basically

Chaos faction leader needed to cover up his disgrace so he went all in on trying to deal with the MC.
One of the last trump cards used showed the peril the emperor was facing since the emperor's guard became a jiangshi.
The Blood cult leader came out of closed door cultivation. Because he came out, he easily captured MC's people to draw him out.
Because the Blood cult leader came out, the rest of the blood cult lost their reservations and declared war on all factions opposing them in the name of the [fake Emperor's order] (justice faction/imperial soldiers)
Thinking that the Head Eunuch could handle MC, he left to do other things.
While the Head Eunuch was working on the emperor, MC saved his people in addition to the soldiers who were with the emperor's guard (Jianshi guy).
The Head Eunuch had sent a different Eunuch to fetch the other half of the technique which was intercepted by MC. This caused the emperor to withstand the incomplete technique.
MC saves the Emperor by sending divine thief to distract the enemy by stealing the last of the funds for the blood cult. The Head Eunuch sees through this and calls forth a demonic being to act on his behalf.
The MC uses skills and pulls them into a separated space.
The fight commences.....

This was the last dozen or so chapters

Obviously the plot is

The blood cult tries to take over the world through sacrifices making way for their "God" (an immortal) to descend.

Immortals against the nefarious plan, bring an outside soul into this plane of existence to fight against said plan.

Obviously within limits, the immortals are allowed to interfere in the plane's existence at a cost. The empowering and descent seem to be linked with a great number of sacrifices including powerful people. (otherwise the decent would have been carried out before and they wouldn't need to scheme a 3-way-fight)

Pretty simple. This just seems to be close to the peak of this world's turmoil, so of course, there will be a continuous battle.

don't worry. Plot armor is sure to appear in a blue box when needed most.

this is why only the wealthy through incoming funds should gamble.

It's nothing to lose 30k when you make 100k/year. When someone who makes 50k gambles 30k, they lose too much and it becomes a vicious cycle.

Too many poor people try something that the wealthy merely see as fun and lose their life over it.

all the upper tier skellies be chanting

One of us, one of us.

Aside from what the other person said, it's energy was said to have unknown side effects inside the murim alliance marked as earth rank. If the whole murim alliance couldn't figure out it's worth, then neither can 2 individual sects.

Bet

Bro said just heating up the kraken hotpot

Of course MC wouldn't forget to retrieve the weights everyone left behind

it's supposed to be creases from scrunching the face

But it does look like a patch

murim is a world with heavenly/demonic beasts

If you think a cave=dungeon, you're kind of silly.

Most importantly, why do you think all demonic beasts need to live only in a forest?

I'm sure the letter was a letter of introduction.

The introduction is probably to have the merchant group he gave the wagons to, to connect with the kowloon group by supplying them with food and drink.

Although it is a harmful connection, it is also a connection to reap benefits temporarily.

Let's take things into consideration
• his individual position is higher than a squad that operates in secrecy investigating evil
• He's known throughout murim as someone petty and greedy
• He considers his sect bad when it can compete against Namgoong evenly
• He ranks fairly high in his sect (giving him access to most martial arts)

Just from 4 facts we can infer that
• his position (in sect and alliance) is either won through manipulation or earned.
• given his nature, he most likely stopped practicing as much to complete schemes and work for the sect. (work comes from his position which he uses to push others around / "schemes")

If the higher he got the more he wasted time, it makes sense he didn't advance due to the bell-curve of practice required for each advancement. Then we have to also argue that given his nature he could have wasted his potential by using different means to advance quickly.

This reminds me of other novel which their religion advocated for being in a state of being starved of things but never know what it was to experience being full. The idea of suffering comes at a greater cost when you know what you are missing.

Even if the core of the demonic way it to have no emotion, it is different to sever emotion than not allow it to exist at all.

I feel like this is closer to the demonic way since one is to remain oblivious while the other it to be cruel to one's self.

Um??? No???

He's the double dragon manor master's only disciple. The dude who'd grant a wish to the holder of the painting. The guy who disappeared due to the west being embroiled in the flames of war making his master sad... That guy.

i feel like it's better to ask why kill the ants.

If the ants must be killed then the answer shift to what do ants need to survive, how fast/slow to kill them, or if all ants even needed to die

If the reason the ants must die is due to an offense, it becomes to torture them


There are many questions linked to killing the ants. It not just about killing them.

he said it was an apology banquet.

He never said the apology was coming from his side.

Details matter.

crush an ass load of elites who are under the elders faction as a warning

MC will just pump more out anyways

The sect has a rule already that elites cannot pick on the lower class.

the best part is that MC has already learned his place.
• by giving a 9th grade pill where 10th grade is hard to come by, it proves that the sect leader attatches great importance to him
• personally greeting him brings elevation to this appraisal
• by not cleaning seriously and breaking things, MC asserts that he won't be a pushover giving reason to not assign him here anymore
• the sect leader tells him to figure out how to stand above the other 2 ruling the laborer office
• by breaking stuff he would be held accountable, so he uses the sect leaders hand to make a scapegoat of the ones who assigned him there for mutual destruction
• Given his importance already clarified, even if he received punishment, the sect leader has no choice but to vent his frustration elsewhere... Aka the assigners of the task

Long story short, he reveals his backing, gets rid of the authority in the office, all while never revealing his strength, only status.

• Manipulates people with perfect schemes
• Has a huge backer
• Hiding cultivation
• No one stronger
• Aged fasted from using up life force
• Just got the position
• A scapegoat

These are the only possibilities why an old man would be in charge