Chapter 128: Secret Meeting of the Five Great Immortal Sects

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Upon a certain peak of the Wendao Sect, the arbiters of the five great immortal sects were gathered.

This peak was shrouded in absolute mystery; none save the highest echelons of the Wendao Sect possessed the right to even know of its existence.

The four arbiters sat in a profound silence, waiting for the organizer of this conclave to speak.

Sensing that everyone had arrived, Yun Zhi awakened from her sudden epiphany and opened her eyes—eyes that seemed to harbor a myriad of worlds, an infinity of time and space, intensely profound—and as the other four met her gaze, their minds lapsed into a momentary trance.

A wave of shock rippled through their hearts; they had not seen Yun Zhi for several years, and even then, she had given them an unfathomable impression, yet they had not expected this sensation to be even more overwhelming now.

The Wendao Sect had surely been blessed by some extraordinary stroke of fortune to have recruited such a peerless genius.

And to think, she was the disciple of that old scoundrel, Buyu Daoist.

Nevertheless, Yun Zhi’s profound cultivation was a boon for them; the great era was approaching, spiritual energy was surging, the Grand Dao was manifesting, the demonic cults were sowing chaos, ancient mighties asleep for hundreds of thousands of years were awakening, and the immortals of legend were gradually surfacing.

It was easily foreseen that these ancient entities and immortals would not submissively abide by the current rules; they would surely seek to redefine order and carve out domains according to their own wills, a prospect that spelled catastrophe for both mortals and cultivators alike.

Already, an ancient cultivation mighty had awakened, intent on stirring up storms in the Central Continent, only to be struck down by the combined forces of the five great immortal sects before his influence could mature.

Not all immortals were as utterly mindless and content with simple pleasures as the Immortal Fairy.

If nothing else, the ancient Anonymous who had refined stars into continents was a notoriously hard nut to crack.

Under such circumstances, the greater the strength of the five great immortal sects, the more likely they were to withstand the cataclysms of the future.

Yun Zhi spoke in a detached tone: "I have summoned you all today because I have obtained certain intelligence regarding the demonic cults, which I wish to impart to you."

The hearts of the four tightened; no wonder Yun Zhi had eschewed conventional means like voice transmissions and had instead requested their physical presence to gather upon this secret peak of the Wendao Sect.

This secret summit had been blessed by successive generations of sages from the Wendao Sect and further modified by Yun Zhi herself, rendering it capable of obscuring the heavenly mechanisms, concealing karmic ties, and ensuring absolute freedom from leaks.

Though the demonic cults were not intrinsically powerful, they worshipped immortals and had obtained many immortal treasures and techniques from them—treasures and techniques so unpredictable that they demanded the utmost caution.

"As you all know, just over a month ago, I breached the headquarters of the Immortal Cult and unearthed some intelligence, two pieces of which are worthy of note: first, the method to resurrect the Immortal Fairy, and second, the matter concerning 'undercover agents.'"

The four shifted slightly upright; the resurrection of an immortal was an extraordinary piece of news.

Come to think of it, they had long heard that Yun Zhi had uprooted the nest of the Immortal Cult, yet they had remained entirely ignorant of how she had discovered it.

"The Dao Fruit of the Immortal Fairy is highly peculiar; even if she completely perishes, her soul shattered and dispersed, so long as someone invokes her title and immortal name—whether intentionally or otherwise—she can be resurrected!"

Their minds reeled as though struck by a sudden thunderbolt; indeed, no immortal's Dao Fruit was simple, and while those they previously understood were related to enhancing combat prowess, this was the first time they had encountered a Dao Fruit dedicated purely to survival.

"The intelligence also states that the Immortal Cult has planted undercover agents within the Laurel Fairy Palace, the Suppressing Prison Sect, and the Five Elements Sect."

In truth, this was not information gathered from the Immortal Cult headquarters, but rather intelligence Lu Yang had extracted from the Inspector, Tang Yunsheng.

When Tang Yunsheng was assigning undercover missions to Lu Yang and his two companions, he had mentioned that among the five great immortal sects, with the exception of the Hanging Temple which had too few people, and the Wendao Sect which had too many lunatics to infiltrate, the other three sects all harbored moles.

The five great immortal sects were thus: the Wendao Sect, renowned for its Daoist methods and bizarre imaginings, which the other four sects warned their younger generations never to approach;

The Hanging Temple, which saved the world with compassion and had, at its lowest point, consisted of only a master and a disciple, yet possessed formidable strength;

The Laurel Fairy Palace, abundant in laurel trees, whose members believed the moon hid inscrutable secrets and leveraged its power for their cultivation;

The Suppressing Prison Sect, which suppressed all demons and monsters;

And the Five Elements Sect, which believed in the unity of the five elements and mastered their ultimate principles.

The other four immortal sects considered the Wendao Sect to be entirely incompatible with themselves.

The Wendao Sect considered the other four immortal sects to be entirely incompatible with itself.

Setting aside this incompatibility, the relationships among the five great immortal sects were actually quite harmonious.

"So it is a matter of undercover agents." The Palace Mistress of the Laurel Fairy Palace expressed no surprise; she was Lan Ting's master, and Lan Ting had already disclosed a few things to her.

"Amitabha." The Abbot of the Hanging Temple spoke little; their Hanging Temple harbored no demonic moles, partly because of their scarce numbers, and partly because of their differing faiths—a member of a demonic cult chanting sutras and keeping precepts all day would sooner or later suffer a collapse of their Dao heart, making it far too easy to expose a flaw.

"To think that my Suppressing Prison Sect advocates the suppression of all heretical paths, yet the Immortal Cult has managed to sneak into my sect; I shall certainly conduct a rigorous investigation upon my return!" The Sect Master of the Suppressing Prison Sect was furious, though out of consideration for the venue, he did not display it too excessively.

"Since there are moles, it is highly likely that they belong to more than just the Immortal Cult; spies from other demonic factions may well be lurking as well, and we must weed them out thoroughly." The eyes of the Sect Master of the Five Elements Sect grew cold; the demonic cults were truly audacious, utterly disregarding his Five Elements Sect.

"Then how are we to screen for these moles?" asked the Palace Mistress of the Laurel Fairy Palace.

"Does the Immortal Cult not worship the Immortal Fairy? How about we have all our disciples shout together: 'The Immortal Fairy is a bastard'?" suggested the Sect Master of the Five Elements Sect.

The four nodded in succession, deeming it a fine idea.

The Sect Master of the Suppressing Prison Sect remarked: "There is another method. We surely possess lists of suspects; we can tell those on the lists that 'the Cult Leader has invoked the immortal name of the Immortal Fairy, the Immortal Fairy has been resurrected, and the Cult Leader demands all believers gather at the headquarters.'"

The righteous path did not know the method to resurrect the Immortal Fairy; upon hearing this sentence, a mole from the Immortal Cult would, in all probability, assume the speaker was a fellow cultist.

Yun Zhi shook her head: "That would beat the grass and startle the snakes. The suspect lists contain not only moles from the Immortal Cult but also spies from the other three cults; if the other three cults hear you say this, they will certainly realize you are screening for infiltrators."

The Sect Master of the Suppressing Prison Sect found Yun Zhi’s reasoning sound and offered no further suggestions.

"By the way, seeing that the Wendao Sect is free of undercover agents, I wonder if Fellow Daoist Yun Zhi could share some insights and experiences?" the Sect Master of the Five Elements Sect inquired, drawing agreement from the other three.

Yun Zhi frowned slightly, a rare sight; this question posed a dilemma for her, as she herself did not understand why the Wendao Sect not only harbored no demonic moles but could instead send its own people to act as moles within the demonic cults.

"Perhaps it is because the disciples of my Wendao Sect are pure of mind, whereas the thoughts of demonic cultists are overly complex, rendering them incapable of masquerading as disciples of our sect."

The five then devised many insidious methods to screen for moles, among which the Abbot of the Hanging Temple proved the most ruthless; were these methods to be made public, the world’s impression of these five would undergo a total reversal.

With the secret conclave concluded, all five departed from the mountain peak; three left the Wendao Sect entirely, while only the Palace Mistress of the Laurel Fairy Palace remained behind.

"May I ask what business brings Palace Mistress Luo to stay?" Yun Zhi inquired; the Palace Mistress of the Laurel Fairy Palace was named Luo Hongxia.

Luo Hongxia summoned Lan Ting, who approached with great reluctance: "Does your Wendao Sect have a disciple named Lu Yang? I have business with him. What a fine child my Lan Ting was, only to be corrupted by him; I shall demand compensation from him!"

Yun Zhi replied calmly: "In that case, why not simply have the two of them become Dao companions?"

Luo Hongxia's expression froze.

(End of Chapter)