NOVPUB"The snipe and the clam struggle, and the fisherman benefits," Mother Goddess immediately turned her worry into joy:
"Excellent! We are that fisherman."
Wang Ba echoed with a smile.
Fisherman? Heh.
Mother Goddess immediately voiced her doubts, "But the Three Sects still have Refining Void Cultivators; if we do not accumulate incense fire soon enough..."
Even though Refining Void Cultivators are not allowed to take action under the current heavenly laws, what if these cultivators acted recklessly against Them?
One must always guard against this!
Wang Ba replied calmly,
"First, as for the cultivators from the Wanxiang Sect who come to investigate, I will do everything in my power to ensure they return without success."
"Second, we will conceal our tracks, reduce the spread of our teachings, and limit the number of external believers, using those we have to cultivate enough power from incense fire. We will keep a low profile. For Refining Void Cultivators, a few hundred years may pass by in a blink of an eye, and such ample time is enough for us to slowly grow stronger in this continent."
"Third, the Jin Cultivators are fighting amongst themselves; it’s unnecessary for us to intervene. Once the day comes for Mother Goddess to surpass the Divine Emperor and suppress the Dragon Transformation Pool, the whole of the Qian will be at our fingertips. We need not lose more for the sake of less by getting involved in these conflicts... Mother Goddess must remember the lessons from the battle with Jin!"
Upon hearing Wang Ba’s words, even without a face, one could feel Mother Goddess’s solemn respect.
She couldn’t help but exclaim, "Last time, indeed we were too complacent and impatient... This time, we must not make the same mistakes again. The advice from Yin God is most timely!"
"With the help of Yin God, it’s truly like adding wings to a tiger!"
"Rest assured, I will ensure that the other gods follow your arrangements!"
Hearing Mother Goddess’s words, Wang Ba nodded calmly on the outside.
Yet, he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
"This Mother Goddess is easier to deceive than expected... But as She absorbs more and more power from incense fire and gradually loses Her emotions, it will no doubt become much harder to deceive Her."
After completely losing emotions, the way of thinking of an Evil God becomes more rational, better at weighing options, and more likely to make exceedingly rational judgments.
Although it’s still possible to deceive them, the difficulty would obviously be much higher.
After some thought, Wang Ba added another reminder:
"Mother Goddess also needs to minimize the absorption of incense fire. Once She surpasses the level of Divine Master, there’s a possibility of being detected by the Three Sects and Han Yanzi. They’ve suffered losses before, so they definitely won’t be careless this time."
Hearing Wang Ba’s words, the placental shadow fell silent for a while, then reluctantly responded, "Fine! I understand!"
As the voice faded, the massive placental shadow gradually vanished from sight.
The divine temple once again returned to silence.
Wang Ba dared not relax even the slightest bit.
He slowly closed his eyes, and his consciousness quickly returned.
"I need to hurry back to the Sect."
...
Wanxiang Sect.
Inside Chunyang Palace.
"Vice Sect Master has finally returned."
Qu Shentong greeted Wang Ba with a smile and motioned for him to sit down.
The incense burner that used to be there when Sect Master Shao was present had been put away on purpose.
In its place was a simple desk, and the desk was flanked by piles of documents.
Wang Ba, without any pretense, sat opposite Qu Shentong and asked in a deep voice,
"Where has Hall Master Guan reached on his trip to the Huangji Continent?"
Although a bit puzzled, Qu Shentong still answered,
"He told me he’s reached above the Eastern Sea, where communications through the Spirit Rhinoceros Stone are currently impossible due to the effects of the Realm Membrane fissures... What’s the matter?"
Wang Ba immediately gave a quick rundown of the situation on the Huangji Continent.
"There’s a treasure like the Dragon Transformation Pool on the Huangji Continent?"
"Do you want to let the disciples of our Sect also try?" 𝚗𝚘v𝚙𝚞b.𝚌𝚘m
Qu Shentong was surprised. He didn’t know that Wang Ba had taken the position of Yin God, nor did he understand where Wang Ba’s information was coming from. However, he didn’t inquire further and immediately furrowed his brows, saying,
"Could there be a trap here? Such a selfish person as the Huangji Ancestor, who would even pierce the heavens, even if he perished, how could he leave such an inheritance treasure to everyone openly?"
Wang Ba nodded:
"Sect Master’s words are very true," there indeed exists the possibility that Ye Cangsheng’s residual soul is lurking within the Dragon Transformation Pool, waiting to seize a host... But what if it isn’t? Moreover, now the Nascent Soul cultivators in our sect are far inferior to those of the past. Relying solely on the accumulation of our Sect, to return to our former glory would require an untold amount of time and resources, yet the Dragon Transformation Pool represents a rare opportunity."
"This..."
Qu Shentong hesitated, but soon nodded in agreement.
"You do have a point. Our generation might not have the chance to establish a Taoist Field or a Cave Heaven Blessed Land anymore, but saving up some wealth might give future generations such an opportunity."
Wang Ba heard this and hesitated for a moment before ultimately deciding not to say anything else.
Qu Shentong didn’t notice. After making his decision, he relaxed a bit and said with a smile:
"However, such a risky approach doesn’t seem to be your usual style."
Wang Ba smiled helplessly:
"In the past, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to take risks, I just didn’t have the capability to. Today, I indeed don’t wish to take risks, but I have no choice but to do so."
Upon hearing this, Qu Shentong let out a soft sigh.
If Sect Master Shao, the Elders, and the others were still around, how could they allow Wang Ba, a cultivator who had just stepped into the Nascent Soul stage, to bear such heavy pressure?
But now there really was no alternative, as most of the cultivators in the sect were chiefly devoted to their cultivation and the Hundred Arts, lacking the skill to manage the sect at a strategic level.
Without dwelling on this matter, Qu Shentong immediately asked:
"What do you plan to do next?"
Wang Ba did not hide anything, revealing some of his plans.
Qu Shentong listened and was both shocked and delighted:
"To be able to influence the will of the Mother Goddess... Vice Sect Master Wang, how did you manage this?!"
Wang Ba shook his head: "I ask Sect Master to please refrain from inquiring further."
Only Han Yanzi, Master Yao Wudi, Sect Master Shao Yangzi, the great elder Yan Wenzheng, and the second elder Xun FuJun knew of his relationship with the Yin God in the past.
Now that all four of them were gone, there probably weren’t any interactions between Han Yanzi and the Kingdom of Immortals.
Under such circumstances, the fewer people who knew about his situation, the better, in case the Kingdom of Immortals had an Evil God with some special means of finding out information.
Though the possibility was slim, Wang Ba still made early and protective preparations.
Even though Qu Shentong did not understand the situation fully, he was by no means a foolish person. He caught on immediately and naturally moved past the topic:
"Which disciples should be chosen to go?"
Wang Ba didn’t hesitate at all and immediately replied:
"Those who have grown up in the sect can go upon reaching Foundation Establishment."
"Those who joined the sect midway must have spent fifty years and gained approval from their peers, only then can they go."
Qu Shentong pondered for a moment and then nodded.
Both groups of people had significant loyalty to the Sect, so even if they went far to Huangji Continent, there was no need to worry that they would be influenced by the forces there and face any misfortune.
"I’ll have someone pay attention, and as soon as contact is made with Hall Master Guan, I will immediately inform him to return to the Sect and take these young disciples with him."
Qu Shentong made the decision right away.
Afterward, he quickly discussed with Wang Ba the recent changes in both internal and external situations of the sect.
"The Sky Rifts in West Sea Country have mostly been controlled, and there weren’t many to begin with. The people from Youxian Temple in Yan say there aren’t many cracks there either, I wonder if it’s due to the Sect Master and the others using Demon Sect cultivators to seal the rifts in the past."
Upon hearing this, Wang Ba breathed a sigh of relief.
He truly didn’t want to go to West Sea Country or Yan to repair Realm Membranes anymore, as it was too exhausting and consumed too many resources.
The chicken essence he had accumulated was almost completely utilized.
However, he had also noticed that the further west and south one went, the fewer the cracks in the Realm Membranes seemed to be.
Perhaps this was because the Sky Rift had originated above Huangji Continent in the east of Little Cang World.
Places far from Huangji Continent naturally fared much better.
Qu Shentong then shared another piece of good news:
"The sea level has dropped these past days, we can infer that the source of the great flood, the Membrane Eye, is indeed gradually healing."
Before Wang Ba could celebrate, Qu Shentong’s tone changed again:
"However, the disaster of Yuanci in West Sea Country is much more intense than in the past. Currently, it is mainly Qin Lingxiao and Guardian Shen from the Qin Family joining forces to resist it..."
"Qin Lingxiao?"
Wang Ba raised an eyebrow but said no more.
The Qin Family’s foundation was far weaker than that of the Three Sects. Ancestor Qin Dengyuan and several Immortal Ascension cultivators were no longer there, and many Nascent Soul cultivators had been lost in the previous battle with the Evil God. This commandery princess of the Qin Family had no choice but to step forward and take charge.
Despite some regret, the current affairs left no room for another way.
