Yan Zhaoge agreed with Xue Chuqing’s guess.
“With this, the North Star Emperor might change from his usual approach.” Xue Chuqing continued guessing.
“We can’t be too sure about that. It’s still way too early now.” Yan Zhaoge looked at the top of the Purple Divine Pavilion, “The current situation is already different from the past twenty years ago.”
Xue Chuqing nodded silently.
More than twenty years ago, while the Immortal Court and the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus would fight against each other within a fixed time gap, the Western Pure Lands and the Astro Mountains Starry Seas were still secluding themselves from the world.
Ever since the warfare that happened more than twenty years ago, the experts from the Western Pure Lands and the Demon Race had joined into the fray,
Other than the Immeasurably Heavenly Lord and the Future Buddha, the Daoism Grand Heavenly Realm experts held a considerable advantage against the other heretics, the North Star Emperor included.
Hence, if they were to face the Immortal Court or the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus, the North Star Emperor, the Incongruence Divine Mother, and the others would pose a considerable threat.
However, if they became a threat to the Immortal Court, they might expose themselves in front of the Immeasurably Heavenly Lord.
If the Immeasurable Heavenly Lord and the Future Buddha were deterring each other, the situation would turn out differently.
Of course, the Future Buddha would be willing to do so.
Yan Zhaoge’s safe retreat from the Immortal Court proved this.
However, right now, the Western Pure Lands’ orthodox Buddhism experts were resurging within the world. While they would often fight against the Demon Race experts, the North Star Emperor and the others didn’t have the freedom they once had in the past.
The threats they posed toward the Immortal Court decreased greatly.
Other than the advantageous opportune moment, the main reason why Yan Zhaoge could succeed in the Immortal Court was due to the amalgamation of the three Golden Bodies of the Great Sage, which harnessed the Great Sage Equalling Heavens’ omnipotent strength. Even with the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit, the Victorious Fighting Buddha, and the Great King of Inspiration combined, they still couldn’t deal with Yan Zhaoge.
It was just like Mahamayuri. No matter how many Grand Heavenly Realm experts were besieging him, he still maintained his domineering stance against the enemies.
However, existences with such strength were undoubtedly among the minorities.
Even the Great Sage Equalling Heavens’ manifestation could only last for but a moment.
Therefore, objectively speaking, the Daoism Grand Heavenly Realm experts’ threats toward the Immortal Court had weakened compared to the past.
After Mahamayuri’s interference, the Immortal Court managed to turn the tides into their favor, reclaiming their lost lands in the process. While this turnaround wasn’t enough to determine the victor, the two heretic factions seemed to have returned to the balanced state of power.
Within a short amount of time, no one could do anything against the other party. As a result, they ceased the warfare temporarily and turned toward recovery, awaiting yet another opportune moment to strike.
The Immortal Court and the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus fought against each other for so many years after the Great Calamity, with resting periods between each war. Hence, the intensity of the warfare would undulate, which continued until now.
When the warfare wasn’t as intense anymore, they could naturally focus on other matters at hand.
To Daoism’s Three Clear Lineage, their days weren’t as lax as it previously was anymore.
This was one of the reasons why Yan Zhaoge thought about having more trump cards in his sleeve.
“When viewing the situation as a whole, the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus still holds the advantage,” said Yan Zhaoge softly.
“Mahamayuri might take action just this once. After he bails out of the battle, they’ll have to rely on their forces.” Xue Chuqing understood what he meant, “The damage that the Exalted Fire and you caused was far too impactful. They won’t recover from it so quickly.”
In total, the Immortal Court had lost five Grand Heavenly Immortals and more than thirty Grand Virtual immortals.
They were initially inferior to the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus, to begin with. Now that their vitalities were significantly damaged, they would end up in a weakened state.
They could only turn the tides into their favor, thanks to Mahamayuri. In the end, everything was but a false front.
After the momentum ceased, the situation would still become unfavorable to the Immortal Court.
Naturally, the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus wasn’t willing to let go of their previous progress just like that. It was just like a cooked duck coming back to life, flying away from their grasp.
Next, they would continue with their stance of invasion.
Only, no one was certain if Mahamayuri would take action once again. Even if he previously took action simply because of a transaction, no one knew if the Western Pure Lands and the Immortal Court had the capabilities of affording another transaction.
Hence, even after Kong Xuan retreated, the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus would remain on guard.
The Immortal Court was destined to maintain its defensive stance. In fact, the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus might even take over some of their territories again.
However, later on, the battle between the two factions would happen with significantly reduced intensity if nothing huge happened.
Probing and deterring would become the main goal.
The Immortal Court would become peaceful for some time.
To the orthodox Daoism, the good news would be that the pressure coming from the Immortal Court and the Western Pure Lands would decrease.
The bad news was that the Immortal Court had cleansed the dao universe and even took away their entire population. Yet, no one could do anything to the Immortal Court.
The Immortal Court was waiting for the orthodox Daoism to approach them.
“If matters become urgent, we should just a.s.sist the Demon Race and the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus in invading the Immortal Court.” Yan Zhaoge hit his forehead, “Senior Suo, the North Star Emperor, the Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor, the Incongruence Divine Mother, as well as my Golden Body of the Great Sage. This should suffice in breaking the balance of strength.”
“Unless they requested for Mahamayuri’s a.s.sistance once again.”
Hearing Yan Zhaoge’s blabbers, Xue Chuqing was filled with mixed emotions, “Let’s not talk about the few Grand Heavenly Emperors, and just filter it down to you. Do you even have the energy to fight again?”
“Can’t I just think about it?” Yan Zhaoge smiled mischievously, “Those factions should more or less be related to the Great Calamity. Ultimately, our orthodox Daoism is still tied with an inevitable grudge toward them.”
“This is different from our World beyond Worlds becoming the Immortal Court’s helpers. As we become stronger and stronger, we slowly have the capabilities of defying them. We won’t be forced into becoming their cannon fodders any longer.”
The smile on Yan Zhaoge’s face gradually disappeared, and he muttered, “However, we’re far from reaching that state yet. We have to be much stronger.”
“Isn’t that why you’ve always been coveting after the Prime Clear Immortal Extermination Formation?” Yan Di and Xue Chuqing were aware of Yan Zhaoge’s plans as well. Xue Chuqing softly said, “Or should I say, we’re all coveting after the Immortal Extermination Formation. How are your plans going?”
“I can’t be too sure as of now. Let’s patiently wait for some reaction from the Immortal Slaughtering Sword.” Yan Zhaoge said, “After we receive news from the Immortal Slaughtering Sword, we can continue the preparation for our next step.”
While waiting, Yan Zhaoge, Feng Yunsheng, Yan Di, Gao Qingxuan, and the others were undergoing recovery.
The most appropriate moment of making a move would be when they have sufficient confidence.
“I’ve been thinking about something. We can’t let the tension between the Immortal Court and the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus calm down. We have to think of ways to force them back to the previous situation. Only with them being occupied with each other would it become beneficial for us to take action.” Yan Zhaoge rubbed his temples softly.
“Otherwise, the growth in our strength and influence might result in their increased cautiousness toward us, which might cause the two to pressure us together. We finally managed to become slightly outstanding, yet we now face the risk of plummeting back to the chasm.”
Hearing Yan Zhaoge’s words, Xue Chuqing frowned, “Then, what do you intend on doing?”