Chapter 1000: Good Fortune Follows at the Peak of Misfortune (II)

In truth, Chu Liang had been wrongly accused by the other sects. He has no interest in getting involved with these matters. Yang Shenlong proposed the auction because he knew the other sects would never agree to returning the East Sea Chrono Wheel to the New Penglai. However, with an auction, he had the advantage of Red Cotton Peak's backing, which gave him a much better chance of reclaiming the legendary artifact.

Had Chu Liang been the one thinking it through, he probably would have done the same.

Then the Imperial Supervisory Commissioner continued, "The third proposal is to place the East Sea Chrono Wheel under joint custody for the time being, with a final decision to be made at a later date."

Under normal circumstances, a proposal like that would never have made it onto the list.

However, given the current sensitive timing, it was understandable. The ownership of the legendary artifact remained undecided because no side had enough influence to persuade the others, and each sect was intent on securing the greatest benefit for itself.

Even so, it was only a matter of time before one voice gained enough strength to lead the rest.

With the other brink-of-ascension cultivators stepping down, the remaining two advanced quickly. Surely, a final victor would emerge soon.

Once a new ninth-realm being emerged in the mortal realm, they would have the authority to make the final decision.

Just as Chu Liang returned to the Silver Sword Peak, he received a summons from Venerable Wen Yuan.

When he arrived at Boundless Palace, he saw Venerable Wen Yuan frowning deeply.

"Sect Leader, has something happened?" Chu Liang asked.

"

Haaaaaaa.

" Venerable Wen Yuan let out a long sigh. "Your teacher got into a one-on-one duel with the sect leader of the Endless Sword Sect... and injured him. Now Old Li Ba has sent a letter demanding accountability."

"What?" Chu Liang was stunned. "Wasn't she just attending a meeting? She caused trouble again?"

"It wasn't entirely her fault," Wen Yuan said, shaking his head. "The two of them didn't see eye to eye during the meeting and agreed to a duel afterward. Several elders from the sects tried to stop them for quite a while but couldn't. They ended up sneaking off to fight in secret."

Chu Liang's face was full of disbelief. "What kind of grown-up still does something like that?"

The two of them were several centuries old combined, yet they were still acting this ridiculous.

"And that's not even the main issue. During the assembly of immortal sects, she openly threatened a sect elder who disagreed with her, which resulted in her being kicked out from the meeting. As for our sect's reputation... we took a serious hit," Venerable Wen Yuan said helplessly.

He didn’t go so far as to say their reputation had been completely ruined. After all, she had only made verbal threats instead of starting a fight right away. In fact, that had already counted as her showing restraint.

After Di Nufeng was expelled from the meeting, the assembly decided to place the East Sea Chrono Wheel under temporary custody and postpone its official allocation.

"And that wasn't all. After she became the grand peak master, the first proposal she made at the Assembly of Peak Masters was to remove Jade Sword Peak from the list of the official thirty-six peaks," Venerable Wen Yuan continued.

"Wow. She's not even trying to hide that she's using her authority to settle personal grudges," Chu Liang muttered, shaking his head.

"I was the one who agreed to make her the grand peak master, and I did it because of her outstanding contributions," Wen Yuan said. "If we suddenly take the title away, it might look like we're going back on our word. You're her disciple. What do you think is the best way to handle this?"

Chu Liang covered his face. "I just hope that the next time she causes trouble, she doesn't mention the name of her disciple..."

After thinking for a moment, he added, "If I'm right, she's been miserable in that position and is lashing out in all sorts of ways. She's never liked dealing with tedious work, so I think she will be fine with stepping down. But my teacher cares more about her reputation than anything else."

Chu Liang stroked his chin. "In my opinion, instead of demoting her, we should promote her."

"Promote her?" Wen Yuan asked. "There’s no position in the Mount Shu Sect higher than Grand Peak Master."

"Then we invent one," Chu Liang replied. "We’ll give her the title of sect elder. Yes, we’ll call it the Combat Victory Master. Her job will be to lead battles beyond the sect, punish the wicked, and suppress evil across the land.

"This way, she saves face, Senior Uncle Wang gets the position of grand peak master back, and everyone walks away satisfied."

Upon hearing Chu Liang's words, Venerable Wen Yuan gave a nod. "That would be ideal."

Seeing how exhausted Venerable Wen Yuan looked, Chu Liang knew it couldn’t be just because of Di Nufeng. So he asked, “Sect Leader, are you worn out from helping Noble Baize?”

"Exactly," Wen Yuan replied.

With the Circle of Immortal Friends Token now so widespread, it was no secret to Chu Liang that Wen Yuan had been helping Baize expand the Yin-Yang Realm.

"Actually, I do have a few thoughts," Chu Liang said.

Wen Yuan looked up at him. "Oh? Are you referring to Noble Baize needing to prove her understanding of her Great Dao?"

"Yes," Chu Liang replied. "I heard that Noble Baize plans to build a netherworld kingdom within the Yin-Yang Realm and send all yin-natured beings from the human world into it. That way, she can separate yin from yang. But something on that scale is far too much for her to accomplish alone. Even for a sect like ours, it would be extremely difficult."

"Do you have a solution?" Wen Yuan asked.

"I just thought of a rough idea. I'm not sure if it's feasible," Chu Liang said with a smile. "But if we can rally the strength of the entire world of immortality cultivation, then maybe we can actually pull it off."

"It's more than likely that your idea will be feasible," said Wen Yuan. "Tell me in detail."

"As the saying goes, money can make a ghost work. In this case, money can make a ghost step through the portal," Chu Liang said. "We can issue a proclamation and start buying ghosts from all over the world."

"Buy ghosts?"

"A wandering ghost with one year of cultivation sent to Mount Shu can be exchanged for one spirit stone. A ghost with ten years of cultivation can be exchanged for ten spirit stones. And if someone manages to catch one with ten thousand years of cultivation, unlikely as that may be, it would be worth ten thousand spirit stones," Chu Liang explained slowly. "With this system, we could rally all the cultivators in the realm to hunt ghosts. I am just worried that there might not be enough beings of yin nature in this world. Of course, anyone caught using evil arts to breed ghosts would be treated as a diabolical cultivator and dealt with on the spot."

"Hmm..." Venerable Wen Yuan was both surprised and skeptical. A ghost-hunting campaign for all cultivators sounded bold, but also a little absurd. He asked, "Shouldn't we be more worried about not having enough spirit stones?"

"There are countless beings of yin nature in the human world, so of course there won't be enough spirit stones," Chu Liang said. "Even if both I and the sect emptied al savings, we still couldn't cover the cost. But we can issue bonds."

"Issue bonds?" Venerable Wen Yuan was puzzled.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"We'll issue a special Mount Shu Sect bond for this initiative," Chu Liang explained. "If we don't have enough spirit stones upfront, we'll owe them temporarily and repay them later with generous interest. With the reputation of the Mount Shu Sect and Red Cotton Peak, cultivators should be willing to accept the bond. The debt can be settled afterward."

"That does sound workable," Venerable Wen Yuan said, his eyes gradually lighting up. "If Baize succeeds in reaching the ninth realm, repaying the debt won't be a problem. Even if she fails, our sect and Red Cotton Peak can repay it over time. Life might become more difficult later on, but compared to the chance of reaching the ninth realm, it's a risk worth taking. The only concern is that if our sect falls too deeply into debt, it could drag the sect into decline..."

"It actually won't be that bad," Chu Liang said with a smile. "If we can't pay off the debt right away, we can turn Mount Shu bonds into a form of currency that can be used at Red Cotton Peak. They'll be able to buy things with the bonds there. And the people holding them won't want us to fail. On the contrary, they'll be hoping Red Cotton Peak stays busy and booming. They might even help bring in more customers."

"Wonderful," Venerable Wen Yuan said, looking at Chu Liang with deep satisfaction. The two matters that had weighed on him most were now effortlessly resolved by this disciple.

With a sigh, he added, "Sometimes I truly wonder if I should step down as sect leader of Mount Shu and hand the position over to you. Having a disciple like you is one of the greatest fortunes our sect could ask for."

Chu Liang made no effort to be modest. He simply smiled and said, "As the saying goes, good fortune follows at the peak of misfortune. Since Mount Shu was able to produce a disciple like my teacher, it’s only natural that someone like me would follow."