Chapter 576: Chapter 395: A Change of Mindset

Ghost-Controlling Sect.

In a dark, secluded chamber.

The sect’s most powerful figure, the Supreme Elder, was cultivating here. He had been in a decent mood, but after hearing a piece of news, his desire to cultivate vanished completely.

"Reporting to the Supreme Elder."

"Speak. What is it?"

"The latest news—the Demon Spirit Sect has been annihilated by the Celestial Cloud Sect!"

"What?"

Upon hearing the news, Old Ghost Tang felt a chill run down his spine.

"Are you certain the information is correct?"

"In response to the Supreme Elder, the information has been verified. The Demon Spirit Sect was indeed annihilated by the Celestial Cloud Sect."

Old Ghost Tang was speechless for a long moment.

This news had come far too suddenly.

They had been making moves against the Demon Spirit Sect, and the Celestial Cloud Sect had been doing the same.

They had been analyzing all of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s actions against the Demon Spirit Sect. Although the Celestial Cloud Sect had been steadily increasing its pressure over time, from their perspective, it was still far too early for them to truly annihilate the Demon Spirit Sect.

At the very least, that should have been something for thirty years from now.

More likely, it would have taken another fifty or sixty years.

From their point of view, this was all too abrupt.

After dismissing the Sect Elder, Old Ghost Tang immediately sent a message to the Great Cave Master of the Black Ghost Cave, summoning him to discuss their next steps.

Upon learning the news, the Great Cave Master of the Black Ghost Cave rushed to the Ghost-Controlling Sect.

When the two met, neither spoke a word.

At first, there was only silence between them.

Having received the news of the Demon Spirit Sect’s annihilation by the Celestial Cloud Sect, the Great Cave Master of the Black Ghost Cave also felt that the Celestial Cloud Sect had acted far too quickly.

As for whether the Celestial Cloud Sect had the ability to destroy the Demon Spirit Sect...

With the Celestial Demon Sect as a prior example, they all assumed by default that the Celestial Cloud Sect was capable of such a feat.

"Old Ghost Tang, what do you think we should do now?" the Great Cave Master of the Black Ghost Cave asked.

In the beginning, their plan was to use the Celestial Cloud Sect to annihilate the Demon Spirit Sect, after which they would seize the Demon Spirit Sect’s territory.

Looking at the plan now, the Celestial Cloud Sect had indeed annihilated the Demon Spirit Sect.

But this was different.

The Celestial Cloud Sect had annihilated the Demon Spirit Sect, but not at all at the time they had planned for.

The timing they had initially planned for was this: after the Demon Spirit Sect offended the Celestial Cloud Sect, the Celestial Cloud Sect would launch a swift attack and quickly eliminate them.

The result, however, was that the Celestial Cloud Sect acted sluggishly. Only the mysterious Spirit Refiner from the Purple Mist Sect had been swift in eliminating three of the Demon Spirit Sect’s subordinate Foundation Establishment influences.

Because the Celestial Cloud Sect was moving so slowly, they changed their strategy regarding the Demon Spirit Sect.

Subsequently, the Ghost-Controlling Sect began to take action against the Demon Spirit Sect, while the Black Ghost Cave lay dormant and waited.

The Ghost-Controlling Sect’s actions were meant to draw some of the Demon Spirit Sect’s attention, making it easier for the Celestial Cloud Sect to eventually destroy them and thus create an opportunity for themselves.

But then the Celestial Cloud Sect had suddenly accelerated its efforts and directly annihilated the Demon Spirit Sect.

"Great Cave Master, do you think the Celestial Cloud Sect knew about our plan?" Old Ghost Tang asked, not answering the Great Cave Master’s question.

"That... I can’t be sure."

"If the Celestial Cloud Sect didn’t know our plan, why do they keep making moves that exceed our expectations? Or is it that we haven’t gathered enough information, that our analysis isn’t comprehensive enough?"

Old Ghost Tang had been pondering this question for some time.

"Perhaps the Celestial Cloud Sect is simply unpredictable by nature," the Great Cave Master of the Black Ghost Cave said after a moment’s thought. "Besides, in at least one regard, the Celestial Cloud Sect has not exceeded our expectations."

"And what is that?"

"They really did annihilate the Demon Spirit Sect," the Great Cave Master replied.

"But given the timing, what can we even do now?"

’The plan was for us to act the very moment the Celestial Cloud Sect launched its campaign to wipe out the Demon Spirit Sect.’

’Ideally, we would have made our move just as the Celestial Cloud Sect took control of the Demon Spirit Sect’s headquarters.’

’That was our best window of opportunity.’

’But now, by the time we’ve learned of the Demon Spirit Sect’s annihilation, if we try to organize a large-scale operation, the Celestial Cloud Sect will likely be prepared and waiting for us.’

"Let me share my thoughts first," he began. "The Celestial Cloud Sect’s sudden move means they haven’t occupied much of the Demon Spirit Sect’s territory yet. We can make a play for those lands now. With the Demon Spirit Sect gone, their subordinate Foundation Establishment influences will have little power to resist."

"Isn’t that just letting the Celestial Cloud Sect eat the meat while we drink the soup?"

"If we act any later, we might not even get the soup."

Faced with the current situation, the Great Cave Master of the Black Ghost Cave was choosing to settle for the next best thing.

He had his own reasons for thinking this way.

"Right now, the only information we have is that the Celestial Cloud Sect annihilated the Demon Spirit Sect. We know none of the specific details. In particular, we don’t know if the mysterious Spirit Refiner from the Purple Mist Sect participated in this operation... That piece of information is crucial for us.

If the Celestial Cloud Sect had help from that mysterious Spirit Refiner, even if we were to dispatch our forces to the Demon Spirit Sect’s territory now, I’m afraid we wouldn’t be able to take down the Celestial Cloud Sect. On the contrary, we’d suffer heavy losses.

So, to be safe, occupying some of the lands in the Demon Spirit Sect’s former territory is the better option..."

Their biggest problem right now was still the lack of information.

After the Demon Spirit Sect had a falling out with the Black Ghost Cave, they hadn’t asked for help, even when they were being attacked by the Celestial Cloud Sect.

Their initial plan had been perfect.

Back then, if the Celestial Cloud Sect had launched a swift offensive against the Demon Spirit Sect, by the time the Celestial Cloud Sect reached their headquarters, the Demon Spirit Sect would have requested aid not only from them, but from the Ghost-Controlling Sect as well.

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