Monster Chronicles: My Daoist Skill Comes from Mythology

Looking at the report presented by the Sword Guard, Song Lin immediately understood.

There were essentially no truly opposing factions within the Taoist School.

Either neutral or supportive of the Heavenly Master—there were no other options.

Logically, the true Holy Might should still have a considerable number of loyal adherents.

But after thousands of years, they had all perished without exception.

It must be noted that the lifespan of someone in the Purple Mansion realm was merely two thousand years, while those in the Transcendence Tribulation Stage theoretically lived indefinitely, provided they survived their tribulations.

For example, when a cultivator first entered the Transcendence Tribulation Stage, wind tribulations occurred every three hundred and sixty-five years.

If one overcame the tribulations, they would encounter fire tribulations every five hundred years, thunder tribulations every thousand years, and so on.

If one opted to evade tribulations, surviving one wind tribulation would buy another three hundred and sixty-five years.

Ordinary cultivators could usually avoid two or three rounds.

Therefore, the older generation of Ghost King Sect members was no longer present.

Most of those remaining were from the Holy Might Era, such as Yin King, Yunhai, and others.

Originally, Holy Might's sons Lingfu and Lingjian seemed to possess secret treasures that had enabled them to survive to this day. These two individuals were worth recruiting.

There were also several neutral factions.

Neutral factions referred to those that were not direct branches of the Ghost King Sect.

The Ghost King Sect, also known as the Ghost King Forest, expanded gradually and formed the Taoist School.

During its formation, it inevitably absorbed other magic veins.

These individuals had no direct stake in Holy Might's interests.

For example, Mei Hua, Earth Evil, Heavenly Slaughter, Tianling Taoist, Qingyun Forest Taoist, and the new Taoist of Emperor Forest.

Among these, Mei Hua had deep ties with Tianling and Qingyun, exerting influence within Tianling.

The Tianling Taoist, by the way, was that fellow named Lu Mingyang.

Earth Evil hailed from the Sanhe Forest Taoist lineage.

Song Lin roughly calculated.

Altogether, there were three forests worth recruiting.

Including his own camp, there would be six forests in total.

Heavenly Slaughter, Earth Evil, Mei Hua—all three were at the Transcendence Tribulation Stage. Additionally, Earth Evil and Heavenly Slaughter each had three Department Directors under them, the weakest of whom were at the Peak of Core Formation.

Beneath the Department Directors were Hall Masters.

Song Lin did not aspire to have them ally with him, but at least they wouldn't involve themselves in his struggle against Holy Might.

Song Lin's hatred for Holy Might stemmed partly from the murder of Song Lin's son.

Of course, such things could be overlooked; after all, great figures often sacrificed their own families for personal gain.

Another reason concerned Zhi Xin's festering animosity towards Holy Might and Wu Qingxuan. Although Zhi Xin had never explicitly stated it, Song Lin discerned it clearly.

More importantly, the rivalry was rooted in ideology.

Starting from Donghua Taoist Temple, both Song Lin and Zhi Xin could easily foresee that conflict between both sides would become irreconcilable in the future.

Song Lin and the Donghua Forest often clashed with outsiders—this was not merely bad fortune but an external manifestation of ideological discord.

The recent Taoist School Tribute incident had merely escalated the conflict.

As Song Lin's cultivation level grew, these disputes were bound to become increasingly fierce, potentially leading to an all-out war.

Rather than waiting for them to strike first, why not seize the initiative?

With this thought, Song Lin issued orders to the Evil Exorcism Altar.

"Find ways to exacerbate tensions between the original Ghost King Sect lineage and the neutral factions."

Given the Taoist School's hierarchical structure and Holy Might's methods of controlling subordinates, such conflicts occurred frequently. Back in the day, depraved figures like Zhengsi even kidnapped female cultivators from other forests to practice their skills.

The former Ghost King Sect members, as well as the subordinates of Mei Hua and Earth Evil, were hardly free of guilt.

Sowing discord among them could not be simpler, as long as it went undetected.

"Understood!"

The Sword Guard replied respectfully.

"Order Xiangling to set aside her tasks and fully cooperate. Find a few Evil Cultivators to take the blame and execute the matter flawlessly. Oh, and have Xiao Xuan assist as well."

One cultivator at the Purple Mansion Stage, eight at the Core Formation Stage—

If they failed to accomplish this, they might as well kill themselves on the spot.

The forests were replete with talented individuals. Song Lin wanted to maximize their potential, letting each shine in their specialized domain.

This was the true art of governing a forest.

Thus began the Evil Exorcism Altar's journey of sowing discord.

For instance, intercepting supplies from one forest or assassinating a key leader to provoke infighting between two factions.

Tensions escalated dramatically, compounded by attacks from Loose Cultivators and Evil Cultivators, leaving some individuals overwhelmed.

On one side were Ghost King Sect members, arrogant and oppressive due to their Heavenly Master affiliation.

These people could provoke Song Lin and anyone else.

On the other side were emerging powers in their prime.

The Holy Might Heavenly Master cared little about these matters.

Internal strife among subordinates served his rule well; a united group posed a greater headache.

After all, with his overwhelming power, he feared no conflict that couldn't be contained.

At the Heavenly Master's Dojo—

Holy Might looked at the eight towering Ghost Kings as imposing as mountains.

These were the Ghost Kings refined from his fundamental great method.

Each possessed the power of a Primordial Spirit, serving as his trump card.

Coupled with the Great Dao bestowed upon him as Heavenly Master—

Ordinary Primordial Spirits were no match for him.

Ziyun was about to become a Primordial Spirit, propelling the Holy Might Taoist School's power to a new height and possibly allowing a bid for the Taoist Alliance Heavenly Master position.

Though his cultivation was somewhat lacking, Holy Might had the numbers.

"Everything is ready except for the final push!"

Holy Might smiled.

Even the heavens seemed to favor him. Since his debut, he had constantly encountered benefactors willing to "support" him, enabling him to rise step by step to where he was today.

He had his grandson Holy Might, two successive Palace Masters of Yin Spring Palace, as well as Zhi Xin, and soon, perhaps even Song Lin.

Song Lin possessed exceptional talent in Taoist Skills, with endless theories regarding them.

Holy Might had investigated and found no trace of fortuitous encounters, leaving pure talent as the only explanation.

For such a gifted disciple, Holy Might truly did not want him to die.

If Song Lin were willing to join him, Holy Might would not hesitate to offer him a high position.

Of course, Song Lin's arrogance needed to be honed constantly; otherwise, he would not be pliable.

At this moment, Yunhai stepped forward to report.

"Heavenly Master, Song Lin refuses."

Holy Might paused for thought.

"Youthful and headstrong—this seat permits you to use tactics to suppress him. He can't have everything go his way."

"Understood. I will show him the meaning of superior power."

Yunhai sneered.

The Taoist School's upper echelons dealing with a single forest was no challenge.

"Don't go overboard. Start with the Qimen Five Qi Jungle."

Song Lin still had value and was destined to inherit Zhi Xin's position eventually. He mustn't die needlessly; breaking his arrogance and isolating him from allies would suffice.

"As you command!"

...

Within the story world—

Song Lin and his party arrived at the eight-hundred-li Soft Water Ocean.

It had been a year since their last venture to the White Dragon River.

This world was even larger than expected.

After resupplying at Liuqiu Island and Qiongzhou Island, the fleet reached Zhan City, Siam, and Southern Yue.

Now they were on their way to the Kingdom of Baoxiang.

This was one of the major nations of the Southern Ocean.

Yet ahead, their path was blocked by the Soft Water Ocean.

The water flows ahead were distinctly separated from the azure sea, one blue and one black.

The black water was the soft water, devoid of anything floating upon its surface and any fish beneath.

"This is soft water. All waters of the world consist of hard water, which can float vessels. Soft water, however, cannot support objects."

This Soft Water Ocean spanned eight hundred li in width. If the fleet attempted to bypass it, the detour would add thousands of li to their journey.

"The old monk has a way!"

From Jin Bifeng, an elderly monk produced a alms bowl glowing with various colors: golden, silver, gem-like, and rosette hues—all converging into one.

Whoosh!

The eight-hundred-li Soft Water Ocean was absorbed into the bowl, leaving only about half the water inside.

With the water withdrawn, a massive depression was revealed beneath.

Surrounding currents surged in incessantly.

Song Lin fixed his gaze intensely on the ocean floor.

Legend had it that the origin of the Soft Water Ocean was tied to the Nine Elders Immortal Capital Seal.

Perhaps the disappearance of the Nine Elders Immortal Capital Seal was connected to this place.

Just then, Song Lin caught sight of a glimmer at the bottom of the sea.

Indeed!

"Kindly wait a while. I'll be right back!"

After triple-checking that nothing was amiss, Song Lin leapt into the water.

He dove a thousand fathoms to the seabed.

Within the glimmer lay the outline of what seemed to be a seal.

Could it truly be the Nine Elders Immortal Capital Seal?

As he drew closer to such a moment of critical importance, Song Lin grew increasingly cautious.

Only after meticulous verification did he carefully proceed forward.

Suddenly, a beam of white light surged toward him.

Whoosh!

A boundless expanse of white light enveloped Song Lin.

Through the faint illumination, he seemed to discern three towering figures resembling mountains.

Song Lin realized he was trapped in this white realm, unable to find a way out no matter what he tried. It was as though he had been confined here.

"What's going on?"

Returning to his thoughts in the real world, Song Lin pondered the situation.

Several days passed in the real world.

No method to resolve the predicament could be found.

At this time, Shi Yinhua came to report.

"Taoist, a Heavenly Dawn phenomenon has appeared in Yunzhou City. Rumor has it that Taoist Ziyun is about to transcend to the Primordial Spirit Stage."

(Requesting monthly votes—another chapter coming soon.)