Chapter 94 - 93: The New Wenda Alliance

Chapter 94: Chapter 93: The New Wenda Alliance

"Alliance Leader, can one really achieve Ascension by gathering the Wish Power of the masses?" Qu Hao asked.

"Of course. I’ve already ascended twice," Li Ye said.

"But I’ve heard that cultivators from ten thousand years ago ascended by tribulation once their cultivation reached the right level," Qu Hao said. "A Divine Guiding light from the Celestial Realm would descend to lead them to the heavens."

"Perhaps," Li Ye said with a glance at Qu Hao. "But isn’t your path broken? The Ascension Method I obtained comes from the ancient records of my original world.

In those ancient records, there was the Suirenshi Clan who brought fire, helping humanity escape the age of eating raw meat and drinking blood, and successfully ascended.

There was the Shennong Clan who tasted a hundred herbs, identified grains and medicinal plants, and ascended by aiding the common people.

There was the Yellow Emperor who quelled wars, slew Demon Beasts, and brought peace to the world before ascending. There was Yu the Great who controlled the floods for the masses, saved them from peril, and ascended...

These figures have been revered for countless generations. From their Paths of Ascension, I discovered the Wish Power Ascension method, which allowed me to repeatedly shatter the void and arrive, step by step, in your world."

"Alliance Leader, that doesn’t sound like Ascension!" Meng Mingzhe said. "It sounds more like breaking through a world’s barrier and entering another one."

"The worlds I enter have progressively higher levels of power. In my original world, a Mortal’s strength could at most lift a few hundred pounds, and with all their might, they could only knock someone a dozen or so meters away.

In the last world, there were already Martial Artists who could fly through the sky and burrow into the earth, with strength enough to split mountains. And in this world, Harmonization Realm experts can practically overturn mountains and seas..."

Li Ye’s eyes shone brightly. "Even if what I’m doing isn’t true Ascension, by rising through the worlds one by one, I will one day reach the true Immortal Realm."

He paused, scanning the crowd. "Besides, what if another world has the true path to Ascension? It’s much better than being trapped in this world forever, isn’t it?"

The crowd fell silent again, lost in an internal struggle.

’Is this the path to Ascension?’

’This can’t be the path to Ascension!’

"Are you unwilling to walk this path, still hoping for that Divine Guiding light to descend and lead you to the true Immortal Realm?" Li Ye asked, taking in everyone’s expressions. "If so, I won’t force you. I’ll find others to spread the word among the common people. In any case, I am determined to ascend."

"Alliance Leader, I am willing to walk the path of Wish Power."

Lei Wenjie quickly stepped forward to declare his stance.

’Is he kidding? Being abandoned by Li Ye would mean all hope of Ascension is truly lost.’

’There’s no faster way to improve. As long as he can cultivate to the Harmonization Realm, he’ll have plenty of time.’

’Then, whether they choose the path of Wish Power Ascension or seek the legendary path to Ascension, the choice will be theirs, won’t it?’

’Besides, Li Ye’s path of Wish Power Ascension isn’t a bad option. At the very least, it’s been proven to work...’

"Alliance Leader, I am also willing to walk the path of Wish Power."

"I am willing as well, to help the Alliance Leader achieve Ascension."

...

Everyone rushed to declare their allegiance. The matter of Wish Power could be set aside for now; the priority was to cling to the Alliance Leader.

"I don’t know what you’re all truly thinking, but I firmly believe my path is the right one," Li Ye said, surveying the crowd. "Because every time I ascend, I gain an Immortal Divine Ability. The one I used to help you improve, I call it the Sword of Cause and Effect. I comprehended it in the last world."

A moment of silence fell.

Then.

Everyone’s eyes in the room lit up.

Their wavering minds instantly became resolute.

’Forget everything else! We’ll gather Wish Power and walk this new Path of Ascension. If we can comprehend the Alliance Leader’s Divine Abilities, we’ll have nothing to fear, no matter what world we end up in!’

"Alliance Leader, just tell us what to do. We await your arrangements," Qu Hao said, straightening his back.

"Good. First, we must set a high bar for entry. We only want exceptional people; otherwise, we’ll ruin the Wenda Alliance’s reputation." Li Ye brought out the Wenda Alliance’s charter again. "Second, there must be a Wenda Alliance token—our watches. No one outside the Alliance is permitted to wear a watch;

Third, members who join the Wenda Alliance must contribute to the Alliance. There will be a two-year probationary period. If there are no results within two years, their membership will be revoked;

Fourth, we will establish a review panel to evaluate and rank the research achievements of Alliance members. Those with high merit will be promoted in rank and enjoy more Alliance benefits; otherwise, they will be demoted;

Fifth, we will form an inspection team. Internally, they will investigate misconduct among members. Externally, they will ensure the safety of our members. If anyone harms an Alliance member, the inspection team will eliminate them with thunderous force;

Sixth, we will establish a talent referral system..."

...

Li Ye laid out the regulations one by one. This time, he had enough people, and the Wenda Alliance was far more mature than the slapdash organization it had been before.

He was going to bring the Wenda Alliance out from the shadows and into the light.

Under the new charter, the watches became a symbol of status. The watch designs would be officially announced to the public.

The common people could use the style of the watches to clearly and accurately judge an Alliance member’s position within the Wenda Alliance.

The Wenda Alliance Leader’s watch style was unique, representing the highest status, and no one was allowed to counterfeit it...

The official channels would periodically release the list of Alliance members to the public for supervision...

...

Having received their assignments, the Wenda Alliance members quickly dispersed, heading to the various Mortal royal courts to resume their operations.

The doctrine of Wish Power Ascension, however, was strictly confined within the Wenda Alliance. Those of insufficient rank were absolutely forbidden from knowing about it.

According to Li Ye, Wish Power had to be given spontaneously by the people; it couldn’t be coerced.

...

Li Ye, meanwhile, took the remaining people and began a new round of expansion.

This round of promoting the Wenda Alliance from the top down was bound to cause a huge uproar among the common people.

Neither the Upper Three Sects nor the Three Evil Sects would sit back and do nothing. Before long, the enemies they faced would be incredibly powerful.

To ensure his own safety, Li Ye still needed to raise his team’s strength. It would be a joke if he died while developing Derived Skills.

After all, he was deliberately creating a crisis for himself.

Li Ye had no choice. He could only stay in this world for one year.

More than two months had already passed, and he hadn’t awakened a single Derived Skill. He had to race against time!

The sooner he could develop a Derived Skill, the sooner he could rest easy.

...

「Daoist Sect.」

Ever since Zou Kun sent back Li Ye’s speculations, the Sect Leader had given an order, and everyone in the Sect, from top to bottom, was investigated.

The files of every Entry-Level Disciple who had joined since the last great war between the righteous and evil paths were pulled out and cross-referenced, ensuring that not a single Wenda Alliance spy was missed.

After all the investigations, they didn’t find a single person from the Wenda Alliance. Instead, they uncovered quite a few spies planted in the Daoist Sect by the Demon Sect, the Ghost Sect, and the Demon Realm.

Just as the Sect Leader was beginning to wonder if the Wenda Alliance even existed, two messages arrived one after the other from the Daoist Sect’s spies embedded in the Demon Sect.

"The Wenda Alliance is a hoax from start to finish, created by a young disciple from the Cyan Sun Sect named Li Hao, who comes from an Otherworld."

"The Wenda Alliance has deeply infiltrated the Demon Sect. Three of the ten great Elders have been identified as high-ranking Wenda Alliance officials, along with dozens of mid-level members. I urge the Sect Leader to conduct a thorough investigation of the Daoist Sect."

...

The Daoist Sect Leader read the two messages, completely bewildered.

Logically, he was more inclined to believe the second message.

The first one was too absurd.

He didn’t believe a junior disciple from the Cyan Sun Sect could cause such a massive stir. What was his motive? What could he possibly gain from it?

It made no sense at all...

But before he could launch a second round of internal investigations, new information about the Wenda Alliance arrived from the outside.

The most striking piece of news was that the Wenda Alliance had made a grand entrance in the Mortal Realm. The Daoist Sect’s Direct Disciple Qu Hao, along with the Demon Sect’s Direct Disciples Lei Wenjie and Qiu Ming, were all high-ranking members of the Wenda Alliance...

Seeing this news, the Daoist Sect Leader nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Qu Hao was the one who "discovered" the Wenda Alliance. Qu Hao was the one who sent back the subsequent reports. And now, it turned out Qu Hao himself was a high-ranking member of the Wenda Alliance.

’He sent a high-ranking member of the Wenda Alliance to investigate the Wenda Alliance?’

’Back then, when the Elders in the Law Enforcement Hall saw him assign Qu Hao to investigate the Wenda Alliance, many of them must have been laughing at how foolish he was!’

But Qu Hao was his personally chosen disciple, someone he had taught for centuries. And he was a member of the Wenda Alliance?

’If even his own Direct Disciple has been infiltrated, who in the entire Daoist Sect can he still trust?’

The most crucial part was...

Why had Qu Hao deliberately exposed himself?

If he had exposed himself, why were the other Wenda Alliance spies in the Daoist Sect still lying low?

What on earth was the Wenda Alliance planning?

The Daoist Sect Leader’s head felt like it was about to explode, but he still couldn’t make sense of the connections between all these events.

Finally, he gave up thinking about it. He couldn’t be bothered to monitor the many Elders in his sect either. Steeling his resolve, he headed straight for the Sword Sect.

’A Sect Leader couldn’t possibly be a member of the Wenda Alliance.’

He would join forces with the Sect Leaders of the Sword Sect and the Buddhist Sect to investigate the Wenda Alliance personally. With the three of them working together, they should be able to handle the Wenda Alliance, no matter how powerful it was.

Sometimes, you have to break things to fix them. He couldn’t allow himself to be pinned down in the Daoist Sect by Wenda Alliance spies.

...

The Daoist Sect Leader was in disarray.

The Demon Sect was even more bewildered.

One moment, Lei Wenjie had been swearing up and down that the Wenda Alliance was a joke created by some kid from an Otherworld, telling them not to worry about it and that they could even use the situation to sow chaos among the Upper Three Sects.

The next, not only had Lei Wenjie and his companion failed to capture Li Hao, but they had also transformed into Wenda Alliance spies.

How could the Demon Sect’s Sect Leader not be driven mad?

He felt like he had been played for a fool.

However, the Demon Sect Leader was far more decisive than his Daoist Sect counterpart. He immediately dispatched four Elders to capture Lei Wenjie and the others.

He, meanwhile, would remain to hold the fort at the Demon Sect and prevent other Wenda Alliance spies from causing trouble.

He refused to believe that all four of the Elders he sent could be Wenda Alliance members.

As long as even one of them wasn’t a spy, they could bring Lei Wenjie back. Following that thread, he could then root out all the spies within his sect.

If all four Elders he sent turned out to be Wenda Alliance members, then he would just accept his fate. If four people picked at random were all on the enemy’s side, what was the point of being a Sect Leader? He might as well just hand over the Demon Sect.

...

「Meanwhile.」

The Ghost Sect was also investigating the Wenda Alliance.

「Nether Hall.」

The Ghost Sect Leader scanned the many Elders below and asked grimly, "Qu Hao of the Daoist Sect, Lei Wenjie and Qiu Ming of the Demon Sect—they all turned out to be Wenda Alliance members. Tell me, do you think we have any Wenda Alliance spies within our Sect?"

Everyone exchanged glances, but no one spoke.

Just then.

A faint sigh echoed through the hall. A figure appeared in the center of the hall, looking directly at the Ghost Sect Leader on his throne. "Sect Leader, if you can’t even see the truth about the Wenda Alliance, it’s time for you to step down."

The Ghost Sect Leader froze, then shot to his feet. "Ninth Elder, what are you trying to do...?"

The Ninth Elder threw back the hood covering his face, revealing a completely bald head, and gave the Sect Leader a sinister, charming smile.

Inside the Nether Hall, everyone else stood up, turned towards the Sect Leader, and said in unison, "We, your subordinates, respectfully request the Sect Leader to abdicate..."