Exploring Immortality Cultivation-Chapter 1010 - 94: Enhancing the Strength of Those Ancient Method Practitioners

Wang Qi chews on the nutritional pellet while discreetly maneuvering the somewhat ethereal light-shadow interface in front of him.

Meanwhile, he inquires, "Hey, Elder Mei, any noteworthy intelligence these days?"

Mei Sicheng nods, "There is."

Every sect possesses its own information network. This network doesn't solely rely on aggressive measures like "sending spies," but rather on the communication channels built through the relationships among the upper and lower echelons of the sect. These channels are often more crucial than espionage. After all, conventional methods are deemed "conventional" because they are practical, effective, and durable.

Mei Sicheng slightly bows. Now, as an elder of the Luochen Sword Palace, he is courteous in front of Wang Qi. During Wang Qi's experiments with the Primordial Spirit Skill and exploration of the Primordial Spirit Method, Mei Sicheng often watched quietly. Although the intricacies of the Primordial Spirit Skill eluded him, it didn't prevent him from intuitively sensing the terrifying mysteries contained within the Primordial Spirit Skill.

The intricate long chain just moments ago even resonated with him at an instinctive level!

Mei Sicheng began with matters of lesser importance. The first piece he presented was intelligence gathered about "adventures." In the past month or two, several individuals have received technique transmission from a "mysterious senior."

This time, Mei Sicheng even obtained detailed information about those fortunate ones.

This event is undoubtedly orchestrated by the Holy Emperor Venerable.

— However, three people having adventures in a month is a much higher frequency than the records indicate.

— It appears he's hastening his pace, has something prompted this... What could have stimulated him?

Wang Qi nods, indifferent. Mei Sicheng promptly reported the second piece of information.

The mysterious disappearance of cultivators.

Wang Qi has already established the Heart Demon Mysterious Net on Spirit Phoenix Island. It's safe to say that every mortal on Spirit Phoenix Island is under his surveillance. Just as the Holy Emperor Venerable wouldn't pay attention to every cultivator's mundane affairs, Wang Qi doesn't constantly monitor the mortals. However, should there be a sudden mass departure of mortals from Spirit Phoenix Island, it would be akin to dismantling his system. In such a scenario, Wang Qi would definitely take notice.

Transporting large populations without detection is impossible. Wang Qi has not found any traces of mortal disappearances. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"So, is it cultivators this time?" Wang Qi frowns, "How many people? What scale are we talking about?"

Mei Sicheng shakes his head, "This matter is essentially unquantifiable. Low-level cultivators on this island frequently perish silently; one or two casualties are very normal, and rumors have never ceased. Furthermore, various sects consider the unexplained disappearance of their disciples a disgrace, so they keep it under wraps. Initially, no one paid attention, and by the time consciousness returned, rumors had already spread. If my estimation is correct... many Golden Core cultivators are missing too."

Wang Qi felt a bit frustrated, "What's with this, why hasn't anyone from Luochen Sword Palace tried any kidnappings here?"

Although Wang Qi has impregnated the heart demon curse power into Spirit Phoenix Island's underground, infecting many, this primitive network lacks basic functionality. Moreover, to prevent detection by the Holy Emperor Venerable, Wang Qi carefully circumvented all targets possibly set by the Holy Emperor Venerable, focusing on those neglected by him. This underground city network cannot monitor individuals.

However, Luochen Sword Palace is different. Everyone here is deeply infected by the Supreme Heart Demon Spell, and most have dual cultivated with modified cultivation techniques tampered by Wang Qi. Wang Qi can indeed "sense individuals."

Still, Wang Qi was just proposing. Those missing cultivators, whether personally abducted by the Holy Emperor Venerable or by his confidants, once entered Luochen Sword Palace, many secrets Wang Qi has cultivated would be immediately exposed.

Mei Sicheng also felt that the intelligence wasn't impressive enough. Nonetheless, he hadn't finished speaking. He then added, "Initially, only cultivators below the Golden Core Stage were missing. But later on, Nascent Soul Stage cultivators also disappeared."

The Nascent Soul Stage is effectively the backbone within the Ancient Method Immortal Sect. The Ancient Method Immortal Sect comprises thousands of Nascent Soul Cultivators; within each sect, it could range from hundreds to thousands, similar to the student body of a private university on Earth. Therefore, the disappearance of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator is definitely significant.

Still, seemingly dissatisfied with the sensationality of this news, Mei Sicheng continued, "Then, just the day before yesterday... a Divine Separation Stage Cultivator went missing."

"Divine Separation Stage?" Wang Qi raised an eyebrow, "A Divine Separation Stage Cultivator?"

There are only a few hundred Divine Separation Stage Cultivators, all existing before the war between Modern and Ancient two thousand years ago. Even those endowed by the Holy Emperor mostly attained Nascent Soul Perfection long ago.

"Which sect's?"

"Heart Demon Illusion Sect. Their second elder, Huan Yuchen," Mei Sicheng replied, "And then today, there's more news, an Unrivaled Sword Sect's Divine Separation Stage Cultivator, Jiao Huantian, has also gone missing, whether he's disappeared is unclear. Currently, Unrivaled Sword Sect is... attempting to make contact."

Heart Demon Illusion Sect is one of the few remaining Evil Path sects on Spirit Phoenix Island. Emperor's Extreme Split Sky Dao has very low tolerance for sacrificial offerings, and the Ancient Method acknowledges that when encountering Demon Path Cultivators, one should kill them on sight. During the Modern and Ancient Immortal Dao wars, predecessors of Modern Cultivation prioritized establishing might over Demon Paths and Evil Paths, implementing a policy of "reformation" and "surrender" toward the Righteous Path—though this policy resulted in the "Divine Capital" predicament. However, at that time, it indeed accelerated the collapse of Ancient Method Immortal Path.

Wang Qi glanced at Mei Sicheng. It was clear that this Great Elder was quite tense in the face of this news.

At the edge of the Phoenix Tomb, beneath the Heavenly Emperor's feet, people disappeared silently. This either indicated that the perpetrators were stronger than the Holy Emperor Venerable, or that the Holy Emperor Venerable, whom they regarded as their protector, was in fact the mastermind behind it all.

And Mei Sicheng had been working for Wang Qi for almost half a year. During this time, he had also realized the various means of the Holy Emperor Venerable—this last pillar of the Ancient Method Practitioner truly harbored unfathomable secrets.

Considering that Mei Sicheng knew he might face the capture of a Mahayana Cultivator, the mindset of this Great Elder was rather commendable.

Wang Qi nodded, then pondered, "The Holy Emperor Venerable naturally disdains the 'Blood Sacrifice' method... Even the other Banished Immortal I met on the continent, who was dealing with an Evil God and doing blood sacrifices, was not aiming for the essence and blood of life beings, but rather for the collapse of the order of life from birth to death, the process of returning from negative entropy to positive entropy. So, these people are certainly not being consumed. That would be too degrading for the Holy Emperor Venerable."

"However, the Law Gate practiced by the Holy Emperor Venerable is as orthodox as ever, the Innate Five Virtues Method, five processes leading from chaos to order. One might say it's the five virtues and five operations cultivating both opposites... The many Divine Spirits within him, not one is inclined toward chaos, right? It's quite strange."

Wang Qi pondered for a long time. In the end, he still couldn't figure out what the Holy Emperor Venerable was abducting so many people for. Perhaps he intends to construct a virtual domain, turning those who disappeared into Divine Power batteries, then carry out other deeds?

Besides this, seems like there's no other explanation, right?

This conjecture made Wang Qi more vigilant. Perhaps what he would face next would not be the Holy Emperor Venerable he had seen before, but a reinforced version like The Matrix's Holy Emperor Venerable.

After Wang Qi finished pondering, Mei Sicheng reported the next intelligence: "Additionally, there's another matter to make you aware of—today, the Holy Emperor Venerable has explicitly issued an edict. After April, at the transition between winter and spring, the Qionghua Meeting, heroes gather."

"Isn't it just September? Some coastal places might have just entered autumn..." Wang Qi scratched his head, "So, February?"

"On the second of February, the dragon raises its head," Mei Sicheng said, "That's how the Holy Emperor Venerable set it."

Wang Qi nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "I'll give you seven days to prepare another exchange meeting among the various Sect heads."

Mei Sicheng was taken aback, "You're...?"

"Just do what I say. If you Ancient Method Practitioners are too weak, I might not be able to defeat the Holy Emperor Venerable..." Wang Qi waved his hand, signaling Mei Sicheng to leave his place of practice. Then, he snapped his right fingers, and a virtual keyboard appeared before him. His right fingers, along with the virtual left fingers, pressed down the keyboard, murmuring, "The only thing that can make a programmer work overtime is the 'deadline,' I suppose?"

...............

Seven days later, when Mei Sicheng saw Wang Qi again, he was startled. Though Wang Qi's fingers had long since healed, his complexion was withered, his eyes hollow, seemingly drained of spirit. He waved his hand at Mei Sicheng, asking, "How did those tasks I asked you to do last time fare?"

"Mr. Wang, I've already gathered the young generation of cultivators from seven sects here under the pretext of 'preparing for the Qionghua Meeting.' And then... the actual sparring is this afternoon."

"Hmm?" Wang Qi's consciousness extended along the Tai Chu Sword God Array, soon sensing hundreds of mana power intents that did not belong to Luochen Sword Palace Cultivators. He acted decisively, directly manipulating the Tai Chu Sword God Array to bring down strands of Sword Intent, transmitting the Heart Demon Curse, then using the Divine Plague Curse Technique to infect all those cultivators.

Afterwards, Wang Qi yawned and casually tossed a pile of small gadgets to Mei Sicheng, "Find some reason to distribute these gadgets, or give them to those disciples participating in the sparring..."

After saying that, Wang Qi closed the door and found a place to sleep.

.....................

"What a useless amulet, and it claims that 'it will certainly help me,' Master seriously..." In Luochen Sword Palace, a youth with a face covered in ointment grumbled as he casually tossed a jade pendant at the corner of the wall.

The jade pendant was solemnly handed to him by his Master. Because he trusted this jade pendant, he chose to take on the punch from a Wuji Sky Sect Cultivator head-on during a critical moment in combat.

Then... he was left here to treat his wounds alone.

So furious was he that he didn't even notice that the hand he used to throw the jade pendant was covered in blood.

It was his own blood.

The jade pendant, absorbing the boy's blood, emitted a red light as though activated into life, enveloping everything in red light.

The world became still.