Chapter 115: The Price of Revolution

Three days after the Grand Convergence, the assassination attempts began.

Liu Yun ducked as a blade of pure shadow sliced through the air where his head had been. The attacker materialized from darkness, face hidden behind a mask of bone. Orthodox Preservation Society, judging by the rigid killing technique.

"You destroyed everything!" the assassin screamed, striking again with desperate fury. "Thousands of years of proper cultivation, ruined by your heretical cooperation!"

The Earth Shattering Sword met the shadow blade with a ring of harmonious steel. Seven-fold resonance clashed against technique designed for isolation and dominance. The assassin's power was considerable, but it lacked the adaptive strength Liu Yun had learned through partnership.

"Your way never worked," Liu Yun replied, parrying another strike. "Separation weakened everyone."

"Lies!" The assassin's blade split into multiple shadows, attacking from impossible angles. "The old masters achieved immortality through pure discipline! Your cooperation dilutes power!"

But cooperation was exactly what saved Liu Yun's life.

Lin Fei materialized through water travel, her liquid techniques trapping the shadow blades in crystalline prisons. Grand Master Wei appeared through teleportation arrays, his order-based shields containing the chaotic assassination attempt. Mei Shengcao's plants erupted from the ground, entangling the attacker's feet.

"See?" Liu Yun said as they subdued the assassin together. "Cooperation works."

The masked figure collapsed, their shadow techniques fading. "You... you don't understand what you've unleashed," they gasped. "The orthodox sects will never accept this change. They'll fight until cultivation itself burns."

Unfortunately, the assassin was right.

Reports flooded in from across the continent. Traditional sects declaring war on cooperation. Ancient masters emerging from seclusion to "restore proper order." Younger cultivators torn between old teachings and new possibilities.

"Seventeen major conflicts in three days," Echo Prime Zhu reported during their emergency council session. "The Rigid Mountain Sect has declared the Grand Convergence participants to be cultivation demons. The Pure Separation Alliance is offering bounties for our heads."

"What about our allies?" Liu Yun asked.

"Mixed responses," Elder Xu replied grimly. "Some of the smaller sects are holding firm. But the larger ones are wavering. Political pressure from orthodox factions is enormous."

The revolution they had started was tearing the cultivation world apart. Liu Yun had expected resistance, but not civil war.

"The Eternal Pillar Sect's support helps," Grand Master Wei offered. "Their endorsement carries tremendous weight with moderate factions."

"But not with the extremists," Lin Fei pointed out. "They consider the immortals to be corrupted by our influence. Some are calling for their destruction too."

That was the most disturbing development. Cultivators planning to attack immortal beings because those immortals had acknowledged cooperation's validity. Fanaticism that valued ideology over survival.

"Casualty reports?" Liu Yun asked reluctantly.

Mei Shengcao's plants rustled with sorrow. "Forty-three deaths so far. Mostly younger cultivators caught between opposing factions. The orthodox sects aren't targeting them specifically, but..."

"But young people die in wars started by old people," Liu Yun finished bitterly.

The Earth Shattering Sword hummed with conflicted harmonies. Its seven-fold resonance could feel the growing discord across the cultivation world. Success in proving cooperation possible had triggered the very conflicts they'd hoped to prevent.

"Maybe we moved too fast," he said quietly. "Maybe gradual change would have been better."

"Gradual change was impossible," Chen Wuji's voice said as the Void Master stepped through spatial distortion into the council chamber. "The orthodox factions would never have allowed even small cooperation experiments. Revolution was inevitable once you proved the concept worked."

"So we're responsible for all this violence?" Elder Xu asked.

"You're responsible for providing an alternative to violence," Chen Wuji corrected. "The orthodox factions chose conflict over adaptation. That's not your fault."

A communication crystal flared to life on the table. The image of Sword Saint Mei Hua appeared, her usually calm expression showing strain.

"The Sword Saint Sect compound is under siege," she reported without preamble. "Three orthodox alliances have united to punish us for joining the Grand Convergence. We're holding them off, but barely."

"How many attackers?" Liu Yun asked.

"Over three hundred cultivators. They're using siege formations designed to break cooperative defenses. Someone has been studying our techniques specifically to counter them."

That was ominous. The orthodox opposition wasn't just emotional reaction. It was organized military campaign with intelligence gathering and tactical adaptation.

"Reinforcements?" Grand Master Wei asked.

"Impossible," Mei Hua replied. "They've surrounded us completely. Any relief force would have to fight through their entire army."

"Then we go through them," Liu Yun said, standing and drawing his sword.

"Liu Yun, no," Lin Fei protested. "It's obviously a trap. They're using the Sword Saint Sect as bait to draw us into unfavorable battle conditions."

"Probably," he agreed. "But we can't let our allies die while we debate tactics."

The Earth Shattering Sword's harmony reached out, seeking connection with distant allies. The blade's resonance had grown stronger since the Grand Convergence, capable of spanning much greater distances.

He found them. Sword Saint disciples fighting desperately against overwhelming odds. Their cooperative techniques holding back superior numbers, but not indefinitely. Without help, they would fall within hours.

"The trap might work in our favor," Jiang Tao suggested, his temporal instruments chiming with calculations. "If they're concentrating their forces against one target, they're vulnerable elsewhere."

"Meaning?"

"Strike at their leadership while they're focused on the siege. Break their command structure and the entire campaign collapses."

"Where are their leaders?" Echo Prime Zhu asked.

"Ancient Law Pagoda," Chen Wuji replied. "The orthodox coalition is coordinating from the same location the Eternal Pillar Sect used. Symbolic significance and practical defensibility."

"Defended by?"

"Unknown numbers. But certainly including several of the most powerful orthodox masters alive."

A fortress full of enemies who had spent centuries perfecting techniques designed to prevent exactly the kind of cooperation that made Liu Yun's group effective. The Earth Shattering Sword's harmony would be facing its greatest test yet.

"It's suicide," Elder Xu said flatly.

"Maybe," Liu Yun agreed. "But the Sword Saint Sect's siege is definitely suicide. At least this way we choose our own battle."

"The Eternal Pillar Sect won't help with direct assault," Chen Wuji warned. "Their endorsement of cooperation doesn't extend to active warfare against other orthodox factions."

"Then we go alone."

"Not alone," Lin Fei corrected, stepping up beside him. "Together."

One by one, his core allies joined him. Grand Master Wei with his strategic wisdom. Elder Xu with her disciplined power. Mei Shengcao with her living techniques. Echo Prime Zhu with his shadow mastery. Jiang Tao with his temporal calculations.

Seven cultivators against a fortress of orthodox masters. The same number that had started their cooperation journey in the Withering Valley. The Earth Shattering Sword sang with familiar seven-fold harmony.

"The Ancient Law Pagoda has stood for over two thousand years," Chen Wuji said solemnly. "It's never been successfully assaulted. The defensive formations are legendary."

"Then it's time to make new legends," Liu Yun replied.

Outside the council chamber, the revolution they had started continued tearing the cultivation world apart. Young cultivators dying for ideals they barely understood. Ancient masters choosing destruction over adaptation. The price of change paid in blood and sorrow.

But some prices were worth paying.

"The Sword Saint Sect has maybe six hours," Mei Hua's voice crackled through the communication crystal. "After that, our defenses fail."

"Then we have five hours to break the Ancient Law Pagoda," Liu Yun said.

"Impossible," Elder Xu muttered.

"We specialize in impossible," he replied, and for the first time in days, felt genuinely hopeful.

The Earth Shattering Sword's harmony reached out toward the distant fortress, already beginning to resonate with the challenge ahead. Seven voices preparing to sing against two thousand years of orthodox certainty.

The revolution's next battle was about to begin.