Reactions from All Sides

Yin-Yang Valley.

A secluded valley in the Southern Region, sparsely populated and appearing entirely unremarkable.

Yet, in this seemingly ordinary place sat a power that shook the Southern Region: the Yinyang Sect, one of the ten great sects.

"Ancestor Yang has fallen!"

"Have you discovered the cause?"

"We do not know. Ancestor Yang did not alert anyone when he departed."

"That old fellow, damn him."

Hearing the report from her subordinate, a beautiful middle-aged woman remained expressionless, her eyes cold.

The Yinyang Sect had two sect masters, one Yin and one Yang, and throughout the generations, the sect masters were always cultivation partners who studied the sect's secret arts together.

Now that one was missing, it would have a significant impact on her own cultivation.

As for grief, there was none; it was more a sense of regret and irritation.

"Before that old fellow left, he seemed to be heading in the direction of Beast Taming Mountain..."

The beautiful middle-aged woman's eyes flickered. Beast Taming Mountain had seemingly been destroyed.

Could there be a connection between the two?

She did not care at all whether Sect Master Yang lived or died; at best, they were merely partners. However, he possessed a Yin-Yang treasure that she absolutely had to obtain.

"You may go. Increase the manpower and continue investigating the cause of Sect Master Yang's death."

"Do not overlook any possible clues."

"Yes!"

Mystic Pill Sect.

Compared to the other sects, the Mystic Pill Sect was built directly in the bustling center of the Southern Region. Its buildings were magnificent and gilded, lacking any of the lofty, detached spirit of cultivators; the entire place could be summed up in two words: filthy rich.

A middle-aged man dressed in luxurious robes stared at the letter in his hand.

A calculating light flashed in his eyes from time to time, making him appear extremely cunning and greedy.

After a long while, he casually burned the letter in his palm.

"A Xiantian of the Jingyun Sect has fallen..."

The middle-aged man looked up and laughed happily. "Pass down the order: effective immediately, the fixed supply of pills to the Jingyun Sect is to be reduced by seventy percent, and the price of additional pills is to be increased by seventy percent! Without a Xiantian, they are destined to fall from their one-star sect status and are no longer worthy of enjoying their previous privileges."

"Hmph, the Jingyun Sect deserves their bad luck."

"Back then, when those fellows united to resist our monopoly on pills, the Five Elements Sect and the Jingyun Sect were the most vocal. 'For the sake of humanity'? If a man does not look out for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him!"

"So what if they are alien races? Someone else will hold them off anyway; it won't fall on our own heads. Why should we risk our lives for a bunch of ants?"

"As a great sect of the Southern Region, shouldn't we just live comfortably in the rear? At most, the alien races will occupy some borderlands of the Southern Region, and the Ten Thousand Alliance will deal with it. As for the deaths of some commoners, what does that have to do with us? When has the world ever not been filled with death? Those other sects are all fools."

"A bunch of idiots brainwashed by 'righteousness' are destined for misfortune."

Below the middle-aged man, a group of Mystic Pill Sect elders clapped and laughed.

The Jingyun Sect lacked the strength yet dared to hinder their interests—they deserved to be destroyed!

Now that retribution had arrived and their Xiantian had fallen, the destruction of the Jingyun Sect was only a matter of time.

"Hahaha, well said!"

"If a man does not look out for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him. We are the ones making a fortune from this war!"

"We are earning blood money!"

"But so what? Even knowing this, don't they still have to come begging us one by one?"

"Gentlemen, let us sit back and wait for the show to begin."

The middle-aged man laughed heartily as well. For a time, the great hall was filled with the clinking of glasses and the sounds of song and dance, a scene of a decadent empire.

As for resisting the alien races or a mutual defense alliance?

Those were just words used to fool idiots. The Southern Region was vast; a few people dying had nothing to do with them.

Isn't it better to just earn money in peace?

And if the alien races really did attack... with the wealth the Mystic Pill Sect had accumulated over the years, they could simply relocate the sect.

At worst, they would just leave the Southern Region.

A bunch of ant-like mortals—were they worth the noble cultivators risking their lives to protect?

Absurd and ridiculous.

As for the other major sects, Myriad Array Mountain, Treasure Pavilion, Shadow Sect, and the War Puppet Sect also looked on with cold indifference.

Whether the Jingyun Sect was destroyed or not had nothing to do with them.

Myriad Array Mountain and the Shadow Sect were located near the front lines, their entire focus dedicated to resisting the alien invasion; they had no spare energy to concern themselves with the affairs of the Jingyun Sect.

As for whether it would be wiped out, it simply came down to whether the Jingyun Sect had good luck or not.

The other two major sects were in much the same situation.

The Treasure Pavilion had a mysterious origin and generally never interfered in the affairs of the Southern Region.

This faction had very few disciples, even fewer than the Mystic Pill Sect. Every disciple possessed a mysterious identity and extraordinary methods, making them difficult to track.

Some even suspected that the Treasure Pavilion had no more than two dozen disciples in total.

The Treasure Pavilion primarily operated in auctions and intelligence peddling. Although they were not on the front lines, they were well-versed in the various movements of the alien races and provided a vast amount of intelligence, helping the front lines avoid many losses.

Based on this, the Treasure Pavilion managed to rank among the top ten sects of the Southern Region with only a few dozen members.

Furthermore, the Treasure Pavilion seemed to have a very deep background.

This was also an important reason why the major powers were wary of them.

Consequently, both sides had always lived in peace.

Unless it concerned the survival of the Southern Region, no one bothered with anyone else.

As for the final one, the War Puppet Sect.

The War Puppet Sect was a sect re-established on the foundation of the Artifact Refiner Sect, which was originally one of the top ten sects.

They shifted from crafting various magical treasures to building various war machines, playing an indispensable role on the battlefield against the alien races.

Most of the War Puppet Sect's energy was also focused on the front-line battlefield. While the changes in the rear were regrettable, as long as nothing major happened, they had no choice but to ignore them for the time being.

After all, compared to a declining Jingyun Sect, the clash between the front lines and the alien races was far more important.

In short, for various reasons, the major sects of the Southern Region maintained an attitude of cold detachment, or even schadenfreude, toward the changes in the Jingyun Sect.

The Jingyun Sect.

At this moment, it could truly be said that a storm was brewing. The entire sect was permeated with a sorrowful atmosphere, and countless elders and disciples wore expressionless faces with dim eyes.

The Grand Elder was gone.

The Jingyun Sect's Xiantian expert was gone.

Without a Xiantian expert to hold the fort, could it still be considered the true Jingyun Sect?

Many of the newly joined disciples had blank looks in their eyes.

They felt as though their future was shrouded in darkness.

Those with darker intentions cursed their own bad luck, wondering why that old hag from the Jingyun Sect couldn't have died at any other time, instead of dying just half a year after they had joined.

This was a total scam!

Perhaps the Jingyun Sect was truly in decline, and they should find a way to seek another path.

The great ship that was the Jingyun Sect could no longer carry many people; it would soon be leaking from all sides and would be unable to withstand any significant waves.

There were not a few people who harbored such thoughts.

In fact, it wasn't just the disciples; even many elders had wavering hearts.

There were even some disciples and elders who were away from the sect; upon hearing that the Grand Elder had fallen, they simply cut off contact with the sect and went off to enjoy their freedom.

Some became lone wanderers, while others defected to other sects.

In short, the Jingyun Sect was filled with gloom and despair from top to bottom. A large number of disciples were restless, and many had even begun to take action to withdraw from the Jingyun Sect.

The Jingyun Sect had begun to experience the greatest crisis since its inception.

If they survived, they would be reborn from the ashes.

If they failed, they would never recover and would be erased from the Southern Region forever.