Although the City Lord's Manor and Qushe Ridge hadn't made any additional moves, Zhuang Xun, putting himself in their shoes, knew that if an enemy faction produced a peerless, invincible genius like himself, he would also try to assassinate them.
Moreover, the Wanxing Martial Academy already had two Zenith experts. If another Zenith expert appeared, it would undoubtedly shatter the existing balance of Mount Dazhou, and the City Lord's Manor and Qushe Ridge would certainly not stand by and watch.
Thus, Zhuang Xun directly assumed that the City Lord's Manor and Qushe Ridge would make a move against him. That very night, he manipulated Bai Yujing to announce that he had gained a sudden insight during his battle with Old Master Liu and would enter seclusion for a period.
By hiding within the Martial Academy, with the Principal, Yi Xiaoxiang, and Guan Ren'ai—who was suspected to be a Zenith martial artist—a total of three Zenith experts were present. Even if the City Lord's Manor and Qushe Ridge were truly plotting his assassination, what could they possibly do?
If they could manage to kill Zhuang Xun (as Bai Yujing), he'd consider them truly formidable.
“Mount Dazhou is yours then; I'll just slip away and play somewhere else.”
At the same time, Zhuang Xun had someone write a Letter of Accusation and sent an envoy on horseback to deliver it to the City Lord's Manor.
The first to make an accusation has the upper hand.
He had only beaten the leading figure of the Crimson Robe Attendants' younger generation that afternoon. Given the City Lord's Manor's notorious behavior of sending envoys to demand explanations even over a mere sum of money, they would undoubtedly dwell on this incident endlessly.
By first slandering the City Lord's Manor for colluding with the Shengxue Cult, he would trap them in a vortex of self-justification, leaving them no mind to cause trouble.
Just as Zhuang Xun expected, the City Lord's aide looked at the Letter of Accusation sent by the Wanxing Martial Academy, then glanced at their own unfinished letter, and slapped his thigh in annoyance:
“We were one step too late.”
If the Wanxing Martial Academy had accused them of something else, the City Lord's Manor could have arrogantly declared, “Yes, we did it. So what? What are you going to do about it?”
But the Wanxing Martial Academy's accusation was precisely that the City Lord's Manor was secretly colluding with the Shengxue Cult. They couldn't not explain; they had to clarify immediately.
After all, their City Lord was once a disciple of the Jiyi Sect, and the Wrathful Resolve cultivated by the Crimson Robe Attendants was a martial art of the Jiyi Sect. To some extent, the City Lord's Manor could be considered a subordinate force of the Jiyi Sect.
The Jiyi Sect had fallen into decline precisely because of the Shengxue Cult, losing its title as the Greatest Sect under Heaven.
If the Jiyi Sect were to hear that its subordinate force was colluding with the Shengxue Cult, even if it were false, they would still suffer greatly.
Soon, Zhuang Xun received a lengthy letter of apology and explanation from the City Lord's Manor. He glanced at it and tossed it into the trash.
“I’m not going to read so many words. I don’t believe it; you are colluding with the Shengxue Cult.” Zhuang Xun had someone artistically embellish his thoughts and sent them back to the City Lord's Manor.
After causing trouble for the City Lord's Manor, he turned his attention to the Shengxue Cult.
This time, they had captured two high-ranking figures from the Shengxue Cult alive, one of whom was the Shengxue Cult's second-in-command, enough to extract a wealth of information.
However, both of them were quite stubborn, refusing to speak no matter how much they were beaten.
“I won’t tell you anything, arghhhhhh…”
In the dungeon, Zhuang Xun watched the Left Protector, tied to an iron chair, trembling, rolling his eyes, and drooling from electric shocks, and inwardly praised him as an “Electric Kid.”
Zhuang Xun wasn't skilled at interrogation. After the initial “shocking” experience, he fully entrusted the matter to Guan Ren'ai.
Later, Guan Ren'ai apparently used a very precious, single-use secret treasure from the Martial Academy, turning the Left Protector into a drooling idiot who could only giggle, successfully extracting information from him.
Zhuang Xun didn't delve into the specifics. After all, those below him only needed to follow orders, while he, being above them, had to consider many things.
Zhuang Xun looked at the intelligence provided by Guan Ren'ai, pondered for a long time, and then hummed, “Order everyone below to carry it out.”
“Ah, I'm so tired. Today was another exhausting day.”
Well, mainly, that secret treasure was single-use. Asking for details would only make him envious.
However, this made Zhuang Xun realize that the Martial Academy's treasury seemed to contain many good things, and he planned to explore it when he had time.
“Hmm? There seems to be a fake item. Send it to my Chief Disciple’s residence so I can thoroughly inspect it.” Zhuang Xun rehearsed this line in his mind, felt it sounded good, and decided to do so when the time came.
The next day, armed with the list of the various altar masters' public identities provided by the Left Protector, the Wanxing Martial Academy launched a full-scale assault on the Shengxue Cult.
This time, Zhuang Xun did not allow Bai Yujing to participate. The king had to guard the rear.
In less than a month, the Shengxue Cult's remaining six altar masters were whittled down to just two, which made Zhuang Xun realize that the Shengxue Cult was truly incompetent.
Those two altar masters reacted quickly, immediately going into hiding, so the Wanxing Martial Academy couldn't find them.
Unfortunately, the information provided by the Left Protector did not include the Shengxue Cult's Blood Son. The moment any information related to the Blood Son was requested, his face, which had only been giggling and drooling foolishly, twisted into a ferocious expression, and then he committed suicide.
“What a pair of star-crossed lovers.”
Otherwise, the Shengxue Cult could have been annihilated in one fell swoop, and the Blood Son could have been captured directly, forcing out the Innate Law that Zhuang Xun wanted to know. He wouldn't have to bother figuring out how to join the Shengxue Cult.
——Character Creation Panel——
[Character One: Yan Pingsheng (Expandable)]
[Character Two: Bai Yujing (Expandable)]
[Character Three: None (Pending Creation)]
[Character Four: Yi Wangyou (Expandable)]
[Character Five: Debt-Lending Bladesman (Expandable)]
...
Character Three was empty because when Zhuang Xun created Yi Wangyou, he had already created three clones: Yan Pingsheng, Bai Yujing, and the Debt-Lending Bladesman. So, Yi Wangyou occupied the fourth slot. After merging the Debt-Lending Bladesman later, the third slot became empty.
When he recently created the Debt-Lending Bladesman again, he habitually started from the fifth slot, leaving the third slot continuously empty.
“Let’s create the fifth clone in the third slot. Otherwise, leaving it empty like this is too uncomfortable, it’s killing my OCD,” Zhuang Xun thought as he looked at the Character Creation Panel.
During the Wanxing Martial Academy's month-long extermination campaign against the Shengxue Cult, Zhuang Xun wasn't just giving orders; he was also taking action.
He had created the Debt-Lending Bladesman specifically to search for the Shengxue Cult's headquarters, but the result was—as if he hadn't taken any action at all.
Zhuang Xun was beginning to suspect that the Shengxue Cult's headquarters wasn't even on Mount Dazhou; he simply couldn't find it.
“Alright, after all, even the Jiyi Sect couldn’t find these last remnants of the Shengxue Cult back then, so it’s normal for me not to find them,” Zhuang Xun comforted himself.
If it really came to it, he would abandon the Shengxue Cult lead.
After all, the Shengxue Cult wasn't his only source for an Innate Law.
Leaving aside the fact that he already had some clues for creating his own Innate Law—give him a year or two, and he was confident he could deduce a path from scratch, though it might be somewhat different from the existing cultivation system of this world.
That was why Zhuang Xun had always wanted to find an Innate Law as a reference, to ensure that the Innate Law he created could align with this world's cultivation system.
Otherwise, he would have to explore new paths on his own for future cultivation, which would be too troublesome, time-consuming, and laborious.
Zhuang Xun still preferred to follow paths already blazed by others; it was not only faster but also easier.
He absolutely had to gain the power to traverse worlds as quickly as possible.
Zhuang Xun set himself a deadline of ten years; it couldn't be longer than that.
As for creating his own cultivation system, he would wait until he reached the pinnacle of this world, after all previous paths had been exhausted.
He had the Character Creation Panel; unlike others, he wasn't stuck on a single path with no turning back.
Aside from the Shengxue Cult, he currently had three other sources for obtaining an Innate Law.
First was the Sword Sanctuary of the World, but this would take the longest, requiring Yi Wangyou to cultivate to the Zenith realm, which would likely take two to three years.
Second was Cangsheng Dao. A month ago, two Cangsheng Dao disciples had discussed recruiting Bai Yujing into their sect. If things moved quickly, it would happen within the next month or so; any later, and there would probably be no need to expect it.
Zhuang Xun considered this a last resort. For one, Cangsheng Dao sounded like it involved a lot of trouble, and he wasn't keen on joining.
The other reason was that it would conflict with another source of Innate Law.
That is, third, the Principal.
From beginning to end, Zhuang Xun had found the Principal mysterious, appearing like a hidden expert, yet not quite so upon closer inspection.
However, after Guan Ren'ai displayed his strength before him recently, Zhuang Xun's perception of the Principal leaned more towards him being a hidden expert, likely possessing an Innate Law, and one that was most suitable for Bai Yujing's current path.
Therefore, Zhuang Xun considered the Principal his top choice.
This was also why he put Cangsheng Dao last. After all, if Bai Yujing went to Cangsheng Dao, the Principal's lead would be wasted, and he might even gain a reputation for ingratitude.
Too many negative consequences; it wouldn't do.
“Speaking of which, would Cangsheng Dao consider my Pingsheng? Then I might not be entirely unwilling to agree,” Zhuang Xun thought.
At the same time, he continued to manipulate the Debt-Lending Bladesman to search for the Shengxue Cult's whereabouts.
After all, those three sources of Innate Law weren't very stable, so he still had to put in his own effort.
Rate on N.U.
