A wasted cultivation cultivator, whose senior sister comes to his door asking for pills at the start

"later……"

For the first time, Empress Yunxiao's face showed a look of frustration.

It's clear that what happened back then is something she doesn't want to recall.

She shook her head and sighed.

"At the time, I was consumed by rage, so I fought him, but the result was..."

Although she didn't say it directly, her expression and tone already spoke volumes.

However, Ye Yun still asked a question tentatively.

"Could it be... that you, senior, have lost?"

Empress Yunxiao nodded and continued her story.

"Pretty much. If we had continued fighting back then, we might have really lost."

To be honest, Ye Yun wasn't too surprised by the result.

Last time, Xian'er's master was defeated in a one-on-one fight with that Ascension Cult Leader.

It was only after Ru Shuang's father joined in that they were able to force her to retreat.

The Cloud Empress's strength is about the same as that of Master Xian'er, so she would naturally be no match for her in a one-on-one fight.

Ye Yun raised an eyebrow and asked curiously.

"And then what? Did the senior retreat?"

He was still considerate of the other party's feelings, using the word "retreat" instead of "escape".

On this point, Empress Yunxiao replied calmly.

"No, we stopped at that point, and at her suggestion, we discussed terms with each other."

"Hmm? You negotiated terms?"

Ye Yun immediately became alert and looked at the other party, asking.

"Senior, you wouldn't happen to... have made some kind of deal with the Ascension Sect, would you?"

Yue Rushuang and Luo Meng, who were beside him, also showed the same wary expression.

Empress Yunxiao immediately offered an explanation.

"It's not really a transaction, just a compromise between the two sides."

Ye Yun frowned and asked.

"Each side compromises? What does that mean?"

Empress Yunxiao took a deep breath and said.

"This means that from now on, Cloud City and the Ascension Sect will not interfere with or invade each other."

Hearing this, Ye Yun frowned even more.

"Isn't what you're doing tantamount to condoning the Ascension Sect?"

After all, this way, the Ascension Sect wouldn't need to worry about the safety of its rear, and could confidently try to expand elsewhere.

Clearly... the affairs of the Azure Dragon Empire, and even the Myriad Alliance City, all stemmed from this.

As for their Eastern Continent, it's probably because of Mo Ruyan and Qing Shi that the Ascension Sect didn't take action there.

When this matter was mentioned, Empress Yunxiao's expression was complicated, and she sighed softly.

"For me, this is a choice I had no other option to make."

"The Wutong Mountains are within the sphere of influence of our Yunxiao City."

"But the strength of our Cloud City alone is clearly insufficient to deal with the Ascension Sect."

"As for uniting with other forces, there's nowhere to do so in the Western Continent."

"Therefore, for the sake of the millions of lives in Cloud City, we have no choice but to take a step back for now."

After this explanation, Ye Yun still disagreed with the other party's actions, but he understood them for the time being.

"I see……"

Indeed, due to the power structure, the Western Continent is more divided than the Eastern Continent.

Most people only identify with their own city, and have much less identification with the Western Continent.

This has led to a situation where everyone acts independently, adhering to the mentality of "everyone sweeps the snow from their own doorstep."

Unless a crisis truly arises that could destroy the Western Continent, it is virtually impossible to get them to join forces.

Even in their Eastern Continent, it was only through his mediation that the cooperation between the two holy lands was facilitated.

Not to mention the later cooperation with the Azure Dragon Empire, which took a great deal of effort.

All of this is predicated on the premise that everyone feels the crisis brought about by the Ascension Sect.

In situations like Xizhou, the Ascension Sect couldn't act with complete impunity.

It's estimated that even if Yunxiao City asks for help from outside, it won't be taken seriously, and Yunxiao City will have to solve it on its own.

If the fight could result in both sides suffering heavy losses, that would be even better...

"If that's the case, then what are your plans to do against the Ascension Sect now, Senior?"

Empress Yunxiao glanced at Ye Yun and the other two, pondered for a moment, and then answered.

"On the one hand, the threat posed by the Ascension Sect has increased too rapidly and its reach has become too far-reaching."

"They say they're maintaining peace with our Cloud City, but you've seen those female cultivators I threw into the Fairy Garden."

"They were all captured because they intended to abduct someone from Cloud City to steal its destiny..."

She paused for a moment after saying this.

"Of course, an even more important reason is that we saw so many people willing to join forces to deal with the Ascension Sect."

"Whether it was the annihilation campaign against the Azure Dragon Empire or the subsequent defense campaign against the Northern Continent Alliance, I have been paying close attention."

"It is you who have shown me that there may be an opportunity to wipe out the Ascension Sect in one fell swoop."

After all, there had been almost no instances in the past where a power from one continent mobilized on a large scale to support another continent.

In the past, even if something major happened on one continent, it would hardly affect the other three continents.

Naturally, people rarely concern themselves with what happens in other people's homes...

After hearing her explanation, Ye Yun and the other two exchanged glances.

From the current perspective, what Empress Yunxiao said is not problematic.

You can sense that the other party genuinely wants to cooperate and work together to eliminate the demon.

Ye Yun thought for a moment and asked curiously.

"May I ask, senior, what are your plans to deal with the Ascension Sect?"

This is the most important point, as it directly determines the feasibility of the matter.

Upon hearing this, Empress Yunxiao's lips curled up slightly.

"My current plan is to turn the tables on them."

This answer left Ye Yun and the other two completely baffled.

"Um... what do you mean by 'playing along'?"

Ye Yun pondered to himself, "The premise of using a counter-strategy seems to be that the Ascension Sect uses a scheme first, right?"

Then, Empress Yunxiao sneered.

"Kid, you don't know yet, do you? With the failure of the Ascension Sect's plan in the Northern Continent Alliance..."

"Now they've set their sights on me."

"They wanted to poison me, lure me out, and trap me to die."

These words truly shocked Ye Yun.

"You mean... the Ascension Sect wants to kill you?!"

"Indeed, those guys wanted to annihilate my soul."

Empress Yunxiao snorted coldly, seemingly extremely sarcastic.

"Good heavens..."

Ye Yun was shocked because the idea was too audacious.

Since the beginning of that chaotic era, the number of Emperor-level powerhouses has decreased rapidly.

Throughout the thousands of years of history of the entire continent, there has never been a case of an Emperor-level expert dying in battle.

The reason is simple: it is too difficult and too dangerous to implement.

After all, in this era, the strength gap between Emperor-level experts is not as large as one might imagine.

Unless there are multiple opponents fighting one person, and that person is determined to fight to the death, there is no chance of killing the other; otherwise, they may escape if they are not careful.

Therefore, since modern times, apart from a few emperor-level powerhouses who like to court death, there have been no such cases.

The vast majority of the others died because their lifespan had reached its limit and they passed away peacefully.

But this Ascension Sect actually wants to wage a war to kill the emperor; their audacity is simply too great!

Yue Rushuang and Luo Meng, who were standing next to her, also had surprised expressions.

It seems no one expected that the Ascension Sect would dare to go this far.

Just then, Luo Meng suddenly asked sharply.

"Wait a minute, senior. If this is true, then it must be a top secret of the Ascension Sect, right?"

"How did you know that?"

After all, if the Ascension Sect's plan is truly as Empress Yunxiao said...

Therefore, everything about this plan must be top secret, and once it is leaked, all previous efforts will be in vain.

But now, Empress Yunxiao has brought it up to them in person.

"Speaking of this," Empress Yunxiao said coldly.

"That's easy. Those guys managed to plant spies right next to me."

"Conversely, it can also be..."

Now Ye Yun and the others understood.

Just like the Moon Wheel Holy Land, the Ascension Sect also has its own people, including Empress Yunxiao.

This made Ye Yun wary. Given the intelligence network the other side had, could their Ancient Holy Land also have one?

Of course, even if there are any, these are things to be dealt with later.

Right now, there's only one priority...

Ye Yun looked at Empress Yunxiao and couldn't help but ask.

"Now that we know, what you mean by 'playing along' as you mentioned, senior..."

After learning the whole story, Empress Yunxiao's so-called "using a scheme against him" actually piqued his curiosity.

Then, Empress Yunxiao narrowed her eyes slightly and began to speak slowly and deliberately.

"In my opinion, we can first feign being poisoned and attacked, thus trapping ourselves in the encirclement of the Ascension Sect."

"Then we can lure the enemy out, and then you can join forces to take down the Ascension Sect in one fell swoop!"

Judging from the other party's description alone, it seems that all you need to do is follow their instructions.

But this is something that sounds simple, but is actually quite difficult to carry out.

There are many potential variables involved.

Furthermore, Ye Yun thought of something else.

He frowned and reminded him.

"Your idea is good, but if you pretend to be poisoned or injured, I'm afraid the cult leader will see through it."

After all, they are all seasoned veterans; they can certainly tell whether someone is truly injured.

Even if the Empress Yunxiao acts perfectly, if she slips up even slightly, all her efforts will be wasted.

However, Ye Yun did not expect that after hearing his words, Empress Yunxiao shook her head directly.

"Of course I know that, so... it's not that I'm pretending to be poisoned or injured, it's real."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Yun and the other two all opened their mouths, clearly taken aback.

"This... I don't quite understand what you mean."

Ye Yun raised an eyebrow, looking astonished.

Empress Yunxiao then slowly explained.

"What's so difficult to understand? When the time comes, I will..."

Afterwards, Empress Yunxiao explained her plan to them.

According to her account, she would take the poison given to her by the Ascension Cult, just as they planned.

Afterwards, just as the other side had expected, they were lured out and then besieged by the Ascension Sect.

Even if she is not in good condition, the Ascension Sect will definitely have to make a large-scale operation to hunt down an Emperor-level expert.

When that time comes, we can take a two-pronged approach.

They sent a team to counter-encircle and annihilate the Ascension Cult cultivators who came to kill her.

The other team went straight for the enemy's headquarters in the Wutong Mountains.

If all goes well, we will surely be able to wipe out the majority of the Ascension Sect cultivators in one fell swoop.

After hearing this, Ye Yun and the other two were stunned.

For no other reason than that this plan is simply too insane.

If she really does that, Empress Yunxiao is essentially using herself as bait to lure the Ascension Sect out.

If she is not careful, something terrible could happen to her, and it's not impossible that she might even perish...