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The Science of Cultivation - Chapter 266: Congregation of Intentions Pt.2
🕑 Added 2025-03-24 22:30:04 +0000 UTCWith so many important dignitaries participating in the meeting, the Sword Saint’s gaze didn’t linger on Li Lang for long, but to Li Lang, it felt like an eternity.
Was he really looking at me? If so, what did he want?
The surrounding conversation soon died down before Li Lang could make heads or tails of the Sword Saint’s intentions. Seeing the crowd had calmed down, the host of the meeting began to speak once more.
“I will now be moving on to the third path we could take, retaliation. I doubt I would have to explain what this option can entail. There are many ways we could strike back, which we can discuss later if we do go through with it, but there are a few requirements we must satisfy first if we are to choose this course of action. As I have explained before, the most important requirement is for all the forces of Violet Isle to cooperate and be on the same page. We all know about the feud between the orthodox and demonic cultivators, but we’d have to find a way to share information and work together. Otherwise, the Abductress will continue to do as she had for the past few decades, weaving between both factions’ territories, making it impossible to track her down.”
This latest option made everyone present even more flustered than before. The previous fuss about submitting to the Abductress was more done out of pride and face. Numerous forces who couldn’t afford to go against a Spirit Divide Realm cultivator still denounced her and gloated about how they would go down fighting. They were simply talking big.
Ironically, hearing talks about cooperation between cultivators of the righteous and demonic path agitated them more fiercely as it touched their bottom line. The two factions had feuded for as long as they could remember. It could no longer be simply described as bad blood between them. There was an instinctual revulsion just from hearing the idea of working together. It had already taken them all they had to ignore each other while co-existing on Sword Saint Isle.
“With those barbaric subhumans? Who knows how many of them are in cahoots with the Abductress? If we worked with them, we’d likely suffer from cowardly ambushes as our intel leaks.”
“Ha, you’re only too right, fellow cultivator. If we worked with those unstable fiends, they’d undoubtedly target us and our disciples to use as their sustenance. Beasts are better kept separated from people. It’s why cages were invented.”
“Did you hear that, my fellow cultivators of the Luminescent Domain? Those hypocrites are afraid of us backstabbing them? Oh please, as if we could rival them in their area of expertise!”
“We’ll never allow any so-called righteous cultivators to step foot into our land, and if we step into theirs, they’ll likely find some excuse to hunt us down. Cooperation is impossible! All they can think of are short-term benefits.”
While retaliation was instinctively the option most people favored, everyone present could feel it was also the least likely to go through. The more level-headed individuals could only shake their heads at the situation. They numbered far too few in comparison to their more hot-headed compatriots. They were powerless to change the trend.
After some time, the discussion became even more heated, as opposing members of the two main factions began arguing. Sword Saint Jun Heng eventually cleared his throat to put a stop to the disagreements. Only with the intervention of an expert in the Spirit Divide Realm did both sides calm down.
“I won’t go into the details of what other requirement we must satisfy in order to enact this retaliation plan. It would be fruitless, as long as basic cooperation cannot be achieved. Anyway, those are the three paths I see us taking, but that’s just the opinion of one person. I would love to hear from the clever minds throughout Violet Isle as well. Please feel free to share any other alternatives or expand on the implementation of my three options. To keep things civil, those who wish to speak, please raise your hand and I will call you out when it is your turn.”
A few hands immediately shot up. They made no move to hide their eagerness to share their master plan. Almost everyone in this impatient bunch was from the more influential sects and organizations.
The first person to be selected to talk was unsurprisingly Song Leiguang from the Sunset Peak Sect. This choice could be seen as the Sword Saint trying to be political, selecting the representative from the most powerful orthodox sect.
“I am Song Leiguang and my recommendation is simple. I know all my fellow cultivators of Violet Isle would like to teach the Abductress a lesson, so we should do just that. However, since cooperation between so many forces is improbable, I recommend we limit the number of people involved and establish a temporary special response council. Members of this council will be allowed to come and go throughout Violet Isle freely. The most influential sects can then guide our centralized resources properly, allowing this issue with the Abductress to be solved easily!”
“Is this guy for real?” Long Yi said in amazement. “He’s openly trying to consolidate power, not even trying to hide his objective of placing his sect in charge!”
“Shh, Long Yi, I’m sure the experts here can understand that much. It’s just some political posturing. No need to say anything that can offend the wrong person,” Li Lang warned.
“Hmm, fine. This stuff is way over my head anyway.” Long Yi sulked for a brief moment until he seemed to have remembered something. He turned his gaze back to Li Lang. “Shouldn’t you be raising your hand?”
“No. It’s too soon. Timing is everything.”
“Whatever you say,” he shrugged.
Once Song Leiguang finished, the Sword Saint moved on to the next person immediately. It wasn’t the time to debate yet. He simply wanted to give a chance for each party to share what they had in mind first.
A few more people had a chance to speak, proposing various plans that everyone knew wouldn’t be accepted. It was either too biased toward themselves or openly dismissed the opposing faction.
Li Lang grimaced at such a development as it made the 'endure' option more and more likely. It was just way easier for everyone to settle on ignoring the problem rather than to do something about it. Considering the current trend, he lamented the fact that he would likely have to give up more in order to convince enough people to change their minds.
Just as he was shuffling his game plan, the next speaker drew his attention.
“Greetings, everyone. I am Si Yan, a representative of Polarity City. Our City Master has heard about the brilliant plans you have all presented today, but noticed that they all faced the same problem. Due to the friction between demonic and orthodox cultivators, neither side is willing to cooperate or relinquish control to the other side. Without the unity to form at least an information network, trying to find the Abductress would be a hopeless endeavor. That is why our City Master proposes you let a neutral party, such as our Polarity City, take charge. We are willing to deploy our people into both faction’s territory in order to track down this heinous criminal. Then we can trouble the esteemed experts of Violet Isle to strike.”
Li Lang immediately smirked at the new idea, but the others in the crowd had a different opinion.
Neither the audience nor the influential people sitting at the ring-shaped table could formulate a reply right away. While Si Yan’s words had made sense, no one was thrilled to support the plan. That was because Polarity City already benefited from its unique position of facilitating trade between both sides. They naturally grew wealthy and powerful because of it. If they allowed this latest initiative to go through without thought, it was possible this neutral force could grow too powerful for their liking.
“Hmm, that is not a bad idea,” Song Leiguang exclaimed. “But perhaps it would be better to have Sword Saint Isle take on this role instead? They have a more unified force and the quantity of capable individuals they possess gives me confidence they could scour the entirety of Violet Isle in a reasonable amount of time. Plus, they are the most directly involved party, seeing the Abductress did attack their home. What do you think, Sword Saint Jun?”
“That is impossible,” the man in question immediately replied. “Participating in a retaliatory strike is no problem for us, but we never get involved in the politics of the main island. I apologize, but we cannot accept this role.”
With no one daring to question the Sword Saint, an awkward silence soon ensued. There was some whispering as people deliberated between the options presented.
“I see that we all need some time to think over our options,” the Sword Saint concluded. “We shall take a short break so you all have some time to discuss things with your seniors back home. We will reconvene after the time of two incense sticks. Use your time well.”
Almost instantly, the entire venue erupted into chatter, as if a dam had broken. Many people even got up from their seats to seek out other parties for a discussion. People knew it wasn’t only the time to contemplate, but also the time to lobby for support. With so many forces gathered, it was inevitable they each had their own interests. Those interests could only be pushed with enough support.
Seeing this, Long Yi couldn’t but help stare at his friend again.
“You still aren’t going to make a move?”
Standing up for a stretch, Li Lang shook his head.
“Let’s go take a walk first.”
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Comments
Sapioit D. Wisener
By now, the saint is almost certainly curious what their plan is, and awaiting patiently for the moment MC starts speaking to the entire assembly. After all, he probably knows about MC having that artifact, but he is testing to see if MC is worthy of keeping the artifact. After all, people cannot simply appear on the island, without the saint noticing and starting to pay attention to them.
Scrutinizer
Li Lang grimaced at such a development as it made the ["]endure["] option more and more likely.
Scrutinizer
How long is two incense sticks? Is it enough time for Li Lang to pull off all his shenanigans? Is he going to set up the Crucible on the mountain peak and invite the Sword Saint in for a chat or something?
