"So that's how it is…"
After listening to Mu Guibai's account, Zhan Tianxia was taken aback. His expression quickly grew complicated.
Was he angry? Of course he was. Luoxia City had been treated as nothing more than a pawn in this game. Its losses were so heavy that it would take generations to recover its strength.
And yet, reason told him otherwise. Su Ding's plan, though utterly ruthless, truly had been the only workable option at the time.
The Blackwater Marsh had been under that old flood dragon's control for more than a thousand years. Its lair was fortified to the point of being unassailable. To kill it would have been harder than ascending to the heavens.
The only way was to lure the serpent from its hole.
But that old flood dragon had suffered once before. Ordinary tricks would never fool it again.
If Su Ding had had more time, he might have devised a better plan. But Heaven grants no mercy; his end was near. If the beast wasn't slain while he still lived, then after his death, the entire cultivation world of Great Qi would face devastation.
And as the outermost shield of Great Qi, Luoxia City would have been the first to fall.
From that angle, Su Ding could even be said to have saved the city.
Though they had failed to kill the flood dragon, it had been gravely injured. It would take decades to recover, and after suffering such a crushing defeat, it would be more cautious than ever. Even if Su Ding's death was made public, the beast would not dare to believe it.
Once bitten by a snake, one fears even a rope for ten years.
Thus, Great Qi had bought at least a century of peace.
For this reason, Zhan Tianxia found himself torn between gratitude and rage, his heart a storm of contradictions.
High atop the mountain, the two men stood in silence.
After a long while, Zhan Tianxia recalled the moment when disciples of the two great sects had charged into the Ten-Thousand Mountains. With a snort, he turned to Mu Guibai.
"You can't expect me to believe such a grand operation was only to draw out that old flood dragon, can you?"
But Mu Guibai did not answer directly. Instead, he asked a question of his own:
"Junior brother, have you noticed? Fewer and fewer powerful cultivators are being born in Great Qi."
This puzzled Zhan Tianxia. But when he thought about it carefully, he realized it was true. At its height, Great Qi had produced more than a dozen Golden Core True Persons, ranking among the strongest in the surrounding nations.
But in recent years, the numbers had dwindled. Not only were Golden Core cultivators fewer, but even Purple Mansion cultivators had dropped significantly. Otherwise, they would never have been suppressed so badly by the beast race of the Ten-Thousand Mountains.
He knew well this land beneath their feet had not originally belonged to humans. It had been carved out only after mankind's victory over the beasts.
Whether under the reign of the Human King, or later under the joint rule of the great Golden Core sects, the cultivators of Great Qi had always held the beasts firmly in check.
But now, that dominance was fading. Worse yet, the balance was tipping in the other direction.
This was no ordinary matter. The neighboring nations all grew stronger with time; even if they suffered setbacks, they quickly recovered.
Only Great Qi was declining slowly but steadily.
Zhan Tianxia felt as though he had caught hold of some elusive truth, but could not quite grasp it.
Mu Guibai never expected him to answer. With his hands clasped behind his back, he gazed at the endless mountains stretching across the horizon and spoke in a low voice:
"That is because Great Qi's cultivation resources are being steadily exhausted.
Ordinarily, whether high-grade spirit herbs or various ore veins, such resources are renewable. With proper management, they can be harvested sustainably.
But when Great Qi was first founded, it was surrounded by enemies on all sides. To establish a foothold here, the first Human King ordered destructive exploitation of the realm's rarest resources.
This continued for over ten thousand years. By the time anyone realized the damage, it was already irreversible.
Though efforts have been made in recent years to restore what was lost, the depletion of resources is a fact that cannot be undone.
Every great cultivator is built upon a mountain of resources.
Once certain resources are consumed entirely, it will become nearly impossible for Great Qi to produce new Golden Core cultivators. The consequences will be catastrophic.
And so, to resolve this looming crisis, the elders joined forces to devise a plan.
That plan… is to open new lands!"
As soon as those words fell, Zhan Tianxia's heart trembled.
Yes, if there were no resources left, then the only option would be to follow in the footsteps of their forebears and carve out new lands.
And with the cultivation world of Great Qi facing directly toward the beast territories, the only direction to expand was naturally the Ten-Thousand Mountains.
The Ten-Thousand Mountains held resources beyond measure, a vast treasure trove. In particular, their mineral veins were practically untouched; beasts had little use for them, so their reserves remained rich and abundant.
If Great Qi could seize control of this land, then for a long time to come, it would no longer need to worry about resources.
This idea was not new. Similar arguments had been made before, but the beast clans of the Ten-Thousand Mountains were strong, and there had never been an opening.
But now? Now was the perfect opportunity.
The beast hordes had besieged Luoxia City for nearly a year, losing hundreds of thousands. Before that, an army of a million had been wiped out in a single battle.
The Black Dragon King was gravely injured, the Thundercry King had fallen, and dozens of great beasts were dead.
The beast clans' strength in Blackwater Marsh, Thunderclap Mountain, and even across half the Ten-Thousand Mountains had been all but swept away.
As long as the campaign was planned carefully and advanced steadily, it was only a matter of time before the vast lands of the Ten-Thousand Mountains became the territory of Great Qi!
"Junior brother, once the Ten-Thousand Mountains are taken, Luoxia City will never again face the fangs of the beasts directly. And we, too, will no longer be bound by ancestral restrictions to guard this single corner of the realm.
The countless disciples of Luoxia City will no longer have to spill their blood fighting beasts. Instead, they will step onto a far greater stage, with a brighter future ahead…"
Mu Guibai's gaze grew distant, filled with longing and expectation for that day to come.
Luoxia City had indeed sacrificed far, far too much for Great Qi over the years.
Zhan Tianxia felt a wave of disorientation wash over him. "Will that day… truly come?"
"Ten days from now, a council will be held at Tianyin Mountain. This is the list sent to these names."
Taking the thin slip of paper, Zhan Tianxia glanced at it briefly, and his heart jolted. This was no ordinary meeting… they were about to stir the heavens.
Ten days later, an unprecedented council was convened at Tianyin Mountain.
Deliberately left unchecked, word of the meeting's contents quickly reached the spies of countless factions, and in no time at all, the entire cultivation world of Great Qi was shaken to its core.
Song Changsheng had long since dispatched a large network of Wind Whisper Hall agents to Luoxia City. Thanks to them, he received the full report in the shortest time possible.
The contents were simple enough: in the days to come, the two ancient Golden Core sects Golden Crow Sect and Heavenly Vein Sect together with the rising Golden Core power Luoxia City, and joined by three formidable Purple Mansion sects Heavenly Sword Sect, Huansha Sect, and Hundred Herbs Hall would form a grand allied army to launch a campaign against the beast clans of the Ten-Thousand Mountains.
The reason was exactly as Mu Guibai had said.
No matter the era, expanding the borders was always something that stirred pride and excitement.
But Song Changsheng saw something different beneath the surface. Though he did not know Su Ding's hidden schemes, he could already piece things together. His earlier suspicions had been confirmed.
Everyone had been pawns in this grand game. The Song clan had been marked for sacrifice as well, but by sheer fortune, they had survived.
Unfortunately, they had paid a dreadful price for it.
And yet, compared to before, Song Changsheng felt little anger now. What he felt instead was a heavy sense of powerlessness.
If your strength is insufficient, you can only remain a pawn, your fate toyed with by those who move the pieces.
The only way to break free from being controlled is to grow strong enough to become the one who moves the pieces.
The Song clan could not wallow in grief and rage. Grief was the most useless emotion in this world.
It had to be turned into strength, and this great war had to be used to carve out enough benefits for the clan's future.
Song Changsheng had long been considering this.
Although the great sects were forming an allied army, they had no intention of keeping all the spoils for themselves. Other sects and individuals were welcome to join.
Victories would be rewarded with merit points, which could be exchanged for rewards such as spirit veins, mines, and more.
And of course, if one had the confidence, one could forgo the alliance entirely and strike out alone. The Ten-Thousand Mountains were vast, so long as one did not oppose the alliance, whatever territory one took would be theirs.
It was from this very point that Song Changsheng saw an opportunity.
Of the three provinces of Great Qi Ling, Yang, and Xiang, resources were scarcest in Ling Province. Especially Lingzhou, where not only were rare mines extremely few, but not even a single third-tier vein could be found.
For the Song clan to grow, they needed resources, vast amounts of them.
And this was their chance.
Of course, the Song clan could no longer afford reckless losses. For that reason, he would never lead his clan to join the alliance head-on.
But that didn't mean the clan couldn't seize an opportunity. For the next few years, the allied army could clash head-on with the beasts. Once the beast horde collapsed, Song Xianming should have also successfully broken through.
At that time, the Song clan could slip into the fringes and seize a few spiritual mountains. As long as they could secure even one sufficiently valuable mine vein, it would be enough for the clan's future.
Still, to strike iron, one must be strong oneself. In these few years, they had to strengthen the clan as much as possible, and the batch of supplies Song Changsheng had brought back would now prove their worth.
Excluding those in seclusion, the Song clan currently had seven Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Among them, Song Xianyun was at Foundation Establishment perfection, Song Changsheng and Song Luzhou were in the late stage, Xia Yunxue and Song Lutong were in the mid-stage, and Song Changan and Song Changxuan had just entered the early stage.
Song Changan, Song Changxuan, Song Changsheng, and Song Lutong had all just recently broken through and would not be able to advance further anytime soon.
Only Song Luzhou and Xia Yunxue had reached perfection in their current realms and could now attempt a breakthrough.
When Song Changsheng returned from Yuanzhou, he had given them each a bottle of Zixu Pills, enough to attempt advancement.
By his calculations, they should be emerging from seclusion soon.
At that moment, a steward stationed outside the Affairs Hall walked in, bowed, and reported:
"Young Clan Leader, Song Qingluo requests an audience outside."
Song Changsheng was briefly taken aback, then smiled with some delight.
"When did that boy return? Let him in."
He had always been fond of this younger clansman. Though Qingluo's natural talent was not exceptional, he was diligent, clever, and perceptive. With proper cultivation, he could still become someone of worth.
Soon, a thin young man walked in. Without waiting for Song Changsheng to speak, he held up a jade slip with both hands above his head and dropped to his knees with a heavy thud. His voice choked with sobs as he cried:
"Qingluo greets the Young Clan Leader!"
"What's the meaning of this? Get up and speak properly."
But as his gaze fell upon the jade slip, Song Changsheng's heart gave a heavy thump, a foreboding chill spreading through him.
"This," Song Qingluo said tearfully, raising the jade slip high, "is intelligence entrusted to me by Elder Song Xianlu of Luoxia City. He bade me deliver it into your hands alone!"
Song Changsheng quickly took it and pressed the slip to his forehead.
The message unfolded within his mind:
"I, an old man, bow once more to the Young Clan Leader. With the beast tide now at our gates, I live each day with dread, fearing that my years are near their end. But I bear the clan's mission, and I must hold fast to the last.
Among my bloodline's descendants, only Qingluo has set foot on the immortal path. He is young. Though diligent, his talent is meager.
What weighs on my heart most is him. Should calamity befall me, I beg the Young Clan Leader, in honor of my sacrifice for the clan, to look after him. For this, this old man would be eternally grateful!"
After reading the message, Song Changsheng shot to his feet, staring at Qingluo with urgency.
"How are the clan elder and Elder Sun?"
By now, Qingluo's face was awash with tears. He collapsed into a kowtow and wept:
"Great-grandfather, Elder Sun, and all eight members of the Wangyue Pavilion… all have fallen."
Boom!
The news struck like thunder from a clear sky. His knees buckled, and he nearly collapsed onto the seat behind him.
"When did this happen? Why was I never told?" Song Changsheng's roar echoed like that of a lion in fury.
Since returning from the Heavenly Sword Sect, he had been buried under endless clan affairs. But whenever news came from Luoxia City, he paid the utmost attention. Never once had he received a casualty report.
This was not normal. Setting Elder Xianlu aside, Sun Chuanming had been the clan's chief consecrated elder, his status equal to a family elder. Who would dare conceal news of his death?
At that moment, Song Luzhou entered. His gaze fell on the kneeling Qingluo, and guilt flashed in his eyes. He then looked to Song Changsheng and sighed.
"This… was Luyao's decision.
Luyao knew that Elder Sun had once been your teacher. But at that time, Luoxia City was heavily besieged. Telling you then would have done no good and might even have shaken your resolve. So he chose to hide it from you."
Song Changsheng froze, then let out a bitter laugh. Of course. In the clan, the only one capable of keeping such news from him was Song Luyao, who oversaw intelligence.
But now Luyao had given his life for the clan. What more could he say?
Forcing his heart to calm, he reached down, lifted Qingluo, and gently patted his back.
"Rest assured. I will personally go to Luoxia City to bring back the bodies of our clansmen and consecrated elder."
Qingluo, moved yet anxious, clasped his fists and pleaded:
"Young Clan Leader, the clan's very fate now rests upon your shoulders. With war still raging in the border provinces, please… think twice before taking such a risk."
"Yes, Changsheng," Song Luzhou added, his voice heavy. "You bear the weight of the entire clan. If you are uneasy, I will go myself."
But Song Changsheng shook his head firmly.
"No. Publicly, they died for the clan. Privately, Elder Sun was my teacher.
No matter how you look at it, I must go in person.
Besides, Luoxia City is about to become the allied army's forward base for the campaign into the Ten-Thousand Mountains. I need to see with my own eyes if I can secure some benefit for our clan.
There's no need to persuade me further. My mind is made up."
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