“Do we want to leave now?” asked Li Jun, who could foresee how many people would show up to participate in this secret realm.
“There is no need to rush. Since it announced itself so brazenly, it should wait for everyone to arrive,” said Yan Liling.
“She’s right. We must ensure the sect’s affairs are in order before we leave.”
Afterward, Wang Wei called for a brief meeting with the other elders to check on the sect’s development–especially the outward expansion into other worlds.
Everything went smoothly in the past five years as many branches of the sect have been established, gathering talents and resources. Only one incident occurred in a Middle Thousand World ruled by a dynasty that revolted against the sect’s establishment.
Tie Gang was happy to stretch his muscle and dealt with it as swiftly as possible. The sect was still in the early stages of developing these worlds as they decided to take things slowly.
Wang Wei nodded in satisfaction at how things were proceeding. And after ensuring nothing was wrong, he left a clone to deal with any sudden issues that may arise.
Finally, he left with Li Jun, Yan Liling, and another person. The group took a Void Boat instead of teleporting directly to their destination.
Southern Vermilion Bird Continent, Red Sand Domain:
There was only sand in this entire domain; moreover, the sand was light red instead of the usual yellow. And just like regular deserts, it was scorching in the daylight and freezing at night.
Furthermore, many demonic beasts lived underneath the sand, and when it was their dinner time, they would go up to the surface for a meal of human flesh.
Despite the harsh environment, many humans lived in this domain, primarily cultivators. The sand is a treasure trove of resources, and loose cultivators like to hunt for them to sell.
According to rumors, the sand is red because a Great Emperor once died in this domain, thus altering the environment. Over the years, this rumor has proven to be true.
Many of the resources in this domain were nurtured by the blood and Dao Rhyme of the Emperor’s body. The demonic beasts living in the sand also seemed to have mutated because of something, most likely, the Emperor’s blood.
The Great Talisman City took control of this domain numerous eras ago since the blood of the demonic beasts was great material for making talismans.
However, they took a softer approach to control it. They allow loose cultivators to hunt for demonic beasts and resources, and they can exchange them for other things like pills, talismans, and weapons with the City.
As a result of this approach, the Great Talisman City has an excellent reputation in this Domain. However, Wang Wei guessed their approach was because this domain was too large and complicated to mine on their own.
The demonic sand beasts live deep underground, so it is not easy to find them. The extreme temperature made the place almost inhabitable–especially in the long term.
If the Great Talisman City had its disciple be the ones hunting for resources, it would require too many people, take a long time, or cost them too much.
Meanwhile, having loose cultivators do the dirty work for them save them a lot of money and the lives of many of their disciples who would perish in these hunts.
Moreover, the city will make much more money when these loose cultivators exchange resources. After all, they are the ones who determine the price.
“Big brother, what are you thinking about?”
“Hmm, it’s about how the Great Talisman City dealt with this domain.”
“It was a brilliant idea to use loose cultivators. I guess it saved them a lot of money.”
“I don’t think so,” replied Yan Liling.
“Oh, do you have a better plan?”
“Don’t you remember big brother’s talk about the importance of large and cheap labors? As long the city used a lot of puppets, they would not have an issue mining the resources in this domain.”
Li Jun smacked his lisp, “I really don’t like the concept of replacing manpower with construct.”
Wang Wei gave him a strange look, “Since when did you become so conservative?”
Li Jun sighed: “After the fiasco in the Heavenly Abode World, I’ve taken your advice and trained a puppet legion. However, it’s just not the same with an army of flesh and blood.”
“But the puppet legion can save many of your man’s life?” said Yan Liling.
“I know this, but I still don’t like them.”
She was surprised as this was the first time she had heard of this. “Since you don’t like the puppets, doesn’t that mean you also don’t like the constructs in our domains?”
“No, those are fine since they make mortals’ lives better, easier, and more productive.”
“So, your only problem is when ‘machines’ are applied to the military?”
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“I guess so. I only feel that overreliance on puppetry or machines would be detrimental in the long run.”
Over-reliance on anything is detrimental,” said Wang Wei. “Plus, the construct’s purpose will always be an aid. Look at Liling’s plan to develop this domain. Although it looked perfect on the surface, there is a glaring flaw: luck.”
“Luck? I see,” replied Yan Liling. “Hunting the demonic beasts aside, the main reason the loose cultivators can find some precious resources in the sand is their natural luck: the puppets do not have that.”
“Exactly. So, in the cultivation world, it is impossible to completely replace [man power] with [machine power]. This is how the laws of Heaven and Earth are; this is part of the universe’s Order,” said Wang Wei.
“We’ve arrived.”
He looked in the distance and could see many people he knew already waiting: Fang Lijuan, Feng Heng, Huang Yuan, Mo Xingyun, Zhen Biyu, and many of the Top 30 Heaven Chosen from the Academy’s Trial.
Additionally, many people recently rose and made a name for themselves.
Wang Wei focused on them and called Chen Chen from the Origin Weapon Mountain. He sensed something and activated his True Vision Ability, and his lisp almost twitched.
He saw a brilliant golden light surrounding Chen Chen’s body. And from his eyes, he knew he had developed a new ability to see how much treasure a person has based on the light.
‘How much treasure does this guy possess to make me develop a new ability?’
Wang Wei was speechless.
His group’s arrival caught the attention of many people. However, they took a position while waiting. Meanwhile, Wang Wei began to observe everyone around, focusing on someone specific.
It was a short and petite woman of about 157 cm. She had an adorable face with big eyes and a small bump in the chest area that was almost unnoticeable in her bright yellow hanfu.
Like most female cultivators, she had white skin. However, another noticeable thing about her appearance was her slim and nimble-like fingers.
She seemed very enthusiastic as she talked to many people not from her faction. She had a natural charm that would make someone genuinely smile after a brief conversation.
‘Tong Ruobing; something is odd about her.’
He felt an oddly familiar feeling but could not think where it came from. His fate reading technique he could now use undetected by most people was natural block by her, without her trying.
He had an idea and used his Soul Network Divine Ability to look at her soul, and the same blockage occurred by a mysterious fog.
‘The only time this occurs is when Immortal-Tier things are related. So, she should have something of this caliber on her.’
However, Wang Wei was unsatisfied with this explanation as no one around appeared like her. And he did not believe any of these Heaven Chosens did not have a few Immortal Weapons, Dao Weapons, and even Emperor Artifacts on them.
So, why didn’t his Soul Network show that he could not summon these people’s souls as it did for Tong Ruobing?
‘Let’s pay attention to her.’
Wang Wei continued looking around, and he saw a few acquainted. Lou Cheng and Wu Meng, whom he met during the Spirit Road Trial. Wang Wei admired this kid’s boldness to join the Origin Rune Palace after learning what their founder did to his ancestor.
Just as he was about to read this kid’s Fate Line, he sensed something and raised his head. On the right, he saw a beautiful woman dressed in red riding a phoenix: Huo Fenghuang.
Many people who could not tell the phoenix was a technique looked at her with awe. And even the ones who could tell had a severe look on as they gazed at how lifelike and realistic the phoenix was. Even the aura of an innate demon could be sensed from it.
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Wang Wei already knew of her release, defeat of Xuanwu Qiubai, and absorbing his bloodline. It was such a significant event in the Ancient Clan that his Fate Shadow Guard could quickly learn of the news.
On the left side was an enormous golden crow with three legs. After landing, the golden crow turned into a woman wearing martial clothes, a golden mark on her forehead that looked like a third eye, and shoulder-length hair.
“Is that…” muttered Li Jun.
“It should be the Golden Crow Emperor Offspring,” replied Wang Wei.
“How come she is in the Void Shattering Realm instead of the Quasi-Emperor Realm?”
“I would also like to know. Shadow Two, do you have any information on her?”
“Yes, young mast…I mean sect master.”
Shadow Two quickly controlled his emotion before handing him a talisman containing information about her. Boss Wang Ju was in retreat, so it was his turn to serve the big boss; he did not want to mess things up.
Wang Wei used his divine sense to rapidly read the information he had on this woman called Jingwu Hua.
There was not much information, to begin with. At some point, she had some issues with the other members of the Golden Crow Clan. The reason for this conflict is unknown, but after the resolution, she disappeared for a long time before recently manifesting with a lower cultivation level but an increase in strength.
‘Recultivation?’ thought Wang Wei as he gazed at her with a slight frown. He could sense the same fog that emanated from Tong Ruobing, which blocked all his detecting measures.