A Discussion and a Startling Revelation
Li Yunjing nodded slightly. "Thank you both for telling me."
Dao Lord Hanzun waved his hand. "No need for formalities. From now on, we're all family, and we'll advance and retreat together."
The three talked for a long time, discussing everything from the situation in the Immortal Realm to dealing with the God-Slaying Tribulation, and then to the future development of the Dao Realm.
Li Yunjing benefited greatly.
Until the steward's announcement came from outside the hall:
"Alliance Leader, Your Excellencies, the time for the grand assembly has arrived."
Zhang Jianchen stood up and said with a smile, "Let's go, let's go out. All the forces have arrived, it's time to officially begin."
The four of them got up and walked out of the Three Sovereigns Halls together, heading towards the main venue Ten Thousand Immortals Hall.
The Ten Thousand Immortals Hall truly lives up to its name.
The palace was magnificent and spacious, capable of accommodating tens of thousands of people without feeling crowded. Hundreds of seats were set up inside, arranged according to the size of their power.
When Li Yunjing and his entourage entered the hall, almost all eyes turned to them.
Zhang Jianchen walked at the front, followed by the Three Sovereigns.
Dao Lord Xuanyuan was gentle and refined, Dao Lord Hanzun was Sha Qi and imposing, while Li Yunjing was excessively young, yet his aura was calm and composed, in no way inferior to the other two.
"See that? Those are the Three Sovereigns!"
"The youngest one is Sect Leader Li? My goodness, he looks only twenty years old?"
"He's at the Tribulation Transcendence First Stage, ruling over the Sixth Province. What makes you think you can compare?"
"..."
Whispers rose and fell.
Li Yunjing remained expressionless and followed Zhang Jianchen onto the main stage.
Four seats were set up on the main stage, with Zhang Jianchen in the center and the Three Sovereigns on his left and right.
Behind Li Yunjing sat deities such as Wangshu.
After taking his seat, Zhang Jianchen's gaze swept across the entire room.
The once noisy hall fell silent instantly.
Zhang Jianchen's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears. "Everyone, I believe you all know why I have summoned you here today."
"The God-Slaying Tribulation has been brought forward, the Tribulation Qi is spreading, gods are falling, sects are being destroyed. In the past three months, seven sects have been wiped out, and nearly thirty gods have either died or gone mad."
The severity of the situation far exceeds what we previously anticipated.
"If we continue to fight each other, we'll only end up being devoured one by one."
"The reason I have summoned you all here today is to discuss countermeasures and overcome this calamity together."
As soon as he finished speaking, a solemn atmosphere filled the hall.
Everyone looked at each other, knowing the situation was serious, but no one spoke first.
After a moment, the leader of a major sect in Qingyang Province stood up and said in a deep voice, "Alliance Leader, in my opinion, the most urgent task is to defend our respective territories, fortify our cities, gather our populations, and mind our own business. Let's protect ourselves first."
A senior elder from a major sect in Northern Spirit Province immediately retorted, "Everyone sweeps the snow from their own doorstep? With the Tribulation Qi spreading, how can we possibly guard against it? Today it's his sect's turn to suffer, tomorrow it could be yours."
In my opinion, we should form a coalition army, take the initiative, and wipe out all the berserk gods and evil spirits, nipping the Tribulation Qi in the bud!
Some scoffed, "Easy for you to say! Are berserk gods so easy to wipe out? When the War God Xuanjie went berserk, he almost destroyed the Primordial Beginning Dao Sect. If you take the initiative to attack, who will bear the casualties?"
"We can't just sit here and wait to die!"
"A defensive strategy is the best approach!"
The various factions argued endlessly, each with its own reasons, and none of them could convince the others.
Zhang Jianchen frowned, but did not say anything to stop him.
He wanted everyone to express their opinions first, and then set the tone at the end.
Li Yunjing sat in his seat, listening quietly without saying a word.
Wangshu stood behind him and whispered, "Sect Leader, these people haven't realized the trap of absorbing Tribulation Power yet. Once they do, they probably won't be making a fuss."
Li Yunjing nodded slightly.
That's about it.
He slowly stood up.
Instantly, all eyes in the room turned to him.
The argument abruptly ended.
Everyone looked at the youngest of the Three Sovereigns, wanting to see what he had to say.
Li Yunjing said calmly, "Gentlemen, whether we choose to defend or launch an attack is secondary. The most important thing right now is to figure out who our real enemy is."
"What does Sect Leader Li mean by that?" someone asked, puzzled.
"The real enemy? Could there be some other unexpected development?"
Li Yunjing slowly said, "The God-Slaying Tribulation is far more dangerous than we imagined! Not long ago, Heavenly Lord Haoyang discovered that the Tribulation Power can be actively absorbed, which can temporarily enhance strength and preserve consciousness."
The hall erupted in chaos.
"Absorbing the Tribulation Power?!"
"Impossible! Didn't the High Antiquity say it was forbidden to touch it?"
"Haoyang has gone mad?"
"..."
The crowd gasped in disbelief.
"He succeeded." Li Yunjing's words silenced the entire room once again.
"Haoyang's strength has skyrocketed after absorbing the Tribulation Power, making him 30% stronger than at his peak, and he is also mentally sound."
Upon hearing Li Yunjing's confirmation, the room erupted in commotion once again.
Li Yunjing raised his hand to signal for quiet, then continued:
"But this is not an fortuitous opportunity, it's a trap."
"The God-Slaying Tribulation will deliberately release a portion of its Tribulation Power, making the gods believe that they can absorb and control it. As more and more gods absorb it, at the moment of its total explosion, all the gods who have absorbed the Tribulation Power will have their minds instantly devoured by the Tribulation Power, turning them into puppets who only know how to kill, and turning their own kind into each other."
"At that time, the Tribulation Power will only be stronger, and the catastrophe will only be more devastating."
"Of course, I think it's not just gods; we human cultivators are also subject to this rule—we must not absorb Tribulation Power at will."
His words resounded like a thunderclap in the hall.
Everyone was stunned.
trap?
Is absorbing the Tribulation Power a trap?
"Sect Leader Li, is there any basis for this statement? This is no small matter!" A sect leader from an old-school sect stood up, his expression solemn.
Li Yunjing said calmly, "The spirit of the High Antiquity Divine Lord's artifact personally admitted that the High Antiquity Divine Lord discovered this secret back then, which is why he ordered that contact with the Tribulation Power be strictly prohibited. However, he didn't have time to explain the reason before he perished in the tribulation."
Divine Lord weapon!
Everyone's expression changed simultaneously.
The spirit of the High Antiquity Divine Lord's natal artifact naturally speaks with extremely high credibility.
Moreover, Li Yunjing wouldn't use this to deceive the people present; there's no need for it, nor would it be necessary.
The hall fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone's face showed lingering fear.
Fortunately, I didn't intend to provoke the Tribulation Power.
Some people secretly rejoiced, as those who had previously harbored wicked thoughts now had their backs soaked with sweat.
"Then... then Haoyang is doomed?" someone asked hesitantly.
"He's definitely dead, but it's hard to say how much destruction he'll cause before he dies," Li Yunjing said. "And right now, he's High Antiquity Divine Court."
"The Divine Court Ruins contain a large amount of High Antiquity Origin Tribulation Qi. If he were to absorb it, he would lose control before the full eruption, and the resulting damage would be unimaginable."
The faces of everyone inside the hall turned even paler.
The Divine Court Ruins are located at the border between Central Divine Province and the Great Wilderness. If Haoyang goes berserk inside, they will be the first to suffer.
"Sect Leader Li, what do you suggest we do?" someone asked hurriedly.
Li Yunjing's gaze swept across the entire room as he slowly began to speak:
"To cope with a catastrophe, we cannot rely solely on defense, nor can we launch blind attacks. The most urgent task is to establish a comprehensive response system."
"First, establish rules: the entire Dao Realm is strictly prohibited from any cultivator or deity actively contacting and absorbing Tribulation Power. Those who violate this rule will be punished by the entire world."
"Second, establish a strict system. Each sect should establish a mechanism to monitor the Tribulation Qi, unify early warning standards, and immediately notify the Immortal Alliance and surrounding forces upon discovering any anomalies."
"Third, establish a barrier. Using the leyline nodes as a foundation, inscribe leyline-stabilizing runes to create a leyline barrier and weaken the spread of the Tribulation Qi."
Fourth, unite people's hearts. Whether mortals, cultivators, or gods, they must all be properly settled and their faith consolidated. The more stable people's hearts are, the weaker the influence of the Tribulation Power will be.