Volume Two: The Life of a Bandit - Chapter Sixty-Five: Declaration of War

The atmosphere in Danshui City and Tiehua City had been exceptionally vibrant these past few days. The rapid succession of recent events left the residents feeling dizzy and overwhelmed.

First, Wu Qing, an elite expert from the First Waters Pavilion, challenged Qin Si, the leader of the Zixuan Alliance. Unexpectedly, Qin Si—relying on his strength as an upper-level deity—fought to a standstill against Wu Qing, a Godking who had comprehended time standstill. Shortly after, Qin Si broke through to the Godking realm and directly slew Wu Qing. While many people lost heavily by betting against him, Qin Si had placed a wager on himself and made a small fortune.

Immediately following this, the other two major powers of Danshui City, the Pengliu Sect and the Santing Pavilion, joined forces to launch a surprise attack on the Zixuan Alliance's headquarters. However, they were thoroughly and mercilessly slaughtered by the two vice-leaders of the Zixuan Alliance. The alliance then went on the offensive, wiping out the Pengliu Sect and the Santing Pavilion entirely. Their territories were naturally absorbed by the Zixuan Alliance, making Danshui City a domain jointly controlled by the Danshui Sect and the Zixuan Alliance.

What proved even more astonishing was the Zixuan Alliance's high-profile recruitment of Godkings, during which they publicly showcased five Godkings who had mastered time standstill. Aside from Qin Shuang, the Godking Pingtian, Godking Zhao Yongkui, and two other Godkings had successfully comprehended time standstill within the Jiang Lan's Realm. Naturally, this was largely due to Qin Shuang selflessly making his insights public without reservation.

The strength of the Zixuan Alliance had now won universal recognition. Their open recruitment across two cities, particularly their enticing terms, deeply stirred the hearts of vagrant Godkings.

Any Godking who joined the Zixuan Alliance would immediately receive two top-grade heavenly divine artifacts and an annual stipend of one hundred top-grade divine stones. Furthermore, exceptional contributions could earn them rewards of Grandmist spiritual treasures.

Most importantly, Godking Qin Shuang had made his insights into time standstill public, and the Zixuan Alliance offered premier cultivation grounds for those willing to enter closed-door cultivation. Such provisions had never been offered by any other faction. Because of these unprecedented perks, the Zixuan Alliance ultimately succeeded in recruiting over two hundred Godkings, more than a hundred of whom had rushed over upon hearing the news from other cities.

This outcome came as a surprise to both Qin Si and Qin Shuang. Regardless, the dramatic surge in the Zixuan Alliance's strength was entirely a positive development.

The current power of the Zixuan Alliance had already surpassed that of the Danshui Sect. Coupled with their alliance with the Danshui Sect, the Zixuan Alliance now ranked among the top-tier factions in the Divine Realm, second only to the Ten Great Bandit Factions. This rapid rise inevitably drew the attention of truly formidable powers.

The First Waters Pavilion, ranked tenth among the Ten Great Bandit Factions, had always fiercely suppressed any rapidly developing factions that refused to submit to their authority, all to safeguard their own status. The Danshui Sect of yesteryears was a classic example of this.

This time, the First Waters Pavilion had also mobilized to suppress the Danshui Sect. Never could they have anticipated that the Danshui Sect would emerge unscathed, while the Zixuan Alliance—a previously overlooked entity—would experience a sudden explosion of growth, not only eclipsing the Danshui Sect in power but also slaying their own elite expert, Wu Qing.

By now, the threat posed by the Zixuan Alliance to the First Waters Pavilion had surpassed that of the Danshui Sect. To counter this menace, the First Waters Pavilion held consecutive discussions for five days before their Pavilion Master, Pang De, personally issued an order: to avenge the Pengliu Sect and the Santing Pavilion, the First Waters Pavilion officially declared war on the Zixuan Alliance.

In an instant, the attention of all major factions across the Divine Realm was drawn to this conflict. Among the twenty-seven major factions of the Divine Realm, save for the Thunder Punishment City and the First Waters Pavilion, the rest only now realized that the Zixuan Alliance—deemed the ultimate enemy by the First Waters Pavilion—was merely a fledgling power that had existed for only a few centuries. To think that in just a few short centuries, the Zixuan Alliance had grown strong enough to threaten the First Waters Pavilion; every faction developed a profound interest in them.

Driven by this incident, the reputation of the Zixuan Alliance spread across the entire Divine Realm. To be precise, it was only now that the Zixuan Alliance truly became a renowned power in the Divine Realm. Previously, their fame had been confined to the vicinity of Tiehua City, and those in the center of the Divine Realm had been entirely oblivious to their existence.

Intrigued, parties throughout the Divine Realm began compiling intelligence on the Zixuan Alliance. Upon completion and cross-comparison of the data, the majority concluded that the Zixuan Alliance would be nothing more than a flash in the pan, ultimately to be utterly annihilated by the First Waters Pavilion. After all, a comparative analysis of the two factions' statistics revealed a vast disparity.

First, regarding the number of Godkings: the Zixuan Alliance possessed three hundred and twenty-seven Godkings, two hundred and thirty-one of whom were newly recruited, with the majority currently in closed-door cultivation.

In contrast, the First Waters Pavilion, a faction accumulated over more than a hundred eons, boasted two thousand five hundred and thirty-one Godkings. This count did not even include other factions affiliated with them; if those were factored in, the total would reach at least three thousand Godkings—ten times the number held by the Zixuan Alliance.

Next, regarding top-tier experts: the Zixuan Alliance publicly claimed five masters who had comprehended time standstill, alongside their monstrous leader Qin Si and equally monstrous vice-leader Li Yang, bringing their true roster of supreme experts to seven.

Although the First Waters Pavilion possessed a vast multitude of Godkings, the number who had comprehended time standstill was not as disproportionately high. Across the entire pavilion, there were only eleven such Godkings. With the fifth-ranked Godking Wu Qing falling in battle, only ten remained. Even when counting affiliated factions, the number would not exceed fifteen. In terms of supreme experts, the advantage held by the First Waters Pavilion was no longer so overwhelming, though it still doubled that of the Zixuan Alliance.

Finally, comparing equipment and wealth, the Zixuan Alliance had always styled itself as a wealthy faction. Every single Godking in their ranks carried two top-grade heavenly divine artifacts, most importantly, defensive heavenly divine artifacts. Furthermore, nearly every one of the alliance's several thousand deities possessed a heavenly divine artifact—particularly lower-grade ones—and even some meritorious mortals had managed to acquire them.

Crucially, it was already public knowledge that the leader of the Zixuan Alliance possessed two prime-grade Grandmist spiritual treasures, and that Vice-Leader Qin Shuang wielded one prime-grade Grandmist spiritual treasure alongside a secondary-grade defensive Grandmist spiritual treasure.

The First Waters Pavilion, with its two thousand five hundred-plus Godkings, equipped each member with at least one top-grade heavenly divine artifact. Among them, over sixty Godkings held tertiary-grade Grandmist spiritual treasures, eleven possessed secondary-grade Grandmist spiritual treasures, and Pavilion Master Pang De himself was an expert wielding a prime-grade Grandmist spiritual treasure.

Based on this comparison, the gap between the Zixuan Alliance and the First Waters Pavilion in equipment was not particularly wide; however, judging by sheer numbers, the Zixuan Alliance remained in a distinctly weaker position.

Above all, the most critical factor—and the primary reason why everyone in the Divine Realm believed the Zixuan Alliance was doomed to perish—was that the First Waters Pavilion was an ancient, long-established power. Even if they failed to gain the upper hand, as long as they swallowed their pride and sought assistance, the other twenty-six factions, especially the remaining nine great bandit factions, would undoubtedly lend their support. When that time came, the Zixuan Alliance would no longer face the First Waters Pavilion alone, but the entire Divine Realm. It would be a miracle if they survived.

While ordinary deities of the Divine Realm hotly debated the Zixuan Alliance, the top-tier factions of the realm were discussing them as well.

The Eight Great Divine Tribes gathered at the Western Flame Mountain. Their primary point of discussion was the origin of Qin Si's Fire-Origin Spiritual Bead. Regarding this, the Eastern/Western Holy Emperor, Yuchi Zhengfeng, was utterly astounded; the Fire-Origin Spiritual Bead had always been in his possession, and he could not fathom how Qin Si could possibly possess another.

"Brother Zhou, are you certain that spiritual bead wielded by Qin Si is indeed the Fire-Origin Spiritual Bead?" As the eight primordial spiritual pearls had always served as the identity symbols of the Eight Great Holy Emperors, Yuchi Zhengfeng asked with deep skepticism. This was already the second time he had posed this question to Zhou Tian.

"Brother Yuchi, do you still doubt my word? I can guarantee you that prime-grade Grandmist spiritual treasure is the Fire-Origin Spiritual Bead. I saw it with my own eyes; there is absolutely no mistake!"

Lifting his head in helpless resignation, Zhou Tian offered another explanation. When he had previously laid eyes on Qin Si's Fire-Origin Spiritual Bead, he had chosen not to reveal it. It was only now, after Qin Si publicly announced it, that the existence of the bead became common knowledge, allowing Zhou Tian to drop his secrecy regarding that past encounter.

Zhou Tian harbored a profound headache concerning the Zixuan Alliance. In truth, what troubled him was not the alliance itself, but Li Yang. Li Yang held immense significance for him and the entire Zhou family. Because of this, Zhou Tian had explicitly demanded that Li Yang neither create his own faction nor join any of the other twenty-six powers. Never in his wildest dreams could he have expected that Li Yang would cross paths with those two monstrous brothers, Qin Si and Qin Shuang. With the three freaks banding together, the faction they forged faintly showed signs of growing into a colossal power.

"No, I must make a personal trip to the Zixuan Alliance to investigate the origin of that Fire-Origin Spiritual Bead!" Amidst Zhou Tian's vexation, Yuchi Zhengfeng abruptly stood up. Among the Eight Great Holy Emperors, he—the Western Holy Emperor—was the most sensitive regarding the Fire-Origin Spiritual Bead. After all, a twin copy of his own unique treasure had suddenly materialized, and he could not rest without uncovering the truth.

"Very well, Brother Yuchi, you should go in person and make sure to unearth the origin of his Fire-Origin Spiritual Bead!" The other Holy Emperors nodded in unison, sharing identical sentiments. If the Fire-Origin Spiritual Bead could have a duplicate, who could guarantee the same wouldn't happen to the other spiritual beads? Unraveling the mystery behind the Fire-Origin Spiritual Bead bore immense significance for all of them.

The ultimate consensus of the Eight Great Divine Tribes was for Western Holy Emperor Yuchi Zhengfeng to personally visit the Zixuan Alliance to inquire and investigate. As for the hostilities between the First Waters Pavilion and the Zixuan Alliance, they chose to remain neutral for the time being, holding all actions until the origins of the Fire-Origin Spiritual Bead were clarified.

Similarly, the Nine Great Ascender Factions also chose to temporarily withhold intervention in the conflict between the two major powers. The primary reason behind their joint decision was Wu Ye. Exalted Celestial Wu Ye had already relayed the relationship between Lin Meng and Qin Si to several Exalted Celestials with whom he shared favorable relations—and those very Exalted Celestials stood behind the Nine Great Ascender Factions as their backers.

Two eons ago, Lin Meng had virtually swept across the entire Divine Realm, wielding a might so peerless that it remained unmatched from ancient times to the present. Although Lin Meng was himself a member of the ascenders, he had always acted alone, accumulating numerous enemies and few friends. Consequently, the nine major factions would neither assist Qin Si in resisting the First Waters Pavilion nor aid the First Waters Pavilion in striking down the Zixuan Alliance.