Translator: CinderTL
Over the next few days, Feng Qi assisted the Lord of the Mist in a bloody crackdown on the Weak Domain Races stationed in Star City.
The primary purpose of this action was to send a clear message to the Domain Weakling Alliance within Star City:
A powerful force had now established its presence in Star City.
Henceforth, all mission requests from the Domain Weakling Alliance would require approval, and no independent actions would be tolerated.
The strategy proved remarkably effective.
The leader of the Domain Weakling Alliance in Star City, using the contact method left by the Lord of the Mist, proactively reached out.
They remained unaware of the Lord of the Mist's true identity or the forces backing him.
However, the recent bloody purge had made them realize that without cooperation, the Domain Weakling Alliance's operations in Star City would become untenable.
This prospect represented an unacceptable loss for the various Domain Forces supporting the alliance.
Their decision to initiate contact fell entirely within the Lord of the Mist's calculations.
Following this, the Lord of the Mist naturally met with the Domain Weakling Alliance's high-ranking members in Star City and, through the Flesh and Blood Sacrifice, completely subjugated them.
With this, the Domain Weakling Alliance in Star City had essentially fallen under the Lord of the Mist's control.
The only regret was the inability to fully integrate the alliance into his own forces.
This organization remained a scattered collection of individuals.
Without corresponding benefits, many Weak Domain Race warriors would rather abandon Star City than submit.
The Lord of the Mist's current capabilities allowed him to control the Weakling Clan Alliance's intelligence network, ensuring no missions or information detrimental to his interests would surface.
Beyond this, he couldn't directly intervene.
To maintain stability, he even agreed to regularly provide spiritual resources to the Weakling Clan Alliance's leadership as development subsidies.
Having neutralized the threat from the Domain Weakling Alliance, the Lord of the Mist retreated into seclusion once more.
During this period, Feng Qi assumed full responsibility for managing all affairs at the Tiger Soul Research Institute.
Three months later, when the Lord of the Mist emerged from seclusion, he resolved to formally launch his plan to suppress the Dark God Cult.
Under his manipulation, Star City's media began reporting negative incidents involving the Dark God Cult.
Whether these events actually occurred was irrelevant.
The crucial point was to make the public believe they had.
Examples included claims of the Dark God Cult brainwashing its followers and suspicions that a Domain Force was secretly controlling the cult.
The initial reports indeed sparked outrage among many Star City residents.
However, due to a lack of concrete evidence, a significant portion of the public remained skeptical of the claims.
But for the Lord of the Mist, it was enough that some believed.
Next, he began guiding public opinion to increase public attention on the Dark God Cult.
Then, he exploited online discourse to create conflict.
This step proved highly successful. Fueled by the orchestrated outrage, angry citizens organized and stormed Dark God Cult sites, engaging in widespread vandalism and destruction.
The Dark God Cult was thrust into the eye of the storm.
Subsequent negative reports further hampered the cult's growth.
Old Day City, western district.
Dark God Cult headquarters, core zone.
Beneath a twenty-meter-tall statue of the Dark God, a group of figures wearing White Bone Masks were engaged in conversation.
Their discussion centered on the limitations hindering the Dark God Cult's branch development in Star City.
Suddenly, a pitch-black shadow materialized beside them.
Upon seeing the shadow, the leading figure immediately fell silent, and the group turned to gaze at it.
"What's the status of the investigation?" the shadow inquired.
In response, a figure wearing a White Bone Mask replied in a deep voice:
"Star City lacks our intelligence network. We had to commission the Weakling Clan Alliance there to investigate the forces manipulating these events. However, five days have passed since the mission was issued, and the Domain Weakling Alliance in Star City has yet to provide any updates."
Hearing this, the shadow pondered for a moment before speaking:
"If I'm not mistaken, a major upheaval must have recently occurred in Star City. The Domain Weakling Alliance there has likely been seized by a new power lurking in the shadows. Attempting to gather intelligence through them is now futile."
"Spirit Lord, which faction do you believe is obstructing our plans?"
"We can roughly guess the surface situation. There are only a few factions in Star City capable of controlling public opinion. First, there's the Star City Military Department, followed by the Star City Supreme Council, the Tiger Soul Research Institute, and the Scarlet Research Institute."
"The Star City Supreme Council is composed of leaders from various institutions, so we can immediately rule it out as a completely unified force."
"Next, we can eliminate the Scarlet Research Institute. This mysterious organization has minimal contact with the outside world and few opportunities to interact with the media, making it unlikely they possess the capacity to manipulate public opinion."
"That leaves us with only the Star City Military Department and the Tiger Soul Research Institute."
"Determining which faction is responsible is straightforward. By identifying which media outlets initiated the public opinion campaign, we can trace the thread back to the likely mastermind behind the scenes."
"Which one?" the figure wearing the White Bone Mask immediately asked.
"The Tiger Soul Research Institute!"
"The public opinion campaign was spearheaded by Star City's Brilliant News. This media outlet's core focus is compiling information on cultivation techniques, and its primary point of contact within the authorized institutions is the Tiger Soul Research Institute."
"Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that this is a smokescreen deployed by a hidden faction within Star City to mislead us."
"In short, our intelligence is limited. Even if we knew which organization was our adversary, we couldn't act rashly. We can only access surface-level information, while their hidden capabilities remain a complete mystery."
Hearing this, the figure wearing the White Bone Mask hesitated slightly before asking, "Spirit Lord, do you mean... we should temporarily abandon our development in Star City?"
"If you wish to challenge them, I won't stop you. But the Spirit Energy Clan will offer no assistance. The Dark God Race is merely a cog in our future plans. If you fail, we'll simply cultivate a new power in your place."
The figure in the White Bone Mask fell silent.
Staring at the black shadow before him, he opened his mouth to speak, but ultimately lowered his head respectfully and said, "As an auxiliary force of the Spirit Energy Clan, the Dark God Race will strictly adhere to the Spirit Lord's commands."
The black shadow offered no response, its form slowly fading until it vanished completely.
(End of the Chapter)
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