Traveling through time to cultivate immortality: a life and death test

Chapter 394 Strategic Planning

The two engaged in a thrilling battle. Liu Xing gained a clearer understanding of King Kong's combat prowess; he was indeed a formidable warrior. King Kong also grew in awe of Liu Xing. Even at a Marshal level so far below his own, he could still fight him on equal terms. His eyes lit up with awe.

Tired from fighting, the two men came to the cave to rest. King Kong brought out some monkey wine, and the two of them started drinking and chatting. Liu Xing was well versed in the art of commanding his subordinates. He didn't just rely on coercion, but also needed to be gentle and talk to them. He used a combination of firmness and gentleness, kindness and power, to make his subordinates loyal to him and fight for the world.

After discovering the magical effect of the seal, Liu Xing had a new idea for his future path of cultivating immortals. Now that he had successfully subdued his first general, he had to make some careful plans for the future.

"King Kong, what is your ideal?" Liu Xing asked.

"The pursuit of immortality!" King Kong replied without hesitation.

"Yes, all cultivators, no matter they are human, demon or ghost, have only one goal, that is immortality. Resources are limited, competition is so fierce and cruel, and a person's power is always limited. What should we do?" Liu Xing agreed, but raised a new question.

King Kong was stunned, reflecting on his life. He had fought his way up from his tribe to become king, then ventured out into the world, only to discover the power of human cultivators. He was forced to hide and cultivate, often feeling isolated and powerless. He had no confidence in his future and could only take things one step at a time. He also wanted help, someone to protect him when he was weak, someone to gather cultivation resources when he was busy. But who in the world could be trusted? Who had the prestige to convince the team? Greed was the original sin, trust was the foundation.

Ever since meeting Liu Xing, he hadn't expected it to be a turning point in his life. The magical effects of the Chaos Tower and the seal had opened his eyes to the possibility of constantly breaking through his realm, and had revealed the foundation of trust.

"Marshal, with the seal, we can solve the trust problem, build an army, gather everyone's strength, and cultivate immortality together!" King Kong suggested firmly.

"Oh wow, King Kong is not bad. He looks like a fool, but it turns out he has such insight!" Liu Xing clapped his hands and laughed. King Kong immediately told him his strategic intentions. It seemed that he was a wise general. How could he not be happy?

"Marshal, you are too kind. I am not even a bit inferior to you. From now on, I will obey your orders at your beck and call." King Kong replied modestly.

"In your opinion, what should we do next?" Liu Xing continued to ask.

"I have tens of millions of clansmen, hundreds of thousands of whom are cultivators, and they are willing to serve the Marshal!" King Kong said firmly.

"Haha, great! Great! I'm very pleased that King Kong is so loyal."

Liu Xing then discussed the situation of his monkey tribe with King Kong in detail, and King Kong explained everything without reservation. He seemed unconcerned about Liu Xing plotting against his family. This was the trust fostered by the seal. With this trust, the foundation for building a vast, centralized empire was established.

King Kong's idea was to use his tribe as a base, fight his way through, capture more experts, plant seals on them, and control them, constantly expanding his team and ultimately unifying the human world. This general idea was correct, but there were still many details that needed to be improved.

First, no one knew how many Divine Transformation monsters still existed in the human world, and Liu Xing was still somewhat concerned about his current strength. These Divine Transformation monsters didn't care about the battles between sects, nor did they care about the struggles between good and evil. However, if someone dared to step forward to restore order in the human world and undermine their supreme authority, the situation would be different. These monsters would not mind destroying him.

Therefore, before he broke through to the middle stage of the Nascent Soul, he had to proceed with caution. His possession of the Chaos Tower was a blessing from heaven, but also a calamity. If word leaked, the Divine Transformation would surely seize it. The saying "blessings and misfortunes go hand in hand" was true. Therefore, Liu Xing decided to develop slowly and take his time.

At the same time, the ascension channel has appeared, and the pressure of the interface will force the old monsters at the Divine Transformation level to ascend to the upper realm as quickly as possible. Furthermore, the spiritual energy in the human realm is thin, making it difficult to advance even a little after breaking through the Divine Transformation stage. To improve their cultivation, the powerful Divine Transformation masters will also seek to ascend as quickly as possible. According to his estimation, after a little preparation, the powerful Divine Transformation masters will ascend one after another, and the time of ascension is estimated to be within the next few decades. Once they all ascend, the army he leads will establish a new order in the human world, and no one will be able to resist or oppose it.

Having set the tone, Liu Xing followed King Kong and flew towards his ape kingdom.

In the outside world, with the ascension passageway revealed, two great masters of the Divine Transformation finally broke free from their seclusion and arduous cultivation. Rushing to the Chaos Sea to inspect the passageway, they discovered damage and the intensified spatial storm within. They then began searching the entire human world for repair materials and ancient defensive artifacts in preparation for their ascension. In Central Continent, the ten major sects bore the brunt of the attack, including the Thousand Machine Sect. The Divine Transformation's actions were simple and brutal, and no one dared to defy them.

Thanks to this divine incarnation, the news that Thousand Machines Sect's Grand Elder, Su Xingchen, had passed away centuries ago was finally revealed. The other nine major sects, already suspicious, deployed a few undercover agents and easily confirmed the authenticity of the news. Under the covert instructions of major demonic sects like the Demon Cult, the Corpse Refining Sect, and the Joyous Union Sect, surrounding first- and second-tier sects continuously harassed the Thousand Machines Sect. With only one great cultivator remaining, Cao Changyun, the head of Bu Suan Peak, the Thousand Machines Sect was forced to relinquish some of its territories and gradually tighten its defenses.

The neighboring Hehuan Sect was once a prima facie ally of the Qianji Sect. While Grand Elder Chu Shixiu feigned seclusion, another great cultivator, Hong Xuanting, was actively involved. Under the guise of upholding justice for the Qianji Sect and punishing smaller factions, he secretly seized upon the situation, annexing numerous territories and taking advantage. Qianji Sect's Elder Cao was fully aware of all this, yet he could only swallow his bitterness in silence. He was forced to play along, ceding numerous resources and territory to maintain stability.

As the strength of Qianji Sect continued to decline, almost all the guest elders who had stayed because of Su Xingchen resigned, leaving only a dozen elders who had grown up in the sect to barely maintain the sect.

In just a few years, the Qianji Sect, once the foremost sect in Central Continent, has declined rapidly, its territory shrinking by nearly half, barely maintaining its position at the bottom of the ten major sects. Meanwhile, the Demon Cult, thanks to its eclectic approach to personnel selection and its broad-based approach to cultivation techniques, has experienced significant growth over the past century. Zuo Qiuhai, the Demon Cult's chief elder, is truly a powerful figure. Through cunning tactics and the absorption of surrounding factions, he has significantly increased the Demon Cult's strength, now making it the foremost sect in Central Continent.

The situation in Central China is constantly changing, and the Chaos Sea is even more chaotic because it is the place where gods ascend to heaven.