Chapter 316: Chapter 261 Fire Suppression Perfection Chapter 316: Chapter 261 Fire Suppression Perfection Huangtian did not know why he could detect such stray spiritual power.
He only knew that after an anomaly occurred with the Spiritual Visualization, he naturally discovered it.
He was in this condition, and Wang Sheng was even more in the dark.
However, Huangtian was very peculiar to begin with; the presence of such strong inherent spiritual power was extremely abnormal.
Being able to see those stray spiritual powers might not be such a strange thing after all.
But according to him—
Wang Sheng spread out his Divine Thought.
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But no matter what method he used to search, he could not find the stray spiritual power Huangtian spoke of.
“Indeed, it’s not that easy!”
He had recognized this point early on, so there was no surprise, nor was he too disappointed.
However, he still wanted to try and locate this stray spiritual power.
Whether he could succeed was another matter, but he wouldn’t give up before finding the stray spiritual power.
Thus, Wang Sheng went into another lengthy seclusion.
Time flowed forward like water.
As everyone had predicted, the Taiping Sect firmly established itself in the Central Five Provinces, becoming the fifth major force.
Although it did not establish a dynasty, no force dared to underestimate it.
Moreover, as the four major dynasties were each dealing with their own issues, the Central Five Provinces actually became one of the few stable places, not much worse than the Three Counties.
If things continued this way for a few years, it might be possible to regain prosperity.
Originally, the four major dynasties should have been doing the same, but after their last action against the Taiping Sect, even though they ultimately withdrew, wars always result in deaths, and many young people from the four dynasties died.
Actually, that was bearable, but after the failure against the Taiping Sect, the four dynasties did not recuperate but continued to recruit soldiers massively, even expanding the recruiting age.
Even people in their sixties or seventies had to join the army if they were able to move.
No one could understand this behavior.
Previously stable regions, because of the dynasties’ establishment, became chaotic once again.
The Taiping Sect also wanted to take advantage of this to expand its followers, but after the defeat last time, the four dynasties completely banned the Taiping Sect, and capturing any follower would lead to death.
In such an environment, the common people did not dare to believe, and the Taiping Sect did not dare to spread their teachings easily, as they did not want to harm people.
So, the Taiping Sect continued to develop in the Central Five Provinces, but even there, it was enough for them to handle for a long time.
Soon, half a year passed, and the four great dynasties had amassed a massive military force; the original army of two million was reduced and then re-recruited to a total of five million.
Four dynasties with a five-million-strong army was definitely an unhealthy model.
But the four dynasties acted as if possessed.
Furthermore, of this five million, over three million were visibly incapable of combat, including very old people.
“What are the four great dynasties doing, have they gone mad?”
Even Huangtian did not understand what the four great dynasties were aiming for.
A randomly recruited army probably couldn’t even form a military formation.
Five million could likely be scattered by five hundred thousand, not even matching the efficiency of the previous two million.
“I don’t understand, but it looks like they’re going to make a move!” The strategist of the Taiping Sect had been analyzing for days and still could not figure out the reason.
“Making a move with five million people, not to mention their combat power, can they even supply enough food?”
No matter how profound the foundations of the four great dynasties were, they couldn’t sustain such a drain, especially after experiencing catastrophes in recent years.
“Five million, if they start a fight, half of them will starve to death.
Have the people of the four great dynasties had their brains smashed?”
“If they’re making a move, they wouldn’t be targeting us, would they?”
“It doesn’t seem like it; rather, it looks like they’re going to move against the Eastern Dynasty.
This time, the Eastern Dynasty recruited the most, two million on their own.”
People discussed fervently, but still did not understand why the four great dynasties recruited so many people.
If they were moving against the Eastern Dynasty, this was not the way to do it.
Five million disorganized people were worse than one million elite soldiers.
Yet, that’s exactly what they did.
“Continue gathering information.
When water flows, soil covers it; when soldiers come, generals block them!”
In the end, Huangtian could only decide on this.
The four great dynasties, he understood them less and less.
Almost to the point of madness.
However, despite gathering such a large army, the four major dynasties did not immediately act but continued recruiting, seemingly intent on exhausting all their resources.
Time passed and another half year went by, coming to the year 544 of the Great Zhou calendar, in May, a year had elapsed since the last battle among the five provinces.
The four major dynasties had prepared for so long and were finally ready to move.
With so much time passed, their target had become very clear.
The Ming Dynasty, Cang Dynasty, and Wu Dynasty were targeting the Eastern Dynasty.
The total number of troops from these four dynasties now exceeded eight million, a terrifying and abnormally large number that baffled all who studied military strategy.
No one understood why, as it defied all logic.
Regardless of how the world perceived it, the people from the four dynasties did not alter their plan, three on the offensive and one on the defensive.
At this moment, Wang Sheng slowly opened his eyes.
This retreat was more thorough than ever before, as he had not gone out to understand the situation.
Yet, under such circumstances, his gains had been immense.
“Realm—
Refining Essence to Qi, Fire Suppression: 1000%
Cultivation Technique—
Inner Core Skill (Refining Essence to Qi): Breakthrough +5 (76%)
Ba Duan Jin: Breakthrough +5 (86%)—Blood Qi like Dragon: 75%
Five Elements Fist: Breakthrough +4 (72%)—Five Internal Organs Containing God, Initial Stage: 98%
Yijin Scripture: Breakthrough +4 (76%)—True Body: 96%”
Lifeless Vacuum Sensing Chapter: Breakthrough +2 (86%)
Life—
Planting Skill: Breakthrough +6 (29%) Hidden Star Skill: 8 (%)
Reading: Breakthrough +1 (68%) Heaven and Earth Dao Rules Analysis: 1 (2.5%)
…
Martial Arts—
Baji Quan: Breakthrough +3 (90%) Plum Flower Step: Breakthrough +3 (86%)
Sword Flight: Breakthrough +1 (15%) Ritual Refining: Breakthrough +1 (89%)
God-slaying Sword: 8 (23%)
…
Knowledge—
Qiankun: Breakthrough +3 (15%) Military Formation: 9 (76%)
…
Divine Skills—
Summon Wind and Rain: Breakthrough +1 (20%) Heavenly Thunder: Breakthrough +1 (17%)
Strengthening Talisman: 4 (96%) Sword Transformation Technique: 5 (85%)”
A year’s time is incessant, but for the current Wang Sheng, it was insignificant.
With so many skills and a progress bar that only advanced through tasks, his daily fixed time and abundance of skills naturally resulted in slow improvements.
In this year’s time, although Wang Sheng had not wasted it, he had primarily focused on his cultivation techniques.
Several of his cultivation technique items were close to breakthroughs.
But most importantly was his realm.
“Refining Essence to Qi, Fire Suppression: 100%”
Reaching this realm indicated that he had achieved the perfect stage of the Refining Essence to Qi state, and just one more step would take him to the second major realm, “Refining Qi into God.”
However, Wang Sheng, feeling his own state and looking at the sky—
“Am I still being influenced?”