Yingxi had even forgotten how she managed to return to the Jade Palace Estate.
For a person—or rather, a cultivator—living in this world, the aning of their existence relied on two conventional judgnts.
First, starting from oneself: when the eyes open, the world appears; when the eyes close, the world disappears. One is the master of the world, and their existence is defined entirely by themselves.
But those who could reach this state were either stunning heavenly geniuses or deranged idiots. Such people were in the minority.
Second, which applied to the majority: a cultivator was the sum of their cultivation base and their social connections.
As a cultivator, Zhou Yingxi's cultivation base had been built entirely under Zhou Bojiao's care, and her relatives survived in the cultivation world under his protection.
When the ancestor of the Zhou Family chose to treat his younger generation as alchemy materials, using them as the capital to attain the Dao, Zhou Yingxi's existence as an individual cultivator practically collapsed.
The so-called shattering of one's worldview and values referred to exactly this kind of situation.
Entering the Jade Palace Estate in a daze, utterly miserable, Yingxi found Wang Yulou listening to Zheng Yan's report.
"...There are definitely more than three thousand people. Those three thousand largely took the lead, showing the loose cultivators in Wunan who were unaware of the West Sea's peculiarities that opportunities existed here.
"Therefore, they followed suit and ca over. But it's not easy to live in the West Sea. After these people arrived, the price of everything went up. Just getting a place to stay is now over thirty percent more expensive than before.
"And 'before' refers to the prices after more than a decade of slow inflation.
"The Annex City Enforcent Team has also stepped up its efforts. Those loose cultivators with nowhere to stay will be directly locked up and sent to various outposts.
"Yulou, if things keep going like this, I'm worried that chaos will break out sooner or later."
Seeing Zhou Yingxi arrive, Zheng Yan hurriedly wrapped up his report and offered his judgnt.
Wang Yulou nodded to Yingxi and instructed Zheng Yan.
"No major chaos will happen. Don't raise the prices of the Wang Family's Western Sea Branch's properties so drastically; keep them ten percent lower than the market price. Go back to work."
Zheng Yan bowed and retreated. Yulou hurried to his wife's side. He had naturally noticed that sothing was wrong with Yingxi.
Her beautiful peach-blossom eyes had clearly been crying and were heavily bloodshot. It wasn't just a matter of inspiring pity; even a precept-keeping cultivator with a Dao heart of iron would find it hard to remain calm upon seeing her.
"What's wrong?"
Although he already had his guesses, many things couldn't be spoken carelessly in this world, so Yulou simply held Yingxi, offering her support and comfort.
"I..."
Resting against Wang Yulou's broad shoulders, Zhou Yingxi finally recovered a bit of her vanished sense of existence.
She had lost so many family mbers and had beco enemies with the ancestor who sheltered her cultivation. Her very existence as a cultivator had largely faded away, leaving her like a lone boat lost in stormy seas, battered and broken by the tempest.
Yulou's tily comfort and embrace were like a warm, calm harbor, allowing the powerless Zhou Yingxi to find sothing to lean on.
"Husband..." Zhou Yingxi called out hoarsely.
Her heart ached so much that she couldn't speak. In the end, she rely leaned weakly against Wang Yulou's shoulder.
The tears that had largely dried up began to flow again.
Heaven and earth had never possessed a true Dao, and ethics were far from absolute laws. Human hearts were nothing but water struggling to flow upstream, and fate was a sea-overturning wave that was hard to defy.
Zhou Yingxi still couldn't bear it; she couldn't withstand this crushing weight imposed by grand cultivators.
"Yingxi, there are many things we cannot change, so we must first learn to accept them.
"The rise and fall of a family and the developnt of an individual, in a certain sense, have no distinction of high or low.
"Ancestral Master's thods are inappropriate, but you must understand that he ant well."
As Wang Yulou spouted this nonsense, he led Yingxi into the room and laid the ntally exhausted girl on the bed.
"Get a good sleep. Once you wake up, it will be a new day."
Zhou Yingxi understood Wang Yulou's powerlessness, but she still couldn't fall asleep peacefully.
Those tear-stained peach-blossom eyes stared blankly at the patterns on the bed canopy; it was the Zhou Family's crest.
The crest of Perfected Man Fujiao slaying a flood dragon to attain the Dao.
'Ancestor, Ancestor, why did it have to co to this?'
Wang Yulou had so guesses about what was hidden beneath that terrifying scar on Yingxi's stomach.
For a long ti after that, compared to the deeply worried Wang Xianmao and the increasingly desolate Zhou Yingxi, Wang Yulou remained remarkably calm.
That precious pill Old Zhou refined was an existence capable of summoning a Heavenly Tribulation. With such potent dicinal power, how could a re Qi Refining cultivator like Zhou Yingxi easily endure it?
The lengthy process of refining the precious pill was likely the reason Zhou Bojiao had been in such a rush to concoct it in the first place.
Zhou Bojiao was waiting, but Shen Guang was also waiting.
In Wang Yulou's view, he and Yingxi were exactly like the cicada in the idiom of the mantis stalking the cicada. Zhou Bojiao was the Mantis, and the true siskin lurking behind them all was Shen Guang, sitting high in the nine heavens of the West Sea.
Mang Xiang and Shen Guang had probably joined forces, but their interests weren't necessarily fully aligned. Zhou Bojiao might have already been sold out by Mang Xiang, or perhaps not.
Otherwise, Shen Guang wouldn't have used Xihai Zhongcheng to remind Wang Yulou not to act rashly.
This proved that Wang Yulou's attempt to use Feng Jianxian to test Mu Chunze had been the right move.
Because of this, Wang Yulou chose to place his trust in Shen Guang Immortal Venerable.
He was soone who had achieved Golden Core by forcibly sacrificing countless cultivators. It was impossible for a grand cultivator like him to plot for years and still fail to outmaneuver a half-dead Zhou Bojiao.
This respect for Shen Guang perhaps stemd partly from the Wang Clan's teachings since childhood.
After all, Shen Guang had been written into the Wang Clan's ancestral teachings, educating the clan mbers from a young age.
Looking at it from this perspective, it carried a sense of fateful coincidence.
Two years later.
Wang Yulou was polishing his cultivation base in the quiet room when his expression suddenly shifted.
Without changing his posture, he unleashed a streak of dark blue spiritual energy to Absorb the voice transmission talisman at the door.
After reading its contents, he smiled thoughtfully and casually burned it to ashes.
Leaving the quiet room, Wang Yulou first went next door to greet Zhou Yingxi.
"Yingxi, I have to go out for a bit. Want to co along?"
The beautiful woman dressed in white didn't answer, not even opening her eyes.
Ever since she learned that her relatives had all been turned into a spiritual pill, Zhou Yingxi had been wearing white for several years.
The fact that the Zhou Family mbers were a bunch of trash had no bearing on how Zhou Yingxi felt about them.
Facing his indifferent Dao Companion, Wang Yulou nodded to himself and spoke gently.
"Then I'll head over first. I'll bring so donkey intestines back for you later."
Fellow Daoist Yingxi couldn't hold back anymore. She opened her eyes and glared at Wang Yulou in angry reproach.
'If you're going to bring it, then bring it. Why say it so loudly?'
Having completed his daily task of regulating his wife's ntal state, Wang Yulou left the estate in a good mood. But as soon as he stepped out the door, he saw Guo Yaoyue, the sender of that voice transmission talisman.
"Old Guo? What are you doing waiting here?"
Wang Yulou paused, then complained with feigned displeasure.
"You and I are brothers. If you have sothing to discuss, just co find inside the estate.
"Waiting at the door makes it look like Wang Yulou's door is hard to enter, to the point where even a popular figure like you from the Annex City Enforcent Team can't get in."
Left hanging awkwardly by Wang Yulou's sarcastic remarks, Guo Yaoyue understood that Wang Yulou was actually dissatisfied with the matter ntioned in his voice transmission talisman.
But what could he do? His master wasn't a Purple Palace grand cultivator...
"It was my lack of consideration. How about this, Yulou: I'll treat you to a nice place today, alright?"
Left with no other options, Guo Yaoyue could only helplessly admit his mistake.
Using power to oppress others, bullying with backing, a dog relying on its master's might—Wang Yulou now finally possessed the flavor of a villain in a story.
'You are a lapdog under the tutelage of Shen Guang?
'Sorry, but I am a lapdog directly under two Immortal Venerables. I don't have any middlen above !'
Although this comparison was a bit crude, the damn Immortal Alliance was just like this, and Wang Yulou had no other choice.
Mounting the Black Dragon Steed, Wang Yulou, the head of the Demon-Suppressing Treasure Pagoda case investigation team, began to guide Guo Yaoyue's work.
"Old Guo, I personally have no issues with you, but you know very well that the Demon-Suppressing Treasure Pagoda case is one that several True Persons specifically highlighted.
"It's been over two years without a result. We can already be considered incompetent. Are we really going to use a fabricated 'truth' to brush off the True Persons who care about this case?"
'Idiot, you also know we've been investigating for two years.
'In these two years, we've nearly searched every single latrine inside and outside Western Sea Immortal City. Is that not working hard enough?
'You're riding on the coattails of the investigation to brazenly drum up business for the combat arena and the Western Sea First Auction House. Anyone who refuses to offer discounts and 'sincerity' ends up strictly investigated by us.
'But it's been investigated for two years! Wang Yulou, you don't slog away on the front lines every day, but we have to!'
"Yes, Fellow Daoist Yulou is absolutely right," Guo Yaoyue, who was leading the horse for Wang Yulou, said respectfully.
How could he know if Wang Yulou was truly lining his own pockets?
If he were actually doing this for his own gain, he couldn't possibly be this arrogant.
The combat arena was the Immortal Venerable's property—and not just one, but two Immortal Venerables. Wang Yulou worked so hard every day just to generate more revenue for them.
This kind of matter was far beyond soone like Guo Yaoyue's place to criticize!
Wang Yulou was clear in his mind. If the three elders of Shen Guang's faction didn't speak up, and the three True Persons of the Immortal Alliance in the West Sea didn't speak up, then the Demon-Suppressing Treasure Pagoda case would continue to be investigated.
The essence of the West Sea's chaotic situation was actually Shen Guang and Mang Xiang joining forces to set a trap. The goal of their trap corresponded to one word—'chaos.'
But this chaos wouldn't happen in the West Sea.
On a smaller scale, it was the Sky Serpent Sect and Red Lantern Illumination Sect going to war; the two sects had been brewing this for almost twenty years.
On a larger scale, it was an Immortal Alliance civil war, which was what the Immortal Venerables on the Gathering Immortals Platform were currently preparing for—no one took this kind of thing as a joke.
Therefore, the only true risk Wang Yulou currently faced was the danger brought by Zhou Bojiao.
On this point, Wang Yulou decided to trust Shen Guang.
From Mu Changze, to Zhou Bojiao's special path to Dao attainnt, to Shen Guang's unique identity, and finally to Shen Guang using Xihai Zhongcheng to warn him against acting rashly.
Everything combined gave Wang Yulou confidence.
Pondering the situation in the West Sea along the way, Wang Yulou arrived at the entrance of the Annex City's Myriad Dao Market under Guo Yaoyue's guidance.
Unexpectedly, a large crowd had gathered here today. They all looked like loose cultivators, each dressed more respectably than the last, but none wore a magical robe. They were all flash and no substance.
"South Annex City must be built imdiately; otherwise, we won't even have a place to stay! The West Sea belongs to all cultivators!"
The West Sea did belong to all cultivators, but its shares were divided by strength. The Immortal Alliance, Shen Guang, and the eight Purple Palaces of the West Sea took ninety percent. Of the remaining ten percent, the various Foundation Establishnt cultivators took ninety percent of that.
"That's right! We ca to make contributions to the West Sea, not to sit in prison! You can't just send us to the outposts because we don't have the spirit stones for a proper house!"
They thought they were here to make contributions, but in reality, they were nothing more than rations Shen Guang was delivering to the demons of the West Sea...
"The land in Western Sea Immortal City has already been bought up by the previous cultivators. If South Annex City isn't expanded now, where are we latecors supposed to live?"
Sigh.
Wang Yulou did not express his stance; he rely shook his head slightly.
The loose cultivators gathered in righteous indignation, shouting their demands.
Seeing Wang Yulou shake his head, Guo Yaoyue's eyelids twitched.
He hurriedly sent out a voice transmission talisman. Soon, over a dozen Annex City Enforcent Team cultivators patrolling nearby rushed over.
Recognizing Wang Yulou, the newcors hurriedly bowed in greeting.
"Fellow Daoist Jade Palace, our apologies for spoiling your mood. We'll drive away these lazy pieces of trash right now!"
Silently watching Guo Yaoyue lead his n to chase away the 'troublemaking' loose cultivators—even arresting a few to serve as a warning—Wang Yulou thought of many things.
Lazy pieces of trash?
Thus... the significance of the Wang Clan enduring humiliation to bear heavy burdens beca incredibly concrete in this mont.
In the old cultivation arts, the Heaven-Man Resonance thod allowed one to reach the Purple Palace without relying on resources, depending solely on talent.
No one was trash. Among so many thods, everyone could find a path suited to them.
In other words, today's cultivation world did not rely on talent. With enough trial and error, anyone's talent could shine with the right cultivation thod.
Morality and fairness were not even part of the core ideology shaped by the Immortal Alliance.
There was no morality, no fairness. These loose cultivators, fully exploited by Shen Guang, were the perfect examples.
On Shen Guang's path to Dao attainnt, he had sent countless people deep into the West Sea to feed the demonic beasts. Did any grand cultivator of the Immortal Alliance ever step forward to stop him?
No.
The path of attaining the Dao was a fiercely competitive ga. No grand cultivator was willing to expend their core resources to act as a stepping stone for soone who couldn't bring them any return—doing so would only weaken their standing among the other grand cultivators.
Therefore, Wang Yulou was certain that the advice he gave to Mo Yunshu was correct.
If you want to change things, you must first beco the Sole Venerable.
If you aren't the Sole Venerable, you must obey the rules.
"You brought here?"
Standing at the entrance of the Bright Moon Night Inn, Wang Yulou felt rather unenthusiastic.
The Bright Moon Night Inn was nothing more than a place of worldly pleasures. There was no aning to it.
"Yes, Fellow Daoist Yulou. Today, I've prepared a modest banquet. Immortal Maiden Mingdu, Immortal Maiden Yunshu, and Brother Yanghe have also co. Let's head inside and talk."
Right now, Zhou Yingxi had essentially stopped investigating the case. Wang Yulou alone shouldered the investigative duties for both the Punishnt Court and the Information Gathering Court. As the investigation team leader, he firmly held the reins of power.
But with Guo Yaoyue suddenly bringing the others here for a surprise ambush without prior notice, Wang Yulou was actually quite displeased.
He smiled, pointed at Old Guo, and said, "Old Guo, look at you, always loving to prepare surprises for . What, where did you guys find out it was my birthday today?"
Old Guo's expression imdiately contorted, looking as colorful as if he'd been pissed on by twenty donkeys in succession.
Fine, fine, fine. Wang Yulou, you are truly shaless.
Walking into the Bright Moon Night Inn without looking back, Wang Yulou's voice transmission echoed in Guo Yaoyue's mind.
'Forget it. Of course, it's impossible for any of you to know my birthday.
'Yaoyue, I'm very satisfied that you're willing to lead my horse.
'But pulling those three into a surprise ambush—I don't like it.'
Guo Yaoyue naturally didn't dare underestimate Wang Yulou anymore. He hurried forward to lead the way.
However, Wang Yulou didn't need him to lead the way at all.
"Senior, the room on the third floor that Feng Jianxian usually uses. Have Lady Huai Die co over to play the zither. Yaoyue doesn't understand the Bright Moon Night Inn."
Familiar with the routine, he greeted the Moon Splendor Sect Steward of the Bright Moon Night Inn and went straight up to the third floor, leaving Guo Yaoyue standing in the second-floor corridor.
Shaving off another layer of your arrogance!
I'd like to see what kind of play you plan to sing later, Guo Yaoyue.
Shen Guang Immortal Venerable was naturally worthy of respect, but the beasts of burden working under the Immortal Venerable were another matter. Wang Yulou didn't need to be overly polite.
Above him, there were no middlen. He could directly use profits to exchange for the Immortal Venerable's favor.
——
The first to enter was Jin Mingdu. Immortal Maiden Mingdu even ca in holding a cup of wine.
Walking over, she sat right beside Yulou and poured wine for him.
'Guo Yaoyue has been tornted by you for two years. He wants to reach Foundation Establishnt and isn't willing to drag this out any longer.
'When he invited over, he only said there had been so progress in the case. I only just found out that you were coming too.
'If you don't believe , you can check when you get ho to see the voice transmission talisman I just sent you.'
Wang Yulou reached out, wrapped an arm around Mingdu, and kissed the beauty directly on the cheek, laughing.
"A reward for you."
Surprised by the sudden ambush, Mingdu angrily swung a fist at Yulou. Yulou caught it effortlessly and imdiately shoved a mid-grade magical artifact jade pendant into her hand.
A reward, and not just the kiss.
As for genuine feelings, there were absolutely none.
Pretending to be cordial still required effort.
Roping in Jin Mingdu, or even marrying her, carried a hundred benefits and not a single harm.
To put it bluntly, the Demon-Suppressing Treasure Pagoda case was rely a test to gauge the stances of Immortal Alliance Direct Great Cultivators like True Person Jinshan and Qingrui Xianzun. The culprit was either Zhou Bojiao or Shen Guang—this case had directly forced Zhou Bojiao to concoct his pill early.
Therefore, Wang Yulou could see right through the hidden motives behind Jin Mingdu proactively approaching him over the past two years.
Of course, his perspective ant he couldn't imagine what Jinshan was truly worried about—Mang Xiang and Shen Guang coming together ant that an Immortal Alliance civil war wasn't necessarily the worst-case scenario. The Three Sects east of the West Sea joining Shen Guang to rebel against the Immortal Alliance was the truly terrifying possibility.
As for the truth of the case...
Wang Yulou actually leaned more toward Shen Guang. This Immortal Venerable was incredibly strategic in his plotting and utterly disregarded the Immortal Alliance's rules.
Clear Stream Market was like this, South Annex City was like this, and the Myriad Dao Origin Hub recklessly selling Purple Palace cultivation thods was also like this. Shen Guang's way of doing things could hardly be described simply as 'unscrupulous'.
For the Demon-Suppressing Treasure Pagoda case, no matter the result, the conclusion had to withstand any retaliatory strikes from the potential masterminds. This was also the reason Wang Yulou had delayed closing the case for so long.
When Yunshu entered, she felt dizzy seeing Wang Yulou and Jin Mingdu in each other's arms.
She shook her head and looked at the two again, only to see Jin Mingdu already straightening the edges of her magical robe, while Wang Yulou raised his cup to invite her to sit. It was as if everything just now had been a hallucination.
"This is bad. I've caught a sickness from investigating this case. Wang Yulou, if we don't close the case soon, let alone Fellow Daoist Yaoyue, even I won't be able to take it anymore."
Over these past two years, the one who had grown the most was Qiu Lianpu. Being jointly tornted by Wang Yulou and Guo Yaoyue, his stress tolerance had skyrocketed.
The second most improved was Mo Yunshu. Through observing Wang Yulou, she had cured herself of her impractical fantasies.
Wang Yulou's success in the West Sea, his success within the Immortal Alliance system, was a realist textbook on the philosophy of surviving in the Immortal Alliance.
Tagging along with Wang Yulou was the best cure for a muddled mind.
However, Wang Yulou understood that Fellow Daoist Yunshu was actually expressing her dissatisfaction with his delay in closing the case. Mo Yunshu was just a bit too kind, but she wasn't an idiot. Was Wang Yulou actually investigating the case?
In Wang Yulou's eyes, there was no case to begin with.
He didn't have a single ounce of courage to actually investigate the case, but when it ca to using the investigation as an excuse to handle his own affairs—Wang Yulou not only had that courage, he had it in spades.
"Actually, I'm fine with it, Yulou. I don't have any complaints about the case's progress. I'm just thinking, how about we drag Lian Chengxian out to take the bla?"
Chen Yanghe walked in and voiced his opinion.
Wang Yulou's previous explanation to them had been that the truth was always on the way. Investigating was one thing, but investigating was still just investigating; they couldn't only investigate.
They had to prepare a 'counterasure for when the truth is absolutely impossible to uncover'—and that counterasure had landed on Qiu Lianpu. That was why they said the results of Wang Yulou's training on Qiu Lianpu over these two years were the most obvious. He had managed to endure it.
"We can consider it. Qiu Lianpu remains the primary plan. As for you, Yaoyue, to push to close the case, you've set up quite a grand gathering."
Guo Yaoyue didn't realize that Wang Yulou was planting a landmine for him.
Wang Yulou was also afraid. As the head of the investigation team, he had to bear the main responsibility.
What if the 'truth' they negotiated didn't sit right and was exploited by Shen Guang in the future?
Guo Yaoyue's actions today ant that if the truth was deed improper, it wouldn't implicate Wang Yulou or the others—Shen Guang was just baiting them, wasn't he?
The clash of grand cultivators' strength was one thing; scrambling for as many bargaining chips as possible was another. The Immortal Alliance was still standing, after all, and many seemingly insignificant chips could be played by higher-ups within the Immortal Alliance system to achieve imnse tactical value.
"Fellow Daoist Jade Palace, it has been two years. We've fought together in Western Sea Immortal City, doing our part for the city's stability."
"As the leader during this ti, you have guided and spurred on. I, Yaoyue, have learned a great deal."
"This first cup of wine is a toast to the Immortal Alliance's long-lasting peace and stability."
"This second cup is a toast to the collective efforts of all our colleagues."
"And this third cup is a toast to you, Fellow Daoist Jade Palace."
Guo Yaoyue downed three cups of seventh-grade Flowing Brilliance Fine Wine in a row.
Wang Yulou showed no reaction. He rely held the small stone turtle in his hand and brought its head to the edge of his wine cup.
The beast was quite clever—or perhaps just greedy—as it imdiately began lapping up the wine with a snorting sound.
Sharpened by his ti around several brilliant minds, Chen Yanghe had improved significantly.
He looked at the small stone turtle in Wang Yulou's hand, then at Guo Yaoyue standing awkwardly by the door, and his control over his facial expression slipped slightly.
Stars shone in Jin Mingdu's eyes as she looked at Wang Yulou. This was exactly what an overbearing aura looked like.
Brilliance wasn't only shown in magical combat. A true heavenly genius would never shrink back in any situation.
"Fellow Daoist Jade Palace, I am almost a hundred years old now. If I don't reach Foundation Establishnt soon, I will pass the pri age for it. If this case is never closed, when will I ever be able to attain Foundation Establishnt?"
Wang Yulou still said nothing. He looked at Mo Yunshu.
Jin Mingdu was one of his own, while Chen Yanghe was staring intently, planning to sche Lian Chengxian to death.
As for Wang Yulou winning Jin Mingdu's heart, Chen Yanghe accepted it. He hadn't harbored any designs on her from the start anyway; what Chen Yanghe cared about was making that massive idiot Lian Chengxian suffer a huge loss.
Therefore, Wang Yulou needed to confirm Mo Yunshu's stance to secure an absolute majority advantage. That way, as long as the True Persons kept silent, he could maintain his leadership over the investigation team.
"Yulou, I will follow your lead."
Fellow Daoist Yunshu was always straightforward. She raised her cup and drained it, cleanly cutting off Guo Yaoyue's hopes.
The forced confession incident had been his doing. In reality, he had always been under Wang Yulou's control—the leverage of the forced confession held no bargaining value by itself, but it was highly valuable in Wang Yulou's hands.
Setting up this gathering today had been Guo Yaoyue's best opportunity after long observation.
However, while Chen Yanghe and Mo Yunshu had so complaints, they hadn't reached the point of being willing to directly oppose Wang Yulou. Guo Yaoyue had miscalculated.
At this mont, the situation was actually quite interesting.
Shen Guang's disciple, Guo Yaoyue, was being collectively opposed by Mang Xiang's disciple, Wang Yulou; the disciples of the West Sea's two True Persons, Mo Yunshu and Chen Yanghe; and the Immortal Alliance Direct True Person's disciple, Jin Mingdu.
It mirrored the situation in the West Sea itself.
Shen Guang's overall strength was the greatest in the West Sea, yet he was feared by all parties and restrained by the Immortal Alliance system.
Wang Yulou... could possibly beco Shen Guang's person!
"Fellow Daoist Jade Palace, today is my—"
Guo Yaoyue smiled bitterly, trying to find a way out for his pathetic self, but Wang Yulou finally spoke.
"Let Lian Chengxian take the bla. After investigating for so long, has he ever contributed?"
"No!"
"Everyone can testify to this, right?"
Guo Yaoyue was instantly overjoyed and said loudly,
"Thank you for making this happen, Fellow Daoist Jade Palace! Thank you for making this happen!"
'Wang Yulou, you are a formidable bastard, but you are also truly quite a figure. You still managed to string along for two years...'
In truth, he didn't know that Wang Yulou had intended to close the case from the mont Mo Yunshu stated her stance.
Ah, the human heart was like water flowing upstream. One couldn't offend people too deeply and push friends to turn against them.
Dragging the case out for too long didn't matter to the grand cultivators, but the people actually accompanying Wang Yulou in the investigation would grow dissatisfied.
Mingdu, Yanghe, and the rest were all like this.
The reason he had played with Guo Yaoyue was simply to tornt him, for no other reason.
"Right. Lian Chengxian has never put in any effort. If the case doesn't yield results, who else can we bla but him?"
Chen Yanghe had absolutely no psychological burden about making Lian Chengxian take the fall.
Mingdu also nodded slightly. Immortal Venerable Lianpeng had sent Lian Chengxian into the investigation team exactly to exploit his nature as a functional idiot.
Now, having Lian Chengxian take the bla was perfectly suitable.
"But, Yulou, how exactly should we report this to the three True Persons?" Mo Yunshu maintained her pragmatic mindset.
Wang Yulou toyed with the small stone turtle in his hand and smiled as he looked at Guo Yaoyue.
"Brother Yaoyue, you do it. Over these two years, apart from , you have put in the most effort. Write up an investigation report so I can present it to the three True Persons."
'What a bastard!'
"As it should be, as it should be," Guo Yaoyue answered with a smile.
Wang Yulou sighed faintly in his heart—the test had succeeded.
Investigating the case could simply be taken slowly.
The so-called fear of delaying his Foundation Establishnt was just an excuse. Without Guo Yaoyue, how could it delay the investigation? Everyone was investigating blindly anyway.
Faced with his conditions and deliberate difficulties, Guo Yaoyue still frantically hoped to close the case as soon as possible...
Was the Immortal Venerable about to make a move?
There was a connection, but it was very faint.
Ultimately, his own cultivation base was still too low. Thinking of this, Wang Yulou looked inward.
His cultivation base was almost perfectly polished. Reaching the Foundation Establishnt realm was now rely a matter of three months at the shortest, or a year at the longest.
After Foundation Establishnt, the situation would be entirely different.
Wang Yulou looked in the direction of the Red Lantern Illumination Sect, yet his thoughts turned to when his Ancestor would finally attain the Golden Core.
'Ancestor, oh Ancestor, the voting on the Gathering Immortals Platform was fake. From the very beginning, it couldn't decide whether you would attain the Golden Core.'
'How could a grand cultivator like you halt your steps because of others' obstruction?'
'But you still roped in Shen Guang Immortal Venerable.'
'So, what on earth is your goal?'
——
What was Mang Xiang's goal?
To figure out this question, Wang Yulou would probably have to cultivate for a very long ti and climb much higher before he had a chance.
Mang Xiang had cultivated for ten thousand years. Long before the Immortal Alliance even existed, he had participated in founding the Red Lantern Illumination Sect.
After the Immortal Alliance appeared, he even cultivated an aura of three Purple Palaces within a single lineage, having long possessed the influence of a half-step Immortal Venerable.
But heaven and earth held an imnse repulsive force toward Peak Purple Mansion cultivators who were rely a hair's breadth away from the Golden Core.
Mangxiang's grotto-heaven.
Within the grotto-heaven spanning a radius of eighteen hundred li, mountains and rivers crisscrossed. Living among these lands were millions of mortals, as well as four cultivation sects.
On the celestial pillar at the very center of the grotto-heaven sat Mang Xiang's ashram.
The towering celestial pillar in the center of the grotto-heaven was a holy land in the hearts of the hundreds of millions of living beings in Mangxiang's world.
Here resided the Immortal Venerable and his disciples.
However, at this mont, Immortal Venerable Mangxiang was experiencing trendous agony.
This Peak Purple Mansion grand cultivator stood dozens of zhang tall. His entire body looked like a giant ford from clouds as he sat cross-legged inside the massive palace beneath the celestial pillar.
Wielding an iron fan, he exerted all his strength, mobilizing his divine abilities and the power of the grotto-heaven, and fiercely slashed at his own forearm.
The mont that iron fan, gleaming with a dark light, contacted his forearm composed of cloud energy, it erupted with massive might.
The sky shook.
The myriad living beings in Mangxiang's grotto-heaven struggled to maintain their footing, looking toward the swaying celestial pillar in the center of the world.
The cultivators within the four cultivation sects fell to their knees in droves, praying toward the Immortal Venerable's direction.
Finally, using his own spirit treasure, Mang Xiang forcibly severed half of his forearm.
His cultivation base visibly dropped a notch—roughly equivalent to losing one and a half Li Haiping's worth of strength.
Calculated this way, Mang Xiang's strength could be understood as follows: his two arms equaled six Li Haipings, his two legs twelve, his head four, and his main body fourteen—totaling a strength of about thirty-six Li Haipings.
After his cultivation base fell, Mang Xiang reached out toward the outside of the grotto-heaven.
At the peak of Mang Xiang Mountain within the Red Lantern Illumination Sect, a giant hand instantly appeared.
Feeling that heaven and earth's repulsion against him had greatly diminished, Mang Xiang slipped his entire body out.
This was how he had threatened Tianshe—severing his own cultivation base to re-enter the Great Heaven!
——
In Western Sea Immortal City, Jinshan glanced at Wang Yulou, then at the investigation report, and frowned imperceptibly.
The dirty water splashed on him still hadn't been completely washed clean.
That animal Wang Yulou had investigated for two years, getting his own affairs sorted one by one, before finally closing the case.
It was all that massive idiot Lian Chengxian's fault...
What use could that kind of trash be?
Wasn't this blatantly trying to fool them?
Wang Yulou knew he was fooling them; Jinshan knew that Wang Yulou knew he was fooling them; Wang Yulou knew that Jinshan knew that he knew he was fooling them.
"You have already shown this to Fellow Daoist Haikuo and Fellow Daoist Fujiao?"
Sounding like the collision of tal and stone, Jinshan asked emotionlessly.
His divine sense could sweep across a radius of hundreds of li, but he couldn't probe Li Haikuo and Zhou Bojiao's locations.
"They have seen it."
Wang Yulou respectfully bowed once more.
Jinshan secretly cursed Mang Xiang for being a bastard who taught his juniors to be bastards too, and then sent a voice transmission to Mingdu.
'Mingdu, tell the specific details.'
'Ancestor, it could only end up this way. After all, that was exactly what he was brought here to do.'
Jinshan raised his hand, summoning the Immortal Alliance's West Sea Dragon-Tiger True Man official seal. He stamped it on the investigation report written by Guo Yaoyue and said,
"You have worked hard, Yulou. Here, take these two Five Poisons Essence-Locking Pills. They can assist your Foundation Establishnt, and they can also sustain your life when you are in danger in the future."
The matter had been handled quite shalessly, but even without any rit, there was still the toil of his efforts.
The key point was that Wang Yulou had Mang Xiang and Zhou Bojiao backing him—this was far more valuable than any rit or toil. It could even be seen as the very abacus used to tally that rit and toil. Without this backing, one didn't even have the qualifications to be counted.
The Five Poisons Essence-Locking Pill was a premium item among spiritual pills. It was refined from the venom of toxic herbs and insects such as the Yellow Mountain Bean, Eight-Chi Fragrance, Ghostly Clown, Red Maiden, and Purple Cowry. Rare seventh-grade spiritual herbs were added for their healing properties, allowing the pill to simultaneously lock in one's life force and stimulate their cultivation base.
This spiritual pill wasn't from Wunan, but a specialty of the Cyan Plains, where the Immortal Alliance's headquarters immortal city was located.
"Yulou..."
After successfully fooling Jin Shan, Wang Yulou left the Dragon-Tiger True Person Estate under Jin Mingdu's guidance.
As soon as they walked out the door, Wang Yulou pulled out a Five Poisons Essence-Locking Pill and shoved it into Jin Mingdu's hands.
"Immortal Maiden Mingdu, this pill is precious, but Yulou simply must give it to you."
"Over these past two years, if it weren't for your assistance from the sidelines, the investigation wouldn't have gone so..."
Halfway through his sentence, Wang Yulou realized sothing was wrong.
This investigation had never been smooth! In the end, it produced no results. Instead, even Jin Shan had chosen to play along and fool everyone.
Realizing this, Wang Yulou stopped agonizing over it—with Jin Shan stamping his seal of approval, the matter was already set in stone.
"Anyway, thank you."
Immortal Maiden Mingdu didn't stand on ceremony either. She casually accepted the spiritual pill and teased him.
"Pfft, haha~ Oh, Wang Yulou. Did you an to say that if it weren't for my assistance from the sidelines, it wouldn't have gone so unsmoothly?"
Wang Yulou seed to be stumped by the question, freezing in place.
"Ah, what are you panicking for? I was just joking," Jin Mingdu hurriedly added.
Only then did Wang Yulou act as if he were waking from a dream.
"Her artful smile so enchanting, her beautiful eyes so captivating... Immortal Maiden Mingdu, you shouldn't just smile so casually at Yulou."
Cheesy pickup lines were like sharp swords breaking through enemy formations. Wang Yulou swung them without the slightest scruple, slashing Jin Mingdu into total defeat and turning even the tips of her ears bright red.
"Why? Is my smile not as pretty as Zhou Yingxi's?"
Immortal Maiden Mingdu tilted her head slightly, allowing Wang Yulou to only see her profile. This was the bashfulness of a beauty.
In truth, a cultivator's divine sense could easily see Jin Mingdu's blushing expression, but Wang Yulou wouldn't do sothing so mood-killing.
"I apologize, Immortal Maiden Mingdu. Thank you for reminding Yulou. Yingxi is still waiting for , so I'll be heading back now."
Having said that, Wang Yulou left without looking back.
He had just thought he wouldn't do sothing so mood-killing, yet Wang Yulou had imdiately done exactly that.
It was nothing more than everyone carrying their own agendas. You act out your deep infatuation, and I'll act out my hesitation—only like this could the play continue on for a long ti.
Jin Mingdu was sowhat puzzled by Wang Yulou's drastic change in attitude.
She wanted to say sothing to make Wang Yulou stay, but then she suddenly realized—the case was already closed.
‘Continue to get close to him. Do not sever your contact with him.’
True Person Dragon-Tiger had seen through Wang Yulou's true intentions. The old coot's level was high after all, possessing a crystal-clear understanding of the complex situation Wang Yulou faced.
In Jin Mingdu's ears, Jin Shan's voice transmission actually sounded sowhat ironic.
It wasn't that she thought her ancestor was mocking her.
She rely realized that in this entire affair, she was nothing more than a tool—pulled out to be used when useful, and tossed aside when not.
In Jin Mingdu's eyes at this mont, their performances and actions were as ironic as a joke.
The difference here was that Wang Yulou's heart had gradually hardened, possessing a will like iron and stone.
But Jin Mingdu, having been protected far too well, had not reached this stage yet.
She couldn't let go.
——
Four months later, the Sky Serpent Sect.
The Sky Serpent Sect's mountain gate was built within a valley.
From Tianshe downwards, half of the Purple Palace grand cultivators within the Sky Serpent Sect were Demon Generals.
Furthermore, quite a few of them were Demon Generals of the Overturning Mountain Flood Dragon type (pangolins that had gained sentience were respectfully called Overturning Mountain Flood Dragons, much like calling Li Haiping or Li Haikuo by their nas), who loved to burrow into the ground.
Thus, the Sky Serpent Sect actually had a portion of its mountain gate and palaces built underground, making it a half-subterranean city connected to the valley above.
The two combined to form the Sky Serpent Sect's true mountain gate.
This valley was naturally nad Heavenly Immortal Valley—similar to those two serpent-scaled horses Wang Yulou had brought over when he operated the racetrack in Clear Stream Market.
Within the Sky Serpent Sect, Tianshe couldn't be called Tianshe; he had to be called 'Heavenly Immortal'.
Sky Serpent Sect disciples who called him by the wrong na often wouldn't live to see the next day's sun.
At this ti, a young man wearing a gray Daoist robe was approaching the Sky Serpent Sect's mountain gate step by step.
One step, ten li.
In seven or eight steps, he directly entered the gate.
After walking a few more steps, he reached the location of the Sky Serpent Sect's underground mountain gate.
This person was none other than Mang Xiang.
He killed as he walked, not even bothering to cast spells or divine abilities, nor using any magic treasures or spirit treasures.
rely passing by was enough to completely turn all the Sky Serpent Sect personnel on both sides of his path into nothingness.
This was the strength of a quasi-immortal venerable—anyone below the Purple Palace realm would be refined in an instant.
The Purple Palace cultivator guarding the Sky Serpent Sect realized sothing was wrong. A giant pangolin directly smashed through the void to intercept the rampaging Mang Xiang.
It was the very sa Overturning Mountain Flood Dragon that had joined the Sky Serpent Sect a few years ago. Upon entering the sect, it had taken the opportunity to beco the sect-guarding Purple Palace cultivator, staying long-term in the Great Heaven to slave away for Tianshe.
However, halfway through piercing the void to block him, the Overturning Mountain Flood Dragon sensed Mang Xiang's terrifying power. It imdiately activated both its Heaven and Earth Dharma Idol and Demon God Blood Wrath.
Under the effects of these two divine abilities, its strength instantly surged by nearly half. Because the Overturning Mountain Flood Dragon's main body was still in the void outside the Great Heaven, it was confident it could use this burst of power to escape.
However, Immortal Venerable Mangxiang rely shot a single glance at the void where the Overturning Mountain Flood Dragon resided. In response, Boundless True Essence—an advanced divine ability brimming with infinite spiritual vitality—spread out.
The Boundless True Essence unleashed by Mang Xiang was both vast and ethereal. Like a milky-white grand river, it wreaked havoc within the Sky Serpent Sect.
Countless halls were destroyed. All Foundation Establishnt cultivators, regardless of whether their cultivation base was high or low, died on contact.
The white grand river pierced through the void, wrapping around the Overturning Mountain Flood Dragon's tail like a chain.
Without the slightest hesitation, the Overturning Mountain Flood Dragon blew up the rear half of its own body. Its Demon God Blood Wrath was stimulated even further—it refused to die.
When Mang Xiang threatened the various Immortal Venerables on the Gathering Immortals Platform, no one had known his exact strength.
Everyone's speculation regarding Mang Xiang's strength was rely that he was invincible below the Golden Core realm, but not to the extent of casually grabbing and killing Purple Palace grand cultivators. All in all, they hadn't thought he was terrifyingly strong, aning other Purple Palace cultivators should still be able to hold their own against him.
Right now, however, the Overturning Mountain Flood Dragon only wanted to tear Tianshe to shreds.
‘Idiot, you've screwed over so badly!’
The Overturning Mountain Flood Dragon fled, and Mang Xiang pursued. Transported by his own Boundless True Essence, Immortal Venerable Mangxiang instantly teleported to the exact spot where he had just chained the beast.
He donned a golden dharma crown. This was the Red Lantern Illumination Sect's famous spirit treasure, Mang Xiang's Dao-attaining treasure—the Sky Do Crown.
Guided by Mang Xiang's spiritual vitality, the stars in the sky gradually rotated and slowly descended toward this world.
From the sky do, the stars approached the Sky Serpent Sect's location, casting their presence from Wunan, to the West Sea, and to the Immortal Kingdom...
Across the Four Poles, Five Regions, Eight Desolations, the expressions of all the Purple Palace cultivators remaining in the Great Heaven drastically changed.
Recognizing the Sky Do Starfall divine ability, so even guessed that it was Mang Xiang casting the spell.
This world-renowned, quasi-Golden Core level Peak Purple Mansion grand cultivator, after having his Golden Core ascension blocked by the Immortal Alliance five tis, had decided to break the deadlock with sheer force.
"Mang Xiang, how dare you do this!"
Tianshe finally appeared, though it was only a phantom.
This 'Heavenly Immortal' of the Sky Serpent Sect completely lacked his past arrogance.
"Stop! We will let you attain Golden Core, is that not enough? Mang Xiang, don't be stubbornly blinded. If a fight breaks out, no one will be able to control the outco."
His past disguises, his past malice towards Mang Xiang—all of it transford into terror at this mont.
Don't misunderstand; he wasn't afraid of Mang Xiang. Even if ten Mang Xiangs ca, he wouldn't be afraid.
What Tianshe feared was that once the chaos started, no one could control when it would stop.
This was what was truly terrifying.
The Immortal Alliance had been stable for thousands of years. For all this ti, everyone had raked in massive profits together through the Immortal Alliance, enjoying an unprecedented era of comfort.
The clamoring on the Gathering Immortals Platform was rely a bargaining tactic. Threats of a 'civil war' were, as everyone well knew, nothing more than verbal posturing—though of course, this hadn't stopped the grand cultivators from actually preparing for war.
But Tianshe had never expected a bastard like Mang Xiang to actually be serious!
And, as if seeking his own death, Mang Xiang had actually chosen to make the Sky Serpent Sect his first target!
"There is nothing to fear, Tianshe. Are you afraid?"
Mang Xiang stood in the void with his wide sleeves fluttering. The golden crown on his head radiated infinite spiritual vitality. Between heaven and earth, star after star plumted from the sky do.
Tianshe resentfully flicked his snake tongue and finally drilled his way in from outside the Great Heaven.
Upon entering the Great Heaven, Tianshe headed straight for Mang Xiang, unleashing seven or eight divine abilities at once. The mont he moved, the surrounding heaven and earth seed to freeze—he was simply too fast.
The scale of ti vanished around Tianshe, and spatial distances were flattened by his divine abilities.
Tianshe's body was over ten zhang thick, and his length stretched endlessly into the unknowable depths of the boundless void. His entire form was covered in cold, silent black scales etched with countless profound patterns.
Such a display, such divine abilities, paired with those falling stars in the sky...
And the rapidly gathering tribulation clouds.
One could say that at this mont, Tianshe was the supre expert of the world—the undisputed number one.
However...
"Tianshe, just as expected, hahahaha!"
Amidst Tianshe's nurous divine ability attacks, Immortal Venerable Mangxiang transford into boundless, limitless nothingness, leaving only his mocking laughter echoing between heaven and earth.
"Relax, I won't tell anyone that your Heavenly Tribulation is approaching. We'll just say I lost today."
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