Silence, the Divine Artifact Recovered
"Twenty days from now." Li Yunjing pondered for a moment.
"I'll go myself, and you'll come with me. We'll also select five powerful deities, plus Grandmaster Fang Senior Mu."
"Sect Leader, be careful," Wangshu cautioned.
"The Divine Seal of Creation is the Divine Lord, possessing a spirit with extremely strong spiritual power. It will choose its own master; it's not something that just belongs to whoever seizes it."
Li Yunjing raised an eyebrow. "Oh? There's such a saying?"
Wangshu said, "Of course, High Antiquity divine artifacts, especially those at the level of Divine Lord, all have their own will. Before the Divine Lord's death, he left behind a divine thought, saying that when the artifact sees the light of day again, it will choose a virtuous person to assist it."
"What is a virtuous person?" Li Yunjing asked curiously.
"I don't know." Wangshu smiled bitterly.
"Perhaps it's due to profound luck, perhaps it's a resonance of their Dao, or perhaps something else entirely; it all depends on what the artifact spirit thinks."
Li Yunjing smiled and said, "That's interesting."
He didn't necessarily need to obtain this divine artifact.
As long as Haoyang doesn't get it, the goal will be achieved.
If it truly catches the eye of the artifact spirit, then that would be an unexpected delight.
Just then, Mo Xuan hurriedly walked in, his expression somewhat strange.
"Sect Leader, there's been no movement from the Primordial Beginning Dao Sect."
"No movement?" Li Yunjing frowned. "What do you mean by 'no movement'?"
"They've completely disappeared," Mo Xuan said.
"I had people keeping an eye on Primordial Beginning Dao before, and just now, our people reported that the seal on Primordial Beginning Valley has closed again, even the patrolling disciples around the area have withdrawn, and the gods of the Heavenly Hao Alliance haven't shown up since, as if they've vanished into thin air. It seems that Primordial Beginning Dao Sect has closed its mountain again."
Li Yunjing's heart trembled.
Disappeared? Haoyang suffered such a great loss, losing two Lower God, and slunk away.
Given his personality, he shouldn't just tolerate this; something is definitely amiss.
Li Yunjing said calmly, "They're probably plotting something again. Send down the order: double the patrols along the border, raise the alert level at all outposts, and increase the frequency of fleet patrols, especially along the eastern and southern borders."
"Understood." Mo Xuan bowed in response.
Wangshu frowned as well. "Something's not right. Haoyang isn't the type to be patient. This silence is actually more dangerous."
"No matter what tricks he tries, we'll just deal with them as they come," Li Yunjing said calmly.
"It's never wrong to be on guard."
Even so, he felt a vague unease in his heart.
Haoyang has more than twenty deities under his command, as well as the foundation of the Primordial Beginning Dao Sect.
Hiding in the shadows means either he's recovering from an injury or he's brewing a bigger conspiracy.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Just as Mo Xuan said, the Heavenly Hao Alliance and the Primordial Beginning Dao Sect have completely fallen silent. The Primordial Beginning Valley is tightly sealed, and not even a trace of its aura is leaking out.
The undercover agents investigated multiple times but found no useful information; it was as if everyone inside was asleep.
Within the territory of Luozhen Province, things are flourishing even more.
One after another, Rogue Cultivator cultivators and deities came to join them, bringing the total number to twenty-seven.
There are five Middle God and twenty-two Lower God.
These deities each have their own strengths; some guide disciples in cultivation, some improve formations, some cultivate spirit medicine, and some craft tools.
The overall foundation of the Luozhen Sect is increasing at a visible rate.
The efficacy of the Totem Hall continues to unfold.
More and more warriors in the Biyuan Tribe have awakened their ancestral bloodline, and their overall combat strength has more than doubled.
The aura emanating from the Totem Hall has significantly increased the breakthrough probability for disciples of the Luozhen Sect.
In just half a month, more than a dozen disciples broke through their cultivation levels one after another, and the Alchemy Hall even gained a new Dao Union Elder.
Wang Heng led the Immortal Alliance reinforcements to stay in Luozhen City for ten days. Seeing that the border was stable and the Luozhen Sect was in good order, he left behind a batch of pills and Law Artifact and returned to Central Divine Province.
Before leaving, he held Wang Qianxue's hand and talked for a long time about having children, leaving Wang Qianxue both amused and exasperated.
Everything is moving in a positive direction.
However, Li Yunjing's unease did not diminish in the slightest.
It's too quiet, abnormally quiet.
That day, as he was deducing the details of the Wind Tribulation in the palace, the Five Aggregates Cauldron suddenly trembled slightly.
The voice of the Five Spirits Lord rang out, tinged with solemnity. "Young Master, deep within the Great Wilderness, a familiar divine power fluctuation is rapidly growing stronger."
"Familiar divine power?" Li Yunjing opened his eyes. "Haoyang's?"
"It is the Sun God, but it is stronger and more refined than before," said the Five Spirits Lord.
"It's like finding my destined artifact; my divine body is rapidly recovering."
Li Yunjing's eyes darkened. A natal artifact?
After a moment's thought, Li Yunjing called Wangshu over.
Li Yunjing asked Wangshu, "Does Haoyang also have his own natal artifact?"
Wangshu didn't understand, but still nodded and explained.
"As High Antiquity Sun God, Haoyang naturally had his own natal artifact. However, during the first God-Slaying Tribulation, his artifact was lost and his divine body was damaged, so he had to hide in a secret realm to slumber."
"Does the sect leader's question mean that Haoyang has already retrieved his natal artifact?"
Wangshu's gaze sharpened, and she felt uneasy.
Li Yunjing nodded slightly. "Very likely."
Wangshu gasped, "If he finds his natal artifact, his strength will definitely increase greatly. If he then tries to seize the Divine Seal of Creation, things will get really troublesome."
Li Yunjing also knew the gravity of the situation, so he asked the Five Spirits Lord in his mind.
"Can it sense the specific location?"
"Deep within the Primordial Beginning Valley, a seal conceals the movement," said the Five Spirits Lord.
"His strength is recovering rapidly, and it probably won't be long before he returns to his peak condition, or even stronger."
Li Yunjing tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
No wonder it dared to stay hidden for so long; it was saving up a big move.
Find your destined artifact, restore your peak strength, and then settle scores.
"It seems the trip to Fallen God Mountain will be more difficult than expected," Li Yunjing murmured.
With Haoyang's strength greatly increased, he will undoubtedly fight with all his might for the Divine Seal of Creation.
If he were to possess both divine artifacts, things would be in serious trouble.
Just as Li Yunjing was pondering, deep within the Primordial Beginning Valley, in a long-forgotten temple.
Heavenly Lord Haoyang stood in the center of the temple, his body engulfed in golden flames, several times stronger than before.
He held a golden divine spear over ten feet long in his hand. The spear was engraved with a three-legged golden crow and a blazing sun totem, and the spear tip was extremely sharp, spitting out the True Solar Fire.
It was his destined divine weapon Blazing Sun Divine Spear.
During the God-Slaying Tribulation, the divine spear was severely damaged and he was separated from it.
Over the past two weeks, he mobilized all the resources of the Heavenly Hao Alliance, searching the entire Great Wilderness Ancient Battlefield, and finally found the sleeping Blazing Sun Divine Spear in a secret realm.
With the divine artifact returned to its rightful place and his divine body resonating, not only were his injuries completely healed, but his strength also returned to its peak, even surpassing that of his High Antiquity days.
"Good, excellent!" Haoyang gripped the divine spear tightly and gave it a gentle shake.
Buzz.
A terrifying heatwave spread out, instantly melting the stone walls surrounding the temple into lava.
"Congratulations, brother! The divine artifact has returned, and your strength has greatly increased!"
"With the Blazing Sun Divine Spear in hand, what is that junior Li Yunjing anyway!"
"Once my elder brother marches into Luozhen Province, we will surely raze the Luozhen Sect and seize the Five Aggregates Cauldron!"
"..."
The surrounding gods offered their congratulations, their faces filled with excitement.
Haoyang waved his hand, his eyes cold. "It's only a matter of time before we crush the Luozhen Sect. But not now."
"What does Big Brother mean?" War God Xuanjie frowned.
"The Divine Seal of Creation will be born in five days," Haoyang said slowly.
"The most urgent task is to obtain the Divine Seal of Creation. Once we gain Divine Lord authority and unite all the gods, destroying the Luozhen Sect will be a piece of cake."