Yunyang immediately notified Gu Zhao of this idea.
Gu Zhao was speechless. "You just used the Moon Base to provoke foreign nations, and that wasn’t enough for you? Now you’re planning to play an even more thrilling game?"
"As the saying goes, only the ability to fight can stop a war. Only those with strategic weapons are qualified to love peace. I’m just helping the major countries calm down and pursue peace with all their hearts," Yunyang argued.
Gu Zhao smacked his lips. "Isn’t it a bit much to build our territory right on their borders?"
Yunyang blinked. "I never said I was going to do it so directly!"
Gu Zhao fell silent.
Yunyang was equally speechless.
"Which one of us is the radical here?" Yunyang finally asked, exasperated.
Gu Zhao chuckled. "Would I have thought of it if you hadn’t brought it up?"
Yunyang pressed on, "Just tell me if it’s doable or not!"
"You don’t need to ask for my permission for such trivial matters. If you want to do it, contact the office yourself. Have them draw up a step-by-step plan. Don’t act recklessly on your own, or the follow-up won’t keep up, and you’ll end up doing a thankless job," Gu Zhao reminded him.
"Got it!" Yunyang agreed, eagerly dialing Yandu.
As the sun rose and set, and the clouds drifted by, time quietly slipped away. A year flew by in a flash.
Blue Star had already entered winter, and Changping Prefecture welcomed its first snow of the season. The world was draped in white. Aside from the lingering lush greenery surrounding Daluo Palace, the entirety of Cuiluo Mountain was blanketed in snow.
However, the treacherous roads did not deter the secular commoners from all over Jiangzhou in their pursuit of the Dao. Cui Mountain Town remained bustling and lively, and the path leading to Daluo Palace was teeming with loud voices and shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.
The sunlight was just right, and the air was fresh. Gu Zhao and Zhuo Qingyan strolled hand in hand. Seeing the flourishing incense at Daluo Palace, his heart was nonetheless far from relaxed.
In truth, the progress in Jiangbei and the Southern Border was proceeding smoothly. Although no further demonic traces were found, the senior Daoists performed good deeds and eliminated evil. They eradicated many wicked Demons and Ghosts, providing Gu Zhao with a massive amount of Evil Qi and Thunder Seeds.
The situation in the West was the same. After Taoist Jing Chun stabilized Jueyin Heavenly Country, the group worked together to annihilate the Three Saints Sect and annex the Three Holy Countries. Additionally, the Enchantress Cult Leader fled alone, allowing Heping Country to be swallowed up as well.
However, this also marked the limits of Jueyin Heavenly Country’s expansion, so things had temporarily stabilized.
Meanwhile, many Inner Sect Disciples and Outer Elders of Daluo Palace, whose Cultivation had reached a bottleneck and who were willing to travel, dispersed under the palace’s encouragement and support. They established strongholds across Jiangnan, as well as in Jiangbei and the Southern Border.
Yunxia Temple, Wansong Temple, Linghe Temple, Ping Lake Temple, Feixiao Temple, Bright Moon Temple...
Celestial Master’s Mansion, Shangqing Sect, Spiritual Treasure Sect, Dragon Gate Sect, Pure Yang Sect, Wen Shi Sect...
Within a few months, Taoist Sects and Taoist Temples blossomed everywhere across the Otherworld Land with flourishing incense. The names of The Three Pristine Ones and the Jade Emperor had also spread far and wide among the secular commoners.
"But you still seem to have something on your mind." Zhuo Qingyan held Gu Zhao’s hand as they walked through the Vermilion Bird Forest. On one side was pristine white snow, and on the other, hundreds of blooming flowers.
"It’s because we haven’t found any demonic traces for the past few months," Gu Zhao replied.
The first time they discovered demonic traces was when the Netherfire Sect Leader targeted them, prompting them to strike first.
After that came the Mo Lake Ink Flood Dragon and the Cloud Celestial Palace Master. Later, there were Elder Gu Song and the Moon Devouring Sect Master in Jiangbei, as well as the Mo He Divine Monarch, the head disciple of the Southern Border’s Six-Headed Divine Monarch.
But right after Taoist Yan Song and the others finally killed the Celestial Star Dharma King of Pingzhou in Jiangbei, it was as if all the formidable experts practicing Demon Techniques across the world had vanished without a trace.
Although the senior Daoists discovered a few Demon Cultivators during their travels, these individuals had merely practiced the scattered Demon Technique legacies left behind by the Celestial Demons ten thousand years ago, and they were not particularly powerful.
These Demon Cultivators had represented the mainstream of demonic cultivation in this world for the past ten millennia. Lacking in Dao Practice and with a low ceiling for growth, even if they engaged in occasional slaughter, almost all of them eventually descended into madness and died.
Before the Demon Ancestor awakened, these Demon Cultivators never amounted to much. They posed no threat to contemporary experts, and the scale of their massacres often paled in comparison to that of some exceptionally vicious Demons and Ghosts.
But now that the Demon Ancestor had awakened, luring top experts to become Fallen Demons and opening up Demon Realms within the earth veins, the situation had entirely changed. This posed a genuine threat to this world.
From the Netherfire Sect Leader to the Celestial Star Dharma King, facts proved that the Demon Ancestor’s plan had already been set into motion. By manipulating various Great Demon Ghost Gods as pawns and using the Earth Vein Demon Realms as nodes, the ancestor intended to reshape the world and turn it into a Demon Realm.
Logically speaking, for those Demon Cultivators to practice their Demon Techniques and expand their Demon Realms, they would have to transform spirits into demons and kill people to refine demons. Thus, the members of the Taoist Sects should have noticed clues and tracked them down.
Yet several months had passed since the Celestial Star Dharma King’s death, and not a single formidable Demon had emerged. It was as though they had all vanished.
Of course, it was impossible for them to simply disappear; they could only be in hiding.
"Either the commotions we caused everywhere were too great and startled these Demons, or they received a message from the Demon Ancestor to collectively conceal their auras and halt all actions.
"Regardless, this is not a good sign," Gu Zhao said in a deep voice. "It means those Demons have begun acting in unison, or at the very least, they now follow a unified plan."
Among these Demon Cultivators, even the weakest—the Netherfire Sect Leader—had nearly three thousand years of Dao Practice. The strongest, the Celestial Star Dharma King, possessed a full six thousand years of Dao Practice. Every single one of them was a prominent and notorious figure.
If these individuals fought alone, it would be manageable. But once they formed an organization, let alone dozens, even just a few of them would be an incredibly serious matter.
"Then what should we do?" Zhuo Qingyan asked.
"We can’t keep investigating aimlessly anymore. We must take the initiative to strike." Gu Zhao pondered for a moment before continuing, "Anyone worthy of the Demon Ancestor’s attention and lured into becoming a Fallen Demon must have at least two thousand years of Dao Practice. They have to be capable of establishing dominance in a region and opening a Demon Realm.
"Although there are quite a few people like this, the number is actually limited. There won’t be too many within a single province. It’s just that such figures usually live in seclusion or oversee their lairs, rarely showing themselves."
"Since they are avoiding us, we’ll take the initiative and pay them a visit!" Gu Zhao furrowed his brows. "As long as we can meet them face-to-face at close range, we’ll be able to determine whether they are Demon Cultivators or not."
"But what if they refuse to meet?" Zhuo Qingyan asked.
"If they refuse, it will at least narrow down our scope, and we can find other ways to investigate," Gu Zhao explained. "For example, using the Earth Escape Technique to sneak into the earth veins. Even if the other party is protected by Restrictions, we will still be able to spot anomalies."
"But whoever acts first will expose their flaws." Zhuo Qingyan was somewhat worried. "Will the Elders be in danger?"
"Yes." Gu Zhao nodded. "But it’s a risk worth taking."
Despite the fact that the Demon Cultivators were currently being annihilated one by one, giving Daluo Palace and the Central Plains Court the upper hand on the surface, things could change drastically. Once the Demon Ancestor emerged or the Demon Cultivators launched a collective assault, they would surely be overwhelmed, leading to massive casualties among the common people.
"All the Elders know the Earth Escape Skill. As long as they don’t get trapped by an Array, they generally won’t be in too much danger," Gu Zhao said.