Chapter 2 Reappear
The Spirit World disappeared, and Wang Sheng attracted attention from all sides.
He had anticipated being targeted and wasn't particularly concerned about it.
After returning to Qingshan Village, he entered seclusion once more. The gains from erasing the Spirit World this time were nothing short of significant.
Those powerhouses whose restrictions were lifted would likely make breakthroughs before long, providing him with an abundance of Pure Spiritual Power, which would greatly assist him in elevating his realm.
Most importantly, before the Spirit World dissipated, it completely exposed the nature of the vortex, and the insights gleaned from the vortex were enough for him to digest.
"To continue expanding and stabilizing the Spirit World, and to fix the Spirit World in one location... Digesting all this can solve many of my problems."
The vortex is the core of the Spirit World; one could say all secrets of the Spirit World lie within it.
This time, Wang Sheng had examined the vortex thoroughly.
He finally saw through the vortex and, upon complete digestion, could use it to upgrade the vortex of his own Spirit World, and possibly fix its location with this vortex.
It meant that his own departure wouldn't cause the Spirit World to disappear from a certain location.
"The journey is long and fraught with difficult cultivation, exploring all around, the more one understands the world, the more one realizes how far one still has to go."
The Heavenly Father, the Black Fog Giant Snake whose Spirit Worlds he had erased—one of them at least—he couldn't deny their maturity; there was still so much more for him to learn.
"Things are almost resolved. This area should return to peace now, shouldn't it?"
The flourishing of dynasties and Spirit Worlds had ceased, and the main source of chaos was gone.
With the world tranquil, he too would continue his seclusion.
And the outside world was just as he had expected. While there remained some minor chaos, it was largely quelled by the Taiping Sect's suppression, maintaining overall stability.
His own Spirit World was becoming more lively.
More and more Martial Artists were joining, utilizing the simulations of the Spirit World for cultivation.
But as the saying goes, the trees may prefer calm, but the wind will not subside.
The Human Race had calmed down, but that didn't mean there were no other races stirring.
The "Memory Modification" incident wasn't an accident spreading among the Human Race; it was deliberately released by the Blood Locust King, unwilling to have his achievements taken.
After memory correction was followed by the descent of Wang Sheng's Spirit World and Taiping Sect's assault on two dynasties, there were many corners that went unnoticed.
The Blood Locust King, who leaked the information, was all the while cultivating his own influence amongst the Human Race.
He even had his forces participate in the wars that brought down the two dynasties, making a name for his influence among the Human Race.
"With the fall of the two dynasties, the time has come. If we don't act now, it might be too late. The Taiping Sect's expansion is too formidable. If not for our special control methods, we might have lost many to their persuasion."
During this period, the Blood Locust King himself learned a lot about the outside world and was well aware of the Taiping Sect's growing momentum.
If he did not act now, he might not get another chance later.
"Is it really time to act?"
The other incarnations hesitated, as the outside world had changed too much.
"The Taiping Sect seems to have some terrifying methods at their disposal. We might not be able to deal with them."
The rapid, border-breaking conquests and nation-destroying actions of the Taiping Sect had spread far beyond the Human Race.
Once this news was out, the Demon Clan became cautious, fearing the emergence of a new dynasty bent on purging them.
"We can't stay idle any longer. If we don't act, my lifespan will reach its limit. As for the methods of the Taiping Sect... As long as we are quick enough to seize control of some territories, our strength will quickly increase, and we will have nothing to fear."
"To rapidly increase our strength... but the Royal Capitals of both dynasties are deep waters, with strength beyond the usual, and they still failed." The incarnation wanted to avoid risk, naturally not wishing its original body to take any risks.
But the Blood Locust King himself didn't pay much attention to that concern: "Our Demon Clan is different from the Human Race. We were born from their corpses; so long as we utilize that properly, the Human Race cannot be our match."
That was the biggest secret he had stumbled upon.
The Demon Clan born from the corpses of the Human Race, the internal situation was not so simple.
It could be said that as long as the Demon Clan did not die out, the world would sooner or later belong to them, and the Human Race would be doomed.
"Oh, the irony – perhaps it is our Demon Clan that is the true heir of the Human Race!"
Seeing their original body so confident, the few incarnations naturally did not oppose, or rather, they never had the capacity to oppose.
It was one thing to discuss normally, but once the original body made a decision, they had to carry it out without question.
"So, when shall we do it?"
"Let's set it for three days from now. Anyway, all our preparations are in place."
"Good!"
...
Time quickly moved to three days later.
The world was still in turmoil, both big and small, but ultimately, it was within control.
Everyone waited for the Taiping Sect's next move, eager to know by what method they would control the world.
At that moment, a shocking piece of news broke.
In the north, a powerful force was rising—a previously unnoticed small family, the Shao family.
Such a family might not even draw attention if destroyed.
But this time was different.
The Shao family claimed itself a Beast Taming Family, able to command Demon Kings comparable to top Great Grandmasters.
Four Demon Kings, equivalent to top Great Grandmasters, were under the control of the Shao family, serving as the Beast Tamings of four elders, fortifying the family.
The news shocked the world.
Many people knew of the Demon King, especially how during the era of the four great dynasties, the Green Lion King and the Heavenly Peng King had attacked two dynasties, displaying tremendous strength.
Yet now, a family had directly taken control of four?
The key point was that the person who had controlled the Demon Kings was merely an elder. What about the truly strong members of the Shao family?
Countless people turned their attention northward.
However, most thought it was just the rise of a family power, nothing too influential.
But in less than a day, the situation changed.
"My Shao family establishes the Blood Locust Dynasty, with the Blood Locust King as the guardian Spirit Plant, sheltering the world under its protection."
To establish a new dynasty right under the nose of the Taiping Sect, which had just destroyed two dynasties, this was far beyond the phrase 'snatching food from the jaws of a tiger.'
All the forces across the world thought the Shao family had gone mad.
"How confident are they in their own strength?" That was the thought most people had.
Upon receiving the news, Huangtian remained silent, unsure what to say.
Despite their efforts to minimize the influence of dynasties, barely two years after erasing two, a new one had emerged.
"How is the investigation going? How could a family establish a dynasty at this time?"
By now, martial artists across the world realized the benefits of the absence of dynasties and did not wish for their return. The actions of the Shao family could be considered an enormous taboo to the entire world.
How dare they?
"Sect Hierarch, according to the information we gathered, the Shao family seems to have risen suddenly, and more than that, the people within the areas they claim to lead are very supportive..."
"The people are very supportive?" Huangtian frowned; if that was the case, it might be somewhat troublesome.
"The information we have suggests this, but intelligence personnel also found that the support from these people seems overly zealous, not like that of normal people, although there is no way to prove it."
"..."
After a moment of silence, Huangtian said, "I'll take some people to see for myself."
Huangtian felt confident as he still had seven unused Jade Talismans after using only three to eradicate the Ming Dynasty and the Qian Dynasty.
He wanted to know what made people still inclined to establish dynasties even after experiencing the benefits from their disappearance.
Not just Huangtian but everyone across the world was puzzled.
Wasn't this openly regressing?
Couldn't the Shao family's Beast Tamers feel that unique sensation?
As a result, many people set off toward the so-called Blood Locust Dynasty, eager to discover the truth for themselves.
Naturally, the Blood Locust Dynasty was established by the Blood Locust King using a human front.
Utilizing humans allowed for establishing a dynasty that didn't provoke as strong a reaction from the Human Race, granting a significant buffering period for the Demon King.
"The dynasty has been established; according to previous tests, there shouldn't be any unexpected incidents. All that's left is to wait for our strength to increase."
The Blood Locust King settled down.
Indeed, it was correct not to directly establish a dynasty under the identity of the Demon King.
However, one of his clones said, "True body, the reaction from the Human Race outside seems a bit unusual."
"Just after being eradicated, two dynasties were immediately established, and attention was naturally drawn."
"It's not just that kind of unusual; many humans seem to think the Shao family are fools, and not because of the Taiping Sect, but merely in regard to establishing a dynasty. Many human martial artists are saying that it is a regression."
"??" Both the Blood Locust King's true body and his other clones were puzzled.
Being of the Demon Clan, they hadn't experienced that sensation of restrictions being lifted, while the powerful ones among their own humans couldn't be entirely sure whether it was the result of the disappearance of dynasties, and those who knew were few. Thus, the news of this liberation hadn't spread.
Without this critical information, the Blood Locust King couldn't understand the reaction of the Human Race.
This was a gap in information.
After some thought, the Blood Locust King still couldn't figure it out and sent someone to gather more information, to see if anything could be learned.
But what he learned was more or less the same as what the clone had found.
They only knew that the human strong did not seem very eager to see dynasties re-emerge.
"A dynasty should be beneficial for the Human Race too, enabling the attainment of higher realms. Why don't they want it to reappear?"
The Blood Locust King's true body couldn't truly understand.
Unfortunately, no one answered him.
Not only that, but he slowly felt that something was amiss.
"So much time has passed, why hasn't my strength increased significantly? Could it be that all the experiments and results I've achieved before were just coincidental? I'll wait a bit longer..."
Before long, Huangtian had already brought several strong individuals into the territory of the Blood Locust Dynasty.
It was then that the Blood Locust King finally felt his strength gradually start to improve, surpassing the realm of the Demon King.
But at the same time, Wang Sheng, who was in secluded cultivation, opened his eyes.
"Why has the Spirit World appeared again? It shouldn't be..."
Wang Sheng directly entered the Void, utilizing the Divine Power of the Five Internal Gods' spiritual aspect from within himself. He saw a very small Spirit World filled with black fog, with something faintly emerging.
"Indeed, it was no sensing mistake... But, no matter how it appeared, since it has already vanished, it should not re-emerge!"
With a casual use of his Divine Thought, he instantly erased the nascent Spirit World.
At the moment of erasure, the Blood Locust King suffered a severe blow...