Wang Sheng’s original route was to pass through Jianzhou and then head directly to Yangwu State, or the domain of Heavenly Saber City, before progressing from Yangwu State to the Imperial City in Zhongzhou.
However, the emergence of Heavenly Sect presented him with another choice, which was to take a detour.
Setting out from Jianzhou, he would head to the eastern Quanzhou, and then continue north. This path would take him somewhat out of the way, but his primary purpose for leaving this time was actually for a “study tour.”
He was very interested in the secret techniques of Heaven Sect, so heading to Quanzhou was indeed his best choice.
After gathering information, Wang Sheng went back for his meal.
He had already examined Tianshan City. Essentially, there were no particularly strong forces; the most powerful was Yuelai Inn. A visit in the evening would suffice.
If he found anything useful, he would leave some compensation; if not, it was fine to move on. After all, although he wasn’t short of cultivation resources, he wasn’t one to be taken advantage of.
“Let’s have our meal. Tomorrow, we’ll leave and then head to Quanzhou.”
…
Meanwhile, outside Tianshan City, a group of people had gathered together—believers of Heavenly Sect.
“The person has entered Tianshan City; when do we make our move?”
Those they had sent to Shuzhou were naturally more than one. Others were lurking in the shadows, so when one of their cultists was killed, the news was urgently relayed and came to the attention of the person responsible for this region.
The slain Heavenly Sect cultist possessed the strength of a Seventh-Grade Martial Artist. To be easily killed, the hidden powerhouse who did it had to be at least of Grandmaster Level, and certainly not weak among Grandmasters.
If it were any other faction, they might indeed have given up, considering Grandmaster Level Martial Artists are not to be trifled with.
But they were the Heavenly Sect!
It was inconceivable to leave it at that!
After reporting the matter, a covert Grandmaster arrived along with nine Ninth Grade Martial Artists who could form an array. Once the array was active, without a solution to break it, even top Grandmasters would meet their end.
They were also looking for opportunities—for a chance to strike with a fatal blow.
“In daylight, people from Yuelai Inn are also around. The Sect Hierarch said that Yuelai Inn is the only force he can’t see through and needs to be cautious of, so we cannot act.
However, that person is clearly going to leave. Once he leaves Tianshan City, that will be our chance to act!”
The speaker, the only Grandmaster, was privy to many secrets.
The Sect Hierarch was a mysteriously formidable figure in his eyes, but even the Sect Hierarch himself had admitted that Yuelai Inn was more mysterious, and cautioned that it was best not to act in front of their people.
Out of reverence for the Sect Hierarch, they naturally would not act rashly.
There would be other chances; there was no need to hurry this moment.
“Keep a close eye on them; the moment those people leave the city, follow them immediately. Anyone who dares to meddle with our Heavenly Sect should be prepared to face death.”
“Yes!”
…
On another note, Wang Sheng returned from the outside, feeling somewhat disappointed.
Tianshan City indeed had Martial Artist forces, but neither the clan’s secret scrolls nor the miscellaneous discussions offered much to exploit, especially compared to Jiangyuan City.
“Could it be that not every place has undergone massive changes in Martial Artist forces like Shuzhou?”
Shuzhou now had more opportunities as many external Martial Artist forces had moved into Shuzhou.
This was particularly true for cities close to Shuzhou such as Tianshan City, which virtually lacked strong Martial Artist forces, not to mention gains.
As for miscellaneous discussions, there was even less to be said.
Books on miscellaneous research are rare; not many people specialize in developing Cultivation Techniques or Qi-Blood martial skills. Even though these might be useful to him, they weren’t as attractive as he had imagined.
In Tianshan City, such books were not even to be found.
“Forget it, we’ll leave tomorrow. It should be better once we’re out of Jianzhou.”
He came to understand that the Martial Artist forces in cities close to Shuzhou, such as Jianzhou and Yangwu State, had mostly left, moving to Shuzhou for development.
The difficulty of finding what he wanted in Jianzhou wasn’t low.
Perhaps those places a bit further from Shuzhou might yield better finds.
Out of options, Wang Sheng could only delve into the books acquired in Jiangyuan City, which were still quite good.
His interest in the research scrolls on the universe burgeoned, and the progress bar for his universe cultivation had risen much faster than before.
Although he still had no clue about ultra-long-distance teleportation, the Plum Flower Step’s Instant Teleportation had been significantly optimized.
Plum Flower Step could hardly be considered merely a Step Technique, as it had almost approached a Divine Skill—Shrinking Ground into Inches.
A kind of Instant Teleportation Divine Skill, with a unique parallel to the space-folding theory found in the universe research scrolls.
Directly connecting two points with a single step’s distance.
Although it was not yet perfected, he could now move a lot further than before.
With continued research, the Plum Flower Step might indeed form the foundation for Wang Sheng to develop ultra-long-distance Space Movement.
Due to his practical successes, Wang Sheng grew even more eager for such research scrolls.
Unfortunately, few people engaged in such research. It was difficult to find even one such book, and those on the level of the universe research scrolls were even rarer.
…
The next day, after briefly packing, Wang Sheng led everyone on their departure.
However, this time he didn’t have Liu Jian’an and the others run down for training.
“Uncle, aren’t we going to train outside?”
Wang Lingwei, being a relative, had the most courage and usually directly asked any questions.
Before this, as soon as they entered the wilderness, Wang Sheng would throw them off the carriage and let them run on their own.
Of course, the effects were quite obvious. Each time they would exhaust their physical strength and Qi-Blood Power completely. Then, if they cultivated right after, their bodies would desperately crave to replenish Qi-Blood, accelerating the speed of cultivation.
This time, having left the city, Wang Sheng did not throw them off, and they were all a bit surprised.
They had all grown accustomed to it.
“No need for now. We’ll discuss after dealing with the trouble.”
Wang Sheng explained briefly.
The twelve people were not fools and, thinking of yesterday’s events, they instantly understood something.
So, they all shrank back inside the carriage and sat upright with serious expressions.
Wang Sheng didn’t offer further explanations and instead kept an eye on the group following behind him.
In total ten people: one Grandmaster, four Ninth-Grade Martial Artists, and the remaining five were all Seventh-Grade Martial Artists.
It must be said that Heavenly Sect, known for its insistence on retribution, wasn’t wrong; to eliminate one Seventh-Grade Martial Artist, they actually sent so many strong fighters.
Their dominance wasn’t mistaken either; he didn’t believe these Heavenly Sect believers were unaware of how sinister their methods were.
If killed, they would directly gather more power for revenge.
For believers of the Heavenly Sect itself, this was naturally a good thing, but to others, it seemed rather overbearing.
“I can act, but you can’t,” was precisely the modus operandi of Heavenly Sect.
Soon, he sensed there seemed to be people lying in ambush ahead as well – a total of five Ninth-Grade Martial Artists.
It appeared they planned a pincer attack, surely with some ace up their sleeve.
Wang Sheng, not inclined to play games with these people, simply had Da Bai stop, then instantly teleported onto Da Bai’s back.
“Friends in ambush, come out. No need to hide anymore. Whatever moves you have, use them all.”
Sure enough, upon his words, there was a disturbance among the hidden figures, but they didn’t move.
Wang Sheng was not surprised and continued, “Are you waiting for the people behind? I will wait with you.”
The commotion from the shadows grew more intense, and at the same time, the people following behind showed themselves.
The ambushers in front seemingly received a signal and appeared directly before them.
Fifteen people in total, surrounding everyone in a tight circle.
Wang Sheng showed no panic and said, “Presumably, you’re all from Heavenly Sect.”
“That’s right. It seems you understand your situation very well!” The speaker was the one Grandmaster, his voice cold, “Given that, there’s nothing more to say. For killing our brother, you must receive the punishment of heaven!”
“But it was you who acted first!”
“Hmph, he merely wished to invite you to join Heavenly Sect, yet you killed him!” The accusation from someone in their ranks carried a tone of grief and a hint of victimhood.
“This makes me seem like the villain. As if I don’t know your methods! That hypnotic technique akin to mind control is no good!”
Had it been merely an invitation, Wang Sheng certainly wouldn’t have taken action.
But the use of Mind Control left him with no choice but to act without courtesy.
Hearing Wang Sheng’s words, the complexion of the Grandmaster opposite changed drastically.
“Kill!”
He didn’t know how this man had deciphered the Heavenly Sect’s secret, but as long as he killed him, all problems would be resolved.
“Nine Stars Conflagration Killing Array!”
The Grandmaster Level Martial Artists took the lead, followed by the Ninth-Grade Martial Artists who quickly formed the array. A tremendous burst of Qi-Blood Power erupted, mingling together and surrounding the carriage.
“Star Falling!”
The Grandmaster, as the eye of the array, charged directly at Wang Sheng.
Countless amounts of Qi-Blood transformed into stars high above, then plummeted down in an attack towards Wang Sheng, the energy released far surpassing the Grandmaster’s original strength.
However—
“Shocking Dragon!”
Wang Sheng didn’t even move as he unleashed his Blood Qi Divine Ability. A Blood Qi Dragon appeared and charged towards the falling stars, then casually reached out and grabbed.
Boom!
The Qi-Blood Power that had formed stars burst like balloons with a slap.
Then, with a gentle flick of the Blood Qi Dragon’s tail, the Grandmaster, the main eye of the array, was sent flying.
Array, broken!
If Wang Sheng had not wanted to see what exactly the “Nine Stars Conflagration Killing Array” was, these people wouldn’t have been able to form the array at all.
With the array broken, those who had formed it suffered a backlash. Their Qi-Blood shook violently, leaving them unable to move for a short time.
The backlash caused by Wang Sheng’s Blood Qi Divine Ability was not something they could easily handle.
The Grandmaster, having taken the Shocking Dragon head-on, died instantly.
Watching their leader’s death, the others recoiled from the backlash and instantly realized something.
Nine Stars Conflagration Killing Array, being part of it, they knew well the power of this array. To break it so easily implied only one thing—
“Great Grandmaster!”