Chapter 463

Chapter 463: The Ambition of the Ice Snow Sect

Upon learning the entire story, Zhou Luo was stunned.

At that time, upon hearing that Lü Wei had proven his innocence through suicide, Zhou Luo couldn’t help but inwardly admire the man’s decisiveness.

He originally thought the matter was concluded.

After all, their group, including the three female disciples of the Biquan True Sect, had undergone inspection by the Immortal Sect, and no issues were found.

The affair really ought to have been laid to rest.

But unexpectedly, the Cold Ice Fairy emerged midway as a new complication.

If this Cold Ice Fairy had still been at the Golden Core stage, she wouldn’t have been a serious threat.

The problem was that she had broken through and become a Nascent Soul cultivator.

On the Jinyun Continent, the strongest cultivator in the open was a Nascent Soul cultivator, so her fury could unleash tremendous destructive power.

Thus, under her call, the entire Ice Snow Sect launched a fierce condemnation against the Wan Gu Sect, intensifying the dispute.

"Haven’t they considered that these events are part of a demon scheme?" Zhou Luo stated seriously.

Anyone discerning should have realized that demons were manipulating everything behind the scenes.

The goal was simply to ignite conflict between the two Immortal Sects.

Since the Cold Ice Fairy had lived so long and lost only a nephew, why make such a massive commotion?

As soon as these words were spoken, Hong Han’s face twisted with even clearer rage. He said gravely, "How could the Cold Ice Fairy not realize that? Her insistence stems only from her envy of the Wan Gu Sect’s position."

As the heart of the Jinyun Continent, the Jin Yun Domain was the most prosperous region, drawing endless cultivators and generating incalculable annual profits. Inside it lay six Fourth Level Spiritual Veins—exactly enough to support the Six Major Immortal Sects’ expansion.

This layout was explicitly arranged by the royal family of Huoyun Country.

Because of that, any Immortal Sect hoping to enter the Jin Yun Domain was thwarted.

Unless one could eject an existing Immortal Sect and seize its place.

Now that the Cold Ice Fairy had advanced to Nascent Soul cultivator status, coupled with the Ice Snow Sect’s years of growth in the Snow Region, its strength far eclipsed nearby ordinary Immortal Sects, even rivaling the Six Major Immortal Sects in the Jin Yun Domain.

Under these circumstances, it’s only natural they’d push the sect further for greater growth space.

After all, beyond the Jin Yun Domain, all nine other territories possessed Third Level spiritual veins—utterly incomparable to Fourth Level Spiritual Veins.

Now, using this opening to challenge the relatively weaker Wan Gu Sect among the Six Major Sects made perfect sense.

Anyway, the Huoyun Country royal family turned a blind eye to such sect disputes. Their only demand was that these sects annually provide spiritual stones and treasures to the throne.

Zhou Luo hadn’t expected such vast ambition from the Cold Ice Fairy. Recalling his wife and daughters practicing cultivation under the Wan Gu Sect, he felt a flicker of worry. He asked, "Shopkeeper Hong, the Wan Gu Sect should outpower the Ice Snow Sect, right?"

The Wan Gu Sect had stood in the Jin Yun Domain for at least ten thousand years—how could an Ice Snow Sect raised on a Third Level spiritual vein even compare?

Perhaps they matched the Wan Gu Sect’s elite fighters, but actual warfare depended on mid-tier combatants.

In that realm, the Wan Gu Sect was certainly stronger.

Hearing this, Hong Han nodded. "Exactly—but…"

Suddenly shifting tone with a serious expression, he added, "So far it’s just the Ice Snow Sect provoking the Wan Gu Sect, but allegedly its ally, the Qian Xuan Sect, is also stirring restlessly."

"The Qian Xuan Sect?" Zhou Luo echoed in shock.

Qian Xuan Sect was an Immortal Sect in Qian Xuan Domain, adjacent to Snow Region, and it was unlike Qinyuan Sect and Chimagong Sect, not harboring mutual hatred; instead, their relations had always been good, with the two Immortal Sects often engaging in exchanges and friendly competitions among disciples.

This time Ice Snow Sect’s offensive clearly wasn’t impulsive but must have been planned for a long time.

With Qian Xuan Sect helping, facing attacks from two Immortal Sects simultaneously, Wan Gu Sect might not necessarily hold out.

"Will Qian Xuan Sect help Ice Snow Sect unconditionally?" he asked next.

Hong Han frowned and sighed, "If Ice Snow Sect truly replaces Wan Gu Sect, then Snow Region naturally becomes an unowned region; presumably, the other party used Snow Region as a bargaining chip to secure Qian Xuan Sect’s intervention."

Whether conflict or cooperation, it was all tied to interests.

In this world, there were no eternal friends or eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

Qian Xuan Sect was willing to get involved in this great war, naturally coveting Snow Region.

If it could control two regions at once, for Qian Xuan Sect, that would be an excellent development.

No wonder it chose to help Ice Snow Sect.

Zhou Luo grasped his meaning and also sank into deep thought.

"Does Wan Gu Sect have allies?" he asked.

Hong Han shook his head, "Currently, things haven’t reached that stage yet, and I don’t know how our sect has arranged things."

"But ‘once the rabbits are hunted, the hounds are cooked’; presumably, if other Immortal Sects in Jin Yun Domain don’t want to see a repeat of this, they’ll surely take action."

These words reassured Zhou Luo quite a bit.

From the current view, things were far from worsening to the level of a sect war.

Probably, Ice Snow Sect was just testing out Wan Gu Sect’s strength, hence engaging in minor skirmishes.

Yao Wu, his wives, and daughters still had a long cultivation time ahead.

If a real great war broke out, he would certainly find a way to bring his wives and daughters back.

"Alright, thanks for taking the trouble to explain, Friend Hong Han," Zhou Luo cupped his hands and said.

"It’s nothing—anyway, such matters aren’t for us to fret over. I came today mainly to discuss cooperation," Hong Han laughed with a smile.

Do not be fooled by how gravely they spoke.

But this issue, involving sect life-or-death survival, wasn’t like the conflict between Qinyuan Sect and Chimagong Sect; thus, both sides would act with extreme caution, and it remained unknown when it might escalate to that point.

At least currently, the sect’s business faced no impact whatsoever.

Since the great battle between Chimagong Sect and Qinyuan Sect ended, during that great battle, the Lin Family had also reaped enormous profits.

Particularly in Jiang City, under Lin Xi’s efforts, it was rumored the whole city was poised for expansion again.

After all, Longfeng Mountain range had been left in ruins by that great battle.

Though Longfeng Marketplace was undergoing repairs, after the incident, people preferred to remain in the cultivation city.

Because at least there were protective arrays.

So cultivators in Jiang City suddenly surged; without expansion, it couldn’t accommodate so many loose cultivators.

Since expansion was planned, business operations needed adjustments too.

Hong Han visited today to discuss expanding collaboration in Jiang City with Zhou Luo.

Zhou Luo naturally welcomed all comers without refusal.

He had originally intended to leverage this event to elevate Jiang City to the tier of colossal cities like Maple Leaf City and Qingtian City.

With cooperation seekers now arriving, he of course chose to accept gladly.

After the discussion ended, Hong Han departed.

Over the next few days, Zhou Luo stayed at Zhou Fu, preparing for advancement to late-stage Foundation Establishment.

Simultaneously, he instructed Wang Lang to keep watch for the last main materials required to form the Golden Core.

On that night, Zhou Luo was engaged in dual cultivation with Ye Qian.

Under the moonlight, two figures abruptly appeared outside Zhou Fu’s gate…