Chapter 80: Someone Is Stirring Up Trouble

The upheaval in the cultivation world was not caused by the fact that the prodigies of the Eight Great Orthodox Sects and Seven Demon Clans had been captured en masse, nor was it due to cultivators being blinded by the generous rewards offered by the fifteen sects. The true reason for the unrest was that the orthodox and demon factions had joined forces.

Yes, the fifteen most powerful sects of both the orthodox and demon paths had united. Together, they issued a search decree.

Older cultivators understood what it meant for the top sects of both factions to collaborate on a single matter—it signified that something had appeared in the Profound Heaven World, something neither faction could handle alone, requiring the combined strength of both orthodox and demon forces.

It was a terrifying prospect! If even fifteen top sects could not face it alone, what chance did lesser sects, solitary cultivators, or even ordinary mortals have? Were they simply to await death?

Amid widespread panic, all kinds of suppressed emotions—indulgence, selfishness, fear, hatred, ambition—began to accumulate unseen, forming a vortex.

No one knew whose lips first uttered the rumor that the Profound Heaven World was on the verge of chaos, but it stirred everyone’s emotions, and the vortex in the cultivation world grew ever larger and more intense. By the time the leaders realized how foolish their actions had been, the situation had become nearly irreparable.

Under the deliberate manipulation of certain parties, countless small sects were wiped out overnight; even the Eight Great Orthodox Sects and Seven Demon Clans, the pinnacles of the cultivation world, were not spared.

The first to suffer was the Five Elements Pavilion, which lacked the oversight of the Celestial Eye Master.

A group of unknown experts launched a surprise attack on Jicheng, the capital of the Great Qi Dynasty, plundering the Five Elements Pavilion’s treasury and killing more than ten notable disciples and two elders. By the time the Pavilion’s experts in the Five Elements Secret Realm received the news and intervened, the culprits had vanished.

On the surface, the true foundation of the Pavilion lay within the Five Elements Secret Realm, so their losses were not grievous; compared to the havoc wrought by the demon clans in the past, this was hardly significant. Yet, this time, the Pavilion lost its key bargaining chip for trade with the Pure Yang Temple—the Divine Thunder Crystal of the Five Elements.

The loss of the item was tolerable; the Eight Great Orthodox Sects had always maintained a defensive alliance, and the Pavilion could use other resources to obtain what it needed. But for a sect of its stature to be ambushed and fail to apprehend the thieves placed the Pavilion in an awkward position.

For top sects, reputation often outweighed material interests. Not everyone was as shameless as the Pure Yang Temple...

Even more embarrassing was their inability to exact revenge or restore their honor, for they had no target.

Before the other sects could mock the Pavilion, news arrived from the Abyss of Ten Thousand Mountains: seven demon kings, suppressed beneath the abyss, had their seals broken and rampaged through the ancient battlefield. Though they were soon re-sealed, the battlefield suffered immense damage, inciting a riot among the hundreds of thousands of ancient resentful spirits, turning the Abyss into a haunted realm that rivaled even the Demon God Sect in its sinister atmosphere.

As with the Pavilion, the Abyss’s predicament seemed dire, but in reality, not a hair was lost. The multitude of vengeful spirits, though formidable, were merely a minor ailment, easily resolved in a few days. What truly enraged the Righteous Spirit Master was that someone dared stir up trouble under his very nose; it was as if a toad had landed on his foot—not harmful, but utterly disgusting.

Did people really believe that the Abyss’s usual low profile signaled good temper, and that anyone could just take liberties with them?

The Righteous Spirit Master was famed for his uprightness, but that did not mean he lacked temper. To avoid the embarrassment the Pavilion faced, unable to identify the culprit, he personally swept the ten-thousand-mile perimeter around the Abyss, purging all manner of monsters and spirits—a move highly praised by the Luminescent Master.

With two major sects suffering consecutive incidents, everyone else grew wary, realizing someone sought to vex the Eight Great Orthodox Sects. They all heightened their vigilance.

Yet the great leaders never suspected the Seven Demon Clans, as their previous dealings remained unfinished and it made no sense for them to risk antagonizing the orthodox sects now. Moreover, both the Abyss of Ten Thousand Mountains and the Ultimate Path—usually even more discreet—faced their own humiliations, losing face in ways that mirrored the orthodox sects.

The Phoenix Empress had her clutch broken, forcing her three offspring to hatch prematurely. Though the early birth had little lasting impact—the three young phoenixes absorbed golden solar flames for a few days and recovered—the fact that her nest had been violated brought disgrace within the demon clans. Furious, she incinerated three thousand miles of forest, yet her anger remained unquenched. She issued a bounty in the Abyss, vowing to catch the scoundrel who dared covet her nest.

While the Phoenix Empress, Celestial Eye, and Righteous Spirit only suffered embarrassment, the Ultimate Path fared much worse.

The normally tranquil waters around Xuanwu Island in the South Sea were struck by a sudden, hundred-zhang-high tsunami from all directions. Though the Ultimate Path’s main temple was shielded by a grand formation, the entire island was submerged, resulting in the deaths of thousands of peripheral disciples and mortals.

The East Mountain King exploded in fury, leading experts from his Xuanwu Secret Realm to turn every potential tsunami-causing creature in the East Sea into a seafood feast.

The East Mountain King’s drastic actions provoked strong resentment among the East Sea tribes, leading to a confrontation with the Ultimate Path on the sea, causing losses on both sides. Only when Xu Jing intervened to "mediate" did hostilities cease.

As for Xu Jing’s "mediation"—one only had to look at the super vortex on the East Sea, which had yet to subside after two months.

With both orthodox and demon factions simultaneously provoked, anyone with sense could see that a hidden force was behind these events.

Yet such elusive threats were not worth pursuing; vigilance was sufficient.

What truly concerned them was how to restore order after the chaos their negligence had unleashed, especially to bring tranquility back to the mortal kingdoms.

After much deliberation, they opted to wait and observe.

Some mistakes could not be admitted—not only for the sake of reputation, but because every move they made had become highly sensitive.

Immovable as mountains, their inaction was the strongest response to those lurking in the shadows.

No matter how chaotic the mortal realm became, it could not alter the balance of the cultivation world. As long as the cultivation world remained stable, the Profound Heaven World would never truly descend into chaos, and the rats lurking in the sewers would have no opportunity to act.

The turmoil did not last long. As more participants returned, bringing news from the Chosen Relics, attention shifted entirely to the Chosen.

Naturally, the blunders of the top sects became fodder for idle gossip, as people’s focus moved on and no one believed the alarmist rhetoric any longer.