Chapter 402 : The Decision of the Ice Peak Faction
Chapter 402: The Decision of the Ice Peak Faction
“Let’s start the war!”
“It’ll be exciting once they fight!”
“I bet the Cultivator Faction loses the first clash! But in a prolonged fight, the Ice Peak Faction probably won’t be able to hold on.”
“Haha, it’d be best if the 3,600 World Clusters of the Cultivator Territory were reduced to ruins!”
“Hmph, if it really turns into ruins, then the Eight Lords would have no more restraints—that would be the most terrifying!”
“That’s what makes it interesting!”
Within the Eternal Land, a group of onlookers who loved chaos had gathered.
Aside from the Eight Lords of the Cultivator Faction and the twelve Undying and Indestructible existences of the Ice Peak Faction, the remaining nine Undying and Indestructible existences all had avatars present in the Eternal Land.
They were the Infinite Serpent Ancestor, Yanhuo Ancestor, Origin Ancestor, and the Mother of Space-Time from the Naturally Born Chaotic Origin Faction, as well as five existences who did not belong to any faction.
These five were Mogusi, Kafuxiu, the Feather Emperor, Demon Ruins, and the Hermit.
Among them, four were ranked within the top ten of the Infinite Chaotic Origin Space in strength. As for the Hermit, his strength was unknown—he was the only being in the Infinite Chaotic Origin Space whose true body no one could find.
These five could live freely without joining any faction.
“The more intense the fighting, the better.” Kafuxiu, clad in white armor, laughed loudly. “Infinite Serpent, your Naturally Born Chaotic Origin Faction fought the Cultivator Faction for so long before—quite a few Ancestors died, didn’t they? If the Ice Peak Faction goes to war with them on a large scale, a few Ancestors will probably die as well.”
The Infinite Serpent Ancestor didn’t care. “Only through the tempering of life and death can strength improve. Those who died simply weren’t strong enough.”
Unlike the Cultivator Lords, who were all Undying and Indestructible, among the hundreds of Ancestors who participated in the war on the Naturally Born Chaotic Origin Faction’s side, only a handful were truly Undying and Indestructible. The vast majority faced the pressure of death.
Under the threat of death, they fought many battles against the Cultivator Faction. Many of the surviving Ancestors had gained insights, though they still needed time to digest them.
“There are too many Ancestors!”
Mogusi, whose aura was cold and sinister, also spoke. “Those weaker Ancestors should be eliminated! The Ice Peak Faction has 26 ordinary Ancestors—it’s about time some of them died!”
“Mogusi, if I’m not mistaken, more than 95% of your power has been destroyed, hasn’t it?” Kafuxiu said.
“Could you fight Star Light Lord?” Mogusi sneered.
“I may not be able to defeat him, but he can’t do anything to me either.” Kafuxiu shook his head. “Unlike you—you only bully the weak, yet you’re completely powerless in front of Star Light Lord.”
Mogusi let out a cold snort.
“Origin.” The bizarre cube-shaped Demon Ruins sat beside the perfectly spherical Origin Ancestor; the two shared a deep friendship. “I heard you recently went to the ‘Wall of Fire Prison’?”
Within the Infinite Chaotic Origin Space, there were many Mysterious Places of varying power levels. Some were so powerful that the Ancestors had no hope of refining or controlling them.
The Wall of Fire Prison was one such place.
It stretched across a length equivalent to about a hundred World Clusters, forming an endless, towering wall. Its width alone rivaled that of a World Cluster. Among all Mysterious Places, its sheer size ranked within the top three.
More than 99.9% of Ancestors who dared touch it would be burned to ashes.
Wu Lan had once gone there as well, only to be severely injured by the flames and forced to retreat, not daring to venture deeper.
The only one capable of crossing the Wall of Fire Prison was the Origin Ancestor.
The Origin Ancestor replied, “Yanhuo and Shazhou, along with several other old friends, asked for my help. I brought them along to the Wall of Fire Prison.” In ancient times, before factions were divided, Shazhou, Origin, Demon Ruins, and the others had all been familiar with one another.
“Did you find the origin of the Wall of Fire Prison?” Demon Ruins asked.
“No,” said the Origin Ancestor.
Yanhuo Ancestor added, “We crossed the entire Wall of Fire Prison this time, but still couldn’t sense the ‘Source Origin of the Wall of Fire Prison.’”
“If it can’t even be sensed, refining it is out of the question,” Kafuxiu remarked.
“Within the Wall of Fire Prison, we discovered twelve types of the Highest-Level Power of flames,” Yanhuo Ancestor said with emotion. There were freezing flames that could immobilize even Ancestors, blazing flames that incinerated everything, lightning flames that destroyed all, ash flames that annihilated all existence, and violent flames…
With so many types of flames covering the area simultaneously, only Origin could traverse it.
“If the Wall of Fire Prison truly has a source, it must contain at least twelve types of Highest-Level Power. To refine it? One would need to master nearly half of them,” said the Infinite Serpent Ancestor. “Across the entire Infinite Chaotic Origin Space, no being has mastered more than two types of Highest-Level Power. So the Wall of Fire Prison can never be refined.”
“Indeed, it’s impossible,” Yanhuo Ancestor nodded.
Any Ancestor proficient in flames harbored ambitions toward the Wall of Fire Prison.
Such a terrifying Mysterious Place—if controlled—would greatly increase one’s strength. Yanhuo Ancestor, currently one of the Nine Emperors, was slightly weaker than the Infinite Serpent Ancestor. But if he could control the Wall of Fire Prison, he would surpass him, and might even contend for the position of the strongest in the Infinite Chaotic Origin Space.
Of course, places like the Wall of Fire Prison, the Eternal Land, and the Abyss of Destruction were famously powerful—none offered any hope of refinement.
……
Inside a vast and towering palace,
the Ice Peak Ancestor and the other eleven existences gathered together.
“Look.” A massive figure pointed forward, and an image of the Eight Lords of the Cultivator Faction traveling appeared in midair. “The Eight Lords are on their way! Their intention is clear—if we seize these World Clusters by force, they will immediately start a war!”
This massive figure had a body like yellow rock. He glared around angrily. “I, Xiu Saiwei, have not occupied a single World Cluster of the Cultivator Territory, nor taken any resources. Whether you all join this war or not… I will absolutely not participate!”
“Xiu Saiwei! The twelve of us are one whole—once a collective decision is made, you must join the war!” the Three Emperors of Wind and Thunder Sea immediately rebuked.
“We are, after all, a unified group,” Ancestor Wugu also spoke. He was the only one present in his true body, and he had the greatest stake here.
Xiu Saiwei sneered. “If I don’t participate, what can you do to me?”
The Ice Peak Ancestor felt a headache coming on as he watched.
The Ice Peak Faction had twelve Undying and Indestructible existences and 26 additional Ancestors. Their momentum seemed overwhelming! But precisely because the higher-ups were all Undying and Indestructible, they were extremely difficult to control. Even the weakest—the Three Emperors of Wind and Thunder Sea—were troublemakers.
“The Eight Lords of the Cultivator Faction are evenly matched with our twelve. And we still have 26 Ancestors! If a full war breaks out, we hold absolute advantage. We can crush them and even seize more territory!”
“We need to teach the Cultivator Faction a lesson! Let them understand that if they ally with us, we must be the dominant side!”
“You two fools—back when the Cultivator Faction was weak, we were indeed the dominant side! But now they can fight over a hundred Ancestors of the Naturally Born Chaotic Origin Faction. Do you think they would still fear us?”
“I haven’t occupied their territory or taken resources. My stance is clear—I will not participate in this war!” A thin figure finished speaking and vanished immediately.
“He left?”
“Pucheng actually left early?” The Three Emperors of Wind and Thunder Sea were furious.
“Silence.”
The Ice Peak Ancestor glanced at them. He even had thoughts of expelling them from the Ice Peak Faction, but since the twelve had originally formed an alliance in the Eternal Land, he couldn’t do so without sufficient reason.
“Pucheng has left,” the Ice Peak Ancestor said, sweeping his gaze around. “His stance is clear—he will not participate. What about the rest of you?”
“I won’t participate either,” said Xiu Saiwei. “Like the Naturally Born Chaotic Origin Faction, our Ice Peak Faction needs vast resources to grow our Life Core. But the Eight Lords walk the path of comprehension—they don’t care about resources. I don’t understand why we must fall out with them over these World Clusters.”
“The Cultivator Faction has always relied on us! Now that they’ve grown stronger, they’re turning against us?”
“I think we should fight. Those Ancestors who have attached themselves to us only enjoy resources—it’s time they risk their lives.”
Quite a few in the hall still wanted war.
The Ice Peak Ancestor felt a headache and quietly transmitted his voice to Shazhou.
The gray-clothed woman, Shazhou, who had remained silent, glanced at him and then at the others before finally speaking, “This war is meaningless. I will not participate.”
The hall instantly fell silent.
Shazhou would not participate?
Shazhou and Star Light Lord were ranked among the top two in strength within the Infinite Chaotic Origin Space. If she didn’t participate, and neither did Pucheng or Xiu Saiwei, this war might very well be lost!
Among the twelve Undying and Indestructible existences, the Three Emperors of Wind and Thunder Sea were the weakest, while the others grew progressively stronger.
Pucheng alone had strength comparable to a Cultivator Lord—that was why he dared to leave first, disregarding everyone.
Xiu Saiwei was also ranked within the top thirty in the Infinite Chaotic Origin Space.
“With Pucheng, Xiu Saiwei, and Sister Shazhou all refusing to fight, we have no certainty of victory. This war is not suitable,” the Ice Peak Ancestor said, scanning the hall. “Return all previously occupied World Clusters to the Cultivator Faction. Does anyone object?”
No one spoke in opposition.
……
“They’ve decided to yield!”
As Luo Feng and the others were traveling, Star Light Lord suddenly spoke.
“They’ve yielded?” Yuan revealed a look of joy.
Truthfully, the Lords cared deeply about the countless lives within their territory. More than half of the twelve Undying and Indestructible existences of the Ice Peak Faction were warlike and didn’t care about the lives of lower beings.
Xiu Saiwei and Pucheng were among the few who cared about their clans. They were also worried that a full-scale war would affect their own people.
“Follow my lead in the upcoming negotiations with the Ice Peak Ancestor,” said Star Light Lord. He had glimpsed countless future possibilities—some, once set in motion, would almost certainly become reality.
“Alright.” Yuan nodded. Listening to Star Light Lord was always the right choice.
Half a day later—
Led by Star Light Lord, the Eight Lords arrived at the border of the Fallen Territory.
On the Ice Peak Faction’s side, six figures appeared—Ice Peak Ancestor and five others had come to meet them.
“Brother Yuan, don’t be angry.” The Ice Peak Ancestor approached with a smile. “Your declaration of war scared them a bit. I only managed to unify internal opinion by leveraging that.”
“What decision?” Yuan asked.
“Of course, to return the occupied territory,” the Ice Peak Ancestor replied with a smile. “There’s no need for our two sides to go to war.”
“Just returning it?” Yuan said coldly. “I’ve investigated—your Ice Peak Faction acted quite ruthlessly, plundering freely and even devouring many Source World Origins. Do you think simply returning the territory is enough?”
The Ice Peak Ancestor frowned slightly, displeased.
Avoiding war had required his subtle maneuvering behind the scenes.
But he still had his pride.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“I won’t demand excessive compensation,” Yuan said. “Return all the resources you plundered from the Cultivator Territory. Then we’ll let the matter rest. Otherwise—whoever took them, I’ll personally take back double!”
The Ice Peak Ancestor nodded expressionlessly. “I can agree.”
“Ice Peak!” Ancestor Wugu and the Three Emperors of Wind and Thunder Sea grew anxious—they had taken the most.
“I said I agree.” The Ice Peak Ancestor swept his gaze over them. “If anyone refuses, negotiate with the Cultivator Faction yourselves.”
They could only endure it.
On their own, they would be torn apart by the Eight Lords.
“Brother Yuan,”
The Ice Peak Ancestor looked at Yuan and smiled faintly. “Your Cultivator Faction is no longer the same.”
At least when facing him, their attitude was much more assertive than before.
“I must also answer to the other seven Lords,” Yuan replied. “I believe you can understand.”
“I understand,” the Ice Peak Ancestor nodded.
They looked at each other.
Both understood—things had changed.
Soon, the Ice Peak Faction departed. Ancestor Wugu and the Three Emperors of Wind and Thunder Sea would have to return all plundered resources within a short time.
“Invading our territory and only being forced to retreat and return resources—that’s already letting them off lightly,” Jin said coldly. “If it were up to me, we’d take back ten times what they stole!”
“Our strength isn’t enough,” Star Light Lord said. “Forcing them to return what they took is already the limit. Push further, and with Ice Peak’s pride, war would be inevitable. And if he chooses war, Shazhou will definitely join.”
Luo Feng, having just become a Lord, had little interaction with the Ice Peak Faction. He simply observed everything silently.
“No matter what, the 3,600 World Clusters of the Cultivator Territory have all been reclaimed,” Yuan said with a smile, looking at Luo Feng. “Fortunately, you broke through and became a new Lord—otherwise, who knows what would have happened to our territory.”
The other Lords were also in high spirits.
Only now could this war be considered a complete victory.