"More than twenty thousand martial artists, nearly a hundred grandmastersâare you sure youâre not joking with me? In less than a month, our intelligence has changed this drastically?"
The heads of intelligence organizations from the four great dynasties cursed.
The intelligence they had obtained not long ago was now utterly useless.
Although intelligence is inherently time-sensitive, could such a massive change in just one month be a bit too outrageous?
The person in charge couldnât understand how the Taiping Sect, which had formerly been comprised of ninety-nine percent ordinary people, could suddenly produce so many martial artists and grandmasters.
While it still fell short compared to the deep heritage of the dynasties, it could now be considered the fifth most formidable force in the world. With a bit more time to accumulate heritage, it might not be weaker than the four great dynasties.
This was definitely a massive oversight in intelligence.
"What on earth is going on? Where did the Taiping Sect get so many martial artists and grandmasters? If they were recruiting, itâs impossible that we wouldnât know!"
With such a large number of martial artists, they should have been aware if recruitment had taken place.
But the fact was that the Taiping Sect really did have that many martial artists, and they directly defeated the Ming Dynastyâs army.
Five hundred thousand troops, and before the real decisive battle even began, one hundred thousand were lost.
"Check, go and find out why!"
There are no walls in the world that prevent the passage of secrets. The Taiping Sectâs army was a motley crew, and soon, the intelligence was laid before the person in charge of the Ming Dynastyâs intelligence organization. They were closest and thus the fastest in their investigation.
"A symbol paper that can directly turn an ordinary person into a grandmaster?"
The person in charge immediately realized the importance of this matter and reported the intelligence with utmost speed.
"Thereâs such a miraculous symbol paper?"
Jiang Dao didnât hesitate at all and set out immediately for Mountain Pass State.
He was already considering taking action personally because of the massive loss suffered by the army. After all, in his view, no matter how strong the Taiping Sectâs army might be, without an unmatched expert to suppress them, a strong army wouldnât be much use.
It was only because of face that he had hesitated before.
But now, with the appearance of this symbol paper, face no longer mattered.
The kings from the four great dynasties had already significantly strengthened their power with the establishment of their dynasties, and it didnât take long for them to arrive in Mountain Pass State.
By that time, the kings from the other dynasties had just received the information.
"Damn, that guy Jiang Dao has gotten ahead of us!"
But even so, nobody was willing to give up.
That symbol paper seemed truly astonishing.
At this moment, the Taiping Sect was ecstatic with victoryâof course, this was the excitement of the ordinary members. The higher-ups knew that up next, they would likely be dealing with a powerhouse capable of changing the warâs tide, the Four Kings!
It was a huge crisis, and failure to overcome it meant the Taiping Sect would still vanish into dust.
Huangtian was the calmest.
"Donât be anxious; thereâs no need to worry too much."
Huangtian, having dared to stand out, naturally had his reasons.
A top-tier great grandmaster had to be challenged in order to determine victory or defeat!
Huangtianâs attitude calmed everyone down.
However, it was at that moment that Huangtian looked outside. As a divine thought controller, his perception was incredibly acute.
"Wait for me!"
Huangtian flew out of the council area, and then he saw a figure in the sky hurtling towards them like a cannonball.
The momentum was extremely ostentatious, and nearly all members of the Taiping Sect felt it!
Upon seeing Huangtian ahead, the figure didnât slow down at all but collided directly.
Butâ
"Is this one of the Four Kings?"
Huangtian was not afraid at all. He wasnât the same as before; he had found the most suitable path for himself. Even his teacher should be surprised by his progress now, right?
Boom!
Above the sky, countless phantom figures appeared, seemingly like an army, which upon closer inspection, was the Taiping Sectâs army!
This phantom army collided directly with the incoming figure.
Neither could gain the upper hand over the other!
This was Huangtianâs divine thought visualizationâ the Taiping Sect!
Once he reached the great grandmaster level, this visualization underwent a tremendous transformation, allowing him to quickly grow stronger.
Even facing the Four Kings, he would not be defeated!
After the collision, the attacking figureâs form became visible, the Ming king, Jiang Dao!
He looked at Huangtian, his face somewhat somber.
"Good, it seems Iâve underestimated you. You are the biggest variable of this era!"
Jiang Dao knew this might be the biggest variable since the seven great families ruled this land. According to records, once an empire was established, they should be the strongest, but now, he was directly blocked.
This completely defied thousands of years of norm!
"Ming king, do you have any dissatisfaction with our Taiping Sect? Just now, you wanted to destroy this place, didnât you?"
This place was the headquarters of the Taiping Sect.
"Huangtian, everyone has underestimated you. But what of it? The waters of this world are deeper than you think!" Jiang Dao stated.
Huangtianâs expression changed little as he replied, "Deep waters? How deep? Is it the class system youâve solidified, or the resources you control?"
Hearing this, Jiang Daoâs heart was startled.
Could it be that Huangtian knew something?
But it didnât seem very likely!
Of course, Huangtian had no idea; they werenât even speaking on the same level.
It was just a fluke!
Jiang Dao glanced at Huangtian and then said, "Regardless of how you reached this realm, sometimes strength alone canât solve everything. This land can no longer accommodate any more people!"
Having said that, Jiang Dao didnât hesitate. Seeing that nothing more could be done, he simply left.
Huangtian didnât stop him, knowing that the time wasnât right yet. He needed to save his trump cards to ensure that the Taiping Sect could firmly establish itself.
Jiang Daoâs unsuccessful departure quickly became widespread knowledge.
The news shocked everyone in the world.
It turned out that the Four Great Dynasties were not without rivals.
Here was one that had just appeared, right?
The situation in the Central Five States changed once again!
No one knew what the Central Five States would turn into.
Before long, Xing, who was far away in Shuzhou, also received the news.
It was the first time he showed a disbelieving expression.
"Somethingâs wrong here. Neither Huangtian nor the Taiping Sect should have appeared, and even if they did, they shouldnât have become this powerful. Something is definitely off!"
In his calculations, there was no place for Huangtian, let alone this frightfully powerful Taiping Sect.
But these things had indeed happened, and it was no use not wanting to admit it.
The Taiping Sect had firmly established itself through a series of military wars and conflicts among the strong.
At least for now, it seemed that no force could suppress the Taiping Sect on its own.
"How strange!"
Xing couldnât understand and even began to doubt himself.
Although he quickly dismissed this feeling, he knew that an unpredictable element had arisen.
"Fortunately, I havenât prepared for nothing. As long as Xuan Yang Gong reaches that realm, we can also enter the fray. Then we will see whatâs really going on!"
Xing suppressed the unease in his heart and continued with his plans.
He believed that as long as his plans succeeded, everything would return to normal.
...
The majority of the world was aware of this matter, and Wang Sheng, who had always been monitoring Huangtian, naturally knew as well.
Just as Huangtian guessed, his strength did indeed surprise Wang Sheng.
"The army is within expectations, but this strength is beyond my initial predictions, actually capable of contending against top Great Grandmasters, and in a straightforward confrontation no less!"
Wang Sheng was very aware that the Four Kingsâ strength represented that of top Great Grandmasters standards, and after the fall of the dynasties, their strength improved, representing a higher benchmark for top Great Grandmasters.
Huangtian was naturally strong in spiritual power, able to easily reach the level of a Great Grandmaster, but to become a top Great Grandmaster was a bit difficult, perhaps even unattainable.
But now it seemed that Huangtian had completely exceeded his expectations, giving him quite the surprise.
"Surprising indeed, but it does mess up the plan a bit!"
Huangtian was released by him mainly for the purpose of "fishing," and this bait would become increasingly enticing.
This was a huge variable.
According to Wang Shengâs estimation, even if Huangtian could reach a point where he could change the world, it would still take some time.
That was also the time he gave himself to at least reach Perfection in the Fire Suppression Realm or even advance to Refining Qi into God, so he would stand a better chance against that mysterious "Heavenly Father."
But now that Huangtianâs performance was beyond expectations, it would be problematic if the Heavenly Father was attracted prematurely and something unexpected happened.
"We can only take it one step at a time!"
The bait had grown too quickly, disrupting his plans.
However, since it had happened, Wang Sheng didnât want to dwell on it and could only make amends.
The way to fix this was obviously not to have Huangtian lie low.
Given the Heavenly Fatherâs character, if he were to take notice, he would have been paying attention to Huangtian already, just waiting for the right moment.
Like he did with him.
Lying low would be of no benefit!
So the only remedy had always been one and the same, which was cultivation, speeding up the pace of cultivation as the best way to make amends.
So after paying attention to the outside world for a while, Wang Sheng entered seclusion once again.
This time might be the longest seclusion he would undertake.
Time passed, and it was the year 543 in the Great Zhou calendar, March.
It was almost Wang Shengâs longest seclusion, nearly a year long, during which he only emerged a few times to inquire about the outside world before quickly returning to his practice.
After fighting with Jiang Dao, Huangtian exhibited immense combat strength through the Taiping Sect, which firmly secured its footing in Guan Mountain State, effectively driving out the forces of the Ming Dynasty.
Not only that, but the followers of the Taiping Sect reached a staggering number of three million.
The Four Great Dynasties, for some unknown reason, didnât act immediately, but according to Zhu Xiaoâs intelligence, the Four Kings seemed to have sought out Huangtian and even clashed with him. The final outcome could be surmised from Huangtianâs secure position in Mountain Pass State.
The Four Kings were clearly wary and thus remained calm for the time being.
But it definitely wouldnât last.
A year had passed, the situation remained unclear, but his progress had been substantial, with significant skills breakthroughs!