Heavenly Lord Dingding and the other Spirit Transformation cultivators of the Black Tortoise Heavenly Palace bowed their heads respectfully.
Though bitterness filled their hearts, none tried to stop him. No one flew into a rage and sought to prove his resolve with blood. The cultivators of this demonic order were terrifyingly pragmatic, terrifyingly rational.
"How tempting."
"You fellow Daoists are dragons and phoenixes among men. You see the larger picture and accept the outcome of your wager. I admire that."
Jiang Ding praised them.
The greed that had risen in his heart vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving not a ripple on the lake of his mind.
"Unfortunately..."
Jiang Ding sighed.
"Senior Gui Cong has not passed away. He can still retaliate against the homeworld and every minor world beyond the Nine Spirits World. Alone, he could slaughter everyone outside the Immortal Sect's two great capitals."
"Rest easy for now, fellow Daoists."
"Although you may not leave the Black Tortoise Heavenly Palace, you are not prisoners."
Jiang Ding said calmly, "For now, everything in the Black Tortoise Heavenly Palace will remain as it was. First, I've come to browse the legacies in its scripture repository... Never mind the supreme legacies. You must at least have mid- and lower-tier ones?"
A vast collection of mid- and lower-tier immortal cultivation legacies was just as important to the Immortal Sect, perhaps no less so than a handful of supreme legacies. It would greatly enrich the Immortal Gate Library's holdings.
"..."
Heavenly Lord Dingding dared not answer.
Instead, he bowed toward the Heavenly Palace's scripture repository.
"Good."
Jiang Ding nodded slightly. "Second, a thirty-thousand-member Immortal Sect research team will be stationed here for three hundred years. They'll study the Black Tortoise Heavenly Palace's alchemy, cultivation of spiritual plants, spirit beasts, artifact refining,