Shangyuque

Chapter 177 The kindness of Zhuzhao is passed down, and Hongdengzhao repays it with his life during his Foundation Establishment!

As a sect, the Red Lantern Sect is very anthropomorphic in its name, governance model, and even the senior cultivators at its top.

But in reality, red-light police are indeed a standard representative of local power groups.

After Mangxiang received support from the sect and started the war, no matter how the Tianshe Sect fought, the three garrison passes on the front line remained as stable as Mount Tai.

What is meant by "foundation" or "depth"?

This is the foundation.

However, the complexity of war often lies in the fact that it is not just war, but also a power struggle.

External and internal power struggles are intertwined and exist in a complex way, with no aspect of them being isolated.

The power of cultivators is an extension of their strength. Factions and minor forces, as extensions and manifestations of this strength, are merely the organized manifestation of that strength; in essence, they are still strength.

Therefore, when great cultivators fight over the right to allocate resources, internal strife within the sect is inevitable.

Warfare within the framework of internal strife reveals many counterintuitive yet logical aspects.

Pi Lingxiu's charge on the southern front, sending his Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators to their deaths, is a counterintuitive yet reasonable form of internal strife.

Yi Zouri disregarded the fact that Wang Rongyuan had just died and wanted to push Wang's people to the front line to fill the gaps. He completely disregarded the overall situation and unity. This was "counterintuitive but reasonable"—it was in line with the reason why the Zhuzhao faction usually suppressed the Mangxiang faction.

Wang Yulou was unwilling to bow his head easily. Bowing one's head is always easy, but Yuan Daoshen was so wrong back then, making a fool of himself by attempting to kill the first Foundation Establishment cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining. But Old Yuan just wouldn't bow his head.

Bowing your head is easy, but the price of bowing your head is not.

Wang Yulou, in the Dripping Water Cave, had already come close to the true underlying rules of the cultivation world and had become deeply involved in the internal power struggles within the cultivation organization.

Old Yuan is hard to judge, but Wang Yulou learned one thing from him—never bow your head easily, and never admit your mistakes until you have completely lost.

In the world of cultivation, it's not like being a student in school where a student might be praised by their teacher if they admit their mistake.

Wang Yulou easily bowed his head, Wang Yulou easily admitted his mistake and surrendered. No one would say, "Wang Yulou, you are very sensible"—perhaps Yi Zouri and Yan Keyi would smile and put their arms around Wang Yulou's shoulders and say, "Little Wang, you did the right thing."

But this kind of 'praise' is no different from the most extreme form of humiliation; no, it is the most extreme form of humiliation.

When Wang Yulou was practicing Qi cultivation, he could endure humiliation and hardship. But now, he has too many people behind him, and he carries too many expectations, even direct investments from companies like Kingsoft.

Therefore, Wang Yulou displayed an attitude of "I am the only one who can do it" and "standing at the forefront of the times" on both front lines, thereby strengthening his own bargaining power.

Even deliberately accusing Nan Yeke of serious wrongdoing and exerting maximum pressure on Nan Ye Kingdom to initiate its own reform path on the two front lines was all for this purpose.

With unwavering determination, and as the Golden Elixir of the Mangxiang Ancestor became increasingly potent, Wang Yulou could not halt his relentless pursuit.

Even if he were to slow down even slightly, Yan Keyi might overtake him.

This pursuit of immortality may seem abstract, but it is in fact one of the few true methods among the many fabricated narratives of this vast world.

Otherwise, why would Yi Zouri directly attack Wang Yulou, whom he had never met before?
Otherwise, why would Pilingxiu be so cautious in his anti-Mangxiang campaign?

Are they stupid?

They're not stupid. Those who only hope to secretly open their Purple Mansion and become floor tiles there, and then rely on the Immortal Alliance's 'rules' to gain Purple Mansion status, are the truly stupid ones.

When a group of intelligent people who understand the true rules, have powerful backers, and are supported by real people or even immortals, engage in a game of strategy, the complexity of the game increases.

Faced with Wang Yulou's open scheme of "all Red Lantern vassals must send people to the battlefield to fill the gaps according to the number of people they have built up their power bases," Yi Zouri was actually helpless.

If we follow Wang Yulou's advice, wouldn't it be easier for the monstrous elephant to win?
Defeat is shameful, but if the person responsible for the defeat is Mang Xiang, then Yi Zou Ri and even the Jin Xian Zhenren behind him will be very supportive.

However, if one does not agree with Wang Yulou's open scheme, then Yi Zouri's plan to specifically target the Wang family and, as the sect leader's assistant, force the Wang family to continue sending Foundation Establishment cultivators to the front lines to die will not be able to proceed.

With this in mind, Yi Zouri finally made up his mind.

Disgusting Wang Yulou and harming the Wang family are ultimately minor matters; failing to actually help the Mangxiang faction win the war would be the real loss they would suffer.

Inside the cave of the Immortal Jinxian, Yi Zouri was reporting his strategy to his ancestor.

"We can't go along with Wang Yulou's wishes. The Special Merit Hall at the front has been restructured. If we send a large number of Foundation Establishment cultivators from the sect's territory there, we'll be handing over our base to the Mangxiang Sect."

Yi Zou Ri did not act impulsively; his response was generally sufficient to prevent the Zhuzhao faction from incurring further losses.

However.
"We still need to send people. There are many things you don't know. The way Mang Xiang did things a few years ago greatly increased the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators under the sect's jurisdiction."

"If we don't kill a batch, we won't see the problem in the short term, but once those Foundation Establishment cultivators become senior Foundation Establishment cultivators, the sect's foundation will be affected."

Jin Xian Zhenren was a dashing and handsome young man. When he gave instructions to Yi Zouri, who looked like Zhong Deng, there was a sense of absurdity to it.

"Understood, but Ancestor, could you please remove Yan Keyi? The front lines are full of Mang Xiang's men; the situation is not right."

Yi Zou Ri knew he might be overthinking things; the patriarch might have other ideas, but he still had to remind him—it was a disciple's duty.

With the Red Lantern Cult's benevolence greatly increased, the battle situation on the front lines will become even more intense, and there is a possibility that the interest structure of the Red Lantern Cult's Foundation Establishment cultivators will be reshaped.

If this possibility were to actually come true, then Yizou Ri would absolutely not accept the current situation where the Mangxiang faction is enjoying themselves.

"No need. Yan Keyi and many others in the middle line will die soon. I have already contacted Gua Zhenren of the Heavenly Serpent Sect."

The Heavenly Serpent Sect has already obtained the frontline defense map. They are just waiting for them to accumulate enough strength before launching the first general offensive. The main point of attack is on the central line!
Mang Xiang has now left the Celestial City of Azure Plains, and no one knows where he went. Even if Xuan Zhuan personally intervened, he couldn't save the 1700-mile central line.

Yi Zou Ri was somewhat taken aback.

Is this a real-life game of strategy?
As a major player with a rich history, the Red Lantern Group is unlikely to be defeated by a single battle.

By letting the Heavenly Serpent Sect tear into the center line, they can severely damage the prestige of the Wild Elephant Sect and purge a large number of the sect's excess Foundation Establishment cultivators, thereby maintaining the sect's stability.

For the Candlelight Sect, the best outcome would be a victory for Red Lantern, but for Mangxiang, it would be a Pyrrhic victory. Only in this way can the result of 'Mangxiang becoming an Immortal Venerable but not quite an Immortal Venerable' be fully realized.

The Red Lantern's interests expanded, and the Candlelight easily suppressed the Wild Elephant, advancing from one to two to one to three, enjoying a delicious feast.

Ultimately, the Candle Illumination Sect decided to accept Wang Yulou's open scheme, while at the same time, the Heavenly Serpent Sect's Gua Zhenren launched a full-scale attack to weaken the Mangxiang Sect's influence on the front lines.

Since the Immortal Venerable Zhuzhao does not appear in the world, the people in charge are Jinxian and Yizouri.

Their orders can be seen, in a sense, as the orders of the candle.

The situation is roughly that the kindness of Zhuzhao is passed down, and Hongdengzhao repays it with his life for the foundation building.

Go to the front lines to make suture filling materials.

The statement that Wang Xianzhu once emphasized to Wang Yulou is becoming increasingly valuable: the Red Lantern Sect only has two kinds of disciples, those with a strong foundation and those without.

Normally, the difference between the two types of disciples might not be so obvious.

When the conflict is intensified to a certain extent by various factors, whether actively or passively, the difference between the two becomes extremely obvious in an instant.

The "red light" incident, which resulted in a debt repayment agreement that emerged from a power struggle among various parties, is quite interesting.

Forces with more than thirty Foundation Establishment members should send one-fifth of them to the front lines.

Forces with more than ten Foundation Establishment members should send a quarter of their Foundation Establishment members to the front lines.

A force of five to ten Foundation Establishment cultivators should send two Foundation Establishment cultivators to the front lines.

For groups of five or fewer, send one Foundation Establishment cultivator to the front lines. If that Foundation Establishment cultivator dies, no more cultivators need to be sent for five years.

Those with slightly larger members need to be courted. Families with thirty or more Foundation Establishment cultivators often have a Purple Mansion cultivator in charge, and the one-fifth share is given out to respect the interests of Purple Mansion cultivators. Families with ten or more Foundation Establishment cultivators are the ones who are cut the hardest, to prevent them from becoming too powerful. They are the beneficiaries of the Red Lantern's debt repayment plan—they must repay their debts first and in full.

Smaller Foundation Establishment families are like a firebreak between the Red Lantern Cult and the lower-level cultivators. They can't be completely eliminated, so some were left unchecked. The goal is to systematically create new, single-line Foundation Establishment families, thereby achieving a stimulating effect of mutual encouragement and progress.

Among them, the most representative unlucky one is probably Wu Jinyan, the standard sole heir of a Foundation Establishment family and the patriarch in the Foundation Establishment stage.

Red light doesn't support idlers. If Wu Jinyan can't withstand it, the Wu family will fall apart.

Such precise differentiation and treatment may seem absurd, but it is full of reality.

The "one whale falls, all things are born" principle is not very applicable to the Purple Mansion and Immortal Venerables. The Red Lantern prefers the method of everyone cutting down together, which can also avoid the bottomless escalation of internal strife.

"Clan leader, Yulou and Churan have been waiting for you for a long time."

Wang Yulou transferred Qin Churan out of the Dripping Water Cave, intending to place her in the Fragrant Bamboo Workshop to keep an eye on its profits.

Despite holding multiple positions, Wang Yulou always followed the rules in Nan Ye Kingdom and the Hall of Special Merits, never taking the initiative to do anything that might be suspected of violating regulations.

In Nan Ye Kingdom, there is Nan Ye Ke, whom he has already offended. In the Special Merit Hall, he has offended too many people due to the distribution of benefits after the reform. In short, Wang Yulou has influence in both places, but his influence is not enough to make him act without restraint.

Therefore, it was the seemingly inconspicuous Xiangzhufang that became Wang Yulou's biggest source of income on the two front lines.

"Chu Ran, not bad, you've already reached the Qi Refining stage. Keep up your cultivation and strive to reach the Foundation Establishment stage as soon as possible."

After seeing Xiao Qin off, Wang Xianmao and Wang Yulou began to discuss the truly important matters.

"Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to send me alone?"

The Wang family currently has seven Foundation Establishment members: Wang Jingyi, Wang Yulou, Wang Xianmao, Wang Rongjiang, Wang Rongwen, Tie Qinhe, Zheng Yan, and Zhou Yingxi.

Therefore, in theory, the Wang family should send two Foundation Establishment cultivators to the front lines.

“Jingyi, Yingxi, Zheng Yan, and I are not strictly speaking members of the Wang family.”

So you don't need to worry too much. The sect leader won't cause trouble for no reason. As long as you are careful and establish a firm foothold on the front lines, we won't have to worry about recruiting Foundation Establishment cultivators anymore.

Wang Yulou was confident in Huang Qiusheng's incompetence. Once Huang Qiusheng decided to retire, he would not easily offend the Wang family, who were currently very powerful under Mang Xiang.

The fact that there are three true masters in one clan speaks volumes about their value.

"I'm not worried, but once the war starts, no one can easily stay out of it."

Or rather, the cost of staying out of it is too high.

Yu Lou, have you ever considered that our Wang clan has sent all the Foundation Establishment cultivators we can to the front lines?

Rong Wen, Rong Jiang, and Zheng Yanxiu are of lower rank, so let them work for you. Tie Qinhe and I will go to the front line.

Only in this way can we demonstrate our attitude towards our ancestor.

Wang Xianmao was certainly not crazy; he knew how dangerous it would be to implement his strategy.

But having gone this far as a scoundrel, Wang had no way back.

In the great battle between the two sects, if the Red Lantern Sect is defeated, the Wang family will suffer along with their ancestor!
"There's no need for that. The three lines are currently on the defensive overall, so there shouldn't be any major problems."

Furthermore, as long as I manage the Hall of Special Merits well, I can demonstrate the Wang family's attitude towards our ancestor.

By focusing on the major issues and letting go of the minor ones, and by addressing the core contradictions, how could Mang Xiang not know the contributions of the Wang family?

The value of the Hall of Special Merit lies in the fact that its existence signifies that the Mangxiang lineage controls the allocation of resources on the front lines!

Faced with Wang Yulou's explanation, the clan chief remained silent for a moment before asking.

"Yan Keli has not appeared for seven years. At first, the Yan family said he was in seclusion."

"Jade Pavilion, the True Man of Suspended Seal said that the Mangxiang lineage will have ten Purple Mansion cultivators in the future, but how many of these ten will actually be assigned to your name?"

How many are there?

Four of them are the tallest!
There is one Wang Jingyi. Among the four Yan brothers, there may be two Yan Keli and two Yan Keyi, and one Wang Yulou or one Wang Xianmao.

That's it—and that's assuming no unforeseen circumstances.

What if Wang Jingyi's opening of the Purple Mansion doesn't go smoothly?
What if someone else in the Suspended Seal School opens the Purple Mansion first?
The method to open the Purple Mansion is difficult, but for cultivators who can reach the peak of Foundation Establishment within the Immortal Alliance's cage system, the method to open the Purple Mansion is not that difficult—no one is stupid.

Wang Yulou certainly understood what the clan chief was reminding him of. However, he had his own thoughts.

"The family has reached the point where it must be split up, Ancestor."

The outcome of a war is unpredictable, and the future development of the clan's disciples cannot solely rely on following their ancestor. It is essential to preserve the possibility of a comeback.

Yu'an has been at Fulong Temple for so many years. I sent someone to check him out a while ago and found that he has been practicing quite diligently.

I think he can shoulder the heavy responsibility of the family branch. Uncle Rongsheng should take some people and go there as soon as possible. It will be much harder to leave once he has reached the Foundation Establishment stage.”

Wang Yulou once again proposed dividing the family property, and this time Wang Xianmao did not directly object.

Just as he had just reminded Wang Yulou, the Wang family, following Mang Xiang, could only reach the level of two Purple Mansions, and that was only possible if they were born in a good era and had a smooth journey.

If the family doesn't separate, many people in the clan will find their cultivation efforts completely in vain, and it's even possible for relatives to turn against each other.

For example, Wang Xianmao has always had a problem with Wang Jingyi.

"Alright, let's split up the family, it's time to split up the family. But can Yulou's branch really stand firm in Fulong Temple?"

Wang Yulou sighed inwardly, but spoke with great confidence.

"Yes, you must trust our people!"

Many problems are unsolvable.

But you still have to accept it.

If you can't get through life without solving certain problems, then life is truly unbearable.

Wang Xianmao looked at Yulou with a complicated expression, and all his words finally boiled down to one sentence.

"You've grown up."

There was relief, there was also disappointment, there was helplessness, and there was resentment.

"Haha, Ancestor, in front of you, Yulou will always be a child."

Wang Yulou and Wang Xianmao discussed two more matters from the front lines, and then talked about his job assignment.

"You can just go to the support team in the middle line and be the captain. This task sounds busy, but in reality, most of the time it's just a trip."

In addition, the central defensive line is the most solid, both in terms of the formation and the number of cultivators on the front line.

In the past, you neither neglected your spiritual practice nor had to exert too much effort, and you even received an additional stipend.

Looking at Wang Yulou, whose face was full of confidence and arrogance, the old clan chief smiled and nodded.

How can someone stay a child forever?
Yulou, you've already gone much further than I have.

(End of this chapter)