The Dragon Clan and Stone Statue Clan were almost completely isolated from the Upper Realm. Aside from occasional matters, they would almost never open the vortex passages for travel, so when someone arranged seals on the outside, they were completely unaware.
Of course.
Since the Ten Great Immortal Sects had come to set up seals, if they let them know about it, everyone standing on the sea surface staring at each other would certainly make for an awkward scene.
Moreover.
This wasn’t the first time they’d done something like this.
They had played the same trick when dealing with the Demon Delusion Clan—even the mighty Demon Ancestor had fallen for it, hadn’t he?
Actually, even if the seal succeeded, it wouldn’t last very long, because the current Immortal Sects lacked the ability to replicate their predecessors’ brilliance.
This involved the issue that competition breeds progress.
Back when the Demon Ancestor existed as a threat to the entire Upper Realm, their ancestors spared no cost or expense researching sealing techniques. After eliminating him, their descendants, no longer facing threats, gradually became complacent, and in many aspects actually regressed compared to before.
It didn’t matter.
The original intent wasn’t to completely blockade the two great clans, they just needed to delay for a while—enough time to destroy the Eternal Sect.
However, the unfortunate Ten Great Immortal Sects probably never imagined that Jun Changxiao would board the Eternal and unknowingly sneak inside.
The most outrageous part was that he even told the Dragon Clan not to participate, saying he could handle it himself.
What incredible arrogance.
“Good!”
Long Aotian said, “I’ll listen to the Sect Master!”
“Carry on.”
Jun Changxiao stood up and said, “I still need to make a trip to the Stone Statue Domain.”
This time he didn’t use the Eternal’s spatial traversal ability, since activating it once would consume considerable resources, so he chose to depart via the Stone Dragon Express.
……
Stone Statue Domain, Clan Hall.
Jun Changxiao sat elegantly in the clan leader’s seat.
The Three Dukes, Nine Ministers, and civil and military officials all bowed in salute, calling out in unison: “We respectfully welcome the Clan Leader’s return.”
“Rise, officials.”
Being clan leader versus being sect master were two completely different experiences, making Jun Changxiao feel somewhat lightheaded.
Of course.
He hadn’t come here to enjoy worship. He immediately explained the matter of the Immortal Sects sealing the gates.
“What?”
Upon hearing the news, the Grand Tutor flew into a rage: “They dare seal our Stone Statue Clan!”
“This is intolerable!”
“Let’s go! Go out and fight them!”
The officials were furious, just waiting for the clan leader’s command to grab their weapons and have a bloodbath with the Ten Great Immortal Sects!
Sealing their ancestral land.
This was serious!
Jun Changxiao waved his hand and said, “If they want to seal the ancestral land, just let them seal it.”
“Huh?”
The Three Dukes and Nine Ministers were instantly dumbfounded.
“The Ten Great Immortal Sects want to cut off contact between us, so I’ll grant their wish.”
Completing the epic quest and breaking through to peak Truth-Seeking Realm gave Jun Changxiao much greater confidence.
The best way to strike at enemies was to let them think they had victory firmly in hand, then when they came looking for trouble full of confidence, they’d lose utterly—lose so badly they wouldn’t even have their underwear left!
“Hehehehe!”
Every time he thought about the Ten Great Immortal Sects coming to cause trouble only to be brutally crushed by him at the mountain’s base, Jun Changxiao couldn’t help but cover his face and let out a sinister laugh.
Come on, come on.
I can’t wait to slap your faces!
……
Lingtian Immortal Sect.
Ten bigwigs sat in the hall.
During this period, they held small meetings every three days and large meetings every five days to discuss how to target the Eternal Sect.
This dog-extermination operation was led by Lingtian Immortal Sect, and just the expenses for meetings alone amounted to at least a million Profound Stones.
“In this seat’s view, the simplest method is to blockade the two great clans, then dispatch our sect’s elites and experts to directly attack the Eternal Sect, giving him no chance to react.” The Qianyin Immortal Sect Master said.
“We need legitimate justification for this.”
“Right, we can’t let the world gossip.”
When they previously eliminated the Demon Delusion Clan, the reason was that they brought disaster to the common people. The Eternal Sect had come to the Upper Realm without doing any evil deeds—if they directly attacked, what would the world think of the Immortal Sects?
At least.
They followed the rules.
If it were an evil sect, they definitely wouldn’t go through procedures.
“Jun Changxiao is an extremely arrogant person. Having conflicts with other sects seems like a very easy matter.” The Wushang Immortal Sect Master spoke while making meaningful eye contact, and everyone immediately understood his intent.
……
Tianhua Dao Sect.
Sect Master Lin Shangyi paced back and forth in his study, with several elders standing nearby looking grave.
“Everyone.”
After a moment, he stopped, his tone heavy: “What should we do?”
“Since the Immortal Sects have issued orders, we cannot refuse.”
“We can only comply.”
“Sigh.”
Lin Shangyi shook his head: “Why does this thankless task have to fall to our Tianhua Dao Sect?”
Just moments ago, the Ten Great Immortal Sects had sent an encrypted letter, its content being—find ways to create conflicts with the Eternal Sect, the bigger the better.
Regarding this person Jun Changxiao, Tianhua Dao Sect had naturally heard of him, and knew his master was Senior Tonggu. Normally they definitely wouldn’t dare offend him, but now that orders had come from above, they could only comply.
The True-rank sects had made their appearance.
The Dao-rank sects hadn’t appeared yet.
Today they would not only appear, but had to follow orders to cause trouble.
Indeed, if you don’t appear, you don’t appear, but once you do appear you have to bring trouble for the protagonist. The routine was so obvious, it was truly despicable.
……
Eternal Sect.
“Clack clack clack!”
“Bang bang bang!”
On the assembly line, disciples operated skillfully.
Pieces of components were produced, stacked in designated areas, then sorted and assembled by dedicated personnel.
The camera gradually moved to above the workshop, where several large characters were prominently written on the wall—Strive for Excellence, Forge Quality!
“Pff!”
Mao Xiaodao spat blood and collapsed to the ground.
“Quick!”
Sun Bukong waved his hand: “Drag him out for emergency treatment!”
“Swish!”
Several Medicine Hall members rushed over, quickly lifting the patient onto a stretcher. A medical staff member followed along doing cardiac compressions, faintly hearing Mao Xiaodao weakly say: “I… I can still… work…”
“Senior Brother.”
An outer sect disciple named Bai Miantiao stepped forward, grasped his hand seriously and said: “Leave the rest to me!”
With that said, he donned his work uniform and resolutely stood before the machine tool.
Similar scenes appeared frequently throughout the workshop.
One disciple fell, and thousands more disciples stepped up to replace them!
“The Eternal Sect Spirit!”
Standing in the workshop office, Jun Changxiao raised his hand in a tight fist, declaring passionately: “Lives Forever!”
“Lives Forever!”
“Lives Forever!”
The disciples at the machine tools were like they’d been injected with adrenaline, working even harder and more diligently!
The Casting Hall was busy, and the Formation Hall wasn’t idle either, because after batches of mecha components were delivered, the members not only had to assemble them but also arrange internal formations.
Efficient work brought efficient output.
In just half a month, a hundred Dark Destroyer Mark III units were successfully delivered to the War Cavalry Hall.
……
“Huff!”
Sitting inside a Mark III mecha, Jing Zhixiao took a deep breath, then placed both hands on the activation formation. The screen before her immediately displayed various data readings.
“Power system normal.”
“Defense system normal.”
“Combat system normal.”
Sitting in the monitoring room, Zhong Yi issued the command: “Activate!”
“Yes!”
“Swish! Swish! Swish!”
Jing Zhixiao rapidly moved her fingers across the formation hovering beneath her palms. The internal power system operated, pushing up the control lever. The Mark III Dark Destroyer clung to the runway as it shot out, then quickly deployed its wings and accelerated through the sky.
“Success!”
“We succeeded!”
Outside the Formation Hall, members of the mecha research team cheered excitedly.
Countless days and nights of research, countless days and nights of dedication—today they finally received their reward!
Old Man Taixuan lowered his head, quietly wiping away tears from the corners of his eyes, saying softly: “The wind is a bit strong.”
—