Lei Meng saw through Song You’s intentions at a glance. He said calmly, "All that so-called mystifying and trickery only exists because one’s ability is insufficient to see through what is real and what is false."

"Lord Lei Meng is right," Song You said respectfully as he nodded. "But this time, if we cannot curb the momentum of the Nine Cauldrons Sect, they will surely conquer cities and seize territory in the East Sea, perhaps even reclaim it entirely. By then, the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s strength will surge, and it will truly possess the majesty of an immortal sect."

"Reclaim the East Sea? Heh. Does the Great Sun Sword Sect agree? Does our Infinite Star Palace agree?" Lei Meng let out a faint chuckle.

Even so, considering that the Xuanming Sect was still a fairly useful chess piece, he ultimately added, "I’ll help you contact the Heavenly Palace cultivators of our Infinite Star Palace... Oh, what a pity. The Heavenly Palace cultivators in that region have all been redeployed to the Black Flame Continent. You’ll have to wait another half an hour."

Many forces on the Black Flame Continent had originally been members of the Northern Alliance. Even though the Northern Alliance had since dissolved, there were simply too many factions hostile toward the Infinite Star Palace. As a result, they had no choice but to commit more forces to monitoring the movements of factions such as the Sacred Fire Cult, Sacred Blue Sea Land, Star Sect, and Crimson Moon Gate across the Black Flame Continent.

"Half an hour..." Song You’s heart sank. He could not help but say, "If the Heavenly Palace cultivators are temporarily unavailable, is it possible to ask a Dharma Form heavenly lord from above the nine heavens to intervene—"

"Pfft!" Before Song You could finish speaking, Lei Meng had already burst into laughter. It took him quite a while to recover. He shrugged and said, "I'm not shameless enough to invite a Dharma Form heavenly lord. Why don’t you try contacting one yourself? Just wait patiently. I’ll notify you once there’s news."

With that, he cut off the communication. That attitude made Song You grind his teeth in silence. Yet in the end, he did not dare to show even the slightest hint of anger, maintaining his respectful demeanor for a while longer.

After all, the one he had just spoken with was the deputy hall master of the Infinite Star Palace’s Warfare Hall, a figure so powerful that he could crush a massive force like the Quicksand Sect with overwhelming ease.

Just then, on the high platform ahead, more soul lamps began to go out.

"Fangyuan Island?!" Song You snapped his head up.

The extinguishing of the first soul lamp triggered a chain reaction. The second lamp, the third, the fourth... They followed in quick succession.

"Impossible!" Song You rushed forward, wishing he could shield those life flames with his own hands, lest they be touched by even the slightest cold wind. Yet it was utterly meaningless.

Especially when at the very top, nearly level with Song Xuan’s life flame, the life flame belonging to the Xuanming Sect’s Warfare Hall Master flickered and then suddenly went out. At that moment, Song You, the sect master of the Xuanming Sect, finally broke.

He collapsed to his knees in agony, letting out despairing cries. "No! No! No!"

***

At the Great Sun Sword Sect's headquarters, Chi Songzi, deputy hall master of the Warfare Hall and head of the East Sea Island Affairs Department, had his gaze fixed on the map before him.

Two regions on the map were marked in red. One was the East Sea islands adjacent to the Nine Cauldrons Sect. The other, far larger in area, was the Sea of Storms bordering the Thousand-Beast Sect.

Although the Sea of Storms covered a wider expanse than the East Sea islands, it was under the control of the Thousand-Beast Sect, an ancient and powerful force part of the Six Great Immortal Sects.

Even though the spirit beasts and divine beasts cultivated by the Thousand-Beast Sect were unlike human cultivators and fell far behind them in terms of rapid iteration, their sheer numbers made up for everything.

The vast quantity of spirit beasts and psyche beasts ensured that the Thousand-Beast Sect’s deterrence power surpassed that of any other major sect. Even with the Great Sun Sword Sect’s sixth Sky Patrol Warship already launched, it was still not enough to face the Thousand-Beast Sect head-on.

Perhaps we need to strengthen our cooperation with the Infinite Star Palace. Chi Songzi thought over that for a moment, then somewhat unwillingly shifted his gaze to the East Sea islands.

If the Sea of Storms could not be taken, then they would have to settle for bringing the East Sea islands under their control first. Suddenly, a psychic consciousness transmission arrived in haste. "Hall Master, something’s wrong. There’s been a change in the East Sea."

Immediately afterward, Nan Bisheng, head of the East Sea Situation Perception Department directly under the Heavenly Palace Hall, arrived through the air.

"So flustered. Where’s your composure... Did a fight break out?" Displeasure was shown on Chi Zongzi's face.

But Nan Bisheng had no time to explain. He immediately displayed a projection. "Hall Master, please look. The Nine Cauldrons Sect has just released information in the Void Psychic World... The Xuanming Sect’s forces in the East Sea...were annihilated!"

"The Xuanming Sect’s forces in the East Sea? Annihilated?" Chi Songzi froze for a moment.

Then he turned his gaze to the projection. The press conference seemed to have already entered the Q&A segment, but with a quick adjustment from Nan Bisheng, the image soon rewound to the main stage.

In the projection, Zhou Lijian, the hall master of the Nine Cauldrons Sect's Public Relations Hall, was delivering a righteous statement. "In recent years, the Xuanming Sect has willfully ignored the facts, disregarded diplomatic relations between our two sects, and flouted the joint regulations of the Great Cangwu World. They occupied our East Sea waters and repeatedly ignored our sect’s orders to withdraw. In order to safeguard the territorial integrity of our sect and in accordance with the diplomatic conventions of the Cangwu Alliance, the Nine Cauldrons Sect has expelled and eliminated the Xuanming Sect’s forces in the East Sea. This action is reasonable, justified, fair, and fully in compliance with the laws of the Great Cangwu World..."

"They actually made a move?!" Chi Songzi was stunned.

Yet, he was not too surprised. When the Nine Cauldrons Sect had mobilized its forces and marched out of the Nine Heavens Domain this time, many had already anticipated that they were serious.

Now that fighting had truly erupted, there was only one question he cared about.

"What about casualties on both sides?" Chi Songzi asked.

"We are investigating at full speed, but judging from the number of sword lights detected by our Heavenly Palace cultivators so far, the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s losses are very small. Estimated... fewer than twenty people," Nan Bisheng replied.

"Fewer than twenty?" Chi Songzi was shocked. "How is that possible? The Xuanming Sect committed more than half of its great cultivators to the East Sea. In terms of raw strength alone, that should amount to seventy or eighty percent of their sect’s total force. According to Zhou Lijian’s statement, they’ve already expelled and crushed the Xuanming Sect, meaning they’ve achieved victory. If that’s the case, how could they not have paid a price?"

In the memory of Chi Songzi, the strength of the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s great cultivators had been roughly on par with that of the Xuanming Sect, at most only half a step stronger. If the two sides went to war, even if it did not end in mutual destruction, there should at least have been heavy losses on both sides.

He immediately pressed the issue. "What about the Xuanming Sect? Did you contact the Xuanming Sect? Surely their cultivators did not collapse at first contact and simply hand over the East Sea?"

"No, the Xuanming Sect fought fiercely. I contacted them as soon as I could. According to the information I obtained, after sect master Song You saw the situation in the Eternal Lamp Hall, he almost went crazy and nearly fainted on the spot," Nan Bisheng replied. There was a trace of lingering dread in Nan Bisheng’s voice. "This time, the Xuanming Sect has, at a conservative estimate, lost three hundred great cultivators! And they were their most elite ones!"

"Three hundred?!" Chi Songzi shot to his feet. "Are you saying the Nine Cauldrons Sect achieved a casualty ratio of three hundred to twenty against the Xuanming Sect?"

"Yes..." Nan Bisheng nodded.

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible!" Chi Songzi swung his arm sharply.

When the Great Sun Sword Sect had gone through drills with the Nine Cauldrons Sect, the casualty ratio had been forty to seven. Against the Xuanming Sect, it had been forty to five. For the Nine Cauldrons Sect to achieve such a casualty ratio against the Xuanming Sect... That was even better than the Great Sun Sword Sect! How could the Nine Cauldrons Sect, founded less than ninety years ago, have developed so quickly?

"The data observed by the Heavenly Palace cultivators is exactly that," Nan Bisheng said softly. "During the battle, the Nine Cauldrons Sect’s Heavenly Palace cultivators interfered with that sea region. Perhaps they were putting on a show. Once we finish verifying the casualties of each individual they deployed, we should have detailed figures."

Although the Great Sun Sword Sect did not have Golden Core cultivators overseeing things, it maintained good relations with the Infinite Star Palace and had spent a fortune to invite them to establish several Heavenly Palaces.

In terms of quantity, they could not match the Nine Cauldrons Sect, but all of them used Infinite Star Palace technology, so their intelligence-gathering capability was not weak. At most, because the number of Heavenly Palaces was limited, the area they could monitor was smaller, resulting in longer blind intervals.

"Then what are you waiting for?!" Chi Songzi barked. "I want to know the condition of every single one of the 166 great cultivators the Nine Cauldrons Sect deployed! I want to know whether they truly lost fewer than twenty people, or whether this victory was fabricated."

"Yes, Hall Master." Nan Bisheng quickly mobilized the full power of the Heavenly Palace Hall to conduct a comprehensive investigation.

Chi Songzi, meanwhile, connected to the Void Psychic World. As he looked at Zhou Lijian holding the press conference in the Void Psychic World, his expression grew exceedingly grave. If the news were true, then the strength of the Nine Cauldrons Sect was likely far greater than they had anticipated.

***

At Longxiang Imperial Academy, Su Yaoshuang from the New Media major was standing at the lectern, collaborating with the teacher to present a data analysis segment. She wore a pure white long dress, with a striking blue bow pinned at her chest. Her jet-black, silky hair cascaded over her shoulders, faintly revealing a beige-patterned ribbon woven through it.

She looked indescribably pure and lovely. In fact, over the year since her enrollment, relying on the Su family’s excellent genetics, top-tier choices in food and clothing, her cultivation of the fourth realm of qi refinement, and her own refined sense of fashion, Su Yaoshuang had already become the first love of many.

In particular, her gentle temperament and approachability made her far easier to develop goodwill toward than many other beauties with even better looks but colder personalities. Among the lists compiled by enthusiasts ranking the top ten beauties of Longxiang Imperial Academy, Su Yaoshuang frequently appeared.

She was softly explaining the practice data, her clear, crisp diction making it pleasant to listen to. Just then, however, a student who usually lagged behind suddenly let out a shout, shattering the atmosphere. "Holy shit, something huge just happened, my brothers!"

Instantly, the displeased gazes of nearly a hundred people in the lecture hall fell on him at once. Yet he seemed completely oblivious, not even sparing a glance for the instructor’s darkening expression. Brimming with excitement, he shouted, "Go check the Void Psychic World! Something big just happened! The Public Relations Hall just made a new statement. We’re fighting the Xuanming Sect. Not warnings or condemnations, real fighting! And we won! Hall Master Zhou can barely keep the smile off his face! Look at the warfare section too. This battle was a beautiful win. They’re using words like 'great victory' and 'complete victory' everywhere!"

Growing more and more fired up, he abruptly stood up and declared with fervor, "Rise up! We’re finally rising up, Brothers!"