Chapter 1572: I Didn't Bring You Here to Bargain

No one spoke.

Some matters were understood by everyone present.

Why had they fought Wu Chang with their lives on the line?

Once the Nine Saints fell, naturally it would be their turn to become the masters.

Wu Chang had wanted to stand supreme beneath Heaven.

Now that they had reached this point, how could the same thought fail to arise in them?

The Nine Saints had needed the powers beneath them to control all beneath Heaven.

At present, these people would likewise need to rely on the forces of their respective sects.

There were so many Nascent Soul experts, while only four states remained beneath Heaven.

Jin had already absorbed the territories of Qi and Wei.

Song, where Myriad Beasts Sect was located, had the smallest territory of the four.

How were their spheres of interest supposed to be divided?

Most likely, a struggle would erupt immediately.

In the blink of an eye, it would become another storm of blood.

Anyone could imagine the result.

Unless they fought to a conclusion, unless several of them died and the survivors reached a point where none could do anything about the others, how could the matter possibly end?

The disparity in strength was obvious too.

Maolu Villa ranked first.

It also controlled a hundred thousand Crow Generals.

Next came Zijin Cave.

If fighting truly began, every other side would be in serious trouble.

After thinking through these points, much of the anger that had been building inside quite a few people quietly dissipated.

Niu Youdao watched everyone's reactions.

He walked over to Wang Zun and said, "I don't know whether you have ambitions. Let's just say I'm guarding against the possibility."

"Keeping you under control is for your own good as well."

"If fighting truly starts, you don't have a faction of your own. You would suffer the greatest disadvantage."

"Sha Rulai entrusted you to me. I have to be responsible for what Sha Rulai asked of me."

Wang Zun did not presently have any grand ambitions concerning these matters.

Now that he had confirmed Niu Youdao did not intend to tear down the bridge after crossing the river, he relaxed and nodded slightly.

"How is Huanli?"

Niu Youdao said, "I've already sent people to bring her here. She should be on the way."

"You'll probably see each other soon."

After saying that, he fell silent for a moment.

Then he added, "Before this, I didn't know how to tell her. I also had no face to meet her."

"I still haven't told her about Sha Rulai."

"When she arrives, we can't hide this forever."

"You and I will both have to face it."

A trace of sadness appeared on Wang Zun's face.

He nodded again.

Niu Youdao paced over to Kunlin Shu.

"As for you, it isn't that I don't trust you. It's Heavenly Fire Sect that I don't trust."

"You can't cut off your feelings for Heavenly Fire Sect, and Heavenly Fire Sect will inevitably value your present strength and come looking for you."

"You also won't sit by and watch Heavenly Fire Sect be destroyed by someone else."

"Right now, Heavenly Fire Sect is weak. If fighting breaks out, it won't benefit you or the sect."

"In short, I don't want this world to continue fighting and killing."

"Once matters here are properly settled, I'll have Fire Phoenix return."

"For now, endure it."

"Treat it as me holding Fire Phoenix hostage."

The words were blunt and honest.

Kunlin Shu had nothing to say.

He silently nodded as well.

Niu Youdao turned.

"Perhaps all of you are wondering what exactly I intend to do."

"The answer is the same as what I just said to him."

"I don't want this world to continue fighting and killing."

"But human hearts are difficult to know."

"My not wanting it is useless by itself."

"Wherever interests exist, conflicts will sooner or later worsen and expand."

"In the end, the same old disaster will repeat itself."

Wen Hua cut in. "Niu Youdao, speak plainly. Stop circling around it."

"You've detained us here. What exactly do you want?"

Niu Youdao turned toward him.

"My idea is very simple."

"The cultivation world is the cultivation world."

"The secular world is the secular world."

"I want to separate the cultivation world from the secular world completely!"

Yan Zhutian said, "The cultivation world and the secular world have been fused together for a long time. Can they truly be separated?"

Niu Youdao said, "I intend to move every cultivator beneath Heaven into the Fifth Domain."

"I need all of you to call upon the various sects and factions to carry this out together."

The moment he said this, everyone stared.

They looked at one another, clearly not understanding what he meant.

Even Yun Ji, Yuan Gang, and Guan Fangyi, listening from the side, were surprised.

This was the first time they had learned Niu Youdao's ultimate objective as well.

Zhong Guzi asked suspiciously, "What Fifth Domain?"

Niu Youdao turned to face him, then swept his gaze over everyone.

"When Shang Song and Li Ge were alive, the alternate realms they opened were not limited to the Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm, the Tiandu Secret Realm, and the Fox Immortal Realm."

"Outside the human world, there is another place—the Fifth Domain."

"It is known as the Land of the Buried Buddha."

"Beneath the Boundless Desert lies a passage to the Fifth Domain."

"I've already gone there and seen it for myself."

"In fact, Wu Chang entered it as well, but both of us kept the matter secret."

"Everyone knows that this world was never truly suitable for cultivators because spiritual qi is scarce."

"It was Shang Song who opened passages to other realms and connected their spiritual qi to this place."

"That is also why the Fox Immortal Realm could nurture Wuliang Fruits, and why the Nine Saints occupied the Sacred Realm for cultivation."

"Like the Sacred Realm, the Fifth Domain has an excellent environment, abundant spiritual qi, and vast territory."

"It contains many wild flying mounts."

"In fact, the flying mounts used in the human world were originally brought out of the Fifth Domain by Shang Song and his wife."

"The territory is too vast. I haven't thoroughly explored the Fifth Domain and don't know whether it also nurtures things similar to Wuliang Fruits."

"But any land with abundant spiritual qi is certain to contain immortal herbs and spiritual treasures that the human world does not possess."

"That environment is where cultivators like us truly belong."

After hearing this, everyone looked at one another.

A hint of longing had clearly been stirred in several of them.

Gong Lince tried asking, "If it's roughly comparable to the Sacred Realm, then the passage hidden beneath the Boundless Desert is obviously inconvenient for entering and leaving."

"Why not move into the Sacred Realm instead?"

Niu Youdao looked at him.

"The Sacred Realm was originally the Fox Immortal Realm. It belongs to the Demon Fox clan."

"In helping us resist the Nine Saints, the Demon Fox clan paid an enormous price."

"To obtain their help against the Nine Saints, I once promised them that after the Nine Saints fell, I would return the Fox Immortal Realm to the Demon Fox clan."

"From then on, outside cultivators and the Fox Immortal Realm would not violate one another."

"There's something else all of you should know."

"Of the Nine Saints, Luo Qiu died because a powerful figure among the Demon Fox clan awakened."

"That awakened Demon Fox expert killed Luo Qiu."

"That expert is currently sleeping."

"Once she wakes, she will certainly expel outsiders."

"A person capable of killing Luo Qiu and directly confronting Lan Daolin until Lan Daolin fled—do you still want to occupy her territory?"

Kunlin Shu remained silent.

He knew Niu Youdao had concealed the matter of Luo Fangfei killing her own father.

He said nothing.

He also knew Niu Youdao truly had made that promise to the Demon Fox clan.

Most of the others had no idea whether Niu Youdao's words were true or false.

Zhong Guzi suddenly spoke again.

"If I refuse to go to the Fifth Domain, are you going to kill me?"

Niu Youdao turned toward him and shook his head slightly.

"I wouldn't dare."

"No matter who I killed, I would never dare kill you."

"But Master, I hope you can understand reason."

"Cultivators have brought calamity upon the human world for far too long."

"It's time to return peace to ordinary people."

"Before I first entered the world, before I came down from Shangqing Sect, I never imagined that one day I would cause so many people to die."

"At one word from me, wars erupted everywhere."

"Corpses lay across the fields, blood flowed deeply enough to float pestles."

"At one word from me, states fell and families were destroyed, while countless people starved to death."

"This disciple's sins are grave."

"I have blamed myself countless times and hoped again and again for the day this chaos could finally end."

At those words, some were moved.

Some fell silent.

Others did not take them seriously.

Zhong Guzi said, "You think that if cultivators disappear, the human world will become peaceful?"

"You think that without cultivators, there will no longer be bloody struggles caused by conflicts of interest?"

"No."

Niu Youdao admitted it outright.

Then he immediately countered.

"But at least there will still be chances to reverse things."

"At least when people's hearts yearn for peace, when the will of ordinary people turns toward peace, they themselves will still have the power to change the situation."

"They won't be rendered helpless by the existence of cultivators."

"They won't be forced to sink forever into a sea of suffering with no hope in sight."

"Generation after generation, if people can enjoy even one lifetime of peace, then their lives have not been lived in vain."

"I hope Master can understand this disciple's painstaking intent."

Zhong Guzi fell silent for a moment.

Then he asked again, "And if I refuse to listen?"

There was deep meaning in the way he looked at Niu Youdao.

He still clearly wanted the same answer.

Would you kill me or not?

Because of their formal relationship, Niu Youdao had no choice but to remain respectful toward him.

Yet with Zhong Guzi choosing a moment when Niu Youdao was resisting everyone else's objections to openly take the lead like this, Niu Youdao could not avoid some irritation.

He immediately countered.

"Master, I'm doing this for your own good."

Zhong Guzi smiled with an edge of mockery. "Treating me like this is for my own good?"

"Go ask every sect beneath Heaven. Has there ever been a disciple who treated his master this way?"

Niu Youdao answered at once.

"Master, this disciple truly is doing this for your good."

"If Zijin Cave insists on staying behind to compete for all beneath Heaven, then even if it wins, as the saying goes, one mountain cannot contain two tigers."

"With two Nascent Soul cultivators in Zijin Cave, how are you supposed to coexist?"

"Master, you cannot defeat Sect Leader Gong."

"I'm afraid someone might end up ruining your reputation entirely..."

"This disciple truly is thinking of your welfare, Master."

The moment those words came out, Zhong Guzi fell speechless.

His old face darkened red.

His cheeks tightened.

He stopped talking.

He did not dare continue either.

Naturally, he understood the meaning hidden in Niu Youdao's words.

He himself had been a Misty Pavilion spy.

He had already betrayed his sect.

After that, did he truly still have the face to use the master-disciple relationship to pressure Niu Youdao?

Gong Lince's expression twitched.

Wasn't Niu Youdao effectively saying that Gong Lince would use that secret to destroy Zhong Guzi?

But then again, if things truly reached a point where one mountain could not contain two tigers, and if control over Zijin Cave were at stake, with such a powerful handle in his hands, even Gong Lince himself could not guarantee he would never use it against Zhong Guzi.

Internal struggles within sects had always existed.

Although Niu Youdao was using Gong Lince as the example, the meaning between his words was already a warning to Zhong Guzi.

Don't use the title of master to pressure me.

The secret Gong Lince can expose is a secret I can expose too.

In short, there was only one meaning.

Shut your mouth.

Most of the people present did not understand the deeper implication.

Niu Youdao naturally would not spell it out.

He changed the subject.

"If Master refuses to cooperate, this disciple would never dare kill you."

"At worst, I will have you forcibly sent into the Fifth Domain."

"As for everyone else in Zijin Cave, if anyone insists on opposing me, don't blame me for being merciless."

"At worst, I'll wipe Zijin Cave out completely!"

He turned and swept his gaze across everyone else.

"In terms of martial strength, Maolu Villa calls itself second beneath Heaven and no one dares call themselves first."

"In terms of power, the remnants of the Nine Saints' forces are all in Maolu Villa's hands."

"We also control a hundred thousand Crow Generals."

"Even if every one of you joined forces, you still might not be our match."

"I don't want fighting and killing."

"I don't want to fight or kill anymore."

"But if any sect thinks it isn't afraid of death, feel free to try me!"

"I invited all of you here."

"If I speak politely, that is courtesy."

"I've already shown more than enough benevolence."

"I did not bring you here to bargain."

"I brought you here to cooperate and carry this out."

"We've worked together through all this. Every one of you has rendered service."

"I intend to treat you with benevolence and righteousness."

"Don't force me!"

"There's one more thing I need to tell all of you."

"I already control the method for cutting off the passages between the Five Domains."

"Once cultivators withdraw from the human world, I will immediately sever the Five Domains' passages."

"Don't imagine you'll still be able to enter the Tiandu Secret Realm and gather Spirit Seeds."

"The spiritual qi available for cultivation and absorption in the human world will also rapidly decline."

"Even if some sects secretly remain hidden in the human world, at most they will survive for one generation."

"After one generation, they will decline rapidly."

"In other words, whether or not the cultivation world leaves the human world, cultivation here is destined to wither."

"I'm forcibly moving the cultivation world into the Fifth Domain now only because I want the human world to recover peace as quickly as possible."

"This matter cannot be delayed any longer!"

[End of Chapter 1572]