Chapter 1066, Great Conference

Translator: Jon

Translation Checker: Silavin

 

In the centre of Grand Sky City stood the Hall of Harmony. It was hoped that everyone could live harmoniously together, hence the name.

 

If Grand Sky City was the command centre of the Grand Sky Coalition in Bing Zhou, then the Hall of Harmony was its most important place because it was where the Elder Council was located.

 

Whenever something major happened in Bing Zhou, the Elder Council would hold a conference to discuss a solution. The number of Elders wasn’t fixed as it varied from time to time because some people were Elders on paper but rarely stayed in Grand Sky City, just like Tang Yi Feng in the past.

 

If not for the future of his Sect’s disciples, he wouldn’t have come to the Hall of Harmony to exhaust himself, considering his old age.

 

Some other Elders were like Tang Yi Feng, though they were the minority.

 

The Hall of Harmony was usually void of people except for one to two Elders who guarded this place. No one would bother them. There were different Ministries in the Grand Sky Coalition that would deal with various problems.

 

The Elder Council wasn’t responsible for many things. They only needed to make the most important decisions.

 

There were times when it would be lively in the Hall of Harmony. A small conference would take place every three months, and a great conference would be held every year. It was when all the high-ranking officials of the Grand Sky Coalition in Bing Zhou would gather.

 

Only some people would attend the small conference, but when it was the great conference, most Elders and Commanders of the Ministries would be present as long as they were free. That was because major decisions would be made for the Grand Sky Coalition in Bing Zhou for the coming year during the great conference.

 

On the day the annual great conference was held, powerful cultivators had been coming over from different directions and flying into the Hall of Harmony since morning. These cultivators were mostly old people. Some of them were middle-aged people, but none of them were teenagers or young people.

 

By the time it was afternoon, nearly 30 people had gathered in the hall. These were the most important figures from the top Sects in Bing Zhou. Besides the Elders of the Elder Council, all the Commanders of the Ministries in Grand Sky City had assembled.

 

Seated at the head, Pang Zhen opened his eyes and asked, “Is everyone here?”

 

He was the Deputy Coalition Leader of the Grand Sky Coalition, the Deputy Sect Master of the Righteous Sect, and the Chief Elder of the Elder Council in Grand Sky City. It was a convention that he would host the annual great conference.

 

Someone said, “Those who can come are here.”

 

There were some vacant seats. Since those people hadn’t shown up by now, they must be swamped with work. It was only natural that some people were not present.

 

Pang Zhen nodded. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly looked out of the door. At the same time, the others felt a powerful aura approaching rapidly.

 

Soon enough, an upright-looking person stepped into the hall. He was none other than the Sect Master of the Crimson Blood Sect, Tang Yi Feng. He seemed slightly tired. It was a wonder where he had been.

 

“I’m sorry for making you wait. I was exploring a chasm earlier.” As Tang Yi Feng spoke, he found his seat and sat down.

 

“Thanks for your hard work, Elder Tang.” Pang Zhen nodded. As he swept a glance over them, he said, “Since most people are here, we’ll wait no longer. Let’s start the discussion.”

 

They were fine with that.

 

They talked about the various changes in Bing Zhou in the past year, including the mobilisation of soldiers, casualties of people, how serious the insectoid plague was, and more. The situation in Jiu Zhou was complicated, and they had to deal with significantly more matters than they used to.

 

They took turns to bring up new issues, and everyone would discuss the solutions. All of them were Ninth-Order Divine Ocean Realm Masters, so they wouldn’t argue unnecessarily like the commoners. They could come up with solutions pretty quickly.

 

When most issues were solved, they went on to talk about the chasms.

 

The insectoids came from underground, so the situation was awkward for cultivators in Jiu Zhou. The further down they went, the stronger the Yuan Metal Force Field was. It would severely affect their powers.

 

Therefore, if they wanted to solve the insectoid plague, they had to explore the chasms and find the insectoid nests. Only then could they get rid of the insectoids once and for all.

 

The Divine Ocean Realm Masters at the conference had some experience in exploring the chasms. Just like Tang Yi Feng, who had searched around different chasms in an attempt to find a safe passageway that would allow them access to the depths beneath the ground. Unfortunately, his attempts were futile.

 

A while back, Qian Wudang had headed out to explore a chasm as well.

 

Now, all they could do was explore as many chasms as possible and share information in the hope that they could eventually solve the insectoid plague.

 

As they shared their information, no discovery was worth getting excited about. This made them feel helpless, but that was the reality they were facing.

 

All of these cultivators at the conference were powerful, but they were powerless to deal with the calamity that had affected the entire world.

 

“Junior Brother Pang, have they discovered anything in other Zhous?” asked one of the Elders.

 

Pang Zhen shook his head. “I talked to the Deputy Coalition Leaders of other Zhous several days ago, but they didn’t discover anything special.”

 

The Elder sighed. “When is this calamity going to end?”

 

Another Elder said, “It has been two years since the insectoid plague broke out. Although cultivators like us are severely affected, we can still hold on. But it’s an unbearable pain for the commoners. If the situation drags on for another three to five years, the foundation of the Cultivation World in Jiu Zhou would be affected.”

 

As the insectoid plague spread, the commoners were severely impacted. Unlike the powerful cultivators, commoners needed to eat. Weaker cultivators needed food as well. They couldn’t absorb World Spiritual Qi to satisfy their physical needs. However, many farms in Jiu Zhou had been destroyed, and there had never been any harvest in many places in the past two years. They relied on the grains they had stored in the past to feed their hunger. Those cultivators could protect the cities from getting conquered by the insectoids, but in many cities, a lot of commoners had been starved to death.

 

Cultivators and commoners relied on each other for survival. If too many commoners passed away, the impact on the Cultivation Would in Jiu Zhou would be immeasurable.

 

That was one of the reasons that the Grand Sky Coalition and Thousand Demon Ridge had tacitly stopped the strife in the past two years. Compared with the future of the Cultivation World, the fight between them that had been ongoing for thousands of years no longer seemed important.

 

“We have to look for a safe way to enter the depths beneath the ground.”

 

“There’s the Yuan Metal Force Field underground. The further down we go, the weaker we become. It’s an unsolvable problem.”

 

“Have you discovered anything this time, Elder Tang?” Pang Zhen glanced at Tang Yi Feng.

 

In response, Tang Yi Feng shook his head. “I went 30 kilometres into the ground this time, but all I saw were insectoids. No insectoid nests were in sight.” Around 70 per cent of his cultivation had been suppressed when he was 30 kilometres underground. Moreover, there were many insectoids in the Divine Ocean Realm. Although he had killed a lot of them, there were innumerable insectoids. He had no choice but to retreat.

 

“We’ll just keep searching, then. I believe we’ll eventually solve this crisis. The Cultivation World of Jiu Zhou can’t be destroyed on our watch.”

 

Tang Yi Feng nodded and rose to his feet, ready to leave. Usually, the conference would end at this point. He received news a month ago that his most successful disciple had returned safely. Naturally, he was eager to see him.

 

What surprised him was that these people, who were supposed to leave by now, remained seated in their chairs.

 

He couldn’t help but remain in the same spot as well. He realised that there was something else they needed to discuss.

 

Since a month had passed, he didn’t mind delaying the reunion with his disciple. As such, he decided to stay and watch what was going on.

 

Strangely, all of them were seated in silence. Even Pang Zhen, who was seated at the head, didn’t say anything.

 

[What’s going on?] Tang Yi Feng was doubtful.

 

“Are all of you holding it in?” someone said out of the blue. Tang Yi Feng lifted his head and discovered it was the Commander of the Ministry of Military Supplies, Chao Ye.

 

He was surprised, for those from the Ministry of Military Supplies rarely said anything during a conference. After all, they were responsible for managing military supplies, so they just had to fulfil their duties. People would usually ask them for help, not the other way around. Be it commoners or cultivators, those managing money and resources had great power. As such, it was a wonder what Chao Ye was about to say.

 

“Alright. Since all of you aren’t willing to bring it up, I’ll do it.” As Chao Ye spoke, he swept his hand across the table, after which several ward nexuses appeared.

 

These people immediately shifted their attention to the ward nexuses. Tang Yi Feng sensitively detected that these people glanced fervently at the items just like how starving wolves looked at their prey.

 

“Ward nexuses like these have appeared in Bing Zhou as of late. I’m sure many of you have heard of it.”

 

Some people weren’t aware of it yet. After all, it had only been a month since the items appeared. Furthermore, there were only a small amount of the items, so they weren’t available to everyone. One person asked, “What are these ward nexuses for, Commander Chao?”

 

“Just see for yourself.” Chao Ye smiled.

 

As he spoke, he picked up a ward nexus. Those who didn’t know what the ward nexuses were for also respectively took one. Tang Yi Feng wanted to get one as well, but it was too late. All of the ward nexuses had been taken away.

 

Those Divine Ocean Realm Masters who had gotten the ward nexuses infused their Spiritual Powers into the items. The next second, a hum was heard as a layer of light spread.

 

A ward nexus could cover a radius of 30 metres. Several ward nexuses were scattered in different places, so the light covered everyone.

 

Those who were aware of the ward nexuses’ uses remained unperturbed. People who witnessed the ward nexuses’ powers for the first time raised their brows when they felt the abstruse energy within the items.

 

“It’s amazing! What are these ward nexuses?” exclaimed the Divine Ocean Realm Master who had spoken first. Although it was his first time feeling the energy, he immediately realised the many uses of these ward nexuses.

 

Many thoughts turned over in his mind. He could already imagine cultivators on their side slaughtering the enemies with the help of these ward nexuses.

 

“These are United as One Ward Nexuses which contain the United as One Glyph,” Chao Ye explained. “All of you are knowledgeable and experienced, and many of you are well-versed in the Way of Glyphs. Have you ever heard of such a Glyph?”

 

All of them shook their heads. Before the appearance of these ward nexuses, they had never heard of such an amazing Glyph.

 

“Well, there are always brilliant cultivators in every generation. Young people will surpass us in time,” Chao Ye remarked.

 

“Commander Chao, are these items made by the Ministry of Military Supplies?” In that case, these items should be mass-produced to boost the collective power of their cultivators. Such items were crucial in the current situation.

 

“Unfortunately, we don’t have such a talented person in our Ministry,” Chao Ye said in a bitter tone and shot a look at Qian Wudang.