"How do you know about this?"

The white crane said, "The person I captured said it. Are you okay?"

Zhou Yin said, "No, please continue."

This white crane was, after all, only a wisp of Zhou Chen's divine sense, and could not accurately perceive his emotions as before.

Hearing this, it continued, "But later, in the long-term struggle, the latecomer faction gradually grew stronger. Although they still couldn't contend with the innate faction, the innate faction could no longer risk destroying them at the cost of killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of their own. The two factions were thus locked in a stalemate, taking opposing stances on many issues. However, not everyone in the Upper Realm was willing to take sides and clearly support one faction. Thus, a third middle faction emerged."

Zhou Yin asked, "What is the middle faction?"

The white crane said, "The composition of the middle faction is more complex. Some were expelled as sinners from the two factions, some were from intermarriages between the innate and latecomer factions but not accepted by either, and some were ambitious and unwilling to be left behind."

Zhou Yin raised his eyebrows, "A three-way standoff?"

The white crane said, "Not quite. The innate and latecomer factions are powerful, while the middle faction seeks survival in the cracks. But regardless of how they establish themselves, as people of the Upper Realm, their attitudes towards the Taichu Continent are more or less the same."

Zhou Yin made an affirmative sound and didn't interject, quietly listening to it continue.

These secrets of the Upper Realm, no matter how high one's status, were impossible for humans to know.

"Spiritual energy comes from the five lakes and four seas, and can also come from various spirit stones. Primordial chaos divided into heaven and earth, heaven and earth gave birth to all things, and all things exist in the same world. Resources are limited in number, just like spiritual energy. It took countless years of primordial chaos to nurture ancient deities like Nüwa and Fuxi.

"Now, the countless living beings in heaven and earth consume more than a million times the spiritual power compared to ancient times. Unless there is another return to primordial chaos, it cannot be regenerated."

The white crane squawked, its tone sarcastic, "As residents of the Upper Realm, although they have a barrier separating them from the Taichu Continent, making them lofty existences, they also need spiritual power to sustain themselves. Without spiritual power, immortals can no longer be immortals, and have to mingle with the races they view as ants. How could the noble immortals tolerate that?"

"So, they came up with a plan."

After a moment of silence, Zhou Yin said, "Exterminate the other races?"

The white crane shook its head, "No, besides cultivators, other people do not cultivate and cannot consume spiritual power. The demon race is now well hidden, and the remaining demons are all old demon beasts with great abilities. They may not be able to deal with them, and the demon race is in another realm."

"So from beginning to end, they only want to deal with cultivators."

Silence.

The white crane then said, "Do you know how many cultivators there are on the continent now?"

Zhou Yin did not speak.

The white crane said, "Major sects like Shangxuan Sect and Tianyan Sect must have at least several thousand people. Including other sects and rogue cultivators, the total number is no less than 50,000. This number, compared to the entire continent's population, is naturally not much, but for beings who seize spiritual energy, it accounts for a very large proportion. If there were no cultivators..."

Zhou Yin continued, "Then no one would compete with the Upper Realm for spiritual energy resources. Moreover, cultivators themselves are the existences closest to deities on the continent. Their pursuit of power surpasses their worship of deities. The Upper Realm would not be happy to see such existences, and would rather face a group of mortals who only know how to worship them."

The white crane said, "That's right. If there were no cultivators, and having witnessed the boundless power of immortals, not to mention commoners, even the royal families of various countries would elevate deities to a new height. From now on, they would only worship the lofty immortals, and there would no longer be cultivators within reach."

Zhou Yin rarely sighed softly.

This game had been set up long ago, and even his death in his previous life was one of the moves. The side playing the game was the immortal race of the Upper Realm, who held absolute dominance in the Three Realms. The other side, even if all the cultivators were pulled together, had little chance of winning.

Moreover, there were variables in this cultivator camp.

For the first time, he felt that he could not see the future of something clearly, with a fog ahead.

"Ah Yin, don't worry, I will help you," the white crane said softly, as if wanting to touch him, but found that it could do little, so it could only stretch its head over.

Zhou Yin said, "Although they pushed everything onto the demon beast race, causing conflict between the demon beast race and human race, their biggest goal is still the cultivators. As long as you don't get involved, nothing will happen. There's no need to wade into this muddy water."

The white crane said, "The tree may wish to be still but the wind will not cease. Things are far from being that simple. I'm afraid that after they deal with the cultivators, their next target will be us. If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. This is not just my opinion, the elders of the race will also obey orders.

"There's one more thing, what you asked me to investigate is not easy to find out. Although I know it's related to Tianyan Sect, I can't find the specific connection between them and the Upper Realm."

Zhou Yin made an affirmative sound, "You don't need to investigate on your side. I will have Yun Zong and the others look into it here."

After saying that, he paused, "You said earlier that the Upper Realm is divided into three factions. Do all three factions support this plan?"

The white crane's voice seemed to carry a smile, "As expected of my Ah Yin, asking the key point with one question. Of course not all of them support it. The innate faction is the originator and firm supporter of the plan. Among the latecomer faction, most support it, with only a few worried that after the innate faction deals with the cultivators, they will turn around and deal with the latecomer faction.

"As for the middle faction, most of them see the continent as a way out. They are a group of people rejected by the Upper Realm, so naturally they will not cheer for this plan. But they do not rule the Upper Realm, so the role they can play is not significant."

So even if there are internal divisions in the Upper Realm, that small handful of dissenting opinions is not enough to shake the entire world-destroying plan.

Zhou Yin asked, "What is the background of the person you captured?"

The white crane said, "His father is an Innate immortal, and his mother is an immortal who ascended from a cultivator, so he was ostracized by both factions from birth and imprisoned in the most desolate place in the Upper Realm. Later, his power awakened and he found an opportunity to escape, turning that desolate place into his own territory.

"He gathered some people around him. The Heavenly Emperor couldn't do anything about him for a while and didn't want to mobilize troops to attack him at this juncture, so he turned a blind eye. It took a lot of effort to capture him alive this time."

Zhou Yin: "You could have just said directly that he is the leader of the middle faction."

The white crane felt very aggrieved, "How could that highlight my brilliant valor?"

It twisted and blinked its little eyes at him. "So what do you plan to do now?"

Zhou Yin pondered for a moment: "I'll go investigate the Tianyan Sect first, and then contact you later."

The white crane said worriedly: "You must not take on this matter yourself. At worst, come to the demon race, and we can be together forever, love each other, never be apart, make love in broad daylight... Gaga!"

With a swish, a pile of white feathers was shaved off, and half of its wings were bare. The white crane shrank beside the rock, almost falling off. "If you don't want to talk, then don't talk!"

Zhou Yin pinched the bridge of his nose: "You can go now."

He wasn't so noble as to take on the task of saving the cultivators himself, but if all the cultivators on the continent were wiped out, as one of them, he couldn't possibly live his days by hiding. That wasn't his style.

The white crane, with only a wisp of Zhou Chen's consciousness attached, was frightened by him and had no choice but to fly away reluctantly, crying and wailing: "Gah, after crossing the river, you demolish the bridge; you start the chaos and abandon me in the end, boo hoo...!!"

Zhou Yin watched it until it disappeared into the sky before leaving.

Returning to Tianyan Sect, because Qingying was there, Zhou Yin only recounted the matters related to Tianyan Sect.

After hearing it, Qingying smiled bitterly: "I'm afraid there's no time to investigate for now."

Seeing Zhou Yin's apparent confusion, Yun Zong said: "Tianyan Sect just sent an invitation. Tomorrow is the martial arts competition, lasting for three days. Only after it's over will the sect meeting be held to discuss dealing with the demon beasts."

Qingying couldn't hide her worry: "It's hard for even a strong dragon to suppress the snake in its old haunt. Since we came here, we've lost the initiative. I'm afraid they want to get back at us for today's events. Wan Qingqing returned to Shangxuan Sect, but there has been no news. I fear something has happened to the sect."

Yun Zong said: "If something really happened, the few of us alone can't do anything even if we rush back now. It would be playing right into their hands. It's better to fight a hearty battle!"

Zhou Yin also said calmly: "If gods block the way, slay the gods. Seize the opportunity when it comes."

Seeing how heroic they were, Qingying also perked up and smiled: "Alright, we'll advance and retreat together then."