Daojun, start from Penglai foundation building

Where thunder roared, the world lost its color, and all things were plunged into darkness!
All the magic ships of Tianyuan Holy Sect, Yin Yang Orthodox Sect, Yuan Yang Dao Sect and Dao Yi Palace gathered together, their dense array of cannons too numerous to count.

At this moment, with a command from True Lord Deyou, all the magic boats of the four Xuanmen Dao Sects fired their cannons simultaneously. The mountain-attacking beams, which were hundreds or thousands of feet thick, were fired, causing the heavens and earth to tremble, the sun and moon to lose their light, and the entire world to tremble at the shocking sight of ten thousand cannons firing at once.

Each of the magical ships of the Xuanmen Holy Land is extraordinary, and the cannons mounted on them were originally prepared to attack the mountain gate and break the magic array.

Ultimately, the purpose of these naval guns is to break through the opponent's defenses.

Whether it's the mountain-protecting formation of the opponent's mountain gate, the defensive formations of various passes, or the world barrier or the membrane of heaven and earth of the world they are in, all are within the range of the ship's cannons.

The Dharma Boat gathers the primordial energy of heaven and earth, absorbs the chaotic thunder and fire of the void, and refines that immense energy into streams of light no more than a hundred thousand feet thick. Each stream of light has the power to burn mountains and boil seas, and destroy the heavens and the earth.

Especially those exceptionally massive main cannons, each time they fired, were equivalent to the explosion of a lightning bolt that could shatter an array. Even a mountain-protecting array of the Fusion stage would be shaken by them.

However, at this moment, no matter how many cannons fired at once, the countless streaks of light from the ship's cannons that struck the layer of shimmering, dazzling light immediately vanished without a trace, as if they were directly absorbed by this light shield, catching the four allied forces somewhat off guard.

Especially after the various Dharma boats fired continuously for nearly a quarter of an hour without creating even the slightest ripple on the light shield, True Lord Deyou realized something was wrong and immediately ordered a halt to the firing.

As the various magic ships ceased fire, peace returned to the world. The True Lords of the Eastern Heavenly Daoist School couldn't help but burst into laughter at the ugly expressions of the four allied forces.

Mingxian laughed and said, "With just these ship cannons, they think they can break through the methods set up by Uncle Xuanjing? They're still ten thousand years away!"

True Lord Zhaozhen also looked at True Lord Deyou outside the light barrier and said coldly, "Deyou, is this all you've got?"

Deyou Zhenjun snorted coldly: "The Eastern Heaven Daoist School, renowned throughout the universe and famous in all heavens, why are they hiding in this tortoise shell and afraid to come out?"

“Zhaozhen, my Tianyuan Holy Sect is right here. Haven’t you Tianhe Sect always been thinking of completely destroying the Tianyuan Holy Sect’s legacy?”

"If you have the ability, then come out and see whether you destroy the legacy of my Tianyuan Holy Sect, or whether the Tianyuan Holy Sect cuts off the incense offerings of your Tianhe Sect!"

Seeing Deyou Zhenjun's arrogant remarks, Zhaozhen Zhenjun was not angry at all. Instead, he laughed and said, "Deyou, do you take me for a three-year-old child?"

"Such provocations are useless against this old man!"

Upon hearing this, True Lord Deyou's expression turned even more grim: "Withdraw the troops!"

Without any hesitation, the four allied forces swiftly regrouped their troops and retreated a million miles to set up their camps.

Beside True Lord Zhaozhen, both True Lord Yuanyi and True Lord Hongyi frowned upon seeing this: "Something seems amiss."

Zhaozhen Zhenjun nodded: "Deyou is my old rival, and I am very familiar with him."

“If he really came here to fight to the death, he will definitely try to test the waters himself after the ship's cannons become useless, or at the very least, he will have his disciples investigate again.”

"But now it's just a round of indiscriminate naval bombardment followed by a retreat, how does that look?"

Yuan Yi Zhenjun said in a deep voice, "Just deal with official business."

True Lord Zhaozhen and True Lord Hongyi nodded, their thoughts being the same as True Lord Yuanyi's: Why does this four-family alliance seem to be just going through the motions?
Meanwhile, in the allied camp, people from all three realms gathered together.

The core members of the four allied forces—the Zhao and Heng generations of the Tianyuan Holy Sect, the Guan and Liu generations of the Yuanyang Dao Sect, and the Ming and Xing generations of the Yin-Yang Orthodox Sect—were all present.

The junior cultivators, including Shao Yang Shao Yin, Lian Ri Cai Yue, and Zheng Qing Jin Chen, were also sitting in the back row, quietly waiting for the Fifth Tribulation True Monarchs to speak.

At this moment, in the center of the camp, the core of the allied forces, the four Fifth Tribulation True Lords—Deyou True Lord, Guanyuan True Lord, Liuyang True Lord, and Liuyue True Lord—were either solemn or had gloomy expressions, and all remained silent.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the camp was extremely heavy. Finally, the Sun-Palm True Lord of Dao Yi Palace spoke first.

The True Lord of the Sun is currently the most powerful being in Dao Yi Palace. Now that the two generations of true disciples of Dao Yi Palace have almost been lost, only he, Woyue, and Lianri Caiyue remain. Therefore, the True Lord of the Sun has no more scruples and dares to say anything.

"Fellow senior brothers and sisters, fellow Daoists!"

"Don't you understand the current situation?"

"He used Kongdong and Huayun, along with tens of millions of low-grade Dao soldiers from his Qiankun Dao Sect, as bait, and used those Feng and Yuan generation Dongxu and Dongshen Lianxu as a lure to attract the Dongtian Daoists to participate."

"He looked incredibly tragic, having single-handedly held off the entire Eastern Heaven Daoist family and even the Crimson Sky Daoist Sect."

"But what's the result?"

"They made some sacrifices, then trapped the Eastern Heavenly Daoists and us here, forcing us to fight each other while they watched from the sidelines!"

"What do they take us four for?"

"Cricket fighting?!"

Lord Zhang Ri vented his dissatisfaction without restraint. Although the hall remained silent after he said these words, no one stood up to say that Lord Zhang Ri was disrespectful and rude. This already showed the attitude of each family.

Clearly, everyone harbored resentment towards the Qiankun Dao Sect. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the upper three realms of the four families all carried a sense of unease towards the Qiankun Dao Sect and the Immortal Lord of Longevity.

Especially when True Lord Zhang Ri uttered the last phrase, "cricket fighting," both True Lord Liu Yang and True Lord Guan Yuan's faces twitched for a moment, clearly stung by True Lord Zhang Ri's words. At this moment, trapped inside the Mountain and River Sun and Moon Cauldron, their Tianyuan Holy Sect, Yin Yang Orthodox Sect, Yuan Yang Dao Sect, and Dao Yi Palace were unable to escape and could only fight desperately against Penglai, Qinghua, Tianhe, and Chixiao of the Eastern Heaven Daoist School.

The Qiankun Dao Sect remained aloof. Wasn't this forcing them to weaken each other, or treating them like crickets fighting?
We all came to help your Qiankun Dao Sect fight, but you used us as cannon fodder to be wasted. What kind of logic is that?!

At this moment, even the Tianyuan Holy Sect, a staunch ally of the Qiankun Dao Sect, harbored resentment towards the Longevity Immortal Lord.

This is also why no one objected when True Lord Deyou tentatively ordered the Dharma Boat to launch a barrage of attacks and then retreat: Why should we fight to the death with the Eastern Heaven Daoist family?

Deyou Zhenjun glanced at Liuyang and Guanyuan, the two Fifth Tribulation Zhenjuns, and then slowly said, "This battle will not be easy, but we have no choice but to fight it."

"Don't forget, we are all inside the Mountain and River Sun and Moon Cauldron right now."

These words discouraged everyone for a moment.

Yes, they are all inside the Mountain and River Sun and Moon Cauldron now. If the Immortal Lord of Longevity is dissatisfied with them, they have no way to deal with it.

Guan Yuan Zhenjun pondered, “We are indeed in the Mountain and River Sun and Moon Cauldron, but the Eastern Heaven Daoists are also in the Mountain and River Sun and Moon Cauldron, and they even have a Mahayana Immortal Lord.”

“I just observed it carefully. That layer of light should be a barrier formed by that golden whip that reaches the heavens and the earth. And that golden whip is the Mahayana immortal treasure of Immortal Lord Xuanjing of the Heavenly River Dao Sect.”

"At this very moment, that Immortal Lord Xuanjing should be trying to find a way to leave this Mountain and River Sun and Moon Cauldron."

In an instant, True Lord Deyou, True Lord Liuyang, and True Lord Liuyue all understood True Lord Guanyuan's idea: that is, to use the power of the Eastern Heaven Daoist School to leave the Mountain and River Sun and Moon Cauldron together.

Is it possible for this method to succeed?
Deyou Zhenjun and Liuyang Zhenjun exchanged a glance, then their eyes gleamed: It really is possible!

Since they can't break through that layer of light barrier in a short time, what can the Qiankun Dao Sect say if they're just going through the motions?
If you're so capable, why don't the Qiankun Dao Sect personally get involved?

The following day, the four allied forces once again mobilized a large army to fight. This time, the allied forces not only deployed magic ships, but also gathered a large number of war magic weapons to bombard the light shield formed by the Hao Guang Xuan Jin Whip.

After repeated bombardments proved ineffective, the allied forces once again announced a retreat.

At this moment, the immortals of the Eastern Heaven Daoist sect also realized that the allied forces were not paying attention. True Lord Zhaozhen, True Lord Yuanyi, True Lord Hongyi, and other Five Tribulation True Lords sat cross-legged together, pondering the intentions of the allied forces.

Zhao Zhen Zhen stroked his beard and said, "After these two days of fighting, I can see some of the tricks. De You and the others should also be unwilling to fight to the death with us."

"But Wan Shou of the Qiankun Dao Sect is definitely watching the movements inside the cauldron right now, so they have no choice but to fight us."

Hongyi Zhenjun smiled and said, "The most important thing about an alliance is to share hardships and prosperity."

"But now, these families are in an alliance that can neither share wealth nor hardship. With the Emperor watching from the sidelines, these families are bound to harbor resentment."

"We only need to make slight use of the contradictions between them, which should be enough to turn the tide of the war."

The words of True Lord Hongyi made the other True Lords nod in agreement.

Sharing hardship and prosperity is easier said than done.

Even the Eastern Heavenly Daoist School, because Penglai, Qinghua, and Tianhe were originally the same Xuanmen Holy Land of the Mountain and River Realm, and the founders of the three schools were allies who joined forces to overthrow the Divine Court at the end of the Yuanhui.

It is the camaraderie among the three founders that has continued into this era. At the same time, all three families are strong enough that there is no obvious weakling, which has allowed them to maintain a balance of mutual help and support.

Red lotus, white lotus root, green lotus leaf, mountains and rivers, the Xuanmen are one family. These red lotus, white lotus root, green lotus leaf are all pure yang. If one of them is not pure yang enough, how can they be connected together?
Thinking of this, Zhaozhen Zhenjun suddenly said, "I have decided to go and fight with Deyou tomorrow to see if we can reach an agreement."

Yuan Yi Zhenjun frowned: "Go see Deyou?"

"Too dangerous!"

"Regardless of whether they genuinely don't want to fight us to the death or have ulterior motives, we are all currently inside the Mountain and River Sun and Moon Cauldron. How difficult is it to avoid the Emperor's gaze?"

"If Wanshou discovers anything amiss in your magical duel with Deyou, wouldn't Deyou and the others be forced by Wanshou to fight us to the death?"

Upon hearing this, True Lord Zhaozhen smiled wryly and said, "I know that too."

"But right now, Uncle-Master Xuanjing can't find a way to leave this Mountain and River Sun and Moon Cauldron for the time being. How long can we hold out? How long can they hold out?"

"When they can't hold out any longer, won't they still have to obey the Emperor's orders and fight us to the death?"

"Therefore, someone has to take the step and contact them; there needs to be a certain level of understanding between the two sides."

For a moment, True Lord Zhaoye, True Lord Zhaohong, and True Lord Hongyi all frowned and pondered: Right now, they did need someone to contact the other side, at least to prevent the other side from affecting Immortal Lord Xuanjing's participation in the performance.

Just as the group of Fifth Tribulation True Monarchs were pondering who was the most suitable, Lingwei suddenly came over. The group of Fifth Tribulation True Monarchs turned their heads to look and saw Lingwei holding up a communication jade pendant: "Uncles, Lingyuan wants to contact you."

Lingyuan?!
In an instant, the eyes of True Lord Yuanyi, True Lord Hongyi, and True Lord Zhaozhen all lit up!
Yes, Lingyuan!
How could I have forgotten about that kid! (End of Chapter)