Gou Zai Fei Men made up myths

Shen Mo's heart sank slightly. It was indeed the seed he had sown that had yielded this bitter fruit.

The pawns that were casually placed there in order to quickly establish the sect's mysterious image and deter the surrounding villains have now become a sword hanging over their heads.

This is probably the price of "fabricating myths." When you tell a lie a thousand times and you're almost convinced of it yourself, there will always be a more powerful being who will selectively believe what they want to believe and use that as an excuse to wield the butcher's knife.

"Retrieve all publicly known and inferred conflict events between the Xuan Yin Sect and the Tian Jian Sect over the past century, categorize and integrate them by time, location, conflict level, casualties, and target of resource contention, and generate a dynamic relationship map."

Shen Mo continued issuing orders, his emotions remaining completely unwavering. Since the backlash was already inevitable, regret was pointless; the key to breaking the deadlock lay in how to utilize this established "cause and effect."

[Command received. Database integration in progress (sources: Baibaoge intelligence, Liuyun meeting observations, surrounding forces' relationship network)... Integration complete. Generating dynamic relationship graph...]

In an instant, a complex yet clear spiritual light map unfolded before Shen Mo's "eyes." Representing the Xuan Yin Sect was a swirling cloud of blood-red ghost mist, while representing the Tian Jian Sect was a small, sharp golden sword.

Between the two, countless rays of light, ranging from thin to thick and from dark to bright, crisscross and intertwine like a spider web.

The thickest and most striking lines almost all point to the same place—the Black Wind Mountains!

[Analysis of the Conflict Focus:]

1. Black Wind Mountain Range Void Stone Mine (lasting 68 years): Abundant reserves, excellent quality, a strategic resource. There were 37 large-scale conflicts between the two sides, resulting in the deaths of 9 Foundation Establishment stage elders and over a thousand Qi Refining stage disciples.

The most recent conflict occurred three months ago, when the Heavenly Sword Sect's "Blazing Sun Sword" severely injured the Xuan Yin Sect's "Ghost Bone Elder," escalating the standoff between the two sides.

[2. Bloodstained Valley Gengjin Essence Mine (lasting 25 years): A small, rich mine, producing treasures for forging swords. There have been 19 conflicts, the most recent being one year ago when the Xuan Yin Sect launched a surprise attack and seized the mine; the Heavenly Sword Sect has yet to reclaim it.]

[3. Friction between Affiliated Forces (lasting for a century): Affiliated families and gangs on both sides fought incessantly for territory and trade routes, their hatred spanning generations and becoming irreconcilable.]

[Overall Assessment: The conflict between the Xuan Yin Sect and the Tian Jian Sect is deeply rooted, involving core interests, and there is absolutely no basis for trust. Any small spark could ignite a full-scale war.]

Current situation: Tensions are high, small-scale skirmishes are frequent, and the country is on the brink of war.

"On the brink of war..." Shen Mo sneered inwardly, "Then I'll give you another boost and completely crush this edge!"

His consciousness focused on the dynamic diagram, rapidly deducing various possibilities.

Why did the Xuan Yin Sect choose this time to launch their attack? Besides the pretext of "blood feud," are there other reasons?

What are the recent movements of the Heavenly Sword Sect? How will they react to the Xuan Yin Sect's attack on the Azure Cloud Gate?

"System, simulation and analysis: If the main force of the Xuan Yin Sect is delayed or even severely damaged by the Qing Yun Sect, the Tian Jian Sect may take advantage of the situation to seize control of the Kong Ming Stone mine in the Black Wind Mountains, and the assessment of the potential benefits."

[Driving simulation... Based on the current troop deployment of the Heavenly Sword Sect in the Black Wind Mountains, the personality model of the Blazing Sun Sword (aggressive, decisive), and the sect's strategic needs, the probability assessment is 87.6%. The benefit assessment is extremely high.]

This can completely solve the bottleneck of Void Stone resources, significantly enhance the sect's strength, and solidify its regional dominance. Risk: A full-scale war with the Xuan Yin Sect. However, if the Xuan Yin Sect's main force is damaged, the Heavenly Sword Sect's chances of victory will greatly increase.

"Then, let's deduce further: If the Heavenly Sword Sect obtains 'conclusive intelligence' proving that the Xuan Yin Sect's true objective in this operation is not the Qingyun Sect, but rather a pretext to secretly gather elite forces to launch a fatal attack on the Heavenly Sword Sect's defenses in the Black Wind Mountains, what are the Heavenly Sword Sect's response strategies and probabilities?"

[During the simulation... After receiving this information, the Heavenly Sword Sect will most likely (91.2%) adopt a preemptive strike strategy.]

Strategy 1: Take the initiative and launch a strong attack on the weak points of the Black Wind Mountain Range defense line while the Xuan Yin Sect is dividing its forces to attack the Qingyun Sect.

Strategy Two: Set an ambush, feign ignorance, and lure the Xuan Yin Sect to attack with divided forces, then concentrate and annihilate them. Regardless of the strategy, large-scale conflict is inevitable; the probability of a full-scale war is 99.1%.

Shen Mo's eyes flashed with a sharp light! This is it! The crucial moment to shift the blame eastward!

Make the Heavenly Sword Sect believe that the Xuan Yin Sect's attack on the Qingyun Sect was a ruse, and that their real intention was to launch a sneak attack on the Heavenly Sword Sect!

As long as the Heavenly Sword Sect makes the first move, or adopts a posture of fighting to the death, the Profound Yin Sect will have no choice but to respond, and the Qingyun Sect's crisis will be resolved on its own!

But how to convince the Heavenly Sword Sect of this "conclusive intelligence"? Empty words are not enough; there must be "evidence"!

This evidence must appear to have been discovered "accidentally" by the Heavenly Sword Sect itself, and must not have any connection with the Azure Cloud Sect whatsoever.

Shen Mo's brain was working at lightning speed. Combining the massive amount of information provided by the system, a huge and meticulously crafted plan gradually became clear in his mind.

The core of this plan is to exploit information asymmetry and human nature to orchestrate a grand scheme of "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, with the slingshot below."

The first step is to feign weakness to buy time. The Xuan Yin Sect must be made to believe that the Qing Yun Sect is a tough nut to crack but ultimately survivable, thus making them willing to wait three days and potentially divide their forces to minimize losses.

This requires staging a play, a play that is both desperate and hopeful, so that Ghost Yin Shangren feels victory is within his grasp but doesn't want to pay too high a price.

The second step is to create an "accident" to convey the "truth." The Heavenly Sword Sect must "accidentally" obtain "ironclad evidence" that the Profound Yin Sect intends to ambush them.

This evidence must be convincing enough that the higher-ups of the Heavenly Sword Sect have no doubts whatsoever.

They could exploit potential internal conflicts within the Xuan Yin Sect, or stage an "accidental" encounter to allow the "evidence" to emerge naturally.

The third step is to add fuel to the fire and hasten the decisive battle. When the friction between the two factions escalates, an anonymous final push is made, leading both sides to believe that the other is about to launch a general offensive, thus forcing them to confront each other prematurely.

The entire plan is interconnected; if any link goes wrong, it could lead to utter ruin.

The second step, in particular, is the biggest challenge: how to create an "accident" and how to ensure that the "evidence" reaches the key figures of the Heavenly Sword Sect and convinces them of its authenticity.

"We need something... something that will instantly infuriate the Heavenly Sword Sect's higher-ups," Shen Mo pondered. "Something related to the Xuan Yin Sect's core secrets, but also something that points to their intentions against the Heavenly Sword Sect..."

His consciousness once again plunged into the system database, frantically searching for any fragmented information that might be related to the core secrets of the Xuan Yin Sect. At the same time, he combined the records of the Black Wind Mountain area in Liu Yun Zhenren's travelogue to look for "coincidence points" that he could use as a pretext.

Time passed silently. I don't know how much time had passed—perhaps an hour, perhaps two.

Suddenly, Shen Mo abruptly opened his tightly closed eyes, a knowing glint in them.

"Black Wind Mountain Range... a convergence point of Yin energy... remnants of malevolent energy from an ancient battlefield... the cultivation of the Xuan Yin Sect's 'Blood Prison True Scripture' requires a large amount of Yin and malevolent energy..."

"Occasionally, 'Essence of Geng Metal' is found alongside 'Earth Yin Marrow' deep within the Heavenly Sword Sect's mines... Earth Yin Marrow has miraculous effects on cultivating Yin Sha techniques, but its collection can easily trigger a violent surge of Yin energy in the earth's veins..."

Seemingly unrelated pieces of information collided and combined in his mind, gradually outlining a clear clue.