The Black Sun Sect was in disarray. The catastrophic spiritual power surge caused by Elder Mu's sabotage—a flawless spiritual flaw inserted into the main power nexus—had erupted just hours ago, immediately crippling the cultivation halls of the powerful Second Elder's faction. This was instantly interpreted as a hostile takeover attempt, plunging the entire sect into brutal civil war.
Lin Tian, miles away in his hidden cave, watched the spiritual disturbance grow through his Observer's Eye.
[Observer's Eye Activated. Target: Black Sun Sect. Status: Full Internal Conflict. Primary Spiritual Vein Unstable. Strategic Window: 72 hours.]
"The chaos is sufficient," Lin Tian commanded Elder Mu. "The Black Sun Sect's strength is based on their element, Fire. You will now move in and seize their elemental source: the Volcanic Spirit Core."
Elder Mu, fueled by his perfect Celestial Wood Dew cure and the zealous loyalty of his Perfected Heavenly Immortal stage, bowed low. "Master, the Volcanic Spirit Core is protected by the First Elder—a cultivator at the Grand Unity Immortal Stage 1. He is untouched by the civil war."
Perfect, Lin Tian mused. The chaos covers the theft, but the main prize still requires a strategic touch.
"You will not fight him," Lin Tian instructed. "You will use the Wood Dao Flaw that I cured in your own technique. You will use it to break the logic of his Fire Dao formation."
Elder Mu infiltrated the Black Sun Sect through the chaos of the civil war. He bypassed the hundreds of fighting disciples and flew directly toward the Sect's heart: the massive, glowing caldera that contained the Volcanic Spirit Core.
The First Elder sat atop the Core, channeling vast, destructive Fire Qi to maintain the Solar Defense Array. He looked old, weary, but incredibly powerful.
Mu landed respectfully outside the formation. "First Elder," Mu announced. "I come bearing news from the Sovereign's Hall! You must halt this foolish internal war and defend the Core!"
The First Elder scoffed, his voice booming with thermal energy. "Fool! The Second Elder is treasonous! And you, a rogue from the Azure Sea? Begone! I am the only stability left!"
Mu threw his hands up in surrender, channeling his own Wood Dao Qi—the element opposed to Fire—into a dense, harmless barrier around himself. "I swear I mean no harm, Elder! But I must warn you! Your Solar Defense Array has a flaw!"
This instantly piqued the First Elder's pride. "Flaw? Impossible! My array has stood for five thousand years!"
"It is a flaw of Dao Logic," Mu insisted, channeling the precise words Lin Tian sent him. "Your array is designed to resist Water, but it allows Wood-aligned Qi to pass through its core stabilization nodes as a 'fuel source.' A perfect Wood Dao strike could splinter your array from the inside, leaving the Core defenseless."
The First Elder laughed—a deep, scornful rumble. "Child, no true Wood Dao master exists in the Cloud Heavens! And your pathetic Wood Qi is impure!"
Mu waited for the Elder to finish his statement, then he executed Lin Tian's command. Mu unleashed a tiny, almost invisible thread of his Perfected Heavenly Immortal Qi—the pure energy that Lin Tian had synthesized and cured his body with. Mu channeled this energy through a simple, basic Wood Dao technique, demonstrating its flaw.
The thread of purity slipped through the Solar Defense Array, piercing the formation's core logic. The formation didn't fail, but it stuttered. The Fire Qi surged, then violently retreated, proving the vulnerability.
The First Elder stared in mute horror. His pride, the foundation of his Dao, was shattered. He realized Mu's power was not overwhelming; it was surgically pure, and the logic of his own technique was flawed.
"Who... who taught you that?" the First Elder whispered, fear finally overcoming his arrogance.
"My Master, the Heaven-Shaking Daoist," Mu replied, channeling Lin Tian's full authority. "He knows the flaw of every Dao in this realm. He offers you a choice. Protect his interests, or be consumed by the civil war that you are too weak to stop."
The First Elder saw the truth. He was cornered: fighting the Second Elder, exposed by a perfect spiritual flaw, and unable to protect the Core. He threw down his weapon.
"I pledge my loyalty to your Master! I will serve the Heaven-Shaking Daoist!"
Lin Tian smiled. He had acquired his second, far more powerful Tier 2 puppet—a Grand Unity Immortal Stage 1 master.
Lin Tian immediately commanded Mu and the First Elder to stabilize the sect's spiritual integrity, halt the civil war, and execute the final political commands: Command the Black Sun Sect to seize all Earth-aligned spiritual resources in the surrounding territories. Blame the civil war on the Mountain Dao Sect.
The plan was brilliant. Lin Tian was using the Black Sun Sect's own martial forces to conquer the next target (The Mountain Dao Sect) under the guise of stabilizing the region.
The First Elder, motivated by the promise of Lin Tian's Divine Purity to fix the flaw in his five-thousand-year-old Fire Dao, did not hesitate. He immediately directed the Black Sun Sect's forces to wage war on the unsuspecting Mountain Dao Sect.
[Strategic Dao Map Unlock Progress: 33%]
Lin Tian had successfully secured the first of the four elemental energies he needed: the Fire essence of the Volcanic Spirit Core. The Cloud Heavens were collapsing into strategic chaos, and Lin Tian was the invisible hand controlling the destruction.