The six major forces were all rubbing their hands, mobilizing manpower, ready to attack Barbarian State.
Not long after, news spread that the fog surrounding Barbarian State had cleared.
This news surprised many.
Based on the news twice received, the dense fog in Barbarian State had a bewildering effect on the mind; everyone knew that these fogs were the handiwork of the White Lotus Demon King and were also a crucial guarantee for the lack of news from Barbarian State before.
Now that the fog had cleared, what did it signify…
The people from all six powers sent their scouts to investigate, and they ultimately obtained astonishing news.
The Holy Mountain of the White Lotus Demon King had been destroyed, the White Lotus Demon King had disappeared.
Although it was said to be a disappearance, many knew that the White Lotus Demon King couldn’t even maintain the fog anymore, and it was highly likely that he was already dead.
After the fog dissipated, the influence of the White Lotus Demon King on the people of Barbarian State vanished as well, and information had been passed on by those who were near the Holy Mountain at that time.
One day, someone came knocking, battling fiercely with the White Lotus Demon King, eventually leaving nothing but ruins.
It indicated that a peerless powerful being had been present at the time, likely responsible for slaying the White Lotus Demon King.
However, the problem lay here.
The people from the six major forces were clear, none of their groups had made a move as they were all preparing.
This meant that there was another top-tier Supreme Grandmaster lurking in the shadows.
Five Grandmasters converged once again to discuss countermeasures. Although the world was vast, they were no longer willing to let other powers enter the scene, even if those individuals had disappeared.
Only Store Manager Zhu Xiao from Yuelai Inn was absent.
At this moment, she was in her mansion listening to reports from her subordinates.
“Store Manager, those five houses are discussing how to target the Grandmaster who killed the White Lotus Demon King, aiming to bar them from entry. We need…”
“No need!”
Zhu Xiao slightly parted her lovely lips, her voice exceedingly melodious.
“Yes!”
Her subordinate said no more. A Grandmaster in this power had absolute authority; once a Grandmaster had made a decision, no one could defy it, especially at Yuelai Inn.
The smell of blood from twenty years ago had not yet dissipated!
The subordinate departed, and a maid stepped out from the shadows, saying, “Miss, those people have been dealt with.”
She had been Zhu Xiao’s servant from childhood and was the one Zhu Xiao trusted most.
“Understood, keep watch. We at Yuelai Inn will not be involved in the imperial conflicts from now on.”
Zhu Xiao waved her hand, indicating for the maid to leave.
She herself, however, was contemplating the affairs of the five major powers.
“Is that position really that desirable? Hasn’t a problem been discovered in thousands of years of trial and error?”
Yuelai Inn was not one of the nine major forces before, or rather, not entirely.
One of the other nine powers used to be called White Cloud Commerce.
Zhu Xiao was the legitimate daughter of the president of White Cloud Commerce, a Supreme Grandmaster at that time.
As the Supreme Grandmaster of White Cloud Commerce was nearing his end, the legitimate sons and daughters competed for the position of president.
Everyone knew that the Master of Destiny of the Great Zhou wouldn’t live many decades longer.
Hence, the new president might potentially become the Master of Destiny, which made the competition extremely fierce.
In such powers, there was no demand for gender in heirs, only for sufficient strength.
It was during this time that Zhu Xiao rose.
After the death of the president, Zhu Xiao demonstrated overwhelming power and capability, far surpassing any other candidates for succession.
Therefore, Zhu Xiao succeeded him.
After her ascension, Zhu Xiao immediately announced her strategy to withdraw from the struggle for Master of Destiny and renamed White Cloud Commerce to Yuelai Inn.
Although still a commerce power, the renaming reduced a lot of pressure from other powers towards Yuelai Inn.
Thus, even now, although the five major powers were still wary of it, they weren’t overly defensive and assumed Yuelai Inn had withdrawn.
Of course, a sudden change in strategy naturally faced opposition within Yuelai Inn.
Zhu Xiao first suppressed and if necessary, eliminated dissenters. To this day, few within Yuelai Inn opposed her, the maid having cleared out the last group.
Thinking of all this caused Zhu Xiao some distress.
If not necessary, she wouldn’t want to harm her own people. The Master of Destiny had slain all the shmetheric Grandmasters before his death.
She didn’t want to further weaken her own strength.
Regrettably, after twenty years, those people were still so stubborn.
“Why pursue a system that hasn’t progressed in thousands or even longer years?”
The path she walked was not the Qi Blood Martial Arts but an entirely different pathway, having reached the pinnacle of Supreme Grandmasters and due to the unique nature of the system, even stronger.
Since that incident, Zhu Xiao had realized something.
Qi Blood Martial Arts was not the only route to take; if one became obsessed with becoming the Master of Destiny, they could be trapped for a lifetime.
She even considered the path of the Master of Destiny as erroneous.
Of course, she would not publicize her own path until she was unmatched in strength, otherwise, it would bring enormous trouble.
“I will definitely break through the limits of the Supreme Grandmaster!”
By that time, her strength would be sufficient for many things…
Unfortunately, that barrier was still too thick, and she still hadn’t seen the hope of breaking through.
It felt as though something was blocking her…
“Ah… I hope to resolve it soon!”
The room once again fell into silence.
…
The world was shocked for a while by the death of the White Lotus Demon King.
It wasn’t long before Wang Sheng also heard the news.
It was Li Yongfeng who came to inform him.
However, since he already knew the outcome, Wang Sheng didn’t feel anything special.
This even surprised Li Yongfeng for a while.
After returning, Wang Sheng had been studying the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter.”
He had only memorized the scripture before, and he wasn’t very clear about the detailed content.
But after returning, the more he researched, the more alarmed he became.
The “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter” is a scripture that can directly reach the Great Grandmaster Realm, one of the top Cultivation Techniques in the world.
Merely that wasn’t surprising, but he found that this path, although still somewhat related to Qi Blood Power, was not fundamentally based on Qi Blood Power; it could almost be considered an entirely new path to strength.
The foundation of this path was “spirit.”
Spirit was the most important thing on this path.
“How astonishing indeed!”
Wang Sheng had not expected the path to be based fundamentally on spirit.
However, seeing this caused him some concern.
Like the path of Qi Blood Power, the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley had also broken through to the Great Grandmaster Realm before presumably possessing spiritual power.
But the Cultivation Technique of the White Lotus Demon King could utilize the power of the spirit or soul from the beginning.
“Could it really be the heritage of the Lifeless Mother?”
The “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter” was completely incompatible with the path of Qi Blood Power, giving Wang Sheng reason to suspect that the White Lotus Demon King had sensed something.
Therefore, he suspected that the Lifeless Mother might truly exist.
“But that’s not right…”
In Wang Sheng’s past life, the Lifeless Mother was an extremely high-ranking female deity, similar to
Doumu Yuanjun and Lishan Laomu, who were all extremely powerful.
But everything from his former world was fabricated.
Therefore, he was somewhat skeptical, but not certain.
He wasn’t sure whether or not to cultivate the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter.”
“Forget it, let’s take another look!”
Wang Sheng decided to continue reading instead of directly cultivating.
The reputation of the Lifeless Mother was too frightening; Wang Sheng didn’t want to get involved.
Not only that, but Wang Sheng also asked Li Yongfeng to find out more specific information about the White Lotus Demon King, hoping to discern something.
The White Lotus Demon King had been the center of attention lately, so information was easy to gather.
With the opening of Manzhou, more news was spreading.
“The White Lotus Sect, originally a sect dedicated to saving the people, changed later… Later, the White Lotus Demon King proclaimed herself the Lifeless Mother, claiming all beings as her children.
Not only that, their doctrine claimed that the True Void Homeland was the origin and destination of all life; the White Lotus Sect was dedicated to building this so-called True Void Homeland.”
The person who came to deliver the news was still Li Yongfeng.
After hearing this, Wang Sheng felt something was slightly off.
If the White Lotus Demon King truly was a follower of the Lifeless Mother, she should not be calling herself the Lifeless Mother.
Unless she was an incarnation of the Lifeless Mother.
But if it were an incarnation of the Lifeless Mother, Wang Sheng didn’t believe that the White Lotus Spirit King and the Divine Sparrow King could have defeated the White Lotus Demon King.
How terrifying a being the Lifeless Mother would be, if she truly existed; even the combined top masters of this world might not be a match, of course, this was just speculation.
However, the White Lotus Spirit King was very certain of the White Lotus Demon King’s identity, and according to the White Lotus Spirit King, the White Lotus Demon King never denied her identity before her death.
Which means, the likelihood of the White Lotus Demon King being an incarnation of the Lifeless Mother was very small.
Neither an incarnation nor a follower.
“Could it really be a coincidence?”
Thinking this, Wang Sheng turned to Li Yongfeng and asked, “Brother Yongfeng, did you find out how this True Void Homeland came about? Was it spread by the White Lotus Demon King?”
“No, the so-called True Void Homeland was actually constructed by the founding elders of the White Lotus Sect, and the White Lotus Demon King just borrowed this concept.”
Wang Sheng nodded and didn’t say anything more.
It seemed it really could be a coincidence.
But—
“Forget it, let’s just use it as a reference for now!”
Honestly, the content of the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter” was quite useful for him, especially the techniques involving spirit.
But he decided against cultivating it.
Although he felt it was likely a coincidence that the White Lotus Demon King had researched it herself, to be safe, he could only use the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter” as a reference, attempting to derive his own techniques from it.
However, Wang Sheng still underestimated the power of reading or, say, the progress bar.
“Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter: 1 (1%)”
Seeing the progress bar appear, Wang Sheng’s face turned green.
He didn’t want to get involved, yet he inadvertently started directly cultivating it, and a progress bar even appeared.
“A miscalculation indeed!”
But since it appeared, there was no place for regrets.
The “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter” indeed greatly enhanced the spirit.
Wang Sheng had gained a lot just from a cursory study.
“Forget it, let’s try cultivating it a bit!”