Inside the bamboo building.
Watching Qi Ning's figure leave, it was a long while before Lin Sheng finally withdrew his gaze.
He hadn't expected Qi Ning to bring such surprising news on this visit.
"Dark Star Envoy, Hua Xu Realm Martial Artist."
He murmured, God-Form Martial Artists were already extremely powerful, top existences in a prefecture, so how incredibly strong would a Hua Xu Master, a whole major Realm stronger, be?
Regarding this Realm, he basically only knew the name.
After all, since stepping into this world, he had never seen a Hua Xu Realm Martial Artist.
He wasn't opposed to the idea of taking a Master.
Having a good Master can indeed save a lot of detours.
Especially a Master of the Hua Xu Realm.
"It's truly something to look forward to."
Lin Sheng murmured, the cultivation method practiced by a Hua Xu Realm Martial Artist was probably among the top existences even within the Peerless True Art.
Compared to it, the Seven Forms Fusion of the Seven Forms Sect, while also considered a Peerless True Art, the two were absolutely incomparable.
At that point, there would be no need to cultivate the Seven Forms Fusion martial art anymore.
This thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly shook his head slightly.
"There is no conclusion yet. No matter what, the Seven Forms Fusion is the foundation of my martial path right now, it's not time to give up yet."
"And the identity of Blazing Star Envoy."
Blazing Star Envoy represents a Divine Form Realm Martial Artist.
Even within the Dark Star Organization, they belong to the upper echelon. At this level, the benefits should be considerable.
"Forget it. Since a reply will come soon, things will naturally become clear then. For now, I should focus my energy on cultivation."
Suppressing the Clutter thoughts in his mind, he immediately refocused on cultivation.
*
*
Baiyun Temple.
"I didn't expect such a major event to happen after being away from Tiannan Prefecture for so long. Even Zhou Xingwen and He Lanjiang, those old guys, died. Tsk tsk, it's truly surprising."
In the backyard of the temple, a thin old man holding a tobacco pipe knocked it on the ground and said with some emotion.
The old man was none other than Huang Quan, who had returned with Qi Ning from Nanli.
"Who says otherwise? When I first heard the news, I thought it was fake."
A burly, simple-looking middle-aged man beside Huang Quan said in a muffled voice.
The middle-aged man looked at Huang Quan and asked casually.
"I wonder which Blazing Star Envoys the organization sent over to pull off such a feat. Do you know about this, Old Huang?"
Hearing this, Huang Quan shook his head slightly, took a deep puff from his tobacco pipe, and blew out a few smoke rings.
"I don't know. There was no news about this beforehand. It seems even Lord Thousand Faces only found out not long ago."
"Is that so? It's quite secretive, but suddenly making such a big move, I'm afraid the Imperial Court is going to have big actions, and our days might become difficult."
The middle-aged man said with some regret.
Huang Quan, however, scoffed.
"Lao Bao, you've been in the Dark Star for so many years, when have our days ever been easy? Hasn't the Imperial Court always regarded us as a thorn in their side? Although both sides were somewhat restrained before, with the matter of the Beast Suppression Army coming out this time, the facade has already been completely torn off. Something like this was bound to happen sooner or later."
"That's also true."
The middle-aged man's code name in the Dark Star was Jin Qianbao. Like Huang Quan, he was a Hidden Star Envoy in the Dark Star.
At this moment, he nodded slightly and didn't say anything more.
Just then, a young Taoist priest hurried into the courtyard from outside, bowed to the two, and spoke.
"Two sirs, Lord Thousand Faces has returned and asks for you to come over."
"Alright."
Huang Quan and the other exchanged glances, nodded in agreement, and strode outwards.
In the cloud room.
Qi Ning, Huang Quan, and Jin Qianbao sat opposite each other.
"You weren't followed back this time, were you?"
Qi Ning looked at the two and spoke softly. At this time, her appearance and form had changed, and she had indeed become a sallow-faced middle-aged man again.
After learning about the events in Tiannan Prefecture, she had returned ahead of time. With her speed, she naturally returned a few days earlier.
It wasn't until today that Huang Quan and the others returned.
"Aside from this incident, we were extremely careful along the way and weren't detected, but Tiannan Prefecture is indeed not what it used to be. The Imperial Court might have big actions."
Huang Quan replied with a serious expression.
"I have already reported the matter here to the organization. Once there are any movements from the Grand Capital, the higher-ups will find a way to resolve it. What we need to do is guard Tiannan Prefecture well, and the most important thing is to deal with the matter of the Beast Suppression Army."
Qi Ning's expression softened slightly, but she quickly spoke again with a serious face.
"Although we intercepted the batch of Beast Suppression Army sent to the front lines last time, the quality of that batch was very low. With Gongsun Yuanzhou's actions in Tiannan Prefecture over the past few months, he has already gathered a large number of Martial Artists through various means, including many Bones Transformation Masters. If all of them are artificially beastified by Gongsun Yuanzhou, things will be troublesome."
"Lord Thousand Faces, in my opinion, in Tiannan Prefecture now, He Lanjiang and Zhou Xingwen are already dead, leaving only Gongsun Yuanzhou. Now that things have escalated to this point, why not directly go in and kill him, get the evidence of the beastification in Tianhong Pavilion, and then spread this matter? It will definitely be enough to give the Imperial Court a headache."
Huang Quan put down his tobacco pipe and said in a deep voice.
"Although Tianhong Pavilion and Volong Road have not temporarily sent reinforcements to Tiannan Prefecture, according to the information I've received, Lu Chuan has already arrived in Tainnan."
Hearing Huang Quan's words, Qi Ning shook her head slightly.
"Although Gongsun Yuanzhou's ranking in Tianhong Pavilion is not high, he is in the middle ranks, a genuine Divine Form Fifth Transformation Martial Artist, and even stronger than ordinary Divine Form Fifth Transformation Martial Artists. He is not someone Zhou Xingwen and the other two can compare to. Although Lu Chuan's strength is not as good as Gongsun Yuanzhou's, he is also a Master of Divine Form Fourth Transformation. Coupled with the large formation in Tiannan Prefecture, it won't be easy to deal with him."
Huang Quan frowned slightly, a look of surprise on his face.
"Lu Chuan is back!? He's certainly fast."
At this moment, Jin Qianbao, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.
"Lord Thousand Faces, even so, besides you and Lord Lan Man, there should be other Blazing Star Envoy level Masters in Tiannan Prefecture now. It might not be impossible to try."
"In Tiannan Prefecture now, there are only me and Lan Man. There are no other Blazing Star Envoys. Now, with the outbreak of war between the two countries, the Imperial Court's suppression of the prefectures under its jurisdiction is far beyond what it was before. Many Masters from the Grand Capital and Tianhong Pavilion are suppressing various regions. It's not that easy to spare manpower."
Qi Ning shook her head slightly.
"There are no other Blazing Star Envoys here? Then what happened this time!?"
Jin Qianbao's eyes flickered, and a look of confusion appeared on his face.
Even Huang Quan, who was beside him, showed a puzzled expression.
"This matter is a bit complicated. You will know eventually."
Qi Ning didn't say much, just lightly glossed over it, then changed the subject.
"Calling you two here separately this time is for another matter. In the last operation, Black Hawk suspected there was an internal spy in the organization, among us. You two have followed me for many years. Did you notice anything unusual about anyone when you brought people back this time?"
"Internal spy!?" Huang Quan frowned tightly and said with some doubt.
"Lord Thousand Faces, we are all old members of the organization. We have known each other for at least ten years. If there really is an internal spy, we should have noticed it long ago."
"Yes, Lord Thousand Faces, wasn't this operation quite successful? And we didn't see anything unusual about any of the colleagues when we came back. Could it be that Blazing Star Envoy Black Hawk was mistaken?" Jin Qianbao also frowned and said slowly.
"This is just Black Hawk's guess. Whether there is an internal spy or not, we need to be more cautious in future operations. At the same time, this stronghold at Baiyun Temple will be abandoned in the next few days."
Qi Ning shook her head slightly.
Regarding the spy Black Hawk mentioned, although she hadn't found anything unusual, she always acted cautiously and still needed to make some preparations.
"That's fine. If there really is a spy, this stronghold will truly be unsafe." Huang Quan and the other had no objection and nodded in agreement.
"As for the matter of the Beast Suppression Army, it still needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. Now that Tiannan Prefecture is controlled by Gongsun Yuanzhou, his actions are becoming increasingly reckless. The large-scale recruitment of Martial Artists from the populace has already caused dissatisfaction among the local forces. During this time, I will try to contact the local forces in Tainnan. If successful, we will take down Gongsun Yuanzhou and Lu Chuan in one go."
Seeing that the two had no objection to relocating the stronghold, Qi Ning continued.
"That's a good method. As expected, Lord Thousand Faces's thoughts are thorough. Lao Bao and I will also try our best to spread some rumors about the Beast Suppression Army during this time." Huang Quan thought for a moment, immediately understood, and said.
"No need. If we deliberately spread rumors, it might arouse Gongsun Yuanzhou's vigilance. I have another matter that I need you two to do."
"Please speak, Lord." Huang Quan was taken aback but quickly reacted and responded.
"Although there are no other Blazing Star Envoys for support, Tiannan Prefecture will soon have a new Blazing Star Envoy, and you know this person."
A faint smile appeared on Qi Ning's face.
"A newly promoted Blazing Star Envoy, someone I know!?"
Huang Quan's face was full of confusion. His eyes flickered, but no matter how much he thought, he had no clue.
"I haven't heard of any Hidden Star Envoy breaking through to Divine Form recently..."
Meanwhile, Jin Qianbao, upon hearing this, narrowed his eyes slightly, his face also showing a hint of doubt.
"This person is..."
Looking at the confused expressions of Huang Quan and the other, the curve of Qi Ning's lips widened a bit.
*
Over a hundred miles west of the Grand Capital.
Chán Xiāng Mountain.
As one of the few mountains within the Grand Capital's territory, Chán Xiāng Mountain is not high in elevation.
Halfway up the mountain, one can see continuous old buildings that have long been mottled by wind and rain, but the general outline of a large Taoist temple, named Yún Tiān Guān, can still be seen.
The bluestone steps leading straight to the foot of the mountain are covered in moss, clearly indicating that few people visit on a normal day.
During the Former Dynasty, Yún Tiān Guān on Chán Xiāng Mountain had flourishing incense.
However, since the Great Yan was founded, Buddhism and Taoism declined, especially within the Grand Capital's territory, and the incense became increasingly pitiful.
To this day, it only relies on the incense offerings from a few towns outside the Grand Capital to survive.
At this moment, above Chán Xiāng Mountain, a slender green sparrow, only the size of a baby's fist, descended towards the mountain peak.
As soon as it landed, it was immediately grasped by a figure, who took out a hidden letter from its thick feathers, and quickly disappeared on the mountain peak.
Not long after, Yún Tiān Guān.
In the old side hall, the main hall was not lit with candles, the light was very dim, and shadows almost covered most of the space within the hall.
In the shadow, a rough hand with distinct joints gently placed the delicate letter in its hand.
"Less than eighteen, ancestral Bloodline, reverse-slaying Divine Form..."
A hoarse murmur slowly sounded from the shadow.
But soon, the voice gained a touch of madness, suddenly bursting into laughter, which abruptly stopped the next moment, replaced by a sound of wailing.
However, it quickly returned to calm again.
*
Time flowed like water, and three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Outside the bamboo building, a cold wind swept through, bringing with it large swathes of poplar catkins from who knows where, almost obscuring the sky.
Suddenly, a scorching aura emerged from the bamboo forest, instantly burning away the sky-filled poplar catkins.
"As expected, it still doesn't work. It seems this path of Yin and Yang confluence is not suitable for me."
Feeling the two streams of icy and Yang Polarity True Qi condensed within his body constantly canceling each other out and becoming increasingly diluted at this moment.
Lin Sheng exhaled heavily, his face stern.
After several more experiments, he had basically confirmed that the path of Yin and Yang confluence was difficult to traverse. He didn't know how many people in the so-called Qian Kun Palace had entered the Bones Transformation Realm through this cultivation method.
But what was certain was that it was definitely only a very small number of lucky individuals, and they had to be rare geniuses to even have a possibility.
As for others who attempted the path of Yin and Yang confluence, it was likely that over ninety percent of them died from ruptured internal organs when attempting to enter the Bones Transformation Realm.
"Yin and Yang confluence? Hmph, since they cannot converge, then so be it."
Lin Sheng's eyes narrowed slightly.
With a shift in his thoughts, the scorching aura within his body had already surged.
Within his body's meridians and organs, under his deliberate compression and activation, wisps of invisible True Qi appeared. Under his extremely powerful Physique, the speed of this True Qi's condensation was very fast.
In just a few dozen breaths, a large amount of True Qi had already condensed in the meridians.
An incense stick's time passed.
Lin Sheng stopped the action of continuing to condense.
At this moment, the True Qi within his body had already begun to circulate within the meridians, emitting faint scorching auras.
"Indeed, if I don't force the Yin and Yang confluence and only cultivate the Yang Extremity Art, my cultivation speed is extremely fast. In just one incense stick's time, I've broken through the first layer of the Yang Extremity Art."
Although he couldn't achieve Yin and Yang confluence, he didn't intend to give up on this cultivation method.
Instead, he decided to cultivate only one of them. After all, he had comprehended this cultivation method countless times in the past few days. With his current perspective, he could see that this cultivation method actually had quite unique aspects, almost carving out a different path under the current demonic martial arts, although it was an inconspicuous small path, and even a dead end.
However, its concept and the various methods within it could be said to be extremely ingenious, so he didn't plan to give up. By cultivating only one of them, he naturally didn't need to force the Yin and Yang confluence.
Choosing between Yang Polarity and Yin Harmonization is very simple.
Naturally, he would choose the Yang Extremity Art.
After all, compared to his assimilated exotic beasts, they were mostly focused on strength and Physique.
Moreover, compared to the Yin Harmonization Skill which is primarily soft and yielding, he preferred the rigid and fierce Yang Extremity Art.