After Half a Month

"Cultivators above the Nascent Soul and Fusion stages will join Heavenly Net; disciples below Foundation Establishment will abandon cultivation and return to ordinary life; the rest who want to leave will go with you?"

Daoist Taiye leaned back in his chair and murmured.

Wang Jixuan nodded gently beside him and added, "I'll only take them away from here, have them sever all karmic ties with this place, then send them to a paradise beyond the world to cultivate."

Daoist Taiye silently took out a jade talisman and wrote a great deal into it.

A moment later, Taiye handed the jade talisman to Wang Jixuan.

Inside was a string of numbers.

Excluding independent cultivators, just among the dozen or so sects, there were roughly sixty-seven thousand gate disciples who needed Wang Jixuan to take away.

Among cultivation clans, small sects, and independent cultivators, the number of cultivators who needed saving was conservatively estimated to be a hundred times that of the sect disciples.

"Ji Xuan, it's not that your Martial Uncle doubts your abilities, nor is it that I want to stand by and watch them die.

"The human heart is far too complicated to explain in just a sentence or two.

"Your intention in saving people is good, but you must also see whether they appreciate it."

Wang Jixuan shrugged. "Those who seek life shall live; those who seek death shall die. We only need to take our own sect away first."

Taiye nodded. "That is my thinking as well."

"Um," Wang Jixuan asked tentatively, "Martial Uncle, do you mean... that even if we don't save the other sects, it's fine?"

Taiye gave a bitter smile. "In times like these, merely protecting our own sect is already difficult. If we have spare strength to assist fellow cultivators from other sects, that would naturally be for the best, but our own sect must come first."

Wang Jixuan could not help laughing.

Daoist Taiye said softly, "We're discussing serious matters. What are you laughing at? Be serious."

"Ah, yes."

Daoist Wang sat up straight and said with a bitter smile,

"I had assumed the sect couldn't bear to abandon other fellow cultivators, so I've been Negotiated with Heaven and Earth Will on the condition that all Righteous Path Cultivators would be rescued."

"Negotiated with Heaven and Earth Will?"

"Mhm," Wang Jixuan answered. "Heaven and Earth Will needs me to do something. It's a kind of transaction."

For a moment, Daoist Taiye did not know how to comment.

Wang Jixuan took out a jade talisman and placed it down, instructing, "Then from here on, please follow the steps laid out inside and proceed one stage at a time. Save as many as we can."

"Alright."

Taiye picked up the jade talisman and glanced through it.

Every step, every precaution, was listed in full, even down to the precise hour.

Taiye suddenly frowned at Wang Jixuan. "Ji Xuan, why does your Martial Uncle always feel as though there is another expert behind you, giving you guidance?"

"Is there?"

Wang Jixuan laughed it off, cupped his hands, and took his leave.

"Then rest up, Martial Uncle. This disciple won't disturb you further."

"Hey, stay for a simple meal. I invited several elders from the sect..."

"No, Martial Uncle. I still need to improve the Mustard Seed Universe I just opened up."

"Mustard Seed Universe?"

Daoist Taiye was about to call him back, but Wang Jixuan had already slipped into the wall, ignoring the local barrier formation as he departed with effortless grace.

"What's the rush?"

Daoist Taiye held the jade talisman and examined it carefully.

The plan was highly detailed, and every step had been considered thoroughly.

But...

"Can it really go this smoothly?"

The sect master thought anxiously.

"Meeting time."

Peony called out in First Base, and before long, several energetic attendees came running over.

Their little team had only added Mao Mo. Otherwise, the personnel had barely changed.

After a brief opening, Wang Jixuan introduced their upcoming action plan.

Mao Mo quickly sensed that Something's Not Right and immediately raised his hand to ask,

"Wait. Why are we so certain that the Dark Church will launch its next wave of attacks After Half a Month, and that after the first battle, regardless of the outcome, the Dark Church will rest for three days?"

Wang Jixuan spread his Two Hands. "Heaven and Earth Will told me."

"Oh?" Mao Mo looked enlightened. "So it was a deduction or divination. Is that reliable?"

Peony lightly tsked beside him. "Heaven and Earth Will said it personally."

Mao Mo gave a self-deprecating smile.

Common sense told him Peony was merely Joking. Everyone in the Immortal Realm knew about Heaven and Earth Will—it was the will of heaven and earth. Even Grand Beginning Golden Immortals found it difficult to communicate directly with Heaven and Earth Will.

Hm? Mao Mo suddenly recalled everything he had seen and heard recently, as well as the various peculiarities of these people...

"Seriously?"

"You tell me," Peony said, Rolling Eyes.

Daoist Wang smiled beside them. "Our primary plan is based on this, but we'll definitely need backup plans as well. We should prepare more contingencies. If Heaven and Earth Will had an opportunity to kill us, it would certainly act. It is only because Senior Bones is protecting us and it isn't confident it can succeed that it chose to discuss matters with us."

Zheng Shiduo had already finished reading the main battle plan in the meeting documents.

He said worriedly, "Opening Second Base won't be a problem. We have no shortage of Mech laborers. The problem is... will these people cooperate?"

"Don't end up reenacting the tale of Mr. Dongguo and the wolf," Red Snake muttered anxiously.

Peony said confidently, "That's why the timing of our intervention is crucial. We must let them feel the true crisis of destruction, experience despair, and then act when they are at their most desperate, saving them from disaster... Then we can recruit a batch of cultivator thugs!"

Wang Jixuan laughed as he listened.

Peony truly was a good wingman. She never forgot to help them expand their forces.

"There's no need to recruit them."

With his feet braced against the floor, Wang Jixuan swayed from side to side in his Swivel Chair and said slowly,

"We need to preserve the purity of our team. In the future, we will unwaveringly follow the path of Mechanical Civilization.

"Peony will serve as the brain of Mechanical Civilization, while we act as overseers.

"Heaven and Earth Will has already shown us the path.

"Whatever it fears, we will develop. Whatever it dreads, we should truly seize that technology."

Everyone nodded at once.

Although none of those present, aside from Senior Bones, who had not shown himself and was hiding in a corner, knew exactly what Heaven and Earth Will even was.

Wang Jixuan snapped his fingers. "Let's continue discussing the main plan. I'll first raise two problems I think will be difficult. Everyone, discuss them first... First, how do we determine whether the people we save have good character and whether they have committed evil deeds?"

Peony immediately shook her head. "We don't have data in that area. Gathering it would involve an enormous workload. Conducting background checks on cultivators scattered all over the world in half a month would be very difficult."

Zheng Shiduo asked, "What if we directly ask their sects for background checks?"

"Their sects will definitely favor their own gate disciples," Little Hua Ting murmured. "Back when we took skill certification exams, schools would praise us to the skies. Let alone cultivation sects like these."

Wang Jixuan asked, "Can Peony develop some kind of device that can quickly read memories or dreams? Something along those lines?"

"Development takes time too, and there would need to be all kinds of experiments. Peony probably won't make it in time."

Peony replied in an adorably malicious manner.

Mao Mo said softly, "Well, if we can cooperate with Heaven and Earth Will, can't we directly see their karmic sins and merits?"

"We are not directly cooperating with Heaven and Earth Will. It's more like a passive compromise."

Wang Jixuan said,

"Heaven and Earth Will wants us to cause less trouble and return to the real world sooner.

"It doesn't know our next plan."

Amina, still maintaining her adult form and remaining the beauty of the team today, elegantly asked, "Isn't our next stop the Immortal Realm? Are we taking the people we bring away from here to the Immortal Realm as well?"

Wang Jixuan pondered for a moment. "Either arrange for them to go to the Immortal Realm, or send them to an Immortal Restriction Zone."

"Why?"

"The Immortal Realm is a mixed bag. The Eight Great Immortal Palaces are the true rulers there, and Heaven and Earth Will's influence is relatively weak."

Wang Jixuan quickly explained,

"The Immortal Restriction Zones are located in the endless starry sky. They refer to a Star Domain where a Super Civilization that underwent Collective Ascension was born.

"Heaven and Earth Will would also have difficulty exerting influence there.

"Of course, both options carry risks. Comparatively speaking, the Immortal Realm should be more beneficial for the cultivators we take away. At the very least, it would help their cultivation. They could also disperse, reducing their own risks."

The Several People nodded.

Afraid that everyone might feel burdened, Wang Jixuan smiled. "Anyway, once we rescue them, we will have done all we can. Placing them in a relatively safe environment will be enough. As for whether they can survive afterward, that is beyond what we are capable of considering."

Peony raised her hand. "Boss, then why not send them to the Immortal Realm?"

"That works. You decide that. You don't need to explain your reasons to me."

"Understood."

Peony forcibly swallowed back her urge to elaborate.

Wang Jixuan continued, "Where to arrange them is the second problem, and that has now been resolved. We'll tentatively take them to the Immortal Realm. Back to the first problem... I Don't Want To save evildoers, or potential evildoers."

Mao Mo muttered, "Then why not only save disciples from these sects? Disciples taught by sects should follow Rules better than independent cultivators."

"Not necessarily," Red Snake said, shaking her head. "As the saying goes, righteous people are often butchers and dog slaughterers, while faithless people are often scholars... Though it isn't exactly the same matter, the principle is interconnected."

Most of them smiled.

"Actually, this is simple," Little Hua Ting said, raising her hand. "I have an ability. I can use my singing to resonate with their thoughts and guide them into lowering their guard."

Zheng Shiduo hurriedly said, "Careful! Be careful!"

Wang Jixuan asked with a smile, "Is there some story I know about?"

"Well, Brother Wang, you were in secluded cultivation in the City in the Clouds at the time..."

Zheng Shiduo briefly explained the Unbearable to Look At effects Little Hua Ting's special ability had caused when she had used it before.

At the time, a group of spies sent by the Black Obsidian System had infiltrated a concert on a planet, intending to launch a terrorist attack.

By the time Zheng Shiduo and the others received the news, the concert had already begun. There were nearly a hundred thousand people on and below the stage, as well as on all sorts of massive floating stands in the air.

With disaster imminent, Little Hua Ting decisively activated the ability. The vast majority of people at the scene were affected, including several hundred Psionicists and a few Earth Spiritual Practitioners.

Then...

"It was seriously hard on the eyes," Zheng Shiduo said, caught between laughter and tears. "Countless people turned into zombies, shouting Little Hua Ting's stage name as they rushed the stage. They nearly trampled one another. Plenty of people started crying and stripping off their clothes, while some couples got carried away in public... Anyway, it caused quite a huge incident."

Wang Jixuan asked, "Were the terrorists caught?"

"They were. After being affected by Little Hua Ting's ability, all twelve terrorists began laughing wildly. Then, while laughing, they started crying, saying they didn't want to die for nothing, but their families had been threatened."

Zheng Shiduo thought for a moment.

"Still, if it isn't on such a massive scale, and it's groups of several hundred listening to Little Hua Ting sing and releasing their inner selves, it might actually work."

Peony hurriedly said, "Thousands! At least several thousand! If it's only a few hundred at a time, how many songs would Little Hua Ting have to sing?"

Wang Jixuan pondered. "Set up a formation to amplify Little Hua Ting's influence. Most cultivators cultivate the mind, so they probably won't be easily affected."

Amina suggested, "Why not try it first in Wangxian Valley?"

"That could work."

Wang Jixuan rubbed his chin and considered it.

He was the type to act as soon as he decided. He rose directly, slipped away, and left behind only the words to wait for his news.

A moment later, Wang Jixuan opened the doors of First Base.

Daoist Taiye and several Mahayana Stage elders from the sect took the chance to glance into Wang Jixuan's First Base.

When their spiritual senses saw the skyscrapers towering like a forest, the countless Mechs in dense swarms, and the factory Assembly Line running at full speed, they were so Shocked that they could not speak.

Naturally, Wang Jixuan had deliberately revealed all this.

It was merely to increase the credibility of what he had said.

Afterward, Wang Jixuan introduced Taiye and the several elders.

"Fellow Daoists, this is my disciple, Hua Ting... Hua Ting, greet these fellow Daoists. You may address them as Martial Uncles."

"Yes." Gao Huating immediately switched into the manner of a Female Cultivator and bowed slightly to the white-haired old men. "Hua Ting greets the Martial Uncles."

Everyone nodded with smiles.

Taiye smiled. "This disciple is quite good. She is naturally intelligent and graceful, excellent material for cultivation."

"Thank you for the praise, Martial Uncle."

Gao Huating stood behind Wang Jixuan somewhat bashfully.

Daoist Wang said slowly, "Fellow Daoists, please make the arrangements. Let us first see whether this method works. This ability of my disciple's is also her unique secret art, something that can be understood as an innate divine ability. If all goes well, we may save ourselves considerable effort and identify those who are not worth rescuing."

The elders each nodded.

They were clearly somewhat hesitant.

After all, they were allowing an outsider to test the character of their own disciples.

But they had seen the Mechs and clearly understood that this Young man, who always wore a gentle smile, could destroy this place with a flick of his fingers.

The elders looked at each other, then nodded in agreement.

"Then let us arrange for some disciples from every realm."

"From the Heaven and Earth Bridge Realm downward."

Daoist Taiye formally issued the sect master's order, and two elders hurried away.

Before long, several hundred disciples sat inside the Main Hall, Meditating Cross-legged and relaxing their minds.

Little Hua Ting was naturally not afraid of an audience.

She was a superstar diva, after all.

Holding a pink microphone, she seemed to glow as she lowered her head and began humming continuously.

Wang Jixuan saw with his own eyes a layer of pale pink ripples appear around her. The ripples slowly spread, and the disciples Inside the Hall soon entered a strange state.

Suddenly.

An outer sect elder beside them frowned and said, "We are not the Demonic Gate! How could Wangxian Valley possibly be the Demonic Gate? We merely collect a bit more demonic cultivation techniques!"

The others remained unaffected, still firmly controlled by Little Hua Ting's singing.

Wang Jixuan blinked.

Now that it was mentioned, he really was curious why the valley possessed so many demonic Ancient Texts...