Shangyuque

Chapter 225 Stripped of Heaven's Mandate! For the first time, the Jade Emperor's decree was heard throughout the four seas and eight wastelands! (1.1 views, requesting monthly votes)
【褫夺 (chi, third tone)】

Yuan Wu, sitting in the audience, was desperately trying to change his fate after trying time and time again, and finally got a real chance to change it.

On the stage, Wang Yulou chatted with the current West Sea Dragon Tiger Master.

"If I remember correctly, Fellow Daoist Kakulong is a cultivator from Chongxian Prefecture?"

From Wunan Prefecture, the northernmost part of the Immortal Alliance where Wang Yulou made his fortune, to Huzhou, the southernmost part, and Shiguo Prefecture, the westernmost part, Wang Yulou, as the deputy leader of the Immortal Alliance, forged friendships with cultivators from all five prefectures.

This is the significance of securing a position and accumulating experience. Many Purple Mansions who take on Immortal Alliance missions and spend their lifespan in the Great Heaven and Earth also have the same goal.

If a cultivator in the Purple Mansion Realm secludes himself in his cultivation every day, doesn't know anyone, and when trouble comes, can't get a single help from anyone except his own faction, then he's truly a clown.

Moreover, during internal strife, people within the same faction become enemies, and in this context, external assistance is even necessary.

Wang Yulou knew many cultivators from the five states, but he was not familiar with any of the great cultivators from Chongxian State.

It's not that the great cultivators of Chongxian Prefecture don't know etiquette, but rather that Chongxian Prefecture is too small, with only two main sects, five unorthodox sects, and two immortal cities, making it a remote corner of the Immortal Alliance.

Of course, the small size of the region does not mean that the great cultivators of Chongxian Prefecture are weak. On the contrary, in terms of average strength, the great cultivators of Chongxian Prefecture may be significantly stronger than the average level of the other six prefectures of the Immortal Alliance.

Kakulong is a prime example. During the chaos in Chongxian Prefecture more than 2,700 years ago, he sided with the Immortal Alliance and got his fill.

"Yes, I come from the Bull Demon Society, but my strength is weak. Alliance Leader, please don't be so polite. Just call me Little Horn."

The leader can just call me Xiaojiao. Jiaolong doesn't want to get involved in the reform, so he keeps a very low profile.

Wang Yulou could support him at work, but he had absolutely no spare energy.

Therefore, the kakugo is not a sign of politeness or reverence, but simply a sign of keeping a respectful distance.

"His Majesty the Ox King is a giant of the conservative faction. When the Water Venerable's reforms shifted, His Majesty the Ox King also supported them."

The reason I chose the West Sea to be the first to fully implement the reforms, aside from other miscellaneous matters, is primarily because Fellow Daoist Kakuraga is also in the West Sea.”

However, Kakugoro's worries were indeed justified; that bastard Wang Yulou had long been eyeing him.

Come on, let's all work together to reform the law.

“Fellow Daoist Yuque, I certainly support the reform, but I don’t understand it either. I will do whatever you ask me to do.”

I have only respect for you, the vice leader, and I fully support your efforts to promote reform.

Kakulong replied in a deep voice, his response was very thorough, leaving Wang Yulou speechless for a moment.

Speak your mind directly; don't expect undue support, and trying to build connections is useless.

"Fellow Daoist Kakulong doesn't have a positive view of the reforms?"

Wang Yulou asked calmly, wanting to know the attitude of the cultivators in Chongxian Prefecture towards the reforms.

On the Immortal Platform, Chongxian Prefecture, as the conservative force of the entire Immortal Alliance, almost blindly supports the reform. However, in actual implementation, Jiaolong, who comes from Chongxian Prefecture, is not very enthusiastic about the invitation to join the reform process.

This difference in attitude is actually quite interesting.

Upon hearing Wang Yulou's question, Kakulong realized that simply making excuses wouldn't work, so he pondered for a moment before explaining.

“Fellow Daoist Yuque, more than three thousand years ago, Chongxian Prefecture conducted a fair selection process.”

At that time, it was to prepare for the destruction of the Immortal Realm. Our twelve sects united to carry out this project, and it was a big deal.

In less than five hundred years, more than ninety Purple Mansions rose from the bottom.

On average, one person reaches the Purple Mansion realm every five years. This is an unprecedented achievement, and the Daoists of Chongxian Prefecture all stood tall on the Immortal Platform.

However, the war between the Immortal Alliance and the Immortal Extinction Domain never actually broke out. The extra Purple Mansions became a problem, eventually leading to the chaos in Chongxian Prefecture.

I support the reforms of the Immortal Alliance. Selecting candidates first and then pushing them through is a clever strategy, but those who are pushed through will eventually be eliminated.

"But can the six states of the Immortal Alliance withstand a larger-scale version of the chaos in Chongxian State?"

As expected, the Immortal Alliance's reforms didn't just begin with the arrival of the mad elephant. Throughout the Immortal Alliance's more than four thousand years of history, there has never been a shortage of people who wanted to reform. Chongxian Prefecture had reformed before, but the scope was limited to the prefecture itself.

The reforms in Chongxian Prefecture made the great cultivators of Chongxian Prefecture realize that the consequences of failure would be severe. However, because their average strength had increased significantly after the chaos in Chongxian Prefecture, they were willing to support the reforms during the decision-making process—just wait and see, they weren't afraid.

If we're talking about the state most affected by the reforms, it's definitely not Chongxian State, so the great cultivators of Chongxian State aren't in a hurry.

Wang Yulou fell into deep thought as he pondered the matter of reform.

Mang Xiang said that the civil war had already begun, but Wang Yulou disagreed, as the Golden Core Immortal Venerable of the Immortal Alliance was far too composed.

The performances of Mangxiang and Qingrui, who were forced to perform at the Western Sea Divine Light, were crazy.

The Heavenly Serpent Sect and the Red Lantern Gang, who had been fighting for decades, even a hundred years, were allies from the very beginning.

The two groups, Datiantai Mountain and Mingcheng Taoist Temple, who are currently engaged in a fierce battle, are colluding with each other.

Ultimately, the Golden Core Immortals are the ruling class and core of the Immortal Alliance, and their interests are well taken care of.

Under such circumstances, Wang Yulou could not see which other cautious Golden Core Immortal Venerable had lost, besides the Divine Light.

Even the beleaguered and troubled Xiao Hu has the support of the Immortal Extinction Domain behind him, and he is only about nine thousand miles away from defeat.

If no one loses, no one will initiate a war.

Everyone is waiting for someone else to break down.
Therefore, one cannot completely trust what Kakugoro and Mangxiang say; one must still make changes when necessary.

Be bold in change, be bold in moving forward, and bet that the Immortal Venerables of the Immortal Alliance have enough ambition and enough unwavering resolve!
Seeing that the vice leader remained silent after hearing his explanation, Jiaolong pondered for a moment and decided to take it a step further.

Wang Yulou is a valuable leader in the Immortal Alliance. Among the rising stars of the Immortal Alliance, he is undoubtedly number one, and in the eyes of most people, his future prospects are guaranteed to reach the Purple Mansion level.

Don't misunderstand, the rest of the group doesn't think Wang Yulou can guarantee a Purple Mansion realm in the future; they think that with Wang Yulou's awesomeness, he might become a Golden Core Immortal Venerable in the future.
Putting everything else aside, the intricate antennas behind Wang Yulou alone are enough to ignite the imagination.

Dripping water, wild elephant, divine light, Bifang, water deity.
It can be said that many relatively disillusioned members of the Immortal Alliance regard Wang Yulou's rise to power as a secret manual. Such a Wang Yulou is certainly worth winning over and befriending.

Even if Kakugoro doesn't want to be deeply involved in the reform, he will still speak politely and keep his distance verbally.

“Fellow Daoist Yuque, look, the one in the arena named Yuan Wu is your old enemy.”

I know you might want to use him to show your magnanimity, but on the other hand, the more ambitious people you take in, the more pressure and risks you bear.

This is true for you, and it is also true for the Immortal Alliance.

Opening up upward mobility channels and giving hope to ambitious individuals is not a good thing.

Hope is the most unreasonable thing in the world. Many practitioners are willing to walk a path that leads to certain death just for a sliver of hope.

They would shout, "Those who pursue the Way, though they die nine times, will not regret it."

Then they will die, but the problem is that it takes resources and time to kill them, and these are the costs.

"Reform, reform! If things don't get chaotic in the future, the current reforms are only sowing the seeds for an accelerated civil war within the Immortal Alliance."

There are too many dimensions to a single matter. The West Sea Dragon Tiger True Man's cage, which originated from the Bull Demon Society of Chongxian Prefecture, provided Wang Yulou with a completely new perspective.

If the reforms continue, and the new generation of Immortal Alliance cultivators created cannot obtain corresponding opportunities for advancement on the future stage of the Immortal Alliance, they will become a problem for the Immortal Alliance.

From this perspective, Mangxiang's concerns seem to be true; Mangxiang's reforms were about killing people to create new growth.

The Water Venerable Reform aims to reshape the distribution of interests among the lower levels of the Immortal Alliance and create a new generation of cultivators at the lower levels of the Immortal Alliance.

Is Shui Zun really betting on the next era?

Or does he need the Immortal Alliance to descend into chaos so that the Immortal Alliance can be destroyed first, thus fulfilling his desire for the next era?

No, no, something must be wrong. Why would so many immortals on the platform be willing to follow?

"Fellow Daoist Kakulong, you know that there were 118 votes in favor of the reform and change of direction on the Immortal Platform, right?"

It is a fact that the immortals on the Immortal Platform all support the reform; other possibilities are merely future development expectations under certain dimensions, not facts.

Kakugoro nodded and said.

“I also support the reform, Fellow Daoist Yuque. What you should worry about is that the reform may succeed, but what about you? Can you make it to the end amidst the turbulent waves of the reform?”

You are the kind of cultivator who sets lofty goals from the very beginning, but sometimes, what immortals need is not your lofty ambitions.

Understanding the path is useless; the immortals don't need you to do anything more. Perhaps even if you die, the reforms can continue, or even continue in a better way.

This reminder is very insightful.

Speaking too frankly with someone you barely know, even to someone you barely know, is a form of betting. At this moment, he, Yan Kang, Xi Zhu, and even Li Haikuo are all in the same boat.

As long as Wang Yulou hasn't lost, he will always be a prodigy, a leader, and the most extraordinary rising star of the Immortal Alliance. He will never lack goodwill, nor will he lack scrutiny from all sides.

The lurking malice can break most people with weak minds, but the courtesy that covers the malice is also real, at least the warning from the horn cage is real.

Anyway, it's just a few words of advice; it won't harm his interests.

Looking at the two 'Heroes of the Western Sea' covered in blood in the arena, Wang Yulou felt that his Dao heart was under unprecedented pressure.

Yuan Wu changed the ridiculous fate of the Yuan family's prodigy through repeated life-or-death struggles, and now he continues to fight, risking his life for an even greater chance to change his destiny.

Two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Western Sea, who had fought their way up from the bottom and through adversity, tacitly chose a cruel way to compete outside the rules.

Kill the other party to prove your worth in front of Wang Yuque.

Driven by a vague opportunity and an unproven possibility, two people with no prior grudges chose to fight to the death.

Wang Yulou remained silent, as did Jiaolong, and the others could only watch silently, not daring to intervene.

This is the reality of the cultivation world, and Wang Yulou has gradually walked to the center of the reform storm. Even though he knows that the next move will be difficult, he can no longer back down.

The reform might succeed, but what Wang Yulou wanted was not just the success of the reform, but also to live to witness its success and receive the rewards that belonged to the promoters of the reform.

Immortal Venerables can change their interests at any time, and beings like the Water Venerable can redefine what is real and what is fake whenever they want.

They have options, they can retreat, and they have plenty of room to maneuver.

But Wang Yulou didn't, which is the cruelest thing—once you choose a path, you can't easily change it before you reach the end.

It cannot be changed easily—it is possible to change, but the cost would be too high.

Wang Yulou's actual power was not enough to find someone to take the blame for him in matters of reform.

So, when did this game, which was almost a dead end for Wang Yulou, begin to reach this point?
When Mangxiang said he might never actually become the leader of the Immortal Alliance, it was already too late.

The key pieces in the game were placed much earlier, and Li Haikuo might even have been a potential reform advocate.

When Wang Yulou was thinking about how to deal with Wang Yu'an, were those who pushed him out also thinking about how to deal with Wang Yulou?

For some reason, Wang Yulou suddenly thought of Jinshan.

Jinshan Patriarch, a great cultivator at the peak of the Purple Mansion realm, is indeed no simpleton.
Suddenly, the female cultivator, as if possessed, used Yuan Wu's spiritual weapon to connect her spiritual energy with a flying shuttle, directly passing through Yuan Wu's defensive secret technique and blasting him into a bloody pulp.

The price was that both of her legs were severed cleanly, a trade of life for injury. Yuan Wu died because of his high social standing; in the end, he lacked the ruthlessness to punish himself.

But as long as we win, this injury only looks serious. Under the control of the Foundation Establishment cultivator, the bleeding will stop quickly.

The female cultivator with the broken leg lay prostrate on the ground, bowing deeply in the direction of Wang Yulou and the horn cage.

Kakulong curled his lip, feeling a bit embarrassed that Yuan Wu, that good-for-nothing, had actually lost.

Wang Yulou smiled.

There is no such thing as a dead end. There are plenty of people playing chess. Water Venerable, Wild Elephant, and Azure Bud Immortal Venerable are just a small part of the players.

As long as the game continues, as long as the possibility exists, there will always be a chance.

In such a silent era, from Shenguang to Mangxiang, and other top forces, there has never been a shortage of geniuses who can prove the Golden Core.

If they can do it, why can't I, Wang Yuque?
It's nothing more than a thousand miles of war and flames, aiding my path through countless trials, a journey of life or death.

There's nothing to worry about, just keep moving forward.

Thinking of this, he smiled and said.

"What's your name?"

The arena fell silent. After the vice leader spoke, the cultivators who had just been frustrated by their failed bets dared not make a sound anymore.

The gazes people cast upon the woman with the broken leg were a mixture of emotions: envy,感慨, jealousy, admiration, and disdain.

The female cultivator endured the pain and answered loudly.

"Reporting, reporting to the Alliance Leader, my name is Xu Zhongyu!"

Kakulong's expression became even more strained. He saw Wang Yulou as someone engulfed in flames, on the verge of death and annihilation. But others saw Wang Yuque as a salvation that could change their fate.

Xu Zhongyu, Xu Zhongyu, what a damn lousy name!

Only a scoundrel like Wang Yuque, who is ambitious, loves infighting and power struggles, and treats acting as a form of spiritual practice, would like such a subordinate.
Of course, Jiaolong only thinks these things; it's absolutely impossible for him to say them to outsiders. Over the years, he has even studied Wang Yulou's performance techniques quite a bit, after all, Wang's success is simply too dazzling.

"Hahaha, good, good, Xu Zhongyu, good, Zheng Yan, arrange for someone to treat Zhongyu's injuries!"

Kakugoro believes that there are too many ambitious people under its command, which could cause problems.

Wang Yulou was afraid that his subordinates lacked ambition. How could they do anything without ambition? They had to be ambitious.

Xu Zhongyu is exactly the kind of person he needs.

The cultivators in the arena pulled Xu Zhongyu away to treat him. After the third battle, Chen Yangshi, the assistant of the West Sea Dragon Tiger True Man, took the initiative to stand in the center of the arena.

"The Immortal Alliance Reform is a reform aimed at better serving all cultivators in the world."

You may not know this, but the immortals on the Immortal Platform are extremely busy and have many things to attend to.

After taking office, the leader of the Jade Palace Alliance worked tirelessly day and night to investigate and study the various problems within the Immortal Alliance, and reported them to higher authorities.

The many immortals on the Immortal Platform were furious when they learned of the many absurd things happening in the Immortal Alliance, and thus decided to carry out a comprehensive reform.

The reforms are intended to create a fair, just, and open path for all cultivators in the world to advance.

If you have the ability to win the Foundation Establishment Seed Battle Selection, you will have a great chance to successfully establish your foundation and join the Immortal Alliance system.

Fairness, impartiality, and transparency are the core principles for implementing the reform process.

The Western Sea is where the Alliance Leader once cultivated and struggled. The Alliance Leader appointed me as the Assistant to the Dragon and Tiger True Man of the Western Sea, which is to have me preside over the reform in the Western Sea.

Fellow Daoists, fellow Daoists, seniors, the Alliance Leader has arrived! The blue sky over the Western Sea is now clear!

The first Foundation Establishment seed selection competition in the Western Sea has officially begun!

With the arrival of the alliance leader, justice will prevail.

These words were so disgusting that even Kagura could hardly keep his composure. He secretly glanced at Wang Yuque and found that the bastard's expression was still so calm.

Well, this shows I haven't been shameless enough all this time. If I could be even more shameless, I might have already achieved the Golden Core stage.
Kakulong was reflecting on himself, but Wang Yulou had no time to care about him anymore.

With his accelerated pace, the reforms in Xihai reached their most crucial stage.

First, they competed in a contest to select candidates, then they were recommended for foundation building.

The selection process through combat is not important. Whoever is chosen must abide by the laws and order of the Immortal Alliance. The key issue lies in the 'recommendation for Foundation Establishment'.
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Organization is the foundation of society itself; no society, regardless of its form, can escape this fundamental attribute.

The fierce competition and boundless ambition among cultivators, from the opposite direction, shaped the great cultivators' extreme desire for organization through the most rational and inevitable choices.

It even led to the emergence of super-powerful forces that resembled monsters like the Immortal Alliance, Immortal Kingdom, Holy Land, and Divine Cave.

Trillions of living beings, hundreds of millions of cultivators—this is the Immortal Alliance.

The ability to organize so many living beings, even if the organization appears loose and cruel, inherently possesses extremely high inertia and stability.

The reforms involved a reorganization of the organization and its deconstruction. The Water Venerable's reforms further reshaped the development path and upward mobility of the Immortal Alliance's lower-level cultivators. The resistance was so great that it made Mang Xiang reluctant to actually take office.

Jinshan's retreat, Jiaolong's reminder, and Mangxiang's refusal to take office all clearly convey, in a highly realistic way, the concerns of these immortals about the reform itself.

But crisis is crisis, and crisis also hides opportunity.

Reform is dangerous, but it is also a good opportunity. There are too many geniuses in the Immortal Alliance, but there is only one narrow door to the high-level destination of the other shore.

Wang Yulou would need to work very hard to squeeze in.

He's the kind of person who creates his own job resources when they don't have any, and the kind of person who creates difficulties for himself even when there aren't any.

It's unacceptable that Wang Yulou simply walked away after making the reforms too big and too difficult.

I don't want to, and I can't.

So, no matter how difficult it is, we must keep going.

At dusk, the new Dragon Tiger Terrace in Xihai Immortal City was brightly lit.

Wang Yuque sat quietly at the head of the table, with Chen Yangshi standing beside him with his hands hanging down. Longhu Zhenren, who came from the Niu Mo Hui of Chongxian Prefecture, sat in a slightly lower position.

Below them, four of the eight local Purple Mansion Realm experts from the Western Sea arrived, and the four who couldn't come sent their capable subordinates. The Western Sea Guardian True Person and the Western Sea Treasure Holder True Person of the Immortal Alliance sat at the edge of the Purple Mansion seats.

Further out were more than two hundred Foundation Establishment Peak cultivators.

"Selecting first and then promoting is the general direction set by Shui Zun, but how to promote the recommendations is a big problem."

My initial idea is that every fifteen years, regardless of cultivation level or status, cultivators in the Purple Mansion realm can recommend one person who has reached the peak of Qi Refining and has reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

Every fifty years, a cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishment or a family with five or more members at the Foundation Establishment stage can recommend one cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining stage, regardless of their cultivation level or status.

The Zifu faction and Zifu family can be freely separated at any time, but the bottom line of the number of recommendations and time limits cannot be crossed.

Foundation Establishment cultivators can also organize themselves to recommend talented individuals to the Immortal Alliance. I will not impose any restrictions on these matters.

However, the right of recommendation needs to be specific to an individual. Taking Yang Shi as an example, Yang Shi is a disciple of Qiong Hai Zhenren and can act as the specific recommender of the right of recommendation by virtue of his status as a member of the Zi Fu family.

You cannot make a recommendation, then switch to another faction and exercise the recommendation right of "five Foundation Establishment cultivators jointly recommending one".

I call this 'the right to recommend someone follows them,' and no one can cross this line.

The complexity of the reform lies in the fact that the Mangxiang Reform aimed to control the 10% allocated to lower-level cultivators through killing, thereby allowing higher-level cultivators to take away another 30% of the distribution of benefits.

The direction that Shui Zun turned towards, at least nominally, was to prepare for the next era, and it did not have a direct and strong demand for a specific share of the benefits.

Shui Zun wouldn't even look at such a small amount.

However, Wang Yulou had to consider both demands and try to balance them as much as possible.

Combined with the de facto opening of upward mobility channels to lower-level cultivators of the Immortal Alliance, this major demand for betting on the next era requires even more consideration in terms of balance.

Therefore, by restricting the right to recommend, we can both increase the value of the upward channel and limit the expansion of the number of Immortal Alliance Foundation Establishment members, thus preventing the trap of "the more reforms are implemented, the more people share the pie."

Furthermore, the arrangement of "the right to recommend follows the person" can further enhance the satisfaction of the core executive cultivators within the Immortal Alliance and its local major sects with the reforms.

Foundation Establishment cultivators have very little say in front of Grandmasters of the Purple Mansion, but Wang Yulou's reform and recommendation arrangements can further empower Foundation Establishment peak cultivators.

This empowerment itself did not cost Wang Yulou or the Purple Mansion cultivators anything; rather, it created an increment within a new scale of interest competition.

One obvious problem is that this new scale of interest game is based on the shift in the reform. The traditional power of Purple Mansion cultivators will shrink relatively after Wang Yulou 'empowered' the Foundation Establishment Peak cultivators through the reform.

From this perspective, it seems that Wang Yulou has offended more than two thousand Purple Mansions of the Immortal Alliance.

But in reality, the more real contradiction lies in the fact that the Purple Mansions of the Immortal Alliance need the stability of the Immortal Alliance, and need the Immortal Alliance to continue to be great in the next era, and even forever.

Otherwise, they would face an invitation to be seated at the table from the Golden Core Immortals.

The intertwining of multiple interests, the participation of various stakeholders, and the coupling of multiple contradictions constitute the essential difficulty of the shift in the reform process.

Fortunately, Wang Yulou was not stupid, so he was still able to try his best to take care of the interests of all parties within the general framework of the reform shift.

Wang Yulou did a great job in empowering the Foundation Establishment Peak cultivators and taking care of the Purple Mansion cultivators, but everyone else at the table had two questions in their minds.

Two questions that are extremely important to interests.

"Alliance Leader, I would like to know, in the process of selection followed by recommendation, if our family's Qi Refining Peak members pass the selection but actively seek recommendation from other forces for Foundation Establishment opportunities, what is that considered?"

A local Grand Master of the Purple Mansion realm from the Western Sea spoke up. His question was quite interesting. It seemed like he was asking what to do when his own child was disobedient, but he was actually asking how much power and freedom a Peak Qi Refining cultivator enjoyed in the process of 'selecting first and then pushing'.

This is very important.

Every cultivator who reaches the Purple Mansion is a leader-type cultivator. Even a cultivator like Wang Jingyi will need to undergo further transformation in the future to take on the tasks assigned to her by the faction.

The mindset and value judgment system of lower-level cultivators are incompatible with the world of leader-type cultivators.

The question posed by Zifu is essentially about the class-based distribution of benefits in the cultivation world, and whether the reforms will 'empower' those at the peak of Qi Refining.

A peak Qi Refining cultivator or even a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator might not seem like much, but if Wang Yulou's 'empowerment' distribution is the kind that generously shares benefits all, then the future power struggles between the Purple Mansion and Foundation Establishment factions within the Immortal Alliance will have to change accordingly.
This is the true value of the reform; it is not just empty talk. When the Water Venerable and the 118 Immortal Venerables of the Celestial Platform vote together, the reform promoted by Wang Yulou will completely rewrite the fate of trillions of lives in the six states.

One Qi cultivator is insignificant, and so are a hundred Qi cultivators, but in the long-term struggle for interests, small disadvantages in the short term will accumulate and eventually lead to a qualitative change.

In other words, if Wang Yulou were more generous and 'empowered' more, many Purple Mansions might be kicked off the Immortal Alliance stage by the aftermath of the reforms hundreds or thousands of years from now!
"The two-way selection process, with Water Venerable and the other 117 Immortal Venerables providing the answer, shows that the Immortal Alliance must look forward and develop."

Those who can keep up with the pace of development are welcome; those who cannot can come to me in person, and I will do my best to help them adapt to the rhythm of reform as soon as possible.

The reforms are for the future of the Immortal Alliance, for all cultivators in the world, and for us to better prepare for the next era.

It is not a threshold, nor a screening process; I, Wang Yulou, can promise this today in the Western Sea.”

At this point, Wang Yulou stopped.

More than two hundred Foundation Establishment Peak cultivators from the West Sea were watching him, as were seven Purple Mansion cultivators.

A dozen or so immortals, who were present but not actually there, were watching him. Bifang was watching him, Mangxiang was watching him, and Qingrui, Shenguang, Tianshe, General Baixu, and Yuehua were all watching him.

However, Wang Yulou suddenly stopped.

Of course, Xiao Wang didn't mean any disrespect to the old bastards, or that he was deliberately leading them astray; it's just that they didn't show up either.

The idea that Little Wang could easily outmaneuver over a dozen Golden Core Immortals and the strongest beings in the world, leaving them breathless, is simply not true.

The cultivator who was the specific promoter of the reform and who had voluntarily stood up suddenly stood up. He looked around to make sure everyone was listening attentively before solemnly speaking again.

"I, Wang Yulou, here in the Western Sea today, as the Vice Leader of the Immortal Alliance, promise that the reforms are absolutely not intended to leave anyone behind or eliminate anyone."

The Immortal Alliance serves all cultivators under heaven. What I can do is lead by example and use this attitude to help any fellow cultivator who is falling behind in the pace of the reforms to better keep up.

The reforms of the Immortal Alliance, after being accelerated time and again, were once again accelerated by Wang Yulou!
What makes a cultivator considered a great cultivator?

Cultivation level?
Mu Chunze is a cultivator and has been working with ingredients for decades.

Shenguang, who possessed cultivation, was led by Mangxiang to be used as a punching bag in a team-building exercise.

Even though the Golden Valley Garden God Venerable possessed cultivation, he still had to kneel before the Water Venerable and respectfully address him as "Master."

The Ghost-Faced Immortal, the Smiling Ghost, possessed cultivation, yet when facing Bifang, it was as cautious as a servant.

Are they considered high-ranking monks?
Is Wang Yulou, who took on the heavy responsibility of reforming the Immortal Alliance and faced the pressure of Jinshan retreating, Mangxiang hesitating, the mystery remaining unclear, and the outcome uncertain, considered a great cultivator?

When the heavy burden fell on Wang Yulou's shoulders, he did not run away, but carried it on.

It is an inevitable fact that when the Supreme Being has not yet appeared, and the dozens of top Golden Core Immortal Venerables standing on the clouds are wary of their opponent's resources and offensive, the bottom-up logic is bound to exist.

If, after deducting the cost of governance, one out of every hundred spirit stones can be converted into income for a great cultivator, then governance has value.

This is a fact closer to the perspective of self-interest. Extending this fact further, a potential fact lies in:

Even if a sovereign figure does not emerge, every existence has value!
From an absolutely rational perspective of bargaining, even a Qi cultivator or an ordinary person has value after being passed down through layers of transmission.

However, this transformation of value requires an extremely high level of strategic negotiation.

The transaction of goods, which serve as symbols of profit, in the circulation process is defined as a perilous leap.

What Wang Yulou did, through reform and change of direction, created value for the Golden Core Immortals of the Immortal Alliance through bottom-up transmission, was a leap even more perilous than the one he had just made.

But he had to do it, no matter how difficult it was.

If we say that great cultivators are immortal beings who defy the heavens, what they are fighting for is the great freedom of escaping fate.

The reforms and changes in direction of the Immortal Alliance were the concrete practical means by which great cultivators competed for the Mandate of Heaven.

Wang Yulou's actions in leading the reforms, while transmitting and creating value, and achieving self-cultivation and further advancement, demonstrate a grand vision of depriving one of destiny.

Stripped of their destiny, they face death to live, reforming the Immortal Alliance, and vying for victory or defeat among the most powerful Golden Core Immortal Venerables of the next era.

If Wang Yuque isn't considered a great cultivator, then what kind of being can be considered a great cultivator?
Yu Hongdou is about to be sent to Wang Yulou's bed by the Immortal Venerable Quanfa?

He was forced to his head and humiliated, used as a punching bag, and despised by others for being a fellow Golden Core cultivator like Shenguang.

Those who died on the road to Mangxiangzheng?

Wang Yulou already possessed the ambition to become a great cultivator, sitting on the clouds wielding chess pieces and manipulating the heavens and earth, but he still lacked an opportunity, an opportunity to pass through the ascension passage whose door had been welded shut.

Therefore, in Xihai, he initiated a new round of accelerated reforms.

Why did Wang Yulou pause?
Because he knew that once he spoke, the entire world would hear his voice for the first time.

Those who truly walk the path of seeking enlightenment amidst layers of illusions, endless lies, and countless concealments will inevitably realize that they have gained another young challenger.

This is no easy path. Wang Yulou's weakest opponents are likely ancient monsters who have existed for at least ten thousand years.

There was no gradual progress, no step-by-step advancement. After the Foundation Establishment stage, there were iron chains blocking the way everywhere, making further ascent impossible.

No one would give Wang Yulou a chance for nothing; even Bai Li wouldn't do that.

This path is one that those who pursue the Dao must cross; it is more bitter and difficult than the sea of ​​suffering in the mortal world, a sea of ​​suffering belonging to those who seek immortality and those who pursue the Dao.

But this is also the path to break free from the shackles of fate and face destiny head-on; Wang Yulou did not make a mistake.

The other shore is at the end of the road.

The greatest freedom, which comes without cost, lies at the end of the road.

Either life or death.

It's nothing more than a thousand miles of war and flames, but as long as it helps me on my arduous journey, it's all worth it!
"We will obey the Alliance Leader's decree!"

Chen Yangshi was the first to shout, and after him, scattered voices of support rang out.

They were not against the reform, much less against Wang Yuque.

Everyone, especially those who stand on the stage of profit distribution, knows that a new era has begun.

Faced with the turbulent currents of a changing era, not everyone can be as steadfast and unyielding as Wang Yulou.

Therefore, they will hesitate, worry, and even be afraid.

But after much deliberation, under the oppression of systemic violence, they will still ultimately utter one sentence—

"We will obey the Alliance Leader's decree."

Wang Yulou sat down and, somewhat wearily, drank the spirit wine in his cup in one gulp.

The exhausted vice-leader knew that this would be the first time the Four Extremes, Five Domains, and Eight Desolations would hear his voice, but he felt little relief, only a calm as if walking on thin ice.

So, before things really get too busy, let's grab a drink first.

Wang Yulou only hoped that after this ordeal, the old beasts of the Immortal Alliance would finally grant him the opportunity to enter the Purple Mansion realm that they should have given him long ago.

A bunch of despicable bastards!
-

Wang Yuque is in the Western Sea, and all the key beings of the Great Heaven and Earth will soon hear his decree.

However, the Immortal Alliance is vast. Eighty thousand miles southeast of the West Sea, in Chongxian Prefecture, a peculiar upheaval is taking place.

As everyone knows, in this vast world, there are only immortals, not demons.

The winners are all immortals, and the losers don't even have the right to be called demons; they will be erased from existence without a trace.

As a heretical force in Chongxian Prefecture, the Bull Demon Society's name contains the word "demon," but it carries no derogatory connotation; rather, it is closer to a special form of respect.

The title "Bull Demon King" is a special name for a Golden Core Immortal Venerable, much like how people would call Taihe Water Venerable instead of the ordinary Taihe Water Immortal Venerable.

Due to the advancement of the Immortal Alliance's reforms, as well as the preparations made by the Immortal Venerables for civil war and for a future chaotic era, the six states of the Immortal Alliance have entered a state of widespread warfare.

Everywhere, there are fierce battles between sects, which are used to selectively deplete the lower-level disciples and achieve the goal of reducing the overall number of disciples by 30%.

In addition, this confrontation and fighting can also serve as preparation for war in advance.

The conservative forces are already preparing for war in full swing. If the reformists don't follow, then if a real war breaks out in the future, the reformists will be seen as complete idiots.

However, Chongxian Prefecture is different from other prefectures. The reformist faction's influence was almost completely wiped out during the Chongxian Prefecture Rebellion more than 2,700 years ago.

The Bull Demon Society chose to fight against the Thirteen Caves of Chongshan in Chongxian Prefecture, which were also conservative left-wing forces.

Two frontline cases: Han Yingxiong, the deputy head of the ninth hole of Chongshan Thirteen Holes, has recently sensed that something is amiss.

The two sides were fighting fiercely, and in the past, dozens of people on each side would die every day.

It may not seem like much, but if it goes on for a long time, over twenty or thirty years, it can completely replace the lower-level cultivators of both sects, thus achieving the effect of preparing for war.

However, in the last seven or eight days, the fighting on both fronts has clearly subsided considerably.

The Bull Demon Cult cultivators charged forward, but after two or three died halfway through, they began to retreat.

When the cultivators from the Thirteen Caves of Chongshan charged at the defensive points of the Bull Demon Society, they would lose two or three, or at most five, before they would scatter and retreat.

Logically speaking, since there is no shortage of low-level cultivators and the sect's laws are strict, cultivators who desert at will should be severely punished.

It won't kill you, but it will certainly leave you severely injured.

And since there were rewards for charging forward, the cultivators still had some drive when they actually went to the front lines.

However, it seemed that the frontline cultivators from both sects had suddenly decided against charging forward.
It doesn't matter if they don't charge, but the preparations of the Bull Demon Association and the Thirteen Caves of Chongshan will be delayed.

As the deputy leader of the ninth hole, Han Yingxiong was appointed as the front-line commander. He knew the significance of the preparations. If this matter was delayed, it would cause big trouble in the future.

His subordinates investigated several times but found nothing, which was a bit problematic.

Therefore, Han Yingxiong, unusually, took the initiative to go to the front line today and decided to personally investigate to see what changes had occurred.

Because of his high cultivation level, Han Yingxiong's appearance was also known to the cultivators at the front lines. Therefore, he specially changed his appearance and used a secret technique to conceal his features, so as to better achieve the purpose of investigation.

The battlefronts of the Bull Demon Society and the Thirteen Caves of Chongshan and the Red Lantern Society and the Heavenly Serpent Sect are no different; they're all the same.

Han Yingxiong pretended to be in the late stage of Qi Refining and slipped into a secondary defensive node.

This node has an array that can withstand the attack of Foundation Establishment cultivators for a short time. It is guarded by two Foundation Establishment cultivators and more than thirty Qi Refining cultivators. It is a standard resource-intensive node.

They're just waiting for the Bull Demon King to come and devour them; the Bull Demon King's path also has similar turning points.

If one of these nodes is lost, nearly forty people will die smoothly. If others die elsewhere, the day's task will be completed.

"Hmm? You're one of the newly assigned reinforcements?"

Noticing that Han Yingxiong was coming from the rear of the front line, and that he must be one of their own, a Qi Refining Peak cultivator inside the secondary defense node proactively opened the formation for him.

"Yes, we need to replenish our ranks. Fewer people have died recently, so we replenishment cultivators can better go to the front lines to reinforce various defensive nodes and strengthen the defenses of our Chongshan Sect."

As the frontline commander, Han Yingxiong had a lot of information and immediately revealed some inside information, which attracted the attention of other Qi Refining cultivators within the defense node.

Living on the front lines, information is crucial.

"Oh, brother, you're something else. Even someone from a prominent family is going to the front lines?"

"Oh, little clan, little clan, I didn't want to come either. I heard that hundreds of people die every day, and half of those who come die within six months. I'm scared."

As a seasoned Foundation Establishment cultivator, Han Yingxiong was adept at feigning ignorance and quickly became one of the cultivators in the secondary defense node.

After being called "brother" so often, everyone naturally lowered their guard against the new Qi Refining Stage 3 cultivator.

While drinking that night, a fellow cultivator who was also in the late stage of Qi Refining but whose cultivation level was below the peak of Qi Refining put his arm around Han Yingxiong's shoulder and told him the truth.

"Brother, you've just arrived. You'll know once you fall asleep. In your dream, a divine being imparts the Dharma to you."

They not only taught us how to cultivate ourselves, but also told us the truth about the great war. Once you hear it, you'll know everything.

A cold sweat broke out on Han Yingxiong's back. He was worried that the divine being was watching him, and he was even more afraid that outsiders would interfere with the two important training events. Finally, he pretended to speak in a mocking tone.

"What kind of superhuman? Tell me, tell me."

"He's a god, you can't see clearly, but he's neither male nor female. He said the great battle was fake, and the purpose of the Immortal Alliance's reform was to kill all the cultivators at the bottom."

Think about it, the Immortal Alliance was fine before, but as soon as the reform began, fighting broke out everywhere.

This kind of fighting was all agreed upon above. After most of us lower-level cultivators die, let's say 30%, then the higher-ups can get more spirit stones.

That's why they forced us to come up here to die.

What immortal alliances, what sects? Ha, they've all condemned us to an early death.

Brother, if members of the Bull Demon Society come to attack tomorrow, don't be a fool and hold your ground. If things look bad, run!

Han Yingxiong broke out in a cold sweat.

The contents of the Immortal Alliance Reform are not classified; whoever leaks them will be held responsible.

How to be responsible?

I'll risk my life for you!
The essence of Wang Mangxiang's reforms was to kill 30% of the population. Those who should know the truth already knew it, and whoever let those who shouldn't know the truth know it would have to pay with their lives.

As the person in charge of the "reform" of the Thirteen Caves of Chongshan, Han Yingxiong certainly understood the key to the Mangxiang Reform. He was qualified to know, and should know.
But now, Han Yingxiong realized that it seemed the Bull Demon Society and the cultivators at the front lines of the Thirteen Caves of Chongshan all knew the true nature of the Mangxiang Reform.

Moreover, it appears that the person who leaked the secret did so through a secret method, revealing it in the monks' dreams.
This is a huge problem.

(End of this chapter)