When Venerable Tongming came to the Nine Mountains Sect, he foresaw that the Hundred Immortals Alliance would have a difficult time.
The scene within the Nine Mountains Realm still surprised him.
" True Person Zhang, how did this Marketplace become like this?"
Venerable Tongming followed behind Senior Sister Zhang and pointed to the Marketplace the Nine Mountains Realm, asking a question.
He was deeply impressed by the bustling atmosphere of the Nine Mountains Realm Marketplace:
In the past, when I came here, the lights were dazzling, pedestrians were everywhere, and the steaming food and noisy laughter mingled together, making it hard to tell which way was which.
But now, when I came back, eight or nine out of ten shops on the street were closed, and only a few disciples were patrolling the Marketplace aimlessly. The whistling of the wind through the street carried a sense of desolation.
Senior Sister Zhang fell silent for a moment, seemingly unwilling to speak.
Venerable Tongming understood.
The blow that Vast Sun Mountain dealt to the Nine Mountains Sect was far greater than they realized.
It makes sense, considering that Vast Sun Mountain's accumulated strength far surpasses that of the suddenly rising Nine Mountains Sect. The Nine Mountains Sect was able to withstand Vast Sun Mountain's suppression for so long has actually exceeded many people's expectations.
Venerable Tongming carefully observed the disciples of the Nine Mountains along the way and found that their spiritual energy was very pure and their clothes were not tattered. However, they were all in a hurry and were extremely busy, and they were all a bit impatient.
When they arrived at the Medicine Garden, Venerable Tongming was surprised again.
The Nine Mountains Realm Medicine Garden is quite famous among the Five Sects — the Nine Mountains Realm can even cultivate Pure Tranquility Bamboo and Fusang Wood, and its agricultural expertise can even be said to be unparalleled in the Xuanwei.
But now, large tracts of land in this Medicine Garden are barren, the spirit medicine are sparse and lack vitality, and even look withered and yellow.
Qian True Person stood in the field with his disciples, their eyes somewhat blank.
Venerable Tongming remained silent.
The current predicament of the Nine Mountains Sect is truly beyond his expectations.
Upon returning to his room, Venerable Tongming gazed out the window for a long time before letting out a soft sigh.
His disciples exchanged glances, understanding what their master was sighing about, and said, "Fortunately, we went to the Supreme Dao..."
This time, Venerable Tongming didn't reprimand them. He simply nodded and sighed, " The Nine Mountains Sect's foundation is still too shallow. It's already quite remarkable that they've been able to withstand the suppression from Vast Sun Mountain for so long."
"Then, Master, what should we do..."
Venerable Tongming thought for a moment and said, "I'll send a message inside the sect and see what First Seat Xuande and the others say."
" Wuyi, what is Zheng Fa thinking?"
Uncle-Master Pang arrived in a hurry, accompanied by Xiao Yuying and Qian True Person.
" The Marketplace is closed, and the spirit medicine in the Medicine Garden have been harvested ahead of schedule—are they pretending to be poor?" Uncle-Master Pang frowned, his eyes showing some displeasure. "Won't the Supreme Dao look down on us, Nine Mountains?"
Senior Sister Zhang shook her head and explained, "It's not that I'm trying to pretend to be poor, Junior Brother just doesn't trust the Supreme Dao."
"Um?"
"If Venerable Tongming were to come here and discover that my Nine Mountains Sect is actually thriving and has not been affected at all... my Nine Mountains Sect may have gained face, but it would expose the ineffectiveness of Vast Sun Mountain's various methods."
Uncle-Master Pang suddenly realized. "You mean, you're afraid that someone from the Supreme Dao will leak information to Vast Sun Mountain?"
Senior Sister Zhang nodded and said, " Vast Sun Mountain is indeed stronger than our Nine Mountains Sect. If one plan fails, they'll come up with another, and we'll be exhausted dealing with them. It's better to show weakness."
"My junior brother said that our Nine Mountains Sect is now more famous than it is, and it's not appropriate for us to be so high-profile anymore."
"And what's this talk about, 'build high walls, store up plenty of grain, and delay declaring oneself king'? It sounds rather strange."
Xiao Yuying nodded in agreement, and after a moment sighed, "Many people know this principle, but very few cultivators are truly free from the desire for fame and fortune. The more talented and powerful a person is, the more they value their reputation."
Senior Sister Zhang smiled and said, "Junior Brother always thinks differently from others."
After pondering for a long time, Uncle-Master Pang nodded slightly and suddenly said, "How about... I go find Venerable Tongming for a drink?"
"?"
"Want to cry?"
"..."
"Shameless acts? I'm an expert!"
" True Person Zhang, the First Seat Mingde said that most of the pills from our Supreme Dao are willing to be sold to the Nine Mountains Sect, and spiritual materials are also negotiable."
Senior Sister Zhang's spirits lifted, and then she heard Venerable Tongming say again:
"However, the trade route between the Supreme Dao and your sect is blocked by the Profound Mystery Sect, making it difficult for cultivators below the Nascent Soul to cross. Therefore, it is very difficult for the Supreme Dao Dao's pills to be transported to the Nine Mountains Sect."
The Profound Mystery Sect certainly couldn't stop all cultivators, but the problem was that having Spirit Transformation cultivators transport the goods would be too costly.
This is indeed a big problem.
"If your sect could provide support at the border of my Supreme Dao, that would be best."
Senior Sister Zhang frowned; this was no easy task.
Nowadays, in the Profound Mystery Sect area, besides the Profound Mystery Sect disciples, there are also many Rogue Cultivator from Vast Sun Mountain. It's a mixed bag, and they do even more evil deeds.
Seemingly sensing Senior Sister Zhang's predicament, Venerable Tongming added, "Of course, given the current situation of the Nine Mountains Sect... First Seat Xuande can understand. From now on, I will come to the Hundred Immortals Alliance every six months, bringing some pills and spiritual materials to trade with the Nine Mountains Sect."
"The spiritual farming technology of the Nine Mountains Sect is renowned throughout my Supreme Dao."
Upon hearing this, Senior Sister Zhang immediately smiled.
That would be best.
Senior Sister Zhang naturally knew that the Supreme Dao itself was at odds with Vast Sun Mountain, and its cooperation with the Nine Mountains Sect was not entirely out of goodwill. In the transaction, neither party was taking advantage of the other.
But as my junior brother said, as long as the Supreme Dao shows some goodwill, the Nine Mountains Sect is willing to talk.
"Another matter is that it would be best if we could exchange information more frequently with the Supreme Dao and the Nine Mountains Sect in the future."
Senior Sister Zhang was even more delighted upon hearing this. "If we could share some information, that would be even better. But I wonder what the Supreme Dao Nine Mountains Sect?"
Just like Zheng Fa, she was more wary than trusting of the Supreme Dao. Now that the Supreme Dao was frequently making overtures, even if they wanted to cause trouble for Vast Sun Mountain, it was going too far.
Venerable Tongming also had some doubt in his eyes:
"The head High Immortal said that a messenger from the sect sent a message saying..."
"Um?"
" Thunderclap Temple has overstepped its bounds."
Thunderclap Temple?
What does this have to do with Thunderclap Temple?
Judging from Venerable Tongming's expression, he was clearly unaware of this as well, and Senior Sister Zhang simply kept it in mind.
Thunderclap Temple?
Zheng Fa sat in his cave abode at Divine Fire Mountain, looking at the information sent by Senior Sister Zhang through the Comprehensive Mirror, and was also puzzled.
Doing business with the Tianhe Sect is certainly good, but the Profound Mystery Sect is currently blocking the way, which is really getting in the way.
However, it was the information sharing with the Tianhe Sect that Zheng Fa was most concerned about.
The Nine Mountains Sect and Vast Sun Mountain are now sworn enemies, but they know very little about Vast Sun Mountain —they don't even know how many Dao Fruit cultivators Vast Sun Mountain has.
Unexpectedly, the Supreme Dao helped the Nine Mountains Sect not for Vast Sun Mountain, but because of Thunderclap Temple?
Zheng Fa felt that the relationship between them was complicated, so he simply put the Creation Jade Disc into his Dantian and walked out of the cave abode.
" Senior Brother Li!"
"Senior brother!"
"Greetings, Senior Brother Li!"
Along the mountain path, many Profound Mystery disciples greeted him with expressions of admiration and respect.
In the distance, several Golden Core disciples were also walking in this direction in a grand procession, and no one else dared to approach, completely blocking the mountain path.
Zheng Fa also recognized these people—the disciples and grand-disciples of several Spirit Transformation elders, who were domineering and now wielded considerable power within the Profound Mystery Sect.
He glanced at the group of people but didn't pay them much attention, continuing to walk towards the mountaintop.
Instead, the Golden Core disciples frowned as they looked at Zheng Fa, their expressions showing both fear and resentment.
As Zheng Fa drew closer and closer, his footsteps unwavering as if he hadn't seen them, the group's expressions worsened. But then they glanced at the mountaintop, and surprisingly, they held back their anger, parted the path, and watched Zheng Fa pass by.
Only after Zheng Fa had passed by did one of the group let out a soft, cold snort.
The other disciples, however, gasped softly, seemingly quite pleased.
Zheng Fa felt the gazes of the people behind him, and some thoughts were running through his mind:
The split between the two factions of the Profound Mystery Sect is becoming increasingly apparent.
Of course, this is also because Shi Nandang doesn't care about these disciples at all and doesn't discipline them.
"Senior brother!"
" Junior Sister Ye."
"Senior brother, are you going to the mountaintop again to listen to the master's teachings?" Junior Sister Ye asked with a hint of envy.
Zheng Fa nodded slightly, and then he heard Junior Sister Ye say, "Senior Brother, do you know that many disciples in the sect speak highly of you..."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa scanned the area behind him with his Divine Sense and realized that what he said was true.
In the past, when new and old disciples clashed, the original disciples of the Profound Mystery Sect were naturally at a disadvantage—after all, even their own Grand Elder had knelt down.
Only in recent days has " Li Hao " risen to prominence, gained Shi Nandang's favor, and become increasingly special in the sect, which has given these disciples a boost of confidence.
Even the disciples of those Spirit Transformation elders had to show some restraint when facing him.
It's understandable that the original Profound Mystery disciples, seeing this, felt even more admiration.
Zheng Fa didn't really care about these things. He had become somewhat friendly with this Junior Sister Ye in order to find out some information about the Profound Mystery Sect and Vast Sun Mountain.
As for the other disciples of the Profound Mystery Sect, their cultivation levels were too low, and Zheng Fa didn't take them seriously at all.
"Senior brother..."
Suddenly, Junior Sister Ye spoke hesitantly.
"Um?"
"You asked me to gather more information about the sect, so I used your name to recruit quite a few disciples."
"..."
Zheng Fa looked at this junior sister he had taken advantage of, and was surprised to find that she was so proactive.
This is the roster!
Junior Sister Ye handed him a Jade Slip. Zheng Fa picked it up, glanced at it, and exclaimed "Holy crap!" in his mind.
The Jade Slip contained the names of over fifty disciples, mostly Foundation Establishment disciples, along with three Golden Core disciples and about ten Qi Refinement Realm.
After each person's name, not only is their cultivation level listed, but also their lineage, close disciples, and special skills.
"Senior brother, these disciples all admire your reputation and sincerely want to join you!" Junior Sister Ye quickly said. "I haven't paid any attention to those I don't trust!"
Zheng Fa looked at his junior sister with a complicated expression, and after a while, he asked, "What did Master say?"
"Senior brother?" Junior Sister Ye's eyes widened, and she stammered, "You, how did you know?"
Too fast...
Li Hao's fame in the Profound Mystery Sect rose too quickly, as if someone was deliberately spreading his reputation.
It should be noted that Zheng Fa kept a very low profile within the Profound Mystery Sect and almost never spoke to anyone.
And this Junior Sister Ye is incredibly fast at winning people over.
If it were five or ten disciples, Zheng Fa wouldn't have suspected anything, but fifty-odd disciples... that's almost a quarter of the sect's total number of disciples.
There are only three people in the sect who can control such great power in a short period of time: the Sect Leader, the eighth elder, and the ninth elder.
Considering Junior Sister Ye's identity, Zheng Fa naturally guessed who had given him this list.
" Junior Sister Ye... you said you were on good terms with those disciples, but it was all a lie, wasn't it?"
Upon hearing this, Junior Sister Ye's expression became even more surprised.
"At first I thought it was normal; what you told me was all information about the disciples within the sect..."
"Later, you became aware of every move made by the foreign Nascent Soul."
"There are some things that a Golden Core simply cannot know."
Junior Sister Ye lowered her head and remained silent.
I suppose this is the answer.
Zheng Fa took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.
What on earth is my cheap master thinking?
At the summit, Shi Nandang and the other seven Nascent Spirit Transformation stood in the crater, their figures forming the Big Dipper, facing the crater as they performed Method Formula.
Zheng Fa walked to the Ninth Elder's side, took out a Spirit Stone, and began to carefully carve runes into the Spirit Stone with his Divine Sense sense.
Beside him were the Ninth Elder, the Sect Leader of the Profound Mystery Sect, and the Eighth Elder.
Like Zheng Fa, these three Nascent Soul can only work as assistants here now.
His gaze couldn't help but sweep over the Ninth Elder twice.
The Ninth Elder seemed unaffected, simply keeping his head down and focusing on carving the array into the Spirit Stone.
Zheng Fa cleared his mind of distractions and slowly imprinted the runes of the < Heaven-Earth Divine Baleful Array > onto the Spirit Stone.
Now Zheng Fa has a better understanding of --
To say that Spirit Stone are crystal chips is not entirely accurate.
They're about the same in terms of raw materials for chips.
Only after the cultivators have inscribed runes into these Spirit Stone can they form an array and exert their effects.
What Zheng Fa and his team need to do now is to carve these Spirit Stone into crystal chips and connect them to the Earth Vein in order to expand the range of the < Heaven-Earth Divine Baleful Array >.
While Zheng Fa was engraving the Spirit Stone, he was also focused on memorizing the various runes of the < Heaven-Earth Divine Baleful Array >.
This formation was extremely complex, and even with his memory, he couldn't fully memorize it in a short time. Therefore, he became even more focused, even forgetting about the Ninth Elder's strange behavior.
Shi Nandang cast a Method Formula, let out a sigh of relief, and looked at the four people.
Seeing the focused expression on Zheng Fa's face, he couldn't help but smile and ask, " Li Hao, have you gained any insight into the < Heaven-Earth Divine Baleful Array >?"
Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa snapped out of his reverie and said, "Disciple has gained some insight."
"Oh? Tell me about it?"
"This grand formation should be divided into four parts..."
Shi Nandang a hint of scrutiny, yet he also wanted to maintain his so-called "genius" persona.
Zheng Fa picked and chose, and aside from some matters concerning the secrets of the Tianhe Sect's methods and the Nine Mountains Talisman Dao, he shared about 50-60% of his understanding of this great formation.
At first, Shi Nandang's expression was quite appreciative, and he nodded as he listened.
Later, a look of confusion appeared on his face.
Then, he stared blankly at Zheng Fa's mouth opening and closing, looking completely lost in thought.
As Zheng Fa was speaking, he suddenly sensed something was wrong—it was too quiet around him.
He turned and looked around, noticing that everyone's faces were somewhat blank, and immediately understood:
More than 50% or 60%!
Although he had only a basic understanding of formations, his accumulation of knowledge in Talisman Arts was sufficient, and he also had experience with various similar methods such as Immortal Array Method... His comprehension of the Heaven-Earth Divine Baleful Array far exceeded what others could imagine!
Thinking of this, Zheng Fa couldn't help but look at Shi Nandang with some disdain—it's one thing for others, but you, a True Disciple Spirit Transformation of Vast Sun Mountain Soul stage, are so ignorant?
Shi Nandang silent for a long time, then suddenly trembled, his expression towards Zheng Fa carrying a hint of shrewdness. "You figured all of this out on your own?"
Zheng Fa nodded.
"You've studied formations before?" he asked again, but upon seeing the Spirit Stone in Zheng Fa's hand, he realized something. "No, you didn't even know how to use Spirit Stone before."
Having figured this out, Shi Nandang Nandang's interest deepened. He stared at Zheng Fa for a long time, seemingly deep in thought, before finally saying:
"I always thought you had some potential, but I never imagined... you also had such a talent for formations!"
"Very good!"
The other six Nascent Spirit Transformation and the three Nascent Soul Dharma Body all sensed his heartfelt praise and couldn't help but look at Zheng Fa.
Zheng Fa bowed his head in greeting, maintaining his taciturn demeanor.
"What difficulties do you have in your spiritual practice? Tell me about them."
Upon seeing a disciple with such high comprehension, Shi Nandang seemed somewhat delighted and began to instruct Zheng Fa again.
The others exchanged glances, realizing that this disciple was increasingly pleasing to the eye of Venerable Shi, and their expressions toward Zheng Fa became increasingly different.
As dusk approached, Shi Nandang waved his hand, somewhat reluctantly, signaling Zheng Fa and the others to return to their cultivation.
Zheng Fa followed behind the Ninth Elder, and after separating from the Profound Mystery Sect Leader and others, they tacitly entered the Ninth Elder's cave abode one after the other.
Inside the cave abode, only Zheng Fa were present.
Silence enveloped the cave abode.
Is Li Hao still alive?
"Um."
"That's good." The Ninth Elder nodded slightly, then asked, "Do you know what will happen once the Heaven-Earth Divine Baleful Array is set up?"
" The Hundred Immortals Alliance's Earth Vein have been severed."
"No, it was the Profound Mystery Sect that perished."
Zheng Fa suddenly opened his eyes wide.
"The formation you see is only a part of it." The Ninth Elder sat on the ice bed, looking at Zheng Fa, but his eyes seemed unfocused.
"When the grand formation is truly completed, all the Profound Mystery disciples who have cultivated the Secret Method of Vast Sun Mountain will become nourishment for the formation..."
Zheng Fa suddenly realized why Vast Sun Mountain had been so generous, giving Profound Mystery Sect so many Spirit Stone and Secret Method —it wasn't that they had too much money to spend, but rather that setting up the formation required disciples to sacrifice themselves?
"Including you, Elder?"
The Ninth Elder smiled and said, "Those who reach the summit all have a way to survive. That includes me, and it includes you."
"Is the Sect Leader aware of this matter?"
What do you think?
So this is why this cheap master always said that all disciples of the Profound Mystery sect would die.
That was also the reason she had previously fought for herself to reach the summit...
The Ninth Elder lowered his eyes and said softly:
"Whether it's the Sect Leader or the eighth elder, they've let go... Well, what difference would it make if they didn't? How could my Profound Mystery Sect possibly disobey the decision of Vast Sun Mountain?"
Zheng Fa remained silent.
"But I was born in the Profound Mystery Sect, not in Vast Sun Mountain. They accept it, but I don't want to... I want to buy a few lives for the Profound Mystery Sect." The Ninth Elder looked up at Zheng Fa and smiled, speaking softly.
"That list?"
The Ninth Elder nodded slightly, looked at Zheng Fa, and smiled broadly, " Alliance Leader Zheng, whatever you want to do, I can help you."
"... How did the elder figure that out?"
The Ninth Elder shook his head slightly. "I may not know Alliance Leader Zheng, but don't I know my disciple... His dullness isn't feigned."
He felt bad that he didn't quite pull off playing the fool.
How did the elder know it was me?
"Within the Hundred Immortals Alliance territory, how many people could conceal their abilities from the Nascent Spirit Transformation like Venerable Shi, and go to such lengths to infiltrate the Profound Mystery Sect? Just a few days ago, you were in my Profound Mystery Sect, while True Person Zhang showed up at the Hundred Immortals Alliance."
Indeed, you can't underestimate any Nascent Soul Cultivator; they're all shrewd and calculating!
Why didn't the True Person inform on them?
"Among the disciples who went to the Nine Mountains Realm before, one of my clansmen was among them." The Ninth Elder chuckled and looked up. " Nine Mountains Realm and Vast Sun Mountain, I would choose the Nine Mountains Realm."
"..."
Zheng Fa truly hadn't expected that the brainwashing by those disciples could extend to the elders of the Profound Mystery Sect.
This Ninth Elder has given me quite a surprise.
Looking at the Ninth Elder, Zheng Fa didn't entirely believe that a Nascent Soul Cultivator would betray his sect just because of a clansman's words.
How credible this woman's words are is truly unknown.
Dealing with such clever people whose backgrounds are unknown is really troublesome.
He glanced at the mountaintop, pressed his hand against the Canghai Pearl on his chest, and knew that the Ninth Elder was currently concealing her identity. Regardless of whether she wanted to help him as she claimed, he was safe for the time being...
But if a conflict arises in the future, things could get complicated.
"Since the elder has said so, then I happen to have something I'd like to ask of you."
"Um?"
"Elder, do you have any people who can help me transport some things from the Supreme Dao?"
"..."
The Supreme Dao and the Nine Mountains Sect were blocked by the Profound Mystery Sect, so he didn't have a good way to smuggle them. However, this shrewd Ninth Elder might have his own connections.
There are risks involved in cooperating with this Ninth Elder, but the benefits are now obvious as well.
"Well... I can give it a try."
As expected, the Ninth Elder frowned, but didn't seem too troubled. Instead, he nodded in agreement.
Zheng Fa stepped out of the cave abode and felt the Ninth Elder's gaze fixed on him, lost in thought.
In modern times, Nursing Home.
"You have a big project and you need a programmer?"
Old Man Bai looked at Zheng Fa, completely bewildered.
"Hmm... I need a programmer with strong learning abilities!"
"How many?"
I want as many as you can!
Regardless of what the Ninth Elder was thinking, Zheng Fa wasn't prepared to entrust his safety to her ability to keep it a secret.
He's going to secretly add a backdoor to the Heaven-Earth Divine Baleful Array!
(End of this chapter)