Volume 3, Chapter 52 – Stringing It Together

After Bai Xiang passed on the intel on her end, she sped northward, while Xiang Xian, having received the information, moved into action immediately. The first thing she did was to seek out Bai Shengju, the current acting Dao Lord of Shenming Sword Dao, to discuss the matter of merging the Daos with him.

“Merging the Daos?” Bai Shengju was clearly a bit taken aback. “This…”

He and Xiang Xian had been acquainted for over a decade; they could talk about anything without formality. But this “merging the Daos” was not the same as “merging the Chilong Circuit and Zhen’nan Circuit into a single circuit.” This was merging Sword Dao factions .

The Bai clan’s Shenming Sword Dao and the now-remaining Yuming Sword Dao—were these two Daos really going to merge?

Bai Shengju couldn’t help feeling a bit hesitant.

Which was only natural—if not for Bai Xiang’s meteoric rise, his greatest hope for the Dao arena, up to now, had only been to regain its “Seventy-Two Dao” rating. From that alone, one could see he’d never had particularly grand ambitions.

But people change. Bai Shengju had first broken through to Condensing the Aspect, then, with Bai Xiang and Xiang Xian’s help, had most of his chronic internal ailments healed. On top of that, he’d converted to the new path of qi through a path of qi method. His mindset was now utterly different from when he’d been in that decrepit state.

And what had shaken him most, of course, was the little aunt’s remains that Bai Xiang had brought back! For a traditional cultivator like him, long bound by the rites of lord and vassal, it was the first time in his life he had ever felt hatred toward the Imperial House.

So he wasn’t hesitating out of fear of offending the Qianyu Palace—he was hesitating because he worried the Bai clan might not be able to “digest” all these people.

On the surface, Shenming clearly had the upper hand in strength right now. After the commotion in Chilong, once Zhang Xianzhi yielded, the imperial envoy delegation had obediently handed over the classification edict. From that moment on, Shenming became the tenth mountain-and-river–grade Dao arena since the founding of Great Yu. There was not the slightest procedural flaw to be found.

But Xiang Xian was also a Divine Fetus immortal. Among her disciples, not only were Song Ruhua and Guo Rongzhi Purple Core cultivators, but outside that core, many of the disciples stationed over Yuming’s assets and companies across the land were Core-realm cultivators as well.

Count carefully, and the number of Core-realm cultivators Xiang Xian could summon would not be fewer than double digits. The difference in middle and upper combat strength between the two sides was that stark—and if you added in all those product patents developed by Yuming Dao… after the merger, wouldn’t they end up being “usurped” as the hosts?

If they were confronting Yuming Dao as enemies, Bai Shengju wouldn’t be nearly this worried. But the problem was, Bai Xiang also counted as Xiang Xian’s disciple.

From what he knew of Bai Xiang, she was naturally ruthless toward her enemies—sometimes even he felt she was a little too brutal.

But toward those she acknowledged as family and friends, she was always gentle. He wasn’t sure whether Bai Xiang would be able to withstand the enormous pressure when the time came.

“Brother Bai, there’s nothing for you to be afraid of.” Xiang Xian saw through his concerns at a glance and said calmly, “I know it’s unrealistic to integrate immediately. So after the merger, Yuming Dao can become a subordinate branch like ‘Yuming Peak’ or ‘Yuming Hall.’ I’ll keep leading them as a Peak Lord, and the Dao arena as a whole will still be arranged under Xiang’er’s authority.”

That, he could work with.

Bai Shengju kept his face composed, but in his heart he had already accepted this proposal.

“Next is the matter of assets.” Xiang Xian went on, “Yuming had 27 companies under its banner originally, in fields ranging from smelting and manufacturing to pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. As for those assets… aside from the portions they’ve taken back and crushed, I’m willing to hand half of what remains over to Xiang’er, and share the other half with the Dao arena.”

This?

Bai Shengju stared wide-eyed at Xiang Xian, unable to help thinking: Isn’t this a bit too hasty?

It wasn’t that Xiang Xian was giving too little —she was giving far too much .

Yuming Dao was still built on the foundation of one of the Nine Daos; merging in could already be seen as Shenming doing them a favor. In Bai Shengju’s expectations, Xiang Xian would at most hand over 30% of the assets to Shenming. But with this maneuver… first she gave 50% straight to Bai Xiang, then split the rest with the Dao arena. Wasn’t that essentially giving away seventy-five percent?

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“When you live under someone else’s eaves, you need to act like someone living under someone else’s eaves.” Xiang Xian narrowed her eyes, her tone growing resolute. “I am the Dao Lord of Yuming, and as a woman I’ve committed a crime of this scale against the taboos. If I don’t find someone to rely on, then no matter how vast the world, there’ll be nowhere for Yuming to stand.”

Bai Shengju stared hard at her. “Then you trust my Bai clan that much?”

“I don’t trust the Bai clan.” Xiang Xian let out a cold little laugh. “I trust Xiang’er—Brother Bai, now that you’ve had a glimpse of the new path, don’t play deaf and dumb with me.”

The wonder of the path of qi could only be truly known by those who cultivated it.

In the sixteen hundred years of Great Yu’s history, countless prodigies and heroes—even the Sacred Emperor himself—had racked their brains searching for a new path.

And what had they found?

Nothing at all.

All of humanity was trapped by Sword Dao yet had no choice but to rely on Sword Dao. They had built their foundation on Demon Pools, stealing a transcendent method. By it they had indeed managed to defend the human world—but they also had to face the side effects of demonic power backlash. Very few Sword Dao cultivators ever met a good end.

But now, that new road which had only existed in legends and conjecture in the past had actually been walked through.

Xiang Xian had been shocked, astonished—but once those emotions passed, she keenly realized that a new grand tide was coming.

The path of qi was, in almost all respects, an upgrade over Sword Dao. As long as one received spirit-pointing, the difficulty of later conversion was not high; even divine abilities and sword arts could be preserved—it was merely a matter of changing what powered them.

With a new path like this, once the entry difficulty was truly solved, its spread would be extremely fast.

And when that time came, what kind of status would Bai Xiang hold?

Right now, Yuming Dao was choosing to attach itself to Shenming, and she herself was content to be a minor Peak Lord; on the surface, that did look a little aggrieved.

But what about ten years from now?

What about a hundred years from now?

Compared to clinging to Yuming’s Dao lineage, meekly staying in Qianyu Palace’s palm to be bled dry by those people as a research puppet with no freedom whatsoever, Xiang Xian would rather place a bet!

She would bet that Bai Xiang could withstand the pressure from that side!

As long as she held, as long as the path of qi was given enough time to spread, then the grand tide here would be considered set!

“The great tide of the world surges on and on.”

“Those who follow it prosper; those who go against it perish.”

Xiang Xian fixed Bai Shengju with her gaze. “The court today is brutal and without principle. It crushes the common people and shuts the country’s doors! At home, we have the disasters of the Demon-Immortal Dao, Zhengwo Dao, and the Feathered Ascension Sect; abroad, many federations eye us like tigers. Just that one ‘Blood Sea’ is a colossal unknown, let alone the new path… this is an age of great contention!”

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“What I intend to do is cling to the grand tide—and help make the grand tide!”

Bai Shengju felt his blood boiling at her words.

What was a grand tide?

What was great contention?

According to Xiang Xian, the world was heading into chaos, demon stars would rise one after another.

So what exactly were you fighting for?

This was a development Bai Shengju had never dreamed of.

But he still did his best to remain calm.

“I understand…” he said mildly. “All right, we’ll handle the matter of merging the Daos as Peak Lord Xiang proposes. I just don’t know—those assets and manpower you mentioned… under suppression, how much can you actually keep?”

“I won’t claim eighty percent, but over sixty is a sure thing.” Xiang Xian said with certainty.

This was the fruit of years of her scheming; she’d made many preparations well in advance. A great many assets had already had their equity swapped with foreign companies, while others had long since been secretly sold off and converted into rare treasures and materials—all quietly smuggled over by Guo Rongzhi.

With her having said that, Bai Shengju immediately made his decision. Shenming Sword Dao would newly establish two branch peaks: Yuming Peak and Qingwu Peak. Yuming Peak would be placed under Xiang Xian’s management, while Qingwu Peak was simply the original name of a mountain in the Nanling mountain range; it just so happened to be handy now to designate as a new “mountain head,” and he would temporarily manage it himself.

The extra peak was also there to balance power. Bai Shengju was an old fox; even though he’d never been a Dao Lord of a major sect, he still knew that in any power structure, if there was no balance, the person in charge would have a hard time of it.

Once the system and formal rites had been settled between the two of them, they immediately used their phones to send out the announcements.

The disciples of the two Daos were deeply shaken, but Guo Rongzhi’s expression didn’t change—he’d long known why Xiang Xian had brought them to Maozhou.

If it were just Master and little junior sister, muddling the accounts between them would have been no big deal.

But with the fate of thousands of disciples from the two Daos involved, if there weren’t a dual binding of interests and formal rites, working together like this would definitely lead to trouble.

Guo Rongzhi was at that moment leading a group of Yuming disciples, mixed with a few Shenming disciples, on patrol through the city. Narrowing his eyes as he watched them, he found that the two sides were actually getting along fairly well.

“Oh… so we’re just merging the Daos like this?”

“What else did you think? Master bringing us here was obviously to merge the Daos, did that even need thinking about?”

“So we’re the ones getting the short end?”

“We’re not, we’re not! Shenming Dao counts as a mountain-and-river Dao arena; it was on the same level as us before. If we hadn’t offended those up top, then maybe we could say we were losing out. But now? Not really. If anything, we’re the ones making a profit…”

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“Haha! Brothers, from today on we’re all family!”

“If we’re family, junior brother, could you maybe share a word or two about that formless, shapeless demonic power secret art of yours?”

“No rush! Once we’ve taken care of all these mongrel fiends, Dao Lord will definitely have a surprise for you all!”

Heh…

With a snap, Guo Rongzhi folded up his fan and slapped it lightly against his palm, chuckling as he did so.

If this were a normal merger between the two Daos, it would never have been this easy.

But right now, with a demon calamity looming, Demon Pool incursions erupting all over, everyone had been twisted together into a single rope by a shared objective, silently dissolving many conflicts and making the merger exceptionally smooth.

So this was what Master called a grand tide, wasn’t it?

How marvelous.

How marvelous.

Cut back to Xiang Xian, who had returned to the lab.

After checking on the work progress of Dr. Hannah and Han Yuanfeng, she found an empty room by herself, took out her phone and tapped a few commands, occasionally lifting her head to glance at the sky.

There was one thing that probably only she knew: Yuming Dao actually had its own communications satellite.

The court’s audits were strict, and she had gone through enormous effort to get it up there.

There weren’t many of them.

And the level of technology was rather shabby.

But she only needed it for emergencies.

For that purpose, this level was enough.

As the signal switched, the phone screen instantly turned a dazzling blue.

The device’s performance was being wrung out in every respect, and that blue light flared even brighter, bursting upward to form a hazy holographic projection in midair.

Xiang Xian set the phone down on a stool, stepped back a few paces, and watched as, before her very eyes, a square-faced, silver-haired elder with a naturally imposing presence appeared within the projection.

“Dao Lord Xiang.” The silver-haired elder regarded Xiang Xian. “The mistake you’ve made is no ordinary one.”

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“The second Dao Lord of Jinlin Dao, Senior Wei Shen, once left a message with my Dao, saying that if ever we encountered injustice, we could ask for his aid.” Xiang Xian brought her hands together, bending at the waist in a deep bow toward the elder.

“I ask my Dao friend to lend me your strength.”

The silver-haired elder stared at her for a long moment, then nodded. “Jinlin Dao will temporarily not take part in the encirclement.”

The projection went dark, and Xiang Xian stepped forward again to dial another number.

Soon, the image of a palace-robed woman appeared in the projection. On closer look, it was none other than the Red Dust Dao Lord, Chen Yuchan.

Chen Yuchan also nodded at Xiang Xian. “Dao Lord Xiang, I know why you’ve come, it’s just…”

“Senior ‘Yinshuang’ of Red Dust Dao once received treatment in my Dao, and left this behind before departing.” Xiang Xian drew an object from her sleeve—it was a string of silver-fish jade pendants.

“I see.” At the sight of the item, Chen Yuchan’s expression turned grave at once, and the words of refusal stuck in her throat.

Xiang Xian held the jade pendants and bowed deeply.

“I ask my Dao friend to lend me your strength.”

“Very well…” Chen Yuchan closed her eyes and sighed. “If it’s not a destined tribulation, you don’t need to fear being in the wrong. If it is a tribulation, you won’t escape it anyway.”

“I can only promise to restrain my own people; the ones under the court’s control, I can’t guarantee.”

“That’s enough.” Xiang Xian bowed again. “Thank you, Dao friend.”

The projection went dark again—and then lit up again.

Only after this had happened six times did Xiang Xian obtain the outcome she wanted; only then did she step forward to pick up her phone.

The device was already hot to the touch.

“For the moment, this is as far as your master can help you.”

She murmured to herself, turning her head to look up at the sky outside the window.

“The other half…”

“Isn’t suited to be used just yet.”