Chapter 396: Comeback Time!
Puzzlement and confusion could be seen in Bai Xiaochun’s eyes the entire way out of the rainbow district. The cold female cultivator leading the way suddenly seemed much warmer than before, and even looked at him a few times out of the corner of her eye to size him up.
When they reached the teleportation portal, she smiled and gave him a curtseying bow.
“Brother Bai, sorry for my lack of manners earlier. Oh, my name is Qing Xuan.”
Then the light of teleportation rose up between them. Bai Xiaochun’s vision swam, and the echo of the young woman’s words was replaced by the cacophonous din of Sky City.
Bai Xiaochun felt almost like he had been dreaming just now. But then he pulled the seven-colored flag out of his bag of holding and looked it over, and his eyes began to shine brightly with excitement.
“I can’t believe he actually gave it to me!” The idea of having his own five-kilometer area of personal property in Sky City was spine-tingling.
However, he didn’t forget his suspicions about why exactly things had played out as they did. Looking back up in the direction of Sky Quarter Rainbow, he murmured to himself, “Somebody is secretly helping me…. The Sky Quarter peak lord was obviously being forced to give me a gift. Otherwise, why did he never actually take the pill formula!?!?” Lost in thought, he headed back toward the north district. However, his reverie didn’t last long; soon he realized that everyone around him was talking about the Azure Dragon Society.
“Did you hear? After you consume that evil Fantasy Pill, it gives you permanent brain damage! How sadistic!!”
“It doesn’t just give you brain damage. If you consume enough of them, your latent talent deteriorates, and you slowly go crazy! I even heard of some people who died from them!”
“There’s worse! They’re addictive. Once you start consuming them, you go crazy if you try to stop! I should have known the Azure Dragon Society would be responsible for a sadistic pill like that!”
“The boss of the Azure Dragon Society was the one who invented it! Hey, do you guys remember the Ultra Fasting Aid Pill? He made that too! What a depraved devil!!”
Bai Xiaochun was not very happy about such talk. Although his Fantasy Pill wasn’t perfect, it definitely wouldn’t cause any sort of permanent harm, and the positive aspects of the pill more than made up for any side effects.
Furthermore, nobody had ever died from consuming them.
However, the rumors were too perfectly crafted, and by the time Bai Xiaochun arrived at the north district, word had spread to the other districts as well.
Based on the animosity being voiced toward the Azure Dragon Society and Boss Azure Dragon, Bai Xiaochun couldn’t help but imagine what would happen if someone recognized him. All it would take would be for someone to shout out and identify him, and everyone around him would surely pounce on him.
He was trembling with fear, but in order to play it as safe as possible, he walked through the crowd cursing the Azure Dragon Society as loudly as possible. After hurrying along for some time, he finally arrived at the Azure Dragon Society’s headquarters.
Upon his return, everyone offered greetings, but clearly, they were very nervous. Seemingly on the verge of tears, Xu Baocai said, “Junior Patriarch, that shameless Celestial Sky Society has been spreading rumors everywhere, slandering the Azure Dragon Society! A lot of our people have already renounced their membership!”
“The situation is completely out of control….” Master God-Diviner said, a bitter smile on his face. Despite the fact that they had been on guard for a counter attack, the Celestial Sky Society was too big of an organization, and had connections in the city that went far deeper than the Azure Dragon Society’s.
Big Fatty Zhang and Chen Manyao seemed very anxious, and the other Azure Dragon Society cultivators were all standing there in mute silence. Everyone was obviously waiting to hear what exactly had occurred during Bai Xiaochun’s trip to the rainbow district, and if anything positive had come of it.
If the result was indeed positive, then they would stick with the Azure Dragon Society and wait to see how things developed. If not, then they would have to start considering how they would survive after having offended the Celestial Sky Society.
Bai Xiaochun was very angry. After all, the Celestial Sky Society had been the group who had started selling the Fantasy Pills, and those versions had been crafted from stolen hallucination smoke. Now, they were going so far as to pin all the blame on Bai Xiaochun, which was a humiliation that left him fuming. Then he thought back to how he had been set up in the situation with the Ultra Fasting Aid Pill, and his anger reached the point where he almost couldn’t contain it.
Big Fatty Zhang eyes shone with vicious light as he said, “Ninth Fatty, the Celestial Sky Society has pushed things too far. Let’s go have it out with them once and for all!”
Clearly, his experiences recently had left him with a much sharper killing aura to him.
“Junior Patriarch,” Xu Baocai said. “I think we really do need to just go fight it out with them. But how are we supposed to do that considering the sect rules…?”
“There’s nothing we can do!” Master God-Diviner jumped in. “With the Fantasy Pills outlawed, we have no way to make a living. What are we supposed to do?!” All the other cultivators simply stood to the side as the discussion progressed. Finally, one of the orange-robed disciples stepped forward, clasped hands and bowed to Bai Xiaochun.
“Boss, did anything good come of your trip to the rainbow district?” As soon as the words left his mouth, everyone quieted down and looked at Bai Xiaochun expectantly.
Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath to suppress his anger, then said, “Of course some good came of it. But we still can’t sell Fantasy Pills.”
The silence which met his words was even deeper than the silence from before.
After looking over the group, he asked for someone to bring him a map of Sky City, then turned and walked into his room
Time passed. The next day, more cultivators left the Azure Dragon Society. The day after that, even more left. That trend continued with each passing day.
By the time seven whole days had passed, the continued pressure from the Celestial Sky Society saw ninety percent of the cultivators leave the Azure Dragon Society. The Azure Dragon Society had risen with explosive speed, and although such people had been happy to join it at the peak of its success, none of them had any desire to stay with it as it declined.
The group’s subsidiary organizations in the other districts of the city collapsed, and the smaller clans and gangs that had joined them abandoned them and cut all ties.
All sorts of rumors swirled in the city, and the Celestial Sky Society took advantage of the situation to absorb as many former members of the Azure Dragon Society as possible. Soon, the Azure Dragon Society’s headquarters was almost completely empty.
There were now less than 1,000 cultivators remaining, and after two days passed, more left. By the ninth day, they had less than 200 members.
The majestic Azure Dragon Society had almost completely fallen in only nine days. The matter shook all of Sky City, and further reinforced the Celestial Sky Society’s reputation of being powerful and having deep resources. In some ways, it was not a big surprise. Everything about the Azure Dragon Society had been based on their incredible income of merit points. Without time to truly settle down, they were like an empty building that could collapse when hit by a single big wave or a single gust of wind.
Only a bit more than 100 cultivators stayed behind, and they were either the original members, or very sentimental and loyal. This time around, Bai Xiaochun’s Dao protectors didn’t leave, not even Chen Manyao. They all sat around in the immortal’s cave, waiting for Bai Xiaochun’s door to open.
During the nine days which passed, Bai Xiaochun didn’t rest. Instead, he carefully studied the map of Sky City, poring over every street and alley, studying each aspect in the most minute detail. It was the evening of the ninth day when he finally emerged.
His eyes were bloodshot, but he looked excited. Although he was a bit surprised that only a few people remained in the Azure Dragon Society, after a moment of thought, he threw his head back and laughed.
When the remaining members of the Azure Dragon Society saw him laughing, their hearts began to thump with hope.
Eyes shining with mysterious light, he took a deep breath and then said, “Alright, Fellow Daoists. Pack your bags. We’re moving!
“The Azure Dragon Society has fallen, but I’ve thought up a new name which will take us even farther than before!” Swishing his sleeve, he said nothing more. However, the rest of the cultivators’ moods were instantly lifted. Master God-Diviner was the first to start packing his bags, and before long, the entire group of more than 100 cultivators was walking out of the immortal’s cave!
Their destination was not in the north district, but rather, in the west district!
Quite a few cultivators noticed them as they made their way along, and when people realized that they were the Azure Dragon Society, they began to follow curiously. Everyone was wondering where the bedraggled remnants of the organization would go. There were even some people sent by the Celestial Sky Society to follow them.
Bai Xiaochun completely ignored them, and it was without the slightest pause that he headed to an area on the very edge of the west district. Shockingly, what existed there was a vast desert!
When people realized where he was heading, their jaws dropped in shock. After all, within that dessert was a ruined city where cultivators of Sky City would often go to carry out important missions!