Chapter 530: The Nine Elders Are Dismissed

Chapter 530: Chapter 460: The Nine Elders Are Dismissed

The matter of the Rising Dragon World’s rebellion.

Although the Commander’s Law Enforcement Team had blockaded the news, the commotion was simply too great to hide, causing a major upheaval in Shanhai Pass.

The reason was simple: the Rising Dragon World’s status was far too important.

It was a behemoth, a Heavenly Domain Lord.

It held a seat on the Elder Council.

It was one of the nine major factions of the Mountain and Sea Military.

One could even say it was one of the nine Heaven-Supporting Divine Pillars of Hongyuan.

Now, this Divine Pillar had decayed and been stained with filth.

Few people gloated over their misfortune. After all, when the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact. If one of the pillars supporting the heavens truly defected, the consequences would be unimaginable.

More importantly…

‘Is the Rising Dragon World the only one?’

If Mountain and Sea had the ability to plant Nails within a Common Lord Power, then none of the other Common Lord Powers could guarantee they were completely clean.

For hundreds of thousands of years.

Because of traitors in their midst, Hongyuan had suffered devastating defeats in major battles many times due to intelligence leaks. During the Mountain and Sea’s all-out offensive three years ago, they had even lost one territory after another!

One could only imagine what a massive undercurrent was hiding within the seemingly monolithic Ten Celestial Passes of Mountains and Seas, spying on Hongyuan’s every move.

In an instant, an atmosphere of suspicion enveloped the Ten Celestial Passes at Shanhai Pass.

As for the Commander’s Law Enforcement Team,

their prestige faced a tremendous test, and the pressure on them grew daily. After all, stabilizing the rear and weeding out traitors was their responsibility.

This major case involving the Rising Dragon World…

If they couldn’t produce a satisfactory answer, it would be difficult to appease the masses. No one wanted to risk their lives on the front lines while simultaneously worrying about being stabbed in the back from the rear.

For all these reasons,

a great purge was inevitable.

The Rising Dragon Celestial Dynasty was the primary target of the investigation.

Within half a month,

the fierce Law Enforcement Team rooted out a considerable number of Mountain and Sea Nails, all of whom were thrown into the Buzhou Abyss Prison at Nine Heavens Pass. They would all be dealt with once the investigation was complete.

The military factions of the other Celestial Domains

were also either cooperating with the investigation or conducting their own internal probes, showing a relentless drive to purge their ranks from top to bottom.

The pressure now fell squarely on the true “big tiger” in the Elder Council. If the investigation continued, He would be rooted out sooner or later.

Although,

at present, no one suspected Him.

But this time, the affair with the Rising Dragon Celestial Dynasty had blown up to such a degree that even the Grand Elder of the Elder Council, the General Lord of Shanhai Pass, the Martial Ancestor Panwu Emperor, had been alerted.

Once the heat was on Him,

He couldn’t guarantee He could evade the scrutiny of that Martial Ancestor, who had achieved Attainment Dao at only the Second Tribulation.

‘I’ll have to sacrifice a limb to survive and divert their attention!’

Having lived for countless years, the “big tiger” quickly formulated a plan. He would take a major loss and sacrifice a portion of his high-level underlings, giving the Law Enforcement Team some results to satisfy the public.

At the same time, he would redirect internal conflict outward!

The only reason the Hongyuan Heavenly Realms had the energy to clean up its own filth was that during this period, Mountain and Sea had been busy consolidating the territory it had invaded and hadn’t launched another large-scale campaign against Hongyuan.

Now that their territory was secure,

it was time to launch another great invasion.

Once the war effort became strained,

Hongyuan would naturally lose the energy for internal investigations!

‘Damn that Primordial Heavenly King!’

Thinking of the underlings he had to sacrifice,

the “big tiger’s” heart ached. He cursed Wu Dao resentfully; all of his misfortune stemmed from the two attempts on the Primordial Heavenly King.

If not for several major Primordial Races being so determined to succeed,

He wouldn’t even want to touch that jinx, the Primordial Heavenly King. Provoking him never led to anything good.

And He couldn’t even crush him quickly.

It was infuriating.

‘What’s so special about that bastard that both of the great Desolate Ancestors are so interested?’

At the same time,

the “big tiger” was also extremely curious about Wu Dao.

His status in Mountain and Sea was not low.

His Dao Practice, in particular, was extraordinary.

This much was evident from the fact that He served on the Elder Council, representing the supreme military authority of an entire Celestial Domain.

The Elder Council had nine Grand Elders.

The Grand Elder, Martial Ancestor, was a Near Dao body that remained within the Dao after having achieved Attainment Dao and transcended.

The other eight

were all at the level of Primordial Peak Dao Practice!

The second tier of power beneath them consisted of the All Heavens Primordial Chaos beings who commanded the various armies.

With such a high status and level of Dao Practice,

the “big tiger” was naturally privy to some of Mountain and Sea’s secrets.

For example, that the Mountain and Sea Dao was maturing.

And that the key to its formation lay in unifying the eighteen volumes of the Classic of Mountains and Seas—a key that had already been found.

And another thing:

that Primordial Heavenly King.

According to the two great Desolate Ancestors, controlling him would be of immense benefit to the growth of the Mountain and Sea Dao.

‘Could it be related to the Celestial Mandate?’

The “big tiger” had his own suspicions.

In every Great Tribulation of Hongyuan, a Celestial Mandate is born. The Heaven’s Chosen One is the being with the greatest chance of plucking the One-Tribulation Dao Fruit, achieving Attainment Dao, and transcending.

If the Primordial Heavenly King could indeed bear the Celestial Mandate,

then using him to leverage the Primordial Path would indeed be a massive boon to the nascent Mountain and Sea Dao.

However, nothing was ever certain.

Take the Celestial Mandate of the last Great Tribulation, for instance.

Emperor Hong Shi of the Daluo Celestial Domain only appeared late in the Great Tribulation, reduced to a supporting role in the conflict between the Slaughter Emperor and the Luotian Emperor. In the end, the Luotian Sword Emperor was the one who plucked the Dao Fruit.

The secrets behind this affair

were faintly related to a certain figure in the Celestial Court.

This had caused the Celestial Mandate of the Five Tribulations to manifest at an inopportune time.

…

After the “big tiger” made his move,

the purge at Shanhai Pass began to show significant progress. It wasn’t just the Rising Dragon Celestial Dynasty; other Celestial Domain militaries also “dug up” plenty of big fish.

The results were shocking.

No one had expected Mountain and Sea’s infiltration of Hongyuan to be so severe. It was rumored that even a Primordial Chaos being within the Ten Celestial Passes had been rooted out!

A month later,

another piece of news rocked Shanhai Pass.

The Nine Elders’ seat was vacated.

The Rising Dragon Celestial Dynasty had lost its seat on the Elder Council!

The reason was twofold.

The Rising Dragon Celestial Dynasty was the catalyst for this great purge, and they were also the power with the most internal traitors. Anything less than a severe punishment would not be enough to satisfy the public.

The Emperor of the Rising Dragon Celestial Dynasty was so overwhelmed by the traitors being constantly exposed that he was terrified and at his wits’ end. He had no time to grieve his son’s death, busy as he was stabilizing the turbulent Rising Dragon Celestial Dynasty.

As for Wu Dao,

due to his status as a victim,

aside from occasionally cooperating with the Law Enforcement Team’s investigation, he wasn’t much affected. He remained a mere spectator throughout the whole affair.

After the Nine Elders’ seat was vacated,

no matter how much they gnashed their teeth,

the Rising Dragon Celestial Dynasty’s compensation arrived.

Wu Dao received a massive amount of All Heavens Chaos Mother Liquid. It not only replenished what the Extreme Dao Bell had consumed last time but also left a considerable surplus. His trump card was once again at full strength.

It was also worth mentioning that after “banquet boy” Long Chen was taken out,

in the space of a month,

Wu Dao’s Incarnation completed several Abyss Tasks. After the announcement of his exchanged merits, he officially advanced to the ranks of Military Lord, landing a spot at the bottom of the Emperor’s List and causing a considerable stir in Shanhai Pass.

In hundreds of thousands of years,

his promotion speed

was completely and unbelievably unprecedented.

It was impossible for him not to attract attention.

After Wu Dao’s promotion to Military Lord,

it was only natural that

the position of Military Lord for the Three Lives Battlefield, which had been vacant for a month, fell to him. The Three Lives Battlefield was also officially renamed the Primordial Battlefield.

However,

due to the great purge,

several Vice Army Masters and a group of top Celestial Kings from the former Three Lives Battlefield were still “drinking tea.” Add to that Wu Dao’s feud with the Rising Dragon Celestial Dynasty,

and a complete change of personnel was inevitable.

Wu Dao did not get involved in this matter, because his many Incarnations had a near-monopoly on the Abyss Tasks in several territories of the Seven Days Pass.

Moving them over

would be completely putting the cart before the horse.

The Primordial Battlefield’s supervising territory was the Muddy Demon Territory, and its Domain Master was a Star Emperor from Chaotic Star Heaven. Future personnel for the Primordial Battlefield would likely be requisitioned from Chaotic Star Heaven.

After taking up his post as Military Lord of the battlefield,

Wu Dao’s Main Body still hadn’t moved from its spot.

He sank deeper into the Miasma Abyss each day. With a plentiful supply of Dao Source, the creation of his One-Tribulation Dao Veins proceeded at a rapid pace.

Half a month ago,

all 259,200 of his One-Tribulation Dao Veins had been derived, pushing his combat power to the Quasi-Emperor Fifth Layer. He then began his charge toward One Tribulation Perfection.

Another half a month passed, and his progress was gratifying.

HUMMM~

Deep within the Miasma Abyss,

Wu Dao paused his Cultivation to inspect the results of his month-long seclusion—

[Physique: Primordial Magnetism Path]

[Extraordinary: Essence Devouring: All Things, One Tribulation (259,200/259,200)+]

[Transverse Cultivation: Infinite Primordial Scripture – Holy Body Perfection Second Step+]

[Divine Cultivation: Juntian Creation Scripture·Great Venerable Fourteenth Heaven+]

[Soul Cultivation: All Phenomena Divine Luo Scripture·Great Venerable Fourteenth Heaven+]

[Divine Format: Primordial Middle-Rank Great Venerable God]

[Celestial Treasure: Bitter Dust Robe (Emperor’s Artifact 100%)]

…

[Teleportation Points: …]

In one month,

he had advanced ten layers in essence.

His combat power had increased by ten layers at the Quasi-Emperor level!

This was the Quasi-Emperor realm!

This speed couldn’t be described as merely fast; it was monstrous, unbelievable!

However,

this rapid improvement

came with a terrifying rate of resource consumption.

It wasn’t an issue of Dao Source.

In the battle a month ago, he had slaughtered dozens of Mountain and Sea’s Peak Ancestor Kings, and the Dao Source he’d received in exchange was enough to ensure he had no worries before reaching perfection.

The problem was his Divine Soul and his One Tribulation Dao Realm!

As mentioned before, every step of Wu Dao’s current Cultivation was a massive undertaking.

The Star Mother burned Divine Soul to free up processing power.

This was used to deduce the future path of his internal civilization.

She was, in essence, the architect.

The Tao Realm served as the Dao Wheel—the foundation for this civilization. The Dragon Vein was the sleight of hand, tricking the Primordial Path into raising another’s child, helping Wu Dao build a skyscraper on that foundation.

The Five Tribulations Dao Source,

in turn, was the accelerant that fast-forwarded the entire project.

Such an unnatural rate of improvement

meant that the amount of Divine Soul he burned daily was astronomical. The lifespans of his Tao Realm and Dragon Vein Pacifier were also rapidly deteriorating.

For this reason,

Wu Dao had no choice but to recruit a large number of additional Primordial Sect Divine Envoys to act as his laborers, harvesting the Life Divine Souls and replacement Tao Realms he needed.

But even so,

the supply was still struggling to keep up.

The reason was that the commotion the Primordial Sect and the Human World had caused in the Qingming World last time was so great that they were branded as two of the Three Calamities of Hongyuan.

As a consequence,

the Primordial Sect, despite being able to move without a trace, no longer dared to act as recklessly as before. They were reduced to picking up scraps in the most desolate corners of the All Heavens Border Wilderness.

That alone would have been manageable,

after all, the Hongyuan Heavenly Realms were immeasurably vast.

The key problem was their rival, the Human World. After obtaining the Nether River, they had also begun to wantonly harvest the Spirit of Living Creatures, seemingly preparing for some important plot.

Their business was the same, so competition was inevitable.

Over the past month,

the Primordial Sect and the Human World had fought numerous battles, all caused by fighting over prey.

Sometimes, the Primordial Sect would be hunting,

only for the Human World to suddenly appear and snatch their prize.

Other times, the Primordial Sect would steal from the Human World. If the Human World also harvested Tao Realms, the conflicts between them would be even larger and more frequent.

Tasks that should have been easy to complete

now often yielded no benefits, all because of those bastards from the Human World. Instead, his Envoys were hounded by the major powers of Hongyuan like rats scurrying across a street.

The root of the problem,

was still that Wu Dao’s foundation was too shallow.

His high-level combat power was no match for the Human World’s.

Out of ten clashes,

the Primordial Sect came out on the losing end more than half the time. And while the Divine Envoys couldn’t be killed permanently, there was little difference between being killed once and being killed twice.

In the short term,

Wu Dao had no good way to break the deadlock, because he, the Primordial Daoist Venerable, still only had the combat power of the Quasi-Emperor Fourteenth Heaven.

Although Hongyuan forbade Great Emperors,

the Human World’s foundation was extraordinary, and they possessed countless powers below the Great Emperor level.

‘Do I have to cooperate with the Dragon Hunting Tower?’

Wu Dao suddenly thought of the Dragon Hunting Tower, the perfect scapegoat. He wanted Divine Souls and Tao Realms; the Dragon Hunting Tower wanted the physical bodies of living creatures.

It seemed the two of them could really form an unholy alliance.

Speaking of which,

after the Burial Realm was destroyed three years ago,

the Dragon Hunting Tower took a severe beating and then vanished without a trace. They hadn’t been seen stirring up trouble since. He figured that after a few years, they were probably both starving for action and incredibly frustrated.

The last time they made any noise

was when the clash between the Human World and the Primordial Sect caused the Dragon Hunting Tower to suffer an undeserved disaster, earning them the top spot among the Three Calamities of Hongyuan.