Chapter 237: Chapter 126: Dividing the Spoils and the Outbreak of War

The materials to advance to the Third Realm!

Wang Ping’s interest was immediately piqued, even though he hadn’t yet obtained the Secret Technique for the latter half of the *Taiyan Talisman*.

Seeing Wang Ping’s eager expression, Zi Luan first chuckled. Then, he extended his right hand and pointed casually. Two green Talismans materialized between his fingers. Their surfaces were carved with dense Wood Runes—clearly Sealing Runes at a glance.

"Of these two Talismans, one seals a Divine Soul Guide. It’s the key to your advancement to the Third Realm. If you were to nurture one yourself, it would take at least sixty years."

Zi Luan handed the Talisman to Wang Ping. As Wang Ping carefully accepted it, he heard Zi Luan continue, "The other Talisman seals Si Ran’s Primordial Spirit. In a sense, this is a hundred times more important than the Divine Soul Guide."

He stared at the Talisman in his hand, a flicker of greed flashing in his eyes before he decisively offered it to Wang Ping. "You probably know from other sources that the Five Profound Sects have a quota for advancing to the Third Realm. His Primordial Spirit is equivalent to one of those spots. You should know how to use it, right?"

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist!"

Wang Ping was overjoyed. He had, in fact, been quite worried about the quota issue.

After handing this Talisman to Wang Ping, Zi Luan said, "The Lord will tell you the specifics himself. I won’t say more here."

"Thank you again, Fellow Daoist." Wang Ping bowed his thanks once more.

"I should be the one thanking you, Fellow Daoist. To be honest, Si Ran and I had a bit of a personal grudge. I’ve been searching for him all this time, only for him to unexpectedly fall into your hands by a twist of fate."

Zi Luan was very happy as he said this. It seemed the operation to encircle and kill Si Ran had been quite profitable for him.

Just then, the Qi Cultivator from the courtyard walked in again with steaming hot tea. He was carrying three cups; one was for Yu Lian.

’This puppet is getting smarter and smarter.’ Yu Lian’s emotions in the Spirit Sea were joyful. This was the only time she had been served tea when she and Wang Ping were guests somewhere.

After tea, Zi Luan said, "I’ve finished reading the two Star Gods’ memories, but I retrieved very little. Two points from their memories are crucial. First, they are raising many crazed Star Gods on the Far East Continent. Second, they are most likely capturing specific Outer Star Gods through a fixed method."

"So far away... Are there no clues about them in Zhongzhou?" Wang Ping frowned.

"There are a few transit stations. I’ve already sent people to investigate them secretly," Zi Luan replied, then abruptly changed the subject. "That Guan Xi from last time is quite interesting. It seems he used to be a clerk here. What a waste of his talents." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"He comes and goes without a trace. Sometimes I feel his cultivation might be above the Third Realm, and other times I feel he’s just an ordinary Qi Cultivator." There was a small lie mixed into Wang Ping’s words.

"Oh? You feel?"

Zi Luan said thoughtfully, "I sometimes get that feeling too. I’ve performed divination on him dozens of times, and even briefly used a Luck-Borrowing Talisman, but still nothing..."

He tapped lightly on the Eight Immortals Table and said slowly, "If he truly possesses power beyond the Third Realm, dealing with Si Ran would have been a mere thought for him. Why go through such a large, roundabout process?"

Wang Ping immediately shook his head. "I’m not sure. Perhaps it’s due to some internal issues within the Jimin Association."

That was all he could hint at.

"I remember Dan Chen was rather close with the Jimin Association. Perhaps we can find a clue to his disappearance there." As Zi Luan spoke, he looked at Wang Ping.

Their eyes met for only a fleeting moment.

He had prompted Wang Ping, but didn’t press the matter further.

Wang Ping remained silent.

A quarter of an hour later, the tea was finished, and Wang Ping rose to take his leave.

Zi Luan saw Wang Ping to the door, watched him leave the small courtyard, then returned to the room. He sat down where Wang Ping had just been, staring at his own seat.

The Qi Cultivator from the courtyard entered silently to clear the three empty teacups from the Eight Immortals Table.

"He’s holding something back, isn’t he?" Zi Luan asked the Qi Cultivator.

"It seems so."

"What is he holding back?"

"The matter concerning Dan Chen!"

"Dan Chen... What kind of secret is he hiding?" Zi Luan fell into deep thought. The Qi Cultivator, however, silently went about his business and soon left the main room.

About ten breaths later, the Qi Cultivator reappeared at the doorway.

"Back then, Changqing sent Fellow Daoist Zuo Xuan away and asked me about the Saint. It left me utterly perplexed, and gave me a strange sense of dread. Could there be a connection between the Saint and Dan Chen?"

Zi Luan looked out at the small courtyard.

"Everyone has their secrets. As long as they can be of use to us, it doesn’t matter," the Qi Cultivator said softly after bowing.

"Haha!"

Zi Luan laughed heartily. He was laughing partly because he was pleased the Qi Cultivator could say such a thing, and partly because he agreed. Then, he added with some vexation, "But now that Dan Chen is gone and Changqing is devoted to ascetic cultivation, I’ve become a true loner here in the Daoist Scripture Hall. I can’t even find a helper."

"Isn’t Daoist Yunshan quite good?"

"He’s too idealistic!"

"What do you think of Zuo Xuan?"

"If she hadn’t moved her Dao Field into Qianmu Temple, she would have been a good candidate."

"Then... after all is said and done, it seems only Yunshan is up to the task."

...

Wang Ping didn’t know Zi Luan was complaining about him slacking off. After leaving the Daoist Scripture Hall, he took Yu Lian and ascended into the sky.

When he returned to the Mountain Peak Dojo, the first thing he did was take out the two Talismans Daoist Zi Luan had given him to observe them. Since he didn’t yet know the Secret Technique for the latter half of the Third Realm, all he could do was look.

For the next several months, Wang Ping was in seclusion, engaged in ascetic cultivation.

Qianmu Mountain remained unusually calm, but Zhongzhou was like a massive Fire Spirit Array on the verge of activation.

「July.」

Just as autumn was approaching, Yu Cheng Taoist returned to the Daoist Temple.

"Ziyu has found some information on Jiao Hu. There isn’t much. We only know he’s the lowest-ranking Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard and spends his days in the underground prison, taking pleasure in interrogating prisoners."

It was very limited intelligence, mainly because Yu Cheng Taoist was afraid of alerting the enemy and didn’t dare to probe any deeper.

「After autumn arrived.」

Good news of the northern border army’s successful raids on the Northern Country’s towns continuously spread throughout Zhongzhou.

Wang Ping, however, found himself with plenty of leisure time. Every day after finishing his morning cultivation exercises, he would take Yu Lian to tour the Land of the Three Mansions under his jurisdiction, to alleviate the boredom that came with training.

Before he knew it, the beginning of the Jianwu 10th Year had arrived.

Wang Ping’s progress in using his Primordial Spirit to fuse the Luck-Borrowing Talisman and the Spirit Communication Talisman had reached (16/100).

「On the twentieth day of the first month.」

Liu Zixiu’s second disciple, Zhang Xinghuai, successfully achieved Foundation Establishment with the support of Qianmu Temple. It was also on this day that Wang Ping received a letter from Su Sea at the front lines.

The war was about to begin!

From then on, after finishing his morning exercises, Wang Ping would perform a few divinations using divination blocks. But whenever he asked about the war in the north, he never once received a Holy Trigram.

「In the six months that followed.」

For the next six months, reports of victory from the front lines showered all corners of the Xia Dynasty. But suddenly, after autumn arrived, the victory reports stopped!

「October.」

Wang Ping received a letter from Xia Yao. In it, she told him that the northern expedition had ended in a disastrous defeat. General Wang Wen Yi had been killed in battle. Of the three armies, totaling 160,000 soldiers, tens of thousands had died, and the rest were all captured.