163. Liancheng's Stratagem of Liancheng

Li Wuqiong arrived at the territory of the Danxia Sect covered in dust and travel-worn. At this moment, the members of the Danxia Sect had gathered in a welcoming formation, and even Dongmen Jianhao, the sect leader himself, had come out to greet him personally.

There was no other reason than the fact that Li Wuqiong had come to present betrothal gifts.

Bringing a massive array of betrothal gifts, Li Wuqiong stepped into the Danxia Sect. Dongmen Jianhao smiled and said, "Senior Brother Li, it has been a long time."

"Hmph," Li Wuqiong grunted coldly. It was clear he was still furious about Dongmen Jianhao's intentional or unintentional holding back during their past match. As a warrior, such leniency was an insult to him.

"I will go call Xianyun out," Ji Liancheng said.

Dongmen Jianhao nodded and personally escorted Li Wuqiong into the main hall, where fine tea and food were served. Although Dongmen Jianhao felt deep disgust within his heart, he had to admit that the current Danxia Sect was like a crumbling tree swaying in the wind; only by obtaining the protection of the Supreme Immortal Sect could it escape the fate of being swallowed up.

Outside Dongmen Xianyun's bedchamber, Ji Liancheng knocked on the door and said, "Junior Sister, it is time to come out."

"I am not coming out. Leave," Dongmen Xianyun said from inside the room.

Ji Liancheng sighed. After a moment of thought, he said, "Does Eldest Miss truly not wish to exact her revenge?"

As soon as these words were spoken, dead silence filled the room. After a long moment, the door finally creaked open, and Dongmen Xianyun said, "Senior Brother, since you asked me to open the door, there is no need to speak such illusory words..."

"What do you mean by illusory? You simply do not understand the predicament the Danxia Sect is in right now." Ji Liancheng stood at the doorway without stepping inside. After all, Xianyun was an unmarried maiden, and her boudoir was not a place one could enter casually.

Standing at the threshold, Ji Liancheng detailed the various crises facing the Danxia Sect.

Dongmen Xianyun was well aware of the stakes. Without the Seven Great Elders, without her father Dongmen Yong, and without elite disciples like Baili Qingyan, the Danxia Sect of today was at best a second-rate sect—or perhaps not even second-rate anymore.

"I know you do not like that simple-minded brute Li Wuqiong, Junior Sister, but do not forget that everything here is the legacy left behind by Master. This is his dying will. If we fail to protect it properly, and it is eventually conquered by other sects, will Master be able to rest in peace beneath the nine springs?" Ji Liancheng said.

Dongmen Xianyun was exceptionally bright; how could she not understand these matters? She gritted her teeth and said, "You want me to marry Li Wuqiong, but have you considered what will happen next? Firstly... I do not like him at all. Secondly, even if I do marry him, what will the Danxia Sect become in the future? Will it be a vassal? A vassal of the Supreme Immortal Sect? If so, we will never be able to hold our heads high again."

"Junior Sister, you are mistaken there," Ji Liancheng said, tapping his temple. "In this world, gaining supreme power does not rely solely on strength; it also relies on this—the brain! The brain is a wonderful thing. Li Wuqiong will be the future leader of the Supreme Immortal Sect; Qianjun will have to abdicate sooner or later. If you can keep this Li Wuqiong under your control, you can leverage him to control the entire Supreme Immortal Sect. Li Wuqiong is merely a martial arts fanatic; when it comes to scheming, he is no match for us. Back then, the Supreme Immortal Sect only agreed to the marriage because our Danxia Sect was powerful. If we were to go and negotiate with our current status, it would simply be impossible..."

"So you want me to marry Li Wuqiong and then control him?" Dongmen Xianyun said, her aversion to such schemes naturally evident.

For the longest time, Dongmen Xianyun had believed she would marry Xie Wuji, but she had never imagined that Xie Wuji would end up killing her father. Such hatred was irreconcilable.

Ji Liancheng continued, "What other choice do we have? If we wait until we train a new batch of experts, who knows how many years that will take? Now that this opportunity presents itself, wouldn't it be better to feign compliance while secretly executing our own plans? Aside from this method, tell me how else you plan to preserve the Danxia Sect as it stands today."

Upon hearing Ji Liancheng's explanation, Dongmen Xianyun immediately fell into deep contemplation.

Meanwhile, Xie Wuji had already left the village, and the Snake Fairy had dismissed the majority of the Snake Island disciples, sending them back ahead of time.

A massive, six-horned giant ox was pulling a cart laden with goods, and Xie Wuji sat right at the very top of the cargo.

"Now that the Island Mistress has dismissed so many people, are we just going to steal the Celestial Sword Artifact with this handful of people?" Xie Wuji asked.

The Island Mistress smiled and said, "How harsh 'steal' sounds. We are merely taking it back; that Celestial Sword Artifact originally belonged to us."

"Mother, Wuji, to be honest, I feel this trip is extremely perilous. Just think, the Supreme Immortal Sect is no benevolent entity. One could say they have experts gathered like clouds, making them very difficult to deal with," the Snake Fairy said.

"Firstly, our destination is not the headquarters of the Supreme Immortal Sect, but rather a forbidden ground they maintain outside their sect grounds. Secondly... I heard that Li Wuqiong of the Supreme Immortal Sect has taken quite a few experts to the Danxia Sect under the guise of presenting betrothal gifts," said the Island Mistress, the Snake Beauty.

Everyone was shocked, and Xie Wuji blurted out, "B-betrothal gifts?"

"It is that girl who detested you to the core, Dongmen Xianyun. I imagine the Danxia Sect is quite willing to go through with this transaction. They are weak and isolated right now, so an olive branch from the Supreme Immortal Sect is the best possible outcome—though, naturally, the Supreme Immortal Sect is merely using them," the Island Mistress said.

"They must be after the Danxia Sect's pills. The Danxia Sect's alchemy is renowned throughout the world, and every disciple can refine certain pills. Furthermore, the Alchemy Hall holds countless manuals on pill-making. However, it is said that Ding Desheng possessed considerable mastery in alchemy. Without Ding Desheng, even if they acquire the Danxia Sect, they will not be able to maximize its utility," Song Xiao remarked.

The Island Mistress sneered, "Something is better than nothing. The Supreme Immortal Sect's greatest weakness is alchemy. Their focus is entirely on cultivation, and very few of them excel in refining pills."

Hearing this, everyone understood.

"Then as for this forbidden ground..."

"Dragon-Imprisoning Mountain," the Island Mistress said, raising her head. "Dragon-Imprisoning Mountain is a forbidden territory of the Supreme Immortal Sect. It is called that because they sealed the corpses of many disciples from the ancient Celestial Sect there back in the day, and the Celestial Sword Artifact was sealed alongside them. The founding patriarch of the Supreme Immortal Sect originally wanted to claim the Celestial Sword Artifact for himself, but he later discovered that without knowing the Celestial Sword Formation, the artifact was nothing more than an ordinary piece of mortal iron, entirely useless. Yet, fearing the lingering might of the Celestial Immortal Sect, they have kept the Celestial Sword Artifact sealed away on Dragon-Imprisoning Mountain ever since."

"Dragon-Imprisoning Mountain has a great number of elite disciples from the Supreme Immortal Sect stationed there," the Snake Fairy noted.

"That is correct. Which is why I have left a portion of our forces behind—to launch a coordinated siege at the precise moment. Moreover, a portion of the Supreme Immortal Sect's forces has gone to the Danxia Sect, another portion has gone to repair the Heaven-Reaching Pagoda, and yet another is busy breeding Asalon's offspring, those armored earth-dragon cubs. Therefore, this opportunity is once-in-a-lifetime. If we do not go and retrieve the sword now, once they finish their tasks and restore the sealed disciples of the Dragon-Imprisoning Pagoda, our chance will be gone forever," the Island Mistress analyzed.

Xie Wuji looked at the Island Mistress, thinking to himself that this woman was deeply scheming and seemed far more formidable than Dongmen Yong had been back then. Yet, she made no effort to conceal her intellect in front of him, which suggested she harbored no malicious intent toward him.

Having experienced so much, Xie Wuji found that he had developed a flaw—he could no longer easily trust others. Perhaps this was a good thing, but it could just as easily be a bad one.

Three days later, the group arrived at Dragon-Imprisoning Mountain. Because the mountain was located deep within the interior of the State of Li, it was already very close to the imperial capital. As a result, roads crisscrossed the surrounding area, and it took a great deal of effort to find a lightly guarded path that allowed them to approach the mountain.

However, upon reaching Dragon-Imprisoning Mountain, Xie Wuji discovered that there were no surrounding forests at all; instead, the area was filled with a vast expanse of stone stalagmites.

Or rather, stone pillars. These pillars were arranged according to a certain pattern, looking extremely neat and orderly.

Dragon-Imprisoning Mountain itself was not tall—by modern standards, its altitude was at most eight hundred meters—but the surrounding terrain was exceptionally complex, and multiple extremely powerful auras emanated from within the mountain.

"There are indeed guardian disciples, and there may even be elders. No matter how lax the Supreme Immortal Sect's vigilance has become, they are still a sect with the largest number of inner disciples. Everyone must remain cautious," the Snake Beauty warned.