Chapter 137: Joining Forces

The True Cultivators at the Golden Core stage from Cloud Palace Peak and the He Family maintained silence when they saw the Corpse Refining Sect directly dispatch a genuine Golden Core powerhouse to take charge personally.

Shortly after, everyone watched as the figures of the Golden Core powerhouses from Cloud Palace Peak and the He Family slowly faded away. As their figures vanished, another set of figures manifested in the exact same spots. Evidently, upon seeing that the Corpse Refining Sect had dispatched a genuine Golden Core powerhouse to hold the ground, the Golden Core powerhouses of Cloud Palace Peak and the He Family were also forced to reveal their true forms.

"I'm afraid this is the very first time genuine Golden Core powerhouses have arrived in person ever since the God of War Tomb imposed its restrictions!" Caiyun said in a deep voice.

The current situation of the God of War Tomb pocket dimension no longer allowed Golden Core powerhouses to enter. Once one entered, the God of War Tomb would undoubtedly collapse instantly. Therefore, ever since the restrictions were placed on the God of War Tomb, no Golden Core powerhouses had ever come over, as there was simply no point.

This was the turbulence triggered by the emergence of the Corpse Refining Sect.

"Senior ones, please refrain from fighting!" After some deliberation, Caiyun spoke up upon seeing the true forms of the three Golden Core powerhouses manifest. "Everyone is here for the God of War Tomb. Right now, the God of War Tomb has not yet opened, so regardless of who wins or loses, fighting this battle holds no real significance!"

"Furthermore, the God of War Tomb is about to open. If a fight breaks out, the aftermath might trigger the God of War Tomb and likely affect its opening when the time comes!"

Just as Caiyun's voice faded, Wang Changsheng nodded at Wuli. Understanding the cue, Wuli's figure vanished instantly.

Seeing Wuli disappear, the Golden Core cultivators from Cloud Palace Peak and the He Family also vanished.

What Caiyun said made complete sense. Everyone was here for the God of War Tomb. When the time came to fight, once the God of War Tomb opened, no one would hold back, so there was no need to start a brawl at this moment.

Moreover, a battle between cultivators who had achieved the Golden Core Dao would create quite a commotion. The last time three Golden Core powerhouses fought in Wushi City, they had reduced the entire city to ashes. If they affected the opening of the God of War Tomb, it would benefit no one.

"You'd better hope we don't run into you inside the God of War Tomb!" Jingang glared at He Feng, speaking in a muffled, rumbling voice. "When the time comes, I'll beat you until not even scrap is left!"

He Feng also looked at Wang Changsheng and the others, saying in a deep voice, "I say the same. We'll settle things with our true abilities when the time comes!"

The members of the Corpse Refining Sect returned to the small building to await the opening of the God of War Tomb.

Another five days passed, and the small town grew increasingly crowded and lively. Eventually, the town could no longer accommodate any more cultivators, and many had to remain outside its walls.

"I went out to take a look. Those staying outside the town are basically rogue cultivators with generally low cultivation bases, mostly at the Transforming Qi stage, and only a few have reached the Dan-Forming stage," Chen Yuan said in a deep voice. "Those rogue cultivators are not worth fearing."

"Very well, let's discuss our strategy!" Wang Changsheng gathered everyone together.

The crowd formed a circle, all of them gazing intently at Wang Changsheng.

"What are your thoughts?" Wang Changsheng asked the group.

"Regardless of everything else, I say we just kill the moment we get in. No matter which faction they belong to, we kill them first and ask questions later!" Jingang said in a deep voice.

Hearing Jingang's words, Wang Changsheng was instantly stunned.

"Are you trying to make an enemy of the entire cultivation world of Shentian Realm?" Wang Changsheng immediately asked. "Have you not learned any lessons from the Mountain-Closing War a thousand years ago?"

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Jingang asked in his rumbling voice.

Fortunately, having grown accustomed to Jingang, Wang Changsheng knew this was simply his temperament; otherwise, he would have thought Jingang had a personal grievance against him.

"Chen Yuan, do you have any ideas?" Wang Changsheng did not answer Jingang, turning instead to look at Chen Yuan.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Yuan said in a deep voice, "I think we can ally with Cloud Palace Peak!"

"Since the Shangyang Li Family is not participating in the God of War Tomb, only the strength of Cloud Palace Peak and the He Family is worth the Corpse Refining Sect considering an alliance," Chen Yuan continued. "However, an alliance between us and the He Family is impossible, which leaves Cloud Palace Peak as our only viable choice."

Hearing Chen Yuan's idea, Wang Changsheng could only shake his head helplessly with a wry smile.

"If I wanted to ally with Cloud Palace Peak, I would have already accepted when Caiyun invited me back at Cloud Palace Peak," Wang Changsheng said.

Chen Shangyi was Chen Yuan's cousin. Given Chen Shangyi's intellect, he could certainly guess what Wang Changsheng was thinking at the moment. Wang Changsheng had assumed that Chen Yuan, being his cousin, would possess a similarly sharp mind. But now, it seemed to Wang Changsheng that Chen Yuan still lagged behind Chen Shangyi in terms of mental acuity.

Failing to get a satisfactory answer from Chen Yuan, Wang Changsheng felt a slight sense of disappointment.

"What does Manager Wang think?" Zhang Yi asked at this moment.

Aside from Wuli, Chen Yuan and Jingang had the highest cultivation bases. Now that the suggestions put forward by the two most powerful members had been vetoed by Wang Changsheng, the rest of the group no longer understood what Wang Changsheng had in mind.

"The best strategy right now is to ally with the rogue cultivators!" Wang Changsheng said in a deep voice. "In Shentian Realm, although the cultivation bases of rogue cultivators are generally low, their numbers are definitely the largest!"

When the time came, quite a few rogue cultivators would inevitably enter the God of War Tomb. If they could unite some of those rogue cultivators, it would definitely cause a certain amount of trouble for Cloud Palace Peak. In Wang Changsheng's view, simply causing some trouble for Cloud Palace Peak was enough.

The primary rival of the Corpse Refining Sect was Cloud Palace Peak. As for the He Family, Wang Changsheng had not taken them into consideration at all.

"But rogue cultivators are extremely difficult to unite!" Chen Yuan said in a deep voice.

"I understand," Wang Changsheng nodded.

The number of rogue cultivators was vast, and precisely because of this, they were like loose sand, each with their own thoughts and agendas. Moreover, many rogue cultivators held deep-seated resentment toward the major sects.

Trying to unite the rogue cultivators was simply too difficult!

"Difficult as it may be, there is still a degree of feasibility," Wang Changsheng said in a deep voice. "The Rogue Pavilion is a breakthrough point."

"Given the strength of rogue cultivators, it is utterly impossible for them to reap any benefits or fortuitous encounters inside the God of War Tomb," Wang Changsheng stated. "They understand this as well, so as long as an opportunity presents itself, they will seize it!"

"This opportunity won't be provided by us; it will be provided by the Rogue Pavilion!" Wang Changsheng sneered.

"What we need to do is ally with the Rogue Pavilion!" Wang Changsheng said.

Allying with the Rogue Pavilion was much simpler than trying to control a horde of rogue cultivators.

"The Rogue Pavilion might not necessarily agree," Zhang Yi said in a deep voice.

"Then we have a fallback plan!" Wang Changsheng said. "If the Rogue Pavilion refuses, we can consider allying with the He Family!"

"The He Family?" Hearing Wang Changsheng suggest an alliance with the He Family, Jingang immediately shouted, "Impossible! I'm going to kill them!"

The rest of the Corpse Refining Sect disciples also wore expressions of utter incomprehension.

Seeing their puzzled looks, Wang Changsheng could only sigh inwardly that these disciples of the Corpse Refining Sect lacked life experience. Given their Dan-Forming stage cultivation, these disciples were certainly not stupid; in fact, they were quite smart.

However, cleverness and worldly wisdom were two entirely different matters.

"Forming an alliance with the He Family and wanting to kill them are two completely different things, and they don't interfere with each other at all!" Wang Changsheng said with a smile.

"Why?" Zhang Cunzhong immediately asked.

The rest of the Corpse Refining Sect disciples were equally baffled. Since they were going to kill the He Family, why would they want to ally with them?

Seeing the group's reaction, Wang Changsheng suddenly felt that allying with the He Family might actually be the superior strategy—provided, of course, that the He Family cultivators had the same level of worldly experience as these Corpse Refining Sect disciples.

"We and the He Family are mortal enemies. We both know that once we meet, we will never let each other go, even if it means fighting to the bitter end regardless of the cost!" Wang Changsheng explained. "Therefore, we don't have to worry at all about whether the other side will make a move; when we meet, we just fight, simple as that!"

"Cloud Palace Peak is different!" Wang Changsheng continued. "Neither the Corpse Refining Sect nor the He Family can be certain of Cloud Palace Peak's attitude, nor can we be sure which side Cloud Palace Peak will stand on when a major battle breaks out!"

"Since that's the case, why not eliminate such an unstable factor first?" A faint smile appeared on Wang Changsheng's face.

In Wang Changsheng's view, allying with the He Family was definitely the best choice. The reason he had placed this idea as the fallback plan was to accommodate the emotions of the Corpse Refining Sect disciples.

If these disciples were the stubborn type who would rather die than ally with the He Family, Wang Changsheng would have had no other choice.

"As expected of Manager Wang, whom Elder Yun praised so highly!" Chen Yuan recovered his composure and said, "Such a perspective is probably something only Manager Wang could come up with."

Hearing Chen Yuan's praise, Wang Changsheng could only display a wry smile.

Such a strategy was frequently encountered in the martial arts world he used to know. Under those circumstances, eliminating the most unstable factor first was definitely the best course of action! The disciples of the Corpse Refining Sect simply lacked experience and worldly wisdom, making it hard for them to think of it.

"Now that I've put forward these two ideas, what do you all think?" Wang Changsheng asked.

Hearing the question, the group wore contemplative expressions on their faces.

"I choose the first option: find a way to unite with the Rogue Pavilion!" Jingang said in a deep voice. "Asking me to ally with the He Family? Impossible!"

"I actually favor allying with the He Family," Chen Yuan said in a deep voice. "Uniting the Rogue Pavilion is not only time-consuming and laborious, but it might not even succeed. Besides, we aren't familiar with the Rogue Pavilion at all. Who knows if they'll stab us in the back?"

"There are too many unstable factors in allying with the Rogue Pavilion!"

On this point, Chen Yuan happened to share the exact same thought as Wang Changsheng.

"I also think allying with the He Family is better," Zhang Yi said in a deep voice.

"No, I agree with Senior Brother Jingang!" Zhang Cunzhong said in a deep voice. "I want to wipe them out too! There's no need for an alliance whatsoever!"

Wang Changsheng looked toward the remaining Corpse Refining Sect disciples, and as his gaze landed on each person, they expressed their own views.

"Ally with the Rogue Pavilion..."

"Ally with the He Family..."

"Ally my foot! Does my Corpse Refining Sect need to ally with anyone?"

...