A short and stout man in a black robe and bamboo hat watched the two swordsmen in the valley flash past each other at incredible speed. He asked softly, "My lord, is that Emperor Ziwei's successor? The sacred spirit who never appeared in the Ancient Era and the young man who now serves under the thirteenth princess?"

Dressed in a purple robe, Wang Shan nodded slightly. "It is. I have confirmed it myself."

"If he truly is the sacred spirit, why is he only at the Heavenly Immortal Realm?"

"He has cultivated for less than a thousand years and only recently escaped from a restricted realm," Wang Shan answered briefly. Choosing not to dwell on the matter, he asked in a low tone, "General Mei Liu, how many elite forces does the Second Master still have?"

"Six hundred eighty thousand. He has been secretly training troops all this time, but you know how he is. He would rather have fewer people than accept the unworthy. Every last one of his troops is an elite." Under the cloak, Mei Liu showed a hint of hesitation. "My lord, not that I'm timid, but I still feel the need to say this: we still do not have enough combat strength to rise back up."

"I am well aware of that," Wang Shan tucked his hands into his sleeves as he watched Wang Sheng and Jingwu exchanging moves. He sighed softly. "Contacting the Second Master is only a precaution. After all, he was the chief war god of the Heavenly Court. Back then, he fought his way out of countless encirclements alone and saved many immortals.

"I cannot guarantee that I can protect this kid. However, since the villains in the Immortal Saint Realm have yet to unite, I intend to hold them off for as long as I can."

Mei Liu fell deep into thought. He then asked, "My lord, how many parties have you contacted?"

"A little over a dozen. News about the kid has already spread throughout the Immortal Saint Realm. You have probably heard about him as well. He is not only Emperor Ziwei's successor but also the inheritor of Lu Dongbin's Pure Yang Art.

"Lu Dongbin has also secretly gathered a force. Though they had long since drifted away from the Heavenly Court, this kid has drawn them back again. Perhaps this is simply the will of fate."

Mei Liu paused briefly. "He is said to be the final life essence that Empress Nuwa has left behind, after all. Please rest assured, my lord. Now that I have seen him in person, I can return and report to the Second Master. The moment you call for him, he will personally lead his army here to support you."

"Very well," Wang Shan nodded slowly and cupped his hands. "Please send him my regards."

"Take care, Lord Wang."

Wang Shan raised his hand and drew out a swirling vortex.

After extending a salute, Mei Liu turned and stepped into it, reappearing in the remote star domain where he had first been brought. He then departed swiftly.

Wang Shan closed the portal and carefully sensed the fluctuations of heaven and earth. Only after confirming that no one had detected the disturbance did he turn and leave to attend to other matters.

By now, three and a half years had passed since Wang Sheng had been brought to this planet in the Southern Sky Region.

In the valley, Jingwu had suppressed his cultivation to the early stage of the Golden Immortal Realm. He was now locked in a fierce battle with Wang Sheng, who did not wield Spiritless.

All of Jingwu's techniques were lethal, forcing Wang Sheng to counter with everything he had. As the fight went on, Wang Sheng was gradually beaten due to his lower cultivation. However, his sword arts showed no flaw or weakness.

After more than two years as his sparring partner, Jingwu could no longer describe the speed of Wang Sheng's progress in the Dao of the Sword.

When he first tested the young sword cultivator's strength, Wang Sheng had cut his palm using a wooden sword and the Green Lotus Ultimate. From that moment on, all of Jingwu's doubts disappeared. He also felt that Ziwei could finally rest in peace, knowing that his successor was this formidable.

Hence, Jingwu had decided to spar with him himself.

At first, he believed the training program that he had designed was already harsh enough. He didn't give the young man any rest at all. Every hour was spent in sword practice, comprehension of the Dao, and contemplation of the principles of heaven and earth, with Jingwu offering constant guidance at his side.

He estimated that with such training, it would take about a thousand years for Wang Sheng to reach the late stage of the Heavenly Immortal Realm. To his surprise, however, his entire plan was disrupted within just a few days.

Though it would have been only logical for Jingwu to lower his cultivation realm during sparring, Wang Sheng required real pressure. Their exchanges had to truly put their lives on the line. Naturally, if a fatal strike managed to get past their defenses, they would stop in time. Only through such combat could Wang Sheng continue to gain insight and achieve breakthroughs.

Afterward, Wang Sheng asked Jingwu to set up several special arrays.

Unlike Wang Sheng, Jingwu was highly skilled in arrays and formations. He quickly arranged a high-pressure array and a heavy obstruction array according to Wang Sheng's requirements.

Wang Sheng trained alone within these arrays, enduring pressure strong enough to crush a True Immortal into a pulp while practicing his sword techniques. He had learned this method from certain plays and stories. However, he had not expected it to be... so ineffective. Still, it did somewhat increase the speed of his attacks and improved his ability to endure pressure.

Later, Wang Sheng also broke away from Jingwu's lecture-style teaching. Instead, they discussed the Dao and debated swordsmanship, each trying to persuade the other. On several occasions, their arguments grew heated. Their faces flushed, and they nearly fought each other for real.

Apart from that, Wang Sheng also worked relentlessly on practicing Ground Shrinker, the movement technique that revolved around the Dao of Heaven and Earth.

Ordinarily, techniques based on the Dao of Heaven and Earth were exclusive to Golden Immortals. Those who hadn't reached that realm yet could not physically withstand the immense pressure of such techniques.

However, Wang Sheng had used heavenly tribulation to temper his body continuously. He had even bathed in it for half a year, allowing him to reach the level required to use Ground Shrinker. Integrating it into his sword techniques increased his close-range combat ability significantly.

Even so, the higher one's realm, the fewer opportunities there were to close in and strike. Hence, following Jingwu's guidance, Wang Sheng also came up with long-range techniques.

Jingwu was very familiar with the Wenqu Star's Sword-Controlling Art. Although he had never practiced it himself, he still instructed Wang Sheng according to the methods that the Wenqu Star had once used to teach the Shu Sword Sect's disciples.

Wang Sheng gained a sudden sense of enlightenment. At times, this clarity even came several times in a single day.

It was truly a rare blessing to have a Taiyi Golden Immortal wholeheartedly assisting him in his cultivation.

Wang Sheng felt deeply grateful. From beginning to end, he addressed Jingwu with respect. They would occasionally drink together, and even when he drank too much, Wang Sheng still regarded himself as the junior, never showing the slightest arrogance.

Over these three and a half years, Wang Sheng was like a sponge, absorbing everything Jingwu taught about the Dao of the Sword.

He also understood that he could only cultivate in peace here thanks to Wang Shan, who held everything together. The situation outside had likely already fallen into chaos.

***

Just as Wang Sheng had guessed, the endless space was now experiencing its most turbulent period in the past hundred thousand years.

The Black Emperor's faction wasn't the Heavenly Court's enemy; his was merely one of the more prominent factions among them. When the Heaven-Scouring Grand Array locked onto Wang Sheng, his aura, appearance, and even his Dao were exposed to countless powerful beings. Half of those developed the intent to kill him.

Meanwhile, in the Immortal Saint Realm, many of the factions that had not helped create the Heaven-Scouring Grand Array also sent out waves of elites to search for Wang Sheng in the four great sky regions, each driven by their own motives.

Wherever these forces passed, war and slaughter followed.

It became common for people to take advantage of the chaos. Some experts would wipe out entire immortal sects on a whim simply because they found them displeasing.

Many cultivators from the Immortal Saint Realm had a sense of superiority since they lived in the Immortal Realm. They looked down on the sects and unaffiliated practitioners scattered throughout the endless space.

Many of the factions that couldn't find Wang Sheng feared punishment upon returning. Hence, they deliberately plundered certain sects, hoping to use the spoils to atone for their failures.

Once chaos began, it spread like wildfire, growing more intense with each passing moment. Many sects in the endless space chose to submit to the major powers of the Immortal Saint Realm, while countless others sought to take advantage of the disorder for their own gain.

Even the solar systems that had once been stable fell into disorder despite the Immortal Saint Realm not interfering with them. It was as if an unseen hand had scattered seeds of disaster across the vast sea of stars, and those seeds were now beginning to sprout.

The Three Realms had descended into unrest, though it had not yet reached the point of complete anarchy. The Eastern Sky Region, which had been the first of the four great sky regions to fall into turmoil, was now relatively stable.

After all, the Black Emperor's forces had spent so long searching through it already. Together with other supporting factions, they had formed a vast net of surveillance. Since the area was now under the strictest watch, it was highly likely that Wang Shan had already taken the survivors to hide in one of the other three regions.

Remnants of the Great Dao also still lingered within the Eastern Sky Region. Heavenly secrets remained shrouded there. If Wang Sheng were still in the area, those who had activated the Heaven-Scouring Grand Array would have already sensed him.

Some great powers had studied the Great Dao of Causality. Once entangled with Wang Sheng, they could roughly deduce his location. However, the Dao of Causality was far too profound. It was one of the primordial Great Daos, and no one had grasped even a fraction of it yet.

Over the past few years, several groups of experts searched near the ancient battlefield, but they didn't find the great Buddha statue. They didn't attack the eleven qi planets where unaffiliated practitioners gathered, either. Those, at least, could be considered a stroke of luck.

Wang Sheng was now completely cut off from his home planet. At times, he worried about the safety of Earth's cultivators and the Xinghai Sect.

Fortunately, Wang Shan seemed determined to see things through. Every half a year, he would bring news that the Earth's cultivators had not yet been exposed, allowing Wang Sheng to continue cultivating with peace of mind.

People often said that time meant nothing in the mountains, yet during his days in the blood mines, Wang Sheng had felt each day drag on endlessly. Later, during his seclusion at the Xinghai Sect, he experienced how time could pass unnoticed in cultivation. More than sixty years had slipped by before he had noticed it.

This time, he once again experienced how cultivation could come across as a mere fleeting moment.

After five full years of swordsmanship training under Jingwu, Wang Sheng was brought to another hidden paradise filled with the fragrance of flowers and the singing of birds. Here, he went from having one mentor to four.

Wang Shan personally took time to guide him in mastering the movement techniques that were based on the Dao of Heaven and Earth.

The Second Master also sent a military strategist who would spend half a day each month teaching Wang Sheng military tactics and formations.

Jingwu remained his primary instructor in swordsmanship, but a Grand Dao Golden Immortal had joined him in guiding Wang Sheng's swordsmanship training.

The Grand Dao Golden Immortal had quite an astonishing background. It took Wang Sheng a long while before he realized that the man was Wu Tianshou, also known as Star Deity Bi Yue. He was a subordinate of the Western Pole Emperor and one of the White Tiger of the West's Seven Stars.

Bi Yue also brought a study companion for Wang Sheng: the successor of the Western Pole Emperor's legacy, a young "person" who... didn't look particularly bright.