...

About half a day after the two had left, two figures flew in from the distance and landed amidst the ruins of the Immortal Temple. Looking at the collapsed Immortal Temple and the clay statue shattered across the ground, both figures frowned deeply. "The life tablet wasn't mistaken. Wang Chuan really has fallen." "How could this be possible? Even if he was still in the middle of remolding his physical body, he was an expert of the Body Integration stage after all. The strongest cultivator in this city is merely at the Nascent Soul stage—how could anyone here possibly harm Wang Chuan?" "Could a Body Integration cultivator from Great Xia passing by have discovered him?" "That doesn't make sense either. Wang Chuan possessed formidable strength. Unless he ran into a peak Body Integration cultivator, he should have at least been able to escape." "How strange." "Once we see what happened at the time, all will be clear." One of them silently chanted an incantation, regathering the scattered power of faith in the surroundings. Though it could not resurrect Wang Chuan, it could use that power of faith to replay the events of the previous night. Fragments from the previous night manifested in the palm of his hand: two Nascent Soul geniuses had discovered Wang Chuan; Wang Chuan moved to strike, only to be suppressed by a white horse dropping from the sky; and in a clash swift as lightning and flint sparks, Wang Chuan's soul had been shattered to nothingness by the white horse. Even through the phantasmal projection, the two figures shuddered at the sight of the white horse unleashing "Dragon-Horse Unity, Dragons Warring in the Wilderness." Had it been them, they likely wouldn't have been able to withstand that strike either. "These two Nascent Soul cultivators look rather familiar... Ah, I remember now! Aren't they rising stars from the Dao Seeking Sect? This one is Lu Yang, who once fought evenly with the Young Cult Master of the Heavenly Court Cult." Realization dawned on one of them; had it not been for the Heavenly Court Cult, they wouldn't have paid any attention to Lu Yang's existence in the first place. "Who is that white horse?" "No idea. I've never seen it before." "Let's bring this information back and show it to the Lord." The two immediately flew back to headquarters. The headquarters was situated within a newly opened spatial realm. Knocking upon the portal, the two verified their identities with their spiritual force and stepped into the realm. Within the realm, powerful experts were as numerous as clouds. Each and every one possessed unique signature techniques and had left a name in history. Although the two were at the Body Integration stage, they ranked at the very bottom among these figures and were merely responsible for running errands. "My Lord, these are the images of Wang Chuan before his fall." The two respectfully presented a magical treasure temporarily refined from the power of faith. The leader was a youth, looking even younger than Lu Yang. Wang Chuan held considerable influence among the Body Integration cultivators, and his death had caught everyone off guard. Thus, they attached great importance to his fall, intending to avenge Wang Chuan if possible. Otherwise, if subordinates were casually killed in the outside world and he remained indifferent, it would chill the hearts of his men, and they might even go defect to Wu Youdao. This was the headquarters of the Great Yu Alliance, formed to gather all the slumbering cultivators from the Dayu Era. Great Xia's might had exceeded all expectations, prompting some to advocate that there was strength in numbers and that everyone should act together. Moreover, believing there was no future in following the sixth Emperor Yu, Wu Youdao, they had banded together to establish another faction. They had not heard any news of Wu Youdao for quite some time, completely unaware of what he was plotting in secret. The Imperial Preceptor had always been one to plan carefully before taking action; with no news for this long, he might well be preparing something earth-shattering. The youth carefully watched the recording of Wang Chuan's final moments. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he even cast aside any thought of avenging Wang Chuan for the moment. Fixing his gaze on the sword in Lu Yang's hand, he grew wildly excited, a look of greed flashing across his eyes. "Emperor Yu's personal sword!" Though its appearance differed somewhat from the original sword, he recognized the origins of the Green Blade Sword at a single glance. Everyone was taken aback. Everyone knew the youth looked down on Wu Youdao; the only person he would ever refer to as "Emperor Yu" was the founding monarch of the Great Yu Dynasty—Wu Yao.