Chapter 2149: 124: Emerging Prominence

Chapter 2149: Chapter 124: Emerging Prominence

Holy Desecration Realm.

Within an ancient palace built specifically for discussions in the Holy Desecration Realm.

The sunlight was dim, and curling smoke lingered.

Plaques were arranged on tiered offerings tables, stacked like mountains.

Before each plaque, offerings and an incense burner were placed.

These plaques took up more than half of the entire palace, leaving only about a quarter of the space unoccupied.

And at this moment, the open space was also full of people, whispering to each other or arguing heatedly, speaking aggressively as if no one else was there, despite lowering their voices, the noise was still somewhat tumultuous.

Gan Xiong rubbed his temples. The usually enigmatic figure he portrayed to outsiders appeared unusually impatient in front of the countless old and young within the realm.

Until the surrounding noise finally drove him to fury, he slapped the table beside him with a loud bang, causing the entire palace to tremble!

Instantly, the entire palace fell silent!

Everyone looked at Gan Xiong in astonishment.

Gan Xiong, however, was still dissatisfied, his grey-white eyebrows raised, eyes glaring angrily at everyone as he bellowed:

“Noise, noise, noise!”

“All you do is make noise!”

“A minor quarrel every three days, a major argument every two!”

“Have you argued any sense out of this? Have you?”

“The Jade Pot Realm gave us an ultimatum, their people haven’t even arrived, yet here you are, descending into chaos yourselves!”

“What? Are you all afraid of that rascal Chang Ying?”

Hearing Gan Xiong’s words, some cultivators immediately perked up, while others frowned, unafraid of Gan Xiong’s wrath, but instead pleaded earnestly:

“Realm Master, it’s not a matter of fear. To be honest, the Jade Pot Realm absorbed the Double Body Realm, utilizing their characteristic fearlessness, coupled with the vast resources accumulated over years. They can supply endlessly. For us, it’s like facing an overwhelming and inexhaustible force of cultivators. We might not fear them, but we can’t knowingly walk into death, right?”

“The Jade Pot Realm is willing to give us a chance now because they fear we might join forces with the Sea Market and those Heavenly Palace forces to resist them. But we all know, the people at the Sea Market, no, those Outer World Cultivators, and we cannot possibly be of one heart and mind. Sooner or later, they will be conquered by the Jade Pot Realm one by one. Rather than wait for the masks to fall, it’s better to… ensure the survival of our Holy Desecration Realm’s legacy.”

“Heh!”

Gan Xiong scoffed coldly:

“Surrender your Primordial Spirit Essence Blood and be at their mercy—is this the legacy you want?”

Hearing this, many of the cultivators below looked displeased.

This was their only unacceptable point, yet it was the Jade Pot Realm’s bottom line. Without surrendering the Primordial Spirit Essence Blood, the Jade Pot Realm would rather forgo any allegiance from other forces.

In other words, what the Jade Pot Realm demanded was absolute loyalty.

Yet once truly loyal to the Jade Pot Realm, what then would the legacy of the Holy Desecration Realm mean?

Some understood this but chose to overlook it, while others failed to grasp its depth and just followed the herd.

No matter the stage of cultivator, sometimes herd mentality is unavoidable.

“Then, Realm Master, what do you intend to do?”

Someone finally couldn’t help but ask.

This question also caused Gan Xiong to furrow his brows.

If he truly had a method, it wouldn’t have allowed such chaos among his subordinates.

The key is facing the Jade Pot Realm’s fierce momentum; he also doesn’t know the future path for the Holy Desecration Realm.

Siding with the Jade Pot Realm means abandoning their own legacy, lives controlled by others, at their beck and call.

Refusing to side with them would lead them to a certain death trap.

This isn’t just the Holy Desecration Realm’s current predicament, but also the predicament of a vast majority of forces within the Sea of Chaos Realm.

Seeing Gan Xiong remain silent, his expression slightly grim, the ‘surrender faction’ couldn’t help but feel sympathetic for a moment.

They might not truly wish to become slaves of the Jade Pot Realm, but after weighing the pros and cons, surrendering is not a difficult choice between certain death and loss of freedom.

Similarly, Gan Xiong understands this. He knows there aren’t many here who truly fear perishing. Death is something they all expect, like the dense plaques here; one day, they too will come to rest here forever.

He clearly knows that what these people truly fear is that in the future, no one will come here to clean these plaques, to offer tributes, to burn incense…

The obsession with legacy has unconsciously, over a long time, seeped into everyone’s bones, making them fear such outcomes more than death.

After a long silence, he slowly spoke:

“Taoist Friend Taiyi of the Primitive Demon Mountain, also a cultivator of the Wonderful Feeling Realm, forms an alliance with us and those Outer World Cultivators—it might not be impossible to withstand a fight…”

Gan Xiong’s words once again stirred up noise within the palace.

“Primitive Demon Mountain? If they truly intended this, why have they remained inactive these years?”

“The Jade Pot Realm has sped up their sweeping advance lately. Recently, they crushed more than ten forces in a single day, and their forces are pointed straight at the Sea Market territories, yet the Primitive Demon Mountain shows no response.”

“Realm Master, placing our hopes on others is untenable…”

“Taoist Master Taiyi from Primitive Demon Mountain might have considerable power, but compared to the Jade Pot Realm, they might fall far short, even including us, there may still be too great a disparity…”

“This is a struggle between Domains, not something a single person can stop…”

“That Yu Yu and Taoist Friend Wuhen aided us greatly. We must remember their favor, but when it comes to the survival of our Holy Desecration Realm, how can we confuse the issue?”