Chapter 211 - 176: When is the Right Time?

Chapter 211: Chapter 176: When is the Right Time?

If it were to come crashing down, the entire Celestial Essence would suffer a cataclysmic change, rendering many places uninhabitable.

There would be no easy recovery.

In the original story, the Celestial Dao Alliance had no intention of using it, even when the Floating City fell.

It was only later, when Xiang Zhe’s schemes became utterly depraved, that they decided to resort to this final measure.

Even knowing Zhang Ji was a Celestial Demon from beyond their realm, the Celestial Dao Alliance would have hesitated to use such a weapon unless he brought a massive army to invade and gave them no other choice.

Besides, Zhang Ji’s needs were, to a certain extent, aligned with those of this world’s cultivators.

He needed Spiritual Qi as well. Eventually, he would have to find a way to restore it, which would benefit all the cultivators in the world.

He just wanted to be the one in charge.

That was why he saw the Celestial Dao Alliance as an obstacle.

Most importantly, as long as the Celestial Dao Alliance existed, it wouldn’t be easy for him to consolidate resources.

After all, his power wasn’t yet at a level where he could completely crush them.

.....

In the end, Ling Xuzi failed to capture Xiang Zhe.

He had managed a single sword strike, barely leaving a scratch on Xiang Zhe.

His physical body was truly formidable. Even thousands of years ago, there would have been few ways to kill him.

Sealing him away to slowly wear him down to death was the best option.

Within the Yuyi Grotto-Heaven.

News of Yan Jiulin’s death spread, sending a tremor through the Ascetic Order. Many mourned his passing.

Ling Xuzi and Zhang Ji also offered a few token words of condolence.

Afterward, Ling Xuzi sought out Zhang Ji.

"From now on, all his duties are yours," Ling Xuzi said bluntly.

Zhang Ji was now the highest-ranking leader in the Ascetic Order, second only to Ling Xuzi.

The responsibility of communicating with Qu Wuyin now fell to Zhang Ji as well.

.....

The Illusion Realm had been stolen, the Void Illusion Realm had vanished, and the Spirit Net had been destroyed. Only a portion of it could be temporarily rebuilt, and the entire Floating City was now in chaos.

This was a modern society. It couldn’t function without its information network.

First, the Nine-Turned Quantum Furnace lost power. Now, the Void Illusion Realm was gone and the Spirit Net was destroyed.

As people of a modern era, the cultivators of the Floating City were on the verge of going insane.

The Celestial Dao Alliance was losing its mind as well.

Each successive blow from the Ascetic Order was more devastating than the last.

Mo Ye didn’t even have time to hold a memorial service for his apprentice, You Wuya, before he was dragged away to rebuild the Spirit Net.

The destruction of the Spirit Net was a minor issue in comparison; the theft of the Illusion Realm was a devastating blow.

Meanwhile, Zhuge Mingyuan was still working on the Nine-Turned Quantum Furnace.

The cleanup of the blood corruption was nearing completion.

But they couldn’t relax.

They had no idea when the Ascetic Order would strike again, or what they would do next.

The threat of Xiang Zhe also loomed in the shadows, and they didn’t know when he might return.

Just as they were reeling in confusion, the Void Illusion Realm reactivated!

However, control over it had changed hands.

Ling Xuzi was now in complete control.

...

Inside the Void Illusion Realm.

For the first time in a long while, the five elders of the Celestial Dao Alliance gathered once again.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" Dugu Yunfeng roared. "Do you have any idea what atrocities the Heart-Devouring Old Demon will commit once he’s free? You cannot bear the weight of such a crime!"

For once, Ling Xuzi didn’t retort. This was, admittedly, his miscalculation.

"Isn’t this enough?" Mo Ye said, suppressing his fury. "You’ve caused all this chaos just to get justice for the low-level cultivators, haven’t you? How about this: once the Nine-Turned Quantum Furnace is repaired, we can allocate Level Three Spiritual Qi to the Abyss of Eternity. What do you say?"

"If we do that, our remaining Spirit Stone reserves will last ten years at most," Zhuge Mingyuan interjected at an inopportune moment.

"Brother Xiao... Ling Xuzi, it doesn’t have to be this way," Nangong Zhiqing said, her gaze fixed on him. "Let’s just talk properly."

"If you had been willing to sit down and listen to me two hundred years ago, perhaps there would have been a chance." Ling Xuzi shook his head, a wave of emotion washing over him. "But now, we’re out of time."

Ling Xuzi had approached his four comrades many times to discuss the structural problems within the Celestial Dao Alliance.

But his words were not taken seriously back then.

The Celestial Dao does not care for mortals.

Now, it was all irreversible.

’Without such ruthless and decisive measures, there would be no way to completely topple the "Celestial Dao" that sits so high above us all in such a short time.’

"Must it be this way?" Nangong Zhiqing asked.

"In two months, the Floating City will be gone," Ling Xuzi said. "All of you should prepare. I’m telling you in advance only to reduce unnecessary casualties."

"Ling Xuzi!!!" Dugu Yunfeng’s anger finally boiled over. He roared, "Don’t you forget, you helped build this Floating City!!"

"But it is wrong, Senior Brother," Ling Xuzi replied. "You of all people should know that I was once a Loose Cultivator. Back then, the great sects occupied all the Spirit Veins. The grotto-heavens and blessed lands were not for us. We could only trade the materials we toiled to gather at various markets for a pittance of cultivation resources. In those days, low-level Loose Cultivators couldn’t even afford Spirit Stones; we had to make do with Spiritual Sand. Any place in the world with abundant Spiritual Qi was immediately claimed by powerful cultivators, who would use Spirit-Gathering Arrays to hoard it all for themselves.

Then, I met our Master. He told me he would build a world where no one would lack the Spiritual Qi to cultivate. And I believed him.

I believed him until the Demon Dao was eradicated and the lines between good and evil blurred. The Celestial Dao Alliance was founded, the Floating City was raised, the Nine-Turned Quantum Furnace and the Xuanji Array of Ten Thousand Transformations were built. Spirit Stone utilization became more efficient, and resources were centralized. But still, there was always someone saying, ’It’s not time. It’s not time...’

Now, we are in the End of the Dharma Era! The Spirit Stones are nearly depleted! And you still say it’s not time?

Then tell me, when will it finally be time?!?!"

Ling Xuzi’s final words were delivered with immense force.

The four elders of the Celestial Dao Alliance were stunned into silence.

They stood on pedestals too high. From the moment they were born, they had enjoyed limitless resources and had never experienced the hardships Ling Xuzi had endured.

They had never been in the right frame of mind to empathize with the cultivators at the bottom.

Only now did it seem they were truly seeing this "comrade" of theirs for the first time.

"But we can...."

Before Nangong Zhiqing could finish, they were all expelled from the Void Illusion Realm.

"I will not allow it! I absolutely will not allow it!" Dugu Yunfeng roared.

He had to reverse this mistake. He would not stand by and watch their Master’s life’s work—his own life’s work—be destroyed by such a man.

Nor would he allow the Celestial Sword Pavilion of old, now the Celestial Sword Group, to be shamed by a traitor!!!

Mo Ye’s eyes were filled with exhaustion. The vast foundation of the Profound Nether Sect, the apprentice he had nurtured for so long... he was in true agony. It was a visceral pain, a heartache, and a deep-seated worry all at once. The matter with Xiang Zhe was, to some extent, a historical problem of their own making. Now, with no solution in sight, internal strife and external threats were piling up, threatening to crush them.

Nangong Zhiqing fell silent, pondering whether the Celestial Dao Alliance had truly been in the wrong.

Zhuge Mingyuan had already left. Unswayed by emotion, he intended to notify the people of the Celestial Secret Pavilion to temporarily evacuate the Floating City and move everything important away. ’Things have progressed to this point, and I no longer believe the Celestial Dao Alliance can stop Ling Xuzi. Destruction is, after all, always easier than creation.’

’Besides,’ he thought, ’if Ling Xuzi fails, we can just move everything back. It would only be a small loss of time and resources.’