Chapter 1287: Important Intelligence

"Thank you for the match, Fellow Daoist Sun," Wang Qinglei said with a bow, beaming.

The young man in green robes put away his spirit beast, took out a blue porcelain bottle, and tossed it to Wang Qinglei, saying, "Madam Wang's spirit beast is formidable. I accept my defeat."

Spirit beast battles naturally required stakes; otherwise, if everyone challenged Wang Qinglei, she would incur too many losses.

"Hehe, I told you! Immortal Bailing was sure to win. Rank doesn't mean everything.""Ah, Immortal Bailing didn't even release her Icewind Flood Dragon. I thought Fellow Daoist Sun's Blazing Fire Python could defeat the Earth Dragon Worm, especially since his Blazing Fire Python has quite a few victories. Who would have thought it would still lose to the Earth Dragon Worm? Immortal Bailing truly lives up to her reputation.""Immortal Bailing is the niece of the Azure Lotus Immortals and the cousin of the Azure Lotus Sword Sovereign. Naturally, she's not comparable to ordinary people."

The surrounding cultivators chattered noisily. The Azure Lotus Sword Sovereign they spoke of was, of course, Wang Qingshan.

Wang Qingshan was the nephew of the Azure Lotus Immortals, and outsiders referred to him as the Azure Lotus Sword Sovereign. Among a thousand sword cultivators, perhaps only one could be called a Sword Sovereign. Any sword cultivator widely recognized as a Sword Sovereign possessed exceptional strength, talent, and devotion to the Dao. In the entire Eastern Wilderness, only Wang Qingshan's master, the Carefree Sword Sovereign, had earned this title. This shows how highly other cultivators regarded Wang Qingshan.

"Is there any other Fellow Daoist willing to offer guidance?" Wang Qinglei's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at the other Core Formation cultivators.

She won far more often than she lost; ordinary beast tamers were no match for her. The Core Formation cultivators exchanged glances, none stepping forward. Over the years, no fewer than eighty beast tamers had been defeated by Wang Qinglei, and they had no desire to humiliate themselves.

"Is there truly no Fellow Daoist willing to offer guidance? I am willing to wager a magic treasure." Wang Qinglei's tone was full of temptation. She engaged in beast battles with other cultivators to resolve her bottleneck, and losing a magic treasure was insignificant if it helped her break through.

The Core Formation cultivators looked at each other, none wanting to be the first to step forward. Very few cultivators could defeat Wang Qinglei, and accepting a challenge would naturally require putting up a stake, which they could not afford to lose.

No cultivator responded for a long time. Wang Qinglei was somewhat disappointed and put away her Earth Dragon Worm.

"Qiuming, let's go!" She and Wang Qiuming walked away, planning to return in a few days.

They had not gone far when they suddenly spotted Wang Changsheng and immediately quickened their pace.

"Follow me." Wang Changsheng smiled faintly, then turned and left with Wang Ruyan. Wang Qinglei and Wang Qiuming quickly followed.

Half an hour later, they appeared in a secluded courtyard.

Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan sat in a stone pavilion, while Wang Qinglei and Wang Qiuming stood by. They reported on the past few years, especially the family's situation, to Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan.

Only upon learning that everything was well with the family did Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan relax.

It seemed the Nine Nether Sect had not yet discovered the true culprit. Assuming the Nine Nether Sect was not responsible for destroying the Wang family's three strongholds back then, they truly would not be able to trace it back to the Wang family, as a single Suppressing Sea Ape would provide no clues for investigation.

The intelligence sent by Immortal Ziyue caught Wang Changsheng's attention: "The sun and moon are unharmed, paper cannot conceal fire."

"Sun and moon" referred to the Sun Moon Palace, while "paper cannot conceal fire" likely meant that something had been exposed.

Wang Changsheng and Immortal Ziyue shared two common enemies in the South Sea: the first was the Sun Moon Palace, and the second was Yellow Dragon Island. Immortal Ziyue was likely referring to Yellow Dragon Island having discovered that Wang Changsheng was the killer of Yuan Gang.

Over thirty years had passed, and Yellow Dragon Island had not taken any action. There were two possibilities: first, Yellow Dragon Island lacked evidence and dared not act recklessly; second, True Man Yellow Dragon feared the Wang family's strength and temporarily wished to avoid a direct confrontation.

Putting himself in True Man Yellow Dragon's shoes, Wang Changsheng thought he would send people to bribe Wang family cultivators and contact the Wang family's enemies, as an enemy's enemy is a friend.

If you strike a snake but don't kill it, you risk being bitten. One should either not act at all or ensure the opponent has no chance for revenge.

The Wang family ostensibly had three Nascent Soul cultivators. To deal with them, at least six Nascent Soul cultivators would be needed. Yellow Dragon Island originally had three Nascent Soul cultivators; one had died, leaving two. This meant True Man Yellow Dragon would need to contact four additional Nascent Soul cultivators, and persuading four Nascent Soul cultivators to eliminate the Azure Lotus Immortals would come at an extraordinarily high price.

Similarly, if someone were to invite Wang Changsheng to kill a Nascent Soul cultivator who had been famous for many years, it wouldn't be something that could be settled with spirit stones and magic treasures alone. It would require spirit treasures, rare spirit medicines, or other exceptionally uncommon items.

True Man Yellow Dragon was not foolish, nor were other Nascent Soul cultivators. Those with families might not agree, as failing to kill the Azure Lotus Immortals would mean forming a deadly feud with the Wang family. Rogue cultivators, who wandered the four seas, had large appetites.

A troubling issue was that Wang Qinglei had caused too much commotion in the Central Plains cultivation world, and the news of Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan's travels there had likely reached True Man Yellow Dragon.

If True Man Yellow Dragon knew the Azure Lotus Immortals were not in the South Sea, he would undoubtedly attack Azure Lotus Island. Even if he wouldn't destroy Azure Lotus Island, he would severely cripple it, considering the existence of the Azure Lotus Immortals.

A half-dead enemy was the best kind of enemy.

Another troubling issue was that internal problems had arisen within the Great Qin Dynasty, which could lead to roads being sealed at any moment.

They could only return to the Eastern Wilderness first, then to the South Sea. Even with a large teleportation array, it would take a year or a year and a half just to get back to the South Sea. Returning to the Five Dragon Sea Region would take at least two years.

"Forget it. Let's return to the South Sea first and deal with Yellow Dragon Island," Wang Changsheng said in a deep voice. He had originally intended to proceed cautiously, but since the matter had been exposed, there was no room for easing tensions. He now only hoped that Qingshan had already advanced to the Nascent Soul stage. If anything happened to Wang Qingshan, Wang Changsheng would absolutely not let True Man Yellow Dragon off the hook.

With Immortal Ziyue and Guang Dongren there, they should be able to hold out. At the very least, they could cover Wang Qingshan's escape.

The Twin-Eyed Mouse, having been dormant for so long, should have awakened. If it advanced to the fourth rank, it could offer some assistance.

"Ninth Uncle, Senior Murong Bo is right here in the Kyoto Market. He has a fourth-rank low-grade Lion-Roc. Why don't we borrow his Lion-Roc? That would shorten our travel time," Wang Qinglei suggested. A Nascent Soul cultivator from the Murong Royal Family had been staying in the Kyoto Market.

Wang Changsheng pondered for a moment, then took out a communication plate to contact Murong Bo.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, you've finally emerged from seclusion." Murong Bo's tone was familiar, making anyone unaware think they were old acquaintances.

"Fellow Daoist Murong, are you free right now? I have something I'd like to discuss with you." Wang Changsheng spoke sincerely. Since he had a favor to ask, his attitude naturally had to be polite.

"I am. I'm having tea at the Joyful Immortal Tower. Come over."

Half an hour later, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan appeared in a private room at the Joyful Immortal Tower. Murong Bo sat across from them.

"Fellow Daoist Murong, thank you for your care during our time in the Great Yan Dynasty. We'd like to invite you to be our guest in the South Sea. What do you think, Fellow Daoist Murong?" Wang Changsheng said enthusiastically. He appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly, he was extremely anxious.