Since ancient times, heaven might be high and earth broad, yet neither could match the treachery of the human heart. There was no shortage of ways to control people's hearts.
The more common method was to wield favor and authority together—this was the way a master governed those beneath him. Though the demonic sect possessed intimidating power, it lacked grace and kindness. To win people over by such means would not only be difficult, but costly and slow to bear fruit, making it nearly impossible.
Another rather ordinary way of manipulating people was through threats and forceful control. For instance, Tianshan Child Elder controlled the thirty-six cave masters and seventy-two island masters with the Life and Death Talisman, while Dongfang Bubai used the Three Corpses Brain God Pill to control the Sun Moon Divine Cult's followers.
If they wanted the martial artists of the realm—or at least most of the powerful ones—to obey the demonic sect's plans and, when the time came, obediently contribute their strength, then vile methods like the Life and Death Talisman or Three Corpses Brain God Pill stood a very good chance of succeeding.
After all, even Great Zhou found it difficult to make a single command carry through the entire realm. If the demonic sect wanted to accomplish what others could not, it had to take the sword's edge by a crooked path.
And if that truly was the case, then chaos in the martial world was foreseeable—and inevitable. Freedom and an intact will were the bottom line for every martial artist. If the demonic sect truly did this, it would be shattering that bottom line.
As for the specifics, they still had to wait and see. This was also why Chai Jun wanted Cangyun Mountain Villa kept under watchful surveillance—so that any hidden danger