Chapter 70: Stones from Another Mountain Can Polish Jade

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Stones from Another Mountain Can Polish Jade

Some things can’t be rushed. Rushing leads to mistakes and arouses suspicion.

So, no matter how impatient he felt, Li Ye didn’t let it show. These past few days, besides refining his Inner Strength, he spent most of his time telling Yang Tianrui, Ge Rui, and the others stories about the Otherworld and asking them about the world of Cultivators.

Occasionally, he would watch his First Senior Brother guide the Inner Sect disciples in their cultivation and give them lessons...

Life proceeded in a leisurely, routine manner. It was as if he had completely integrated into this world, becoming the little junior brother of Changding Peak.

...

Li Ye spent a full five days laying this groundwork. It was a short time, really, but he couldn’t wait any longer.

He could only stay in this world for a year. Every minute was precious.

...

Thanks to Li Ye’s deliberate efforts, his relationship with Yang Tianrui and Ge Rui grew closer and closer. They were nearly inseparable during the day.

Ge Rui was over 120 years old, with a mid-stage Golden Core cultivation. His cultivation level was neither high nor low. Like Yang Tianrui, he was fascinated by Li Ye’s stories, especially the ones about transmigrators who arrived in another world and dominated everything. He was completely hooked.

「One day.」

The three of them were eating together under the great pine tree on Changding Peak.

In the middle of the meal, Li Ye suddenly stopped and said, "Fourth Senior Brother, Sixth Senior Brother, have you ever felt that there’s something wrong with this world’s cultivation?"

"What kind of problem?" Yang Tianrui asked.

"You’re talking about Ascension, aren’t you? Little Junior Brother, don’t overthink it." Ge Rui smiled. "Focus on refining the Inner Strength in your body first. Your natural aptitude is excellent. Once you refine it into Spiritual Qi, catching up to your Sixth Senior Brother shouldn’t be difficult."

"It’s not about Ascension." Li Ye shook his head. "Don’t you think the cultivation within the Sect is too... lax?"

"Lax?" Both Yang Tianrui and Ge Rui were stunned.

"Little Junior Brother, why would you think that?" Yang Tianrui asked. "Everyone in the Sect is very diligent. Master said that the path of cultivation requires a balance of tension and relaxation. Blindly pursuing speed can be counterproductive and lead one to succumb to qi deviation."

"Haste makes waste," Ge Rui said sternly. "Unlike the Martial Dao, cultivation places more emphasis on one’s state of mind. If your mental state is insufficient, forcing a breakthrough can easily lead you down the Demonic Dao."

"Senior Brothers, that’s not what I’m talking about." Li Ye frowned slightly. "I’m talking about the interaction between Cultivators."

"Little Junior Brother, are you feeling bored?" Ge Rui chuckled. "When I first entered the Mountain Gate, I felt the same way. But you have to remember, solitude is the norm. To achieve anything, you must be able to endure loneliness."

He paused for a moment. "Besides, there is interaction between disciples. You just don’t know about it because you’re new. Every three years, the Cyan Sun Sect holds a competition for the disciples of each peak to spar, and the top three receive very generous rewards.

And every ten years, the Five Sects also hold a grand competition for their disciples, precisely to prevent them from becoming complacent.

Speaking of which, that decennial competition is starting again in a few months. Our First Senior Brother is even a popular candidate to place in the top ten of the Nascent Soul Realm category!"

"..." Li Ye was silent for a moment before saying, "Senior Brothers, please let me finish."

"Alright, go on," Yang Tianrui said with a smile.

"Didn’t I tell you about the Celestial Dao Alliance and the Red Flame Sect?" Li Ye said. "The Celestial Dao Alliance is righteous and the Red Flame Sect is evil; they are natural enemies. But besides those two factions, there was another organization that I haven’t mentioned."

"What is it?" Yang Tianrui asked.

"The Wenda Alliance," Li Ye said.

"The Wenda Alliance?" Ge Rui asked.

"An association made up of geniuses from all walks of life," Li Ye explained. "Before I transmigrated, I was fortunate enough to be invited to join this alliance."

"Geniuses from all walks of life?" Yang Tianrui said. "What’s the use of that?"

"The purpose of the Wenda Alliance is to break through the limits of the Martial Dao, to question the Dao and seek immortality," Li Ye said. "Every member of the alliance is working toward this goal. Before I joined, the Wenda Alliance had already existed for over a thousand years. Every one of its members held immense influence in society."

"Tell me more." Yang Tianrui’s interest was piqued again.

"The alliance members I knew of included powerful generals in the secular world, provincial governors, and immensely wealthy merchants whose families had passed down their fortunes for generations. There were also literary leaders hailed as poet-immortals, the world’s most skilled artisans, and of course, Martial Artists like us who had pushed their skills to the absolute limit."

Speaking of the Wenda Alliance, Li Ye seemed to be lost in memory. "The power these people wielded was enormous. As far as I know, in the thousand years since the alliance was founded, they orchestrated at least three coups and altered the course of history five times.

On the surface, the imperial family and the Grandmasters controlled the lifeblood of the world. But in reality, the alliance was like an invisible hand, manipulating the world from the shadows..."

"An alliance of people who control both wealth and influence could indeed change the course of the world," Ge Rui said with a frown.

"Incredible." Yang Tianrui swallowed. "Fourth Senior Brother, do you think our world has an alliance like that?"

"I doubt it," Ge Rui said. "Sect disciples are all busy with their cultivation. Who has the time for something like this? Without the support of Cultivators, it would be even more impossible for people in the secular world to organize it..."

"My master was a member of the alliance. It was under his influence that I first dreamed of seeking immortality, and I was later invited to join the Wenda Alliance as well." Li Ye chuckled. "Actually, the reason I came to this world was because of some information I found through the Wenda Alliance. Theoretically, the fact that I was able to come here already proves the Wenda Alliance has succeeded."

"That’s amazing. It would be great if our world had an alliance like that," Yang Tianrui said. "Maybe I’d even have a chance to join."

"Sixth Senior Brother, Fourth Senior Brother, if this world doesn’t have a Wenda Alliance, why can’t we start one ourselves?" Li Ye’s words were earth-shattering.

"What did you say?" the two asked in unison.

"We can learn from the experiences of others. Even though my world was a tier lower than this one, without even a single Cultivator, I think we can borrow the Wenda Alliance’s model. We can establish a Wenda Alliance in this world." Li Ye said with a completely straight face. "Starting with us, we can change this world, little by little."

"Change the world?" Ge Rui was stunned.

"Just like your Five Sects’ alliance, members of the Wenda Alliance watch over and help one another. If an official was dismissed from his post, the Wenda Alliance would support him from all sides to help him overcome the crisis. In return, when other members faced danger and asked for his help, he would also be obligated to lend a hand."

Li Ye continued, "An organization like that is actually very beneficial for every member. Within the alliance, there are no sectarian divides, only a common goal. Publicly, I was the disciple of a Celestial Dao Alliance Grandmaster and an irreconcilable enemy of the Red Flame Sect. But within the alliance, I could spar with Huaiyi’s disciple, Shi Xiang, to improve together, without having to worry about him stabbing me in the back."

"How is that possible?" Ge Rui said in surprise.

"Anything is possible. The Wenda Alliance is full of geniuses from all walks of life; there’s no room for parochial views," Li Ye said. "It’s precisely the collision of ideas between these geniuses that pushed the world forward, step by step.

For example, before the Wenda Alliance appeared, printing was done by woodblock. Printing a book required carving an entire printing block, and if there was a single typo, the whole block had to be re-carved.

But after the alliance appeared, movable type was invented. Each character was carved individually, so you only had to arrange the type to print. Printing became easy, culture spread widely, and with more knowledge, the world produced even more geniuses.

The alliance also invented the curved-shaft plow, which greatly increased the speed of tilling land..."

"If the Wenda Alliance was so powerful, why didn’t the Alliance Leader just become the emperor?" Ge Rui asked. "As a monarch, wouldn’t he be in a better position to advance the alliance’s goals?"

"Power corrupts. There was once an emperor among the Wenda Alliance’s members. But after he took power, he grew wary of the alliance’s strength and tried to eliminate it to consolidate all power in his own hands. And then... he was replaced. It caused a massive upheaval, and many people died." Li Ye shook his head. "The Wenda Alliance serves a common goal, not a single person.

It was from that time on that the Wenda Alliance went completely underground, influencing the world from the shadows. The so-called conflict between the Celestial Dao Alliance, the Red Flame Sect, and even the confrontations between the Chu Country and its neighbors were all part of a balance orchestrated by the alliance. They discovered that perpetual peace would also hinder the world’s progress, whereas war could actually accelerate its development."