Aspiring to the Immortal Path
Aspiring to the Immortal Path - Chapter 702: Demotion

The garden of Clear Pavilion.

Xu Miaoran stood in the center, and around her were the disciples of the All-Talent Society and Bei Canghan's group.

Everyone was looking at Xu Miaoran, their eyes all conveying the same question: What do we do now?

Xu Miaoran suddenly felt panic.

Before this, she had been working hard to build up her own faction so that she would be surrounded by people, but never had it been like this, and Xu Miaoran felt a deep sense of terror.

This terror didn't come from only the threat presented by Sang Hongmei, but also all those expectant gazes.

Everyone was waiting for her to come up with a plan. Every leader had to possess the self-awareness for this.

Money could bring people together, but only daring and resolve could prove that a leader had value.

At that moment, Xu Miaoran knew that she couldn't panic, couldn't lose her head.

If she lost control of herself, the All-Talent Society would lose heart, and all of the prestige she had built up would vanish.

No matter what happened, she had to remain composed.

Because she was the leader, the backbone of the group!

Xu Miaoran took in a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

She emptied her mind as much as possible, pushing aside all her worries so that her mind could settle down and focus.

Countless scenes flashed before her eyes—Sang Hongmei's smug and savage smile, and all the possibilities that might transpire…

Xu Miaoran silently thought, saying nothing.

A disciple lost his composure and shouted, "President!"

Bei Canghan pulled on him and shook his head. "Give her some time."

All the Basking Moon Sect disciples put a finger to their mouth and made a "shush" gesture.

The place became eerily quiet.

Xu Miaoran's chest rose and fell.

She took big breaths as she racked her mind.

Her panicked eyes began to calm down in this rare moment of silence, and slowly, they began to glow.

She said, "Sang Hongmei is the hall master of the internal affairs hall, yet without caring about right or wrong, she kidnapped an innocent maid servant, which is a huge mistake. She dares to do this because she's sure that she can get the secret of the teleportation formation, and with it, she can use merit to cancel out her wrongs. And so long as the inter-domain trade comes under Horizon Ocean Pavilion, she will naturally get her fair share of the spoils. For this purpose, Horizon Ocean Pavilion is assisting her from the shadows. But on this matter, they made a grave mistake."

Everyone looked at Xu Miaoran.

Xu Miaoran took in a deep breath and went on, "It's that I still control the teleportation formation! If there's no teleportation formation, then what does it matter that they know where it is?"

What?

Everyone was stunned by these words.

Xu Miaoran shouted, "Songxu, go and see the sect master again. Tell her what I just said. I want Horizon Ocean Pavilion to immediately give me an explanation for this matter, or else they won't be able to see another product from the Blood River Domain again!"

"Audacious!" Before He Songxu could go and deliver the message, a voice resounded over the skies of Clear Pavilion. "Xu Miaoran, you've got quite a lot of guts, to threaten this great one!"

A majestic figure appeared in the skies, enrobed in golden light that obscured their figure, seeming to span the heavens and earth, crossing the void. It was only a projection, yet it surged with awe-inspiring power.

"Sect Master!" All the disciples of the All-Talent Society dropped to their knees.

The Basking Moon Sect members gritted their teeth and stayed standing, but they felt like a mountain was pressing on their bodies.

Xu Miaoran raised her head, not the slightest bit afraid. "Sang Hongmei kidnapped my maid servant, so I demand an explanation from Horizon Ocean Pavilion, or else I will burn down everything!"

Such audacity left everyone horrified.

Even the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign was startled, angrily grunting, "So bold! Xu Guanghua seems to have brought up a fine daughter! But do you think that this great one would let you do as you please after saying such things?"

Xu Miaoran remained unafraid. "Then do you think I would dare stand in front of you and say such things if I wasn't prepared?"

Xu Miaoran extended her arm, an object appearing in her hand.

"A Heavenbane Lightning Pearl?" The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign was startled.

Xu Miaoran coldly said, "I had a friend bring this thing over from Sageheart. As for who this friend is, you've seen them. Wei Tianchong, tell the esteemed Sect Master how many I had your group bring."

Wei Tianchong scratched his head and replied, "24. We wanted to buy more, but the Heavenly Extinction Sect didn't have that many."

Xu Miaoran held up a Mustard Seed Bag and said, "There are six here, and the other eighteen have all been placed in the teleportation formation, concealed by a secret art. If you don't enter using the proper method, you'll trigger them. If you're strong enough, you'll come out fine, but the teleportation formation will definitely be done for. Of course, if Sect Master doesn't mind putting down your pride and personally intervening over such a mere trifle, you could get rid of this problem."

"Bastard!" The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign trembled in anger.

Xu Miaoran suddenly dropped her demeanor. "Sect Master, Miaoran only seeks justice. What wrong have I committed?"

She glanced at Bei Canghan, who understood and shouted, "We only seek justice from Sect Master!"

Everyone understood what they needed to do and shouted, "Please, Sect Master, deliver justice!"

The threats had been issued, but when it came to the Sect Master of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, threats weren't enough. A way to gracefully exit also needed to be provided.

It was a fact that Sang Hongmei had kidnapped Hong Yuan, and there was no way the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign was going to cover for her. She had simply wanted to use her to get control of the teleportation formation and so wanted to buy some time. But given recent developments, she said, "This great one will fairly judge this matter. Sang Hongmei has kidnapped a member of the sect, a major crime, and I have already sent someone to arrest her. But…"

"'But' what?" Xu Miaoran asked.

"But she is not in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and this great one does not know where she went," the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign replied.

Xu Miaoran sucked in a cold breath.

She was sure that the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign wasn't lying about this, which meant that Sang Hongmei had been fully prepared for such a development and probably wouldn't rest until she forced Hong Yuan to speak.

Xu Miaoran's face darkened. "Kidnapping a disciple of one's own sect and fleeing is treasonous behavior! Just because she's not here doesn't mean that she shouldn't be punished, no? Sect Master, please pass judgment. No matter what, Sang Hongmei's words and actions means that she is no longer fit to manage the Internal Affairs Hall!"

After some thought, the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign nodded. "You are correct. As Sect Master, this great one will not show any favoritism in this matter. Sang Hongmei has broken the sect's rules in kidnapping a disciple of this sect, and then left without any explanation. For this grave crime, she is demoted from her position as Master of the Internal Affairs Hall, and the people of the Four Seas Hall are ordered to find her. Any other crimes will be discussed once she has been arrested!"

She waved a hand, sending this edict out to all of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.

She then looked at Xu Miaoran. "Are you satisfied now?"

"All hail the wise Sect Master!" Xu Miaoran said, offering compliments when she should.

The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign snorted and cast her gaze over at Bei Canghan's group. "Have the people of the Basking Moon Sect been doing well in my Horizon Ocean Pavilion?"

Bei Canghan bowed. "Bei Canghan pays respects to the Immortal Sovereign. Although we are disciples of Basking Moon, this trip has nothing to do with the Basking Moon Sect, but is because we have taken a mission from the young lady to protect the people of her All-Talent Society."

"'Protect'?"

"Yes, to protect the disciples of Horizon Ocean Pavilion going out on missions as they kill fiends, eliminate demons, fight for spirit herbs, and seek out opportunities." Peng Yaolong grinned. "This task should have been left to the seniors of your honorable sect, but Young Lady Xu feels that since she was the one who established the All-Talent Society, she should take on a greater burden. As she had a personal relationship with us, she hired us on in a personal capacity, and we accepted out of consideration for the friendship shared between our two sects. Honored Sect Master has no need to thank us."

He blinked his eyes at Shi Meng, who took out a document which contained the contract that Xu Miaoran had drafted between her and the fourteen Basking Moon Sect disciples, which was enforced by a secret art of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.

The disciples of the All-Talent Society also testified that this was the case.

And there were no lies here. Xu Miaoran had called them over to boost her own strength, not to be spies, and with so many people to testify on their behalf, the fourteen did not feel any sort of guilt.

The Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign could only grunt at this. "Hmph, just make sure you behave."

She disappeared.

Once the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign was gone, everyone exhaled in relief.

The scene just now had given everyone a bad scare. Thankfully, Xu Miaoran had been bold enough to talk big in front of the Jade Emptiness Immortal Sovereign, even getting Sang Hongmei demoted.

"But what do we do now?" Fan Chenglong worriedly said.

"What else? We have to find that fiend granny and get back Xu Miaoran," Xu Miaoran viciously said.

"Sang Hongmei isn't easy to deal with."

"No matter how hard she is to deal with, she's still one person. Or do you think I was doing all that just for fun?"

Everyone froze, and then they understood.

The position of Internal Affairs Hall Master was a position that also represented a powerful faction.

When Sang Hongmei occupied this post, it meant that Xu Miaoran had to deal with both Sang Hongmei and all the people subordinate to this post. But now that Sang Hongmei had been demoted, it became possible to bury her under numbers.

Xu Miaoran had been waiting a long time for this day.

The fourteen from the Basking Moon Sect naturally weren't enough to deal with Sang Hongmei, but the All-Talent Society also had people.

In the All-Talent Society, Xu Miaoran and Fan Chenglong were Heart Demon True Persons. Besides them, Xu Miaoran had also used a large sum of money to hire the Heart Demon True Person Zheng Ran and the Soul Transformation True Person Zhou Peng.

Zhou Peng was an elder who had followed Xu Guanghua for many years, which was why he had been willing to take Xu Miaoran's deal. While she was constantly saying that she didn't want to borrow her father's power, as a True Lord's daughter, she would be a fool if she didn't use even a little. Moreover, if she distanced herself too much, it was liable to make others misunderstand that she didn't have her father's support, so Xu Miaoran still made limited use of her father's power.

As for Spirit Ring True Persons, she had He Songxu and Luo Anbo, and she had also recruited four other Spirit Ring True Persons. All in all, these were the more powerful members of the All-Talent Society.

When adding in the Basking Moon Sect reinforcements, the All-Talent Society had one Soul Transformation, four Heart Demon, and nineteen Spirit Ring True Persons, along with nearly one hundred Cognitive Creation cultivators.

This level of strength naturally wasn't enough to deal with the Internal Affairs Hall, but it was definitely enough to deal with Sang Hongmei.

Xu Miaoran had dared to deal with Sang Hongmei before because the Internal Affairs Hall was an official department of the sect while the all-Talent Society was just a society that Xu Miaoran had set up. Their natures were entirely different.

The greatest difference between them was that if Xu Miaoran wanted a fight, she could bring the entire All-Talent Society with her, but Sang Hongmei couldn't do this. The Internal Affairs Hall wasn't hers, and she had no right to bring all of its members to beat up a single junior.

She might have possessed greater strength than Xu Miaoran, but she was always fighting with one hand tied behind her back.

But surprisingly, Sang Hongmei had cut off her other hand on her own—thanks to Xu Miaoran's pressure, Sang Hongmei had been demoted from her position as Hall Master.

This being the case, Xu Miaoran was happy to pile onto her.

At this point, everyone was itching to get moving.

"But how do we find her?" Ye Tianshang asked.

Bei Canghan replied, "I have a way. When the fiend granny kidnapped Hong Yuan, my Snowfall Sword left an Ice Mark on her. So long as she isn't too far away, I can sense it."

Qi Shaoming frowned. "Your Ice Mark won't be able to fool the fiend granny."

"It wasn't on the fiend granny." Bei Canghan smiled. "It was on Hong Yuan."