Data cultivation, I observe immortality in the five elements

The island lords present all had many fellow disciples and clansmen; they were not the only ones.

These people are their competitors, constantly eyeing the position of island owner, all wanting to take it over.

Therefore, even those who are the island's owners cannot be careless and must guard against their competitors usurping their throne.

Because most of the monks present were merely administrators of these islands, not their founders.

Their power comes from the families behind them or the support of a certain elder.

Support for such things is often time-limited.

What is favored today may very well be disliked in just a few years.

Therefore, many of the island owners present often prioritized their own interests when making decisions.

When the young master of the Hidden Star Pavilion spoke, he spoke of the harmony and stability of the territory hundreds of years later, carrying a pure sense of justice and appearing to be selfless.

Unfortunately, most of the island owners present were selfish and self-serving people.

Asking people like them to consider something that will happen hundreds of years from now is simply too far-fetched and unrealistic.

There are very few people in this world who can see so far into the future and plan so far ahead.

But it was clear that none of the island lords present were suited for that.

Even the few island lords agreed with Murong Ke's philosophy, prioritizing dealing with the sea tribe's attacks before considering their personal interests.

But such island owners are ultimately a minority.

Among hundreds of island owners, it's like a ripple on a lake, unable to make much of a difference.

After all, the trend is irreversible!
At the same time, Luo Yan, far away in the Crimson Sea, also used the immortal power of the Exquisite Pagoda to create a scroll of destiny, watching the battle between the island lord and the young master of the Hidden Star Pavilion in real time.

Everything that happened on Fire Horse Island was reported back here.

The more Luo Yan watched the debate and disagreement, the more obvious the sly smile on his face became.

It has a hint of a smiling tiger.

"You'd better tone it down; your smile is practically melting into your teacup!" the second spirit said from the side.

He has a sharp tongue and is very sarcastic; he can't stand someone who's pretending to be righteous.

Luo Yan shook her head, not caring about the other person's teasing.

"Is this what you call humanity?"

"Even when the sea creatures drove us to our doorstep, they still indulged in a life of debauchery and continued to fight for their own interests," the second spirit body sighed.

Although he is no different from the original body, many of his memories exist in his mind.

But the shock of seeing it with his own eyes still left his second spirit body with many feelings.

When he encounters an enemy, regardless of the other party's identity, he likes to fight them, completely disregarding the power behind them.

When the main body encounters an enemy, it will first assess the situation. If it can defeat the enemy, it will fight. If it cannot defeat the enemy or it is inconvenient to fight the enemy at present, it will secretly use tricks.
This isn't some kind of scheme or plan; it's clearly just manipulating people's minds!
"In fact, human nature is similar to water, fire, swords, and so on. You can act in accordance with the trend or against it."

"It all depends on how you use it!"

“We can use this spirit-gathering formation because we have convinced the disciples of the Star Gazing Hall and the Heavenly Mystery Hall to form a community of shared interests.”

"The families behind them, considering the future of their own clansmen, had no choice but to reluctantly agree."

"This is a huge, open conspiracy. With those disciples of the Heavenly Mystery Hall acting as a bridge in the middle, my plan can be executed smoothly."

“But not others!” Luo Yan’s smile widened.

The essence of heaven and earth is precious, but at the same time, it is not so precious.

This is because it only works for cultivators at or below the Refinement Void Realm. People above that level will not care about the amount of the Five Elements Essence.

After all, cultivation beyond the Integration Realm requires Immortal Jade and Immortal Spiritual Energy, rather than the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

The disciples who can join the Heavenly Mystery Hall are one in ten thousand, and are the core talents of various families and forces.

With them speaking up, even the most corrupt members of a family have to restrain themselves.

Because when people turn on each other, they show the least mercy.

This is the true and absolute trump card to cut off those with ulterior motives.

Therefore, Luo Yan dared to make deals with those people without any scruples, but the Three Saints of Yanxing could not.

Because human greed far exceeds their imagination.

This is the fuse that Luo Yan planted for the Three Saints of Yanxing; the balance beneath the surface is about to be broken.

"Many things in this world, whether people or other things, are not two completely identical individuals."

"Like two flowers blooming, each one different."

“For example, you and I are from the same origin and have the same appearance, but our personalities are very different,” Luo Yan said with a smile again.

These words silenced the second spirit body. Through the analysis of the original body, the naked truth of human nature was laid bare before him, like a teacup on a table.

Upon hearing this, the fair-skinned baby next to her, dangling her tiny feet, brightened up and said in her childish voice:

"This immortal knows, this is what your human race's powerful figures often say: 'Learn from me and you will live, imitate me and you will die!'"

The response from the exquisite pagoda caused Luo Yan to pause slightly before bursting into laughter.

There are many ways to resolve a problem, but resorting to brute force is ultimately a inferior approach.

True superior wisdom lies in keeping your opponent's every move under your control.

Then it breaks down without anyone noticing.
This is how to subdue the enemy without fighting!

The conversation continued in the main hall of Fenghai, Huoma Island, and Fenghai.

"These spirit-gathering formations are set up for you, for Feng Hai, and for the future of the Five Elements Sect!"

"After this war ends, you will continue to rule the territory you hold today!"

"At that time, you will also reap countless essences of the five elements!"

Murong Ke's voice rose; he had lost patience to continue the negotiations, his anger overflowing uncontrollably, reaching its peak.

No matter what he said, the people in the hall would always have a bunch of reasons waiting for him, making it clear that they would never agree without receiving half of the profits.

These fools, for the sake of their immediate petty gains, completely disregard the future of Fenghai and the stability of the territory.

She's really stubborn and won't listen to reason.

If these guys were from his own Heavenly Mystery Hall lineage, Murong Ke would have already taught them a lesson.

"No, no, no, we understand Your Excellency's good intentions, but carrying out this 'good deed' really requires mobilizing too much manpower and resources."

"It's not that we're unwilling, but that we're truly powerless to do anything about it!" one of the island lords lamented.

The island owners beside them nodded in agreement. Didn't they understand the benefits of carrying this out?
No, they understood better than anyone else that with Feng Hai around, everything they had would be guaranteed.

If it were the Supreme Elder behind them, he would most likely agree upon hearing this news.

Because this is inherently a mutually beneficial and good thing.

However, the island lords present refused Murong Ke's offer without hesitation.

Because favorable winds and sea conditions do not necessarily mean they will profit!
While they are nominally in charge of Feng Hai, they are not actually the true owners.

Some inherited it from their masters, while others temporarily received it from their own families.
But without exception, they all have one thing in common: if they are gone, someone else will take over.

They are not the only ones!

Since it belongs to the public or the family, what difference does it make whether we lose a little more or a little less?

Hearing that the group was still making excuses and showed no intention of agreeing, Murong Ke scolded them with a long face:
"Do you really want to watch Feng Hai perish, rivers of blood flow, and countless lives be lost?"

The island lords below the stage remained silent, but still disagreed.

So what if they are the young masters of the Hidden Star Pavilion? They are from the Feng Hai lineage. As long as they do not violate the sect rules, the Heavenly Mystery Hall has no jurisdiction over them.

"Two hundred years!"

"My bottom line is two hundred years!"

"Two hundred years from now, I will agree to your request and give you half of the essence of the five elements."

In the end, Murong Ke chose to back down and gave a specific time limit.

After he finished speaking, the entire hall fell into a long silence.

Many island owners exchanged glances, their eyes darting around, as if they were secretly discussing something.

Among them, an old man with a weathered face, wearing a five-colored black robe, slightly parted his lips, causing the cultivators to frown repeatedly.

The commotion in the crowd subsided immediately.

After a long silence, one of the old island lords finally stepped forward and spoke:

"Well, that's just how it is."

"It is only because of Your Excellency's noble status and repeated approval that we would never have agreed to this condition."

He sighed deeply, looking troubled, as if agreeing to this condition was something embarrassing.

"Great! That's awesome!"

"Then it's settled!" Murong Ke finally managed a forced, unpleasant smile.

To get these parasites to agree, he had no choice but to keep compromising.

Fortunately, although two hundred years is not a long time, it should be enough to deal with this war.

Afterwards, Murong Ke left, leaving the group of Fenghai Island lords in the hall.

After Murong Ke left, the island lords present could no longer contain themselves and surrounded the old man in the five-colored black robe, anxiously asking:
"Senior Brother Lu, that's two hundred years!"

"Who knows if Feng Hai will still be around two hundred years from now, or if we'll still be able to sit in the position of island lord?"

These words resonated with everyone. They set up magic arrays on their respective islands and handed over all the essence of the five elements. What was the point of doing this?
The deaths of his subordinate cultivators? Or the loss of the Feng Hai lineage's territory and reputation?
To be honest, none of this has anything to do with them!
Therefore, no matter how you look at it, in this transaction concerning the Hidden Star Pavilion and the Wind Sea Islands, they are the ones who suffer losses!
"My fellow disciples, do not be anxious. Since I dared to ask you to agree, I must have foreseen this." The Five-Colored Elder stroked his beard, his face glowing with health.

Upon hearing this, the clamor among the cultivators subsided.

"Wasn't that person going to set up a spirit-gathering array on our island?"

"But while he can make the arrangements, he can't personally be the one to carry out the plan, can he?"

"So," the five-colored old man chuckled, his laughter carrying a sense of generosity and magnanimity.

The other island owners weren't stupid either. After this reminder, one of them's eyes lit up instantly, and he excitedly exclaimed:
"Does Senior Brother Lu mean that we can lie about it, or even not report it at all?"

Upon hearing this answer, the island lords present fell silent for a moment, and then burst into a huge uproar.

“I’m familiar with this. That’s how the sect’s sixth-tier blood coral is handled,” someone immediately replied.

These words immediately drew a burst of laughter from the others, their eyes filled with excitement.

They did the same thing. Not only were the treasures that needed to be handed over to the sect taken, but even the resources that were to be given to their families were intercepted by them before being distributed in a unified manner.

The reason why the corrupt elements in the island lord's lineage can be repeatedly eradicated lies in the fact that the people who mine spiritual minerals and cultivate spiritual herbs all come from within the island itself.

They mine the resources themselves, keep their own accounts, and then hand them over to the sect.
This is a complete chain of interests, and no one can remain unmoved.

The same principle applies to having monkeys guard the peach orchard and mice guard the rice granary.

If they don't take more than they need, where will their cultivation resources come from?

"However, fellow disciples, you should still restrain yourselves a bit. This matter has only just been settled, and that faction is still under your noses."

"I urge my fellow disciples not to be too greedy, lest we attract the attention of that young hall master."

"Otherwise, if things escalate, it might cause trouble for our senior brother."

The Five-Colored Elder gave his instructions, and the other island lords echoed his sentiments.

They are the most experienced when it comes to this kind of thing. They play it safe at first, and then gradually erode the enemy's power.

In turn, they can keep most of the profits in their own hands.

After all, the island belongs to them, and the people who set up the spirit-gathering array also belong to them. Ultimately, it is up to them to decide how many strands of the five elements essence can be transformed.

Even if the people from the Heavenly Secrets Hall conduct an investigation, there are many intricacies involved.

The spiritual energy on the island is unstable, sometimes intense, sometimes thin.

The direction of the sea creatures' attack just happened to break the magic array, and so on.

If they want to, they'll find ways to get more.

With nearly 20,000 islands, the number of spirit arrays to be set up is at least in the millions. The Heavenly Mystery Hall simply cannot possibly oversee them all.

"Don't worry, Senior Brother Lu, we know what's important!" everyone responded.

The transaction of the Wind and Sea lineage was thus concluded, and the other two sea areas, Shadow Sea and Heavenly Gate Sea, followed suit.

Linglongzi, who is in charge of Zhaixing Hall, and Yanlongyu, who is in charge of Yixing Tower, have both reached cooperation agreements with Yinghai and Tianmenhai.

They set up a spirit-gathering array to transform the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and went to the inner sea to hire powerful outsiders to participate in the battle.
In an instant, all four sea areas in the outer ocean moved with the wind.

Red Sea.

Luo Yan, sitting cross-legged on the futon, took a sip of the spiritual tea in his cup, a smile appearing in the corner of his eyes, and said, "The wind is picking up."

"Yes, this will be a huge storm that sweeps across the entire Heavenly Mystery Hall and even the Five Elements Sect."

"I see now. When it comes to scheming and plotting, I can't compare to you," the cyan figure opposite him said. (End of Chapter)