"After this, the Myriad Souls Sect will be under my control," Chu Xuan declared with a slight smile upon returning to Black Devil Peak. He had originally planned to rest and recuperate within the Myriad Souls Sect.
If the elders of the sect, including the Myriad Souls Elder, had not pressed him too urgently, he would have continued to mingle under the guise of Lin Fan. Now, having personally intervened and planted a Gu insect in the Myriad Souls Elder, it was an act of desperation.
"Xiao Tianjiao died in the Yin Soul Mountain Range; I hope the Golden Phoenix Sect won't be furiously instigating a righteous-demonic great war." Chu Xuan mused, "Otherwise, peace will once again elude me."
He shook his head, pondering another matter. "In this life, when will I truly be free and unfettered? Endless trifles assault me one after another, leaving me breathless and unable to escape."
Months passed in the blink of an eye. Chu Xuan had received information about the movements of the Golden Phoenix Sect from the Myriad Souls Elder. The situation with the Golden Phoenix Sect was… there was no movement at all.
Not a stir. The disappearance of a genius like Xiao Tianjiao seemed not to have incited the rage of the Nascent Soul ancestors of the Golden Phoenix Sect. The anticipated great war between righteous and demonic forces had also not erupted.
Only a few righteous Golden Core cultivators, who had been friends with Xiao Tianjiao, stormed into the territory of the Three Demonic Sects of Wu Country, wreaked havoc, and then returned.
This affair seemed to have been mysteriously suppressed. The reasons were unknown.
"Master, how do you view this situation?" the Myriad Souls Elder asked humbly, "Are those righteous cultivators harboring some ill intentions?"
Chu Xuan pondered for a moment, "Perhaps they are constrained by other matters. Have your spies keep a closer watch on the righteous side."
"Yes," the Myriad Souls Elder nodded repeatedly.
Since the envisioned great war between righteousness and demonism had not erupted, Chu Xuan once again turned his attention to this planet. He needed to swiftly bring Soul Star under his control and completely transform it into his personal sanctuary.
His physical body remained on Blue Star, cultivating the "Mysterious Heavenly Ice Soul Scroll" and the "Thousand Refinement Dragon Elephant Technique" to enhance his Qi cultivation and physical realm. Simultaneously, he multitasked, managing a portion of his soul to oversee the forces he had amassed on Soul Star.
Leaving aside the two Ghost Kings for now, the number of Ghost Commanders under him had already exceeded a thousand. As for the Ghost Generals, their numbers had reached over a million.
This strength was already sufficient to obliterate the openly declared power of both the Slaughter Faction and the Husbandry Faction. However, the true capabilities of the Slaughter King and the Greedy King remained unknown.
Chu Xuan immediately calmed his mind and began to review the intelligence reports sent back by Soul One and the three others. As he expected, the Slaughter Faction and the Husbandry Faction were at each other's throats, nearly driving each other mad.
Almost every inch of Soul Star was ablaze with the fires of war. Every moment, countless souls perished. At least a billion specters and great specters had died, including over a thousand specter kings.
The hatred between these two factions had reached a peak during this period. Chu Xuan's subordinates seized this opportunity to strike from both sides, attacking cities of the Slaughter Faction at times, and cutting off the teams of the Husbandry Faction at others.
They suppressed whichever side gained the upper hand, thus aiding the other, always cunningly maintaining a balance of power between the Slaughter Faction and the Husbandry Faction through manipulative means.
Overall, given their prowess in slaughter, the Slaughter Faction generally maintained the upper hand. Even so, the Slaughter King and the Greedy King showed no signs of appearing, as if the life-and-death struggles of their subordinates had nothing to do with them, perhaps even taking pleasure in the chaos.
"These two kings delaying their appearance signifies a severe lack of intelligence," Chu Xuan muttered, his brow furrowed with concern. "Could these two be disciples of the Tao of Survival?"
Upon further reflection, Chu Xuan began to understand why the two kings had yet to make their move. Both the Slaughter Faction and the Husbandry Faction were internally divided into numerous factions. It was a landscape of competing peaks.
The ongoing war between the two factions served to weaken the insubordinate Ghost Kings under them, aligning well with the interests of the two great kings. It seemed likely that, without ever having met, the two kings had silently reached an understanding.
"What then can be done to compel them to take action?" Chu Xuan pondered deeply, his brow knotted in thought.
At that moment, a piece of intelligence flashed through his mind. He looked over it, somewhat surprised. This was a message from Yun Qi and Ma Nanshan, about the Ascendant Faction.
Previously, Chu Xuan had saved Yun Qi and Ma Nanshan, allowing them to change their appearances and assume the identities of Long Yuan and He Qing of the Dragonfly Squad, to infiltrate back into the Ascendant Faction.
Yun Qi and Ma Nanshan, diligent and dependable, regularly sent back intelligence on the Ascendant Faction. Chu Xuan had initially intervened in the Ascendant Faction casually, without much interest in their reports.
Seeing the intelligence from the Ascendant Faction once more, Chu Xuan suddenly became alert. "The queen believes that the strife between the Slaughter Faction and the Husbandry Faction is an opportunity for the Ascendant Faction to rise. Having bided their time, they are now prepared to seize a major city from the Husbandry Faction." Chu Xuan perused this report with a keen interest and chuckled with intrigue.
"The Ascendant Faction!" Chu Xuan exclaimed. "It is precisely this Ascendant Faction! No matter how fiercely the Slaughter Faction and the Husbandry Faction fight, it remains an internal matter of the soul clans. But if the Ascendant Faction were to suddenly rise and their strength surge significantly, it would certainly alarm the Slaughter King and the Greedy King. If the Ascendant Faction becomes strong enough that even the specter king under their command cannot handle them, and if they even threaten their so-called palaces, then the Slaughter King and the Greedy King would definitely be compelled to appear!"
Chu Xuan stroked his hands together, pleased with his strategizing. Now, the only thing needed was to take complete control of the Ascendant Faction, making it a tool under his command.
In an underground city, Yun Qi and Ma Nanshan sat opposite each other, eating their meal. Around them, the other eight members of the Dragonfly Squad were also dining. The food produced in the underground city was not lavish, but it was sufficient to fill their stomachs.
Yun Qi remained silent. Even Ma Nanshan, usually talkative, was quiet. This was because, not long before, the queen had issued an order, deciding to take advantage of the conflict between the two factions to surface and seize resources!
Compared to the Slaughter Faction and the Husbandry Faction, the Ascendant Faction still had a slight gap in strength. To snatch chestnuts from the fire, they would inevitably have to endure the pain of being scorched by the flames. It was likely that many would die because of the queen's order.
At that moment, a message flashed through the minds of both Yun Qi and Ma Nanshan. After a brief moment of astonishment, they exchanged glances, each seeing the shock in the other's eyes. They did not speak, but simultaneously nodded in understanding, all unspoken between them.
They trusted that with their master's strength, he could easily take control of the Ascendant Faction. As for what their master planned to do after taking control of the Ascendant Faction, they did not know, nor did they wish to know.
They were, after all, supposed to be dead, their lives saved by him. They were merely to execute his commands. Even if he ordered them to commit suicide, they would not ask a single question and would willingly embrace death.
"Leader, we have hope now," Ma Nanshan said with a smile.
"Yes," Yun Qi also smiled, feeling for the first time that the unappetizing worm porridge tasted delicious.