Departure

“Then I’ll trouble Divine Lord Yunze to take care of it. On behalf of the thousands of incense gods, I thank you in advance.”

Inside the council hall, the Mountain Overturning King’s expression was sincere. The other incense gods present, all bearing impressive names and considerable cultivation, rose together and bowed deeply to Divine Lord Yunze, who stood at the head of the hall.

Yunze stood at the head of the hall, watching. In the past, it was his mother’s authority that could make these famous incense gods bend their backs. Today, however, they were all bowing to him.

He knew full well that what they truly sought was not him, but the Cloud Dream Pavilion behind him. Still, the satisfaction he felt at this moment was truly indescribable.

More importantly, this was an opportunity—a chance handed to him on a silver platter to once again lead the Cloud Dream Marsh.

Yunze raised his hand gently and spoke in a gentle tone:

“Please, everyone, rise. I naturally cannot turn a blind eye to this matter. I will do everything in my power to resolve your difficulties.”

The Mountain Overturning King stood up, led the incense gods in another round of flattery, and then bade farewell before leaving.

Yunze saw them to the door and watched as the incense gods departed. Only then did he slowly return to the seat at the head of the hall.

His gaze looked downward, as if those incense gods were still standing below, bowing to him.

The female demon attendant, seeing Yunze’s distant look, did not dare to speak.

After some time, the sound of two sets of footsteps approached.

Yunze lifted his eyes and saw Cui Hao and Zheng Zhaoling walking in. He immediately stood up and said,

“You two…”

“Spare us the pleasantries,” Cui Hao interrupted directly. “The Cloud Dream Pavilion cannot get involved in the incense gods’ matter, and neither can my master.”

“What?” Yunze was stunned.

He had never expected Cui Hao’s refusal to be so blunt, skipping even formalities before the rejection itself. That meant this matter was already set in stone with no room for negotiation.

The God of Yunze’s gaze swept past Cui Hao and fell on Zheng Zhaoling beside him.

After all, it was she who was the core disciple of the Cloud Dream Pavilion; she would truly decide the Pavilion’s stance.

Seeing that Zheng Zhaoling’s eyes were calm and she had nothing to say, Yunze felt his heart race.

Whether the Cloud Dream Marsh could take on this matter was crucial. If successful, the Marsh would gain inarguable influence; if not, those incense gods—who had been so respectful just now—would likely look down on them soon enough.

Yunze immediately spoke:

“This matter involves not just the incense gods nor just the Cloud Dream Marsh alone. If we pull it off, the Cloud Dream Pavilion’s influence in the Northern Continent of Jambū would rise even further. These incense gods could become a major asset for the Pavilion.”

“As to whether to agree or not, shouldn’t you at least ask your seniors in the sect?”

Hearing this, Zheng Zhaoling lifted her eyes slightly. She didn’t know if this Yunze had learned from Cui Hao’s tactics, but when things got tense, his words certainly knew how to apply pressure.

“Ignorant,” Cui Hao sighed helplessly. “This is the first time I’ve seen someone courting death.”

Yunze looked at Cui Hao warily, a flicker of fear in his eyes.

Cui Hao raised his hand and sent a jade token floating over with spiritual power. “The outside world has long been turned upside down. Those incense gods weren’t begging you for righteousness.”

Yunze took the jade token and probed it with his spiritual sense.

Inside the token was a wealth of intelligence and updates on the situation, along with Cui Hao’s judgment, which laid out the incense gods’ true purpose.

After reading it, Yunze found everything well-reasoned. The more he read, the more it sent chills down his spine. He looked up at Cui Hao, mouth open, but for a long time couldn’t find the words to say.

If he helped, and later there was a backlash, the Cloud Dream Marsh would be the first to suffer.

Cui Hao strode in quickly and took a map from his spatial ring:

“I understand the grand vision you have, but there are no such simple pleasures under heaven.”

“Still, you’ve done fairly well recently, and you’ve taken care of Yun Li quite a bit. That counts as a debt of gratitude.”

As he spoke, Cui Hao pointed to the map hanging in the air, illuminated by spiritual power:

“The Cloud Dream Marsh cannot touch the incense gods’ affair right now, yet doing nothing will damage the Marsh’s reputation. But if you skip past all these twists and tackle the root problem directly, that’s the way out.”

“I suspect those incense gods are using the Heretic Cult as a pretext. Then let’s hit the Heretic Cult directly.”

“Send a letter in your name to the Cloud Dream Pavilion. I’ll add my signature to it.”

“The Cloud Dream Pavilion’s reinforcements won’t be deployed to the front lines directly, but rather to strike at the Heretic Cult’s high echelons, purging all influences of the Heretic Cult from the Northern Continent of Jambū.”

“In the future, no matter which side wins or whether they divide and oppose each other, you—the Cloud Dream Marsh—will have done nothing wrong. Both sides will have to give you face.”

“As for how to request reinforcements, your earlier excuse about the incense gods’ network is good enough—it at least sounds profitable.”

“I’ve laid out the reasoning. What do you think?”

Yunze stood at the main seat, looking at Cui Hao not far away—his posture upright, his hand lightly pointing to the map, his tone calm and without threat...

Yet, after this speech, it was impossible to say no.

However...

Yunze asked warily, “Why should it be sent in my name? Wouldn’t it be more convenient if Fellow Daoist Zheng did it?”

He needed to know—if the blame ever fell, it could truly be a matter of life and death.

Cui Hao didn’t hesitate to blurt out a lie: “Because we can’t give them any excuse to twist our words. If you recommend it, it’s selfless and impartial. If Zheng Zhaoling and I wrote it, people would claim we had ulterior motives. Your vision can’t just focus on those incense gods in the Northern Continent of Jambudvipa. The pressure from other immortal sects is the real threat to us.”

The true reason, of course, was to suppress the storm as much as possible and prevent the incense gods’ discontent from implicating his master, or worse, Zheng Zhaoling.

Especially Zheng Zhaoling—her name wasn’t even on the list. If anything went wrong in the future, she could walk away unscathed.

Another reason was that the Cloud Dream Pavilion had always been too lax in their cooperation. This operation was massive—they truly needed massive reinforcements.

And finally, if those incense gods ever came to their senses and tried to use poisoned pens and underhanded tactics against them,

then the foundation they had left in the Cloud Dream Marsh right now would be their strongest trump card.

It was impossible to cover every detail in handling affairs, but if they thought of something and could act on it, the sooner the better, so they wouldn’t invite even more trouble later.

Yunze pondered for a moment, and reluctantly admitted that Cui Hao’s words made some sense. But he didn’t agree right away. After a long pause, he spoke:

“Let me think it over… I’ll give you my answer later, friend.”

Cui Hao let out a light chuckle.

Yunze raised his gaze, only to find Cui Hao’s eyes calm and steady… but they gave him the distinct feeling that there was no other path left—he had no choice but to follow Cui Hao’s plan.

A feeling of being seen through, pinned down… and manipulated.

If Cui Hao was already this formidable, then what kind of moves must the White Abyss True Lord—Chen Baiqing—have, to have Cui Hao so utterly obedient?

As that sank in,

a weary thought crept into Yunze’s mind: Forget it. Since I can’t beat him, I’ll just do as he says.

---

Northern Continent of Jambudvipa, Cangxi Kingdom.

A rainbow-jade command emblem shot through the air.

The leader of the Cloud Dream Pavilion reached up and caught the jade emblem. With a sweep of his divine sense, the emblem dissolved into a stream of light and vanished.

“They’re about to make their move. First time they’ve stayed camped outside the Cloud Dream Pavilion for two full months.”

“Let’s go. I imagine you’ve all grown tired of staying here.”

The Cloud Dream Pavilion’s leader rose to his feet.

Behind him stood a host of elders and supreme elders, their auras restrained yet their cultivation levels terrifying.

They all stood together.

Today, a group of cultivators capable of sweeping away every force in the Northern Continent of Jambudvipa—

set forth.