Yue and Xing, although from the same sect, did not have the distinction of senior and junior brothers.
Their status was equal, or rather, they were rivals.
Their knowledge was the same principle, yet with different comprehensions.
However, the path Xing wanted to take was extremely perilous, a single misstep could lead to death.
Of course, that was Yue’s own opinion.
In Xing’s view, everything had its own trajectory, and even if there were dangers, they could turn calamities into blessings.
This was also the most significant disagreement between the two.
But now, it didn’t matter what either of them said, for they had both embarked on their own paths.
Yue wished to remain as detached from world affairs as Stargazing Valley once did, while Xing aimed to go even further.
There was no right or wrong, but ultimately, they had different philosophies and couldn’t walk the same path again.
After some thought, Yue rose to go find Wang Sheng.
If Xing had chosen this path, then it was destined not to be peaceful; it would surely bring about mountains of corpses and seas of blood, causing turmoil throughout the world.
Both he and Wang Sheng needed to prepare for what was to come unless they truly intended to abandon all concerns and hide away in various famous mountains and great rivers—then nobody would actively search for them, and most troubles could be avoided.
However, Yue saw clearly that this was not in Wang Sheng’s nature.
So, finding a way to cope was the best option.
“Has your fellow sect member Xing started causing trouble? Now does seem like a good opportunity.”
Due to the battle in Jiangyuan City, many messages from the outside were gradually failing to get through, but the situation in Shuzhou was still quite clear.
King Yong Nian now had no intention of paying attention to those claiming kingship below him; as long as he dealt with Spirit Sword Valley and Heavenly Saber City, most of the chaos could be quickly resolved.
During the time when King Yong Nian had not yet triumphed over Spirit Sword Valley and Heavenly Saber City, it was a chance for many to grow and develop.
However, Wang Sheng was quite interested in the person Xing had found.
“Yue, who is this person Xing has found?”
Yue shook his head and said, “This person carries a great destiny and is deliberately concealed by Xing, so I have no way of knowing. However, such a person will not remain hidden. News should emerge soon.”
Although Xing was deliberately hiding the person, someone like that couldn’t possibly be obscured.
There would certainly be significant upheavals.
Wang Sheng nodded. Those who were the Heirs of Destiny could never remain unnoticed. Not clear now, just wait and see who stirs up the biggest commotion later, that person is most likely the one.
And there might even be intersections with them in the future.
Wang Sheng suddenly remembered something.
“Xing has found the Heir of Destiny, while outside of Shuzhou, Divine Lady Peak wants to be chosen by heaven to crown an emperor…”
Things had suddenly become interesting.
From Yue’s capabilities, it was evident that Xing would not be weak; the person Xing had selected must also have some tricks up their sleeve.
Just uncertain whether the person chosen by Divine Lady Peak really had talents or was just putting on a mysterious front.
One thing was certain for Wang Sheng, the individuals chosen by the two would not be the same person.
There can only be one Master of Destiny, and if both Divine Lady Peak’s Goddess and Xing sought to attain that position, they would not select the same person.
If both sides were to grow and develop, a great battle would certainly erupt.
Just unsure who would emerge victorious then.
Of course, as things stood, Divine Lady Peak’s strength was definitely stronger.
“Yue, do you say your fellow sect member can rise under the power of King Yong Nian?”
The force supported by Xing would first face not Divine Lady Peak, but King Yong Nian, and even if King Yong Nian were to fail, there were still Spirit Sword Valley and Heavenly Saber City.
This was the initial challenge they would face.
“It’s difficult.”
Yue didn’t say much; no one could be certain of the future.
But he did not render his statement too absolute.
As a fellow sect member, he was well aware of Xing’s capabilities; as long as the person he followed wasn’t utterly incompetent, they would surely make waves.
In such circumstances, overturning those high and mighty Great Grandmaster forces was not impossible.
Wang Sheng detected the meaning in Yue’s words.
He didn’t contest it, but deep down, he was alert to this so-called Heir of Destiny.
In this world, destiny was shown openly, but even this open fate was the most mysterious of things.
Generally speaking, destiny was related to the common people, and a tough competition for popular support should be expected if one wanted to vie for destiny.
Yet no Great Grandmaster force engaged in such activities.
Instead, they continued to exploit the people, unconcerned.
It was not entirely so; the King along the rivers had caused unrest among the people, but King Yong Nian seemed unconcerned.
Also, there was Mo Yang they met almost two years ago.
What he saw from Mo Yang was definitely not an illusion.
Destiny certainly existed.
Thus he was very wary of the Heir of Destiny found by Xing.
For nobody ever knows when they might fall into the trap of destiny.
But Wang Sheng was not overly panicked.
Destiny, indeed very mysterious and powerful, but power was still the decisive factor.
And his power would soon experience a significant increase.
“Blood Qi Smoke: 90%”
Soon, his blood strength would enter the next realm.
By then, it was estimated that he would have the prowess of a Great Grandmaster.
A Great Grandmaster was indeed the apex of this world, with such power at one’s disposal, one could deal with many things.
“It’s close, at most half a year.”
As blood strength increased, it became progressively harder to improve, and a ten percent progress, according to Wang Sheng’s estimate, would also take about half a year to truly achieve.
Half a year wasn’t particularly long.
After Yue left, Wang Sheng once again immersed himself in cultivation.
Spring passed and autumn came; a month flew by swiftly.
Wang Sheng’s two martial techniques, the Six Harmonies Spear and the Plum Flower Step, successively broke through three limits.
Just like the Bajiquan, after breaking through three limits, the Six Harmonies Spear acquired momentum—spear momentum.
The Six Harmonies Spear was already intricately connected to Bajiquan; they complemented each other, and thus the spear’s momentum was similar to that of Bajiquan.
Both were imbued with a destructive aura, as if they could obliterate everything.
Qi Blood Power, fist momentum, spear momentum—all embodied the nature of destruction.
Shattering and crushing were their external manifestations.
With these qualities, Wang Sheng’s combat power was extremely strong, each move he made was charged with immensely destructive power.
He had a simple spar with Yue, and with his current strength, even at half his capacity, Yue was no match for him.
For a small stronghold like Qingshan Village, he didn’t need to go all out—he could destroy it with one strike.
At a certain level of strength, he was seen as a god by many.
However, Wang Sheng was very clear about where he stood; he was far from the realm of gods.
Moreover, with the increase in momentum, Wang Sheng’s understanding of it deepened. Momentum had infinite potential and much room for improvement.
He would set aside time each day to comprehend it.
The progress bar saved a lot of time, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t research on his own.
Perhaps because momentum was related to various martial techniques, it didn’t have a separate progress bar, but each time he had an insight, the progress bars for Bajiquan and Six Harmonies Spear would both make a leap in advancement.
His own cultivation would be reflected in the progress bars.
As for the Plum Flower Step, Wang Sheng initially thought that after breaking through three limits, it would be similar to the other two techniques, perhaps manifesting momentum or, at the very least, increasing the speed of the Plum Flower Step.
But after the breakthrough, Wang Sheng realized he had been wrong.
The Plum Flower Step, after breaking through three limits, involved something entirely new.
Space!
After the breakthrough in the Plum Flower Step, with the help of the progress bar, Wang Sheng had a clear grasp of spatial knowledge.
And he felt that some of this spatial knowledge seemed “familiar”.
“It shares a profound connection with Qiankun!”
The principle of Qiankun was something Wang Sheng, or any martial artist in this world, even Great Grandmasters, had never fully understood.
But after the Plum Flower Step broke through three limits, the spatial knowledge he gained was related to Qiankun—almost as if the spatial knowledge involved in the Plum Flower Step was derived from Qiankun.
Wang Sheng realized that something was amiss.
The effects of the Plum Flower Step breaking through three times were terrifying; in a simple test, he found that he could instantly teleport ten meters.
Of course, instant teleportation came with a significant cost and was damaging to the body.
In the short term, it could only be used once—a “cooldown” due to insufficient physical fitness—but even if it could only be used once, with the right strategy, a battle could be decided.
It wouldn’t be an overstatement to call it frightening.
But “instant teleportation” and “confinement” were completely different concepts, two different ways of utilizing space.
Despite apparent connections, they manifested in entirely different ways.
After a period of comparative research, Wang Sheng hypothesized.
The essence of “Qiankun” might not be a certain martial technique, but rather a fundamental body of knowledge.
The utilization of Qiankun by the world’s martial artists was merely an extension of one aspect of this fundamental knowledge.
Take a simple example.
Learning the basic arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division allows one to perform simple equations and combined operations.
That’s basic arithmetic.
Extending further, computations involving distance, speed, weight—any calculation still requires the basic operations.
Qiankun was the “arithmetic” of spatial knowledge, underpinning any utilization of space.
The seemingly insignificant confinement effect of Qiankun was just a surface-level method that martial artists of this world stumbled upon.
However, the foundational theory of “Qiankun” wasn’t perfected; one might even say it was barely started.
Even so, Wang Sheng recognized the astonishing potential of “Qiankun”.
It was incomparable to ordinary martial skills.
The basic knowledge of “space” might be of little use to others.
“Qiankun” had been created a long time ago, at least thousands of years in history.
Over thousands of years, any martial artist with sufficient talent would learn “Qiankun”, yet for all these years, it remained limited to a single confinement effect with considerable restrictions.
Perhaps one day, a genius would uncover the extraordinary nature of Qiankun and fully realize its potential, but how long that would take was uncertain.
But Wang Sheng was different; he had the progress bar.
The existence of the progress bar meant he could save a great deal of time and allow “Qiankun” to unleash its true capabilities.
Basic knowledge, if its true effects could be brought forth, would yield tremendous gains.
Wang Sheng had stumbled upon no small advantage…