Chapter 637

Chapter 637: Earth-Shattering Plan

Why wasn’t the Ximen family clan afraid of the Mo Sect? Beyond geographical factors, the main reason actually lay in the Mo Sect’s limited operational endurance.

When considering combat power among major sects, the Mo Sect undeniably reigned supreme. Their mastery of mechanical arts allowed them to accumulate military strength—every Eighth-Rank warship they constructed directly amplified their sect’s overall might.

Other sects focused their efforts on cultivation advancement. While this produced numerous experts, these individuals either perished permanently or ascended, leaving no lasting enhancement to their sect’s strength.

Though the difference seemed negligible in the short term, it became glaringly apparent over time.

Typical large sects possessed mere dozens of Eighth-rank Treasures and fewer than ten peak eighth-rank large treasures.

The Mo Sect? They publicly displayed over a hundred Eighth-rank Treasures, with sixty to seventy peak eighth-rank large treasures—their formidable warships.

Moreover, everyone knew the Mo Sect excelled at concealment. Their secret stockpiles likely doubled these numbers, with conservative estimates suggesting they controlled over a hundred large treasures in total.

Each peak eighth-rank large treasure rivaled the power of a Thunder Tribulation Immortal. This meant the Mo Sect’s Eighth-Rank warships alone equated to over a hundred Thunder Tribulation Immortals—an utterly terrifying military force!

Yet why did the Mo Sect rarely deploy this overwhelming strength? The answer lay in catastrophic operational costs. Spirit Jade scarcity caused critical shortages in core energy pools, rendering their mighty warship fleet operationally unsustainable. Mobilizing their armada risked immediate bankruptcy.

This fatal weakness was common knowledge. Sects conspired to restrict Spirit Jade trade, preventing Mo Sect dominance through collective market manipulation.

The Ximen family clan exploited this vulnerability, believing themselves immune to Mo Sect retaliation as they harassed and bullied their rivals.

But the situation turned precarious. The small thousand Secret Realm under Ximen control served as a massive Spirit Jade production zone. Should the Mo Sect seize it to solve their energy crisis, their power could multiply by tens or hundreds of times. For the Ximen clan—already bitter enemies with the Mo Sect—this spelled existential peril.

When Ximen Qingdong received this intelligence, terror paralyzed him. Visions of hundreds of Mo Sect warships besieging his family’s territories chilled him to the bone.

Without delay, he urgently messaged his two cousins wielding Ninth-Rank Treasures, demanding they defend the Secret Realm at all costs. Failure meant the Ximen clan’s certain annihilation!

Ximen Qingdong bitterly regretted not relocating the Secret Realm to their fortified heartlands earlier. This strategic oversight now threatened catastrophe.

In truth, the Ximen clan couldn’t be entirely blamed. Spirit Jade held little value beyond monetary gain for them—only the Mo Sect desperately needed it. They’d stationed the resource on their periphery, considering their outer territories as secure as their own courtyard.

Maintaining a Small Thousand World required siphoning Spiritual Energy from Spiritual Veins. The clan prioritized fueling their elites’ cultivation over sustaining useless external resources.

Normally, no one dared trespass on Ximen lands—even Semi-Immortals would retreat battered from such attempts.

But Fang Lie defied all conventions.

During the Qin Qiu town destruction, Fang Lie had seized freshly mined eighth-rank Spirit Jade. The old bird’s revelation about its critical importance triggered immediate action. While continuing raids, Fang Lie deployed a hundred clones wielding Void Eyes for intensive reconnaissance.

Perseverance bore fruit. The Void Eyes exposed the hidden small thousand Secret Realm’s location, revealing mining operations and guard details with crystalline clarity.

The nearly forty-year-old Fang Lie—far from his reckless youth—exercised calculated caution. He knew attacking the mine directly would trigger swift Ximen retaliation.

Instead, he unleashed chaos. Two hundred clones rampaged through Ximen territories, looting and burning. One clone baiting a Ninth-Rank Treasure wielder on a daylong chase across the clan’s domains proved particularly effective.

This diversion bought precious time. Over a hundred Fang Lies emerged from concealment, Void Escaping into the Secret Realm’s heart.

Precise Void Eye intelligence enabled perfect positioning. Half the clones ambushed guardians—Fire Tribulation Immortals and Wind Tribulation Immortals fell instantly to Soulfire Lance strikes before comprehending the threat.

Simultaneously, the remaining clones seized control nodes. Fang Lie himself appeared at the central Formation core, impaling the old bird into the ground. From the Benevolence Token swarmed tens of thousands of Giant Roosters, systematically overwhelming void restrictions and commandeering the protective array.

Though the Ximen’s security formations seemed formidable, they paled before the old bird’s expertise. Yet true control required wresting millions of Formation core eyes from the clan’s main defensive array—a painstaking process of erasing and replacing control seals.

This monumental effort stemmed from unprecedented ambition. Rather than simple plunder, Fang Lie aimed to transplant the entire Secret Realm to Mo Sect territory—securing not just eggs, but the golden goose itself.

Three impossible requirements stood:

1. A realm-spanning control Formation

2. Complete node domination

3. Transportation power exceeding multiple Semi-Immortals’ combined might

Even if achieved, Ximen experts wielding Ninth-Rank Treasures could disrupt the transfer. For Fang Lie and the old bird, this became their greatest challenge yet—a high-stakes gamble against time and overwhelming opposition.