At first, the elders regarded the new methodology as a shortcut, a lesser path beneath their notice.
But as disciples began practicing it in secret, the results were hard to ignore. Their progress was astonishingly swift, and before long there were cases of disciples catching up to their own masters in cultivation realms within an incredibly short span of time.
And so the mood began to shift.
Watching the junior disciples below them shoot up in cultivation levels, the elders of the Great Dao Sect grew restless.
The sect still paid lip service to rank and seniority, but the ancient law of the cultivation world—the strong preying upon the weak—had never changed and never would.
Until now, the elders had held firm control over the sect through their cultivation and their status.
They were not yet old. And yet they were watching their own realms about to be surpassed by disciples who should have been far beneath them.
With their dominance so plainly under threat, how could they stand by and do nothing?
Thus, the upper echelon of elders split into two factions.
One faction believed the new methodology plundered heaven and earth. While fast, it was by no means a righteous path. Prolonged use would cause irreversible damage to the world, and must be utterly forbidden.
The other faction argued that heaven and earth was vast and boundless, practically inexhaustible. Cultivators might plunder without limit during their lives to fuel their own advancement, but not everyone could achieve eternal life. Upon death, everything they had devoured would return to the world. There was no need for such concern.
By now, the new methodology had spread across the land, and countless rogue cultivators had risen to power because of it. Many disciples in other sects practiced it as well, greatly enhancing their strength. If the Great Dao Sect did not adopt it, the sect would inevitably fall behind.
Both factions had their points, and neither would yield. But as those who supported the new methodology practiced it in secret, their long-stagnant power began to grow, and they gradually gained the upper hand in the struggle.
***
When Li Fan and Senior Sister Zhao emerged from seclusion, this was the chaotic scene they witnessed.
"Defy the principles of heaven and earth?" Senior Sister Zhao murmured softly, a strange light flickering in her eyes.
Li Fan, for reasons he could not explain, felt an intense yearning for the new methodology—yet it was accompanied by an inexplicable dread, as if it harbored some cataclysmic disaster waiting to unfold.
"Regardless, the signs that we have been practicing the Heaven and Earth Conjoining Ode should go unnoticed now."
"Senior Sister, what do you think of this so-called new methodology?"
Senior Sister Zhao gave a light laugh. "A mere trick. No matter how fast it is, can it possibly be faster than our dual cultivation method? But it should serve as decent cover."
Li Fan considered this for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
Thus, on the surface, the two also switched to practicing the new methodology. In truth, they leveraged the power of their dual cultivation, seizing this rare opportunity to elevate their own realms without restraint.
Another ten years passed, and the conflict between old and new grew increasingly fierce.
It was no longer just an internal struggle. Outside the sects, the rogue cultivators of the world had formed the Myriad Immortals Alliance, attempting to challenge the authority of the Ten Immortal Dao Sects.
Internal power struggles were one thing, but outsiders trying to claim a share was another entirely.
To maintain their rule, the Ten Immortal Dao Sects, who proclaimed brotherhood while scheming against one another in private, united once more after years of division. They formed a joint army to suppress and subjugate the Myriad Immortals Alliance.
They had originally believed these foundationless rogue cultivators would be swiftly crushed under the combined might of the Ten Immortal Dao Sects.
Events proved otherwise.
At first, facing the assault of the Ten Immortal Dao Sects' cultivators, the Myriad Immortals Alliance collapsed utterly, suffering heavy casualties. But their numbers were simply too vast. Even after one wave was slaughtered, a new batch of cultivators would soon emerge.
Furthermore, in every battle, some members of the Alliance managed to escape by sheer luck. Having survived these bloody conflicts, the combat prowess of these survivors underwent a metamorphosis. Even for the prodigies of the Ten Immortal Dao Sects, eliminating these individuals became increasingly difficult.
The world teemed with countless ordinary mortals, and these mortals, empowered by the new methodology, could be rapidly transformed into living strength for the Myriad Immortals Alliance.
The Ten Immortal Dao Sects, by contrast, were bound by the pride and dignity of their great orthodox traditions and were extremely stringent in selecting disciples. Once they suffered defeats and lost disciples, replenishing their ranks often required years, even over a decade.
As one side waned and the other waxed, the disparity in power between the two forces grew ever smaller. The conflict eventually reached a stalemate.
Moreover, as casualty rates differed among the various sects, cracks began to appear within the once-united coalition. There were even instances of certain sects deliberately holding back their forces to preserve their strength.
Everyone knew that, having reached this point, the rise of the Myriad Immortals Alliance was now an unstoppable tide.
Yet the leaders of the Ten Immortal Dao Sects refused to yield. They could not bear to share the world they had worked so hard to control with mortals they had never deigned to notice before.
And so a plan was born: to capture the ringleader first, decapitating the head of the group.
The Myriad Immortals Alliance owed much of its rapid rise to those so-called Dao Imparters, and those Dao Imparters in turn were fiercely loyal to that Immortal Venerable Dao Teacher.
If they could kill the Immortal Venerable Dao Teacher, the Alliance would lose its spiritual leader and surely collapse on its own.
The Dao Teacher himself was only at the Dao Unity level of cultivation, while among the Ten Immortal Dao Sects there were many powerhouses at the Eternal Life realm. Find him, eliminate him, and the deadlock would finally be broken.
The Ten Immortal Dao Sects reached an agreement. Each would dispatch their own powerhouses to form squads, all sworn to assassinate the Immortal Venerable Dao Teacher. And because the Dao Teacher himself was as elusive as a dragon, seen only in glimpses, the Ten Sects also sent their elite disciples out into the world to gather intelligence and pinpoint his location.
Li Fan and Senior Sister Zhao were naturally among them.
This search lasted over twenty years.
Aided by their dual cultivation, Senior Sister Zhao had successfully advanced to the Spirit Transformation realm. Li Fan, a step behind, had still broken through to the Nascent Soul realm. Together, they had traveled to every corner of the Xuanhuang World, slaughtering countless rogue cultivators along the way.
But they never found a trace of the Dao Teacher.
"Senior Sister, what is your view of this Dao Teacher?" Li Fan asked.
"The Immortal Venerable Dao Teacher..." Senior Sister Zhao pondered for a moment, then shook her head slightly. "I don't know."
Li Fan was somewhat taken aback.
"A single individual, capable of overturning the entire structure of the cultivation world," she continued. "In all the tens of thousands of years of the Xuanhuang World's history, there has never been such a monstrous prodigy. But everything we know is hearsay. His true origins, his motives for all of this—they remain a mystery. Perhaps only by meeting him face to face could we get an answer."
She paused. "I wonder if our fellow disciples have had any success."
Just as the two of them were chatting idly, a message arrived from the sect.
After reading it, their expressions became a sight to behold.
The Decapitation Plan, which had persisted for over twenty years without the slightest progress, had been called off.
Li Fan and Senior Sister Zhao exchanged a look. Something momentous had occurred.