My construction materials are weird

"Prepare for defense!"

In a secret location, the leaders of the Eight Greats were gathered.

They were Yuan Tianchun of the Source Array Sect, Zong Qicheng of the Refining Alliance, Zhu Changxun of the Academy Alliance, Wang Daqiang of the Brave Alliance, Baixiaosheng of the Listening Tower, Wang Zihhao of the Hundred Herb Pavilion, Zuo Dao of the World Alliance, and Sun Bole of the Spirit Beast Sect.

Despite Yuan Tianchun's good relationship with the Four Great Sect Leaders, being like brothers, he undeniably belonged to the Eight Great Factions.

The Four Great Sect Leaders merely accepted him as a junior brother; it didn't mean they accepted the Source Array Sect as a force on par with the Four Greats.

This point should not be confused.

Yuan Tianchun's companions had always been the Eight Greats, who shared the same status, not the Four Supremes.

On a side note, after two or three years of development, the Eight Greats had become large-scale forces, covering all cities under the protection of Xuanhuang.

And the Four Greats had already been called super forces by many.

It was just that in the records of the Merit Hall and the recognition of Xuanhuang, they were still called the Eight Greats.

Therefore, they didn't presumptuously call themselves the Eight Greats.

They only lacked a title; their strength had already reached the level.

They needed Xuanhuang or the Merit Hall to call them the Eight Greats before they could rightfully say they were large-scale forces.

"Will there be no problems in the short term?"

Wang Daqiang asked after Baixiaosheng spoke about defense.

"There's no need to worry in the short term. The Four Greats aren't making a false retreat; they're genuinely doing it. … After recent events, the Four Greats have seen their shortcomings and are showing great courage and determination in retreating and consolidating."

Baixiaosheng said with certainty.

"Of course, it's also related to the Holy Mother of Tushan. If we had been the ones to make them suffer this time, things wouldn't be so easy. In the end, strength determines everything. Without the power to contend with the Holy Mother of Tushan, they won't do anything foolish."

After Baixiaosheng finished speaking, everyone nodded in agreement.

No one understood what strength represented better than these faction leaders.

Xuanshi didn't interfere in the competition between disciples, and the Merit Hall was just a big housekeeper; the strength of the cultivators represented everything.

As the saying goes, Qingyun Mountain may seem peaceful, but the competition outside Qingyun Mountain is extremely fierce and cruel.

The disadvantage of the Eight Great Factions was that they had always been seeking survival in the cracks, but the advantage was also this point—seeking survival in the cracks.

Therefore, compared to the Four Supreme Forces, they were much more stable and cautious.

This was the situation created by having or not having pressure.

"What about us?"

Zhu Changxun asked tentatively.

It was still Baixiaosheng who responded.

Among the Eight Great Factions, Baixiaosheng was also given the titles of 'Protector' and 'Timely Rain'.

The reason was simple: he acted very openly and never hid anything, and he was very righteous in devising strategies for the Eight Greats.

The Eight Greats weren't a family, so why could they still discuss things like this? Besides the forced alliance, the biggest reason was Baixiaosheng's mediation.

He was too open and righteous.

For example, Zhu Changxun's tentative inquiry was met with silence from everyone, obviously harboring their own calculations.

But Baixiaosheng didn't care and spoke directly.

As for why he was like this?

Only a few people knew the reason, which was caused by the Prayer Technique.

Strengthening all cultivators and strengthening the Eight Greats was also a way to compensate for prayer luck.

This was the reality.

"Lord Bai is right. We'll take as much as the Four Greats give, and we'll also be tolerant of what they don't give or strengthen their control over, giving the Four Greats a way out; otherwise?"

Otherwise, the Four Greats would be angry and vent their frustration on these ignorant people.

"Has anyone thought about the rogue cultivators?"

Yuan Tianchun asked.

He felt very strange. The Four Greats' retreat was because they encountered the nail that was the Holy Mother of Tushan, but the result was triggered by the rogue cultivators.

However, the rogue cultivators were being ignored here again?

They were discussing dividing up the territory withdrawn by the Four Greats, but what about the rogue cultivators?

"Rogue cultivators? Just let them fill in the gaps and pick up the scraps, right? What else do they want?"

Zhu Changxun said.

This wasn't just his view; the other few also held the same view.

What else did the rogue cultivators want?

"This? Alright!"

Yuan Tianchun wanted to refute, but after thinking about it, he felt that he was being a bit overly compassionate and narrow-minded.

The momentum formed by the rogue cultivators seemed very strong, forcing the Four Greats to retreat.

But they knew in their hearts that the rogue cultivators, like a plate of loose sand, weren't that united. The reason they could form such a large momentum was that there were very important reasons.

And one of the most important reasons was that their Eight Greats were fanning the flames.

The second was that the source of the Four Greats' setback was the Holy Mother of Tushan, an existence that the Four Greats couldn't solve, and even didn't dare to offend at the moment.

This was the reason for such a large momentum.

Once the Eight Greats withdrew from it, and the Holy Mother of Tushan was no longer a nail in the Four Greats' side, the rogue cultivators… the rogue cultivators seemed to be just like that.

Just loose sand.

This world, where strength was respected, was so cruel.

The rogue cultivators were fiercely expressing their dissatisfaction with the Four Greats, unaware that it had all become someone else's wedding dress.

After all the commotion, they found that the gains were few.

"Knock, knock!"

At this moment, a knock on the door came.

Baixiaosheng, who was presiding over the meeting, said, "Come in."

A woman pushed the door open and greeted the leaders of the Eight Greats first.

This woman was Feihong, Rosalinda the Mermaid Queen's good friend and brain.

"The information gathered from the Four Greats is similar. It was Lord Yan Lai who made the decision, and then the other three families followed. The details couldn't be investigated, but the general situation is like this."

Feihong said to the eight people.

The eight people suddenly understood, and were also a little disappointed.

"Really, there was no mention of us at all?"

Baixiaosheng asked.

This was not only what he wanted to ask, but also what the other seven wanted to know.

Feihong wasn't stupid and knew the reason why everyone was asking this.

But this question was very awkward. The Four Greats indeed didn't mention them at all.

"This? This? This seems to be?"

Feihong hesitated.

"Okay, Fellow Daoist Feihong, don't say anymore, we understand. Hmph, the Four Greats are still the Four Greats, they still look down on us."

Zuo Dao said gloomily.

It was a very magical scene. They knew that they had schemed against the Four Greats, and the Four Greats also knew that the Eight Greats had fueled the flames of their scheme.

They wanted to hear the Four Greats' thoughts about their scheme from the Four Greats' discussions.

However, the Four Greats didn't mention them at all.

This made them very sad.

They weren't afraid that the Four Greats knew that their Eight Greats had participated in the scheme, but they were afraid that the Four Greats would directly treat their Eight Families as if they didn't exist.

They wouldn't be so stupid as to think that the Four Greats couldn't see that they had fueled the flames.

If they thought of the Four Greats as so stupid? Then they wouldn't know whether the Four Greats were stupid, or they were stupid.

Being ignored is the greatest humiliation.

“There's no helping it. The gap between us and the Four Greats is still too large. Even if the Eight Families combined, we wouldn't be a match for one of the Four Greats. We have to admit this. Don't take their 'contempt' to heart. It might just be a strategy to break our morale.”

Bai Xiaosheng said, trying to salvage the situation.

“That's right!”

“That's possible.”

Everyone echoed, even if it was just to comfort themselves.

The secret meeting ended with a lingering, indescribable feeling.

At least, this indescribable feeling made the Eight Families understand one thing: they were still far behind the Four Great super-powers and needed to work harder.

Unintentionally, they achieved a perfect unity of thought and action!

Since the Four Greats looked down on them, they had to show the strength that would make them take them seriously.

The Eight Families planned to move into all the territories that the Four Greats had withdrawn from.

Therefore…

In the next two months, there would be another period of dramatic changes.

These two months were a very special period. The Four Great super-powers, who had always been the center of the stage, were very low-key and patient during these two months.

There were very few big news about them.

Of course, it's only about major sensational news, not that there was absolutely no news or that they disappeared completely.

With such a large organization as the Four Greats, even if they were low-key and silent, it was impossible for there to be no news at all.

On the contrary, the Eight Families, who had always been suppressed by the Four Greats, the Eight Great powers in the eyes of the rogue cultivators, bloomed with brilliant colors during these two months.

However, in the eyes of the rogue cultivators, this color changed from colorful to black.

That's right, it turned black.

Before, with the Four Greats above, the Eight Families and the rogue cultivators had a common enemy, so the Four Greats had no good reputation at all.

They occupied too much of the benefits, so much that everyone complained.

And the Eight Families were also the suppressed party, so the rogue cultivators felt that the Eight Families were not bad.

But now, the situation has changed.

The territories withdrawn by the Four Greats were originally thought to belong to the rogue cultivators, but they never expected that the Eight Families would occupy them.

There was no difference from before.

They suffered losses when the Four Greats didn't withdraw, and they still suffered losses when the Four Greats withdrew. Wouldn't the Four Greats have withdrawn for nothing?

“Something's not right!”

A rogue cultivator suddenly became confused.

“Hmph, what's not right? Before, the Four Greats suppressed us, and now the Eight Families are suppressing us. What's not right? Are you saying that the only thing that's not right is that the people who are suppressing us have changed?”

His friend sneered.

“That's exactly what's not right! How can the Eight Families do this? Have they forgotten our experience of enduring the suppression of the Four Greats and resisting together? How can they turn their backs on us?”

This fellow cultivator was very puzzled.

“Alas! Fellow cultivator, do you know that you can still exist on Qingyun Mountain entirely because your cultivation talent is too heaven-defying, otherwise your wisdom wouldn't be able to stay here.”

His friend said, not knowing whether it was comforting or打击.

“Are we so disunited? We repelled the Four Greats before, didn't we?” the genius cultivator said.

“The Four Greats retreated on their own accord. Moreover, the source was because of the Holy Mother of Tu Shan. We were just pawns, just pawns. Besides… the three thousand cave dwellings are about to be conceived, right? Do you think our rogue cultivators can unite?”

“Three thousand cave dwellings?”

This genius fellow cultivator was silent.

Needless to say, it was naturally impossible to unite.

Even if they did unite, it would have to be after the battle for the three thousand cave dwellings was over.

As long as the battle for the three thousand cave dwellings was not over, don't even think about the rogue cultivators uniting.

Besides, to put it bluntly, what's the use of you uniting?

Can uniting defeat any one of the Eight Families?

Not to mention the Four Greats.

“We've been used, used by the Eight Families to fuel the flames, and the situation is very bad. They're not as good as the era when the Four Greats controlled us.”

His fellow cultivator said.

“What do you mean?” the genius fellow cultivator said.

“The meaning is very clear. No matter how rich the Four Greats are, the Eight Families won't let go of the places that the Four Greats look down on. In the past, we rogue cultivators could still fight for the things that the Four Greats looked down on, but now a group of poorer great powers have just arrived, and they're as greedy as locusts. Do you understand what I'm saying?”

The genius fellow cultivator nodded: “I understand. The previous Four Greats were richer and more well-fed, but now the newly arrived Eight Families are poorer and haven't been fed yet, so…”

“So, we rogue cultivators made a fuss for a while, but the situation has become even worse. The Eight Families are also secretly promising benefits everywhere, saying that they support so-and-so to occupy a cave dwelling. With this kind of division, our unity is just a joke.”

After saying that, the two of them fell silent.

History always has so many coincidences.

For example, the Eight Families recently felt the humiliation of being ignored by the Four Greats.

Now, it's the rogue cultivators' turn, and they're feeling the humiliation of being ignored by the Eight Families.

They're simply being used as pawns, and no one cares about them at all.

The current situation is that the third battlefield has been occupied by spirit beasts, and the spirit beasts have become the dominant force in the third battlefield.

No one dares to ignore this point. The third battlefield, which was originally jointly managed by the Eight Families, rogue cultivators, etc., has been occupied by spirit beasts.

The rogue cultivators and the Eight Families didn't complain about the spirit beasts. Even if they were stupid, they knew that this situation was brought about by the spirit beasts.

They withdrew from the third battlefield and occupied the first and second battlefields that the Four Greats had withdrawn from.

However, there is a fork in the road here.

The rogue cultivators were happily going to take over the first and second battlefields, but when they went, they found that they were late.

The Eight Families had already closed the door and told them that because the Four Greats had withdrawn, the situation was unstable, so the rogue cultivators should not risk their lives and go somewhere else first. They would talk about it after the Eight Families stabilized the first and second battlefields.

The rogue cultivators were dumbfounded.

They didn't dare to complain, because they weren't from the same force, and they couldn't truly unite.

They couldn't form a tower by accumulating sand.

In addition, the three thousand cave dwellings were about to be conceived, and it was the critical moment to fight for the three thousand cave dwellings, so the rogue cultivators didn't dare to have any dissatisfied words towards the Eight Families.

The Eight Families certainly couldn't influence the battle for the three thousand cave dwellings, that's for sure.

Not to mention them, even the Four Greats couldn't do it, this was presided over by the Hall of Merit.

However, if they couldn't influence it, they could still mess things up.

Messing things up was still very easy. They could dig a hole and trip you at a critical moment. What could you do?

The rogue cultivators were suffering in their hearts.

It's not only 'the king's banner changes on the city wall', but they also want to 'shout for the Monkey King today'.

Two months of changing winds and clouds.

The rogue cultivators have become abandoned, the most pitiful existence that is also difficult to pity.

On the side of the Eight Families, there is also no small pressure. Taking over the territories withdrawn by the Four Greats will not only have benefits but also disadvantages.

The first disadvantage has already appeared, being hostile by the rogue cultivators, even more than being hostile to the Four Greats, because the rogue cultivators have a double hatred of hostility and betrayal.

The second is heavy losses.

… (End of this chapter)