In the First Heaven, the Western Sacred Lands have long held the status of the most prosperous region. While there weren’t many records of cultivators successfully passing their immortal tribulation and ascending to the Second Heaven, or what the cultivators referred to as the Immortal Realm, the prominent sects and factions in the region hadn’t changed for the last few millennia.

It was an unyielding hierarchy established over time. And among those at the top was the Violethaven Temple and its allies like the Jade Sovereign Sect, Celestial Flame Order, and Mangrove Covenant. They dictate the flow of resources, the laws of cultivation, and the very right to life and death for countless vassal sects.

Parallel to them, yet ideologically opposed, stood the Supreme Sun Church, bathing their half of the continent in a blinding, unforgiving light.

And existing in the periphery were the enigmatic ascetics of the Temple of Unending Spring, alongside the other neutral factions that had banded together to resist the pressure of the giants.

Then, there’s the colossal economic engine of the Golden Carp Trading Guild. Due to their connections to various powers, they accumulated enough favors to exist within the top three in terms of economic power. The other two are the Sacred Foundation Bank and the Heavenly Silk Consortium.

Together, these three entities formed an iron triangle that monopolized the flow of wealth, artifacts, and alchemical ingredients across millions of miles.

For thousands of years, this balance of power was maintained through absolute hoarding of knowledge. High-grade cultivation manuals, premium spirit veins, and ancient alchemy recipes were locked behind the towering gates of these supreme factions. A rogue cultivator in the West was destined to remain a rogue, scavenging for scraps, unless they submitted to become a lowly outer disciple of a recognized sect.

It was a world where suffering was equated with tempering, and artificial scarcity was the tool of control.

But a storm was brewing in the East, and its first, insidious winds were already breaching the formidable borders of the Sacred Lands.

High atop Mount Violethaven, shrouded in perpetual, unnatural violet clouds, Temple Master Zuo Tianqiong sat upon his throne. A hint of irritation could be seen flashing on his face.

Standing before him was Elder Bing Xin. She had more or less recovered from the injuries she had taken from her fight against the Liu Clan Patriarch. However, at the moment, the icy aura she naturally exuded felt brittle. Like she had been distressed over something that made her unable to focus.

She had received an urgent message from his senior brother, the banished Grand Elder of the Violethaven Temple. He’s the sole survivor of an attack from suspected foreign creatures that had breached an Anchor.

Although the Temple Master had decreed to monopolize the Towers and Anchors within their territory and to contact the foreign entities inside, the progress on it wasn’t exactly smooth.

To date, they have only discovered two Conduit Towers and three Anchors.

Of the two Towers, neither has been fully conquered yet. And they are still amassing casualties from their own ranks, be it disciples or elders, as they climb them.

Of the three Anchors, one remained dormant with an estimated time of activation being a month, while the other two refused to talk with them on top of the stabilization drawing closer and closer due to their inability to break through to the Core Area.

It’s not that they were lacking in strength. The Violethaven Temple housed experts whose mere exhalations could level mountains. Their Violet Flame and Violet Glacial Dao were top-tier elemental arts, refined over millennia to incinerate or freeze the very souls of their enemies.

But strength, as Temple Master Zuo Tianqiong was slowly and agonizingly realizing, was entirely contextual.

The challenges of the Conduit Tower were more difficult. The foreign energy pressure within the Anchor was enough for the foreign entities to overwhelm them.

If Lin Mo heard of their difficulties, he’d probably smirk and then advertise the benefits of having his Store Beacon integrated in them. After all, aside from the existence of a portable shop to buy what they needed, the benefits of having the permanent Aura, and other upgrades he could add through the [Anchor Interference and Tower Integration Protocol] allowed the store patrons to not be too disadvantaged when challenging them.

"Speak, Bing Xin," Temple Master Zuo Tianqiong commanded. The violet flames in the braziers lining the hall flickered erratically, mirroring his thinly veiled impatience. "What news brings you with such a pallor? Has Mu Wuyan finally secured a foothold in the Crimson Waste?"

Elder Bing Xin remained kneeling, her forehead touching the cold stone. When she finally raised her head, her usually pristine, icy composure was marred by genuine dread.

"Temple Master," She began with an unusually brittle voice. Just like when she returned from her defeat at the Eastern Abyssal Domain. "Grand Elder Mu Wuyan... has suffered a catastrophic defeat. His entire expeditionary force, save for himself, has been eradicated. Ambushed by the foreign entities that seemed to have appeared in the forbidden zone."

She pulled a shattered, blood-stained communication jade from her robes. It was the receiver for the emergency transmission Mu Wuyan had sent just before his signal went dark. She channeled a wisp of her cold qi into it, projecting the erratic, audio-only recording into the silent hall.

Mu Wuyan’s voice, usually haughty and commanding, echoed with breathless panic.

"...a living nightmare. They ambushed us... thousands of them. Bipedal horrors wrapped in verdant vines. Our Violet Flame arts... they are useless!"

The recording crackled with static and the horrifying sound of tearing metal.

"Temple Master, these entities... are not ones we can control... Our Violet Flames are useless. The more qi we project, the stronger they grow. They drank my ’Violet Star Incineration’ as if it were sweet nectar. They use our own spiritual energy to thicken their armor and accelerate their regeneration. We are cattle feeding the butchers! I had to... I had to overload Elder Fang’s dantian just to create a non-spiritual concussive blast to escape. I am the only survivor. The West is unprepared for this. This is that damned Shopkeeper’s fault! If I had the heaven-grade artifact, I wouldn’t be..."

The transmission ended in a sharp hiss of static.

Zuo Tianqiong’s hands gripped the armrests of his violet jade throne tightly enough to crack the ancient stone. He glanced behind him, to the shrouded statue that depicts the Violet Deity.

He maintained his silence. Whatever was running in his head, Elder Bing Xin had no idea.

Suddenly, the statue glowed in deep violet and bathed both the Temple Master and Elder Bing Xin in its light.

Zuo Tianqiong stood up from his seat and bowed respectfully before kneeling. His Immortal Embryo Stage pressure was cowed by the presence being radiated within the statue. "Exalted One, your servant awaits your orders."

"Zuo Tianqiong, the Violet Deity has decreed that the chaos of these Outer Realms remains to be a tool to be turned against our enemies. Set the conflict from the East aside and put the temple’s resources to establishing a clear contact with the supreme race from the Highland Realm, the Dreilling."

Both the Temple Master and Elder Bing Xin’s minds couldn’t help but rumble from that instruction. However, neither of them questioned it.

Having discovered and explored those Anchors within their territory, they already had some information regarding those Outer Realms. But unlike Lin Mo and his highly efficient data extraction, they’re still lacking. They haven’t even encountered a Dreilling yet. They couldn’t break past Area 2 of the Anchor in their territory. All the recorded enemies are only the green-skinned Decrint Tribe or the quick-footed Gremblins.

"It shall be done." Temple Master Zuo answered.

The shrouded statue dimmed again right after that.

"Elder Bing Xin."

Elder Bing Xin remained bowed. "Temple Master, I await your orders."

"You’ve heard the decree. What is the Highland Realm Anchor’s current cultivation limitation?"

"... I believe it is the Foundation Establishment Stage and at most a hundred groups of eight can be accommodated. We have our experts studying all those entrances to lift the restriction. However, it is too early to find any progress."

The Temple Master went silent again as he sat back on his throne, "Hmm... if the restriction is bound to the Foundation Establishment Stage, then we must bend our strategies to fit the mold. We cannot shatter the door, so we shall flood the keyhole."

He waved his hand, and a token floated towards the kneeling Elder.

"Elder Bing Xin. You are to immediately convene with the envoys of the Jade Sovereign Sect, the Celestial Flame Order, and the Mangrove Covenant. We will invoke the ancient Vanguard Accords. I want a thousand of their best Foundation Establishment disciples mobilized by tomorrow’s dawn."

Bing Xin’s icy heart skipped a beat. Three thousand disciples. And by being the best, they should be those with the potential to cultivate beyond the Nascent Soul Stage. Those were Core Disciples candidates!

"Temple Master, to send so many into an Anchor we do not fully understand... without the protection of the elders... the casualty rate will be astronomical. The Decrints alone are a swarm, and we do not even know what kind of entity the Dreillings are."

"Sacrifices must be made for the Violet Deity’s grand design," Zuo Tianqiong interrupted, his tone clearly not accepting any argument. "But they will not go in unequipped. Open our Temple’s Forbidden Vaults. Distribute the [Blood-Ignition Pills] and the [Violet Wraith Talismans]."