The brutal battle concluded in less than half an hour.
Sect Leader Ma Deqing, Vice Sect Leader Master Pangli, and several other Core Formation Cultivators were all slain, their Divine Souls completely annihilated.
This mysterious group of black-robed individuals destroyed the mountain gate of the Haoyue Sect. They slaughtered every last Disciple, not even sparing the Qi Refining Stage Cultivators.
All the wealth in the Sect was plundered. Finally, the group of black-robed figures set a great fire and swiftly retreated amidst the thick, billowing smoke, vanishing without a trace.
More than twenty days later, the news finally began to spread.
The Cultivator powers in the surrounding sea regions were shocked, but they also couldn’t help feeling secretly fortunate. After all, many of them had been coveting this ownerless land, planning to take it for themselves.
Now that this had happened, they all beca hesitant and paranoid.
’Forget it. It’s just a territory with a Third Grade Spirit Vein. If we can’t touch it, then we won’t. It’s not that big of a deal.’
No matter how good the territory was, no one was willing to take the risk if it ant sacrificing the lives of everyone in their Sect.
...
「Changqing Continent.」
"...Husband, that matter has been settled."
In the Inner Study, Xue Qingtan spoke to Ling Changqing with a beaming smile.
"Mm, that’s good."
Ling Changqing nodded. ’If Xue Qingtan had run into trouble, I could have just stepped in myself,’ he thought. ’Now that this hidden threat is gone, the Ling Family can have a period of peace.’
"By the way, has there been any movent from the Cangyu Islands?"
Beside him, Ling Qiyue—radiant and poised in a Bright Yellow Sun and Moon Embroidered Phoenix Palace Robe, her hair held by a Cloud Hairpin Phoenix—spoke up and asked.
She had only recently erged from seclusion, her Cultivation having successfully reached the Golden Core Peak. She was now just one step away from the coveted Nascent Soul True Monarch Realm.
For most Core Formation Cultivators, this step was a chasm as wide as the heavens, one they might never cross in their entire lives.
But Ling Qiyue clearly had no need to worry. With Ling Changqing by her side, it was only a matter of ti before she beca a Nascent Soul True Monarch.
"They went to the Longsha Sea Region to find another Third Rank Alchemist to refine pills for them. They’ve succeeded, and now the whole Sect is accelerating its preparations for war."
ng Feiyu spoke up.
The intelligence networks of the Xianyin Pavilion and the Xingyun sun Comrce Association were formidable. It wasn’t at all difficult for the two of them to use these networks to trade for information they were interested in.
In comparison, the Ling Family’s own intelligence network was far inferior. This was, after all, not an issue that resources alone could solve, but one that required ample ti for accumulation and managent.
Ling Changqing mused, "With our backing, the Longevity Hall should be able to hold out for now, right? We shouldn’t need to get personally involved."
Tang Qiu Yao smiled. "That’s certain. Until they’re sufficiently confident, the Cangyu Islands won’t start a war for the next few years. They’ll choose to lie low, bide their ti, and build up their strength."
Ling Changqing and the won had no objections to this assessnt. No matter how arrogant and unruly that Gu Binglong from the Cangyu Islands was, he wouldn’t start a war he was certain to lose.
As long as the Ling Family and the Longevity Hall didn’t provoke the Cangyu Islands, he was unlikely to stir up trouble on his own initiative.
Xue Qingtan frowned. "However, I’ve heard he’s also been in contact with the Nu Tao Sect, the Feng Family, and several other Golden Core powers recently. It seems he’s planning to form an alliance."
"An alliance? Is it ant to target us?"
Tang Qiu Yao’s expression turned grave.
"Of course,"
Xue Qingtan explained, "We now control an entire sea region. And while the Chixue Sea Region is larger and even has a Fourth grade Spirit Vein Cave Mansion, it’s divided among eleven different powers. Under normal circumstances, they’d have no hope of contending with the Ling Family!"
Clearly, Gu Binglong had recognized the potential threat the Ling Family posed and was trying to prepare for it in advance.
Under the current circumstances, it was entirely possible that Gu Binglong could persuade the other powers. Even if they didn’t form an alliance right away, deeper cooperation between them was a possibility.
Ling Changqing laughed. "I can understand how they feel. There’s a behemoth squatting right next to them that they can’t chase away. They probably can’t even sleep soundly at night, right? What else are they supposed to do?"
Within the coastal waters of Yuzhou, there were more than thirty scattered sea regions. There was no precedent for their unification, not even a partial one.
A situation like the Ling Family controlling an entire sea region by themselves was rare. In the past, such powers often collapsed for various reasons not long after, reverting to a state of scattered disunity.
The reason for this was, naturally, the machinations of certain native Nascent Soul powers from Yuzhou. They didn’t want a new power to rise from these sea regions and compete with them for influence over Yuzhou’s coastal waters.
For the past millennium, any sign of unification in Yuzhou’s coastal waters would quickly draw the vigilance of those coastal Nascent Soul powers. What happened next goes without saying.
The gentle and serene Qin Yun, her eyes shimring, asked softly, "Husband, we don’t really need to expand outward right now, do we?"
"Mm, that’s right,"
Ling Changqing said, "Our family is still focused on a strategy of low-key developnt. If we want to change that, we’ll need to have at least twenty Golden Core Masters and hundreds of Pseudo Core Cultivators before we can even consider it."
Of course, there was also the most crucial condition: Ling Qiyue becoming a Nascent Soul True Monarch.
At that point, with her and Luo Qingxuan—one in the light and one in the shadows—they could thwart the restrictive sches of certain coastal Nascent Soul powers and ensure the Ling Family’s foundations remained unshaken.
It was inevitable that in the future, once the Ling Family’s sphere of influence expanded to two sea regions, they would face malicious suppression from the coastal Nascent Soul powers of Yuzhou.
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