Chapter 147: Strategies and Genius of the Canglan Realm

"There's something happening on the spirit boat, Origin Heavenly Sovereign. Let's talk when we get there." S~eaʀᴄh the NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The Rogue Immortal quickly logged off after saying this.

The group chat immediately became quiet.

Aside from the Rogue Immortal, who was always online, the Great Sun Flame Emperor and Ice Queen were usually only online occasionally.

Qi Yuan clicked on the forum and immediately saw the post made by his alternate account, the Blood-clad Sword God.

There were now a lot more comments underneath it.

"Senior, you really did it!"

"The Bright Palace has done so much evil—they deserve to be killed!"

"Still, try to avoid taking too many risks. If the Zifu experts from the Bright Palace surround you, it could be dangerous. The Bright Palace is powerful, and the Green Cloud Continent is their stronghold. Senior Blood-clad Sword God, you should be cautious."

"I also have a grudge against the Bright Palace. Blood-clad Sword God, would you like to meet up and discuss taking down the Bright Palace together?"

There were all sorts of comments below the post.

Some were just praising him, while others were advising the Blood-clad Sword God to be careful.

"It's a pity that the Blood-clad Sword God is just my alternate account. Otherwise, I could boldly say, 'I, Origin Heavenly Sovereign, have a Heavenly Dao Foundation and a Stellar Golden Core. Why would I fear the Bright Palace?'"

After thinking it over, Qi Yuan used his main account to reply to the post.

"I, Origin Heavenly Sovereign, with a Heavenly Dao Foundation and a Stellar Golden Core, fully support the Blood-clad Sword God. If needed, I can lend my Stellar Golden Core to the Blood-clad Sword God."

After replying, Qi Yuan was very pleased with himself. "The people from the Bright Palace must be trembling in fear after seeing my reply!"

After all, with a Stellar Golden Core supporting the Blood-clad Sword God, how could the Bright Palace possibly stand against him?

However, after a while, Qi Yuan was stunned.

There were several more replies under the post.

"My Immortal Pill Golden Core fully supports the Blood-clad Sword God!"

"My million Golden Cores fully support the Blood-clad Sword God!"

"My Nine-turn Golden Core fully supports the Blood-clad Sword God!"

Qi Yuan looked at these and was dumbfounded. "Can a nine-turn intestine even form a Golden Core?"

Then, his eyes narrowed. "Those who have the Dao receive much help; those who lose the Dao receive little help. The Blood-clad Sword God is sure to succeed!"

With so many terrifying Golden Cores, and possibly even a Calculus Golden Core or Quantum Golden Core, all supporting the Blood-clad Sword God, victory was certain!

Qi Yuan switched to his Blood-clad Sword God account.

"With so much support, I, the Blood-clad Sword God, will go kill more Zifu experts from the Bright Palace to celebrate."

He made sure to reply specifically to the Nine-turn Golden Core user.

At that moment, in a cave dwelling.

A female cultivator widened her eyes, her face showing signs of panic.

"Senior, please don't reply to me!"

She had just been mimicking the comments of others, but she ended up getting a response.

Now, it looked like she had incited the Blood-clad Sword God to go kill more Zifu experts from the Bright Palace.

The Bright Palace was a top-tier force in the entire Eastern Lands.

Naturally, this female cultivator didn’t want to truly provoke them.

"The Bright Palace won't come after me, right?"

"I'm not even in the Eastern Lands right now, so it should be fine."

Thinking this, the female cultivator breathed a sigh of relief.

...

Three days passed.

Qi Yuan was once again clad in his blood-red robe.

Xu Yeli followed behind him, his expression numb.

Just before, he had followed the Blood-clad Sword God to yet another Bright Palace stronghold.

When the suona began to play, a Zifu expert went to their grave.

That particular stronghold had five Zifu experts.

It was one of the larger Bright Palace outposts.

In the end, the Blood-clad Sword God easily slaughtered them.

For the Blood-clad Sword God, killing Zifu experts was as easy as killing infants.

Xu Yeli's body trembled uncontrollably now.

He had reached the point of no return, completely unable to distance himself from the Blood-clad Sword God.

"Senior... do you have any strategies for dealing with the Bright Palace?" Xu Yeli now had to think about his future.

A powerhouse like the Blood-clad Sword God, even if he completely offended the Bright Palace, could just walk away in the end.

Xu Yeli understood that even if the three Palace Lords of the Bright Palace acted together, they wouldn’t be able to capture the Blood-clad Sword God.

And with the Blood-clad Sword God continuously slaughtering the Bright Palace's Zifu experts, those who remained would start to retreat to the Bright Palace headquarters.

Dozens of Zifu experts, along with the three Palace Lords, would retreat to defend the Bright Palace.

If the Blood-clad Sword God dared to go there, it would surely be his end.

So Xu Yeli realized that the Blood-clad Sword God's feud with the Bright Palace was nearing its conclusion.

But he himself didn’t have the Blood-clad Sword God's strength.

"Deal with the Bright Palace?" Qi Yuan replied casually, "I've already made a plan to destroy the Bright Palace within a hundred days, and it's about to succeed."

Currently, he was wiping out the Zifu experts outside.

The remaining Zifu experts from the Bright Palace would undoubtedly retreat to the headquarters.

That would be Qi Yuan's opportunity.

If they didn’t gather together, honestly... they would be hard to kill.

After all, if a Zifu expert wanted to hide, even Qi Yuan would have trouble finding them.

Xu Yeli coughed when he heard Qi Yuan's words, "I look forward to hearing good news from you, Senior."

Destroying the Bright Palace?

Xu Yeli didn't believe it.

Without divine intervention, who could destroy the Bright Palace?

He was deeply worried, feeling uncertain about the future.

Qi Yuan was unaware of Xu Yeli's thoughts, and even if he knew, it wouldn’t have mattered much to him.

Having killed five old and charming 'white moonlights,' Qi Yuan felt his harvest was bountiful this time.

After returning to his cave dwelling, he quickly logged into his alternate account and returned to the Divine Flower Society forum to post again.

"I, the Blood-clad Sword God, abhor evil and have slain the Zifu experts of the Bright Palace. I never expected that after posting the other day, I would receive so much support from my fellow Daoists. I want to thank 'Ling Shan Wen Feng,' 'Fox Den Little Li,' 'Dragon Tiger Daoist,' 'Origin Heavenly Sovereign,'... for their support."

Qi Yuan listed all the IDs of those who had commented in support of him on the forum.

The only downside was that he couldn’t @ them.

"Thanks to the support of these Daoists, I believe that justice will prevail over darkness. I have been losing sleep, constantly thinking of the encouragement from these Daoists, so I went out at night and killed five more Zifu experts from the Bright Palace. These Zifu experts didn’t die by my hand, but by the hands of the righteous people who support me, and by the cause of justice in the world!"

After posting, Qi Yuan felt proud of himself. He thought the last part of his message was quite eloquent—no self-praise, but a deepening of the theme. It was a conclusion worthy of a top-grade essay.

He was feeling very pleased with himself.

Soon, a comment appeared.

"Senior, it wasn’t me, I didn’t do it!"

In her cave dwelling, the female cultivator was panicking as she read the post, feeling both shocked and terrified.

Did the senior really kill five more Zifu experts? Why did he have to mention me? Please don’t let the Bright Palace come after me...

"I remember your Nine-turn Intestine Golden Core very clearly—I wouldn’t mistake it. The destruction of the Bright Palace will have your contribution!"

Qi Yuan quickly replied.

He needed to take good care of his loyal fans.

Fox Den Little Li was utterly overwhelmed, wanting nothing more than to play dead.

Time passed quickly, and more and more people began replying to the post.

"Senior is truly powerful. With such strength, he could probably rank in the top twenty of the Eastern Lands."

"No wonder Senior is so carefree—he clearly doesn’t see the Bright Palace as a threat."

"Senior, as long as you avoid direct confrontation with the Bright Palace, they won’t be able to do anything to you!"

The replies to Qi Yuan's post became more and more enthusiastic.

Many even started offering advice on how to destroy the Bright Palace.

"Senior, I have a plan that can help you destroy the Bright Palace. All you need to do is leave the Eastern Lands and find a place to cultivate in seclusion for ten thousand years. When you emerge, you’ll be able to destroy the Bright Palace for sure!"

"The Third Palace Lord of the Bright Palace is said to be an unparalleled beauty. If I were you, Senior, I would make peace with the Bright Palace and then convince the Third Palace Lord to become my Dao companion. With the Bright Palace as your harem, they would naturally offer you more Dao companions. All you have to do is keep having children, and after a few thousand years, wouldn’t the Bright Palace be your back garden?"

As Qi Yuan read these comments, he found them enlightening. At times, his eyes lit up, feeling he had gained a lot.

"Who says other realms don’t have hidden talents? These people... are geniuses!"

Especially the plan involving having children and taking over—it seemed highly feasible.

And it was quite exciting to think about.

However, when he remembered that Ice Queen and his junior sister were still burdened by the Bright Palace's high-interest loans, he had to ignore these ingenious suggestions.

The Bright Palace must be destroyed within a hundred days!

A plan that had been set could not be easily altered.

He wasn’t the boss or a client.

Qi Yuan thought this over, then switched back to his main account to bump the thread.

"Blood-clad Sword God, if you run into trouble destroying the Bright Palace, come to the Four Emperors of the Divine Flower Society. You can borrow my Stellar Golden Core!"

He couldn’t resist showing off his Golden Core again.

At that moment, Qi Yuan noticed a notification flashing in his contact list.

Ling Nü had sent him a message.

Qi Yuan was taken aback, "Could it be that Junior Sister is finally going to show me the real thing?"

Excited, he quickly opened the message from his junior sister.

"Senior Brother, I heard that you’ve been dual cultivating with a man for half an hour every day lately?"

"Senior Brother... there’s nothing wrong with being obsessed with games, but don’t be obsessed with anything else."

"Sigh, Senior Brother, what’s so good about men?"

Qi Yuan stared at the messages, speechless.

"That Jiang Ya, she looks so quiet and dignified, like an aloof fairy—how can she be such a tattletale?"

It was obvious that Jiang Ya had told Jiang Lingsu about this.

"Junior Sister, don’t misunderstand. Although I’ve been dual cultivating with Xu Tongchen, it’s all legitimate dual cultivation."

"He has awakened the Sunfire, and I observe it every day to learn it."

"How could your Senior Brother, a man with a family, possibly be interested in men?"

Qi Yuan responded.

If it were any other misunderstanding, he wouldn’t even bother to explain.

But this misunderstanding needed to be cleared up!

...

After leaving the main hall, Xu Tongchen appeared to be grieving, as if he had lost someone dear.

In truth, he was very happy inside.

Recently, a lot had happened in the Bright Palace—Zifu experts had fallen one after another.

Now, almost ten had died.

In just a few days, ten Zifu experts had died?

That was more than had died in the past century.

And they were all from the Bright Palace.

You could imagine how grim Huang Tu's expression must be.

Originally, they had casually talked about the Blood-clad Sword God, but now he had become a towering threat.

Even the Zifu master of Zheng Fangxing had perished, so naturally, Xu Tongchen felt smug.

Of course, he had to pretend to be very sad.

"In just a few days, my Sunfire has grown by ten percent. This Qi Yuan truly is my lucky star!" Thinking of Qi Yuan made Xu Tongchen even more joyful.

It was truly double the happiness.

Suddenly, a voice transmission reached Xu Tongchen's ears.

Xu Tongchen's eyes narrowed as he glanced at the seemingly distracted spies trailing him. He ducked into a small alley.

"Master, why are you here?" Xu Tongchen asked, his eyes lighting up with surprise.

He hadn’t expected to see his master here.

Xu Yeli looked at his disciple and said slowly, "Why have you been going out so often lately?"

"Disciple has encountered a... genius. He's very strange," Xu Tongchen replied, telling his master about what had been happening with Qi Yuan.

When Xu Yeli heard this, he frowned, "Is there really such a person in the world? He must have had some fortunate encounter."

Xu Yeli naturally wouldn’t be overly concerned with a young man participating in the Eastern Lands Genius Battle.

Especially considering how precarious his own situation was.

"Tongchen, you must be ready at all times to flee with your master," Xu Yeli said gravely.

Xu Tongchen’s face changed slightly at these words, "Master, what’s happened? Is the Bright Palace going to make a move against us?"

"Sunfire is too conspicuous. The Bright Palace won't let you keep it forever," Xu Yeli said darkly.

The Bright Palace had always been overbearing, but they had at least maintained some semblance of propriety.

But lately, whether it was initiating the Hundred Nations Blood War or anything else, they had been very direct.

Xu Yeli vaguely sensed that something big might be happening.

Unfortunately, his level was too low to know exactly what.

"Master, with the Bright Palace currently dealing with the Blood-clad Sword God, do they still have time to come after my Sunfire?" Xu Tongchen spoke first with frustration, then with excitement.

Xu Yeli remained silent.

Xu Tongchen continued, "The Blood-clad Sword God is truly a peerless powerhouse. With just one man and one sword, he has killed nearly ten Zifu experts from the Bright Palace. Including their lackeys, he’s killed more than ten. A peerless powerhouse like that should be the rightful leader of the righteous path in the Green Cloud Continent."

"But I’m confused—why is there always a black-robed Zifu expert playing the suona behind the Blood-clad Sword God during battles? Why doesn’t he help the Blood-clad Sword God? Is he not strong enough?" Xu Tongchen finally voiced his confusion.

The black-robed suona player seemed like someone who was just there to watch, completely useless.

"Sigh, why would the Blood-clad Sword God keep such a worthless old servant?"

Xu Yeli's expression grew darker and darker.

Xu Tongchen noticed and quickly asked, "Master, what’s wrong? Has the Bright Palace insulted you again?"

Xu Yeli glared at Xu Tongchen, "Your master is the worthless old servant you’re talking about!"

"..." Xu Tongchen was dumbfounded and instantly felt guilty. After a long pause, he became excited again, "Master, you’ve met the Blood-clad Sword God? What’s he like? Is he as noble as the legends say... like a sage?"

"A sage?" Xu Yeli snorted coldly, "He’s a killing god!"

Where would you find a sage like that?

...

When Xu Tongchen next arrived outside Qi Yuan's cave dwelling, he was still in a daze.

His master was actually the Blood-clad Sword God’s follower.

The Blood-clad Sword God could offend the Bright Palace and then simply leave.

But his master couldn’t.

If they were discovered, the fate of the Qiyan Sect would be dire.

He was somewhat distracted as he entered Qi Yuan's cave dwelling.

"You’re here. Quickly, summon the Sunfire so I can observe it," Qi Yuan urged.

"Alright." Xu Tongchen summoned the Sunfire.

For him, it was better to focus on improving his strength rather than worrying about useless things.

Qi Yuan's gaze once again fell on the Sunfire.

He squinted his eyes, carefully examining it.

At the same time, the small sun in the sky seemed to flicker with a tiny flame.

After half an hour, Qi Yuan showed a satisfied expression, "Not bad, not bad—I’ve made some progress."

Xu Tongchen could feel the growing strength of the Sunfire and couldn’t help but ask, "Did Fellow Daoist Qi Yuan gain some insight?"

"I’ve gained a little insight," Qi Yuan replied seriously.

Indeed, it was just a little, like how a tricycle can only carry a little.

Xu Tongchen was stunned.

It had taken him decades to gain insight into the Sunfire.

And Qi Yuan had done it in just a few days?

Was he lying?

"At this rate, I should be able to fully comprehend it in ten to fifteen days."

"Alright..." Xu Tongchen hesitated, unsure whether Qi Yuan was telling the truth, but he still said, "If you manage to comprehend the Sunfire before the Eastern Lands Genius Battle, you’ll surely sweep through the competition and rank in the top twenty."

"Sigh, to be honest, ranking in the top twenty is a bit stressful for me. After all, these geniuses come from noble backgrounds, while I come from humble beginnings. I feel very inferior when I see them," Qi Yuan said.

Xu Tongchen was speechless.

Not long ago, he was criticizing his Golden Core for being small, and now he’s feeling inferior?

"Fortunately, Heaven rewards hard work. I worked tirelessly and finally made it out of the mountains, achieving a Heavenly Dao Foundation. I’ve finally distanced myself from these geniuses."

So all that talk before was just nonsense.

Feeling inferior with a Heavenly Dao Foundation? Xu Tongchen was now certain that Qi Yuan had some mental issues—he spoke like a madman.

However, when he heard "Heavenly Dao Foundation," he couldn’t help but marvel, "In this Genius Battle, there’s indeed a Heavenly Dao Foundation cultivator named Gu Xiaoyao."

"A Heavenly Dao Foundation?" Qi Yuan’s expression grew serious, "Is it a perfect Heavenly Dao Foundation or a flawed one?"

According to Ice Queen, a perfect Heavenly Dao Foundation could speak with the authority of the Dao, causing gods to fall.

But Qi Yuan, with insufficient talent, only had a flawed Heavenly Dao Foundation.

This meant that even after achieving a Heavenly Dao Foundation, his strength was pathetically weak.

At the Foundation Establishment stage, he could only kill Nascent Souls.

So whenever he encountered a Nascent Soul, he would shout:

"I have a Heavenly Dao Foundation, what’s wrong with killing a Nascent Soul?"

He wasn’t bragging; he was expressing his frustration.

He, a Heavenly Dao Foundation cultivator, could only kill Nascent Souls like dogs.

Xu Tongchen was puzzled by Qi Yuan’s words.

Since when were there perfect and flawed Heavenly Dao Foundations?

"Of course, it’s a perfect Heavenly Dao Foundation," Xu Tongchen replied.

Hearing this, Qi Yuan’s expression grew even more solemn.

This time, in the Eastern Lands Genius Battle, he would finally face a terrifying opponent.

The legendary Heavenly Dao Foundation.

"Tell me, with my Heavenly Dao Foundation and a Stellar Golden Core, can I defeat this Gu Xiaoyao?" Qi Yuan asked quietly.

Xu Tongchen shook his head, "Fellow Daoist Qi Yuan, even if you comprehend the Sunfire, you won’t be able to defeat that Heavenly Dao Foundation cultivator."

Qi Yuan fell silent.

He was still too weak.

Should he avoid participating in this Eastern Lands Genius Battle?

Otherwise, if he encountered that Heavenly Dao Foundation cultivator and couldn’t win, it would be very embarrassing.

But when he remembered the promise he made to the sect master, he became conflicted.

He needed to find a way to avoid running into that Heavenly Dao Foundation cultivator.

"Fellow Daoist, in two days, Huang Tu will be hosting a Fish-Dragon Banquet, and I need to accompany him. I won’t be able to come and cultivate with you, so please bear with me," Xu Tongchen said softly before leaving.

Qi Yuan was stunned for a moment, "Alright."

The Fish-Dragon Banquet is starting?

Isn’t the Rogue Immortal arriving soon?