252: Chapter 252 Cooking in a Cauldron

Tianyuan Floating Island.

Ling Hao had just stepped out of the portal to the cave heaven world when a cold aura instantly locked onto him.

Space rippled slightly, and Yu Lingshuang's figure tore through space and arrived, frost gathering between her brows.

"You've finally come out!"

Yu Lingshuang's speaking speed was a bit faster than usual.

"Something has happened. Some of our affiliated Sects have been experiencing frequent chaos recently! Demonic Cultivators are harassing mortal cities, Spiritual Veins are drying up for no reason, Disciples are disappearing mysteriously... and in a few places, traces of secretly catalyzed small-scale Erosion Tide have even been discovered! Reports from those sent to investigate point to the upper echelons of those Sects; they... are very likely tainted by erosion qi!"

"erosion qi... Sect upper echelons..."

Ling Hao's eyes narrowed, and a thought flashed through his mind: "Niding Alliance!"

This malignant tumor hiding in the shadows had failed to infiltrate Moonshadow Sect last time. Now, it had clearly changed its strategy, shifting to erode the Foundation—infiltrating and controlling those forces affiliated with Moonshadow Sect, creating chaos, and ruining Moonshadow Sect's reputation.

Following the same insidious methods as last time—curse control, secret infiltration, coercing upper echelons, creating panic—it was likely that quite a few forces had already become their Puppets.

"The tricky part is," Yu Lingshuang rubbed her temples, a flash of exhaustion appearing and vanishing, "there are numerous affiliated forces, and new trouble pops up every day. What's even more troublesome is that there are even suspected cases of Rank 5 and Rank 6 Sects being infiltrated, standing behind the unranked minor forces! Those minor forces are like maggots on a bone; wipe out one wave, and another pops up. It's endlessly annoying."

"Heh, I was just worrying about not being able to find the tails of these rats, and they've jumped out themselves!"

Ling Hao sneered, cold light flashing in his eyes. The chaos created by this Niding Alliance had actually reminded him of something.

With a thought, the [Luck] module interface appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.

That three-dimensional Luck painting representing Moonshadow Sect and its affiliated forces slowly unfolded. Ling Hao's focus locked onto the [Affiliated Sect Management] list. His gaze swept past the dense names and focused directly on the key value behind every Sect—[Loyalty]!

He had originally thought that those Sects with low loyalty and unstable states were just unsettled because they had recently joined.

The glaringly low values behind many names on this list (such as Wavering 40/100, or even Rebellious 20/100), as well as the [Interfered by Unknown External Force] tag that had quietly appeared in the status bar—all of this became incredibly clear!

"So that's it!"

Ling Hao understood in his heart, "Now it seems... it's all the Niding Alliance causing trouble behind the scenes!"

Lock the list! Issue the judgment with his will!

Cauldron Cooking!

In an instant, in the sea of Luck clouds above Moonshadow Sect, the golden Dragon roared. A terrifying power originating from the source of Luck followed the links of the Luck network and simultaneously descended upon all the Sects marked as abnormal on the list!

Edge of Moonshadow Sect's territory · Liusha Gang encampment.

At noon, the mid-level Spiritual Vein they relied on for survival suddenly vibrated violently. The dense Spiritual Qi became thin and turbid at a speed visible to the naked eye, and finally dried up completely.

The Gang Master and several Elders who were Cultivating groaned simultaneously, their faces turning deathly pale. The spiritual power within their bodies surged in reverse uncontrollably, and their Realm actually dropped by a small level all at once! The Disciples who were lucky enough not to be injured also felt that everything was going wrong; tripping on flat ground and Magic Treasure malfunctions were everywhere. The entire Gang encampment was shrouded in gloom, and panic spread.

Another place · Qingmu Sect mountain gate.

The mountain-protecting array inexplicably failed, and hundreds of century-old Spirit Medicine carefully cultivated in the medicine fields withered instantly. When several Core Disciples were practicing the sword formation, their sword moves suddenly lost control, and the Sword Qi backlashed, injuring their own Meridians. Even more bizarrely, the Spirit Beast raised in the back mountain suddenly died in groups...

Similar scenes were unfolding simultaneously in dozens of locations within Moonshadow Sect's territory! Spiritual Vein depletion, Realm regression, Qi Deviation, bad Luck falling from the sky... as if abandoned by Heavenly Dao, sudden disasters struck those Sects locked by [Cauldron Cooking].

Ling Hao withdrew his focus, a flash of spiritual light appeared at his fingertips, and a blank Jade Slip appeared in his hand. He branded the list of betraying Sects he had filtered out, along with a brief record of "abnormal performance," and handed it to Yu Lingshuang.

"Take this. For those on the list, just send Elders to deal with them directly."

Yu Lingshuang took the Jade Slip, and with a sweep of her Divine Sense, the detailed information inside made her heart tremble slightly. She looked up at Ling Hao, her clear eyes holding a trace of doubt:

"So precise... How can you be sure it's them? What if there's an oversight..."

"Rest assured."

Ling Hao interrupted her, his tone firm, "I have my own methods. Trust me."

Looking at Ling Hao's confident eyes, the slight doubt in Yu Lingshuang's heart instantly dissipated. She understood him; without absolute certainty, he wouldn't be like this. She snorted softly, put away the Jade Slip, and her tone feigned indifference:

"Hmph, anyway, it's your Sect's Foundation. If you aren't afraid, why should I worry for nothing."

Ling Hao looked at her slightly haggard profile, and a warm current surged in his heart. After so long, which part of her, inside and out, hadn't he explored?

Ling Hao knew Yu Lingshuang too well; she said it was irrelevant, but in reality, she had long since regarded Moonshadow Sect as her own, working hard for the stability of the Sect.

Without words, Ling Hao stepped forward, reached out, and gently pulled her into his arms, his chin naturally resting on her soft hair.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Yu Lingshuang's body stiffened slightly, and her fair earlobes quietly flushed pink.

"Don't... don't do this, many Disciples are watching..."

She struggled symbolically a few times, her voice as thin as a mosquito. Seeing that Ling Hao remained unmoved and instead held her tighter, she stopped resisting. After hesitating for a moment, her hands finally wrapped around Ling Hao's waist, and she pressed her cheek gently against his solid chest, closing her eyes and enjoying this rare moment of peace and reliance.

On Tianyuan Floating Island, several passing Disciples happened to catch a glimpse of this scene.

"Hiss—look quickly!"

"It's the Sect Master and the Deputy Sect Master..."

"Wow! The Sect Master is hugging Vice Sect Master Yu! So... so envious..."

"If only it were me the Sect Master was hugging..." A young female Disciple held her face, her eyes full of longing little stars.

"Shh! Keep it down! Don't disturb the Sect Master and Vice Sect Master Yu..."

"I'm going to use a recording stone to record it!"

"Still recording? Be careful that Vice Sect Master Yu settles scores with you!"

"Vice Sect Master Yu may be cold, but she definitely won't."

A group of young Disciples were laughing and chatting.

Suddenly, a lazy voice sounded.

"What are you looking at here?"

The few young Disciples turned back and saw a figure in a moon-white ru skirt, stepping on the air barefoot.

"Deputy Sect Master!"

The Disciples hurriedly saluted.

Yu Linglong waved her hand, "Alright, you all go Cultivate."

"Yes!"

After the few Disciples left, Yu Linglong turned to look. The two had already separated and were looking at her leisurely.

Yu Linglong snorted coldly, left a sentence, and her figure disappeared.

"You two are the Sect Master and Deputy Sect Master, please pay attention to your influence."

Ling Hao and Yu Lingshuang met each other's eyes and smiled.

A breeze blew by, carrying the fragrance of flowers and plants, and an atmosphere of ambiguity and warmth flowed quietly between the two.

...

A month of time passed in a hurry.

Wanxian Dynasty's actions within Cangwu Province became increasingly unscrupulous and arrogant. Strangely, Wan Shou Mountain and Wutong Divine Dynasty both chose to watch in silence, holding their troops still.

And Moonshadow Sect's actions left all the forces in Cangwu Province confused; they were actually cleaning up their own affiliated Sects on a large scale!

From the backbone forces of Rank 6 down to the small forces of Rank 1, dozens of Sects were uprooted or severely rectified!

For a time, rumors flew in Cangwu Province.

"Have you heard? The Sects that joined Moonshadow Sect didn't have a good end! Liusha Gang, Qingmu Sect... all finished! This is killing the donkey after it grinds the mill, killing the hen to get the eggs!"

At a tea stall in a certain market, a Cultivator said in a low voice.

"Fart!"

A rough Cultivator next to him slapped the table and stood up.

"I'm from near Qingmu Sect! Those bastards colluded with outsiders and secretly used evil methods to catalyze erosion qi to harm people! Before the cleanup, their Sect suffered divine retribution! The Spiritual Vein dried up, and the Elders' Realm all dropped! Moonshadow Sect is acting on behalf of Heaven!"

"Exactly, exactly! I saw the Liusha Gang Master doing evil things at the altar with my own eyes!" An old Cultivator agreed.

"Hmph, who knows if Moonshadow Sect used some evil methods to harm them first, and then pretended to be the good guy to come out and clean them up? In my opinion, joining Moonshadow Sect is what brought the Heavenly Dao punishment!"

An unpleasant voice sounded from another table.

"You talk complete bullshit..."

Opinions varied, and various versions of rumors spread rapidly in wine shops, teahouses, and outside the city. Bad words and defenses intertwined, and the truth became confusing in the spreading.

And with Moonshadow Sect's vigorous cleanup operation, a name that originally only circulated in dark corners—"Niding Alliance"—spread throughout the entire Cangwu Province!

"Have you heard? The Sects that were cleaned up were all controlled by an evil organization called the 'Niding Alliance'!"

"Niding Alliance? What do they do?"

"I heard they specialize in sabotage, colluding with erosion qi, and want to subvert our Cangwu Province!"

"It's spread even to the mortal world! The storytellers are all telling stories about 'Moonshadow Sect wiping out the minions of the Niding Alliance'!"

Niding Alliance, this name was exposed to the eyes of the billions of living beings in Cangwu Province on such a large scale for the first time.