“Yes,” Yi Xiaoxiang nodded. After asking about Yi Wangyou's cultivation progress and testing him a bit, the Courtyard Head prepared to leave.
But suddenly worrying that Yi Wangyou wouldn't be able to bear the loneliness and would sneak out to play, Yi Xiaoxiang said, “Be good during this time. The New Year is coming soon. I'll take you back to the Zhou family so you can get to know more people your age.”
It was already time for the New Year again? Zhuang Xun's hand paused as he stroked the Qiankun Chicken.
Since transmigrating, he had paid very little attention to holidays, sometimes even forgetting what day it was.
After all, there were no school holidays anymore, so what was there to remember?
He agreed verbally. Once Yi Xiaoxiang left, he pulled the Qiankun Chicken over to use as a pillow, nearly squeezing the recently fed bird to the point of throwing up.
The courtyard was quiet and lonely. The sky was cloudless, with neither wind nor rain—it was a beautiful day.
But Zhuang Xun only felt lonely.
Even a god could feel lonely.
He couldn't help but place his hand over his heart and say in a low voice, “Has the... Sorrow of Blood flared up again? Ah well, gods are always lonely.”
“Clucky, let's go.”
He stood up, put a leash on Clucky, and took it out for a walk.
...
“Third Rank.”
On the side cliff, inside Bai Yujing's courtyard.
Zhuang Xun slowly brought his stance to a close and stretched his limbs. Now that the final neural network of his internal organs was woven, there was no longer any martial art in this world that he could not imitate.
Other practitioners of the Formless Phaseless Sublime Method wouldn't dare make such a claim, but he was different. He was a once-in-a-lifetime genius, destined to achieve what others could not.
He raised his hand. His long, fair palm flushed red as he pressed it against the cliff face, instantly leaving a scorched black palm print.
—Wrathful Resolve.
Zhuang Xun's heart beat rapidly, and his blood qi surged beneath his skin, turning it red. He could physically feel his strength and speed increase by a fraction.
Second Gear.
Zhuang Xun deactivated Wrathful Resolve, thinking that if he had another martial art that could increase muscle elasticity, he could even cosplay as Luffy.
“It's a bit strange and doesn't match Bai Yujing's immortal-like vibe. Forget it.”
Zhuang Xun decided to use Wrathful Resolve sparingly; turning completely red was too ugly, and looking cool was a lifelong pursuit.
As for being strong—had he ever been weak?
With the Formless Phaseless Sublime Method at the Third Rank, his martial physique was already at great accomplishment. Cultivation after the Third Rank involved increasing the density of the neural network, allowing the practitioner to control their body with greater precision and imitate martial arts even faster.
“I'm almost at the top.”
Zhuang Xun pondered his future plans.
Once the Formless Phaseless Sublime Method reached great perfection, his realm would be at the Zenith. The path to the Innate Realm after that would have to be forged by himself.
Zhuang Xun currently had a vague idea, but he wasn't entirely sure. After all, it was purely theoretical, and he needed to reference the Innate Laws of other martial arts.
“I can get the Innate Law of the Sword Sanctuary of the World through Yi Wangyou, but that will take some time. I'll have to wait until Yi Wangyou also cultivates to the Zenith. As for Mount Dazhou, I wonder if that old geezer of a master has one. There's also the City Lord's Manor, Qushe Ridge, and the Shengxue Cult.”
“The leaders of the City Lord's Manor and Qushe Ridge—one is a former disciple of the Jiyi Sect, and the other is a traitor wanted by the Ten Thousand Beasts Alliance. The probability of them having an Innate Law is very small. Otherwise, they would have already reached the Innate Realm instead of still being stuck at the Zenith.”
Zhuang Xun overlooked the possibility that some people simply couldn't comprehend the Innate Law even if they had it.
“The Shengxue Cult has the highest probability of possessing an Innate Law. After all, their entire cult fled into Mount Dazhou, so they must have retained some of their heritage. Even if only fragments remain, I can still reconstruct it.”
Zhuang Xun paced around the courtyard, deep in thought.
Back when he was in the Fourth Rank and could multitask four ways, he had already thought about slipping a clone into the Shengxue Cult.
However, the Shengxue Cult was hidden too deeply and hard to find. Moreover, their background checks were extremely strict; they usually recruited people through their own active proselytizing and did not accept self-recommendations. Thus, he had made no progress.
After thinking for a moment, Zhuang Xun decided to use the same method as the expert cultivating the Formless Method whom Guan Ren'ai had sent to infiltrate the Shengxue Cult.
Kill a member of the Shengxue Cult, then disguise himself as them to slip in.
Unlike that Formless Method expert, however, Zhuang Xun decided to directly kill a high-ranking member of the Shengxue Cult and replace them.
“That seems a bit too crude.” After thinking it over, Zhuang Xun felt it wouldn't work.
The current high-ranking members of the Shengxue Cult were mostly remnants who had fled into Mount Dazhou from the outside thirty years ago. They had known each other for decades. Zhuang Xun didn't think his acting was good enough to deceive colleagues who had spent decades with the person he was replacing.
Perhaps a minor habit or an incorrect tone of voice would immediately arouse suspicion.
Therefore, this method could only be used on low-level targets who had recently joined. But low-level targets wouldn't be able to access top-secret information like the Innate Law anytime soon.
Soon, he thought of another way.
The Shengxue Cult's background checks were strict now, but would they still be so strict when they were short on people?
Once he had slaughtered enough of their members, he could send in a clone with Zenith-level potential, and they would probably absorb him in no time.
Combined with the Shengxue Cult's current predicament of lacking Zenith-level experts, he might even be groomed as a core figure, like a Holy Son.
“Well, there's also a small chance of being used as a vessel for an evil god's descent, but that's not a big deal. The rewards outweigh the risks. For me, the loss of failure is only a hundred panel points. This is a risk worth taking.”
A hundred panel points would only cost a little over a thousand taels of silver if he didn't care about the time cost and obtained them entirely through one-year-grade precious meat.
If he wanted to speed things up and used ten-year-grade precious meat exclusively, it would only cost a little over ten thousand taels of silver, which was nothing to him.
Ever since Bai Yujing's martial arts reached the Fourth Rank and Zhuang Xun was able to multitask four ways, he would occasionally create a clone to eat precious meat and convert it into points. He had spent nearly twenty thousand taels of silver in total, and his panel points had accumulated to 203, which was enough to create two fully talented clones.
With that in mind, Zhuang Xun set off to find Guan Ren'ai.
“Elder Guan, is there any news of the Shengxue Cult recently?”
“I was just about to report this to you, Young Master,” said Guan Ren'ai, rising from his desk. “The person I sent out has already uncovered the public identity of one of the Shengxue Cult's altar masters.”
“Oh?” Zhuang Xun's interest was piqued.
The Shengxue Cult had a total of seven altar masters, all of whom were at the Second Rank. They were their highest combat assets, second only to the Blood Son and the Left and Right Protectors, who were three First Rank martial artists.
To be honest, they were far too weak compared to the Wanxing Martial Academy.
Leaving aside the two Zenith-realm experts, the Wanxing Martial Academy alone had seven First Rank martial artists—the presiding elders of the Four Halls and the three Courtyard Heads of the Lower Three Courts.
This number was equivalent to the total number of Second Rank martial artists in the entire Shengxue Cult.
In terms of top-tier martial artists, the Wanxing Martial Academy had the highest numbers in Mount Dazhou. The City Lord's Manor only had five First Rank martial artists, while Qushe Ridge had only four. In terms of raw power, the academy was the undisputed number one in Mount Dazhou.
Afterward, Zhuang Xun asked Guan Ren'ai about the altar master's identity and learned that he was the patriarch of the Liu family in Gaolin County, a large county near Zechuan City.
Elder Guan said, “Young Master, if you wish to strike him, you can wait five days. The altar master hiding in Gaolin County will be celebrating his seventieth birthday then. The entire Liu family will be present, and none of them will escape the net.”
Zhuang Xun smiled. “Then we shall do as Elder Guan says.”
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