snapped shut once more.
---
The notion of the world lending its strength when the ti was right was utter nonsense; White Li had never believed a word of it.
If a cultivator pinned their destiny on vague, epheral luck, they were bound to end up utterly miserable.
White Li believed that as long as one took action and made an attempt, opportunities and changes would manifest.
The rise and fall of destiny was rely ordinary. What was extraordinary was the individual who swam against the current in a tumultuous era.
No era was truly special; it was always those with the courage to act who ascended to the peak.
She casually crushed the letter Wang Yulou had written to her. The paper dissolved into a patch of mist, scattering into the environnt of Dripdrop Cave with a gentle gust of wind.
As the master of this grotto-heaven, White Li could accomplish almost anything she desired within its bounds.
This entire domain had been forged by her hands; what she said was absolute law within this space.
Ever since Stone Ancestor revealed himself six months ago, Wang Yulou had been sending a letter into Dripdrop Cave every single month.
To conceal the fact that these letters were explicitly ant for Bai Xiaoyu, Wang Yulou had gone through the arduous trouble of establishing a "Fellow Daoist Yuque Communication chanism."
He kept a specific Foundation Establishnt cultivator by his side whose sole duty was to handle the delivery of letters to his various acquaintances.
For ordinary acquaintances, like Zheng Yan in the West Sea, a letter was sent once every three months just to exchange greetings.
For closer friends, like Mo Yunshu in the West Sea, a letter was sent every month and a half to foster their relationship.
For special intimates, like Bai Xiaoyu, a letter was dispatched every month to share updates on the situation.
Naturally, the most critical letters were those sent into Dripdrop Cave, directly into Bai Xiaoyu's hands.
However, the Immortal Venerable preferred to read them without ever replying.
Though Wang Yulou had doted on the past Xiaoyu, they had lived apart for many years.
As for the current Xiaoyu, no matter how hard Wang Yulou tried to reach out, he couldn't extract a single reply.
Of course, Wang Yulou speculated that Xiaoyu might be wary of Mangxiang.
In truth, his guess was only partially correct.
Within Droplet Cave Heaven, White Li raised her hand and pinched her fingers in calculation.
Her jade-like fingers, slender as white radish roots, intertwined elegantly. It was a beautiful sight, though a pity Xiao Wang couldn't witness it.
Hong Li seed to sense sothing, suddenly materializing within the Detached Courtyard by the river bend and taking her place right beside White Li.
"Sister, isn't this too hasty?" Perfected Man Hongli spoke with deep worry in her voice.
White Li shook her head, and the natal magic treasure that had accompanied her through ten thousand years of cultivation manifested in her palm.
It was a tiny seashell, rely the size of a finger joint, yet its appearance was identical to the shell held by the statue of the Immortal Venerable in Droplet Heaven Palace.
"When one waits, one always hopes for a better opportunity, but that is nothing more than an illusion.
No one can predict the future. If it is hasty, then so be it!"
As White Li spoke, she rose into the air from the Detached Courtyard.
As her altitude climbed, the robe she wore transford into its true form as a powerful magic treasure.
The top-grade spirit treasure clothing—Liuqiong Xiri.
The spirit treasure ankle ring—Piercing Sky.
The top-grade spirit treasure hairpin—Vermillion Gold Flower Hairpin.
The low-grade immortal artifact armguard—True Dragon Retreat.
Her natal magic treasure, a mid-grade immortal artifact—the Water Drop Immortal Shell.
Di Shui Xianzun's grotto-heaven spanned a radius of two thousand li, significantly larger than Mangxiang's.
As an Immortal Venerable who had attained enlightennt far earlier than Mangxiang, White Li's strength and accumulation required no further elaboration.
Thus, it wasn't surprising for her to possess a collection of formidable spirit treasures and even immortal artifacts.
Mangxiang was indeed powerful, but his strength lay in his ability to dominate the world as long as Golden Core masters didn't intervene.
Yet, compared to a true Golden Core... it could only be said that Mangxiang still had a long way to go.
Even if Mangxiang successfully attained his Golden Core, he would still have to contest with Shen Guang for the position of the absolute baseline among Golden Core cultivators.
Within Dripdrop Cave, Zhang Xuewu keenly perceived a shift. Naturally, he lacked the sight to perceive White Li as she revealed her form, but he could feel that everything within the grotto-heaven was undergoing a profound transformation.
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