Chapter 611 - 412: Heavenly Ghost’s Reaction (Part 2)
Chapter 611: Chapter 412: Heavenly Ghost’s Reaction (Part 2)
The nature of the Celestial Ghost Mansion’s reply would be telling. If it dictated what the Black Ghost Cave should do next, it would imply that they would likely provide support if problems arose later.
"On the Demons’ side, the Celestial Demon Sect and the Demon Spirit Sect have both been wiped out by the Celestial Cloud Sect. Now, the Celestial Cloud Sect and the Wind Ling Sect are moving against the Dragon Demon Palace, and the Black Dragon Hall is just watching... Tell me, even if the Celestial Ghost Mansion gives us orders, what’s to stop them from acting just like the Black Dragon Hall?"
"I can’t be certain about that," the Great Cave Master said honestly. This was already the best plan he could come up with.
’The Nascent Soul influences won’t invest too much in us.’
"The mysterious Spirit Refiner is a huge threat, and it’s true they’ve always been in this area. But in the eyes of the major powers, the mysterious Spirit Refiner isn’t considered part of a Core Formation influence. So, the Celestial Ghost Sect might target the Purple Mist Sect because of them. As for us..."
The four Cave Masters continued their analysis. The more they discussed it, the smaller their previously estimated thirty-percent chance of success seemed to become.
As their analysis went on, it seemed that even with their current plan, the Black Ghost Cave’s chances of survival in the future were less than twenty percent.
"Enough," the Great Cave Master cut off the other three Cave Masters. "We’re done discussing the mysterious Spirit Refiner for now. Let’s wait and see if we get a reply from the Celestial Ghost Mansion. And lastly, your titles need to be changed."
The death of the Second Cave Master had left a position vacant.
According to the rules of the Black Ghost Cave, the vacancy had to be filled from below.
The Third Cave Master would become the new Second Cave Master, and the Fourth and Fifth would move up accordingly.
...
「Celestial Ghost Mansion.」
It was located in the central region of the Qionglin Domain.
Inside a dim manor, Sun Jitong, an Elder of the Celestial Ghost Mansion, was steadily absorbing and refining a chaotic mass of Yin Qi.
The arrival of a message prompt prompted Sun Jitong to open his eyes.
’This is a message from the Black Ghost Cave.’
Over the past few decades, they had learned a great deal about the region containing the Black Ghost Cave and the Ghost-Controlling Sect, primarily due to the rise of the Celestial Cloud Sect, a Spirit Refiner influence.
In response, the Black Dragon Hall had even made several moves against the Purple Mist Sect.
The fact that two Demon Cultivation Core Formation influences had fallen to the Celestial Cloud Sect was enough to prove that this Spirit Refiner Core Formation influence had truly become a force to be reckoned with.
’It’s almost certainly the Black Ghost Cave asking for help,’ Sun Jitong guessed before even opening the message.
The Black Ghost Cave and the Celestial Cloud Sect had shared a border for a thousand years, so there was bound to be some animosity between them. This friction had become especially prominent after the destruction of the Celestial Demon Sect and the Demon Spirit Sect.
Sun Jitong’s brow furrowed as he received the message’s contents.
According to the message, the mysterious Spirit Refiner was able to quickly kill their Late-stage Core Formation Ghost Cultivators. This meant the mysterious Spirit Refiner’s power had already surpassed that of an ordinary Spirit Refiner at the Peak of Core Formation.
’Even I wouldn’t have much of a chance against this mysterious Spirit Refiner. It’s a good thing our Celestial Ghost Mansion has little friction with the Purple Mist Sect.’
Sun Jitong considered the future.
He would likely never have to face the mysterious Spirit Refiner in battle.
That was a good thing, as far as he was concerned.
He hated dealing with Spirit Refiners skilled in concealment, like this mysterious one. They were incredibly troublesome. Once you offended them, you constantly had to watch your back for sneak attacks whenever you went out.
He had just finished with one message when, a moment later, another one arrived—also from the Black Ghost Cave.
’What now?’
Puzzled, Sun Jitong accepted the second message.
’I see.’
After understanding the situation, Sun Jitong rose and summoned some of the Celestial Ghost Mansion’s most influential elders to discuss how they should handle the Black Ghost Cave’s request.
Roughly forty-five minutes later.
All the Celestial Ghost Mansion Elders who had received Sun Jitong’s summons had arrived.
Eight Elders had come in total, making nine with Sun Jitong himself. The lowest-ranking among them was at Late-stage Core Formation, with the majority being at the Peak of Core Formation.
"Elder Sun, it’s rare for you to call us all together. Have you run into a difficult situation?"
Sun Jitong was the Elder in the Celestial Ghost Mansion responsible for information processing. If he gathered any critically important intelligence, he was to report it directly to the sect’s Nascent Soul Cultivators.
A summons like this meant the information was important, but far from being critically so.
"Here’s the situation..."
Sun Jitong relayed the information from the Black Ghost Cave’s message in detail, colored by his own interpretation, to all the Elders present.
"...persuaded by Ghost Head Castle, the Black Ghost Cave chose to help the Dragon Demon Palace suppress the Celestial Cloud Sect. However, they never expected the mysterious Spirit Refiner to be so powerful. Now, they intend to pull out and ignore whatever the Celestial Cloud Sect does to the Dragon Demon Palace... The Black Ghost Cave wants our guidance on whether or not they should proceed with this course of action."
After finishing his explanation, Sun Jitong gestured for the other Elders to share their thoughts.
This was genuinely a difficult decision for him to make.
For a more minor issue, his authority within the Celestial Ghost Mansion would have been enough to act on his own.
"Why would Ghost Head Castle persuade the Black Ghost Cave to help the Dragon Demon Palace? The Dragon Demon Palace is a Demon influence, not one of our Ghost Cultivator influences. If the Dragon Demon Palace is in real trouble, the Black Dragon Hall should be the one to help. It’s not their place, no matter how you look at it."
"Elder Fan, you need to listen to Elder Sun’s entire report, not just bits and pieces. Ghost Head Castle persuaded the Black Ghost Cave to suppress the Celestial Cloud Sect’s growth for their own sake, obviously. If the Celestial Cloud Sect really does destroy the Dragon Demon Palace, Ghost Head Castle will share a border with them. Their actions are understandable."
"According to my information, the Celestial Cloud Sect now has more than thirteen Spirit Refiners. One of them is even a Sword Cultivator. I wonder if that Sword Cultivator has broken through to Late-stage Core Formation yet. If so, the Celestial Cloud Sect could be considered a top-tier Core Formation influence, and sharing a border with them would indeed be a problem."
"The number of Core Formation Spirit Refiners in the Celestial Cloud Sect has reached fifteen," Sun Jitong added.
"The Celestial Cloud Sect is developing frighteningly fast. Thankfully, they don’t have any Spirit Refiners at the Peak of Core Formation yet."
"Breaking through from Core Formation to Nascent Soul is incredibly difficult. Unless the Purple Mist Sect is willing to hand over the mysterious Spirit Refiner to the Celestial Cloud Sect, it will be nearly impossible for the Celestial Cloud Sect to produce a Nascent Soul Cultivator, even if they have several Spirit Refiners at the Peak of Core Formation."
As one of the Celestial Ghost Mansion Elders made this analysis, the others who found his reasoning sound couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
From there, the conversation shifted from the Celestial Cloud Sect to the mysterious Spirit Refiner.
"If the Celestial Cloud Sect knows what’s good for them, they’ll lay low after they finish off the Dragon Demon Palace. For us, the main concern is still the mysterious Spirit Refiner—that variable from the Purple Mist Sect."
"The mysterious Spirit Refiner is powerful, yes, but it’s not as if the Purple Mist Sect hasn’t produced such talents before. If their Nascent Soul Cultivators were all mediocre, the sect wouldn’t have survived this long."
"But the Purple Mist Sect has never produced a Spirit Refiner with such masterful concealment techniques before. That type of cultivator is extremely troublesome."
"I completely agree with Elder Xu," Sun Jitong said, nodding emphatically.
This mysterious Spirit Refiner was clearly far more troublesome than any of the powerful Spirit Refiners the Purple Mist Sect had produced in the past.
"What’s there to worry about? Let the Blood Spirit Sect get a headache over it. HEH HEH HEH."
"The Blood Spirit Sect versus the Purple Mist Sect’s mysterious Spirit Refiner... We’re in for a good show."
The Blood Spirit Sect was located very close to the Purple Mist Sect. Of all the relationships between the various Nascent Soul influences, the conflict between these two sects was the most profound.
"Elder Sun, has there been any movement from the Black Dragon Hall recently?" one of the Peak Core Formation Elders asked, turning to Sun Jitong.
"None," Sun Jitong replied, shaking his head. "The Black Dragon Hall has been quiet lately. I haven’t received much information about them."
Hearing this, the Peak Core Formation Elder first gave a slight nod, then offered his own perspective.
"From what I know of the Black Dragon Hall, it won’t be easy for the Celestial Cloud Sect to destroy the Dragon Demon Palace. While the Black Dragon Hall may not be acting openly, I’d wager they’ve already made moves in secret. I expect the Celestial Cloud Sect will face a fierce counterattack when they reach the Dragon Demon Palace’s main sect grounds."
"Elder Wu, don’t forget the mysterious Spirit Refiner is still a variable in all this. I think the Celestial Cloud Sect should be able to handle any counterattack they face with ease."