692: Chapter 692 Laws, Four Domain Lords

"Why would the Master of the Dao Court come to the Joyous Union Sect to kill Brother Huateng? Unless the Dao Court had long known about his identity and our plan!"

The one speaking was the calm and steady Great Sage Jing Pang, the third-ranked member of the clan.

The second-ranked Great Sage Jing Bao roared in a deep, booming voice: "Even if the Dao Court prepared in advance, they wouldn't be able to kill Great Sage Huateng in such a short time, right?"

"In my opinion, perhaps it wasn't the Dao Court that acted, but rather that Great Sage Huateng wasn't being honest, and played tricks when signing the contract with the Old Clan Chief back then!"

In the end, there were only two possibilities: either the Dao Court acted and used mysterious means to instantly kill Great Sage Huateng, or Great Sage Huateng used special means to bypass the Divine Soul contract and betrayed Long Whale Palace.

Regardless of which situation it was, it was extremely unfavorable for Long Whale Palace. The Clan Chief, Great Sage Jing Hong, pondered for a long time before saying:

"Wait and observe. Before the specific situation is clarified, none of you should leave Long Whale Palace in your true forms recently."

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

Even without being told, they wouldn't dare to run around. Great Sage Huateng's strength was a notch above theirs, yet he was still killed. The entire East Sea suddenly became dangerous.

A few days later.

Long Whale Palace ordered the cessation of the war against the Joyous Union Sect, and all Yao Race members withdrew from the Joyous Union Sect's sea territory at the fastest possible speed.

Subsequently, news spread from the Joyous Union Sect that Daoist Yin-Yang had advanced to a Late-stage Spirit Transformation Cultivator and had repelled a Great Sage from Long Whale Palace, causing the war to subside.

Regarding this, Long Whale Palace offered no explanation and maintained silence. In the eyes of many sea monsters and Joyous Union Sect Cultivators, this was tantamount to an admission, causing the East Sea to quickly return to its pre-war state.

Due to the special nature of Old Ancestor Hehuan's identity, and because the Joyous Union Sect and Long Whale Palace intentionally concealed it, the fall of a Late-stage Spirit Transformation Cultivator did not cause much of a stir.

Although there were rumors that in the battle at the Yin-Yang Archipelago, Daoist Yin-Yang did not just repel a Long Whale Palace Great Sage, but directly killed one, everyone just dismissed it as the imagination of storytellers, believing only the ignorant would buy it.

There were also rumors that the one who acted at the time was not Daoist Yin-Yang, but Sect Master Liu Xuan. Many people firmly believed this, as there had previously been talk that Liu Xuan was the Sect Master who had been missing for many years, and the commotion caused by the battle did not resemble the style of Daoist Yin-Yang.

During the battle, although the Cultivators of the Yin-Yang Archipelago were hiding in the Formation nodes and could not see the details of the battle in the sky, many people had seen the Thousand Star Sword Array that had risen.

Countless Cultivators had their natal flying swords forcibly taken away, and they only just retrieved them from the Yin-Yang Great Island in the last few days.

The thousand star flying sword was exclusively crafted by the Liu Family Artifact Refining Workshop, and the Thousand Star Sword Array also originated from the Liu Family, so the Sect Master must have played a part in this great battle.

Thinking about it, it made sense; Daoist Yin-Yang had only just advanced. Without the Sect Master's help, how could she easily repel a veteran Yao Race Great Sage from Long Whale Palace?

The rumors became increasingly convincing, and more and more people believed that Liu Xuan was the Sect Master who had been missing for thousands of years.

The missing Sect Master had returned, and Daoist Yin-Yang had advanced; the Joyous Union Sect, which originally had no Great Cultivators, suddenly had two.

The Joyous Union Sect Cultivators, whose morale had plummeted due to the threat from Long Whale Palace not long ago, were suddenly elated. Some Yao Race members who could not retreat in time were hunted down by them along the way, suffering heavy losses.

...

Central Plains.

Dao Court.

From the moment Jiang Xingwan advanced to Late-stage Spirit Transformation, the Bureau of Astronomy had already taken note of the East Sea. Even the subsequent great battle could be inferred by them through the fluctuations in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

However, guesses were ultimately just guesses. The conclusion reached by the Bureau of Astronomy was that both sides had fought for a long time without a clear victor, and eventually, one side's aura disappeared; it was likely that they could not force a breakthrough, so they stopped and retreated.

The observation results were reported layer by layer. The many Daoist Lords of the Dao Court only focused on the fact that a Great Cultivator had been born in the East Sea's Joyous Union Sect, and did not think much else.

The Joyous Union Sect was also part of the Human Race. In the current situation, the birth of a new Great Cultivator was a good thing for the Dao Court, especially for the radicals among them.

The Prefect of Tianheng Prefecture was very happy upon receiving the news and immediately ordered people to prepare congratulatory gifts. He intended to personally attend the Daoist Yin-Yang's advancement ceremony with his Dharma Avatar, and take the Opportunity to meet that long-missing Old Ancestor Hehuan.

"This discarded piece, the Joyous Union Sect, I originally thought could only be used to paralyze Long Whale Palace for a period of time. I didn't expect them to have such an Opportunity!"

The Master of the Dao Court intended to use the upheaval of Heaven and Earth to attack and exterminate the Yao Race in the four directions, but because internal opinions could not be unified in a short time, he planned to start with the Buddhism of the Western Desert. Once the war started, it would not be easy to stop.

The previous Joyous Union Sect had no Great Cultivators and would not completely obey the Dao Court's orders, so it was easier to just leave them alone; if they could drag out Long Whale Palace for some time, that was also good.

Now, however, it was different. The Joyous Union Sect had suddenly produced two Great Cultivators. If they had the support of the Dao Court, they could fully serve as the vanguard for attacking the East Sea in the future.

"If I can win over the two Great Cultivators, the position of East Sea Regional Lord will very likely be mine."

With this thought, the corners of the Tianheng Prefecture Prefect's mouth could not help but curl into a smile, and he instructed his Disciples outside the hall: "Prepare the congratulatory gifts for Daoist Yin-Yang's advancement ceremony with the highest specifications; you must ensure the other party feels our sincerity."

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

The Disciples bowed and retreated, preparing the entourage and various congratulatory gifts for the occasion according to the Prefect's requirements.

The reason the Tianheng Prefecture Prefect was so proactive was mainly because of the decree announced by the Master of the Dao Court not long ago.

The decree was very simple. The entire Cangwu Realm was too vast, and even if the four regional territories were conquered, they would be difficult to manage. Therefore, he decided that after the war was won, four branches would be established in the East Sea, Southern Border, Western Desert, and Northern Plains to build the Dao Courts of the Four Directions. The heads of these branches would be called Regional Lords, to be assumed by the four Prefects with the greatest contributions in the war.

Once this decree was issued, the high-level Prefects of the Dao Court, who had previously been difficult to unify and lacked enthusiasm, were suddenly excited.

The Master of the Dao Court's move was equivalent to sharing all the fruits of the war, which was a huge temptation for some Prefects who aspired to Ascension.

As a Regional Lord, if one could exterminate all the Yao Race and restore the fluctuations of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, any one of the regions would have enough resources to support a Daoist Lord's Ascension.

In this way, exterminating the Yao Race and unifying the Cangwu Realm was no longer an empty slogan, but something with tangible benefits.

Because of this decree, the opinions of the higher-ups tended to unify. Even if some were not interested in the position of Regional Lord, under the coercion of the general trend, they could only pick a side; otherwise, they would be ostracized and have their current interests carved up under the pretext of war mobilization.

With the opinions of the higher-ups unified, the thoughts and opinions of the many middle and lower-level Cultivators were not that important. Once a decree was issued from above, the subordinate Sects everywhere dared not disobey, and one after another began to mobilize Cultivators, train battle Formations, and prepare war supplies.

However, although the wills of the various factions of the Dao Court were basically unified, the number of Cultivators involved was simply too large, and it would still take quite a bit of preparation time before a true full-scale war.

The current main target remained the Buddhism of the Western Desert. First, crush this soft persimmon, stir up the situation, and then take advantage of the momentum to attack the Southern Border, East Sea, and Northern Plains.