Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Blood Plum Hall.
Sang Hongmei sat in her raised seat. Down below stood a man in an azure robe.
With a grim look on her face, Sang Hongmei asked, "Qing Feng, I told you to investigate the location of the teleportation formation, so why haven't you found it yet?"
The azure-robed Qing Feng replied, "Hall Master, starting last month, Xu Miaoran has ceased all trade and refused to go out. Not only that, all the members of the All-Talent Society have done the same, entering seclusion and cultivating, not even doing sect missions. Your subordinate simply has no opportunities to exploit."
Sang Hongmei was stunned. "If she has stopped the trade, what about the contribution to the sect? And the materials she needs?"
Qing Feng bitterly smiled. "What can be done? The materials from the Blood River Domain have been cut off. There are still some goods on the marketplace, but once those run out, there will be trouble. As for the contribution to the sect, Xu Miaoran just put it off by saying that she has no money… She has no intent on showing any respect to the sect."
Sang Hongmei slapped her armrest. "Such audacity, even daring to ignore a debt to the sect!"
"But what can you do? She's Xu Guanghua's daughter, and she was the sole manager of the inter-domain trade. If she says she's not doing it, nobody can force her hand. Refusing to pay her debts is clearly an expression of her dissatisfaction for the forced marriage. It's not like the sect master can grab her and say that she has to resume the trading, right?"
"Are they just going to let her be so willful?"
"The sect master has already sent someone to persuade Xu Miaoran, but she's stubborn and probably won't lower her head. In my view, she's probably…"
"What is it?"
"Probably using the sect master to apply pressure onto you."
The Blood Fairy was startled at first, and then she erupted in laughter. "'Apply pressure to me'? It's a good plan, but what wrong did I commit? I just had Xin Yue present a marriage proposal to Xu Guanghua. Was this wrong? Will the sect master demote me or kill me over this? Absurd!"
She was right!
Every large organization had its rules and regulations.
No matter what ill intentions the Blood Fairy was harboring, so long as they didn't come to the surface, nobody would be able to do anything to her.
Even the Sect Master of Horizon Ocean Pavilion couldn't punish Sang Hongmei just because she had encouraged Xin Yue to propose. While everyone knew that Xu Miaoran had stopped the trading to guard against any more actions from Sang Hongmei, she couldn't be punished for a crime that hadn't even happened yet.
Of course, while she couldn't be punished, that didn't mean she couldn't be talked to.
Not long after this, Sang Hongmei was summoned by the Sect Master of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign. She was given a harsh scolding and told not to push people too far. After all, Xu Miaoran was still the daughter of a True Lord, and acting without regard for her will would turn things into a deadlock. Horizon Ocean Pavilion losing out on its cut of the profits was a minor matter, but far greater was the loss of supplies from the Blood River Domain. After all, wealth was concentrated on the individual while materials benefited everyone.
Sang Hongmei was resentful over this rebuke, but she could only lower her head and acknowledge her errors.
Not long afterward, the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign sent someone to notify Xu Miaoran that she had rebuked the Blood Fairy and such things would not occur anymore, so Xu Miaoran could continue the inter-domain trade without fear of being disturbed.
But Xu Miaoran refused.
The reason for her refusal was simple: the Blood Fairy had not received any sort of substantial punishment, and this sort of rebuke was meaningless. On the contrary, it was more like a covert form of encouragement. If she continued the inter-domain trade at this time, it was hard to guarantee that the Blood Fairy would not try something.
This made the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign a little unhappy. From her perspective, as a sect master, she had already done her utmost. It wasn't like she could kill or imprison Sang Hongmei just to keep Xu Miaoran happy, right? Putting aside the fact that Sang Hongmei hadn't even done what Xu Miaoran was worried about yet, even if she did, it wouldn't be some big crime—at least for Horizon Ocean Pavilion.
Thus, Xu Miaoran's worries weren't unreasonable, but the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign had also not done anything wrong.
On this matter, both sides were actually being self-centered.
Neither side was wrong, but both sides were wrong, because they only considered the problem from their own perspective and ignored what the other side felt.
Regardless, Xu Miaoran stopping the inter-domain trade had huge effects on both Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the entire Rosecloud Domain.
Those precious materials disappeared in a flash, and all the benefits that had been given to the sects disappeared.
Both sect and individual suffered.
The Basking Moon Sect fared a little better. Of course, they didn't receive any materials or profits, but they knew that this was temporary. Xu Miaoran was simply waiting for the reinforcements from the Basking Moon Sect. Thus, the Basking Moon Sect had more confidence, because it knew when the inter-domain trade would start back up. As Horizon Ocean Pavilion didn't know this detail, every day of waiting was torment.
At the same time, the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign became keenly aware of how dangerous it was to have the inter-domain trade controlled by a single person, which was that this person could decide everything. She could accept losing ten million in profits, but a sustained loss was another matter entirely.
In this way, Xu Miaoran could be said to have made a mistake.
Stopping the inter-domain trade had brought her temporary safety and taught a lesson to Sang Hongmei and those others who were greedy for her wealth. It was a tactical victory.
But the tactical victory was a strategic loss.
Her previous opposition to cutting off the Basking Moon Sect had drawn displeasure from Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and now, this stopping of the trade had completely unsettled the upper echelons of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and those voicing support for Sang Hongmei increased. Even the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign felt that Sang Hongmei's actions weren't necessarily wrong.
Xu Miaoran realized that she suddenly had more enemies. These people perhaps weren't completely opposed to her, but they began to understand, or even support, Sang Hongmei.
Of course, in Xu Miaoran's view, even if she had known this was going to be the result, she still would have done it. Displaying one's strength was always going to be a differentiation process, drawing some people to one's side and also angering others. For a weak faction, in order to get stronger, appropriately sacrificing the future for the present wasn't necessarily an unwise choice.
To put it more bluntly, if she continued the inter-domain trade and the Blood Fairy continued to meddle, if she failed, then Xu Miaoran was sure that the sect master would fairly pass judgment. But what if she succeeded? With the location of the teleportation formation, the Blood Fairy could simply submit it to her superiors to achieve enormous merit, and everything would change. Nobody would be willing to punish her then, and even if she were punished, the teleportation formation would have been exposed, together with the Martial Lord's hidden realm.
Everything Tang Jie had left behind would be eaten up.
Thus, she couldn't risk this gamble.
This was why she refused to back down, even knowing that she would offend others!
What had happened had happened.
The inter-domain trade had come to a halt, and the Rosecloud and Blood River Domains fell back to their former states. Those materials whose price had fallen thanks to the influx in supply rose back to their old values, and those subordinates who had been so busy now had a break period and began to cultivate.
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For cultivators, time always went by quickly.
A simple seclusion had two years go by in a flash.
In the Water Moon Paradise, the fourteen elites of the Freedom Society, including Wei Tianchong, were still cultivating.
They were seated at various altitudes of Water Moon Peak, each with different achievements.
Bei Canghan sat at the 750-meter terrace, where the writings of the Cloud Ancestor were located. Spiritual energy pulsed under his feet—a sign that he was already a True Person.
As the senior of this group, he was the first to advance to True Person, and he was the first to reach the 750-meter altitude. But while Bei Canghan tried to go higher, after several attempts, he ultimately gave up. He had used the Three Withering Tribulations and breaking into Celestial Heart to get this far, so he wondered just how Tang Jie had managed to get to the summit.
Several days later, Wu Xianguang broke through and reached the 750-meter terrace. The two shared a look and laughed, after which they sat down together and studied the writings of the Cloud Ancestor, comprehending the Wisdom Sword Mantra.
Cai Junyang, Qi Shaoming, Peng Yaolong, and Ye Tianshang followed, causing the others to click their tongues in praise.
Everyone in the Basking Moon Sect knew that reaching the summit of Water Moon Peak was extremely difficult.
To reach five hundred meters made one a hero.
Although the Five Energies Sovereign Essence Pill allowed them to reach Celestial Heart within the paradise, that boost of strength lowering the difficulty a little, getting to 750 meters was still no easy task, and it was a sign that they all possessed outstanding aptitude.
For six young warriors to be gathered on the 750-meter terrace was an extremely rare sight for the Basking Moon Sect, and those people watching from the shadows quietly nodded in approval. But alas, none of them was able to reach the summit.
After several failures, Wu Xianguang and the others gave up, but Cai Junyang kept going, charging at the summit again and again, each time covering himself in wounds, even almost dying. Even so, this madman kept going after he had healed, leaving the others speechless. But it couldn't be denied that Cai Junyang got closer to the summit with every charge, closer and closer to his target.
After several dozen more days, Wei Tianchong finally broke through.
But this guy was ultimately not as persistent as the rest. While he managed to reach the 500-meter Terrace of Heroes, he ultimately failed at 600 meters, becoming the first of their group to not go higher. But he wasn't particularly dissatisfied by this, choosing to sit at the Terrace of Heroes and ponder the writing left by his predecessors.
After Wei Tianchong, Xi Canhen, Li Yunfan, and Liu Hongyan also broke through, but Li Yunfan wasn't able to go higher, so he stayed below and kept Wei Tianchong company. The two of them looked up together and muttered, "This is a weird sight. There are more people who have been able to go higher than not."
Fortunately, over the next few days, things started to go back to normal.
Meng Shixue and Su Xinyue also broke through, but higher altitudes were not part of their destiny, and they had to accompany the other two down at the Terrace of Heroes.
The two losers had their mood much improved now that they had the company of two beauties.
Only Shi Meng and Heng Wei were left down below now.
Heng Wei had been classmates with Wei Tianchong and Tang Jie, and his strength had always been in the upper ranks. With bronze skin and steel bones, he had a defense that was comparable to Peng Yaolong's. With his strength, it shouldn't have taken him this long to succeed.
After a few more days, a beam of light suddenly shot up from down below, lingering for some time.
This was a sign that someone had broken through.
"It should be Heng Wei." Wei Tianchong and the others stood up and looked down the mountain.
Of the fourteen who had entered the paradise to cultivate, Shi Meng was the weakest, so everyone instinctively believed that Heng Wei would succeed before him.
As the pillar of light dissipated, a person began to make his way up the mountain.
As that person got close, everyone discovered that it was Shi Meng, the Spirit Ring expanding from his feet indicating that he had become a True Person.
"Shi Meng? Why is it you?" Li Yunfan said in shock. "What about Heng Wei?"
Shi Meng sorrowfully said, "Senior Brother Heng failed to break through… and died in the attempt."
At this moment, a resounding cry came from the summit.
Cai Junyang had succeeded in reaching the summit!
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