At the entrance of Zhican Valley, Wu Lan led the members of the Celestial Sword Sect to meet the elder responsible for receiving them.
"Elder, I am Wu Lan, the Sword-wielding Elder of the Celestial Sword Sect," he greeted the Zhican Valley elder with a formal sword salute.
The disciples behind him all bowed to the Zhican Valley elder.
The Zhican Valley elder nodded and returned the greeting: "I am Zhang Wei. Welcome to Zhican Valley, Celestial Sword Sect."
"Elder Zhang is too kind," Wu Lan smiled, maintaining a respectful demeanor as he made small talk, "May I ask how many sects have arrived at the valley?"
"Several dozens," Zhang Wei replied vaguely with a smile. "We are deeply honored that the Celestial Sword Sect has traveled such a great distance to assist Zhican Valley. Elder Wu, was your journey smooth?"
"The journey went well," Wu Lan replied, then added with praise, "Zhican Valley, the sacred land of alchemy in the Land of Immortal Legacy! Which cultivator doesn't need elixirs? And which sect wouldn't come to aid Zhican Valley?"
"Elder Wu jests," Zhang Wei smiled with pride, then asked, "Recently, the Hengduan Mountains have been quite dangerous, with many sects falling victim to ambushes. Zhican Valley has sent people to pursue the culprits multiple times but to no avail. It's quite distressing. Did the Celestial Sword Sect encounter any such villains?"
"Ambushes?" Upon hearing this, Wu Lan shook his head repeatedly and laughed mockingly, "To think that someone would resort to such despicable acts during what should be honorable battles between sects!
"However, despicable people do despicable things. We of the Celestial Sword Sect are all sword cultivators with formidable combat power. Such vermin wouldn't dare to ambush us. Elder need not worry."
Zhang Wei suddenly realized: "Ah, I was being overcautious. How would those rat-like cowards dare to face the magnificent sword energy of the Celestial Sword Sect?!"
Just as he finished speaking, someone in the Celestial Sword Sect's group suddenly began coughing violently, with "bang bang bang" sounds as if their internal organs were about to be coughed out.
Zhang Wei looked into the crowd and saw a young cultivator covering his mouth while coughing fiercely, his hands stained red.
Alarmed, he asked with concern: "What's wrong with that young friend?"
Wu Lan turned to look, saw it was Leng Ya, and his expression darkened slightly. However, he quickly smiled again and explained, "It's nothing. Just an impatient youngster who deviated from the proper path during his cultivation. After a couple days of rest and recovery, he won't miss the upcoming battle."
"Oh! What are you saying?" Zhang Wei waved his hand dismissively, "Elder, you're mistaken! Life is paramount. The health and safety of disciples should be the top priority. How can you not take this seriously?"
He took out a bottle of pills from his storage bag and handed it to Wu Lan, saying, "These are Qi Harmonizing Pills, which can help regulate spiritual power and meridians. They should help him."
"This is too kind," Wu Lan smiled as he accepted the medicine, "Thank you for your concern, Elder Zhang."
Zhang Wei waved to indicate it was nothing, then called two disciples from behind him and said to Wu Lan with a smile: "Elder Wu, as you know, there are quite a few cultivators who have come to assist Zhican Valley. With so many people, we're worried about potential chaos, so we must, regrettably, keep a record of everyone."
At this development, although Wu Lan was still smiling, it was clearly forced. His eyes flickered with changing emotions, trending towards displeasure.
What did Zhican Valley mean by this? They didn't trust the Celestial Sword Sect? They wanted to register them like criminals?
They had traveled thousands of miles to help, and this was how they were being treated?!
What kind of logic was this?
Was this how a major sect, Zhican Valley, treated its guests?
Such arrogance! Such condescension! Such contempt!!
Wu Lan's heart was filled with anger, his eyes burning with rage.
Seeing this, Zhang Wei added: "Elder Wu, please don't take offense. This is required for every sect."
The situation was beyond his control, and this was the task given to him by the Sect Master.
Wu Lan took a deep breath, suppressing his indignation, and forced a smile, saying: "Very well!"
The Zhican Valley disciples came forward with brush and paper, ready to record the Celestial Sword Sect's information.
The disciple wrote down the name of the Celestial Sword Sect.
Instead, he continued his report: "Sect Master, the main body says that very few sects are still coming to Zhican Valley now, and their forces are almost fully gathered. So our first phase is also complete.
"The main body is returning with Jun Xing and the others. Once he returns, we'll begin phase two of the plan."
"You're back?" Gu Yueming nodded. "It's good that you're back. He carried with him the hope of the next generation of Dao Sword Sect. We couldn't afford any accidents. I've been so worried I couldn't sleep."
"It's time for the second step..." After saying this, he asked, "How many avatars do you have in Zhican Valley now?"
"Four spiritual avatars," Qin Ran replied, "and twelve water avatars."
"Excellent, excellent!" Gu Yueming laughed heartily again. "With sixteen Qin Rans in Zhican Valley, won't it be turned upside down?"
"Sect Leader!" Qin Ran had to remind him, "My actual combat power is quite low, and my avatars are even weaker. So no matter how many avatars I send in, they can't make any real impact on Zhican Valley through combat. The reason I deployed so many avatars was merely to create confusion and prevent accidents."
He asked solemnly, "Sect Leader, do you remember what the key to our second step is?"
"The key to the second step?" Gu Yueming finally came to his senses and remembered the important matter. "Pills! The key to the second step is pills. Zhican Valley uses pills to win people's hearts, so we'll use pills to sow discord."
"Exactly!" Qin Ran nodded. "I sent my avatars into Zhican Valley to concoct pills that will divide the Hengduan Mountain Alliance, further weakening Zhican Valley's power."
"My pill-making skills are no worse than Zhican Valley's. I will deconstruct the pills they distribute, then create identical poisoned versions, and mix them into Zhican Valley's pill distribution."
"We don't need many - just a few cultivators dying from Zhican Valley's pills will destroy most of their credibility. Their pills will no longer serve their original purpose of buying loyalty. Everyone will wonder, when taking Zhican Valley's pills, whether this one might be the lethal poison."
"Building trust takes tremendous time, manpower, and resources, but destroying it takes just an instant. Right now, Zhican Valley has gathered most of the sects from the Land of Immortal Legacy - this is when they're at their peak influence. But as things reach their extreme, they reverse - this is also when they're most vulnerable."
Hearing this, Gu Yueming couldn't help but sigh for Zhican Valley. What a devious scheme. How did they end up with an enemy like Qin Ran?
But there was still something he couldn't understand: "Why are your pill-making skills so advanced? You can deconstruct and replicate pills in such a short time? Doesn't that mean your skills far surpass Zhican Valley's?"
Qin Ran smiled at this, with a hint of contempt in his expression. Calling Zhican Valley's strength negligible might have been somewhat boastful, but saying their pill-making skills were negligible was the absolute truth.
Though his original pill-making skills were not low, they were only on par with Zhican Valley's best alchemists. However... ever since his avatar in the Celestial Sea Domain received the legacy of the Divine Splendor Demon, his pill-making abilities had skyrocketed. Now, he could completely dominate Zhican Valley.
At present, the only things limiting his ability to make immortal pills were spiritual herbs and cultivation level.
"Regarding pill-making, I do have some confidence," he told Gu Yueming.
Gu Yueming looked at Qin Ran, shaking his head unconsciously. He found himself understanding Qin Ran less and less.
Initially, Qin Ran had seemed simple - he saw through him at a glance, just a somewhat talented pill maker from the Pill Peak. But as he began interacting with Qin Ran, he discovered that Qin Ran was deeply hidden, a cunning and crafty - or perhaps strategically brilliant - alchemist. Then upon further interaction, he realized his understanding was still shallow; Qin Ran's pill-making abilities far exceeded his imagination.
Every time he thought he understood Qin Ran, Qin Ran would show him that no, he was far from understanding him.
As he was pondering this, Qin Ran spoke again...
"In war, figuring out how to kill your enemies is one aspect, but another is finding ways to strengthen your own side," Qin Ran continued. "I can't help with fighting, and it's too late for pill-making. But there's one more thing I can help with."
There's more?
Gu Yueming felt somewhat numb.
Just how many surprises were there that he didn't know about?
"What is it?" he asked.
"Formation arrays!" Qin Ran said. "I also know a bit about formation arrays. My main body rushed back to set up formations. Sect Leader, please prepare the materials needed for setting up the formations in advance."
"Oh!" Gu Yueming nodded woodenly. "Very good, excellent."