Chapter 357: Seeking Trouble

Night was falling. Wang Sheng was still lying fast asleep, while the other four had long since vanished from sight.

Shi Qianzhang had left several talismans floating in the air around him. They made others unconsciously avoid looking in Wang Sheng's direction, greatly reducing Wang Sheng's presence. Shi Qianzhang's talismanic arts were growing more and more wild.

Wang Sheng slept from the afternoon until midnight. The moment he opened his eyes, the starry sky above the sea greeted him.

The latitude here was not much different from that of the Central Plains of the Hua Republic. The stars overhead were nearly identical; all that changed was the time of their rise and fall.

Are the immortals and deities of the Heavenly Court still alive? If any of them survived, where in the vast starry void would they have drifted to?

Wang Sheng's mind wandered slowly into the night sky, roaming yet hesitating. Whenever he thought of matters beyond Earth, his body and soul followed.

"Heavenly Court."

He suddenly had a hunch, as though something was happening that involved him. Cultivators could not ignore this kind of spiritual intuition. Fortunately, it was merely a moment of prescience, not an ominous portent.

"What is going on?" Wang Sheng murmured. He then took out his phone and sent several messages to his family to check if they were safe.

Before long, replies came from his father, mother, and younger sister. His parents were fine, Xiaomiao was learning modern social networking with Xi Lian, and his senior sister was still in her room in secluded cultivation. None of them had encountered any problems.

Wang Sheng grew worried about Qing Yanzi. However, his master eventually replied as well, albeit much later than the others.

Jingyun had answered in his master's place that his master was in seclusion. He had made a breakthrough earlier and was now entering a stage of steady comprehension. Wang Sheng didn't have to worry.

Puzzled, he wondered,

Where is this sudden feeling coming from?

"

What are you worrying about?

" Yaoyun telepathically asked from beside him. The three-inch-tall woman stood quietly on the hilt of Spiritless. "

Those barbarians actually have the nerve to attack the cultivation world?

"

After thinking about it, Wang Sheng concluded that she had a point.

Thanks to the qi meridians, the Hua Republic had established several layers of defensive systems, especially against foreign cultivators. They immediately barred most from entry. Since his family lived in the Hua Republic, he really didn't have much to fear.

"You probably don't know this, Yaoyun, but about one hundred fifty years ago, the barbarians you speak of repeatedly humiliated the decayed dynasties of the Central Plains.

"Later, the Hua Republic of the past strove to learn the barbarians' knowledge, skills, and advanced ideas. Only through the difficult struggles and efforts of great pioneers did our nation become as prosperous as it is now. Still, we all belong to the same civilization on Earth. There is no need to look down on anyone. Being ahead for a time does not mean being ahead forever.

"The Hua Republic is a unique case. It's an ancient civilization that remained far advanced for thousands of years, yet fell behind only in the past two centuries. Still, that doesn't mean we should treat other countries as wastelands. Before the Heavenly Court ascended back to the star domains, didn't many powerful races flourish as well?"

Yaoyun pondered and then nodded seriously. "

If you had voiced ideas like that in the Heavenly Court during its prime, heaven would have punished you."

Wang Sheng shrugged uncaringly, yawned, and casually dialed his mistress.

—What is it, Fei Yu?

Chi Ling sounded tired. She had clearly been working nonstop for too long again.

"Are you busy, Mistress?" Wang Sheng asked.

—No, I was just about to rest. Is it something urgent?

"Not exactly. I just felt as though something was about to happen and wanted to ask if anything unusual had occurred."

Chi Ling turned serious.

—A premonition? What exactly did you sense? Can you describe it in more concrete terms? Right now, everything's calm, and nothing related to you has gone south. Wait, give me a moment. I'll go get the latest intelligence.

Chi Ling was as reliable as always in crucial times.

Within half a minute, she returned with a firm answer.

—All is well. You're probably just too tense from the recent battle. Relax for now. The investigation unit will monitor the remaining devilish swords closely.

"Please take care of yourself, too, Mistress. Don't overwork yourself."

After a few polite exchanges, Wang Sheng ended the call and leaned back on the reclining chair again.

Through his spiritual perception, he noticed his four companions playing in the arcade two kilometers away. Wang Sheng closed his eyes, intending to fall back asleep. However, before he could begin snoring, his phone vibrated several times. Chi Ling's half-body projection appeared again. Now, she sounded alert.

—Something has happened, Fei Yu!

Wang Sheng jolted upright. As he grabbed Spiritless, the tiny fairy turned into a streak of light and sank into the hilt.

"Who is it? Where? What happened?"

—Don't panic. It's not within the country.

Chi Ling raised her hand as if to transmit files to him.

—The Jialington Group has begun its next move, but we still don't know its exact aim. I'll share more intel with you as I get it. Anyway, the higher-ups are convening us for a meeting. I have to switch channels. Stay where you are until I contact you again, got it? Do not act rashly!

Before Wang Sheng could press further, her projection vanished. His phone began to buzz incessantly as message after message came in.

He quickly opened and scanned them, making his brow furrow deeper and deeper.

What the hell is this? A jumble of foreign news reports? Can they not provide a Hua Republic version? Why are all of them in special image formats that the translator app can't process?

Wang Sheng recalled a certain golden-haired girl fluent in six languages. He put away his phone, slung Spiritless over his back, and wrapped his slippers with enchanted power. He then rose into the air and headed to the arcade. Flying on slippers had its own sort of style.

The four had not completely lost their sense of responsibility. Even while playing madly, they kept an eye on Wang Sheng. When they saw him rise, they immediately stopped and hurried to meet him.

By the time the squad gathered again on the rooftop of a nearby inn, Wang Sheng had already received more than thirty messages. Dale interpreted them one by one, baffling the group more and more.

"The Dark Faction is rampaging all over the world?" Shi Qianzhang scratched his head. "What are they trying to do?"

In a low tone, Huai Jing asked, "Maybe they're launching attacks all over to spread mass terror? They've probably become determined to nurture the remaining devilish swords at any cost."

"I doubt it. They didn't just attack a few places," Liu Yunzhi analyzed calmly. "Maybe someone powerful among them feeds on fear, and they're absorbing the terror for strength?"

Shi Qianzhang could not resist mocking him. "Little Liu, I must say, that kind of setup is completely overused. What, the more scared you are, the stronger I get? If getting stronger was really that easy, why bother with all this cultivation? We could just play with others' emotions instead!"

"Dale, did you notice anything odd in these reports?" Wang Sheng asked.

Dale shook her head in confusion. "No. The Dark Faction has not caused destruction this widespread in a very long time. In truth, the Western nations tolerated their existence because, to some extent, they kept other dangerous organizations at bay. These actions are highly irregular."

Wang Sheng sank into thought as he scrolled through the intel more carefully. Dale continued swiftly and accurately interpreting it all into the Hua language.

Airports, factories, and residential areas were being attacked. Within minutes, thousands of Dark Faction cultivators had appeared across the land, massacring ordinary civilians. With the foreign police forces too weak to fight back, the casualties mounted quickly.

The Dark Faction seemed to have gone mad, yet they had just begun.

Dale received several updates on her phone as well. After reading them, she smacked her forehead and cursed. "Oh my God. While the Dark Faction is out there slaughtering civilians, the Light Council will once again spend days debating whether to intervene. God, do you truly not wish to punish those selfish idiots?"

Shi Qianzhang laughed. "Praying to God is useless right now. You might as well beg Brother Sheng. If he's in the mood, he could always deliver a few heavenly tribulations to those stubborn elders."

Wang Sheng raised his head. "No. They're not just looting and killing mindlessly. Look at these reports. The airports they attacked were major travel hubs, and they had the highest traffic of Hua Republic citizens abroad. Check the factories and residential areas that they hit. Search online to see whether large numbers of our people were gathered there."

The group froze. Realizing the seriousness of the matter, they all pulled out their phones. Soon, Wang Sheng's suspicion was confirmed.

The Hua Republic had invested in all the factories that the Dark Faction had destroyed. Many engineers from Hua Republic companies were also dispatched there. Moreover, Hua Republic citizens had settled in the residential areas that had been targeted.

A moment later, they received another critical report: the Dark Faction had struck international airports and taken those who had Hua Republic passports hostage.

Shi Qianzhang cursed profusely. "Those bastards! Are they trying to threaten us?"

Huai Jing intoned a Buddhist chant. He then added, "What a bunch of desperate dogs! They're doing all this to draw us into an ambush! "

"What do we do, Fei Yu?"

"Don't be hasty," Wang Sheng answered calmly. "Their actions will first enrage the governments of the nations they've attacked, then provoke Hua Republic officials. If necessary, I will hold them back to buy some time. This may well become the final battle between our cultivation world and the Dark Faction."

"Will it truly come to that?" Dale asked worriedly. "Would the Hua Republic really launch a full-scale cultivator war for the sake of these hostages?"

"Of course," Liu Yunzhi replied coldly. "The Hua Republic has protected its own for thousands of years. Anyone who harms our people has to be prepared to face the consequences. The real question is, what do we do right now?"

"We should head north for now," Wang Sheng said in a low tone.

The four nodded in response.

***

Over a thousand kilometers north, at an international airport, hostages were being herded onto passenger planes while gunfire thundered around the perimeter. Soon, however, the noise slowly faded.

In front of one passenger plane packed with Hua Republic travelers, several people stood side by side.

In a deep tone, a burly man in a camouflage uniform asked, "Yin, are you sure this will not provoke the cultivators of the Hua Republic?"

"Don't worry, General," the young man donning a demon mask replied confidently. "The Hua Republic's cultivation world is bound to its government. All governments have to think of the bigger picture. They already know we possess unconventional weapons. Why would they send their precious experts to their deaths?"

The burly man raised an eyebrow. "They are unfortunate to have you as their enemy."

The masked youth laughed coldly, and his eyes glimmered sharply.

***

In the top-floor office of the investigation unit's headquarters.

Chi Ling clenched her fist and slowly stood up. "Go."

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Before her stood several dozen core members of the investigation unit. Though she sounded calm, her anger was evident.

"I want the highest-ranking Special Warfare Unit squads to inform every mountain gate and every Daoist heritage that we are summoning all available cultivators at the late-stage Golden Core Realm and above. Have them gather at Northwest Base Number Twenty-Eight!

"Mobilization teams, get running! I want everyone transported as fast as possible! If your team fails to have its assigned sect assembled within three hours, pack your things and get out!"

"Yes, ma'am!"