Qiao Nian had died!
Wang Sheng had made a move, but the actual cause of death was not by his hand; it was the intervention of the so-called “Heavenly Father”.
Otherwise, given Qiao Nian’s state just now, he might have been able to be saved. Such a Seeker passing away was indeed a pity, a sentiment that wasn’t lessened by the fact that Qiao Nian was his enemy.
He glanced at the book in his hand, Qiao Nian’s final legacy.
This must have been a very thick book originally, clearly, Qiao Nian had devoted much attention to it.
Even when interfered with by the Heavenly Father, he had steadfastly pursued his path.
But as death drew near, he realized that his way had long been tampered with, and the contents of the book were problematic, so he destroyed most of it.
Only a small part of the book was left for Wang Sheng, this “fellow seeker”.
Looking at the somewhat tattered and scattered pages, he felt somewhat emotional.
“Do I have some strange physique that gets entrusted with things?”
Last time, he had unexpectedly inherited the legacy of the White Lotus Demon King, and this time, he obtained half the inheritance of the Heavenly Sect Leader.
Some things just cannot be avoided.
And there’s more to it—
Wang Sheng looked towards the ruined altar and the mess that was Yunze City; dealing with the aftermath was anything but simple.
Moreover, with the loss of Qiao Nian, what direction the Sect would take became a question.
As for the issue of whether to kill the remaining Heavenly Sect cultists, it no longer held meaning.
Initially, he had truly intended to eliminate certain individuals, but events had unfolded beyond his expectations, with the entire Heavenly Sect under external influence.
And everyone who had offended and attacked him had already been dealt with by him, concluding that cycle of cause and effect.
The rest, though they bore hatred towards him for killing their so-called “brothers and sisters”, hadn’t made a move.
He wouldn’t kill others out of some emotional impulse; he didn’t enjoy such actions.
Additionally, with Qiao Nian’s death and the waning influence of the Heavenly Father, these people would likely come to their senses. By then, the so-called brotherhood and sisterhood were sure to crumble.
At that time, not to mention hatred, it would be a wonder if they didn’t fall apart completely.
Having lived under mind control for ten or even dozens of years, if someone regained their senses without losing their mind, it would signify a strong will.
The collapse of the Heavenly Sect seemed all but certain.
By then, Shuzhou would once again be thrown into chaos, and Wang Sheng couldn’t even tell if the destruction of the Heavenly Sect was truly a good thing.
Putting other things aside, although the Heavenly Sect had implemented mind control, due to the particularities of Sect Leader Qiao Nian’s system, they placed significant emphasis on the welfare of the common people, even distributing porridge—though such acts of charity held impure intentions.
Once the Heavenly Sect fell, the next sect that came to dominate Quanzhou might not even be capable of performing charity with impure motives.
The two-sided nature of things was sometimes truly helpless.
As for any vendetta others held against the Heavenly Sect, that was not his concern; they could seek their own retribution.
After gazing at Yunze City for a while longer, Wang Sheng headed towards the carriage.
“Let’s stay for another two days!”
He had acquired a substantial amount of things and information this time, and he needed to sort out his thoughts properly.
Upon returning to the carriage, the twelve children were all huddled together, evidently not having slept for a long time, looking fatigued and disheveled.
Liu Jian’an was in the front, holding Yun Xiao close as if in protection. On seeing Wang Sheng return, his eyes lit up.
Wang Sheng had a good idea of the situation.
This time, his discourse had lasted three days. While the inside of the carriage had no lack of food or clothing, and as martial artists, going without a toilet for three days wasn’t a big issue, his absence for three days must have caused the little ones a great deal of worry.
Looking at them, Wang Sheng smiled and said, “It’s all over now, get some good rest!”
Upon hearing those words, Liu Jian’an and the others calmed down and closed their eyes, falling asleep not long after.
Liu Jian’an was the quickest to succumb to sleep; these past few days, staying awake to comfort the others had taken a toll on his spirit.
Wang Sheng didn’t enter the carriage but retracted his flying sword and sat outside, speaking to the still somewhat shivering Da Bai, “Don’t be afraid, let’s go to Yuelai Inn!”
Da Bai inwardly wanted to complain.
Could it really not be scared?
The battle earlier, though the extent of destruction was deliberately kept under control, was too close to the altar for comfort, and Da Bai was unavoidably affected. If not for the protection of the flying sword, it might have perished.
But now that they had returned, there was a sense of security in staying close to a powerful being.
With these thoughts, Da Bai slowly moved forward, heading toward Yuelai Inn—to which it was already well-acquainted, not needing Wang Sheng to show the way.
Naturally, there were no awake people in the inn, so he found a few guest rooms to settle down and then waited for the awakening of the townspeople.
Meanwhile, he needed to sort through the information he had obtained. Qiao Nian had not said much before dying, but the information was plentiful.
“The most important piece of information is about the ’Heavenly Father’; it seems to have existed for a long time, interfering with others’ paths and preventing them from progressing.”
Wang Sheng analyzed Qiao Nian’s words; being disrupted forty years ago indicated that the so-called Heavenly Father had existed even before then.
It might even span across ages, always being present.
He couldn’t help but think more about it—that creature seemed like something that had been around for a very long time.
As if watching over everyone.
According to Qiao Nian, people who ventured onto the path of spiritual cultivation seemed to be interfered with and steered wrong.
Perhaps even Qi-Blood Martial Arts might be the same; though Qi-Blood Martial Arts didn’t show any apparent issues, it could be because the “Heavenly Father” found them easier to harvest, using covert methods.
“No, that might not be the case.”
Qi-Blood Martial Arts does have a path forward!
Others may not be aware, but he was acutely conscious of it.
Stargazing Valley Master had once reached a realm above the Grandmasters, displaying an incredibly powerful might.
“Speaking of which, did Stargazing Valley Master also engage with some mysterious entity?”
What Stargazing Valley Master had done was no secret, especially the battle in Tai Mountain, which was the focus of everyone’s attention.
But aside from knowing the fight was earth-shattering, almost destroying Tai Mountain, no one knew any more details.
Who was the opponent? Why did they fight?
All these were unknown.
Wang Sheng felt he might have the answer.
“Could it be that Stargazing Valley Master’s adversary was the so-called ’Heavenly Father’ and that he took the initiative to confront the challenge?”
According to Wu Yuancheng, Stargazing Valley Master seemed to have a specific purpose, actively engaged the battle, and managed to break through at the last moment of life, but it was already too late.
He had long anticipated his own death, not being a match for the enemy, which was why he sent Yue and Sterling away.
“If Qi-Blood Martial Arts has a path forward, it implies there are no issues, but… there’s still too little information!”
The emergence of “Heavenly Father” revealed some of the secrets behind this world to Wang Sheng.
There seemed to be a hidden force limiting the progress of cultivation.
Those who wished to advance further in Qi-Blood Martial Arts seemed to be obstructed; cultivators on the spiritual path appeared to be interfered with, unable to find the right path, even after decades of ignorance.
The fates of the two paths seemed all too similar.
Even without evidence, Wang Sheng highly suspected that the mysterious monster and the Heavenly Father were one and the same.
“What Qiao Nian summoned seemed to be only a manifestation of spirit, not a physical entity; the original strength must be quite strong, but clearly, it has its restrictions, and it seems it can’t interfere with me… and perhaps not even with Qi-Blood Martial Arts.”
Wang Sheng suddenly realized that if “Heavenly Father” and the entity Stargazing Valley Master faced were the same.
Then probably there wouldn’t be a problem with Qi-Blood Martial Arts, at least not until reaching the Grandmaster level and prior.
Because facing Qiao Nian, who pursued the path of spiritual cultivation, Heavenly Father chose to interfere with the path and led Qiao Nian astray.
But facing Stargazing Valley Master, who followed the path of Qi-Blood Martial Arts, it was obstruction.
Two different outcomes proved that being feared the rise of Qi-Blood Martial Arts cultivators.
Of course, the same might not hold true for the Master of Destiny.
The Master of Destiny might also have been a result of interference.
There were also two key pieces of information.
One was that the Heavenly Father was something within this world, possibly linked to something else.
The other was Qiao Nian’s calling Heavenly Father a “thief,” a word that Wang Sheng was sensitive to, as Stargazing Valley Master had spoken similarly of the “Seven Great Thieves,” a term that circulated among martial artists.
Due to the ambiguity of numbers, Stargazing Valley Master’s “thief” was directed at those Grandmaster Level forces.
“Could there be any connection between the two?”
“Heavenly Father and Overlord Level Grandmasters…”
Conjecture boldly, but verify with caution!
That’s Wang Sheng’s current mindset; everything was possible.
All these conclusions were based on the information available, but truthfully, there was no concrete evidence.
Take his fundamental assumption—for instance, that the mysterious monster Stargazing Valley Master faced and “Heavenly Father” are the same.
Even that judgment he couldn’t confirm with absolute certainty.
But it was certainly feasible as a hypothesis, for some things must be guessed first and then verified.
“Heavenly Father and the mysterious entity, this world isn’t so simple!”
Such monsters exceeded the norm, certainly beyond the strength of a Grandmaster.
Wang Sheng narrowed his eyes, contemplating deeply.
Unfortunately, even with the dual information of Stargazing Valley Master and Qiao Nian, he still lacked enough evidence to confirm his speculations.
“Just take things one step at a time!”
He wasn’t, in fact, afraid of the so-called Heavenly Father and the mysterious entity Stargazing Valley Master had faced.
Since they were interfering and obstructing, it indicates they were afraid.
Power surpassing Grandmasters induced their fear, and even the path of spiritual cultivation was causing their dread.
Coincidentally, Wang Sheng now fulfilled both conditions.
Both the power surpassing the Grandmaster’s limit and the path of spiritual cultivation were within his grasp.
So he wasn’t too fearful of the powers lurking in the shadows.
If they were truly invincible, they wouldn’t resort to such underhanded tactics.
“Still, my strength must continue to grow!”
Regardless of his fear of that entity, he still needed to find ways to enhance his power.
Strength was the foundation of confidence.
There was also the half-manual of secret teachings left by Qiao Nian.
This was another new spiritual cultivation secret book, from which he had gained insight while discussing with Qiao Nian.
Now in possession of the foundational manual, perhaps he could progress even further.
“Heavenly Father” interfered with the path of spiritual cultivation, not to say how much threat this path could impose on him.
But since it was taboo, surely there were no issues with cultivating it.
Even if incomplete, it could be used to refine the Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter, making his spiritual cultivation system even more perfect…