Beastmaster of the Ages

"Witnesses?" The alliance was one more taken aback by an unexpected revelation. The seriousness in Yun Tianque's words seemed almost incongruous to them. They had thought that the second part of their expedition would be nothing more than a mission to punish defectors from the celestial orderians' side and Yun Tianque was probably just making things up to save himself. They could all feel their lips curving into a smile.

"Yun Tianque, don't tell me your witnesses include the janitors in your sect or the bugs on the divine tree," Wang Hong mocked, not that he was actually aware of the actual silver bugs scattered all over the continent. Everyone burst out laughing at the remark. As far as they were concerned, there was nothing that Yun Tianque could do to prove his innocence. There wasn't a need for any further argument. The only justification they needed was 'us' and 'them'.

Faced with such doubt, Yun Tianque didn't seem perturbed in the slightest. He turned behind him and said, "Everyone, over here."

A few people came to his side, namely Long Wanying, Yang Ce, and even Gujian Qingshuang! The alliance had no idea what it implied at all. Even the Wind Swordlord looked at Gujian Qingshuang with confusion. Those two were supposed to be sworn nemeses!

Long Wanying looked at the Northdipper Swordsage and the rest and said with a firm tone, "I can attest that the Supracloud Sanctuary's sect master has been in contact with me since the beginning of their cooperation with the wargodeans and Blueblood Starocean. He never wanted to stand on the opposing side, but he was in no position to refuse. That's why the Supracloud Sanctuary has done their best to not contribute to the conflicts surrounding the Azurecloud Divine Tree. Not to mention how they turned on Li Wushuang at a crucial moment to cut off her troops' escape route, which was a premeditated plan they had arranged in advance with the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect."

Long Wanying represented the rank two sect on the myriad sect rankings, which used to be the leader of the factions native to Orderia, so her words carried weight. This was especially the case as she wasn't a member of the Supracloud Sanctuary. They could even be considered enemies before that. There was no testimony that was more convincing than one given by an enemy!

"I can also attest to this. The Azuresoul Palace and Supracloud Sanctuary have been working together, compromising as needed, to drive our enemies from the continent," Gujian Qingshuang said. His words counted even more than Long Wanying's, especially considering the history his sect had with Yun Tianque's. It was more than enough for the Supracloud Sanctuary to have a generations-long nemesis attest to their innocence.

Now, everyone, the swordsage included, had been completely shocked into silence. This had developed far beyond their imagination. Many people seemed agitated and disgruntled.

Long Wanying directly addressed the swordsage. "Swordsage, this is a crucial matter. As Sect Master Yun had to keep his cooperation with us covert, he couldn't reveal that he was actually on our side all along before we successfully drove out the celestial orderians' servants. That's also why we didn't inform the Empyrean Sword Sect about this until now. However, this is a joyous occasion. Now, the wargodean and Blueblood Starocean fighters have been culled in great numbers, and the Supracloud Sanctuary managed to emerge unscathed. It's a stunning victory for the Myriad Solar Sects as a whole, one that came without requiring the blood of those of the continent to be spilled. There couldn't be a better outcome than this."

The narrative was that the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect and Azuresoul Palace had worked together to save the Supracloud Sanctuary from their predicament. It would be an astronomical task for the alliance to find a justification for exterminating them now, which was nothing short of a slap to the face of the swordsage and the other three first-rate sects. They had gleefully come to collect the divine herbs, only to be stopped at the last moment.

Frustrations began mounting. Even though the spoils from the two hundred thousand defeated enemies had already made them a huge profit, giving up on dominating more than half of the continent and the three billion divine herbs was almost impossible. Everyone turned to the Northdipper Swordsage and waited for his decision.

The starlight on his face flashed, pointing at Long Wanying as he chuckled, "I understand."

"What do you understand, Swordsage?" Lazuli Pavilion's Mu Qingqu asked.

"Yun Tianque probably agreed to give the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect a portion of their divine herbs and cede territory to the Azuresoul Palace so that they wouldn't be annihilated. What an impressive move. Long Wanying, Gujian Qingshuang, how dare the two of you take bribes from the enemy despite being part of the Myriad Solar Sects? Do you have no conscience?"

That was a masterful reframing of the situation. Faced with such a strong temptation, the alliance's fighters were all too willing to accept this twisted logic in favor of the witness testimonies.

"Long Wanying, Gujian Qingshuang, how could that alone be worth it? You've humiliated the Myriad Solar Sects by speaking on our enemy's behalf!" Wang Hong yelled.

Chaos began building up once more. If that accusation stuck, it would all be over. Just as a fight was about to break out, two more people appeared beside Yun Tianque, namely Tianming and Yu Ziqian, the Sky Palace disciples! The two youths should have been easily ignored, but their status as members of the Sky Palace was a completely different story, especially with the Northdipper Swordsage wanting to recruit them.

"Seniors, I have something to say," Tianming said. His appearance stood out too much, allowing people to instantly recognize him. The moment he appeared, the swordsage turned the lights on his face toward him in an eerie fashion. "I can assure you that no divine herbs will be given to the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect. There will also be no transfer of territory from the Supracloud Sanctuary to the Azuresoul Palace. If you all still insist on robbing the Supracloud Sanctuary of the divine herbs that they have rightful claim to by the edict of the Sky Palace, and even threaten to take their territory by means of war, I will report every detail of this conflict to the Sky Palace."

Tianming knew that the Sky Palace was an odd faction with really different priorities, but that didn't stop him from utilizing his status to the best of his ability. Both he and Yu Ziqian were crucial for keeping the three billion divine herbs. Before the divine herbs were harvested, both the Azuresoul Palace and Supracloud Sanctuary could only passively react. The harvesting process took a long time, which allowed other parties a lot of opportunities to interfere. But once the divine herbs were collected in the sects, they could just activate their defensive formations and toughen up against any assault.

With the Supracloud Sanctuary even killing the wargodeans and Blueblood Starocean cultivators that came their way, nobody could say anything against Yun Tianque's actions. Not to mention, everyone knew what really was happening. The six hundred thousand troops were well aware that they had come with the intention of committing robbery and were simply seeking justifications! But without a good justification, they would be going nowhere. Their alliance only represented a fraction of all of the Myriad Solar Sects, after all, and if word of this got out there would be a lot of resistance and discord. Not to mention, the Sky Palace disciples themselves had issued a warning.

"I know you've come for the divine herbs, but the Supracloud Sanctuary has made the correct decision from the very beginning. They haven't done anything that's gone against the interests of the Myriad Solar Sects as long as it was within their power to do so. If you allow your greed to influence you to the point where you can simply exterminate a sect and millions of lives, how are you different from the animals we just chased away?"

Tianming scrutinized all of them with his gaze. Though he was just a junior, he was defending the future of half of the entire continent from them. For the very first time, those of the Supracloud Sanctuary began gaining a good opinion of him. The alliance's troops were all speechless.

"Li Tianming, do your words represent yourself or the Sky Palace?" Wang Hong asked.

"Senior, who I represent makes no difference. If I have to represent someone it'd be the folks living here on this continent. We're thankful that the alliance helped chase away the outsiders that don't belong here, and we're also aware that your spoils have been substantial. As such, is it too much to ask you to spare the people of the continent and leave them with hope for the future? To you, the divine herbs would only amount to a small additional benefit on top of what you already have, but to the cultivators of this continent, these divine herbs represent their futures!"

Another bout of silence ensued. Nobody spoke for a long time, including the swordsage. Since time immemorial, war had always required a strong justification. Otherwise, those with might would be able to do anything to those without for no reason at all. Justification was so important that some belligerent factions had to go so far as to brainwash the conquered populations in order to quell their desire to revolt. Thanks to Tianming and the rest, the alliance had completely lost all the justifications that they'd originally had. There was no way the six hundred thousand troops could fight now.

"Everyone, the tens of millions of subjects of our sect are now within the formation. Their survival is now intertwined with the survival of our sect. If you still insist on eliminating us, know that all tens of millions of us will fight to our last breath! If you want to take the birthright of our descendants, you'll have to do it over our dead bodies. Without first killing tens of millions of people, you will not be allowed to take even a single divine herb!" Yun Tianque announced.

The hundred thousand elites behind him echoed, "We fight together! We die together!" They all glared at the alliance's army that outnumbered them by six times. However, they still had a formation which was powered by the combined might of tens of millions of people, every one of whom was fighting to protect their legacy. Their war cries were so loud that Tianming almost went deaf. Whether it be on Orderia or the Flameyellow Continent, the combined might of the common folk was a terrifying force to reckon with. Looking down on them and the Myriadfold Skycloud Formation would result in the alliance paying a heavy price!

From the very beginning, Tianming had believed that both Li Wushuang and the Northdipper Swordsage had greatly underestimated the potential power the common folk could channel through a formation. In a way, the sight here mirrored the battle at Tianming City. Almost immediately, the troops began averting their eyes.

"Let's retreat."

"It's pointless to continue."

"These people are insane. Trying to take from them would cost us our lives."

"We have no choice as long as they hide like cowards."

Such sentiments were now commonplace. Theirs was an opportunistic alliance of convenience to begin with, as the authority of the swordsage had by no means been set in stone. Now that there was dissent, nothing anyone could say would be able to unite them. The Supracloud Sanctuary was safe, thanks to the two major sects on the Azurecloud Continent banding together. Tianming could feel that the swordsage and the other leaders' moods were down to a new low thanks to their failed plans.

The Supracloud Sanctuary has been dealt with. Next, we have to defend the divine herbs of the Azuresoul Palace too, and then the saplings after that. Right as the notion occurred to Tianming, the divine tree's main body to the south of them peeked out through the clouds. Then, each and every part of the tree turned a ghastly red.

"What happened to the divine tree?"

It had happened without any fanfare apart from a strong smell of blood that permeated the air around them.

"The saplings!" The Northdipper Swordsage turned toward the bloodstained tree to the south and pointed. "Everyone, follow me!"