The Attack of the Wastrel

Rong Han was bewildered. It turned out that Gu Lingzhi had a Communication Conch that was slightly larger than everyone else’s, which was the mother of all Communication Conches. With this Queen Communication Conch, she could monitor the conversations between every other Communication Conches. It was no wonder she sold so many Communication Conches to the Sangna Kingdom even after knowing that they had sworn allegiance to the North Qiu Kingdom.

Rong Han was pleasantly surprised. He could foresee the envoy of the Sangna Kingdom sending a few of the Communication Conches that he had bought to the North Qiu Kingdom. Even if the people from the North Qiu Kingdom did not use the Communication Conch, as long as important information was being disseminated, Gu Lingzhi could have first-hand information of the North Qiu Kingdom’s plans.

“That’s great. Why wasn’t the method of making such a tool passed down?” Rong Han asked, slightly perplexed. Gu Lingzhi felt the same way. Ever since she entered the Sacred Lands, she had discovered many things that did not make logical sense.

For example, the disappearance of the Teleportation Spell, the forging method of this Communication Conch, and the Accelerating Advancement Pill that she had given to Su Ruo…

Many of these objects that could help strengthen Martial Artists had long disappeared from the Tianyuan Continent. It would be a bit far-fetched to attribute their disappearance to the disappearance of the Spirit Tribe. From Gu Lingzhi’s perspective, Spirit Cleansing Pills that could allow people to change their Spiritual Roots were not difficult to make. As long as one could get their hands on all the ingredients, a Black-Level Alchemist would be able to refine it.

However, the refining method of the Spirit Cleansing Pill had not been passed down. Only the North Qiu Kingdom’s Royal Palace knew of its existence.

There were other things that were strange as well. The objects and methods that were not passed down were things that could vastly strengthen a Martial Artist’s cultivation. To her, it seemed that there was a larger force at play here that did not want Martial Artists to be too powerful so that they would always remain in the Tianyuan Continent.

“…Lingzhi, are you okay?” Rong Yuan asked her worriedly upon seeing her zone out.

“I’m alright, I was just thinking about things that do not make sense,” Gu Lingzhi said before elaborating about what she had been thinking about, before she mocked herself, “Maybe I’m just tired.”

“You’re not tired, your guesses are right. There is a greater power that has been controlling the Tianyuan Continent, restricting us all here as if it were a cage.”

Gu Lingzhi, Rong Yuan and Rong Han immediately turned towards the voice that had sounded out of nowhere. It was Pan Yue, who was still disguised as Wu Yue.

Rong Han’s forehead creased immediately, wanting to call in the troops to take him down immediately. The Imperial Study Room was not a place that people could trespass so easily. 

Rong Yuan stopped his father before he could do so, and looked at Pan Yue, “What do you mean?”

Pan Yue did not answer his question directly. Instead, he looked at Rong Han. Pan Yue did not wish for too many people to know about the matters that involved the Pan Family and the Spirit Tribe. Catching onto his expression, Rong Han’s face darkened.

“Are you suspecting me of something?”

“No, just that this information is only meant for the Third Prince and his wife,” Pan Yue said as he looked directly at Rong Han fearlessly. It was unthinkable that such a young man who had just made a name for himself in the Chiyang City had the nerve to be so straightforward with the King of the Xia Kingdom.

“Father, you must be tired from all the official matters today, why don’t you go and rest? Tomorrow, I will give you a more detailed update about current matters,” Rong Yuan tried to appease his father before he could throw a temper, dragging Gu Lingzhi with him out of the Imperial Study Room.

When they walked out of the door, Rong Han’s voice sounded out from behind, “The Empress and the Crown Prince had been taken away by someone on the night of your wedding. Be careful.”

Rong Yuan froze for a second at his words, before nodding his head in acknowledgement.

The Crown Prince was not worth worrying over, but the Empress had many clans that were supporting her. However, the most important thing at hand now was to figure out what Pan Yue’s words had meant.

When they reached the Ronghua Palace, Rong Yuan asked Pan Yue, “Why do you say that the Tianyuan Continent is a cage?”

“Is it not?” Pan Yue retorted as he grinned mockingly, “If we disregard half of the things that help to strengthen Martial Artists, we are only left with a few cultivation techniques that are useless. It gives people the hope that they would become True Gods but ultimately, there is no way that one could ever advance to become one. If the Tianyuan Continent isn’t a cage, what else could it be?”

Gu Lingzhi looked at him suspiciously, “You’re trying to say that…”

“Yes, when Pan Luo realized that the Tianyuan Continent could not hold the power of a True God, he knew that he could never return back to the Tianyuan Continent once he had ascended to the Realm of the Gods. As such, he destroyed everything that would be beneficial to Martial Artists, so that he could lessen the number of people advancing to become True Gods. What do you think the Endless Sea Realm is for? It’s actually to weaken the spiritual energy of the land, so that Martial Artists would not be able to absorb enough spiritual energy to ever break through and advance to a True God. If not, why do you think there has been less and less Martial Artists that have advanced to a True God these past few years? It’s not that our resources have declined in quality – to begin with, there isn’t enough spiritual energy in the ground for the Demigods to become True Gods!”

His words had a great impact on Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan.

“It’s no wonder that although it’s hard to become a True God, the ancient records have shown that there would be one person who would become one every hundred years. Whereas, not a single Martial Artist has been successful in these few thousand years. So, that’s why…” Gu Lingzhi mumbled to herself, her hatred towards Pan Luo deepening.

For his personal gains, he had denied so many Martial Artists the chance of immortality. He is despicable!

On the other hand, Rong Yuan thought about the matter much more logically. He looked at Pan Yue with a face full of doubt, “How did you know about this? Are you telling me that Pan Luo told the whole Pan Family about this?”

Pan Yue sneered, “How’s that possible? Do you really think he’d let anyone else know about his evil thoughts?”

“Then, how did you know about it?”

“I have my own sources, but it’s up to you to believe me. Whatever it is, Lingzhi has the Inheritance Space. No matter how much spiritual energy is being inhibited in the Tianyuan Continent, it would not have any effect on her. You, on the other hand…you should be prepared to be happy for her when she finally becomes a True God and ascends to the Realm of the Gods,” Pan Yue shook his head, as if he could see such a scene unfolding in his head.

“I will not let that happen!” Rong Yuan exclaimed as he gripped tightly onto Gu Lingzhi’s hand.

So what if the spiritual energy was being inhibited? There were still many people who had successfully become a True God despite that! He would be one of them!

“You didn’t sneak into the Imperial Study Room late at night just to tell us that, right?”

“Of course not,” Pan Yue said as he retrieved a stack of papers from his Storage Ring. “I wanted both of you to have a look at this and see if you find it useful.”

Gu Lingzhi looked through the stack of papers and her eyes widened. Was this… all the information about the strongest Martial Artists in the North Qiu Kingdom?

Pan Yue’s methods against the North Qiu Kingdom were truly harsh. It was incredible the lengths he was willing to go to in order to help Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan.

However, when she thought about how the Pan Family was being enslaved by Pan Luo and what Pan Luo had done to the Tianyuan Continent, she could understand why Pan Yue had been so eager to help them this entire time.

According to what Pan Yue had told them, the Endless Sea Realm was perpetually sucking spiritual energy from the ground. It was also getting harder and harder for Martial Artists to break through. Evidently, the Boundless Ocean would one day deplete the land’s spiritual energy entirely. By then, Martial Artists would be a thing of the past. Even with Spiritual Roots, one would not be able to cultivate without spiritual energy and would thus become a normal human being.

When that time comes, the Pan Family would no longer be of use to Pan Luo. It was not difficult to figure out what Pan Luo would do to a group of people that were no longer of value to him.

As for the Spirit Tribe, the Inheritance Space was a source of spiritual energy that was independent of the external world. However, it was only applicable to Martial Artists that were above the rank of a Level Five Martial Student.

After becoming a Level Five Martial Student, the Inheritance Space would undergo its first transformation – the appearance of the Spiritual Essence Spring that was capable of generating spiritual energy.

If one was unable to cultivate, the Spiritual Essence Spring could not be activated.

“Thank you, this information is very useful,” Gu Lingzhi sincerely thanked Pan Yue.

“There’s no need to thank me, I’m doing this for myself too,” Pan Yue said before leaving the place as quickly as he came. Even though Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan’s gazes never strayed, they could not figure out how Pan Yue was able to move around so stealthily.

“Pan Yue has so many spiritual treasures in his possession,” Gu Lingzhi mumbled to herself before continuing to read the name list that Pan Yue had given to her. However, Rong Yuan snatched it away and placed it at a nearby table.

“It’s time to rest, shouldn’t we go to sleep now, my dear wife?”

There was an underlying meaning behind Rong Yuan’s cheeky words, and Gu Lingzhi could only roll her eyes at him. He was being way too thirsty for someone that had just gotten such huge news.

“I’m just trying to maintain a work-life balance,” Rong Yuan tried to come up with an excuse, before lifting Gu Lingzhi off her feet, carrying her to the bed.

After yet another hot and steamy night, Rong Yuan and Gu Lingzhi headed to the Imperial Study Room after breakfast to talk about official matters once again.

When the Empress had escaped, the clans that had supported her now had their defenses up. Although it seemed calm on the surface, there was going to be a huge shift in power dynamics.

However, the voyage to the Fengyang Kingdom could not be delayed, so they had to prioritize matters pertaining to the Fengyang Kingdom before deciding on how to deal with the power shifts related to the Empress.

 

Five days later, Rong Yuan had passed all of his duties and responsibilities to Rong Han before taking Gu Lingzhi with him to the Fengyang Kingdom. As for Xie Jianyu, he had already returned to the Fengyang Kingdom’s Royal Palace two days ago.