Cultivation Begins From The Desert

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves!

After Cao Wenjin announced his decision, everyone was shocked!

Zhouyang was no exception.

He had considered that Cao Wenjin gathered people to besiege a Tier Five Demon Beast, after all, the "Outer Golden Core" had a significant reputation in the Cultivation Realm, and it was not unusual for the Yellow Sand Sect to choose this method to maintain its sect's legacy and status, given the lack of Golden Core Stage Cultivators.

But he never expected that Cao Wenjin would intend to besiege two Tier Five Demon Beasts at once, and even at the cost of rallying the entire sect's strength to attack a super large oasis inhabited by two Tier Five Demon Beasts and more than a dozen Tier Four Demon Beasts!

According to the information disclosed by Cao Wenjin, the strength of the Demon Beast side on that super large oasis was definitely not much weaker than that of the Yellow Sand Sect.

In this case, even if the Yellow Sand Sect's side could win, it would certainly be a pyrrhic victory of killing a thousand enemies at the cost of losing eight hundred of their own!

"This is blatantly pushing us into the fire pit to die!"

Zhouyang looked up at Cao Wenjin with a gloomy face, his heart chilled like ice.

With his wisdom, he certainly understood why Cao Wenjin did this.

By this expedition to the Rhino Horn Continent, Cao Wenjin could both obtain the Tier Five Demon Beast's Demon Pill for refining the "Outer Golden Core" for the sect, and take the opportunity to weaken the strength of the various vassal cultivation clans, preventing them from uniting to overthrow the Yellow Sand Sect after his demise.

It was only at this moment that Zhouyang realized why there was no inside information leaked from the Yellow Sand Sect regarding this summoning order. He was nearly a hundred percent certain that before Cao Wenjin announced this decision, no other cultivator in the Yellow Sand Sect knew his plan.

If anyone had known this news and leaked it, the number of cultivators responding to the call today would certainly not even reach half, and those Purple Mansion Stage Cultivators would probably not come at all!

However, now that these people had all come and were under Cao Wenjin's watchful eyes, anyone who dared to run away at this time would likely be decapitated by Cao Wenjin to make a public example.

Mighty as the Ninth-Layer Purple Mansion Cultivator like the Chen Family Ancestor, when encountering an Early-Stage Golden Core Cultivator, might still have some chance to escape, but in front of a Late-Stage Golden Core Cultivator like Cao Wenjin, there was probably not even a ten percent chance.

Especially since most of these Purple Mansion Stage Cultivators knew that Cao Wenjin mastered a powerful Spiritual Sense Attack Secret Technique, even if they attempted to use the "Blood Escape Technique" or similar secret techniques to flee, as long as they couldn't escape his spiritual sense range in a breath, the end would be death!

Participating in the expedition to fight on the Rhino Horn Continent was a nine in ten chance of dying; not participating was surely a ten in ten chance, and even after death, it might implicate the entire clan.

Everyone knew what choice to make.

So Zhouyang looked over the hundred or so Foundation Establishment Cultivators outside the Ministry Hall, seeing that although all of them showed expressions of indignation and anger, no one really dared to stand out and say anything.

There is a saying, "When the sovereign wants a minister to die, the minister has no choice but to die!"

This saying can be understood differently from different perspectives, but no matter how it's understood, the result is the same.

And in the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm, the Yellow Sand Sect is the sovereign, and Cao Wenjin, this Golden Core Stage Cultivator, is the sovereign; if he wants someone to die, no one can escape death!

Maybe in the future, many tribal histories in the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm will describe Cao Wenjin as a "tyrant," "an utterly malevolent person," but that does not change the fact that a "tyrant" is also a sovereign.

Cao Wenjin in the sky naturally took in the various expressions of the numerous clan cultivators before the Ministry Hall.

He had long anticipated people's reactions. In fact, making this decision was not easy for him.

He knew better than anyone the vast impact of his decision, not only on his personal posthumous fame but also on the reputation of the Yellow Sand Sect and all kinds of changes.

It could be foreseen that even if everything went as he anticipated, and he passed away later, the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm would certainly not remain peaceful as it is now.

Although "Outer Dao Golden Core" could allow a Ninth-Layer Purple Mansion Cultivator to exhibit the combat power of an Early-Stage Golden Core Cultivator, it ultimately was not a true Golden Core Cultivator. There was no increase in lifespan, nor would they gain the divine techniques of a Golden Core Stage Cultivator, and their spiritual sense coverage was not as broad as that of a real Golden Core Cultivator, only reaching the magical cultivation level of a Golden Core Stage Cultivator.

This kind of cultivator, referred to as having a "Fake Golden Core" realm in the Cultivation Realm, if relying on the Mountain Gate Array, would not be much worse than a real Golden Core Stage Cultivator in managing the array, but in magical combat with others outside, they definitely could not compare with true Golden Core Stage Cultivators.

Though those Purple Mansion Cultivators might not escape under real Golden Core Stage Cultivators, when encountering cultivators with the "Fake Golden Core" realm, even if they couldn't win, they would have a considerable chance of escaping with their lives.

By then, the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm would certainly not be as calm as it is now.

"Each generation has its own destiny, I've done all I can do, if Yuyan and the others still can't preserve the sect's legacy and stabilize the situation, it would then be fate's will for the Yellow Sand Sect to endure calamity!"

With a long sigh in his heart, Cao Wenjin's face nonetheless braced up, his gaze solemnly and authoritatively overseeing the large group of vassal clans' cultivators outside the Ministry Hall, he sternly shouted: "Does anyone oppose Cao's decision?"

Silence!

Only silence!

No one dared to oppose, but no one supported it either, so there was only silence in response.

Perhaps this silence was the only form of resistance Zhouyang and the others could muster at the moment.

But this silent resistance clearly couldn't change Cao Wenjin's decision.

In a cold voice, he nodded slightly and said, "Very well, since no one objects, from now on, no one is allowed to leave the mountain gate. In ten days, I, Cao, will personally lead the army to the Rhino Horn Continent!"

With that, he descended to the ground, concealing his aura, and began arranging the troops.

To conquer such a huge oasis as the Rhino Horn Continent, relying solely on the cultivators of these vassal forces like Zhouyang and Cao Wenjin himself would obviously be impossible to win.

Therefore, it's not just Zhouyang and his people who are going; more than half of the Purple Mansion and Foundation Establishment Cultivators within the Yellow Sand Sect will also be dispatched.

To increase the chances of victory, Cao Wenjin even opened the deepest vault of the sect's treasure vault, retrieving seven Tier Four Puppet Beasts that were sealed as the sect's treasures, along with over ten "Beast Soul Talismans."

These Tier Four Puppet Beasts were accumulated by the Yellow Sand Sect over thousands of years, and each puppet beast was stored directly into that deep secret chamber of the treasure vault upon being refined, not to be moved unless in the most dangerous and critical moments.

Meanwhile, those Foundation Establishment Cultivators of Yellow Sand Sect designated for this expedition were all issued Tier Three Spirit Talismans and Healing Elixirs for free, and even Tier Three Puppet Beasts.

Zhou Yuanchen of the Zhou Family, unfortunately, was also among them.

When Zhouyang learned that Zhou Yuanchen was also in the long-distance expedition cultivator list, his face grew even more dismal.

Although Zhou Yuanchen had been in the Foundation Establishment for decades, his cultivation was only at the Third Layer, which logically should not place him in the group for this expedition.

But he was listed among them, and Zhouyang couldn't be convinced there wasn't something fishy about it.

"Is it not enough to push us vassal clan cultivators into the fire pit, but also take the opportunity to purge vassal clan cultivators within the sect?"

A chill came over Zhouyang's heart, giving him a new understanding of Cao Wenjin's ruthlessness.

He was considered one of the vassal clan cultivators closer to Cao Wenjin and knew him better than ninety-nine percent of the Foundation Establishment cultivators.

What he previously understood of Cao Wenjin, though somewhat autocratic and domineering in conduct, was that he at least kept up appearances.

But now, Cao Wenjin had no more scruples, revealing another side of himself that was ruthless and treacherous.

Comparing these vastly changed versions of Cao Wenjin, Zhouyang couldn't help but remember the Chen Family Ancestor.

Wasn't the Chen Family Ancestor once a venerable elder, a virtuous and grateful gentleman?

But when the Zhou Family began to rise, threatening the Chen Family's status.

This venerable elder paid no heed to the two families' two-hundred-year friendship, pushing Zhou Minghan, the Zhou Family junior he watched grow up, into the pit without hesitation, determined to bring about his demise.

Why exactly is this?

Could it be that these high-tier cultivators' previous demeanors were mere facades, and the sides they now lay bare are their true selves?

Zhouyang pondered silently, knowing it was not so.

A person can disguise themselves for a year, ten years, even decades, but surely not for a hundred years or hundreds.

Both Cao Wenjin and the Chen Family Ancestor's changes in temperament have a clear common point: the sects and families have been threatened externally.

Faced with external threats, they realized that gentle methods could no longer eliminate the threats before they passed away, thus resorting to extreme measures in an attempt to eradicate the threats.

"It's the interests! Interests can befuddle the mind!"

"To maintain their sects and families' interests without harm, those who worship sects and family interests above all else would abandon reputation, friendships, and other external things they deem dispensable, opting for intense and extreme methods to protect sect and family interests!"

A flash of insight crossed Zhouyang's eyes as he quickly grasped the reasoning behind it all.

Then, as if recalling something, his face suddenly darkened.

It was because he thought of his own old clan leader, Zhou Minghan, who had also held up the family on his strength alone, and who similarly valued family interests above all else.

If the Zhou Family faced the same situation as Yellow Sand Sect and the Chen Family do today, would the old clan leader Zhou Minghan choose to act like Cao Wenjin and the Chen Family Ancestor?

Zhouyang didn't want to ponder further beyond this point.