Chapter 459: Chapter 442: Bullying
’It’s good publicity, but the auction house needs to make money, too,’ Zixiao thought to himself. ’The venue fee, the payment to the City Lord, and the hospitality costs for the big shots don’t just fall from the sky.’
’Still, this is also a chance to mend my relationship with Wang Meng.’
"Sect Leader Wang, it would be best to sell this batch of Spirit Stones separately. It’s difficult for any single person to buy such a large amount at once, and it wouldn’t maximize your profits either."
"Oh?"
"At a glance, these are all top-quality Spirit Stones. A few of them even contain the Five Elements Power—they’re premium grade! Could you give me some time to appraise them and create an inventory list? That would also make it easier to contact some high-potential buyers."
Zixiao’s eyes were a little dazed by the brilliant light.
Wang Meng had time. ’It’s a good thing I didn’t just sell them off casually,’ he thought. ’This way, the returns should be quite good.’
Even as the Chief Shopkeeper of the Immortal Commerce, Zixiao had never seen anyone casually pull out so many Spirit Stones at once.
"Your display has truly been an eye-opener. Only someone who robbed a Giant Dragon could come into such a windfall."
Zixiao said it casually, but Master Wang blushed. ’Damn,’ he thought, ’isn’t that basically what I did?’
After more than an hour, Zixiao finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Sect Leader Wang, once I’ve made the arrangements, I will notify you personally."
"Heh, thank you for your trouble."
’Although things with the Immortal Commerce didn’t get off to a good start, I hope we can have a better working relationship in the future,’ he thought. He wasn’t a lone wolf anymore, where as long as he was fed, his whole family was fed. He now had to consider the entire Holy Hall.
Back at the Holy Hall’s residence, Zhao Xinglun came to find him again. "Sect Leader, do you think the inauguration ceremony should be held in our Four Directions Small Thousand World, or in Snow Moon City?"
Wang Meng was taken aback. "We have to do that?"
"Heh, of course. When a Sect Leader is inaugurated, it’s natural to invite friendly sects to observe the ceremony. I’ve already contacted a few. Sect Leader Jiny Tiannan of Heaven-Dominating Hall will also be coming."
Zhao Xinglun said this with a hint of smugness. Wang Meng wouldn’t be able to invite such a prominent figure on his own. At best, he could find a few people from the Cultivation Academy, but how could that level of prestige be enough?
"The Four Directions Small Thousand World, then." Wang Meng wanted to use this opportunity to make the other Small Thousand Realms take notice of the Holy Hall and expand its influence. In the current climate, the only way to survive was to openly embrace challenges.
"Alright, I’ll go make the preparations then."
Zhao Xinglun sneered inwardly. ’So he wants to return home in glory. Just as I expected.’
Wang Meng hadn’t actually considered Zhao Xinglun’s interpretation. There was a lot to do, but he had to tackle things one by one. No matter what Zhao Xinglun arranged, Wang Meng just needed to control the overall situation. However, it was also time to find some people to help him.
Wang Meng cultivated for one Circulation, feeling refreshed and clear-headed, his fatigue swept away. He was full of anticipation for the future.
He loved this kind of challenging life.
Meanwhile, rumors were running rampant in the Holy Hall.
The Sect Leader had died in battle—a devastating catastrophe for any sect. This cast a strange atmosphere over the normally bustling Holy Hall.
The news couldn’t be contained for long. Word of Xue Zhongnan’s death eventually spread from other sources, leaving the Holy Hall in a state of confusion. The most pressing matter was who would succeed as the Master of the Holy Hall.
In terms of both strength and influence, the Zhao Family controlled the situation. They had Zhao Xinglun at the top, Zhao Tianlong in the middle ranks, and Zhao Lingxuan among the younger generation.
But if the Zhao Family were to truly take power, the future of Thunderlight Hall would be uncertain. The Zhao Family was now fully supporting Lingyin Hall, and Lingyin Hall’s prestige had already surpassed that of Dao Guang Hall, making it second only to Thunderlight Hall.
Zhao Lingxuan and Hu Jing were on very good terms, but in the grand scheme of things, Zhao Lingxuan was just a third-generation successor and couldn’t influence the Zhao Family’s decisions.
But before long, another explosive rumor surfaced: Wang Meng was going to take over as the Holy Hall Master.
This shook everyone to their core.
If it had been just anyone saying it, people might have dismissed it. But this came from Zhou Qian, and his only source of information could be the Zhou Family.
But until the news was confirmed, they remained anxious. It just seemed too incredible to be true.
Holy Hall Master? Wang Meng?
But Hu Jing and the others’ anxiety didn’t last long. With the return of Ancestor Master Zhou Luodan, the news was confirmed.
Wang Meng would become the new generation’s Sect Leader of the Holy Hall.
Although the rumors had been circulating for a while, once it was officially confirmed, the entire Thunderlight Hall nearly erupted.
Zhang Xiaojiang frantically shook his head. ’Is this real?’
No one knew Wang Meng like Zhang Xiaojiang did. They were two buddies who used to run around on the streets together, always filled with envy and admiration for Cultivators. Just becoming Cultivators would have been a dream come true for them, and now, Wang Meng had actually become the Master of the Holy Hall.
Could you believe it?!
Thunderlight Hall erupted into cheers. The legend had once again shown his divine power.
The news of Wang Meng’s appointment as Master of the Holy Hall caused another uproar within the sect. It had to be said, a young disciple casually strolling into the position of Master of the Holy Hall was met with considerable opposition. After all, not everyone paid attention to the Great Yuan Realm; some were only concerned with their own little patch of turf in the Four Directions Small Thousand World.
Wang Meng’s prestige was high among the younger disciples, and the highest echelons of the sect were familiar with him. However, some of the Elders who formed the middle tier of power didn’t know him well, and this was the level that Zhao Xinglun controlled.
There was debate within the Holy Hall, and outright astonishment throughout the Four Directions Small Thousand World. What was wrong with the Holy Hall? To let a wet-behind-the-ears kid become their Sect Leader—did they have a death wish?
Even those who understood Wang Meng’s potential thought he was too young. It might have been understandable if he were at the Fourth Layer of Minor Perfection or approaching Great Perfection, but he was far from that. How could he command the respect of the masses?
But it was already a done deal. The Holy Hall would hold a grand ceremony on the Holy Mountain in one month, inviting the various sects of the Four Directions Small Thousand World to attend.
The Ten Thousand Demons Sect would certainly come. They wanted to gauge the Holy Hall’s true strength. Life was just that unpredictable. They had watched the Holy Hall lead the pack for so long, and then suddenly, a new opportunity had presented itself to the Ten Thousand Demons Sect.
Wang Meng had been able to stir up a lot of trouble in the past because he had the great tree, Xue Zhongnan, shielding him from many problems. Now that the tree had fallen, could the monkeys still hold on?
Of course, the most critical factor was who would attend. If the other sects only sent subordinates, Wang Meng would be finished.
Regardless, if no influential figures attended the Sect Leader’s inauguration, it would be a huge loss of face and a major blow to morale.
Zhou Luodan sent out a flurry of invitations, doing her best to invite some of the renowned Cultivators from the Four Directions Small Thousand World. As long as Jiny Tiannan from Heaven-Dominating Hall attended, Wang Meng’s ceremony wouldn’t be too embarrassing. As for whether Jinn Qiushui would come, that was another matter. Jinn Qiushui wasn’t having an easy time herself, as she was under immense pressure from the Ten Thousand Demons Sect.
Among the current Five Schools, aside from the Dao Guang Sect which was still aligned with the Holy Hall, the other four were either neutral or leaning toward the Ten Thousand Demons Sect. This was indeed the prevailing trend.
If the Ten Thousand Demons Sect decided to cause trouble to make the Holy Hall lose face, or prepared some kind of show of force to intimidate the new leader, it would be nearly impossible to defend against.
But the ceremony had to be held.
Zhou Luodan, Zhao Tianlong, and the others all threw themselves into the preparations. From the Zhao Family’s perspective, the ceremony had to go smoothly one way or another. Otherwise, it wouldn’t just be Wang Meng who lost face, but the entire Holy Hall, which was not something the Zhao Family wanted to see.
As for internal preparations, those were much simpler. Even if there were murmurs of dissent, it wasn’t the place of ordinary disciples to have a say in such matters.
In any case, this was a very important event for Master Wang. So, Wang Meng also sent out invitations, hoping that both old friends and new would be willing to come and liven things up.
The Holy Hall was not a super-sect, after all, so the change in its leadership didn’t cause any major waves in the Great Yuan Realm.
However, Demon Blade City did not press its advantage, which allowed the Sect Leaders of Snow Moon City to breathe a sigh of relief.
It was impossible for Demon Blade City to do anything drastic to Snow Moon City. The Star Alliance was actually maintaining a kind of balance. Right now, the Demon Cultivators had the upper hand, but the Star Alliance wouldn’t let them completely wipe out the Saint Cultivators. By the same token, it wasn’t easy for Saint Cultivators to destroy Demon Cultivators either. Saints and Demons were like two sides of the same coin; you couldn’t have one without the other. Although Demon Blade City had lost its City Defense Crystal and Zhang Mang had paid a heavy price, Snow Moon City still had no opportunity to destroy them.
What worried Yang Jian were the potential losses. Heavy losses could still lead to a shift in power among the sects. After the emergence of the Star Alliance, some of the lower-ranked sects also saw an opportunity. Or rather, they were all silently waiting for one.
As the sect of the City Lord, the Celestial Rainbow Sect received more benefits than other sects, but it also had to bear greater responsibility. Of that, there was no doubt.
"How strange. With Zhang Mang’s personality, I’m surprised he didn’t take the chance to kick them while they’re down."
The speaker was Sect Leader Anx Su of the Futu Sect. He was actually against allowing the Holy Hall to remain. Survival of the fittest was the law of Cultivation, and in his view, the current Holy Hall no longer had the strength to stay.
Yang Jian smiled faintly. "Sect Leader Anx, it’s not strange at all. This is also why I strongly advocated for letting the Holy Hall stay. The Puppet Sect must have come under pressure from another party."
"Heh, you are well-informed, Sect Leader. Could it be that some major Saint Cultivation Sect has stepped in?"
"Not at all. The one who stepped in was the Taiyin Sect," Yang Jian said with a smile.
He had guessed correctly. Yang Jian had felt that Wang Meng’s relationship with the Taiyin Sect’s Mo Chen was significant, but he’d only rated it a fifty-fifty chance. He truly hadn’t expected the Taiyin Sect to actually make a move, and so swiftly at that. One could only imagine how frustrated Zhang Mang must be.
’It seems I really can’t underestimate this young friend, Wang Meng,’ he thought.
Ambition isn’t a matter of age. Setting aside everything else, Wang Meng’s potential and his relationship with the Taiyin Sect were alone enough to warrant giving the Holy Hall some special treatment.
The Holy Hall was busy, the outside world was busy, but Master Wang suddenly found himself with nothing to do. Not that he was bored. He was currently obsessed with cultivating his Divine Statue. It could be said that each of its three abilities was more than enough to occupy all of his mental energy.
Normal Holy Statue Abilities followed predictable patterns, and one could receive guidance on them. But for his Divine Statue’s abilities, probably no one short of the four great powerhouses could offer any real insight. Even an average Sect Leader could only explain some shallow principles.
Of course, Master Wang was focusing his preparations on the Power of Life Wheel. The resources from the auction, combined with his Power of Life Wheel, would be a massive gamble that would decide the fate of the Holy Hall.
When it’s time to take a risk in life, you have to go all in!
Master Wang had never been one to fear taking risks. In fact, situations like this only fired him up more.
Preparation. Success always favors the prepared.
Meanwhile, Zhang Mang of Demon Blade City was indeed furious, feeling as though he had swallowed a fly. In order to kill Xue Zhongnan, Demon Blade City had paid a considerable price, especially the exorbitant resources paid to the assassin organization. Naturally, he had intended to recoup those losses from Snow Moon City, but at this critical moment, the Taiyin Sect, looming over them, had forcefully intervened.
The one who came was Xie Tianhua, the number two figure of the Taiyin Sect’s younger generation. His attitude was incredibly firm: Demon Blade City was forbidden from making a move against the Holy Hall for six months. No reason, no explanation.
If the Puppet Sect insisted on acting willfully, then they shouldn’t blame the Taiyin Sect for being ruthless.
Surviving a great disaster is said to bring good fortune. The Taiyin Sect’s number two figure, Mo Chen, had "risen from the ashes" and looked poised to advance even further. Their number three figure had somehow survived a fatal cultivation deviation. And now they had added a number four: the famous and powerful Loose Cultivator, the Enchanting Demon Zhu Zhun.
At a time like this, unless one was from the Pure Land, no one would be stupid enough to challenge the Taiyin Sect.
And among the younger generation, they had Zou Chuang, and reportedly, a woman who possessed a Demon Spirit Body. Their reserves of talent were truly ample.
But why would the mighty Taiyin Sect, so high and lofty, bother with such trivial bullshit down below?
It truly depressed Zhang Mang. How could he be so unlucky? He had to swallow this insult, whether he wanted to or not.