Aotian and Rihai were in their cave after bidding farewell to the Red Tiger.
Even though Aotian no longer cared about hiding the fact that he was the tiger's master, there simply wasn't enough space in his small cave for the massive beast to live. Besides, his main body was currently busy cultivating, so it was better to leave his avatars to train the tiger.
Back in their old cave, the two entered Aotian's room to talk about their upcoming plans.
The cave remained the sa. Although they could exchange it for a better one due to their new status as core disciples, that could wait until later.
Walking up to the large white bed in the room, Aotian sat down first, pulled Rihai onto his lap, and embraced her, feeling her warmth.
She simply smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck, and caressed his cheek as she gazed at him, waiting for him to speak.
Aotian enjoyed her touch and the warmth of her hand, closing his eyes for a mont before opening them and staring into her beautiful blue eyes, which seed to draw his soul in with their beauty.
"Hai'er… we need to talk about our marriage," he said suddenly, with seriousness, making her look at him in surprise.
"Did sothing happen?" she asked, furrowing her brow, worried.
They had already talked about marriage several tis, and the topic wasn't new to them. Although Aotian intended to make a more solemn proposal at so point, the marriage was already a certainty between the two. What startled her was the tone he used this ti.
"Well, sothing did happen, but nothing that will stop our marriage from happening. But we need to decide a few things, because… the sect will go to war in a month. It'll be announced soon," he spoke in a solemn tone.
Rihai's beautiful eyes widened.
"War? Against who?!" she asked, becoming anxious. Any war that concerned the Infinite Dao Sect surely wasn't sothing simple.
"Uhh… well, the war is just against a Golden Core sect. That's not the issue." Aotian, seeing her concern, quickly tried to reassure her with a wry smile.
His explanation left Rihai staring at him, stunned. She knew a bit about the sect's strength, so she was confused by his concern.
"The problem isn't that. The Eternal Sovereign Sect is just the beginning. We want that location as a base for future real operations. What follows is a prolonged war against the entire continent," he explained with a serious look.
This ti, Rihai was truly shocked.
"The entire continent? But… what's the benefit? Desert continents are so poor in everything, even population and talent… what's the point of conquering a place like that?" she couldn't help but murmur, confused.
"Well… I can only say there are benefits. Besides, we'll use this to gather talents and hone them in battle. The sect plans to create a strong foundation here in the desert continents before advancing to the more central ones. The ultimate goal… is to dominate everything," he said with a solemn gaze.
Rihai finally understood the goal, but her worry didn't fade. Conquering everything was no easy task, and even for the powerful Infinite Dao Sect — which she presud had experts as terrifying as her grandfather and father, given the sect's inheritance she had seen so far — conquering the world would not be simple.
"Tian'er… it's dangerous," she murmured, apprehensive, looking at him with a bitter expression.
Perhaps the sect could do it, but small cultivators like her and Aotian could still be in serious danger during such a mission.
"I know. The sect will give us ti to grow, don't worry. We'll start with the desert continents and stop. Once we're stronger, then we'll move on to the central continents," he explained seriously and then looked at her. "Rihai, do you know anything about the kinds of threats we might encounter in the desert continents?"
He had planned to talk about the wedding, but seeing the topic shift direction, he decided to bring up other issues he had also intended to discuss.
Rihai let go of the hug and sat beside him, her face slightly pale and worried about their future, yet she still did her best to help however she could.
"I-I don't know much about the desert continents. But I do know a little of the common knowledge from the central continent," she hesitated as she spoke, unsure if that would be useful.
"Just tell . Any information can help." Aotian held her hand and spoke firmly.
This was not the ti to hesitate. Any information was valuable. He already had so idea of what he would face, both from the common sense he had acquired from the thousands of xianxias he had read and from what Rihai told him in daily conversations.
But now, he might learn sothing new that would help him prepare even better.
Understanding the seriousness of the situation, Rihai no longer hesitated. Even if the sect's experienced elders likely knew far more than she did, her information could still be useful to Aotian.
"Normally, in the central continent, so weaker forces struggle to acquire high-quality talents, since those usually go to stronger forces. So, what these small forces do is send people to weaker continents in search of high-level talents. Even though weaker continents have fewer talents, so of very high quality can still be born, and those are the targets of those forces," she explained with a narrowed gaze, trying to recall everything that could be useful.
That made Aotian even more concerned.
"Do you think there could be forces from the central continent here in the desert?" He looked at her solemnly.
"No… it's very unlikely that any force from the central continent would co looking for disciples in a place like this. They would head to the mid-continents instead—after all, talents of high level are more abundant and of higher quality there. The ones who would co to the deserts to recruit would be sects from the mid-continents with enough power to cross the outer sea, which is infested with third-level beasts and even so fourth-level ones."
She shook her head, but her gaze didn't lose its seriousness as she continued explaining.
"The operational profile of these powers that cross the sea for recruitnt, as far as I know, is to subordinate the strongest local forces. That way, these local forces are responsible for gathering talents from the continent, and then offering them on a silver platter to those powers at specific tis. In return, they receive so crumbs of resources—crumbs to a stronger continent, but to a weaker one, they are extrely precious treasures."
"So, the goal of the Infinite Dao Sect will definitely affect the interests of these powers, and there's no doubt that if they find out, they'll interfere," she revealed firmly.
Aotian nodded with conviction. At no point did he doubt that external interference from powerful forces would co in later stages.
"Hai'er, what level do you think those forces might be at? And what are the highest cultivation levels in the mid-continents and the central continent?"
For the first ti, he asked sothing so direct. Before, he hadn't found the opportunity to ask, and it had seed too far off and useless for him to know. That's why, in a way, he had procrastinated. But at this mont, he needed to take all possibilities seriously.
This ti, unlike before—when she didn't even know the Infinite Dao Sect and thought it would do him no good to know—Rihai didn't hesitate to reveal it.
"In the mid-continents, the strongest forces are composed of Soul Formation cultivators. These are usually the ancestors of the major powers, ancient cultivators who, through sheer luck, barely managed to enter that realm. Their number can almost be counted on one hand. They rarely act. The real combat power there lies with Nascent Soul cultivators."
Just from that one sentence, Aotian's heart skipped a beat. He had thought he was strong enough, at least, to dominate the mid-continents, but now he realized that was still a dangerous zone for him.
Although he knew Bao Wuji might still be able to dominate them, considering his current cultivation in the mid stage of Soul Formation, Aotian didn't like relying on that alone.
"As for the central continent, there are old monsters in the Tribulation Transcending realm. Those are even rarer and act even less frequently. The real power there lies with Void Refiners," she explained with a complicated expression and a bitter sigh.
It seed that talking about those realms stirred so mories within her.
Aotian's gaze began to tighten. The power scale had escalated too quickly for his liking. He had expected to face one less cultivation realm.
Still, he had no plans to back down from starting the war.
'The plans remain the sa. First of all, only the weaker sects from the mid-continents should get involved, and those are easy to deal with. Nascent Souls are no problem for Bao Wuji.'
'Second, I urgently need the techniques from Golden Core sects. Especially the Founder-Tier body refinent techniques, which I won't find in loose cultivators' tombs from the Foundation Establishnt realm. Only these wealthy Golden Core sects could have such "lavish" techniques. Besides, I need auxiliary arts inheritances, or I won't even be able to teach the disciples. I only have synthesized inheritances from the Refiner-Tier.'
'And finally, if I manage to synthesize a Founder-Tier body refinent technique and cultivate it, Bao Wuji's strength will increase a lot, after all…'
[Host: Long Aotian
Cultivation: 4th Level of Foundation Establishnt
Body Cultivation: 9th Level of Qi Refinent
Physique: Mortal
Qualifications: Low-Grade Five Elent Spiritual Root (Low Qualification)]
[Wúji Dào Zōng (aning: Infinite Dao Sect)
Rank: 7 - Golden Core]
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[Na: Bao Wuji (aning: Limitless Treasure)
Position: Sect Ancestor (Treasure Pavilion)
Cultivation: 4th Level of Soul Formation (3 Major Realms Above Host)
Body Cultivation: 9th Level of Nascent Soul (3 Major Realms Above Host)
Position Skill: Equivalent Exchange
Affiliation Skill: Storage Space
Position Bonus: Treasure Radar (4 tis per day)]
Aotian's confidence ca from the fact that the avatar's body cultivation also received the cultivation multiplier boost.
That discovery had greatly satisfied him. Even with the issue of a weak foundation and the lack of high-level spells, once body refinent ca into play, it significantly leveled the playing field.
That boosted his confidence greatly. As long as he could match body cultivation to real cultivation, the avatars' strength could keep up in the sa realm.
But even with those facts, and having decided not to change the idea of continuing the war, he preferred not to gamble or be reckless.
His eyes lit up with a new plan forming.
'Let's change our approach…'
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