NOVPUB"Yes! How could there not be? The emperor of the great Chu personally took action, and two Evil Gods from the Kingdom of Immortals came too. Elder Zhang Songnian from the Longevity Sect was there as well. With those people in action, a good number of Rogue Cultivators perished."
"If it weren’t for these Dao Secrets scattered across different regions and us not being together with the ones who have achieved Immortal Ascension, we would have had no hope of seizing these two Dao Secrets."
As Tang Ji spoke, he couldn’t help but sigh.
"There were a lot of Dao Secrets?"
Wang Ba asked, curious.
Tang Ji nodded:
"Unexpectedly many, a total of five. The Longevity Sect snatched away two, we managed to take two, and it seems that one was grabbed by a Rogue Cultivator."
"Well, that’s not too bad; at least they weren’t taken by the primitive Demonic Sect or the people from the Kingdom of Immortals."
Wang Ba was quite open-minded about it.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Five Dao Secrets, and Jin managed to secure four, which was an ideal outcome.
But this was also normal, after all, Sen State was within Jin’s sphere of influence, and compared to the primitive Demonic Sect and the Kingdom of Immortals, Jin indeed had the advantage of being on home ground.
Wang Ba didn’t ask what the Dao Secrets Tang Ji and the other had stolen looked like.
However, Tang Ji took the initiative to show them to Yao Wudi.
"Senior Brother, please help me check this out. Is this ancient Dao Secret suitable for me?"
As Tang Ji spoke, he produced a palm-sized Spirit Plant that looked like ginseng.
Wang Ba immediately looked over with curiosity.
He could only feel the rich Spiritual Energy of herbs and grasses from it; he did not detect the presence of any Dao Secrets.
Meanwhile, Yao Wudi did not refuse, and with a simple gesture, the Spirit Plant immediately flew towards his hand.
The Spirit Plant, at this moment, suddenly tried to elude capture, seemingly attempting to escape.
However, Yao Wudi’s expression remained the same, and he did not even move his palm.
The ginseng-like Spirit Plant was involuntarily pulled into his grasp.
As the Mother Qi of Dharmas gently infused into it, a misty light gray glow rose from the Spirit Plant.
Wang Ba, standing to the side, unconsciously looked towards the light gray glow, and in just an instant, he felt as if he were immersed in a world filled with innumerable scents—fragrant, stinky, sour, sweet, spicy...
Each scent seemed to open up countless mystical worlds waiting for him to explore, and in the process of exploration, he even began to forget the Five Elements, Wind and Thunder that he had learned...
"Awaken!"
A deep voice instantly pulled Wang Ba out of the world saturated with scents.
Wang Ba felt as though his Soul had snapped back into place, his whole body shuddering.
He dared not look at the light gray glow again and averted his eyes instead.
Song Dongyang, who had spoken earlier, looked a bit pale and coughed:
"You really are bold, young man. A Dao Secret often contains the sublime laws of heaven and earth. With your shallow perception of heaven and earth, rashly coming into contact with a Dao Secret will lead you to completely abandon your own insights and be assimilated by the Dao Secret..."
Yao Wudi’s voice also reached Wang Ba’s ears:
"I was just about to call out to you. Your realm isn’t high enough, you truly can’t touch it yet."
Wang Ba suddenly understood.
Yao Wudi then spoke to Tang Ji:
"Little Tang, you’re from Xunxiang Peak, isn’t this a perfect fit? Why even ask me?"
"Isn’t it just concern that begets chaos."
Tang Ji, delighted, packed away the Dao Secret.
Song Dongyang hesitated for a moment, but in the end, cultivation was more important. He also handed over the Dao Secret he had acquired to Yao Wudi.
This time, Wang Ba did not dare to look.
He just pricked up his ears to listen to what Yao Wudi would say.
"...Not exactly a perfect fit, but it’s somewhat related to the stars... You two really are surprisingly lucky..."
Soon, Wang Ba saw Song Dongyang return with a smile on his face.
"Congratulations to Martial Uncle Song."
Wang Ba congratulated him sincerely.
"It’s still early. It’s just a Dao Secret for now."
Song Dongyang waved it off, but he couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
Normally, he wasn’t so easily swayed by emotions, yet when it came to cultivation, it was hard to remain calm.
Nevertheless, he quickly regained his composure and after pondering for a moment, he said to Wang Ba:
"After we finish taking inventory of the Qi’s materials, we’ll have to return to the Sect."
"You’ll have to work hard these next few days. Also, after everything is tallied up, no one should touch the items anymore."
Hearing the reminder in Song Dongyang’s words, Wang Ba nodded immediately:
"Wang Ba understands."
He was not too surprised by Song Dongyang’s decision.
The goal of the Earth Hall was to take over the legacy of Qi.
Now, only after the inventory check is complete could he consider the task entirely fulfilled.
There was naturally no reason to stay any longer.
However, Yao Wudi took the initiative to speak up and kept Wang Ba behind.
"Wang Ba cannot leave for the moment, I still need his services here," he said.
Song Dongyang glanced at Tang Ji beside him, intending to say that with Tang Ji present, there was no need to waste Wang Ba’s talents here.
But considering the relationship between Wang Ba and Yao Wudi, he could understand the decision.
Wang Ba did not delay either.
He immediately rushed to the Earth Hall’s temporary imperial palace and started to rigorously inspect Qi’s various resources again to prevent any uncertain items from mixing in and causing trouble for the Sect.
Five days later.
"Fortunately, I was cautious and checked everything several times over."
"Otherwise, if these items entered the Sect, would it not have been my fault?"
Wang Ba casually stored away a beautifully patterned Spirit Beast Bag, shaking his head with relief.
Touching the several Storage Bags that were now in his sleeve, his gaze swept over the neatly categorized resources in front of him before he finally gave the order:
"Gather everything according to its category."
Tao Ruyi, Zhou Luye, and others immediately got busy.
Inventory was troublesome, but storing items into the Storage Treasure was very straightforward.
In just half a day, all of Qi’s resources had been properly organized.
Touching the Pearl Dungeon, Wang Ba eventually decided to hand the Dungeon over to Song Dongyang.
When Song Dongyang’s Spiritual Sense swept over the situation inside the Pearl Dungeon, he couldn’t help but be greatly startled.
"This… how did you manage to do this?!"
Wang Ba was slightly taken aback:
"Martial Uncle Song, what’s wrong? Isn’t this acceptable?"
Song Dongyang hurriedly shook his head and said,
"No, I’m not saying you’re incompetent, I mean… with such little time, how did you manage to handle so many people? There are thirty million mortals here!"
In his eyes was a look of disbelief.
As the Deputy Master of the Earth Hall, he felt that just managing the Five Elements Division’s twenty-five departments was already taxing, while the total number of people in the Five Elements Division was only tens of thousands.
He simply couldn’t imagine the difficulty of coordinating thirty million people, especially when they were mortals who needed to eat and drink every day, which was far more troublesome than the Cultivators under the Earth Hall.
Wang Ba heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this and casually shared some of his methods.
This immediately earned him a look of pleasant surprise from Song Dongyang.
"You kid, I really didn’t misjudge you!"
Wang Ba managed a strained smile.
These thirty million mortals were not easy to manage, only to have the fruits of his labor plucked away. Though it was not intentional on the Sect’s part, it was, after all, the product of his own hard work.
And noticing the reluctance in Wang Ba’s eyes, Song Dongyang seemed thoughtful.
The Cultivators from the Human Virtue Palace had all returned to the Sect, and Song Dongyang could hardly wait any longer.
After gathering the resources, he too immediately took his leave with Yao Wudi.
"Junior Brother Tang, aren’t you coming back to the Sect with me?"
Song Dongyang looked toward Tang Ji.
Tang Ji smiled helplessly and said, "I can’t help it. Master Xi has agreed, but the Human Virtue Palace has not yet approved."
Song Dongyang nodded.
The position of Ghost Market Guardian had to be jointly decided and confirmed by the Master of the Earth Palace and the Human Virtue Palace Master.
Tang Ji had already submitted the application. What followed was merely procedural.
What slightly surprised Song Dongyang, however, was that the Earth Hall Enforcer Li Yingfu, as well as Tao Ruyi and others, requested to stay.
"Old Li, you..."
Song Dongyang looked at Li Yingfu, somewhat puzzled.
He understood why Tao Ruyi and the others wanted to stay, as they were personally promoted by Wang Ba. Following Wang Ba was natural.
But for Li Yingfu to stay as well was truly beyond his comprehension.
Li Yingfu shook his head and said, "Now everything in the palace is already on the right track. There’s nothing for me to do if I go back. It’s better to stay here and contribute to the Sect, and in case of any issues, I can offer some protection to the Right Enforcer."
Hearing Li Yingfu’s words, Song Dongyang shook his head slightly and then, not insisting further, led the people of the Earth Hall into the Teleportation Array of the Ghost Market.
...
A month later.
Wang Ba stood with his hands behind his back at the site of the former East Saint Sect.
He looked up at the gathering thunderclouds in the sky.
Below, a grey-furred monkey was seated cross-legged on a pile of stones that were completely different from the surrounding terrain.
And further away.
A group of Spirit Chickens and Spirit Turtles were lined up in a queue, waiting.
