Chapter 400 : Alliances and Coalitions
Normal people couldn't comprehend the Nine Abyss Sect Leader's choice, but since events had already unfolded, dwelling on the reasons served little purpose. What mattered more was how to respond going forward.
Jiang Mo didn't quite understand: "For such an urgent matter, since Harmony Sect knows about it, why not announce it to the world?"
The Nine Abyss Sect Leader's actions clearly defied the will of the entire cultivation world. If he succeeded, it would endanger the entire cultivation realm. By then, it wouldn't just be about causing trouble—even within Nine Abyss Sect, things couldn't possibly remain peaceful. Although Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue knew some inside information, their righteous path identities made them unsuitable to intervene directly, as it would inevitably provoke backlash from the demonic path.
Hearing this, Fei Yuan shook her head, giving Jiang Mo a "you're still too young" look: "Does Jianbing think that merely by releasing this information, Harmony Sect could bring Nine Abyss Sect to complete ruin and make them the target of universal condemnation?"
Jiang Mo felt uncomfortable under her gaze, inexplicably feeling outmatched: "Isn't that the case?"
Fei Yuan replied: "Of course not. Demonic cultivators are mostly self-serving, and the thinking of many demonic leaders can't be measured by common sense." She paused before continuing: "If I told you that the Nine Abyss Sect Leader's idea of breaking the seal to connect with the demonic realm isn't the first such notion, nor the first attempt at it, would you believe me?"
Hearing this, Jiang Mo's tiger eyes widened in shock. She truly hadn't expected there to be more lunatics in the demonic path besides the Nine Abyss Sect Leader. So what were they after? Because they couldn't ascend, they wanted to drag the entire cultivation world down with them?!
Yun Qingyue spoke up at the right moment: "Yet I've never heard such rumors."
Fei Yuan explained: "Because their identities weren't like the Nine Abyss Sect Leader's." She elaborated: "Those seeking ascension paths are naturally Tribulation Crossing cultivators or those approaching that stage. Their cultivation and status certainly aren't low, but compared to giants like the Four Major Demonic Sects, their influence is far less. A single thought from the Nine Abyss Sect Leader can stir the entire demonic path into chaos, but previous powerful cultivators couldn't create such disturbances."
Because the disturbances weren't significant enough, news often remained contained within the demonic path and never reached righteous cultivators' ears. Additionally, people as fanatical as the Nine Abyss Sect Leader were rare, which is why the righteous path remained unaware.
Yun Qingyue believed this explanation; otherwise, the sealing formation wouldn't have so many issues—merperson sacrifices had been ongoing for ten thousand years, and the loss of the Seven Treasures Glass Heart that suppressed the formation wasn't a recent occurrence.
Beyond this, the seal might have many other problems that they hadn't encountered or weren't aware of.
After listening, Jiang Mo's brows were nearly knotted together. But before she could worry about the greater situation of the cultivation world, her system's notification suddenly sounded in her mind—
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing Main Quest 3: Nine Abyss Secret. Reward: 10,000 points."
After completing quests for so long, this was the first time the reward points had exceeded five digits. It seemed the system hadn't been lying about helping her negotiate doubled rewards. But Jiang Mo's attention clearly wasn't on the gains. Hearing the system's coherent voice, her eyebrow imperceptibly raised, and she asked internally: "System, you're not stuttering anymore?"
However, the system didn't reply, instead immediately issuing the next main quest—
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for triggering Main Quest 4: Alliances and Coalitions.
"After investigation, you've finally learned of Nine Abyss Sect's plot from an informed source. However, with your power alone, challenging an entire sect is extremely difficult; you must unite all possible forces. Fortunately, right before you is someone seeking cooperation. She just revealed Nine Abyss Sect's conspiracy to you and has shown sufficient sincerity—perhaps she could become your first ally..."
With this quest introduction, it was essentially forcing cooperation. Though the system's analysis and guidance weren't problematic, Jiang Mo felt disgusted by such presumptuous arrangements.
Her displeasure wasn't directed at the system but at the situation itself. The system had a game module installed; from cultivation leveling to completing quests for points, it all followed gaming conventions. This was acceptable in principle, but she was living it—when a false game became reality, being manipulated became intolerable.
Just then, after issuing the new quest, the system finally responded to her. It seemed quite excited, though still speaking with a stutter: "Host, points, doubled... I, negotiated it."
It was clearly seeking credit. Amidst her amusement, Jiang Mo suppressed her displeasure: "Why are you stuttering again?"
The system took her question at face value and immediately replied: "Quest, issuance, is, main system. System energy, insufficient, signal transmission, abnormal, main system, not, affected."
It probably knew that stuttering speech wasn't well-received, so instead of being eloquent as before, it became concise. Yet this statement revealed considerable information, including one key point—the White Tiger seal that the system couldn't break through didn't affect the main system across countless spaces. It must be an entity stronger than the White Tiger!
Jiang Mo felt somewhat wary and secretly decided it would be best to resolve the system issue before ascending. Otherwise, carrying such a foreign entity during ascension might provoke an unpredictable reaction from the Heavenly Dao—perhaps unnecessarily attracting lightning?
After all, the system had been damaged by tribulation lightning before.
As countless thoughts raced through her mind, the system continued stuttering, persistently: "Host, the quest..."
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Jiang Mo had zero interest in the quest issued by the system. Besides being forced into it, it wasn't profitable and might even cost her. For any other quest, she would have abandoned it long ago. But main quests weren't something she could easily discard; even if she didn't follow the system's scripted plan, things would eventually circle back to her anyway.
Glancing at Senior Sister's serious expression, Jiang Mo knew she couldn't shirk this main quest—the Nine Abyss Sect Leader's scheme threatened the entire cultivation world; she couldn't remain uninvolved.
Jiang Mo had no intention of being a world-savior, but meanwhile, Yun Qingyue and Fei Yuan had already moved on to the next topic.
Fei Yuan gazed deeply at Yun Qingyue and said: "Most in the demonic path are self-serving. Even knowing Nine Abyss Sect's actions, few would oppose them before danger manifests. Conveniently, Immortal Maiden Qingyue is both the Crimson Blood Sect Leader's daughter and Xuanqing Sect's esteemed disciple. If you contact the righteous path to intervene, matters might proceed much more smoothly."
Jiang Mo, distracted by the system notification, regained awareness just in time to hear this statement and was immediately bewildered: What? After blocking their path and attempting the beauty trap, wasn't this Harmony Sect Elder targeting her? How had the focus shifted to Senior Sister?
Perhaps because Jiang Mo's shock was too obvious to ignore, Fei Yuan added: "Jianbing's status is precious, and Immortal Maiden Qingyue has been away from her sect for a long time. If Jianbing could contact Xuanqing Sect, that would certainly be better."
These words were polite, but Jiang Mo only detected heavy perfunctoriness—Harmony Sect's intelligence network was extensive enough to know Nine Abyss Sect's secrets, so they surely knew that Xuanqing Sect had never removed Yun Qingyue's name. Divine beasts typically didn't intervene in sect affairs, and as a prospective guardian beast, she would be less effective as a messenger than Senior Sister.
So why had Harmony Sect initially used the beauty trap on her? Was it just because Senior Sister was currently a bird?
As Jiang Mo grumbled internally, she was never good at hiding her emotions, especially in front of Yun Qingyue. Her thoughts were practically written on her face. Just as these scattered thoughts arose, she felt a breeze behind her head as a wing struck her, neither too light nor too heavy.
The little tiger felt wronged but dared not speak, obediently fading into the background.
Fei Yuan observed their interaction, particularly their eye contact. Despite Yun Qingyue appearing as a swan goose, she detected some intimacy between them. She experienced a moment of realization, yet somehow also felt distracted, until Yun Qingyue's voice reached her ears: "Elder Fei Yuan, Elder Fei Yuan..."
Fei Yuan immediately snapped back to attention, nodding slightly: "My apologies, I was distracted."
Yun Qingyue didn't dwell on this, simply asking: "This matter is of great importance. Does Harmony Sect have any evidence?"
Fei Yuan shook her head helplessly: "Harmony Sect merely gathered information, and all of this is deduced rather than directly observed. Where would we find evidence?"
Yun Qingyue wasn't surprised by this response and continued: "I'm not unwilling to notify both parties, but what is Harmony Sect's position? As one of the Four Major Sects, Harmony Sect's influence is no less than Crimson Blood Sect or Nine Abyss Sect. Since you've decided to inform me of this, shouldn't Harmony Sect also make a decision and actively support Crimson Blood Sect?"
Fei Yuan was momentarily speechless. She had no special shortcuts in her cultivation, honestly progressing to the Fusion stage, making her somewhat older than Qingyu. Yun Qingyue and Jiang Mo might be considered juniors before her, but today's younger generation was truly difficult to deceive...
When she initially detained Jiang Mo in Linglong City and brought her to the estate, even later sending Yi Yao and others to visit, it wasn't on a whim—Harmony Sect routinely employed beauty traps. Just as they could gather information through beautiful people, they could also use them to convey messages. For instance, during moments of infatuation, guiding the conversation to disclose information they wanted revealed, with the target unable to investigate deeply afterward.
If Jiang Mo had been seduced by Yi Yao and the others, she would have "accidentally" learned about Nine Abyss Sect's conspiracy and Harmony Sect's innocent predicament. Given her status, even without Harmony Sect's prompting, this news would inevitably reach the righteous path.
As for Yun Qingyue, with her mother already at war with the enemy, as a daughter learning such crucial information, she would naturally inform Crimson Blood Sect. Thus, news would spread through both righteous and demonic paths. Even without evidence, the matter would be settled. Uninformed demonic cultivators might not act against Nine Abyss Sect, but if Crimson Blood Sect used this to attack their opponent, the situation would change entirely.
The most brilliant part was that after everything concluded, Harmony Sect could still remain uninvolved—just disciples momentarily infatuated and letting slip information. How would subsequent developments concern Harmony Sect?
Unfortunately, the beauty trap failed at the first step—who could have imagined these two were a couple?
Yi Yao and the others couldn't even enter the courtyard gate and barely exchanged a few words, so they couldn't convey any information. Before Fei Yuan could devise a new approach, Jiang Mo had already escaped with Yun Qingyue.
With no alternative, Fei Yuan had to pursue them and personally reveal the secrets. But this way, Harmony Sect's desire to remain uninvolved was clearly impossible.