Wang Sheng could be certain that the gazes surrounding him bore full malice but no intention to kill.
This was an extremely peculiar mental state.
They clearly hated him to death but had not the slightest intention to kill him.
This made him feel even more the sinister nature of the Heavenly Sect and also further confirmed the reality of his discovery of the mind control issue.
Being mentally controlled made the existence of such a peculiar mental state seem all the more reasonable.
Wang Sheng’s Divine Thought spread out unrestrained.
With his strength, none of those people would notice anything.
Just as expected, traces of mind control, or hypnosis, could be found on these individuals. Such traces were incredibly well hidden; had he not felt a regret before its passing after being attacked earlier, he might not have detected them.
Among these people, there were Grandmasters, as well as high-level Martial Artists capable of externalizing their Qi-Blood beyond the seventh rank, and also ordinary Martial Artists below the seventh rank.
But without exception, they all bore traces of mind control.
He thought back to the methods employed by a believer of the Heavenly Sect in Jiangyuan City and understood the cultivation methods of the Heavenly Sect.
Using hypnosis to forcefully “convert” martial artists with potential, as time passed, this mind control method would take root in their minds, turning into instinct, impossible to undo.
There were four hidden Grandmasters, all with considerable strength. According to the comparison of strengths, they should be top Grandmasters.
“The Four Great Guardians?”
Wang Sheng recalled the information he received from Yuelai Inn, that the Heavenly Sect had Four Great Guardians.
He had originally thought they were just slightly stronger Grandmasters but had not expected them to be top Grandmasters.
“Then it’s possible that the information about the Heavenly Sect Leader Qiao Nian being a Great Grandmaster is not simply speculation, but fact.”
Since the Guardians were top Grandmasters, then the likelihood of Qiao Nian, rumored to be a top Grandmaster, being a Great Grandmaster was very high.
However, even top Grandmasters couldn’t escape mental control.
The Four Guardians were the most heavily mind-controlled.
It was more than just an integration into instinct; even Wang Sheng had no way to break it.
This wasn’t to say that the person exerting the technique was incredibly strong, but rather that these four had been controlled for too long, not something that could be easily resolved. The best method was to eliminate the person controlling them.
“Interesting!”
Wang Sheng actually found this interesting.
Regardless of whether the technique was sinister, he wanted to see it for himself and verify it against the Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter.
“The one hiding over there, your Sect Leader must be waiting for me, right? Could you come out and lead the way!”
These people harbored malice against him but not the intent to kill.
It was mostly likely a result of Sect Hierarch Qiao Nian’s orders. Since that was the case, he naturally needed to make good use of it.
The information from Yuelai Inn included the location of the Heavenly Sect’s headquarters, and he could slowly look for it, but that was not as fast as having them lead the way.
This was also his confirmation.
Confirmation of whether his guess was correct, that Qiao Nian was waiting for him.
Clearly, his hunch was right.
Before long, one of the four Grandmasters stepped out, didn’t say a word, just walked ahead with malice, silently leading the way. Wang Sheng felt somewhat stifled on his behalf.
However, this was none of his concern; he simply signaled to Bai Yi to follow directly.
They walked for most of the day.
However, the leading Grandmaster didn’t seem to be taking him to the headquarters marked by Yuelai Inn, but to the largest city in Quanzhou—Yunze City.
Yunze City, adjacent to the largest lake in Quanzhou, Yunze Lake, took its name from it and was also the most developed city in Quanzhou.
Wang Sheng originally thought that by bringing him here, the Grandmaster had ill-intent, leading him into a trap, but upon scanning with his Divine Thought, he discovered it was just an ordinary city.
Not exactly ordinary; the common people in this city, just like those Martial Artists, all bore traces of mental control.
But to be honest, even though they were controlled, the spirit of these people seemed better than the common folk in Jianzhou, at least they did not appear to be starving, which he didn’t know whether to find ironic.
Wang Sheng knew that the information from Yuelai Inn might have been delayed.
Perhaps the Heavenly Sect used to be concealed, but now they evidently had complete control over Quanzhou, having moved their headquarters here directly.
Yuelai Inn also had an establishment within Yunze City, but the shopkeeper and the attendants there were all mind-controlled as well. However, judging by the traces, they had been recently controlled, which made it easy for him to solve.
The issue with the intelligence likely originated here.
After all, Yuelai Inn wasn’t omnipotent and couldn’t monitor a sect they only considered decent every moment of the day.
Moreover, with the local Yuelai Inn captured, it was no wonder the intelligence was inaccurate.
But this did not conceal the fact that all forces had underestimated the Heavenly Sect—the sect was stronger and more sinister than imagined, and if left unchecked, it could lead to serious problems.
While he was observing, the lead Grandmaster continued to move forward, walking towards a direction in Yunze City.
Wang Sheng could also feel malice coming from all directions.
The entire city was hostile towards them.
It was practically a Puppet City, yet the people within this city had their own thoughts, their own joys and sorrows, far from true puppets.
Wang Sheng reaffirmed that the control methods of the Heavenly Sect indeed had some tricks to them.
Before long, the Grandmaster in front stopped, and Da Bai did the same.
Wang Sheng’s Divine Thought spread out and discovered that this was a place similar to a ritual altar, with countless steps stretching upwards to support a height of nearly a hundred meters.
On the ground, every certain distance there were people who seemed to be paying homage towards the highest point of the altar.
His Divine Thought directly spread to these worshippers.
Then he noticed something was amiss, something seemed to be overflowing from these people, converging towards the highest point of the altar.
Harvesting!
The first word that came to Wang Sheng’s mind was this one.
Mainly because he was not unfamiliar with this method; the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter” had mentioned something similar.
“The same heritage?”
He quickly dismissed this idea. Although both involved harvesting, the methods were completely different, which he could discern.
The range of the harvesting described in the “Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter” was much broader, while the Heavenly Sect’s method was clearly only implementable within the confines of the altar.
However, the Heavenly Sect’s harvesting method did not completely bewilder people, the two methods each had their “strengths and weaknesses.”
And it seemed that the amount harvested varied with the person’s strength.
Wang Sheng stepped down from the tiger carriage and then summoned his Spiritual Flying Sword to guard the side of the carriage, saying, “You all stay inside and do not come out. I will be back soon.”
His flying sword, refined up to this point, could even slay Great Grandmasters without his full force. Even if all the Martial Artists here attacked together, they wouldn’t be enough for the flying sword to slay; guarding the tiger carriage was more than sufficient.
The leading Grandmaster sneered, controlled as he was, he had absolute confidence in the Heavenly Father.
This method was quite miraculous, but it was certainly no match for the Heavenly Father. To guard, you say? Whether you can return yourself remains to be seen.
Saying this, he walked up the steps of the altar.
Wang Sheng’s Divine Thought saw that more substance was being harvested from this person than all the others on the altar combined.
“Indeed!”
The stronger one’s strength, the more they were harvested.
This man, a Top Grandmaster, was the prime leek to be cut.
However, it was clear that the Grandmaster himself did not realize it and given the extent he was controlled, even if he had realized, he likely would not resist.
The Grandmaster respectfully led the way up the steps, but Wang Sheng had no intention of following him step by step.
He was not here to pay homage.
A Grandmaster could have so much harvested from him. If there were no surprises, the Grandmaster he had killed must have been a harvester—an important provision for the Heavenly Sect Leader, Qiao Nian.
By killing him, he had directly cut off his provision. To put it more seriously, it could be said to be a blockage of his path, an enmity difficult to resolve. Moreover, since he had also been attacked, there was no need for polite courtesies.
He directly used the modified Plum Flower Step, seemingly taking a single step, but in the blink of an eye, he arrived at the highest point of the altar.
Above was a vast palace, magnificent and grand, its structure incredibly unique as if it had the aura to swallow all of the heavens and earth. It was unknown whether such a design bore any deep significance.
His Divine Thought reached out, wanting to discover the details of the people inside the palace.
However, just as he began to approach, a voice directly transmitted, “Fellow Daoist, since you have come, why bother to probe? Why not come in for a sit-down and discuss the Tao!”
His Divine Thought was detected!
This had never happened before.
But Wang Sheng was not afraid.
His strength was never limited to Divine Thought alone, which was just the tip of the iceberg, an embellishment to his powers.
So what if his Divine Thought was detected!
After all, he had already determined that the person inside the palace should be similar to the White Lotus Demon King, a cultivator of the spirit.
And while that person used spiritual transmission, he had faintly sensed that person’s strength in the path of the spirit.
Very strong, not an ordinary Great Grandmaster, comparable to the White Lotus Spirit King.
No wonder he dared to control the people of Yuelai Inn, clearly because he had gained confidence, and judging by the time Yuelai Inn had been controlled, he had probably just had a breakthrough.
In times of chaos, indeed all kinds of demons and ghosts appeared.
Of course, these methods were still insufficient for him.
However, since he had been “cordially invited,” how could he miss it? With another step, he directly entered the palace…