Chapter 33 – The Alliance

  The atmosphere in the city changed quite drastically. No one was talking about the so-called impending demonic beast wave anymore. The Red Massacre was the topic of conversation. But what was interesting was how the tone of the conversation shifted.

  The tone started with his appearance, how Yuhan Diyuan was covered in the blood of his enemies. But that changed when the grandmother of Yiyi spread how his actions was justice, how he brought justice on those who wrongfully killed Zhou, a normal woodcarver. Yes it was bloody, but so was the butcher shop. To see justice in action personally was to see how food was made. Usually messy, but necessary.

  None of the factions retaliated against the Black Brigade. The Xia family, who had taken a large loss with the death of their patriarch and many prominent fighters, kept quiet and shut their doors. The Niu family made no move as their own patriarch, Niu Bolin, was still in seclusion from his fight against the Right and Left Guardians of the Sunset Garden. Even the Infinite Wealth Auction House did not make a statement.

  All of that was to say how Yuhan Diyuan really did own the city now.

  Or at least he did for a couple of days. Discussions were had how this was the eve of war, where the enemies of the Black Brigade would retaliate soon. It was known that the Niu family’s heir was a member of the Virtuous Wind Sect, so their arrival could spark something.

  Diyuan didn’t leave the Niu branch empty handed. After he had declared himself the tyrant, he found the source of the formation barrier. It was a manuscript, rather than flags, so it would be more difficult to setup without any formation knowledge. And unfortunately, no one at the Black Brigade knew how to do it, so it would essentially be deadweight until they found someone to help.

  Yao Luchen returned back to his Yao family to obtain a jade tablet that held a Spiritweave arte, one that his father had used presumably. As for Feng Xueying, she needed her own Spiritweave arte but didn’t have a source like Yao Luchen did. They would see if one existed during the Golden Auction.

  Meanwhile, the Black Brigade was preparing other things. They gathered information about the most heinous families that would normally oppress non-cultivators. Manager Fanjian was getting into contact with those of lesser influence in these families and factions. The goal here was to replace the leadership of those whose beliefs aligned more with Diyuan’s, or at least was willing to alter their beliefs to match.

  Manager Fanjian’s influence was a bit more than what Diyuan had initially predicted. He was highly respected back in the original Black Brigade days, where the former leaders of the Black Brigade had some sense of honor and helped the commoners.

  Feng Xueying went into the city with Yiyi and others to see if they can find a representative for the common people. A new governmental structure would be needed, so Diyuan figured something similar to his own Zhengyi’s clan style would work. Manager Fanjian would fit well as a City Lord, but that would take time away from running the Black Brigade.

  If only someone could fall into his lap and fill the position themselves.

  “We’ve received notice that Madam Mei Yi wants to visit,” Manager Fanjian said.

  Diyuan gave his approval and waited for her to arrive. He wasn’t sure how she would act. Was she prideful? Did she take offense to his tyrant declaration? It would be nice if they weren’t on opposing sides.

  The real problem was how the Virtuous Wind Sect would see him now. He would like to learn more about the Intent Realms from them, but if his actions had closed that door, then it couldn’t be helped.

  Seats were prepared for Auntie Mei Yi in a more relaxing room than his usual main hall location. When she arrived, it was only her and the Right Guardian. The Black Brigade were out on the front courtyard doing drills. The Right Guardian nodded in approval as they walked past. He had his dual spears on his back, but he took them off at the entrance, which told Diyuan that they weren’t here for conflict. Diyuan made sure to salute them first, which gave permission for the other Black Brigade members to salute.

  “A gift for the Black Brigade’s rise.” Auntie Mei Yi held out a wooden box and opened it. Within, there were multiple paper talismans. “Silencers you can add to the corners of rooms. Just close the door and it’ll activate. With many members coming up in cultivation, privacy may seem less available with everyone becoming capable of hearing at a distance.”

  It was just the three of them in a small room with a table at the center with tea prepared. Guardian Zhai Tielong prepared the talismans and placed them in the corners as Diyuan sat. Whatever they came here for, they also wanted secrecy so Manager Fanjian had left them be.

  After Diyuan settled in on the other side of the table, he couldn’t help but compare Auntie Mei Yi’s looks to the other women. Before, he had simply viewed her as someone with refined elegance, matching that of a cultivator. But now he could declare that her appearance was ageless, especially after living in this city for the past month. But since he knew that Beautification Pills were a thing, perhaps that was why she seemed more like a cultivator than a non-cultivator.

  She noticed him examining her as she took a sip. A smile, but no comment. It was her permission to continue examining.

  Instead, he looked at the Right Guardian next. After getting used to how untrained everyone was, the Right Guardian Zhai Tielong was definitely different, where he had no openings as he guarded the door. Even spearless, he was ready to act if needed.

  “Thank you for accepting me as a guest today,” Auntie Mei Yi said, putting down her cup. “I hear you’ve been busy. You’ve made quite the splash since we’ve last met.”

  “An accident. I was walking down the street and suddenly the fragile barrier broke when I sneezed.”

  She smiled. She would already know everything so it wasn’t like he needed to fill her in on the details. “Then you became a tyrant.”

  Diyuan shrugged. “Who hasn’t these days?”

  The small chitchat continued for a period longer before she changed her tune.

  “Speaking of sneezing while being healthy, you recall that barrier of the Niu family? Well, they received that from their ally: the Infinite Wealth Auction House.”

  That wasn’t new news to Diyuan, who learned of it when he listened in on the Xiaoya and Min’s sound transmission conversation.

  But Auntie Mei Yi wouldn’t know that. “I thought they were neutral?”

  “A lie. A secret dealing had occurred between the two forces long ago, something I found out just recently thanks to your actions, though I don’t know what that dealing is just yet. It becomes more concerning the more you think about it. Did you know that they had previously believed you and your masked companion were from the upper world?”

  Diyuan let out a laugh. He wasn’t aware they had thought that in the first place. “Is that right?”

  “Yes. And even when they believed that, they still provided a barrier with the expectation that you might come and attack the Niu family. Very curious, don’t you think? What sort of things might they do now that they stopped believing you’re from the upper world?”

  “What indeed,” Diyuan said, unbothered.

  She leaned forward and rested her chin in her hand, spilling her silky white hair forward. It seemed like she had a new interest in him. “I’m also informed they claim they have evidence of your demonic activity, to be presented to all immortals who enter the city. The goal here is insurance and support to attack the Black Brigade.”

  “Do they really need to fabricate evidence when I’ve given them enough reason to attack me as is? Do you know what it is?”

  “It’s to be revealed during their meeting with the immortals, which I won’t have access to.” She poured him tea. He probably should have done it himself as the host, but he wasn’t used to such things.

  “Do we know if there will be any Middle Spiritweave Stage cultivators or higher that will come?” Diyuan asked.

  Auntie Mei Yi paused and narrowed her eyes, before sharing a glance with Guardian Zhai Tielong. “No, achieving the Middle Stage is a very rare event. People of that level of power wouldn’t typically come to these outskirts, where the strongest demonic beasts were usually at the Brute rank at most, and where the spiritual plants could barely be called rare.”

  Diyuan grunted. Even back in the Shroud, trying to go beyond level 3 Spiritweave was a bottleneck, so he couldn’t imagine how much more difficult it would be on this side. If there were no level 4 Spiritweave cultivators then there was nothing for him to be concerned about.

  “That being said, this next bit of information is unconfirmed,” she started, “but we received intel that Niu Wuxuan won’t be coming during the Golden Auction period.”

  Diyuan had to remind himself that Niu Wuxuan was the heir of the Niu family who had joined the Virtuous Wind Sect. He was the one who had killed Yao Luchen’s father during their duel to see who would join the Sect.

  “He has apparently found an opportunity at the Sect and will remain behind. Instead, a rather justice-loving immortal will come in his place. Whether that is good or not is uncertain. The overall goal of Lady Leng Ji is to form an alliance against you. They’re calling it the Golden Alliance.”

  “Lady Leng Ji?”

  “The Infinite Wealth Auction House owner. My fate is tied to yours. When their fangs take meat from you, they will turn it on me. Or perhaps they will attempt to consume us all at once. The Niu family can be ambitious like that.”

  “What do you plan on doing then?” Diyuan asked.

  “An alliance, I think. One that requires a deeper conversation with more parties. But before that, there is…another matter I wish to bring to your attention. Not lightly, either, as it puts me in a bind the more people who know of it. We have heard of your miraculous restoration of Yao Luchen’s shattered core, and the many other healings you have done in the city. I was wondering if there was one more miracle you could do…”

  Oh? Did she have her own shattered Foundation core? Was that why she appeared as a non-cultivator?

  Auntie Mei Yi reached out her hand, exposing her wrist up. She said nothing, but only gave Diyuan a deep look. He wasn’t sure what to expect, so he put two fingers on her wrist and poured spirit energy inside to sense what was going on with her body.

  The spirit energy didn’t dissipate like it was supposed to with non-cultivators. It entered and started to give him a picture, but partway through it started to get hazy for whatever reason. He poured more energy to make up for the lack of clarity. As he started to see more, he identified a Foundation core—fully intact.

  Odd. How could she have a Foundation core but still appear as a non-cultivator to his senses? He kept digging and found something else even more surprising.

  A small sphere above the Foundation core: the Spiritweave core.

  It became difficult to continue sensing as the haze started to disrupt everything.

  Wait…

  This wasn’t the first time he felt this haze. He had felt it before when he had entered a certain pocket world for nearly a week.

  “The Carcass Grotto’s miasma!?” Diyuan blurted out, releasing his fingers from her wrist. “How in the world do you have that in you?”

  Her eyes went wide, not expecting his reaction.

  Guardian Zhai Tielong came around by the table beside her, his own eyes in shock. “Junior Diyuan, you know this evil?”

  “Well yeah, but I’m surprised she’s still alive. The miasma drains the cultivation to the Foundation realm and then kills the cultivator when they have nothing left. But you’re not dead.”

  Auntie Mei Yi had a look of cautious hope on her face. “You’re the first person to know the name of this affliction. In all our years, we had only discovered that it was called Ancient Miasma, created by a powerful family in the upper world.”

  “The Ancient Poison Tang Family,” Diyuan said automatically. They were the sworn enemy of the Holy Qilin Beast inside the Carcass Grotto. A long time had passed since their original betrayal of the Holy Beast, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they had developed a miasma similar to the one in the pocket world.

  She nodded. “As you said, it is a thing that drains one’s cultivation. We know that it can be purified by special fire or lightning, which is why we’re here at the city near the Great Divide. I know one of your requests to me was to find something with lightning essence. Unfortunately, no such thing exists. We would have found it otherwise.”

  Before Diyuan could respond, Guardian Zhai Tielong spoke up. “Junior Diyuan, do you have a means to heal us?”

  “Us?” He looked at the bigger man. “Were you also hit by the miasma?”

  He answered by holding out his wrist, which Diyuan sensed into. He was almost the same as Auntie Mei Yi, where he was a Spiritweave cultivator as well. The main difference was that the miasma haze only surrounded the Spiritweave core, while the Foundation core was untouched. There was a sensation of lightning that acted as a barrier between the two. An effect of some sort of special pill, perhaps?

  “My Left Guardian is the same,” Auntie Mei Yi said. “However, in her battle against Niu Bolin, she was injured enough that her protection against the miasma broke. She will lose all her cultivation, unfortunately.”

  “Out of curiosity, what level is everyone’s cultivation?” Diyuan asked.

  Auntie Mei Yi answered. “Zhai Tielong was originally at the Middle Spiritweave Stage, and the same for my Left Guardian. As for me…you should know not to ask a woman such a personal question!” She acted out a fake blush and peeked over her hands. “Ahem. When at full strength, I am at the Late Spiritweave Stage.”

  Two level 4 and one level 5 Spiritweave cultivators.

  A smile tugged on Diyuan’s face as he leaned in. “Let’s see if I can do anything about it.”

  He reached out his hand and placed two fingers on her wrist again. He poured in spirit energy to get a sense of things, and then activated limitless Pungent Poison Purifier.

  The Carcass Grotto’s miasma and this Ancient Miasma had similar roots, but they were indeed different. The Ancient Miasma was more complex and didn’t burn as easily as the pocket world version. He focused first on taking care of the haze around the Foundation core, but it was surprisingly taking longer than he had expected. Rather than burning it away like the sunrise did to fog, it burnt individual lanes within the haze, which other lanes would try to multiply and fill in. Rather clever, that.

  But Pungent Poison Purifier was a double arte. Diyuan activated the pairing between it and Phoenix Fallen Flight, which made the purifier even stronger. With it working in combo together, the haze was pushed back and burnt away, freeing the Foundation core.

  Diyuan released his fingers, leaving the other half of the miasma untouched. It was enough to prove that he could do it, while leaving the problem still there. If left untouched, it would spread again and overtake the Foundation core once more.

  Auntie Mei Yi gasped. In one moment, she was a non-cultivator. In the next, her level had increased to level 3 Foundation. It should rise slowly to level 5 Foundation.

  “You can heal it!” Auntie Mei Yi exclaimed. “Aha!” She leaped over and took Diyuan into a deep hug, pressing her body into his. Her scent hit him like a storm. And he was certainly conscious of her femineity as well.

  “Yep,” his muffled voice came out.

  She finally released him and blew at a loose strand of hair that fell to her face. She fixed her appearance and elegantly walked back to her seat. “I can’t help but wonder what your background is. You wouldn’t happen to be from a famous, prestigious family, would you?”

  “Hmm, somewhat,” Diyuan said truthfully.

  Auntie Mei Yi started to examine him in a new light. She looked at his face, then his neck, then at his chest. “Well, wherever you’re from…do you have eyes set on a woman yet?”

  He instinctively covered his chest like a maiden would to cover her wonders.

  “Where I’m from,” Diyuan started, “most people don’t marry until they’ve hit the Late Spiritweave Stage.”

  She grinned. “I’m at the Late Spiritweave Stage.”

  “Well I’m not, Auntie,” he stressed the word.

  Guardian Zhai Tielong fake coughed.

  She let out a relaxed laugh. “Familial honorifics are still used even after marriage. But I only tease. Somewhat.” He blinked once, entering business mode once more. “Let’s talk details.”

  “Yes, let’s. When you return to Late Stage Spiritweave, I imagine this small city won’t be enough for you. Will you leave right away?”

  “Dearest nephew, you have me all wrong. We don’t want to leave. In fact, it is to my benefit that I help you grow your forces. I didn’t run into this miasma problem by accident, you see. Suffice it to say, I would like to form an alliance that could be a benefit to us both.”

  Diyuan listened to her idea. As a level 5 Spiritweave cultivator, she could help keep the stability of the alliance and extend it beyond. Her strength would rival the elders of the Virtuous Wind Sect and prevent others from interfering with their work. Ultimately, what she wanted was a force that could grow and back her up when she met with the source of her problem.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “A rival,” Auntie Mei Yi explained. “I was a member of a sect and leadership of that sect was between my rival and me. Whoever reached the Dharma realm first would be groomed to be the next sect leader. I’ve failed to acquire the appropriate allies and did not obtain treasures that would assist me against the tribulation lightning. He was capable of breaking through with a pill and took on the lightning. One thing led to another, and now I’m here.”

  That sounded like a future burden, but it might not be the worst thing. Having someone capable of creating runic wings to fly would be a boon.

  “Sounds like they rushed things to their own detriment,” Diyuan said. “If you breakthrough to Dharma with your own path, not only will you get a free arte for the level 1 slot, you’ll also be capable of fending off the lightning on your own. And in general, you should be able to cultivate further than your rival.”

  Auntie Mei Yi looked at him suspiciously as she took a sip. “You know a bit about the things of the Dharma realm. Not many have knowledge on it. Do you have experience on the topic?”

  Diyuan shrugged. “Somewhat. I’m the only member in my family that hasn’t hit the Dharma realm. In fact, my sister broke through listening to my preaching. Maybe when things calmed down, I’ll preach and see if anything happens.”

  “Preaching?” She looked over at Guardian Zhai Tielong, who simply shrugged. She turned back to Diyuan. “Well, since you’re from a family who has several Dharma cultivators, then you must have been informed of many things we little people know not.”

  While she was talking, Diyuan’s sense on her vanished. She no longer appeared as a level 3 Foundation cultivator. She noticed his confusion and told him with a smile that it was an arte of hers, Turtle Breathing. It hid all her cultivation and was made to appear as a mortal. Diyuan thought it was interesting how her first arte was a concealment arte rather than an internal arte. Perhaps in her line of work such things were more important.

  The conversation settled shortly after. With her being capable of hiding her cultivation, Diyuan would clear out the miasma from her immediately. As for the Right and Left Guardian, she suggested to wait until later and do it in her own territory. They did not have a concealment arte like her own and having two unexpected additional immortals on the battlefield would be a nice surprise for the enemy.

  Guardian Zhai Tielong had an interest in the Black Brigade and went out to inspect their training while Diyuan stayed behind to heal Auntie Mei Yi. It was unlikely she would be at full strength before this Golden Alliance launched their attack, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Without any level 4 Spiritweave cultivators or stronger present, there wasn’t anyone he couldn’t bring down.

  ***

  People began gathering in the main hall. Auntie Mei Yi took a seat with Guardian Zhai Tielong standing next to her. Feng Xueying had returned with Yiyi and others. Yiyi’s grandmother sat and would act as the representative of the common folk. Manager Fanjian took his own seat, which made Diyuan feel a little exposed as the man had usually stood next to him whenever something official was happening. At least until Feng Xueying came to his side and took her spot there rather than a seat.

  Yao Luchen arrived as well. With him was someone Diyuan hadn’t met before but had similar bone features; an uncle or someone. Considering Yao Luchen’s look, something didn’t go so well at his family’s residence. With him being a Spiritweave cultivator, things should have been looking up, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

  Captain Guang from the escort agency was there as well. For his extra person, he brought Fu Yibei. Diyuan was surprised the young man was still part of the escort agency rather than returning back to his scholar work. Though, Diyuan didn’t miss how he was looking at Yiyi—and Yiyi at him.

  The last few seats were some new Black Brigade officers, those closest to reaching level 5 Foundation. They were the captains of the Sable Watchers and Sable Vanguards.

  When everyone settled, Diyuan couldn’t help but feel a little homesickness. The current setup reminded him of the Zhengyi’s council meeting, where Diyuan sat at Ancestor Tianxuan’s seat and everyone else sat at the Hall Masters spots and so on.

  “Thank you all for coming today,” Diyuan started. “There are a few things I’d like to address, as well as take any question you may have. But let’s start with a question. Is there anything pressing on your mind?”

  Feng Xueying raised her hand next to him. “What’s your real cultivation level?”

  Everyone looked interested in hearing the answer to that. Whatever other question they may have had was pushed aside for this one.

  “Well, it’s not like it’s a secret. You guys have Perfect Harmony, Martial Master, and finally Martial Grandmaster, yes?” Diyuan looked around to see nods. “There is a level above Martial Grandmaster…and there is another level above that level. That is me. Level 9 Foundation.”

  “Is that…a real thing?” Yao Luchen asked. His downcast look temporarily forgotten.

  Others had that awe look on their faces, though Auntie Mei Yi and Guardian Zhai Tielong looked confused. As the only people here who came from a cultivation background, they would know how unrealistic his current level was.

  “It’s not possible through normal circumstances. Even level 8 Foundation isn’t worth it—or rather, for the most part, going for level 6 Foundation and beyond is typically seen as a waste of time unless you need the arte slot for something.”

  Auntie Mei Yi leaned on her hand. “How interesting. Are you able to do anything special? How would you compare to someone at the Early Stage of the Spiritweave realm?”

  “I doubt there’s any Early Stage cultivators who could match me. As for a ‘special anything…’” Diyuan gave a smile. [Does this count?]

  Both Auntie Mei Yi and her Right Guardian flinched. The others in the room who had not heard him speak through sound transmission had a slack jaw before it transformed into their own glee. The level 4 Foundation officers whispered to each other in excitement.

  Diyuan understood their excitement. When he was younger and had first learned about the Zhengyi clan’s strength, he had been proud for it. He let their murmuring continue. He did find the body language between Auntie and her Right Guardian to be interesting. They communicated with their eyes, their gestures, and brief hand motions. They’ve likely had to come to understand these visual cues since they had lost sound transmission when they degraded realms. But that would end once Diyuan finished healing both Guardians and time passed for them to regain their Spiritweave realm capabilities.

  While people were distracted, Diyuan took the time to communicate with Feng Xueying.

  [Feng Xueying, how did Yiyi take my execution of Xia Puti? Do you think there’s any concern for retaliation?]

  She didn’t show any reaction that someone spoke to her, which was proper when it came to sound transmission etiquette. [No, I don’t think so. There’s that confusion of both losing her father, whom she despised, but that guilt of not doing anything to mediate. Her grammy helped soothe things over more than anything. I don’t think you need to be worried, just a mix of emotions.]

  Diyuan nodded and waited for things to calm down. They entered a silence and waited for him.

  “Now to my main topic,” Diyuan said. “Everyone is aware that I had declared myself a tyrant. It’s a bit difficult to view yourself as a follower of an evil person, isn’t it? No one wants to be on the side of a tyrant in history. Which is why I will reveal this.” Diyuan made a map appear in his hand and held it up for everyone to see. He then walked to Yibei and handed it over. “Tell me about this map, Yibei.”

  The young man turned it over in his hand. “It’s the same one I made for you. It has our region and shows the Virtuous Wind Sect here and the Supreme Sun Sect here. It doesn’t show the Eternal Ice Field way up north, but you can clearly see the Great Divide’s black line here.”

  Diyuan took the map back and held it so people could see it as he paced between them. “Can anyone here tell me why the Great Divide is there?”

  People looked at each other and waited for someone else to answer, as if they were students in a classroom.

  “An arte, some suspect,” Auntie Mei Yi answered. “The Eternal Ice Field was formed by the arte Eternal Glacial Tomb, so it would make sense the Great Divide was formed the same way.”

  Diyuan paused. Eternal Glacial Tomb? That arte had the word “eternal” which would make it a renegade arte. During his fight against the Xia and Niu family guards, one of those guards had used an arte with a renegade term in it, but that arte was pathetically weak and could not be considered renegade in any way. But a permanent ice field that formed because of an arte, that sounded like a true renegade arte.

  “It’s a good thing someone from the upper world came down to punish that immortal,” the Escort Captain Guang said.

  “Is that what you think?” Auntie Mei Yi asked. “The immortals that had come down were from the Northern Ice Palace. A sect based on ice artes came down and took someone with the strongest ice arte ever seen in history of this world—and you think it’s to punish her?” She turned her focus back to Diyuan. “While we know the source of the Eternal Ice Field, we can only speculate on the Great Divide.”

  “You won’t need to speculate any longer,” Diyuan said. “The Great Divide did not come from an arte. Nor a person from that matter. The Great Divide arrived through heaven’s decree. It is the first sign of things to come. The short version: that lightning field that splits the world will not remain in a line; it will expand and consume the world, killing everyone.”

  “That…sounds a bit farfetched,” Auntie Mei Yi said. “What makes you say that?”

  Others didn’t express direct doubt, but the information couldn’t be digested so easily without extra seasoning.

  Diyuan entered teaching mode. “The heavens have laws. It’s a common phrase to say that cultivators go against the will of the heavens. That’s because it’s inherently known that the heavens have decreed certain things about life: how long a person should life, how they should treat others, how to not profane it. We see evidence of these laws when they’re broken. When someone breaks through to the Dharma realm, they trigger tribulation thunder.

  “Why does the heavens try to stop them then? It is because they are crossing the line against its own rules. And that tribulation thunder is stronger depending on the debt they owe. If such a person does continuous evil in their life, such as harming non-cultivators, they are unlikely to survive. And as the example already said here about the renegade arte, Eternal Glacial Tomb. Certain artes contain words that ‘profane’ the heavens by borrowing terms a mortal should not use. Creating such an arte will trigger the heavens to respond. If the cultivator succeeds in resisting, they will own that renegade arte.”

  Diyuan often participated in debates with the elders in the Zhengyi clan every month and the topic of tribulation thunder came up more than once. So while the next bit of information was just theory, it made sense to him. “If the heavens forbid an immortal from cultivating, but they cultivate anyway and then use their stolen strength to attack a non-cultivator, how should the heavens react? Someone breaks the rules and oppresses those who follow the rules. The heavens would strike them dead during their tribulation trial.

  “But what if they died before reaching the Dharma realm? The heavens don’t see that as justice fulfilled. Instead, the wrath continues to build up, unable to unleash anywhere. And as the world continues to oppress non-cultivators, the wrath fills until the cup spills over.

  “Now, you’ve asked what made me say that the Great Divide is the first sign of things to come. I’ll tell you. The destruction of a lower world had already happened elsewhere. The reason for that destruction was because immortals killed mortals systematically. Such disregard for their lives is much like how Xia Puti killed the old man in our market.”

  Diyuan made the paper disappear back into his storage ring and returned to his seat. “I called myself a tyrant because the first sign of the end is already here. I’m not interested in changing the minds of oppressors. I’m only interested in slowing the end from coming.” He took a deep breath and sighed out. “Our cause is just, though it can be seen brutal to some. But we’re cultivators, so what’s ‘brutal’ is just a common day. Any questions?”

  An uncomfortable silence took the room. People shifted in their seats or looked at each other with a concerned expression.

  As always, it was Auntie Mei Yi who spoke up. “If this is true, how long do we have? Is there a way to rid us of this ‘wrath’?”

  “To learn that depends on you, Auntie,” Diyuan said. She gave him a confused look. “Remember the task I asked of you when I first entered the city? To find Deng Fuchen. He is a researcher when it comes to the tribulation lightning and he’s the one who identified the starting signs.” He made the booklet appear that he obtained from Uncle Xunran, who got it from the researcher’s wife. “If there’s a way to stop it, he might be our best bet to know.”

  Guardian Zhai Tielong was the next to speak up. “Why haven’t we heard this from anyone else? If such a great disaster is on the horizon, wouldn’t there be a greater effort to quell the problem?”

  “Ha. No.” Diyuan knew how people acted within the Tribulation Shroud. Even with the lightning shrinking permanently, people would still sometimes cause problems. Things didn’t effectively halt until the threat of the Zhengyi clan was imposed on them. “The end of the world is an abstract idea, something that someone else would need to worry about. People have a hard time taking it seriously. Being summarily executed, however, is an idea people can comprehend. As for why no one’s talking about it, that’s a great question I would like to know, too.”

  People kept asking questions regarding the tribulation thunder and other things, which Diyuan answered to the best of his ability. The topic changed back to his cultivation when Yiyi’s grandmother asked about it.

  “Young man, how is it that you’re at this level 9 Foundation strength? Even Junior Niu Bolin needed about eight decades to become a Martial Grandmaster. But you’re about Little Yiyi’s age from what I can tell.”

  Before Diyuan could answer, the Yao man, who Diyuan learned was Yao Mu and one of Yao Luchen’s uncles, spoke up and offered his guess. There was the belief that Diyuan was from a highly prestigious family or sect that utilized a formation to pull in spiritual energy.

  “And with that spiritual energy being condensed into a single location, he would be allowed to cultivate even faster than the rest,” Yao Mu was explaining. “The Virtuous Wind Sect does the same with their fog array. And considering that we’re living in a rich spiritual environment now, that would be amplified even more for people like him.”

  Diyuan raised his hand. “You know, I keep hearing about how this is a rich spiritual environment. Are you saying that it used to be less?”

  “Of course! It’s thanks to the Holy Daughter candidate that we get to enjoy the extra spiritual energy in the air.”

  Diyuan tilted his head. How could one person be solely responsible for how much spiritual energy existed in a lower world?

  “The Assembly of Worlds realm,” Auntie Mei Yi said. “It’s a small world, but also not. The Holy Daughter candidate, Zi Qin, and the Supreme Sun Sect’s Holy Daughter candidate, Sun Saixi, both performed well when it last opened, allowing our lower world to gain a richer amount of spiritual energy. Of course, it comes at the cost of another lower world’s spiritual energy.”

  [It’s one of the reasons why the Sword Saint wants everyone to be as strong as possible,] Yao Luchen said privately.

  “He’s Yuhan Diyuan, of course he knows about that,” Yiyi’s grandmother said.

  Except he didn’t; that was an entirely new concept that Diyuan was not aware of. But it was also off topic, so he’d have to learn about it later.

  “Let’s move on to our next agenda item,” Diyuan pivoted.

  He discussed how he would like things to run in the city and also took suggestions from people. The initial setup was for Fengpo city, but the idea of spreading their influence to other cities was brought up by Auntie Mei Yi. She originally wanted her own Sunset Garden’s troops, the ones run by the Right Guardian, to act as the enforcers, but Guardian Zhai Tielong admitted that the Black Brigade might be better suited for that task after reviewing their performance.

  That was good news to Diyuan. The Black Brigade would be transformed into a special elite force, much like how the Watchers, Vanguards, and Shapers were in the Zhengyi clan. And speaking of Shapers…

  “I have the manuscript for the barrier formation that the Niu family used against me.” Diyuan made the manuscript appear in his hand. After his attack on the Niu branch family, he made sure to take the spoils of his victory. “Problem is, I’m not familiar with how to set it up. If anyone knows how to do formations, this could help work with our defensive fortification.”

  “I can assist with that,” Guardian Zhai Tielong said. “Formation arrays and soldier formations are similar in thought. I can help teach anyone who is studious.”

  “Me!” Yibei said. “I’m not physically strong, but if it’s about studying, I can help.”

  “Me too!” Yiyi said automatically.

  Yiyi’s grandmother let out a laugh from her nose. It was apparent that Yiyi didn’t want to join for the purpose of learning formations, but it worked out well enough.

  Perhaps there would be a Sable Shapers in the Black Brigade after all, to join with the Sable Watchers and Sable Vanguards.

  [But what about the attack that will happen to us soon?] Yao Luchen asked privately.

  Why was he only speaking through sound transmission?

  “What happened at the Yao household?” Diyuan asked.

  Yao Luchen shifted uncomfortably. “Well, I guess you were right, Senior Sister. I went back home to get my father’s Spiritweave arte, but apparently my patriarch knew I would be coming and had the arte sent to be auctioned at the Golden Auction. Not just that, but everything my father owned.”

  “That scumbag!”

  “Grammy, you can’t say that out loud.”

  “So, what did you do?” Diyuan asked.

  “What was I supposed to do? I could see it plain as day that they weren’t happy that I became an immortal—like I had become their biggest problem. They kept mentioning how the Niu family would destroy us, but how could that be? I’m stronger than Patriarch Niu Bolin now. That’s when I started to suspect that maybe he really did have something to do with my father’s death. I took over the family and let them go. There was no bloodshed.”

  Diyuan and Guardian Zhai Tielong shared a look. They both knew what each other were thinking.

  “He will come back, and when he does there will be bloodshed,” Diyuan said.

  Not only would there be bloodshed, but the weaknesses of the Yao family would be revealed. To let an enemy go was a mistake. That mistake was something Yao Luchen would need to experience and let weigh heavy on his heart.

  Battle preparations were something they would need to do in real time when they found out what the Golden Alliance would do. Diyuan had an idea he would find out much more during the Golden Auction after all the immortals arrived.

  After all, people did like to leak upcoming plans through sound transmission when they thought no one was listening.

  Diyuan had a second formation manuscript and provided that to the Right Guardian as well. It was a formation named Mudpit Bog; the same one he had taken from the Ceiling clan boy years ago after the Administrative Archive pocket world ended. He had kept it in his storage ring all this time and it didn’t have any use for him at the moment, so perhaps it would assist in their preparation.

  “They will come against you with claims that you’re a demonic cultivator,” Auntie Mei Yi said. “In their eyes, they will have justification. Some of the immortals who will side with the Golden Auction may not be bad people; what do you want to do with them?”

  Yiyi’s grandmother threw up her hands. “It’s always the demonic hunt. You can’t prove someone’s a demonic cultivator until you kill them the first time. And if they stay dead, then all they say is ‘yup, they were innocent.’ No consequences for these scums.”

  “Stay dead?” Diyuan was not aware of the mechanics of demonic cultivator, but did it sound like they could come back to life? “I heard how demonic cultivators had outstanding power, so I assumed they would use my attack on the Niu branch family as evidence for my unnatural strength.”

  Auntie Mei Yi shook her head. “If anything, that proved you aren’t a demonic cultivator. Whenever a demonic cultivator activates his abilities, a special energy is released for everyone to see. When you attacked, from what I’ve heard, both Virtuous Wind Sect maidens were there to witness you. If our foes conjure evidence of your demonic cultivation, it would be something else. Since demonic cultivators use another person to advance, similar to demonic beasts, they gain power and the ability to change their appearance slightly, and they…how do most people put it? They get ‘too angry to die.’ When you kill them the first time, they come back to life automatically.”

  The ability to come back to life was odd indeed, but not unthinkable. Diyuan’s own heart had stopped, but he came back to life when a new Foundation core formed within him. Though, if a head was cut off, would the demonic cultivator come back to life even then?

  It was the second ability that took his interest now. “Ability to change their appearance? They can shape shift or something?”

  “No,” Auntie Mei Yi said. “It’s minor changes, but do it enough times and you’ll seem like an entirely different person. Most famous demonic cultivators are women since they tend to become very beautiful the stronger they are.”

  So it was similar to Beautification Pills. Perhaps that’s where the inspiration came from?

  Manager Fanjian—or rather, soon-to-be City Lord Fanjian—commented on the topic. “Women might be the most infamous, but no one beats the fame of the Heavenly Demon. A man who seemed to have infinite lives until he finally fell to a trap and perished permanently.”

  Oh? The Heavenly Demon is dead?

  Diyuan wasn’t sure what to feel about that. It was a name he knew about in passing and took minor encouragement from, but he wasn’t sure how others had viewed him.

  But wait…wasn’t the Heavenly Demon from the upper world? How did they know about him?

  Diyuan would receive the answer just by listening to others talk about him. It turned out he was such a great villain in the upper world that even the lower world knew about him. People would blame the Heavenly Demon when demonic cultivation became popular and became a plague on the people.

  But apparently, he died permanently several hundred years ago.

  “In any case, anyone who joins a hunt against me using demonic cultivation as an excuse is not innocent,” Diyuan declared. “Everyone who participates should be seen as someone to be executed unless you have a good reason for the alternative. But know this: if they are willing to join a hunt against me, who is capable of resisting them, then what might happen to someone weaker? Someone unable to resist? To let these people, who are quick to accuse, loose would be irresponsible.”

  The conversation would go back and forth to other topics. Plans were made, clarifying questions were asked, and things seemed to finally settle down.

  “I suppose there’s only one question left,” Auntie Mei Yi began. “What should we name ourselves?”

  “Hm.” Diyuan tapped his chin. “We’re not a clan. We’re not a sect. I assume we would need a name that’s fit for an alliance?”

  “The Yuhan Alliance,” Auntie Mei Yi suggested. “You are the centerpiece of this all, after all. Or perhaps we play on the tyrant theme and call ourselves the Tyrant Alliance. Or the Oppressor’s Oppressing Alliance. Or perhaps…”

  “The Yuhan Alliance is fine,” Diyuan said as he rolled his eyes. “But if we get big enough, maybe we’ll change our name to something else. For now, that’s what we are.”

  To commemorate the first alliance meeting, Diyuan brought out multiple storage rings and handed them out to the key members who may need them. Within each ring would be a decent amount of spirit stones that might be needed for them to accomplish any task they would need to do.

  The official meeting came to an end and everyone socialized and broke off into groups to discuss other things. Diyuan settled into his seat and let his thoughts wander. Others sensed he wanted to left alone so they continued to mingle away from him. He wondered if his approach was the best. Feeling the burden on his shoulders now was not something he enjoyed. What did Ancestor Tianxuan feel all this time?

  His thoughts were interrupted when he sensed a surge of spiritual energy in the distance. He wasn’t the only one as they all stopped talking.

  The hall’s door open and a Black Brigade member entered.

  “Boss—another immortal was just born!”

  They all went outside to witness another blue pillar of light in the city. It wasn’t as strong or stable as Feng Xueying and Yao Luchen’s breakthrough.

  “Niu Bolin is now a Spiritweave cultivator,” Auntie Mei Yi said. “That would have to be him. No one else was close enough to breakthrough. And that is the location of the Niu family.”

  “Odd.” Diyuan crossed his arms. “Didn’t he enter seclusion to heal? How does someone go from being injured to breaking through in one month? That’s not how it works.”

  No one had an answer for him.

  Ultimately, that didn’t change anything. A single level 1 Spiritweave cultivator wouldn’t change the battlefield. Diyuan would complete his healing of the Right and Left Guardians to increase their own Spiritweave cultivator count. He was not concerned about the upcoming conflict in the slightest. After all, he fully believed he could defeat everyone on his own if it came to that.

  But now it was time for a different sort of battle.

  The day of the Golden Auction was upon them.