Gu Province.

After the Celestial Lock Teaching was forced to relinquish its territory and completely withdrew.

The Great Dao Teaching had just begun to extend its resources, taking over the sect's Taoist temple, leaving many matters in a vacuum.

In a bustling large city, at the central square.

A large crowd gathered here, lining up and waiting for porridge to be distributed from the porridge stations.

The dense lines formed long dragons, winding around, countless in number.

Among one of the queues.

A young woman, her face dirty and hair messily cut short, dressed in heavy tattered clothes, moved slowly forward in the middle of smelly refugees, beggars, and poor people.

She held a large bowl in her hand, specifically used for holding porridge.

"Excuse me, sir, may I ask who built the porridge stations ahead?"

She asked the man in front of her softly.

"Isn't it the Zhou family in the city?" The man replied lazily.

"The Zhou family..."

"Lately, there are wars everywhere... porridge stations are also fewer... sigh." The man sighed.

"I heard the emperor is gone, now the masters in the Great Capital are busy fighting for position. Who cares about our common people's lives?" Another scholarly-looking man spoke with a sarcastic tone.

"Sigh... Even the kindest Master Yang is gone, said to be collaborating with rebels in the middle of the night, and his entire family was..." An old woman behind couldn't help but interject. "I've been getting porridge in this city for over ten years, Master Yang was the kindest. What a pity... good people don't get good ends."

The woman listened to the people around talking one after another, and for a while, she fell into silence.

Unknowingly, more than half an hour passed.

Slowly, there were fewer people in front of her, and it was finally her turn.

The woman walked to the porridge station's table, bowed, and handed over the large bowl.

"Thank you, Master Zhou! Long live Master Zhou!"

Her voice was hoarse and unpleasant, as if something stuck in her throat, giving a sickly feeling that made people uneasy.

"Here." The old man serving porridge scooped a large spoonful into her bowl.

It looked like a lot, but in reality, there was only a shallow layer of old rice at the bottom.

The steam that came out had a strange unpleasant smell.

But the woman didn't mind at all, quickly grabbed the bowl, and walked to the side.

"Wait. You forgot this." The old man tossed her a thin wooden piece, seemingly engraved with something.

The woman caught it and looked.

There were some words written on the bamboo piece, along with a few diagrams.

This is...

The woman's pupils narrowed.

On it was a clearly written line of words.

'The three great secret troves of the Eastern Sect unveiled: The first trove contains trajectory maps of the various sects' Spirit Cores. The second trove is the mystery of the immortality of worshiping gods. The third trove is the method of killing mortals in the name of gods.

The three great secret troves each contain an incomplete Imperial Weapon, which when combined, can obtain the supreme mystery of annihilating gods.'

Besides that, below were also a few simple strange patterns.

Respectively labeled as, the first was the Great Dao Teaching's Spirit Core pattern, the second was the Zhenyi Sect's Spirit Core pattern.

The third was the Eastern Sect's and Western Sect's Spirit Core patterns.

The woman quickly left with the porridge.

Her heart beating faster and faster.

For other ordinary people, they might not know what these things mean.

But she was different.

Because she was Xu Qingyou, one of the three great lineages!

The two people currently pushed by the Righteous Alliance were blatantly using her name to deceive!

Yet the real her, chased all the way, once fell off a cliff, barely surviving, and now left alone, surviving by begging with a sick body.

The secret trove she received contained special Spirit Core patterns of all the Divine beings of various sects.

So she immediately recognized that the pattern on the bamboo piece was real!!

However, she had never heard of this theory of combining the three Imperial Weapons to obtain a great secret.

The secret the Celestial Maiden once gave her didn't mention anything about it either.

'Someone... is targeting us! No... among the current lineages, the three great lineages, me, You Shifei, and one unknown. We two are just minor figures, not worth being targeted so grandly. Only the last one....'

Xu Qingyou used to be very naive, though extremely talented and perceptive, but ever since the extermination of her family, chased all the way.

She grew a lot along the way...

Without the protection of her father, Xu Shenquan, and without the aura of being the daughter of the top master of Fu Province then...

Now....

She had long realized that everything in the world is illusory, except strength!

Her own strength... is the foundation.

'Perhaps this could work....' Suddenly Xu Qingyou thought of a way.

*

*

*

The three great secret troves themselves weren't really important matters.

Not worth being hunted by so many powers.

Zhang Rongfang had actually seen through the hidden secrets long ago.

Originally, it was only a Golden Wing Pavilion of the Western Sect tracking and investigating, without much effort.

It was clear, what truly made people wary back then wasn't the secret troves, but the Eastern Sect.

The secret treasure is just an excuse.

And now, the secret treasure being brought up again means that there is a point in it that can be exploited.

Inside Agarwood Mansion.

Zhang Rongfang slowly strolled through the garden, with thoughts swirling in his mind.

"I've just begun to establish my foundation, just started to clean up things in Qingchuan Prefecture, to create my own industry... If the Rebel Sect is lost... everything will return to square one. Years of accumulation destroyed in an instant."

The money he had was mostly spent, converted into various industries in Qingchuan Prefecture.

These industries were mainly overseen by people from the Rebel Sect.

Only those interests firmly tied with him, those who hated the cult of worship, were the ones he could truly trust.

The rest, Thousand Stone Sect? That's under the Sensing Sect; Moon King's one command, and most would scatter. Just interests combined.

Jade Void Palace? That's even more unrelated to him.

Only some subordinates from the Golden Wing Pavilion remained, but those people were far from enough.

Not to mention loyalty.

The members from the Golden Wing Pavilion in the past were also brought together by interests.

Faced with real pressure, the only ones who would stand by his side were the Rebel Sect!

Thus, now he and the Rebel Sect were already fused together.

"Sir, there's a convoy outside claiming to be sent by King Mu Li, one of the Five Kings. Do you want to meet them?"

Suddenly, a Daoist quickly came in through the garden gate, reporting solemnly.

"King Mu Li?" Zhang Rongfang's heart tightened.

They've come, indeed.

The Five Kings feud cannot ignore his point.

If they can't gain anything from Yue Shi, they will certainly come to find him.

After all, everyone saw how Yue Shi valued Zhang Ying.

Hence... it is inevitable for the Five Kings to seek him... 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Since they've come, let's meet them," Zhang Rongfang responded. "Bring them to the reception hall to wait, I will be there shortly."

"Yes."

Zhang Rongfang knew very well that not meeting them was impossible.

If word got out that as a Daoist, not even a Sect Leader yet, he dared to turn away the envoy of the Five Kings at his door, it would show nothing but arrogance and rudeness, with no other effect.

It would be a huge damage to his and Yue Shi's reputation.

Shortly after, Zhang Rongfang changed into more formal attire and arrived at the reception hall.

Inside, a beautiful woman wearing a black hat adorned with blue jade rose and cupped her hands towards him.

"Special Envoy Zhang Zongxin from King Mu Li's mansion, meets Daoist."

The woman's figure was graceful, shapely, and natural, her face delicate and refined, purely in terms of beauty, she was top-notch.

Sending her as a special envoy by King Mu Li was an obvious intent.

Zhang Rongfang returned the gesture with a cupped fist.

"Special Envoy Zhang, you're too polite. Please have a seat. I wonder what guidance the envoy has come to offer?"

After they sat down, Zhang Rongfang went straight to the point.

Zhang Zongxin smiled slightly, sitting cross-legged on the mat, no longer on the wooden chair.

"I wonder if Daoist has heard of a rumor recently spreading across the provinces?"

"What rumor?" Zhang Rongfang's expression remained unchanged.

"About the rumors of the Eastern Sect's secret treasure." Zhang Zongxin said with deep meaning.

"Special Envoy... If you have something to say, speak directly. I don't like beating around the bush," Zhang Rongfang replied.

"Daoist is straightforward, refreshing." Zhang Zongxin chuckled. "The Prince sent me because this rumor mentioned a key factor, the three human races.

And among the three, it seems...

"Seems to be me?" Zhang Rongfang continued. "I've seen that rumor, and then? So what if the human race is me, and what if it's not?"

"If the secret treasure is nothing, naturally there's no issue." Zhang Zongxin smiled. "But... the unification of the three Great Weapons mentioned in the Eastern Sect's secret treasure could achieve the true suppression of the cult of worship, this... the Prince has already found evidence to verify it."

"Then why have you come to me, what does it mean?" Zhang Rongfang's expression gradually cooled.

"The Prince naturally won't use this as leverage, after all it's just a rumor, but..." Zhang Zongxin smiled.

"Daoist may not know this, but your honorable Sect Leader Yue, has now officially revised the original registry of the secret sects, causing a shake-up in the Great Brightness Religious Alliance, with some from the alliance on the registry already being openly hunted and killed. They are... extremely angry."

"So? Can't defeat my master, so they come to find me?" Zhang Rongfang sneered.

"Daoist might not know, Sect Leader Yue is certainly the number one martial artist, unbeatable in the world now, but two fists are hard to fight against four hands. Often, one's strength is ultimately limited.

The Great Brightness Religious Alliance did nothing wrong, Sect Leader Yue is aggressive, and doing extreme things, eventually there will be trouble." Zhang Zongxin said.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Zhang Rongfang frowned.

"Daoist... we originally thought it was just a rumor, but unfortunately... the Prince unintentionally obtained some information about you. Only then did we realize...."

Zhang Zongxin smiled mysteriously.

"You, should be the one who obtained the true great secret of the Eastern Sect, right? The Eastern human race who gained the method to swiftly kill the worship cult!"

"....." A hint of sternness appeared in Zhang Rongfang's eyes. "Some words should not be casually spoken."

"Daoist wouldn't think that what you've done is completely unnoticed, right?" Zhang Zongxin laughed covering her mouth. "If you don't want people to know, unless you don't do it yourself, moreover, many people observing are not official, no need for evidence."

"Such a few Grandmasters from the Western Sect died, still no movement, if not for your master's suppression, you wouldn't think you could still practice peacefully here in a position, would you? Just relying on that old monk you're associated with? Useful?"

"You mean people think I have mastered the so-called great secret of the Eastern Sect?" Zhang Rongfang began to understand.

His method of swiftly dispatching Spiritual Veins relied on first absorbing blood, then killing the Spiritual Vein again.

Now it was actually linked to the Eastern Sect's secret treasure.

Simply ridiculous.

But right now he really had no way to explain this matter.