Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 318 Zhou Lang's Plan

Many people in the world always feel that they are talented but not appreciated.

Those who have achieved some success or insight often feel that they are just unlucky and that they would do better than others if they were in a different position.

But they forgot that their current position was also due to luck.

Zhou Lang was one such example.

His path of cultivation was much smoother than others. In addition to his extraordinary talent, the most important reason was that the great war between good and evil had already passed when he became a disciple.

At that time, the leader of the Mirage Sect was a master of the Dao Integration Realm. After barely surviving the war between the righteous and the demonic forces, the elites of the Mirage Sect suffered heavy losses, and Zhou Lang became the leader's personal disciple.

From then on, Zhou Lang had good luck.

Until his master ascended to heaven.

Yin Xiaoshuang becoming the sect leader was something Zhou Lang had never expected.

Although this senior sister entered the sect earlier, everyone's skills are usually about the same in daily sparring, so it's not appropriate for a woman to become the sect leader!
Zhou Lang couldn't understand it, but it was an order from the previous sect leader.

The old sect leader, who survived the great war between good and evil, held absolute authority within the Mirage Sect, and no one dared to disobey him.

The following centuries were uneventful.

Yin Xiaoshuang's performance as sect leader was mediocre; the Mirage Sect neither grew stronger nor declined, and just lived a peaceful life.

This is how it is during times of peace; cultivators all seek longevity, and power is not so important.

But power was something Zhou Lang could not obtain, and the ordinary days of the past few hundred years only made him feel more and more anxious.

Do we have to wait for Yin Xiaoshuang to ascend to immortality before we can finally breathe a sigh of relief?

If Yin Xiaoshuang were a realm higher than him, Zhou Lang would accept it, but they were both at the Returning to Emptiness Realm.

Judging from Yin Xiaoshuang's appearance, I wonder how many years she will waste in the Void Returning Realm. What if I don't outlive her?
How could Zhou Lang be content if he couldn't become the leader of the Mirage Sect even until his death?

From exploring the Ruins of Return to capturing the Mirage Demon to refining the Mirage Pearl... all of these were Zhou Lang's suggestions, and also the beginning of his power grab.

With the aid of the Mirage Pearl, the disciples of the Mirage Sect did indeed improve their cultivation faster and their illusions became more powerful, but the inner demons that followed were also stronger.

Yin Xiaoshuang didn't blame Zhou Lang at first. After all, everything in the world has its gains and losses. How can you gain advantages without paying a price?
If they can overcome their inner demons, the Mirage Faction will indeed become stronger than before.

However, Zhou Lang was not appreciative. In his opinion, Yin Xiaoshuang's indifferent attitude meant she didn't take the Mirage Sect seriously at all.

This sect leader only cared about his own seclusion and cultivation, and didn't care about the fate of the sect at all.

Zhou Lang was even more resentful. He was the one who had devoted himself to the sect, so why was Yin Xiaoshuang able to reap the benefits?
No matter how well I do, even if the Mirage Sect eventually becomes the number one righteous sect, the credit will ultimately go to Yin Xiaoshuang, the sect leader.
Once a person's thinking goes astray, they will naturally become extreme.

Especially after the Battle of Rift Mountain, the Demonic Sect revived, the Incense Burning Sect was destroyed, and the righteous path no longer had any Dao Integration Realm experts. Without Dao Integration Realm masters, the Void Returning Realm was the highest level.

Zhou Lang is already among the most powerful people in the world, so naturally there's nothing to be afraid of.

At this moment, however, he had not yet thought of plotting against Yin Xiaoshuang.

Having lived together for over a thousand years, Zhou Lang didn't want to truly break ties with Yin Xiaoshuang. If he could get her to hand over the position of sect leader, that would be good too.

Therefore, Zhou Lang did not hesitate to bring out all the forbidden techniques he had sealed away, so that those disciples who were troubled by their inner demons could "shine and contribute".

The plan should have succeeded, but it will take some time to see results.

Unfortunately, the demon Youluozi discovered them, and all those thrown down became Youluozi's puppets. Not only that, Youluozi also cracked the secret technique of the Mirage Sect.

Zhou Lang didn't know how the secret was leaked, but Youluozi had this leverage over him, so Zhou Lang had no choice but to cooperate with her.

However, Youluozi's request was too simple; he only wanted Zhou Lang to provide a portion of the Mirage Sect's collection of books, not for him to do anything immoral or heinous.

Although he felt something was wrong, Zhou Lang had no choice.

Since we've already cooperated, it seems like a wise decision to join forces against Yin Xiaoshuang.

Youluozi's abilities are simply the nemesis of the Mirage Sect. The Mirage Sect is most afraid of inner demons, and Youluozi's secret techniques can bewitch people's minds. As long as the disciples of the Mirage Sect are not mentally stable, their cultivation will be greatly reduced.

Zhou Lang was only slightly inferior to Yin Xiaoshuang, and with a calculated move, he successfully sealed her away. However, sealing Yin Xiaoshuang was merely a temporary measure. Zhou Lang could publicly claim that Yin Xiaoshuang was continuing her seclusion while he seized sole power. He only needed to place a phantom clone here to pretend to be Yin Xiaoshuang and thus deceive most of the Mirage Sect disciples.

Ten or twenty years later, they could falsely report that Yin Xiaoshuang failed to break through to the Dao Integration Realm and died, which would fool everyone.

The real trouble now is with the Yellow Springs Sect.

Zhou Lang had no evidence that the Yellow Spring Sect had stolen the Mirage Demon from the Mirage Sect, but he learned about Chen Ye's whereabouts from Youluozi.

Chen Ye also arrived at Guixu, and even the place where the mirage demons lived.

How could a mere rogue cultivator know the secrets of Guixu? Of course, it was Lingguang Xian who told him.

Zhou Lang couldn't understand how Lingguangxian had gotten in touch with Chen Ye. The two had only met once, and that was on the arena.

In such a short time, Chen Ye was willing to take such a great risk to help Lingguangxian escape?

Since the Yellow Springs Sect doesn't primarily rely on illusions, what use would it be for them to save Lingguang Xian's soul?

How could Lingguang Xian entrust her life to a rogue cultivator after only meeting him once? She even abandoned her own physical body, which is no different from suicide.

Zhou Lang never imagined that there really is such a thing as keeping one's word, and that Chen Ye was such a person, capable of making others believe that he was.

Since things have come to this point, the Yellow Springs Sect must be dealt with.

Otherwise, all the secrets of the Mirage Sect will be exposed, especially Zhou Lang's plan to use Mirage Sect disciples to possess the Mirage Demon. Once this is exposed, the Mirage Sect will definitely encounter big trouble.

This was his beloved sect, and Zhou Lang would never allow such a situation to occur.

Therefore, either the Yellow Springs Sect must be eradicated completely, or they must be silenced.

The former is difficult. The Azure Dragon Lord just suffered a loss in Fengdu City, and the news has slowly spread. The fact that he was able to fight against the Demon Lord and gain the upper hand shows that the Yellow Springs Sect's power is far greater than imagined.

Then, the only thing left to do is to shut up the Yellow Springs Sect.

Zhou Lang came up with two plans.

First, there was coercion and enticement. The Yellow Springs Sect stole Lingguang Immortal's soul, which was a grave mistake. Even if Chen Ye knew about the Return to the Void, it was merely a private matter within the Mirage Sect. Comparing the two, the Yellow Springs Sect's crime was far greater. If Chen Ye were a smart person, everyone would keep quiet and pretend nothing happened, and Zhou Lang could accept that outcome.

As for the second point, if the Yellow Springs Sect remains unyielding and insists on a complete breakdown in relations, then Zhou Lang will have no choice but to strike first. He will tarnish the Yellow Springs Sect's reputation and unite with other sects to convict them. Then, even if Chen Ye brings up the matter of the Void, he can be accused of making baseless accusations.

Anyway, Guixu is so far away, who can dive down there and see clearly?
Even if they went there, so much time has passed that the body would either have been eaten by the mirage demon or completely decomposed, leaving no evidence whatsoever. It would be a case of "dead men tell no tales."

Therefore, no matter what, we must first establish Chen Ye's guilt in stealing Lingguangxian.

Zhou Lang had made preparations for this long ago.

The Mirage Sect possesses a treasure that can dispel illusions and reveal one's true nature. As long as this treasure is held up to Chen Yezhao, he will be forced to speak the truth.

According to Youluozi, the Huangquan Sect seems to be entangled with the Demonic Sect. If they ask a few questions, the accusation will be confirmed, and the Shenlou Sect will not need to take action. The Qinghe Sword Sect will not tolerate it either.

Zhou Lang felt that the plan was very simple. He only needed to visit the Yellow Spring Sect two days in advance to find out Chen Ye's attitude, and then choose one of the plans according to his needs.

The key is to be fast, to pin the blame on the other party even faster than the Yellow Springs Sect, leaving them speechless.

The plan may not be perfect, but it doesn't need to be.

Because he is the deputy leader of the Mirage Sect, one of the five major righteous sects, the Mirage Sect's weight is enough to make it the heaviest weight on the scales.

No matter how talented or powerful Chen Ye is, he can never compare to the name of the Mirage Sect.

Just as he was feeling smug, a disciple suddenly came to report: "Vice Sect Leader, the Sect Leader of Qinghe Sword Sect requests an audience and is waiting in Ningzhen Hall."

"What did you say?!"

Zhou Lang was startled, his Qi surging, and he was almost scared into going berserk.

He quickly held his breath and calmed himself, carefully regulating the chaotic spiritual energy within his body. It took Zhou Lang a long time to regain his composure. He also remembered that although Zhang Qi was no longer there, the Qinghe Sword Sect had already appointed a new sect leader long ago.

It wasn't passed on to the mature and prudent Wang Wancheng, nor to Sheng Huai'an, who claimed to have inherited Zhang Qi's mantle, nor to the exceptionally talented Su Chunyi, but to a name never heard before—Yu Ji.

(End of this chapter)