Chapter 254: Unpredictable
"Elder Yang..." Chen Qing started but Yang Xu interrupted her.
"This matter is not a discussion. Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue are a Taoist couple, stop thinking about them."
The other elders were not convinced.
However, this was not the time to argue.
Including the day of the banquet, four days had already passed.
In the remaining days of the martial contest, they needed to find a way.
Otherwise, when the contest ended, they would immediately fall into a bad situation.
"I have two suggestions." Yang Xu suddenly said.
"What suggestions?" Elder An asked.
"One suggestion is to go to a neutral region and reorganise our forces. Excluding those of us who came to the Ice Palace region, many disciples of our Sea Cloud sect are practising outside. Let’s find a way to bring them together."
"Many families from the Sea Cloud region also came this time. We can see what they mean and plan together." Elder An added and nodded in approval.
Although their number was not as large as those left in the Sea Cloud region, they still had enough people to survive for a while.
If there were lucky, they could even think about retaking the Sea Cloud region from the Death Flower Ascension Front.
"There are many problems with this suggestion. First, there are only five neutral regions- the Great Zhu empire, the puppet region, the Celestial Sky region, the Tang Clan, and the Great Artisan region." Chen Qing started.
"The Celestial Sky region has already fallen to the Death Flower Ascension Front and is in a worse situation than the Sea Cloud region."
"The Great Zhu empire and the Tang Clan are xenophobic. It’s difficult to develop there."
"This leaves the puppet region and the Great Artisan region." Elder Wen said.
"In terms of resources, the Great Artisan region is the best option. However, there are many forces in the region and they won’t be happy to see another one come in."
With that, the elders sighed and looked a little depressed.
They hated their position and hated Wen Ren from the bottom of their hearts.
If it were not for him to take advantage of their absence to control the Sea Cloud region, would they be so passive?
"The second suggestion is to go to the border guard faction." Yang Xu said and instantly dispelled the gloom.
"Why didn’t I think of this?" Elder An said excitedly.
As long as they contributed to the war effort, the border guards would happily take them in.
However, the border guards weren’t too restrictive.
While with the border guards, they could take the opportunity to unite their force and plan a counterattack.
"The good thing is that there is a border guard arena in every city." Yang Xu continued.
This meant that they didn’t need to travel a long distance to get to safety.
"Let’s do this." Elder An quickly agreed.
"I still think we should go to an ally region." Elder Wen said.
He wanted to recapture the Sea Cloud region as soon as possible and this could only be done with the help of allies.
"In fact, the situation has not reached the point where we need to implement the plan."
"What do you mean?" Chen Qing asked.
"The Death Flower Ascension is a problem for the entire Cangxing world. Now that the Celestial Sky sect and the Sea Cloud region have fallen, the other regions won’t stay quiet."
"You are right about this." Chen Qing said and went silent.
Initially, she only suspected her husband of being a member of the Death Flower Ascension Front.
However, they had been together for hundreds of years.
Although she wasn’t sentimental, she liked being the sect master’s wife.
Because of this, she ignored what shouldn’t have been ignored and ended up in the current situation.
When she thought about it now, she sighed and felt a little regretful.
’Should I have done something before it came to this?’ She wondered.
However, she couldn’t come up with an answer.
"No matter the case, our Sea Cloud region is finished." Elder An said and sighed.
From what happened in the past few days, it was clear that Wen Ren had long prepared to take over the Sea Cloud region.
Otherwise, the cultivators in the region wouldn’t be controlled so easily.
"Does elder An have any news?" Yang Xu asked.
"It seems that Wen Ren began to secretly move when the Cangxing and bounty lists were released. However, he didn’t do anything in the open until the identities of those on the bounty list were revealed."
"Within hours, many members of the Death Flower Ascension Front came out of nowhere and controlled key people in the region.
Yang Xu sighed and looked a little melancholy.
Although he didn’t like what the Sea Cloud sect had become, he was still its supreme elder.
It was hard to see his hard work of many years being destroyed.
"The other regions will definitely organise an invasion. What we need to do is ensure we have adequate forces at that time. Although we won’t be able to keep the Sea Cloud region as it is, we should be able to divide something."
"That’s all we can do."
With that, the elders fell into their own thoughts.
At the participant area, Jiang Yue and Xuan Ke were also discussing this matter.
"Brother Yue, what do you plan to do?" Xuan Ke asked.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Azhen and I plan to stay in Ice Palace city to wait for the Nine Treasures secret realm."
Xuan Ke frowned when he heard that.
Although it wasn’t loud, there was a lot of anti-Sea Cloud sect sentiment forming among cultivators.
Xuan Ke didn’t think that his two brothers would have an easy time staying in the Ice Palace region.
"Don’t worry about us, we can take care of ourselves." Jiang Yue comforted.
When the martial contest ended, they would disguise themselves and return to the Fair Plum inn.
Even if their identities were seen through, they had senior Niu.
With senior Niu around, no one could harm them.
"The other regions will take this opportunity to divide the Sea Cloud region. Even if the Death Flower Ascension Front is defeated, it is impossible to regain the original situation."
Jiang Yue sighed and went silent.
He had already thought of this and didn’t particularly care.
However, he felt sorry for master Yang.
Yang Xu had devoted a lot to the Sea Cloud region and it was a pity to see everything turn to ashes.
"Brother, you seem to be the disciple of sect master Wen’s wife."
"Did you find out?" Jiang Yue asked and chuckled.
He originally planned to break with Chen Qing but his plan couldn’t keep up with the changes.
No matter what he did now, he would be stained by association.
"You have to take care of yourself." Xuan Ke said.
There were many victims of the Death Flower Ascension Front among those in the Ice Palace region.
It wouldn’t be strange if those people troubled Jiang Yue by association.
"Looking at it in another way, the current situation is not a bad thing for the Cangxing world." Jiang Yue said.
"You are right. The Death Flower Ascension Front has been driven into a corner. If we work together, we can take the opportunity to get rid of them."
Jiang Yue and Xuan Ke continued to talk but their discussion wasn’t unique.
After more than a day, people began to react to the identities on the bounty list.
The arena was a pot where different emotions mixed and the atmosphere was growing increasingly tense.
As Xuan Ke expected, some people had begun to be affected by association.
Since all the Death Flower Ascension Front members had already escaped, their relatives, friends, and acquaintances had become targets.
With the current trend, it was only a matter of time before things went out of control.
However, not everyone was concerned about this.
One of the people who hoped for chaos was Shui Qingqing, the palace master of the Ice Palace region.
She had planned everything for so many years and was bound to take Bing Lan’s body.
However, she didn’t expect Yang Xu’s disciples to be so powerful.
If things continued as they were, she worried that Yu Nianzhen would win the martial contest.
At that time, she would be forced to use other means to get rid of him and things may become complicated.
However, with the current situation of the Sea Cloud sect, she didn’t need to worry too much.
If Yu Nianzhen won, she would secretly kill him.
Even if someone discovered the truth, they wouldn’t go out of their way to seek justice for someone from the Sea Cloud sect.
With such thoughts, Shui Qingqing hoped that the world would become even more chaotic.
Her lips curled in a beautiful smile and Bing Lan couldn’t help but shiver.
Things were becoming more and more unpredictable and she couldn’t help but worry.
