Wang Qi chews on the nutritional pellet while discreetly maneuvering the sowhat ethereal light-shadow interface in front of him.
anwhile, he inquires, "Hey, Elder i, any noteworthy intelligence these days?"
i Sicheng nods, "There is."
Every sect possesses its own information network. This network doesn't solely rely on aggressive asures like "sending spies," but rather on the communication channels built through the relationships among the upper and lower echelons of the sect. These channels are often more crucial than espionage. After all, conventional thods are deed "conventional" because they are practical, effective, and durable.
i Sicheng slightly bows. Now, as an elder of the Luochen Sword Palace, he is courteous in front of Wang Qi. During Wang Qi's experints with the Primordial Spirit Skill and exploration of the Primordial Spirit thod, i Sicheng often watched quietly. Although the intricacies of the Primordial Spirit Skill eluded him, it didn't prevent him from intuitively sensing the terrifying mysteries contained within the Primordial Spirit Skill.
The intricate long chain just monts ago even resonated with him at an instinctive level!
i Sicheng began with matters of lesser importance. The first piece he presented was intelligence gathered about "adventures." In the past month or two, several individuals have received technique transmission from a "mysterious senior."
This ti, i Sicheng even obtained detailed information about those fortunate ones.
This event is undoubtedly orchestrated by the Holy Emperor Venerable.
— However, three people having adventures in a month is a much higher frequency than the records indicate.
— It appears he's hastening his pace, has sothing prompted this... What could have stimulated him?
Wang Qi nods, indifferent. i Sicheng promptly reported the second piece of information.
The mysterious disappearance of cultivators.
Wang Qi has already established the Heart Demon Mysterious Net on Spirit Phoenix Island. It's safe to say that every mortal on Spirit Phoenix Island is under his surveillance. Just as the Holy Emperor Venerable wouldn't pay attention to every cultivator's mundane affairs, Wang Qi doesn't constantly monitor the mortals. However, should there be a sudden mass departure of mortals from Spirit Phoenix Island, it would be akin to dismantling his system. In such a scenario, Wang Qi would definitely take notice.
Transporting large populations without detection is impossible. Wang Qi has not found any traces of mortal disappearances.
"So, is it cultivators this ti?" Wang Qi frowns, "How many people? What scale are we talking about?"
i Sicheng shakes his head, "This matter is essentially unquantifiable. Low-level cultivators on this island frequently perish silently; one or two casualties are very normal, and rumors have never ceased. Furthermore, various sects consider the unexplained disappearance of their disciples a disgrace, so they keep it under wraps. Initially, no one paid attention, and by the ti consciousness returned, rumors had already spread. If my estimation is correct... many Golden Core cultivators are missing too."
Wang Qi felt a bit frustrated, "What's with this, why hasn't anyone from Luochen Sword Palace tried any kidnappings here?"
Although Wang Qi has impregnated the heart demon curse power into Spirit Phoenix Island's underground, infecting many, this primitive network lacks basic functionality. Moreover, to prevent detection by the Holy Emperor Venerable, Wang Qi carefully circumvented all targets possibly set by the Holy Emperor Venerable, focusing on those neglected by him. This underground city network cannot monitor individuals.
However, Luochen Sword Palace is different. Everyone here is deeply infected by the Supre Heart Demon Spell, and most have dual cultivated with modified cultivation techniques tampered by Wang Qi. Wang Qi can indeed "sense individuals."
Still, Wang Qi was just proposing. Those missing cultivators, whether personally abducted by the Holy Emperor Venerable or by his confidants, once entered Luochen Sword Palace, many secrets Wang Qi has cultivated would be imdiately exposed.
i Sicheng also felt that the intelligence wasn't impressive enough. Nonetheless, he hadn't finished speaking. He then added, "Initially, only cultivators below the Golden Core Stage were missing. But later on, Nascent Soul Stage cultivators also disappeared."
The Nascent Soul Stage is effectively the backbone within the Ancient thod Immortal Sect. The Ancient thod Immortal Sect comprises thousands of Nascent Soul Cultivators; within each sect, it could range from hundreds to thousands, similar to the student body of a private university on Earth. Therefore, the disappearance of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator is definitely significant.
Still, seemingly dissatisfied with the sensationality of this news, i Sicheng continued, "Then, just the day before yesterday... a Divine Separation Stage Cultivator went missing."
"Divine Separation Stage?" Wang Qi raised an eyebrow, "A Divine Separation Stage Cultivator?"
There are only a few hundred Divine Separation Stage Cultivators, all existing before the war between Modern and Ancient two thousand years ago. Even those endowed by the Holy Emperor mostly attained Nascent Soul Perfection long ago.
"Which sect's?"
"Heart Demon Illusion Sect. Their second elder, Huan Yuchen," i Sicheng replied, "And then today, there's more news, an Unrivaled Sword Sect's Divine Separation Stage Cultivator, Jiao Huantian, has also gone missing, whether he's disappeared is unclear. Currently, Unrivaled Sword Sect is... attempting to make contact."
Heart Demon Illusion Sect is one of the few remaining Evil Path sects on Spirit Phoenix Island. Emperor's Extre Split Sky Dao has very low tolerance for sacrificial offerings, and the Ancient thod acknowledges that when encountering Demon Path Cultivators, one should kill them on sight. During the Modern and Ancient Immortal Dao wars, predecessors of Modern Cultivation prioritized establishing might over Demon Paths and Evil Paths, implenting a policy of "reformation" and "surrender" toward the Righteous Path—though this policy resulted in the "Divine Capital" predicant. However, at that ti, it indeed accelerated the collapse of Ancient thod Immortal Path.
Wang Qi glanced at i Sicheng. It was clear that this Great Elder was quite tense in the face of this news.
At the edge of the Phoenix Tomb, beneath the Heavenly Emperor's feet, people disappeared silently. This either indicated that the perpetrators were stronger than the Holy Emperor Venerable, or that the Holy Emperor Venerable, whom they regarded as their protector, was in fact the mastermind behind it all.
And i Sicheng had been working for Wang Qi for almost half a year. During this ti, he had also realized the various ans of the Holy Emperor Venerable—this last pillar of the Ancient thod Practitioner truly harbored unfathomable secrets.
Considering that i Sicheng knew he might face the capture of a Mahayana Cultivator, the mindset of this Great Elder was rather comndable.
Wang Qi nodded, then pondered, "The Holy Emperor Venerable naturally disdains the 'Blood Sacrifice' thod... Even the other Banished Immortal I t on the continent, who was dealing with an Evil God and doing blood sacrifices, was not aiming for the essence and blood of life beings, but rather for the collapse of the order of life from birth to death, the process of returning from negative entropy to positive entropy. So, these people are certainly not being consud. That would be too degrading for the Holy Emperor Venerable."
"However, the Law Gate practiced by the Holy Emperor Venerable is as orthodox as ever, the Innate Five Virtues thod, five processes leading from chaos to order. One might say it's the five virtues and five operations cultivating both opposites... The many Divine Spirits within him, not one is inclined toward chaos, right? It's quite strange."
Wang Qi pondered for a long ti. In the end, he still couldn't figure out what the Holy Emperor Venerable was abducting so many people for. Perhaps he intends to construct a virtual domain, turning those who disappeared into Divine Power batteries, then carry out other deeds?
Besides this, seems like there's no other explanation, right?
This conjecture made Wang Qi more vigilant. Perhaps what he would face next would not be the Holy Emperor Venerable he had seen before, but a reinforced version like The Matrix's Holy Emperor Venerable.
After Wang Qi finished pondering, i Sicheng reported the next intelligence: "Additionally, there's another matter to make you aware of—today, the Holy Emperor Venerable has explicitly issued an edict. After April, at the transition between winter and spring, the Qionghua eting, heroes gather."
"Isn't it just September? So coastal places might have just entered autumn..." Wang Qi scratched his head, "So, February?"
"On the second of February, the dragon raises its head," i Sicheng said, "That's how the Holy Emperor Venerable set it."
Wang Qi nodded, thought for a mont, and said, "I'll give you seven days to prepare another exchange eting among the various Sect heads."
i Sicheng was taken aback, "You're...?"
"Just do what I say. If you Ancient thod Practitioners are too weak, I might not be able to defeat the Holy Emperor Venerable..." Wang Qi waved his hand, signaling i Sicheng to leave his place of practice. Then, he snapped his right fingers, and a virtual keyboard appeared before him. His right fingers, along with the virtual left fingers, pressed down the keyboard, murmuring, "The only thing that can make a programr work overti is the 'deadline,' I suppose?"
...............
Seven days later, when i Sicheng saw Wang Qi again, he was startled. Though Wang Qi's fingers had long since healed, his complexion was withered, his eyes hollow, seemingly drained of spirit. He waved his hand at i Sicheng, asking, "How did those tasks I asked you to do last ti fare?"
"Mr. Wang, I've already gathered the young generation of cultivators from seven sects here under the pretext of 'preparing for the Qionghua eting.' And then... the actual sparring is this afternoon."
"Hmm?" Wang Qi's consciousness extended along the Tai Chu Sword God Array, soon sensing hundreds of mana power intents that did not belong to Luochen Sword Palace Cultivators. He acted decisively, directly manipulating the Tai Chu Sword God Array to bring down strands of Sword Intent, transmitting the Heart Demon Curse, then using the Divine Plague Curse Technique to infect all those cultivators.
Afterwards, Wang Qi yawned and casually tossed a pile of small gadgets to i Sicheng, "Find so reason to distribute these gadgets, or give them to those disciples participating in the sparring..."
After saying that, Wang Qi closed the door and found a place to sleep.
.....................
"What a useless amulet, and it claims that 'it will certainly help ,' Master seriously..." In Luochen Sword Palace, a youth with a face covered in ointnt grumbled as he casually tossed a jade pendant at the corner of the wall.
The jade pendant was solemnly handed to him by his Master. Because he trusted this jade pendant, he chose to take on the punch from a Wuji Sky Sect Cultivator head-on during a critical mont in combat.
Then... he was left here to treat his wounds alone.
So furious was he that he didn't even notice that the hand he used to throw the jade pendant was covered in blood.
It was his own blood.
The jade pendant, absorbing the boy's blood, emitted a red light as though activated into life, enveloping everything in red light.
The world beca still.
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