"Agreed!"
"But we must not anger that one. Our priority is to preserve the original Future Saints. At the critical moment, I'll step in as well!"
The old Great Luo Golden Immortal dragon nodded excitedly.
At the same time, similar conversations were taking place at the Southern Volcano and in the Central Qilin Land.
Only the degree of their involvement varied.
With the Remnants of the Previous Era joining the campaign, this plan was bound to be pushed to its utmost extreme.
Did Chu Xuan know about this?
Naturally, he had long suspected it.
"The more beings who get involved, the greater the conflicts and the bigger the commotion. This will not only help prepare for the future Age of Saints..."
"It will also cover up my next plan!"
"If the tribulations, and even the scramble for the Cushions, were still just me toeing the line of what Hongjun would tolerate, then what I'm about to do could really bring him out of seclusion."
Chu Xuan was walking across the Western Land. He couldn't afford to be too careful.
He concealed the heavenly secrets with Pangu Essence Blood at every moment.
Even now, Houtu still had no idea what they had come here to do.
As it happened, Houtu had just heard about the Demon Clan and couldn't help telling Chu Xuan.
Chu Xuan simply smiled.
"No need to worry about it!"
"This will actually make our plan more effective and better highlight the advantages of my Wu Clan!"
"The Demon Clan has primordial spirits, which means they can't be the ones running the show. The beauty of this plan is that only the Wu Clan can do that!"
Hearing this, Houtu said no more. She watched Chu Xuan curiously as he walked across the Western Land, seeming to measure the ground and search for something.
The land was covered in turbid baleful qi, and spiritual energy was scarce.
In that battle, Demon Ancestor Luohu had detonated the entire Western Spirit Veins. As a result, the Western Land had become utterly barren.
Even the Wu Clan rarely came to the Western Land. Though turbid baleful qi benefited their physical cultivation, without enough demons, they couldn't sustain the Wu Clan's growth and reproduction.
I wonder what he's looking for.
Houtu was curious, but she followed faithfully at Chu Xuan's side. Every so often, when they sensed a passing Great Luo Golden Immortal or Great Divine Ability User, she would pull Chu Xuan into the void to hide. She said little.
She was as gentle as a little maid, following close at his heels. Chu Xuan was quite pleased.
That was why he hadn't brought Xuanming along.
Houtu was more obedient and gentle. Although he preferred Xuanming's cool, aloof beauty, she wouldn't necessarily give him the time of day. Better to choose someone gentle, build a bond, and leave himself a way out for the future.
"Poisonous strategists never seem to meet happy ends. I have to be extra careful: anything can hurt, but nothing must hurt me!"
Chapter 29: Chu Xuan: I'll Bring Tribulations Down on Quasi-Saints! I'll Make the Saint Positions Change Hands! (Please Give Flowers and Monthly Tickets)
Chu Xuan walked across the Western Land, following the traces of countless dried-up, destroyed spiritual veins.
Using the Great Earth Law and the Heavenly Tribulation Authority, he tracked the spiritual veins' distribution and the tribulation qi that had once destroyed them, searching for clues from the past.
With an Ancestral Shaman and the Heavenly Tribulation Dao Venerable personally at work, they soon found some leads.
"As expected, there are still traces of lingering influence!"
"If we wait a few more years, the Western Land will flourish again, and many of these traces will have faded. They wouldn't be nearly as easy to find!"
Chu Xuan seized a faint wisp of pure demonic qi from within the turbid baleful qi deep beneath the earth.
He smiled, certain he had found what he was looking for.
The moment the demonic qi appeared, a ripple of tribulation qi stirred faintly.
It was as if the ancient calamity had not yet passed.
And in truth, it hadn't. The tribulation qi of every era was imprinted upon the things destined to undergo tribulation in that era.
Unless they escaped the tribulation, they could never break free of its entanglement.
Demon Ancestor Luohu had clearly failed to escape his tribulation.
This wisp of demonic qi was deeply hidden—or rather, it had become so faint as to be almost imperceptible, concealed beneath this barren land.
If Chu Xuan hadn't been an Ancestral Shaman of the earth, naturally sensitive to its veins, and able to sense tribulation qi, he might never have been able to trace it.
Back then, many beings had never stopped to consider how Demon Ancestor Luohu had managed to detonate all the Western Spirit Veins in one stroke.
They had simply assumed his cultivation was unfathomably profound.
And indeed, it was. His cultivation had reached the point where he was nearly a Saint.
Even Hongjun had needed to join forces with several other patriarchs to kill him.
But despite his profound cultivation, he must also have tampered with many of the spiritual veins.
Those hidden alterations were Chu Xuan's target.
He had a plan. He was going to do something major!
He needed a suitable scapegoat, and Demon Ancestor Luohu was a good choice. What's more, Luohu's Great Dao Law was a perfect fit.
That was why Chu Xuan had come here.
"Gather enough demonic qi, use tribulation qi to bring it back to life, forge the Devil Dao Law, and recreate part of Luohu's cultivation. Then I'll use Demon Ancestor Luohu to attain the Dao and carry out my plan!"
"Achieving my objective won't be hard. The hard part is making sure I and the Wu Clan stay out of it!"
"And I can use this to land a truly vicious blow on Hongjun."
"Daoist Luohu should be more than happy to take the blame!"
Then Chu Xuan told Houtu what they would do next: gather demonic qi.
After finding the first wisp, the rest were much easier to locate. Even though Houtu wasn't proficient in the Heavenly Tribulation Law, she could still follow the traces and collect them.
The only problem was that, looking at the wisp of demonic qi, Houtu had a feeling that whatever Chu Xuan was planning was far from simple.
This wisp came from the Western Land, and it was so pure that it was bound to involve a taboo name.
The former enemy of Dao Ancestor Hongjun: Demon Ancestor Luohu!
Houtu's heart pounded.
Several times, she almost spoke up.
She wanted to warn Chu Xuan not to go too far.
But she didn't know what his plan was, so she had no idea how to begin.
One thing was certain: Chu Xuan's plan this time would involve Dao Ancestor Hongjun.
And not just a little.
After all, he was dealing with Hongjun's enemy. Whatever Chu Xuan did was bound to stir Hongjun's heart.
Thinking of Chu Xuan's past habits, a bold thought came to Houtu.
Could Chu Xuan be planning to make a move against Dao Ancestor Hongjun?
Houtu hesitated, unsure.
But then Chu Xuan took her hand, seized the chance to cop a feel, and told her to trust him—that everything he did was for the Wu Clan. In the end, she could only sigh, her face red, and help him carry out his plan.
Throughout the process, though, she kept using Pangu Essence Blood to interfere with their presence, hiding herself as if she were sneaking around.
It was a little too thrilling!
They seemed to be plotting against Dao Ancestor Hongjun!
Houtu was secretly a little excited.
They continued across the Western Land.
Every so often, she saw Great Luo Golden Immortals and Great Divine Ability Users tearing through space in the sky, chasing after something and attacking as they went.
From time to time, Kunlun Mountain trembled.
The clashes between Great Divine Ability Users shook the Primordial Wilderness.
The Demon Heavenly Court was also in turmoil.
Several hundred years later!
A thousand years had passed since Hongjun announced his lecture, and two thousand years remained before it was due to begin.
Before you continue