The Forbidden Path to Immortality-Chapter 269

Shui Die Lan wasn’t about to argue with him. She gave a small nod, then frowned. “If you head north, what happens to the Mist-Hidden Pavilion? Luo Moshi clearly has his eye on this place. The others I can handle, but if he brings in some expert at Forbidden Path, I have no idea how I’m supposed to deal with that!”

It’s not every day you see Shui Die Lan soften like this, and Li Xun felt a rush of smug satisfaction. He blinked, grinning. “That depends on whether old Luo was telling the truth.”

Seeing that cocky, “got-it-all-figured-out” look on his face, Seeing Shui Die arched a brow.

…

In the pitch-black night, Li Xun flew over the open sea, wrapped tightly in a black robe that hid him completely and dampened the demonic aura around him.

Using the convenience of Mist-Hidden Pavilion, he set off from the northeast corner of the Southeast Forest Sea. By his estimate, reaching the Xingji Sword Sect would take about four or five days.

By now three days had passed, and most of the journey was behind him. Li Xun had already crossed the Heavenly Star Sea and skirted the lands around the Mingxin Sword Sect. One more day of flying and he would reach the waters claimed by the Xingji Sword Sect.

Flying over the mirror-like sea was relaxing at first, but after a while, it got unbearably dull.

But forcing it like that was going against the flow. And it brought no benefit to his own cultivation. After grinding it out for a few days, Li Xun felt himself getting more and more pissed off inside. So he quit before he lost his mind.

Now, with nothing else to do, Li Xun put his mind to work. He began carefully mapping out the current political landscape of this world just to pass the time.

From everything he’d learned back in the Southeast Forest Sea, the Tongxuan Realm seemed to be on the verge of splitting apart in several directions.

The formation of the Western Union, the split within the Northern Alliance, the full relocation of Nightless City, the fierce clash between the Mingxin and Xingji Sword Sects, the sudden emergence of Umbral City in the Dark Sea, and the bold proclamations of Luo Moshi and the Sevenfold Sage -- along with their high-profile moves across the Southeast Forest Sea and the Southern Sea Region -- had practically captured everyone’s attention.

On top of that, the announcement that the annual Water Mirror Conference would be postponed indefinitely only fueled even wilder speculation.

If Luo Moshi hadn’t appeared this time and revealed a bit of the hidden truth, Li Xun would probably be just as confused as everyone else, swept up in the chaos of all these rapid changes.

But right now, he felt as if he were holding a long thread, tentatively stringing scattered beads together, slowly putting the picture in order.

Li Xun believed that before Luo Moshi had his tense standoff with Yin Wanderer, there was only one thing he’d said that came straight from the heart... the very line Yin Wanderer mocked him for: “Even if someone smashed my own Succubus Sect into dust, how many voices in this realm would actually protest?”

In the past, Li Xun might not have picked up on it. But not long ago, he’d had a long conversation with the Underworld Flame Yama about cultivation in this world, and the so-called traditional “consensus” on cultivation and inheritance had left a strong impression on him.

Only now, putting the Underworld Flame Yama’s words together with what Luo Moshi had said, could he taste the deeper meaning behind them:

“Cultivation and inheritance are the foundation this world relies on. They are rules that cannot be shifted. So from the moment the Rogue Cultivators' Alliance appeared, it began linking together rogue cultivators and demons who traditionally stayed out of sect inheritances and focused only on their own paths. And by forcefully uniting them into a power strong enough to influence the direction of the entire realm, what does that mean for the sects that are content with the traditional order?”

“It means breaking the balance. It means breaking the norm. It means breaking the very source that has kept this world thriving since ancient times.”

These closing words weren’t Li Xun’s; they came from Yin Wanderer. She'd appeared soundlessly and delivered the cold, decisive judgment.

Li Xun didn’t blame her for interrupting. He really needed someone who could help him untangle these questions.

“If the heads of all those sects aren’t idiots, or secretly up to something, they should be pushing back hard against this situation. You’ve been a sect leader yourself. If this landed on your doorstep, what would you do?”

“Sit back and watch how it plays out.”

“Huh?” Li Xun was caught off guard. He turned to look at her, frowning. “That sounds a whole lot like letting things spin out of control.”

Yin Wanderer gave him a sidelong glance, then shifted her eyes to where the sea met the sky, keeping him from seeing the faint hint of mockery in them.

“Of course not. It’s actually the safest way forward. Forget how many people in this world can foresee how things might shift. Even if everyone saw it coming, hardly anyone would be naïve enough to think they could snuff it out in its cradle.

“If this really ties into some upheaval at the very roots of our world, who can guarantee that their attempt to ‘snuff it out’ wouldn’t become the very variable that makes things worse? Besides, with the Forty-Nine Tribulation looming and the Demon Phoenix’s warning still fresh, who wants to be the next fool to repeat that mistake?”

Li Xun had thought he had it all figured out, but after hearing Yin Wanderer’s explanation, he only felt more confused. How did this suddenly involve the Demon Phoenix?

“Of course it involves her. Back then, when Qixia and Lin Ge were on good terms, and she secretly got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter... was wiping out the mother and child really the only option the sects had? All over a single prophecy verse and a few rumors no one could even confirm, they chose the most ruthless path. And what came of it?

“They provoked Qing Luan into joining the fight. The sects suffered heavy casualties, and on top of that, they ended up giving Gu Yin the opening she needed to stir up all of this. Looking at it now, was the root of this calamity the Demon Phoenix giving birth, or was it the sects mishandling it? You could argue it either way.”

Her words hit right at the heart of the matter. Li Xun nodded, though an indistinct image of Lin Ge flitted across his mind, leaving him with a quiet sigh. Then another question rose up in him. “That’s what I don’t get. If everyone can see this now, what were they thinking back then?”

Yin Wanderer gave a lazy smile. “People are unpredictable.”

Li Xun frowned. That answer clearly didn’t satisfy him, but he didn’t press further. He circled back to the point. “So you’re saying I just watch and wait?”

“In most cases, the traditional forces that have grown on their own over time are more terrifying and more irresistible than any deliberate, man-made effort. That’s why watching and waiting is usually the smart choice. But when change grows strong enough to break past those traditional limits, when it gains the power to rewrite the game, the traditional backlash will be fiercer than ever.”

Yin Wanderer laid it all out with perfect clarity. “Isn’t that exactly what’s happening now? The Nine Righteous Sects tried to tackle this head-on, and they failed. That failure proves the Rogue Cultivators’ Alliance already has the power to break the old pattern.

“And right around the same time, Luo Moshi and his group cooked up the Western Union. Pointing east while striking west, quietly counterbalancing the Northern Alliance. Honestly, they’re doing the exact same thing the Nine Sects were doing.”

Yes, exactly the same thing...

As Yin Wanderer murmured on, the incidents of the past weeks began lining up in Li Xun’s mind one after another, like floodwaters rushing down from ten thousand mountain peaks, all pouring into a single roaring river and building into one tremendous force.

And now the only question was: where was this great current going to flow?

Before Luo Moshi withdrew, something he had said to Yin Wanderer echoed in Li Xun’s ears—

“Mist-Hidden Pavilion was bait, but the wrong fish bit. Umbral City is bait too, though no one knows yet who’ll swallow it in the end. But whoever takes the hook, there’s no avoiding the war that comes after... and in times like this, choosing the right side is crucial.”

Li Xun had never seen the bigger picture as clearly as he did now. Following this line of thinking, he sorted through all the questions that had never quite made sense before, feeling his insight grow by leaps and bounds.

“So from that angle, the Nine Righteous Sects pushing hard against the Rogue Cultivators’ Alliance in the North Pole... wasn’t a total failure after all.

“Because the Nine Righteous Sects have pressed down on everyone year after year, they’ve made it clear that they refuse to let anything change. Unless someone is either brain-dead or itching to stir up chaos, very few rogue cultivators, demons, or spirits actually dare to side with the Rogue Cultivators' Alliance.

“And with that pressure from the outside, the Alliance has to toughen itself from within, which means its whole way of organizing has to be reworked.

“That does help strengthen the Alliance to a degree, but at the same time it leads to more clashes among the smaller factions inside it. Breaks like the one caused by the old Kunpeng demon become almost unavoidable.

“The Alliance is making moves, though. Using the Hundred Beasts Sect as a sacrifice to boost the Northern Alliance’s reputation is only the most superficial step.

“What really matters is the bait they dropped in the South, far beyond the Alliance’s direct reach. They threw out the lure of the ‘Mist-Hidden Pavilion’ to stir people up and keep the major sects fighting over their own interests. As long as they can’t unite, the Northern Alliance has room to grow.

“Luo Moshi is impressive. With a flick of his hand he built the Western Union, sealing off the entire northwest-to-southwest stretch like an iron wall. That essentially cut off any chance for Gu Yin to extend her influence. But then why is he stirring up trouble at Mist-Hidden Pavilion and Umbral City? Isn’t he just playing right into Gu Yin’s plans?”

He asked Yin Wanderer as if it were the most natural thing in the world, not feeling embarrassed in the least.

Yin Wanderer actually paused, touched by the question. Her expression softened a little, and for the first time she let a small smile show. “Do you really think Old Luo is a saint? Since when does anyone act purely for the greater good? He wants chaos too. His schemes aren’t as extreme as Gu Yin’s, but only in disorder can the Tongxuan Realm, which has been stagnant for so long, open up chances for huge gains.

“He locks down the West but stirs up the Southeast Forest Sea, then casually drags Umbral City into it. Those places are far from his own sect and they sit at sensitive crossroads where everyone’s interests overlap. Once things explode there, and before the situation settles back into balance, he will have already taken his fill and slipped back to Void-Trapping Mountain to continue his cultivation.

“That takes some serious balls-to-the-wall control over the whole board. And only after surviving the Four-Nines Heavenly Tribulation would he even dare carry it out. That way, even if he slipped up and everything spiraled out of control and triggered another great disaster, he could still dodge the worst of his tribulation and just pat himself clean and ascend to the heavens.

“But if luck was on his side, he could win huge benefits for his sect’s legacy. He might even come out of it with a good reputation and some extra merit to his name. Three wins with one shot. Why wouldn’t he do it?”

In just a few sentences, Yin Sanren broke down the whole scheme with razor-sharp insight, showing off her seasoned wisdom and leaving Li Xun thoroughly impressed.

He couldn’t help but feel grateful once again. Back then, at such a tiny cost, he had managed to make puppets of the Two Wanderers... truly the most insanely profitable deal he’d ever pulled in his entire life.

Li Xun never hesitated to offer a few cheap words of praise. But just as he was singing her praises, Yin Wanderer suddenly jerked her head up and stared into the distance. “A message-carrying flying sword. Looks like it’s headed for you.”

“Oh? Is it from the Mingxin Sword Sect?”

“No, it’s…”