The council meeting in the sect leader's hall on the Main Peak slowly drew to a close beneath a heavy, solemn hush.
After a full round of deliberations, the Cloudpiercing Sect's senior members had settled on a preliminary plan to respond to the Mahayana Evil Cult's movements.
The sect would tighten its lax outer-gate watches, strengthen the protective formations at its four mountain gates, and have each court patrol assigned sections of the mountain in rotation. They would search their territory for evil cultivators. At the first sign of cult infiltration, lingering evil formations, or believers spreading teachings in secret, they would report it at once and mount a purge, never allowing the threat to take root and spread.
Lately, the cult had repeatedly stirred up trouble across Qingchuan Prefecture. Mountain villages had gone silent, towns lay deathly still, and living souls had been consumed. The chaos was growing worse by the day. This was no longer some small, hidden scourge, but a crisis capable of shaking the foundations of the righteous path throughout the prefecture.
As a member of the Orthodox Alliance, the Cloudpiercing Sect stood on the front line. It had to tread carefully at every step if it hoped to weather this clash between good and evil.
Throughout the meeting, Cheng Heng had sat in the Fire Vajra Court's seat of honor, his expression calm as he listened to every side, steady and composed.
Ever since Sect Leader Shi Songquan had publicly announced his breakthrough to the Early Inner Vajra Realm, every trace of the concealed disdain, doubt, and watchful hesitation among the assembled leaders had vanished like smoke.
When the court heads and elders looked at the acting head of the Fire Vajra Court now, their gazes were entirely different.
They no longer looked down on