While the Demon Sect deployed its forces, drew reinforcements from the west, and linked north and south, Mount Zibai had not been idle either.
At present, Mount Zibai was much like the forward military headquarters that the righteous forces south of the river had established North of the Yangtze. The Northern Path sects of the Ba Region, Wuling, and Longdong North of the Yangtze also served under its command, giving it something of the role of the True Lord's temporary palace. Every day, accomplished Daoist cultivators from both sides of the great river came and went, reporting matters, receiving orders, seeking audiences, or reporting the fulfillment of their commands. As the saying went, all who entered and departed were accomplished adepts, and none who came and went were men of empty reputation. Such was Mount Zibai's current state.
Yet across the vast lands North of the Yangtze, throughout the great Northern Path, only the sects deeply indebted to the True Lord in the Ba Region, Wuling, and Longdong—the three territories True Lord Cheng had directly or indirectly reclaimed—were willing to accept his assignments and deployments to vanquish demons. At most, one could add Wangwu Mountain of the Shangqing Sect in Heluo. All the other Daoist sects east of the longitudinal line from Longdong to Wuling, namely those in the Four Hedong Lands of Heluo, Jinyuan, Yan, and Qi, had ceased moving entirely.
Before the True Lord crossed the river, the threat of the Northern Faction's eastward advance, especially the Demon Cult of Longdong and Mount Beibu, had been like thorns in their backs. Thus, the sects in these regions had still taken action. They might not have attacked particularly vigorously, but they had at least maintained a posture of coordinated defense, with every sect contributing people and effort to establish