Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Miao Shihao said, “Among the powerhouses of the Great Void Sect now, the two consecutive sect leaders, the Tai Yi Holy and Yan Nanlai are both from the Ultraconservative Faction. Besides them, there’s also Bo Yunkong from the Supreme Elder Council.”
“The second faction is called the Radical Conservatives, being the Radical Faction within the Conservative Faction. Among the high-ranking powerhouses of the Great Void Sect in recent years, the Qing Yi Holy Woman is the one leading this faction, joined by her disciple Yun Yuanzhen from the Supreme Elder Council as well as the Yu Yuan Holy Woman and the Qing Ning Holy Man.”
Miao Shihao’s lips revealed a chilly smile. “To the Qing Yi Holy Woman and her followers, the Great Void Sect can do without a ruler like an Emperor of Man, but they must ensure that the Great Void Sect remains the strongest force in all of the Divine Lands and that the situation of the entire human race remains in their control. If any unexpected changes occur, the Great Void Sect would have the ability to deal with them in time. Based on their views, only the Great Void Sect is worthy of trust; only the Great Void Sect can uphold justice in the human world and regulate the Divine Lands. They don’t trust anyone else. If a day comes when the Great Void Sect is no longer in control of such power, they’ll be forced to quell any opposing forces.’
Lin Feng pondered and said in a low voice, “After the Conservative Faction became extinguished in the Antiquity Age, the then Radical Faction under Yan Xinghe’s leadership split into two schools of thought. This should be the first of the two major splits that you just mentioned. And after that, there were more with radical ideologies that emerged from the Conservative Radicals which hence formed the current Radical Faction. Is that the second major split?”
Miao Shihao nodded. “That’s correct. The origins of the current Radical Faction can be traced back to the divergence in ideologies when the Conservative Radicals first split from the Conservative Faction, not during the initial split between the Conservatives and the Radicals. For a period of time, the Conservative Radicals gained an absolute majority in the Great Void Sect, which gradually radicalized more people.”
“A belief sprouted from the Conservative Radicals – having the Great Void Sect as the ruler of the Divine Lands would be more beneficial in fending against the Barren Expanses, and since the Great Void Sect is the strongest, the Great Void Sect should be the rightful ruler.”
Lin Feng chuckled, “That’s the current view of the Great Void Sect’s Conservative Radicals.”
“Indeed,” said Miao Shihao. “This divergence created the Radicalized Faction that you see today. Most elite powerhouses in the Divine Lands all know that the current leader of the Radicalized Faction is the Zheng Yi Holy Man, joined by the radicalized members of the Supreme Elder Council, including his Immediate Disciple Kuang Heng, the Xuan Lin Holy Man, and Wu Mengqi.”
“As for the Conservative Faction, the third faction after the Ultraconservative Faction and the Radical Conservatives, they were gradually formed afterwards. Their formation did not cause as significant an impact as the two major divergences, and can be called the Centrist Conservative Faction. Notable personnel include the Xuan Yi Holy Man and Cai Fengzhou of the Supreme Elder Council.”
Miao Shihao explained, “Their ideology stands in the middle of the Ultraconservative Faction and the Radicalized Conservatives, capable of challenging the leaders of the Great Void Sect. Based on pure ideologies alone, they align greater to the Ultraconservative Faction, but when they exert their strength in reality, they lean more towards the Radicalized Conservatives.”
Lin Feng raised his head. “By the looks of it, the current Centrist Conservative Faction in the Great Void Sect would lean more towards the Radicalized Conservatives.”
The lighted images he just transmitted to Miao Shihao briefly summarized the various developments of the Divine Lands during Miao Shihao’s seclusion from the outside world. After having a better understanding of the situation, he promptly nodded and spoke, “That’s a very likely possibility.”
“The Conservative Faction’s general policies actually incorporate and compromise between the three factions, and has undergone numerous little refinements. Furthermore, there are three points to take note of. Firstly, everyone has their own views, so even those in the same faction can see things differently. Even within the same sect, there would be the calculating ones with hidden agendas and the honest, down-to-earth ones.”
With that, Miao Shihao shot out three fingers before retracting two of them one after the other. “Secondly, the three factions within the Conservative Faction actually experience changes pretty frequently, and when the leader of a certain group changes, it usually means a slight adjustment of the Conservative Faction’s general direction. ”
“And thirdly, people’s views are subject to changes in different time periods and external conditions, but these are rare occurences.”
He looked at Lin Feng. “The Zheng Yi Holy Man and the Qing Yi Holy Woman are very likely to antagonize your sect and you, Sect Master, while the Xuan Yi Holy Man’s stance is likely to lean towards their views. Kuang Heng, the Xuan Lin Holy Man, Wu Mengqi, Yun Yuanzhen, the Yu Yuan Holy Woman, the Qing Ning Holy Man and Cai Fengzhou probably all subscribe to the same views.”
“Under such circumstances, they’ve already established an absolute advantage in terms of numbers among the Great Void Sect’s higher ranks. Even if the Tai Yi Holy Man and Yan Nanlai have differing views, they can only reserve their opinions just like Bo Yunkong. You predicted that the Great Void Sect’s inner ranks have already aligned their views together when you first entered the Desolate Starry Sea, and that guess should be generally correct.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Feng did not give a reply but instead sank deep in thought. “The Tai Yi Holy Man, Yan Nanlai, Bo Yunkong … are they the Ultraconservatives? I’m afraid they may not withhold their opinions and simply back down like this.”
Miao Shihao glanced at Lin Feng curiously but did not say anything.
Lin Feng came back to his senses and looked at Miao Shihao again, asking, “Back then when the Tai Yi Holy Man was injured, he stayed on Mount Baiyun to recuperate without confronting many enemies. How is he now?”
“During the previous War of the Two Worlds, the Tai Yi Holy Man’s Empirical Tao Foundations were damaged by the Hades Emperor, with his abhijina and mana falling back down the peak of the Vipralopa Stage, being incredibly difficult to recover.” Miao Shihao seemed tense. “That being said, he should still be able to summon the Great Calamity, but his own body may be unable to withstand the recoil of this attack. Once he uses this as his last resort, he would perish along with his opponent, or more specifically, he would kill himself before killing his opponent.”
“It’s just as you said earlier. When the Origins Dragon King, the current leader of the Dragon Tribes underwent the Second Tribulation of Destiny and reached the Cardinal Tribulations Middle Stage, it dealt a great blow to the Great Void Sect. Besides the boost in the Origins Dragon King’s abhijina and mana, the Tai Yi Holy Man could no longer exchange his own life for the Dragon King’s and perish together. If the Origins Dragon King does not attack Mount Baiyun directly, the Great Void Sect has no other method to counter him besides the Supreme Heavenly Mirror.”
The corners of Lin Feng’s mouth twitched slightly. After hearing Miao Shihao’s description of the Great Void Sect’s self-sacrificial methods of attacking, he was naturally reminded of something similar.
“Without any appropriate countermeasures, this move would make the Tai Yi Holy Man completely untouchable in the Vipralopa Stage.” Lin Feng chuckled and shook his head, “This is the legendary ‘I can’t defeat you so I’ll kill you’ technique. Haha, Xiao Yan also possesses such a skill, which troubles many opponents. And now, I’m the one who has to prevent such a skill from being used against me by someone else.”
Among the Four Heroes of the Celestial Sect under Lin Feng, his second disciple Zhu Yi is widely acknowledged as the strongest one of the four, not due to his individual abhijina and mana, but also considering his Higan Golden Bridge that he yields wherever he goes.
However, the sheer strength of the combination of Zhu Yi and the Higan Golden Bridge was indisputable and undeniable. After all, a cultivator’s magic treasure is considered a part of his strength during an actual battle. No one would be stupid enough to not use his magic treasure in a life or death situation.
But facing Xiao Yan also rendered the opponents helpless and vexed. Even if their abhijina surpassed Xiao Yan’s, he could easily drag his opponents in to perish together, which forced them to abandon any intentions of confronting Xiao Yan. This was an extremely troubling prospect for many elite powerhouses because it was completely illogical – if you can hold me down, I’ll lose, but if you can’t, I’ll blast you to death.
Miao Shihao looked at Lin Feng. “Sect Master, I must remind you that besides this last resort technique, the Tai Yi Holy Man possesses immense abhijina, indisputably standing at the top of the four remaining elder seniors of the Great Void Sect at the same mastery level.
Lin Feng nodded, “I guessed it. He’s the third strongest cultivator in the history of the Great Void Sect after the Great Void Holy Man and Wen Chiyang, surpassing numerous seniors before him. At the gloriou仙天s peak of his condition, before he was injured by the Hades Emperor during the previous War of the Two Worlds, he was widely known as the strongest person in the Divine Lands during the Modern Age. He truly lived up to that title.”
His corners of his lips curled up into a smile. “He even yielded the Holy Light of Creation.”
“Yes,” said Miao Shihao. “Not only does he have a profound level of mastery, very few can match his actual combat abilities at the same mastery level throughout the Great Void Sect’s extensive history.”
Lin Feng nodded, deep in thought.
Miao Shihao paused for a while before continuing, “You severed the Mount Shu Sect’s Saintly Celestial Sword and formed the Heaven-Destroying Sword. This was probably a key factor in unifying the views of the Great Void Sect’s inner ranks, because you and your sect finally had the ability to rival the Great Void Sect after the Battle of Mount Shu. Your Heaven-Destroying Sword Qi is ferocious and menacing, containing powers of cataclysmic proportions, naturally stirring feelings of unease among the Great Void Sect. Furthermore, sealing the sword for further cultivation caused them to harbor even more antagonistic resentment against you.”
Lin Feng smiled, “This is completely within expectations. I can’t possibly halt my advances just to appease them. Some things must be accomplished no matter what. There’s nothing else to say if we face each other in a final showdown after the War of the Two Worlds. We’ll just have to rely solely on our respective capabilities.”
Miao Shihao shook his head and looked Lin Feng straight in the eyes. “Sect Master, the Celestial Sect and you are very likely deemed as an unstable force, or even a harmful force by the Great Void Sect.”
Lin Feng’s eyes sparkled. “Oh? How are we an unstable or harmful force?”
“Explaining the part about being harmful is easy. The Celestial Sect may be deemed as harmful to the entire human race and the development of the Divine Lands, or simply detrimental to the consolidation and cohesiveness of their forces during the War of the Two Worlds against the Emperor of the Dead and his Hall of the Dead.”
Lin Feng asked curiously, “Then how would you explain us being an unstable force? Does it imply that they cannot determine whether we are a hostile force yet, and that we require further observation after the upcoming War of the Two Worlds?”
Miao Shihao shook his head and stared at Lin Feng, uttering word by word, “During the first War of the Two Worlds, the elite sect which the Great Void Sect deemed as an unstable force was the Great Thunderclap Temple.”
Upon hearing this, the pupils in Lin Feng’s eyes contracted slightly. “Oh? This is getting interesting …”