After realizing that Wang Lingwei and the others might also possess that mysterious power, Wang Sheng focused his divine thought and probed towards Wang Lingwei and her comrades.
His action seemed to have been somewhat late, as the malicious power disappeared very quickly; in other words, it was already at the end of its fading process.
Just as his divine thought made contact with Wang Lingwei and the others, that malevolent force vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.
However, Wang Sheng was certain that the sensation from before was no mere illusion.
While he hadn’t completely grasped that power, he had caught a glimpse of its tail.
“Indeed!”
“Uncle, what’s happening? Why are you staring at us like that?”
Wang Lingwei and the others were genuinely startled this time around.
The aura sporadically emitted by Wang Sheng just now was absolutely not something they could withstand.
“Something’s gone wrong. Don’t move; let me check you out.”
Since he had sensed it on them, it indicated that the power harboring ill-will might still linger on their bodies.
“Uncle, is there something wrong with us?”
Wang Lingwei had been practicing cultivation for several years now. Even though she wasn’t particularly old, she was aware of some issues. Yet, because of her young age and having been frightened by Wang Sheng, she was somewhat panicked.
Wang Sheng soothed them briefly: “Nothing’s wrong. You haven’t felt uncomfortable, have you?”
They all shook their heads.
“Then there’s no need to panic; it will soon be okay.”
Although he said so, the actual situation was far from being as relaxed.
The clear malevolence emanating from that mysterious force, once inside a person’s body, was hardly something Wang Sheng considered to be benign.
“I must see what’s truly happening!”
Murmuring to himself inwardly for a while, he harnessed his divine thought at full strength to inspect the conditions of Wang Lingwei and her companions.
The first order was their physical condition.
On the surface, there appeared to be no issues, and they didn’t feel discomfort.
But Wang Sheng, having experienced the “Qi Rushing to the Disease” stage, understood well that one’s physical state should not be judged by external appearances alone—sometimes, the body can deceive.
Thanks to his experience, Wang Sheng’s examination was swift.
The outcome soon became clear.
“The meridians are unobstructed, and although there are some minor issues, the impact is negligible; indeed, their physical condition is exceptional.”
In other words, that malevolent force had most likely not affected their bodies.
Next was the crux of the matter: spiritual power.
Spiritual power is a rather broad term, encompassing the entirety of a person’s life activities.
If not fortified through cultivation, it is incredibly fragile and quite hard to detect.
Thus, inspecting their spiritual power required greater effort from Wang Sheng, as well as utmost caution.
Fortunately, the entire process unfolded smoothly, not lasting long before completion.
In the end, he received a rather unexpected result.
There were no issues whatsoever!
Though he had distinctly felt that malign force on Wang Lingwei and the others, their subsequent examination revealed no significant or even minor problems—with their physical and psychic states being perfectly healthy.
“No immediate effect? But something’s still not right. Even such thorough exploration couldn’t detect that power’s presence—like it vanished into thin air.”
Wang Sheng pondered every possibility in his mind.
Still, no insight surfaced.
Wang Lingwei and the others were simply too normal.
It was as if that harmful force had never existed, and it was all his own misperception.
Yet the power he had sensed earlier was undeniably real.
“No abnormalities is the biggest anomaly!”
While he was inwardly expressing his astonishment, Wang Lingwei spoke up, “Uncle, is our condition very serious?”
Watching Wang Sheng, they looked akin to seeing a brooding old physician, uncertain about their own issues and feeling inner distress.
They had never seen Wang Sheng furrow his brow before—could they be suffering from an incurable disease?
Wang Sheng also came to his senses and said, “There aren’t any issues with your physical condition; you are perfectly healthy.”
“Really?”
“Truly!”
He had not spoken rashly; although he sensed a problem, the exam results did testify to their exceptional health.
Hearing his definitive words, Wang Lingwei and the others relaxed somewhat, relieved at the absence of problems.
“All’s well now; let’s head home.”
Since no problems were immediately apparent, Wang Sheng didn’t dwell on it any longer, leaving some protective and monitoring measures on Wang Lingwei and the others before moving on.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to continue the investigation; he simply lacked any leads.
He planned to try again when his own strength had further increased, as, by then, new insights might be gained.
After all, upon completing the “Refining Essence to Qi, Quelling Fire” stage, the next stage was “Refining Qi into God.” During that phase, spiritual power would undergo a tremendous transformation, and perhaps more would be revealed then.
Since that’s the case, we should return to Qingshan Village for a period of cultivation first.
When they left Jiangyuan City, Jiangyuan City was still in turmoil due to the matter of proclaiming kingship, and many people were clear that the four powers that were proclaiming kingship now all wished to become the next dynasty.
And how long had the Great Zhou dynasty fallen? Only a month or two.
These powers were already too impatient.
However, no one dared to speak out openly about it, because the four overlord-level powers appeared to indeed have the strongest strength at the moment.
No one dared to provoke them, and no one dared to speak recklessly.
Should the walls have ears and one were to be caught, that would be trouble.
Willingly or not, everyone had inadvertently become the people of a fallen nation; the Great Zhou was truly gone for good.
But not too many people were uncomfortable with this, as the notion that dynasties at most lasted five hundred years was deeply ingrained in the hearts of the people, and the fall of Great Zhou was just another cycle of reincarnation; life still had to go on as usual.
Everyone needed to adapt to their new identities.
…
The chaos of the outside world did not affect Wang Sheng. Given it was only hundreds of kilometers of travel, Wang Sheng had Bai Yi speed up to reach Qingshan Village today.
Even in his normal state, Bai Yi’s strength was comparable to that of a Seventh-Grade Martial Artist or higher, so their speed was quite fast.
It didn’t take long before they entered the territory of the three counties.
The county city they entered was Lushui County, and this was where Sun Xing would part ways with them, because he needed to find the Wu Family and his own relatives.
“I thank the lord for your care along the way!”
Sun Xing knew that if it weren’t for Wang Sheng, he might have been able to reach this place, but it would definitely not have been so easy.
He wouldn’t have been able to resolve the matter of the Rebellion Army entering the city so effortlessly.
“There is no need to thank me; it was a matter of convenience. Let’s part ways here. The Wu Family should be easy to find. Pass my regards to Wu Yuancheng for me; the information he provided was very useful.”
Without the information from Wu Yuancheng, he might not have been able to obtain so much information.
“Definitely!”
The group parted ways here.
Before long, Sun Xing found the Wu Family. He had a token with him and soon met Wu Yuancheng.
Seeing Sun Xing, Wu Yuancheng let out a sigh of relief, “Why did it take you so long to arrive? Didn’t I say that if things became undoable, you should leave and come to find me?”
Although he was reluctant to give up the foundation he had built, he valued people’s lives more and had already given instructions.
Knowing that the Imperial City had fallen and Sun Xing had not returned for a month or two, he was worried, thinking that Sun Xing might have died in that turmoil.
“Master, this is what happened…”
Sun Xing related his experiences to Wu Yuancheng, and then asked, “Master, who exactly is that lord? I feel he is terrifyingly powerful; even a Great Grandmaster might not be his match.”
“I did not expect you to come back with that lord. This is your fortune. Let me tell you this: the reason I can live here peacefully is partly because of that lord’s protection. He is the Guardian God spoken of in these lands, extremely powerful. Just show respect!”
Sun Xing did not expect Wang Sheng to have such a background.
His fortune this time was not insignificant, after all, before leaving, that lord had given him a bottle of elixir.
He had struck it rich!
…
Meanwhile, on another side, after leaving Lushui County City, Wang Sheng, leading the group, soon arrived at the former location of Qingshan Village.
“We’re finally here, Bai Yi, you can be free now!”
“Roar!”
With a roar from Bai Yi, who had been a mode of transportation for nearly half a year, he was now liberated and could enjoy life every day again.
And having had enough fun on this trip, it was the perfect time to take a good rest.
After entering Qingshan Village, Liu Jian’an, Wang Lingwei, and others were visibly more excited; they were about to return home. Having been away for so long, they missed their families deeply.
“Don’t run around; let’s head into the mountains and return to the village!”
The road to the mountains obviously did not stop them, and it didn’t take long for them to arrive back at Qingshan Village.
Five months had passed, and the village head had clearly been busy, constantly developing the village. The changes in the village were significant.
First, the roads in the village were all dirt before, but now they were all paved with stone slabs, and it was clear that there had been planning, making them look quite elegant.
Then there were the houses; the houses in Qingshan Village were originally left by bandits, and though they had been remodelled to be habitable, their quality was questionable.
Now, many houses had been renovated and looked not only much stronger but also more aesthetic.
Spreading out his Divine Thought, he saw his own house had also been renovated and was arguably the best in the village.
Almost everything had been refurbished.
He had been busy with various matters these past few years, so now he could finally focus on sorting these things out.
Wang Sheng led his group into the village and quickly some people spotted them.
Mainly because Bai Yi did not like to shrink down and still had a huge physique, it was very conspicuous.
Before long, the village head, accompanied by many villagers, came to meet them.
“It’s good that you are back!”
Wang Sheng nodded, spoke a few simple words, and then returned to his own house.
Although his house had been renovated and refurbished, the layout had not changed. He was still quite familiar with it and did not feel too out of place.
And just as he had sat down for a while, Yue arrived.