Chapter 283 283 – An Opportunity for the Oppressed
Chapter 283 Chapter 283 – An Opportunity for the Oppressed
Somewhere far away:
Malachi, a man with red hair and black eyes looked at 14 of his peers, equal beings at the eighth stage. They all assembled to discuss the incoming Martial Arts Summit. If Elmer had seen them, he would have recognized them from the day the portal to the secret realm of the Bloodthirst Sect was opened.
"Why should we go in such a roundabout way to fight the righteous sects? We are evil sects, we should just kill whomever we want to kill, and conquer the places we want to conquer!"
A burly man with short white hair raised his voice. His face was quite memorable as cultivators with short hair were relatively rare. On the sleeve of his robes was the symbol of a roaring bear.
"Because most of us aren't a bunch of vulgar animals like you. There are more sophisticated ways to manage warfare than storming in and killing," An elegant feminine figure with light makeup and flowing pink hair scolded.
Their face was unnaturally sharp to the point one would not be sure if it was extremely beautiful or creepy, perhaps even both. On their sleeve rested the image of a lazy fox with its 9 tails coiling around itself.
"Huh, you sissies are just jealous of our power while you do practice these ridiculous rituals because you can't put your hands on a real Charm Qi inheritance. Which human would fall for such a trap? That's why you will always remain at the bottom of the alliance."
"Enough, everyone. All of us are nearly equally strong, and the reason you have been oppressed by the righteous sects all these years ever since the demise of the Bloodthirst Sect is that you cannot agree on anything without the seven elders forcing you to. We agreed to go past those conflicts and regain our resources, didn't we?"
A powerful voice of a woman pulled Malachi's gaze along with everyone else's to look at the celestial black-haired woman. Her skin was tanned, and her green eyes created a beautiful contrast with it. Men and women alike, all felt slightly aroused and an inner conflict with themselves whether to give up their dignity to serve her.
"Miss Morgana, won't you share this amazing inheritance with me?" the feminine man, also known as Sable, licked his lips in greed as he scrutinized her body. She was part of the Kutai Empire, and a practitioner of Charm Qi.
"No, we agreed to meet without attacking each other, so make sure to restrain yourself, or all elders present will cooperate to kill you. Remember, not only your evil sects are being suppressed, but also our empires," the woman commanded, her Charm Qi making her words more compelling.
"All right, we get it. Should we just plan our warfare methods instead of picking fights and wasting time?" Malachi said loudly, helping bring the attention of everyone back to the matter at hand.
"I still don't understand why we need a plan when we are strong enough to just conquer some lands," Harken, the brute with the short hair, complained once more.
"Because we are not strong enough, and by going for a direct war we would just cause the righteous sects to unite and attack us together. Even if we can resist the other top 20 sects, nobody wants to fight those of the top five," Malachi explained.
"Fine," Harken grumbled, dissatisfied.
"Miss Morgana, please tell us the plan of the five empires. You've been spending a lot of resources to make this collaboration possible and I'm sure you've taken many risks to infiltrate our continent with four other eighth-stage cultivators."
Morgana nodded and spoke again, keeping eye contact with the ten evil cultivators and swaying their opinions in her favor with her charm.
They all knew about her charm, but all of them believed that it could not truly affect their opinion as long as they were aware of it and took precautions, hence, they preferred to let her exude her charm and enjoy the accompanying pleasant sensations than tell her to stop. Oh, they were all wrong; the influence of an enchantress should not be underestimated.
"The goal is not immediate victory nor is it conquering the land by force. As I hope you remember, my messengers have told you about the opportunity at the Martial Arts Summit. Our empires have been plotting this for many years, preparing the ground for whenever it would be ready to make the seeds we sowed bloom and bear fruits."
"Hmm, is it about the turmoil among the righteous sects?" Malachi asked her, linking a few recent news to her claims.
"Exactly. The strongest righteous sect in the continent is facing an ultimatum from many other sects, and they choose to refuse in their pride and confidence."
"Haha, this child from the Sue clan is truly interesting. A whole war started because of him, and he had killed a huge chunk of the young generation of a top-five sect all by himself. I want to recruit him!" Harken burst into laughter.
"Even now, his existence turns the whole cultivation world against the only righteous sect that dare accept him. I also heard he is as beautiful as an enchantress," Sable licked their lips again, this time in lust.
"Eh, don't have disgusting thoughts about a child with so much potential. A boy that can kill ten thousand enemies in one session would never side with the likes of you," Harken contorted his face in disgust.
"Many children have sided with us, you just need to let one of us spend the night with you to understand the magic," Sable smiled at his rival, making him back off the fight immediately.
"Ah, no thanks."
"Enough with your antics, you two. The Nine-Tailed Fox Sect does what it can to amass strength, just like the rest of us evil cultivators. Their customs are part of their cultivation, nothing more, nothing less," Malachi said coldly, making the two of them silent again.
As the representative of the strongest evil sect which started the alliance for the sake of the secret realm, Malachi held a position of influence and respect among the evil cultivators, even if they would not listen to him once his words went against their selfish motives.
"Exactly, fellow cultivators. The existence of the boy reshuffles the hierarchy of power in the continent and poses a great opportunity for us to grab some power. The five empires have cooperated in the past thousands of years to establish small forces across the continent, and the cocky righteous cultivators have never bothered to care."
"Do you want us to participate in the Martial Arts Summit under the name of those straw sects, using it to challenge different righteous sects and claim their ranks?"
This time an old man with a long white beard spoke, and on his sleeve was the symbol of a hyena.
"As we said, the righteous sects are going after each other's throats right now, and if we join at the right time, we can enjoy the support of the Serene Lotus Sect even if everyone suspects those sects are occupied by evil cultivators. You've been hiding in the dark for so long, and most of your elders are unknown outside."
The evil cultivators took a few moments to consider the pros and cons of the suggestion, trying to see whether the opportunity Morgana had spoken about was real. They were used to being suppressed by the righteous sects, and in their hearts, it was hard for them to accept that they could rise and thrive openly.
"What if they reunite just to kill us before they go back to their battles? We can't stir up the hornet's nest every time like we did in the secret realm and expect to get away with it easily," someone raised their worries.
"They won't if we do it after they start killing each other. I have information that the Infinite Wisdom Sect will offer rewards to the various sects under the table for killing Serene Lotus Sect's disciples, and I'm sure many of the weaker sects will try to get the bounty. Even if they are weaker, they only need to send the few best core disciples of their sects to fight the weaker participants of the other side."
Morgana's information net was quite vast as expected from a top enchantress. Deals of this size could not be hidden from her easily.
"I say, let's go for it! We have been cowering for thousands of years; it's time for us to grab the opportunity and rise!" Harken shouted, his voice reverberating in the room and causing everyone's fighting spirits to grow.
"For once I agree with the brute; if we cannot grab an opportunity when it comes on a platter of silver, we will forever be suppressed," Sable agreed, adding validity to his rival's words.
"I concur."
"I concur."
Everyone gave their agreement to the general plan, and Morgana smiled along with the other four empire representatives. Everyone knew that their goals aligned only temporarily, and then they'd fight among themselves once their current goals were achieved.
If the evil sects managed to take over some of the top 20 sects and gain control over the lands of the Verdant Qi continent, they would also want to be part of the conquest against the Qiteria empires, turning them into the enemies of their current allies.
However, for now, they shared a common enemy first, an enemy they could not deal with alone. The righteous sects were the most powerful group in the mortal realm.
"Remember, the competition is among the young generation while the challenges are among the older generations. Our goal for this competition is to take at least five spots among the top twenty, and to kill as many as we can from the younger generations to weaken their foundations and future aspects."