Minds at Cross Purposes

The logic of language is something that can be explained in any way.

Moreover, Hengming genuinely intended to restructure and upgrade the organization. After a joint analysis by the seven elders and the sect leader, they immediately arrived at a logically consistent conclusion.

Hengming probably didn't initially intend to replace his former employer with a new one; his goal was simply to strike at the Nanlin Lin Clan.

As for why the Lin family was targeted...

I calculated the time and then looked into what happened back then.

Hmm, the potential disciples were forced by the Lin Family to hide Taiheng Palace and dare not go out, does that count?

Perhaps in the Lin family's eyes, what's wrong with the Lin Family bullying a mere Qi Refining First Level disciple?

However, in Hengming's view, Qi Refining First Level is also a disciple of Taiheng, the foundation of Taiheng, and the hope for the future.

As a result, he's been bullied like this. What if this disciple becomes disloyal to Taiheng?

Moreover, is this just an isolated incident?

Before Yang Ning, how many similar incidents had occurred? How many disciples had been eliminated without my noticing?

As a result, Hengming became dissatisfied with Southern Forest and took action to eliminate him.

The matter should have ended there, but Taiheng did something that made Hengming even angrier.

They purged the remaining people in Southern Forest, and even the entire Lin family for nineteen generations, practically turning Southern Forest into a vacuum for cultivation!

Even now, Hengming still hasn't considered giving up on Taiheng; he simply announced that Taiheng cultivators are forbidden from entering Daming.

The meaning is very simple: you just want to turn this place into a cultivation vacuum zone, so that it's a blank slate that you can easily take over!

Then I won't do as you wish!

Hengming may have personally intervened, providing some Cultivation Method or something similar in an effort to restore the cultivation world of the Ming Dynasty, but that was all.

But no one expected that a man named Zhang Jiao would suddenly appear.

He was not a traditional cultivator, but rather a compassionate Daoist priest.

Unable to bear the sight of the rich feasting while the poor freeze to death on the streets, he simultaneously established a religious sect, united the common people, spread spiritual practices, and created an army.

The rest is history.

The Azure Heaven is dead, the Supreme Heaven shall rise; in the year of Jiazi, great fortune will come to the world.

Then, the Great Peace Way purged the Aristocratic Clan and landlords, implemented Great Peace Way doctrines, and then it was the turn of the Taiheng disciples.

If the disciples of Taiheng could quickly suppress the Great Peace Way, this matter might still end there!

Who could have imagined that the disciples of Taiheng would be so disappointing? After three years of suppression, the Great Peace Way only grew stronger!

Moreover, it's not just the Great Peace Way that's popping up anymore; groups of people from the Great Tang, Great Song, Xia, Hua, Shu Han are also emerging!

Moreover, experts began to emerge in droves, and Qi Refining cultivators also started to appear.

Not to mention Hengming, even Taiheng Sect at the time was dumbfounded.

The effects of spreading the Dao and martial arts throughout the world are so obvious that the Body Refinement Realm and Qi Refining Stage disciples cultivated in just three or four years in a mere quarter of the Taiheng territory have far surpassed those of Taiheng over the past few hundred years!

The seven elders believed that Hengming's thoughts changed at this time.

Since your Taiheng is even worse than the Ming Dynasty, what's the point of me keeping Taiheng?

You can eat meat without gaining weight, you can take on three lanes by yourself, but you deal zero damage in team fights. What's the point of keeping you around?

The matter has been deduced enough; there's no need to deduce it further.

The seven elders looked at each other in disbelief, finding it hard to believe that the truth was actually like this!

Now the Wang Family, Jin Family, Fang Family have been wiped out, and even the Taiheng Sect may be destroyed, all because of that boy who was forced by Lin Tianheng to hide in the Taiheng Palace?

You should have said so earlier! If you had just said so earlier, I definitely would have helped you!

The seven elders were filled with complex emotions at this moment.

It's like a billionaire CEO getting stabbed because the janitor didn't pay his five-yuan wages.

How absurd and ridiculous this is!

"How... how could this be? It's just a few tens of millions of the Body Refinement Realm cultivators. Our Lineage has that many too!" Meng Yu said unwillingly.

Xiao Lei chuckled, "The cultivator from your Lineage, is he a cultivator from Taiheng? Did he come to Taiheng for a day? Did he complete a mission for Taiheng?"

Meng Yu retorted, "I'm already in Taiheng. Aren't my family members Taiheng people? Why make such a distinction?"

"Tch!" Xiao Lei curled his lip in disdain, too lazy to argue with her.

Not joining Taiheng will not provide Taiheng with any fortune; on the contrary, by occupying Taiheng's resources and practicing Taiheng's Cultivation Method, one is diluting Taiheng's fortune.

The reason is simple: originally, Taiheng's fortune could support one hundred cultivators, but now 20 of them have had 40 children, and these 40 children are also using Taiheng's fortune.

Does that mean Taiheng can only support 60 cultivators now?

Now, the issue with Taiheng is no longer just about 40 portions of fortune being distributed; it's about 400 portions, or even 4,000 portions!

Taiheng's inherent fortune is negative!

Hundreds of millions of Taiheng cultivators and hundreds of billions of Taiheng commoners are all working for this 28 billion Aristocratic Clan group. As a result, if one does not bring their own luck when becoming an apprentice, they will not be able to cultivate the Taiheng Sect's inherited supernatural Divine Ability!

How absurd is it to pay to get a job?

The key issue is that by doing things this way, you can only recruit disciples who are born with good fortune. Disciples who are born with good fortune are likely to come from powerful Lineage. Once they rise to power, they will definitely become another Aristocratic Clan and will have to rely on Taiheng to leech off them.

It was even more impossible for commoners to join the Taiheng Sect.

It's a vicious cycle!

These Aristocratic Clan, unfortunately, only enjoy the good fortune without taking any responsibility.

Leaving aside distant matters, if these Aristocratic Clan were willing to do something, not only would the Jinxiang Sect be able to reside at the gates of Taiheng, but they could also take care of the Tianyi Sect, the Diluo Temple, and even the Far North Myriad Saints Alliance!

In the past, Hengming had no choice but to turn a blind eye to such powerful Aristocratic Clan!

But now that we've discovered a new model and found it to be viable, we definitely have to follow it!

The Tai Heng Noble Families —if we don't kill you, who will we kill?

"Xiao Lei, what are you laughing at? Aren't you from the Aristocratic Clan yourself?" Meng Yu asked irritably, "Do you think Hengming only targets us and not your Xiao family?"

"Okay, okay!" Xiao Lei raised his hands. "I won't say anything more, I won't say anything more, alright!"

Meng Yu frowned. What did this person mean?

This concerns all the Aristocratic Clan, so why are you able to laugh so happily, without any pressure at all?

Could it be...?

Meng Yu suddenly realized a possibility: Could it be that the Xiao family was about to defect to the enemy?

That's right, the Xiao family isn't even as good as the Meng family within the Taiheng Sect; they rank fourth from the bottom!

The family ranked last in the key rankings is the Western Splendor Fang Family, and the family ranked second to last is the Northern Plains Jin Family. Neither of these Lineage has territory in Taiheng.

As a result, the Xiao family, which ranked second to last in the Taiheng Sect, was already the target of bullying by various other Lineage.

Having suffered so much bullying, they naturally had a reason to defect to the enemy.

Moreover, no matter how weak the Xiao family is, they are still Lineage at the Spiritual Law Realm. If they join the Ming Dynasty, which has no members at the Spiritual Law Realm, they will definitely be treated as honored guests.

With Hengming's support, the chances of Da Ming succeeding are extremely high. At that time, the Xiao family will not only be able to continue its Lineage tradition, but its future development may even be more glorious Zhao Family!

No way, why weren't I invited to such a great opportunity?

Meng Yu's expression immediately relaxed. Looking at the elders whose faces were flushed and already warm, she immediately understood where Xiao Lei's sense of relaxation came from.

Now that I have a way out and a future, I'd relax too!

"We can't let the Ming Dynasty continue to develop like this!" Zhao Wudi been sitting for a long time, finally spoke, "If we want to fight, we must suppress the Ming Dynasty and use this method to tell Hengming that all talk of universal cultivation and spreading martial arts throughout the world is nonsense, and that the current system of Taiheng is the best system!"

"Yes!" The elders all nodded, including Meng Yu and Xiao Lei.

As for what they were really thinking, no one knows.

"Furthermore," Zhao Wudi continued, "If Lord Hengming can come up with such a thought today, even if we destroy the Ming Dynasty, there's no guarantee that a Great Song or Great Tang won't emerge in the future."

Meng Yu's spirits lifted; crucial intelligence had arrived!

As long as I report to Lord Hengming

"Therefore, since Hengming wants to replace our Taiheng, we can replace Hengming in return!" Zhao Wudi said coldly. "At this critical juncture of life and death, I hope everyone can put aside the conflicts between the various Lineage and unite as one!"

"We previously discovered the Lin family's Half-Immortal Artifact, the Falling Star Bell, in Southern Forest. This Half-Immortal Artifact is only one step away from becoming Hengming hatred for Hengming. I hope everyone can work together to upgrade this Half-Immortal Artifact to an immortal artifact. After that, with an immortal artifact in hand, we will be like birds soaring in the blue sky, fish swimming in the sea, no longer bound by any constraints!"

"Then!" Xiao Lei's lips curled into a smile, "Leaving aside how big this 'one step away' is, let me ask you, if this immortal artifact is completed, who will safeguard it?"

"Huh?" The elders were all taken aback.

"Furthermore, since it's Half-Immortal Artifact from the Lin Family, what if she wants to rebuild the Lin Family? Should we support her or oppose it?" Xiao Lei asked again.

The elders remained silent.

Yes, the Lin family still has a core member alive!

Although she has given up her surname, from a bloodline perspective, she is undoubtedly a member of the Lin family.

Moreover, with the main branch of the Southern Forest clan destroyed and its branches almost entirely wiped out, she was undoubtedly the head of the Lin clan.

I haven't dared to tell Falling Star Bell about this yet, if she finds out...

Xiao Lei continued to chuckle.

Since they are all Aristocratic Clan, they must be selfish and only exist for their own Lineage.

How could such people possibly put aside past grievances and work together?

It's a miracle they don't start fighting amongst themselves!

"That's enough for today!" Seeing the tense atmosphere, Qu Heng could only wave his hand. "This matter is of great importance, so there's no rush to make a decision. Let's first check the situation in Eastern Victory, Western Splendor, and Northern Plains, and then we can discuss it further!"

Although the term "restructuring and upgrading" seems logically consistent and without problems in the deduction, deduction is ultimately just deduction and cannot be taken as fact.

What if they misunderstand Lord Hengming?

"Hmm!" Zhao Wudi nodded, too lazy to linger any longer, and stepped out, leaving the conference room.

Xiao Lei swayed as he stood up, about to leave, when Meng Yu quickly followed, calling out, "Junior Brother Xiao, please wait!"

"Senior Sister, is there something you need?" Xiao Lei stopped and looked at the person who had come.

There are no ugly cultivators among orthodox cultivators, let alone female cultivators in the Spiritual Law Realm.

Meng Yu had a pretty and delicate face, and she was wearing a blue dress, but it was not the style commonly seen by cultivators. Instead, it was a designer brand she bought online: Century Splendor.

Mortals may have low cultivation levels, but their pursuit of beauty is something that cultivators can't even dream of matching. Since the advent of mobile phones, the uniforms of cultivators from various sects have been updated generation after generation, and now they have basically achieved a balance between good looks and combat power.

This is only for ordinary cultivators. For advanced cultivators, mortals would spend months or even years designing a set of magnificent clothing.

Although Meng Yu's long dress was not luxurious, and even somewhat plain, it perfectly accentuated her figure without giving off a seductive feel; instead, it made her look Immortal Qi and innocent.

Although Meng Yu is old, cough cough

Meng Yu didn't care about Xiao Lei's gaze; after all, she had felt this kind of gaze since she was a child.

Moreover, she has many husbands and has over forty children, so she is naturally not a shy person.

"Junior Brother Xiao, are you over there? Do you have any connections?" Meng Yu asked.

"Which way is that?" Xiao Lei asked, bewildered.

Meng Yu's lips curled into a smile, "Do I have to play dumb with my senior sister too? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I just want my junior brother to give his senior sister a hand!"

"Therefore, it wouldn't be a bad idea for the Meng Clan and the Xiao family to form an alliance!" Meng Yu's eyes were like water as she gently shook Xiao Lei's arm. "If your power is greater, you'll have more say over there!"

What the heck?!

She misunderstood and thought I was going to defect to the enemy?

Xiao Lei wasn't stupid; he naturally understood what Meng Yu meant. But I really didn't contact her!

I just don't like Zhao Wudi, so I habitually give him a piece of my mind.

However, since you've come to me of your own accord, don't blame me for taking advantage of you.

Who told you to be so stupid!

"That's right, Senior Sister, I do have contact with them!" Xiao Lei said with an expression that said, "You've seen through my disguise, no matter how well I tried to hide it." "However, this isn't the place to talk. Senior Sister, shall we find a secluded place?"

Meng Yu smiled and said, "Whatever you say!"