289: Chapter 289 The matter did not end there.

The White-Haired Ancestor sat in the main seat, with a communication Jade Slip and a bronze mirror placed on the long table in front of him.

The image reflected in the bronze mirror was a recording made by Elder Jiang using a Magical Artifact during the battle on the outskirts of the Soul-Severing Ravine. Mo Chen, a Foundation Establishment Mid-stage Cultivator from Black Rock Palace, had summoned a hundred soul banner, and the primary soul within the banner was clearly the Late Foundation Establishment Stage Elder of the Tiangang Sect, Chen Tai.

Four Golden Core True Persons of the Tiangang Sect sat within the hall, and the atmosphere was very heavy.

"The evidence is irrefutable." The White-Haired Ancestor's voice echoed in the hall, "Chen Tai was ordered to go to Fallen Phoenix Valley to investigate years ago and never returned. At the time, we only thought he had died. Who would have thought that his Divine Soul would now appear in the hundred soul banner of a Black Rock Palace Disciple, refined into a soul slave."

No one spoke in the hall.

"I have already sent people to deliver a formal note to Black Rock Palace," the White-Haired Ancestor continued, "demanding they hand over Mo Chen, return Chen Tai's remnant soul, and compensate our Sect for its losses."

"What did they say?" a Golden Core Middle Stage Old Ancestor asked.

"They refused," the White-Haired Ancestor said in a flat tone. "The Supreme Elder of Heiyan Palace replied saying that the soul in Mo Chen's hundred soul banner cannot be confirmed as someone from our Sect, and demanded we provide more evidence."

"Bullshit!" Another Golden Core Middle Stage Old Ancestor slammed the table and stood up. "Elder Jiang saw it with his own eyes, and the image recording is crystal clear. They still want to deny it? Moreover, the person is in their hands, how are we supposed to provide more evidence!"

"The face of a Demonic Path Sect has always been like this." The White-Haired Ancestor raised his hand to suppress everyone's anger. "We cannot rush. Black Rock Palace must be held accountable, but we must first figure out the attitudes of the other three Sects in Pingling Prefecture."

If we move against Black Rock Palace, will the Qiankun Gate, Qingfeng Valley, and Spirit Talisman Sect unite with them? After all, to them, we are an outside force from another prefecture. Before these matters are clarified, we cannot act rashly."

"Then we just wait like this?" The Old Ancestor who had slammed the table was unwilling.

"No, we must prepare first." The White-Haired Ancestor's voice was very soft. "If we are to fight, we must hit them so hard they can never recover. We'll keep this debt on the books for now and settle it all at once when the time is right."

He scanned everyone in the hall: "From this day forward, the Tiangang Sect severs all ties with Black Rock Palace. Any Disciple of our Sect who encounters someone from Black Rock Palace outside need not be polite. Additionally, strengthen contact with the other three Sects of Qinghe Prefecture, especially the Qingxuan Sect and the Hundred Beasts Gate, and report this matter to them."

"What's the point of reporting it to them?"

"To let them know that Black Rock Palace even dares to refine an Elder of our Sect into a soul slave," the White-Haired Ancestor said coldly. "Today it is someone from my Tiangang Sect; will it be one of theirs tomorrow?"

Everyone in the hall looked at each other, understanding the White-Haired Ancestor's meaning.

Pull in allies and foster mutual hostility toward Black Rock Palace. When the time is ripe, settle everything in one fell swoop.

The situation over in Pingling Prefecture was equally delicate.

In the battle of the Soul-Severing Ravine, the Four Sect Alliance's efforts had fallen through completely. Years of hard work and the investment of millions of Spirit Stones had all served as a dowry for the Danding Sect.

No one could swallow this resentment. But even if they couldn't, what could they do?

The Danding Sect was a Nascent Soul Great Sect. Six Golden Core Peaks could casually summon twelve Treasure Artifacts. That kind of crushing power gap made everyone present soberly realize one fact.

The gap between them and the Danding Sect was so great that they couldn't even muster a thought of revenge.

So, with nowhere to vent their fury, the Four Sect Alliance began an internal reckoning.

The Wood Spirits were gone—both of them.

The original agreement was to "take the Wood Spirits first and then discuss distribution." Now that the Wood Spirits had been snatched away, there was naturally no distribution to speak of.

But what about the initial investment? The consumption of Spirit Stones, manpower, and treasures?

The Spirit Talisman Sect was the first to jump out.

They were responsible for setting up the Teleportation Array, and the Heaven-Shrouding Earth-Veiling Array was also their work.

Although the Heaven-Shrouding Earth-Veiling Array was ultimately not completed, the Spirit Stones and spiritual materials invested in the early stages had already been sunk. Combined with the maintenance costs of the Teleportation Array, the Spirit Talisman Sect's expenditures in this operation were greater than those of the other three Sects.

Now that it had all come to naught, this debt naturally had to be settled with the initiator, and the entire matter from beginning to end had been started by Black Rock Palace.

The Sect Head of the Spirit Talisman Sect personally sent a message to Black Rock Palace, demanding compensation for the loss of Formation materials.

Black Rock Palace refused on the spot, reasoning that they had contributed the most effort and suffered the greatest losses. The spiritual power of the Nine Nether Soul-Suppressing Flag was exhausted and would take decades of nurturing to recover. Why should they be the ones to compensate? The other three Sects should be the ones compensating Black Rock Palace instead.

These words infuriated the Spirit Talisman Sect. Qiankun Gate and Qingfeng Valley also didn't buy it, believing that the Supreme Elder of Heiyan Palace's command was ineffective and that he had made a major error in judging the strength of the Demon King at the bottom of the ravine. This led to them entering the valley too late, which was why they were discovered by Qinghe Prefecture and ultimately intercepted by the Danding Sect.

Within three days, over a hundred communication Jade Slips flew between the four Sects, the wording becoming more unpleasant each time.

On the fifth day, the Spirit Talisman Sect was the first to announce its withdrawal from the Alliance and publicly demanded compensation for the value of the Formation materials.

On the sixth day, Qingfeng Valley and Qiankun Gate issued a joint statement, drawing a clear line between themselves and Black Rock Palace.

The Four Sect Alliance was officially dissolved.

Ultimately, the landscape of Pingling Prefecture was like this: Black Rock Palace was of the "Demonic Path," while the other three Sects were of the "Righteous Path." The two sides were inherently incompatible.

The reason they could sit at the same table again before was entirely because the temptation of the Wood Spirits was too great—great enough for the Righteous and Demonic Paths to temporarily set aside their grievances.

Now that the Wood Spirits were gone, the only reason for the Alliance's existence had vanished with them. The three Sects and Black Rock Palace naturally returned to their original state of hostility.

However, the matter did not end there.

Three days after the Alliance dissolved, the Sect Heads of Qiankun Gate, Spirit Talisman Sect, and Qingfeng Valley coincidentally sent people to Qinghe Prefecture to test the possibility of establishing contact with the Tiangang Sect.

But their goal was not truly to join forces with Qinghe Prefecture to deal with Black Rock Palace.

The reasoning was simple: although Black Rock Palace belonged to the Demonic Path, it was still a local power in Pingling Prefecture.

If they truly destroyed Black Rock Palace, only three Righteous Path Sects would remain in Pingling Prefecture. If the four Sects of Qinghe Prefecture then took the opportunity to pressure them, what would the three of them have to withstand it?

So the true intention of the three Sects was to use Qinghe Prefecture to put pressure on Black Rock Palace.

To let Black Rock Palace know that if they continued to be obstinate and refuse to compensate, the three Sects of Pingling Prefecture could bring Qinghe Prefecture over at any time.

To force Black Rock Palace to compromise, nothing more.

Of course, Su Cheng had no way of knowing about these undercurrents for the time being.

All of his attention at this moment was focused on the Pill Furnace in front of him.

Time passed quickly.

With half a month left until the Alchemy Hall Competition, Su Cheng's supreme grade rate had stabilized at forty-seven percent.

This number was higher than he had expected. The reason lay in the success of that day's attempt: channeling the creation dao rhyme from the qiankun creation furnace in his Sea of Consciousness, transferring it through the dao foundation furnace, and finally injecting it into the hearth of the wanbao mirror, integrating it into the final step of pill condensation.

After nearly half a month of repeated refinement, this set of techniques was now considered relatively mature.

In other words, as long as he successfully introduced the Dao Rhyme into the wanbao mirror during pill condensation, that batch would definitely be supreme grade.

And his success rate in channeling the Dao Rhyme was currently forty-seven percent.

If he could pull the success rate of channeling the Dao Rhyme up a bit more before the competition began, aiming for over fifty percent...

Su Cheng didn't think too much and continued Alchemy.

There was no point in rushing things that couldn't be rushed. With less than half a month left, he would improve as much as he could.

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

Three days before the Alchemy Hall Competition, the Alchemy Hall officially announced the rules of the contest.