723: Chapter 723 Xue Rong's Malicious Scheme

Liu Tianxing looked into the distance, his voice low: "I never expected that he really was Qin Tian."

After a pause, he lowered his voice even more: "He placed Slave Contracts on Ru Yan and Golden Phoenix over two hundred years ago. If he really is Qin Tian, why would he enslave them instead of killing them directly?"

"We should still discuss what to do next." Qi Yuan looked grim. "The Wuji Immortal Sect is already preparing for a full-scale offensive, and the other three families are turning a blind eye."

During the last Mahayana battle, Qi Yuan remained in the Heavenly Palace and did not go along. In fact, even if he had gone, having one or two more Mahayana Early Stage cultivators would not have changed anything.

"Qin Chen is different from the Wuji Immortal Sect." Ye Chen frowned. "The Wuji Immortal Sect only wants to suppress us; they dare not truly destroy our Legacy."

"That's true." Xu Haoran looked serious. "This Qin Chen really wants to destroy our Legacy."

Their words had another layer of meaning—the upper echelons of the Wuji Immortal Sect were all backed by first-rate families, with countless clansmen and vassals.

If it came to a battle of total destruction, once pushed to the edge, the Heavenly Palace had so many Mahayana cultivators that no one would be able to gain any advantage.

But you, Qin Chen, are different; you are a lone wolf.

In their eyes, the Tianhuang Continent was simply not worth mentioning.

Even if they went to destroy the Tianhuang Continent, it would only make you have no scruples.

Furthermore, in their view, you are someone who underwent Possession, so the Tianhuang Continent cannot be used for moral blackmail against you.

Most importantly, the Luck of the Tianhuang Continent is not bound to you.

Moreover, you did not leave behind any Dao or Legacy there—this was also one of the reasons why you disbanded Fengyun Pavilion back then.

"We must extinguish the anger of the Wuji Immortal Sect so that we can concentrate our strength to deal with Qin Chen." Qi Yuan's tone was serious.

"It would be good if we could separate the Wuji Immortal Sect from Qin Chen." Xu Haoran tapped his fingers lightly on the stone table.

"Separate?" Qi Yuan muttered in a low voice.

"Feign weakness." Ye Chen's eyes lit up.

"Feign weakness? What do you mean?" Xu Haoran looked at him.

"We remain still and announce to the outside world that the last ambush was not aimed at the Wuji Immortal Sect, but at Qin Chen," Ye Chen said slowly.

"You mean... reduce the conflict between the two sects to a personal vendetta?" Qi Yuan looked at him.

"Exactly," Ye Chen nodded and said slowly, "Everyone knows that Qin Chen is the one who wants to destroy the Liu Clan Territory and will even attack the Heavenly Palace. It is only natural that we ambushed him. It is just that the Wuji Immortal Sect insists on protecting him."

"But the other three families won't be that easy to fool, right?" Xu Haoran frowned.

"Pay a bigger price," Ye Chen said.

"What kind of price?" Qi Yuan asked.

"The Wuji Immortal Sect has the moral high ground this time. We will not initiate battle and will simply let them take a piece of territory. They cannot really attack the Heavenly Palace, or the other three families will not sit idly by." After Ye Chen finished speaking, he glanced at Liu Xuerong.

In fact, what he said was exactly the reason why the five top forces had always maintained a balance with each other.

Each Family had quite a few Mahayana cultivators, making it difficult to completely annihilate one another at once—especially since each had a Mahayana Peak expert holding down the fort.

If one truly possessed that ability, just like Venerable Ziyang in the past, they would inevitably be feared by other forces and eventually besieged.

One hundred thousand years ago, Ziyang Palace was once the only top force.

Only after Venerable Ziyang was injured in an ambush and went missing did the current five top forces emerge.

In fact, countless Legacies and supreme treasures of the current five families originated from Ziyang Palace.

Later, the five families advanced together, making it difficult to completely annihilate any one of them—unless the five Mahayana Peak experts of the five families fought each other and all perished at the same time.

But such a thing had never happened.

Who would choose to perish together?

Moreover, if a Mahayana Peak expert wants to leave, no one can stop them—unless they sign a Great Dao Life-and-Death Duel Note.

Once signed, it is a fight to the death.

The Heavenly Palace dared to actively ambush the Wuji Immortal Sect this time entirely because the Wuji Old Ancestor had gone to the Chaos Sea.

But the Wuji Old Ancestor had no choice but to go—his Lifespan was approaching twenty thousand years, so he had to go and fight for a glimmer of hope.

And the next one whose Lifespan was approaching its end was the Dean, followed by Venerable Xuanyuan.

The reason Xuanyuan Shouyi proposed the second condition to you was because of Venerable Xuanyuan's Lifespan issue.

The Dean's friendliness toward you also had a Lifespan factor; he hoped that you would remember the friendship and be able to lend a helping hand to Yun Xiaozi in the future.

Therefore, all five top forces would do the same thing before their Lifespan reached its end—cultivate a successor, and then head to the Chaos Sea to search for a method of Ascension.

It was just that successors were not that easy to find, and even harder to cultivate.

However, the Wuji Immortal Sect had the immortal slaying sword protecting it, so even Mahayana Peak experts dared not act recklessly. That was why the Wuji Old Ancestor dared to leave—if he didn't leave, it would be useless; he could only sit and wait for death.

Who could have imagined that this immortal slaying sword would happen to be taken by you.

Murong Changge really did want you to become the Sect Master; with his strength, the pressure he was bearing was too great.

Ye Chen's words caused the pavilion to fall into a brief silence.

Liu Tianxing broke the silence and spoke slowly: "If it is just ceding some territory, that is not impossible, but I am afraid that is not enough, right?"

"Find someone else to impersonate Qin Chen and destroy the Liu Clan Territory," Liu Xuerong suddenly added.

"Are you crazy?" Xu Haoran's eyes widened. "Destroy our own clan territory?"

Liu Xuerong's expression was calm as she looked at the four of them: "Secretly relocate a portion of the Liu Clan members, and have the Elders leave behind a Clone; do not let anyone see any clues."

"Brilliant." Xu Haoran slapped his thigh. "In this way, we have the moral high ground again."

Ye Chen's gaze looked into the distance, remaining silent.

Liu Xuerong's gaze swept around and finally landed on Qi Yuan: "Elder Qi, I will have to trouble you this time to disguise yourself as Qin Chen and go destroy my Liu Clan Territory."

Qi Yuan looked troubled and said slowly: "I did not participate in the Mahayana battle this time, and I am not familiar enough with his immortal slaying sword formation. I am afraid it will not be enough to pass for the real thing, right?"

Liu Xuerong nodded and looked at Xu Haoran: "Then I will have to trouble you, Haoran?"

Xu Haoran's expression stiffened, but he did not refute it; he had no choice but to nod with difficulty.

Liu Xuerong looked at Liu Tianxing again: "Brother, you assist from the side. You can make a move when necessary, pretend to be defeated by Haoran, and by the way, use a shadow recording stone to release the footage to the public."

Liu Tianxing frowned and did not answer.

He thought it over and did not refuse—this was indeed the only method at present.

Although it was ruthless, it was indeed effective.

The benefit of doing this was to let everyone see that they were the weaker side, the side worthy of sympathy, and the side with the moral high ground.

As for what the truth was, did it matter?

It did not matter.

At least, they had given the other three families an excuse.

Moreover, in such matters, even if you are in the right, you cannot explain it clearly—you were just ambushed, and then you turned around and destroyed the Liu Clan Territory; it was reasonable and logical.

As long as they dragged it out for a period of time, the scales would eventually tilt back to the Heavenly Palace's side—waiting for the Flame Emperor to return, waiting for Liu Xuerong to recover, and preferably, for the Dean and Venerable Xuanyuan to also go to the Chaos Sea.

They discussed some more details and then dispersed to prepare for this self-directed drama.