Pei Xuanjing addressed Pang Hong and said, "Remember one thing, never underestimate anyone, even if they are temporarily dormant, do not overlook their existence."
Even though Zhao Baiyang had been missing for many years, Pei Xuanjing did not believe that he would be content with being ordinary. He must be planning a big project, waiting for the day to shock the world.
"The disciple will remember," said Pang Hong solemnly with a nod.
The news of Pei Xuanjing's return from his seclusion, though not intentionally publicized, but being the number one person in the world, every move of Pei Xuanjing received great attention.
Almost immediately after finishing his secluded cultivation, he received numerous visiting cards, but Pei Xuanjing only agreed to a few of them. He had a conversation with only Daoist Xuanming, the Master Guan of Baiyun Temple who resided in Tiandu.
No third person was present during their meeting, and what they discussed was unknown to anyone. It was only known that after Daoist Xuanming left, he returned to Baiyun Temple and entered secluded cultivation once again.
Many speculated that perhaps Pei Xuanjing provided some guidance to Daoist Xuanming, allowing him to see the opportunity to break into the Spirit Realm, and that's why he chose to do so.
On the third day, the emperor, who had been practicing cultivation in the palace and ignored court affairs, rarely left the palace and arrived at Pei Xuanjing's Taoist Temple.
"Master Pei," greeted the Ziji Taoist, the reigning emperor of the Great Ming and the registered disciple of Pei Xuanjing.
"Have a seat!"
Without dodging, Pei Xuanjing accepted his salute calmly and nodded his head.
Considering Pei Xuanjing's current strength, in the Dao of Qi Refining alone, his achievement of reaching the fourth level of the Spiritual Realm would have sparked admiration even during the flourishing Tang Dynasty. It was only natural to be respected by an emperor of a mortal empire.
After waiting for the emperor to be seated, Pei Xuanjing exclaimed, "It seems that you have made great progress in these years. Perhaps you truly possess a talent for the Dao of Refining Spirit!"
For ordinary people, it may be an extraordinary feat to raise oneself from an average person to a Sixth-grade martial artist within five to six years, and they might be considered geniuses.
However, this was not the case for the emperor. Everyone would only think that the current emperor was just a Sixth-grade martial artist, insignificant.
One must know that sitting on the imperial throne, all the resources required for cultivation are readily available. Their cultivation progressed thousands of miles in a day, and no significant obstacles were encountered before reaching the third-grade Realm.
Among the previous emperors of the Great Ming, there were those who went from an ordinary person to the fourth-grade martial artist in just four years, only a step away from stepping into the upper three realms' domain of a third-grade grandmaster. Compared with those people, the cultivation speed of the current Emperor Jiajing was merely mediocre.
However, this was just the superficial phenomenon that ordinary people could observe. Only Pei Xuanjing truly understood his progress. With his powerful Yin Spirit, Pei Xuanjing could naturally sense how tremendous Emperor Jiajing's current spiritual power was. If it were to be compared to the martial arts realm, it would already be at the peak of the fourth grade, just a whisker away from stepping into the third grade of the upper three realms.
"Master Pei, you are flattering me," Emperor Jiajing replied calmly.
Pei Xuanjing shook his head, saying, "I'm not exaggerating, I'm just voicing my feelings. Perhaps, this method of cultivation really suits you."
One point to be clear, unlike the path of cultivating True Qi and the body, the Dao of Refining Spirit cultivation didn't have many experiences to rely on. Emperor Jiajing, having to learn from the book that Pei Xuanjing gave him, treaded the path independently. Seeing his accomplishment at the current realm, one could tell how remarkable his talent was.
"Haha…perhaps!"
A rarely seen smile appeared on Emperor Jiajing's face as he leaned lazily back in his chair.
Though he had only held the throne for a few years, he was no longer the youth whose emotions were readily apparent on his face. He had learned how to be an emperor.
He was the supreme ruler of the Great Ming, and as an emperor, he needed to maintain his dignity and could no longer express his emotions freely. Perhaps only in front of Pei Xuanjing could he feel less lonely.
Seeing the emperor's relaxed demeanor, a smile appeared at the corner of Pei Xuanjing's mouth as well.
With his increasing power, Pei Xuanjing also felt a sense of loneliness. Apart from a few people, all others exhibited a hint of awe in front of him, making him feel distanced.
Even his disciple Pang Hong held more reverence than closeness for Pei Xuanjing. Perhaps his upbringing and status made Pang Hong's character rather reserved, that resulted in less intimacy between him and Pei Xuanjing than expected.
Against this backdrop, Emperor Jiajing's demeanor helped Pei Xuanjing sense a tinge of mundane life.
After a bout of laughter, Emperor Jiajing initiated the conversation, "Master Pei, when shall we begin the plan?"
The Pei Xuanjing in front of him was not one of his court officials. There was some semblance of equality between the two, so the emperor made no secret of his intentions and directly broached the subject.
He made no secret of his intentions, for this was the very reason he was visiting. Their initial collaboration was based on this premise as well.
"So, are you ready?" Pei Xuanjing asked in response.
Emperor Jiajing nodded confidently, saying, "Of course!"
Although it had only been a few years, he had firmly grasped control over the court; nobody could defy him now.
Pei Xuanjing said, "Since you are ready, let's initiate the plan!"
If the suspicion that those people from the past might return due to the revival of Heaven and Earth was true, then Pei Xuanjing had been preparing to accelerate his plan to deal with potential incidents.
If Emperor Jiajing hadn't come to him that day, Pei Xuanjing would have taken the initiative to expedite the plan.
Of course, such an accelerated plan inevitably required some modifications to its original content.
In the original plan, the Taoist School and the Ming Dynasty would jointly drive the initiative, with the rest of the forces serving as support. The Taoist School would reap the largest benefits, while the Ming court would receive a small portion, and the rest of the forces would have to settle for the scraps.
However, the situation had now changed. Even without the motivation to drive the plan forward, once Pei Xuanjing received news of the reformation of the Demonic Cult, the alliance among the powerful aristocratic families, and the re-alliance of the Buddhism School, they had to surrender some of the benefits.
As these alliances formed and became huge entities, they had enough confidence to negotiate directly. In other words, they were entitled to tip the balance of power.
Admittedly, with his current strength, Pei Xuanjing could readily suppress these alliances by teaming up with the imperial court of the Great Ming. Even if these alliances united, they would not have the power to resist.
There was no doubt that Pei Xuanjing possessed such strength to do so, was there?
But what then?
After the emperor left, the Taoist temple regained its tranquility.
At night, Pei Xuanjing stood alone in the courtyard of the Taoist temple, looking up at the vast and boundless starry river.
"It seems like you have gained a lot from your recent retreat!" Bai Xiaosheng silently appeared in the courtyard, looking at Pei Xuanjing who had not a trace of aura, like an ordinary person, and couldn't help but exclaim.
Pei Xuanjing turned around, smiled, and responded, "I suppose no one expected you to have entered the Spirit Realm already. Perhaps, you are the first to enter the Heavenly Rank Spirit Realm after the revival of Heaven and Earth!"
Following the resurrection of Heaven and Earth, Pei Xuanjing had guessed who might be the first to break through. He guessed it could be Taoist Qingxu from the True Martial Sect, the old Heavenly Master from Dragon Tiger Mountain, or even Xue Wuheng from the Demonic Cult.
Never did he expect that the first person he would encounter who had broken through into the Spirit Realm would be Bai Xiaosheng.
It seemed that this person had deeper potential than he had estimated. Bai Xiaosheng had never truly shown his capabilities before, always appearing to manage everything with ease.
At this moment, having seen Bai Xiaosheng revealing his cultivation within the Spirit Realm, Pei Xuanjing was somewhat surprised, but upon deeper thought, he found it reasonable.
"Wasn't it Brother Pei who was the first to step into the Spirit Realm?" Bai Xiaosheng shook his head with his folding fan in hand and said, "Besides, Brother Pei, you have only just come out of retreat. How do you know that I'm the only one who has entered the Spirit Realm in this world?"
"Hmm?" Pei Xuanjing's eyebrows raised, hearing Bai Xiaosheng's words implied that there are others who have also broken into the Spirit Realm?
In Pei Xuanjing's multiple life simulations, it seemed no one had broken through into the Spirit Realm within several years following the revival of Heaven and Earth. The only elder from the Blood Demon Sect who had broken through hadn't been entirely successful yet.
Could it be that his early breaking of the seal caused Heaven and Earth to revive early, leading to a change in the world's trajectory?
If that was the case, it wouldn't be surprising. After all, discrepancies between Pei Xuanjing's life simulation experiences and actual events had happened before. He was used to it.
"Besides Brother Bai, has anyone else broken through?" Pei Xuanjing asked straightforwardly.
After he came out of retreat and learned that Bai Xiaosheng was in seclusion, most of his information came from Pang Hong. However, Pang Hong's strength was too weak to access certain core information, inevitably resulting in some scattered pieces.
Now that Bai Xiaosheng had appeared, Pei Xuanjing naturally asked directly. Given Bai Xiaosheng's control over various information networks, he was likely to know many things.
Bai Xiaosheng closed his fan and became serious: "That is why I'm here tonight. To my knowledge, there are already over ten people in the martial world who have broken through to the Spirit Realm."
"Over ten!" A hint of surprise flashed in Pei Xuanjing's eyes.
Since coming out of retreat, besides Bai Xiaosheng, the only other expert he had interacted with was Daoist Xuanming. Although Xuanming was more powerful than before, he was still one step away from breaking through the Spirit Realm. He only understood after receiving Pei Xuanjing's guidance, which was the reason for his hasty retreat.
Xuanming's talent and strength had always been at the top of the martial arts world. Seeing that even Xuanming hadn't broken through yet, plus the hints from his life simulations, Pei Xuanjing thought that nobody had really managed to reach the Spirit Realm.
Seeing Bai Xiaosheng show up with Spirit Realm strength changed Pei Xuanjing's mindset. Even though there may be others who had also broken through, there shouldn't be many, likely no more than he could count on one hand.
However, Bai Xiaosheng's answer completely overturned his assumption.
"Yes, according to the intelligence I've gathered, there are already over ten people in the martial world who have broken through to the Spirit Realm, not less but more." Bai Xiaosheng replied gravely.
Pei Xuanjing asked curiously, "Do you know who they are?"
Given his speedy rise, he actually hadn't faced many strong adversaries. Even though he had challenged many experts, he had not yet encountered all of them, so he was curious about their identities.
"The two old monks from the North and South Zen Sects have broken through. As for hidden potentials, that's unknown, so we'll estimate two for now," Bai Xiaosheng began.
The depth of Buddhism is too profound, and some high-level monks with deep understanding of Buddhism have isolated themselves from the world. He didn't even know if they were dead or alive. However, if they are still alive and managed to break through, it wouldn't be surprising.
"Besides the new leader Xue Wuheng, there's also an old fellow from the Blood Demon Sect who has broken through."
"There's another expert from the Blood Demon Sect?" Surprise flashed in Pei Xuanjing's eyes. "It's indeed worthy of being hailed as a branch that can hold its own against the Sky Demon Sect within the Demonic Cult. Despite the death of Blood Demon Yang Tinghe and another elder, they still have powerful individuals. This truly surprises me."
"Correct, the Blood Demon Sect is extremely profound. However…" Bai Xiaosheng showed a gleeful expression, continuing, "This one holds a big grudge against Xue Wuheng, likely causing him to have a major headache."
He was well aware of how Xue Wuheng had killed a Blood Demon Sect elder who wanted to seek revenge on Pei Xuanjing. Besides diverting the disaster, Xue Wuheng also wanted to cut out the influence of the Blood Demon Sect.
After weakening the Blood Demon Sect like this, Xue Wuheng could take advantage of the situation to incorporate the Blood Demon Sect's power completely under his command.
Unexpectedly, Xue Wuheng's plan to weaken the Blood Demon Sect backfired as an expert from the Spirit Realm emerged from their ranks. This made the situation within the Demonic Cult quite awkward. Had it not been for the support of several other major branches, those two would have started fighting on the spot.
"Haha." Pei Xuanjing couldn't help laughing at this scene.
Bai Xiaosheng continued, "Besides this, an elder each from the Wang family of Taiyuan, the Cui Clan of Qinghe, and the Li Family of Longxi in the alliance of nobles have also broken through."
While saying this, he couldn't help but glance at Pei Xuanjing. If he hadn't known about Pei Xuanjing's background and experiences, he would have thought Pei Xuanjing came from one of the two noble Cui families.
After all, in his interactions with Pei Xuanjing, the perspectives and words Pei Xuanjing shared didn't seem like they came from someone from a small border town. The knowledge he demonstrated was more similar to what nobles would instill in their descendants.
Pei Xuanjing was aware of Bai Xiaosheng's odd gaze and guessed his thoughts, but chose not to elaborate.
His identity in this world was just a little Taoist boy adopted by the Master of Everlasting Observance, nothing more.
Counting in his mind the number of those in the Spirit Realm, there were two each from Buddhism and the Demonic Cult, and one each from the three families in the nobles' alliance, totaling up to seven.
"I assume the rest are Taoist Priest Qingxu and the old Heavenly Master from daoism?"
Pei Xuanjing voiced out his speculative thoughts, "So, together with you and I, there are already eleven."
Upon saying this, he paused and added, "Perhaps there's also the Maitreya Sect Leader Zhao Baiyang, making that twelve."
"In addition to those," Bai Xiaosheng shook his head, "The Royal Prince of Xiang Zhu Yousong, the Northwest Dao's Tie Sect's Tie Qianshan, and the Lord of the Heavenly King's Pavilion, Zi Tianxiong."
"These are just the experts within the Central Plains, news from overseas has yet to return, so it's still unclear," Bai Xiaosheng said.
It must be known that overseas, there are numerous skilled individuals. Many famous powerhouses, weary of the strife within the Central Plains martial community, chose in the end to retire to the islands overseas.
"That is to say, not counting the experts overseas who may break through, and those concealed experts, there are already fifteen Spirit Realm experts openly available in the Central Plains," Pei Xuanjing exclaimed.
After counting, apart from several individuals of the Buddhism School and the Blood Demon of the Demonic Cult, most of them have had interactions with Pei Xuanjing.
Although he had never met Zi Tianxiong, the lord of Heavenly King's Pavilion, Pei Xuanjing was familiar with his two children. The relationships between those two and his disciple, Pang Hong, were extremely close.
However, Pei Xuanjing could still understand how Zi Tianxiong, the hero who founded the Heavenly King's Pavilion alone, had broken through to the Spirit Realm. But that Tie Qianshan from the Tie Sect had managed to break through was extremely surprising to him.
Although he and Tie Qianshan had never met, Pei Xuanjing was extremely familiar with his name, as he had heard it so frequently it was almost as if the name had grown calluses in his ears.
When he first heard the name Tie Qianshan, the legendary leader of the Northwest Dao's Tie Sect, he was still struggling with the Ninth-grade power in the small city's Everlasting Observance in the border county.
Later, as his own power constantly improved, Tie Qianshan still remained a powerhouse beyond his reach. It wasn't until he stepped into the Third-grade Grandmaster Realm that he heard more of Tie Qianshan's legendary tales from various people.
Later, as Tie Qianshan's affairs were continually mentioned, his power gradually emerged. By that time, however, Pei Xuanjing's strength had already exceeded him, leaving him behind.
Hearing now that Tie Qianshan had broken through to the Spirit Realm, Pei Xuanjing was not only surprised but also curious about what kind of inheritance the man had obtained, such that he had such a deep foundation to support him to this day.
Thinking about the trajectories in his life simulation, Spirit Realm powerhouses were extremely rare. He had a thought in his mind and asked, "With so many Spirit Realm appearances, could it be due to the constant emergence of the Forbidden Places and Blessed Lands?"
In his original life simulation, many powerhouses actually had deep foundations. The reason they could not break through was because their inheritances were incomplete. They could only break through by creating their own path, which delayed their breakthrough times.
Now, with the emergence of so many Forbidden Places and Blessed Lands, if they obtained those inheritances, they wouldn't necessarily have to follow the cultivation path. Having a reference could likely hasten the breakthrough time.
Bai Xiaosheng nodded, "Correct! It's precisely because of this!"
With this consecutive emergence of Forbidden Places and Blessed Lands, many had seized opportunities to change their fate. But, in reality, the ones who benefited the most were the big powers. With their strength, they could easily obtain those things through various means.
It was because they had plundered these inheritances that these people had obtained a model for their skills, hence stepping into the Spirit Realm.
Indeed, it's like this!
Pei Xuanjing proposed a possible situation, "Perhaps, missing this opportunity, without a major fortune, it'll be very difficult for martial artists without the backing of a powerful force to rise abruptly."
Pei Xuanjing knew this was just the beginning–many martial artists still had a chance. However, as time went on, if nothing unexpected happened, the number of powerhouses in various forces would increase. They would seize various interests, and unless there was a great opportunity, it would be difficult for individuals to rise.
"Correct!" Bai Xiaosheng nodded, not denying this situation. He said solemnly, "But hasn't it been like this for thousands of years?"
Bai Xiaosheng wasn't surprised by the possibility proposed by Pei Xuanjing. After all, it was like this even before the Heaven and Earth had revived. If martial artists wanted to achieve success in cultivation, they had to join or form a force. There was no change, only that the strong became stronger!
Pei Xuanjing remained silent.
He also knew that this situation couldn't be changed by him alone.
As long as people exist, there will be likes and dislikes, selfishness will exist. It's impossible for everyone to be selfless.
Such a person would be a saint, and perhaps only one would appear every ten thousand years.
Even what he was planning now, though it might sound extremely grand, could be seen from another perspective as a form of selfishness, couldn't it?
Pei Xuanjing wanted to establish the Divine Dynasty on earth, open the path to Becoming Immortal, and guide all people into immortality. It sounded grand, but what he was about to do was to let the Great Ming expedition outside the border to sweep the remnants of the Former Yuan and seize the Qi Luck.
What he was doing may seem grand and ambitious to the people of Great Ming, but to the descendants of the former Yuan Dynasty and the Tartar tribes, wouldn't it be a form of terror and evil?
But would Pei Xuanjing stop his plan because of hatred and unwillingness of those people?
No!
Some might think he was evil, but he didn't mind.
Because people can be complex sometimes. Standing in different positions, they may have completely different views and responses to the same thing.
Pei Xuanjing also had his likes and dislikes. Born in Great Ming, he identified himself as a citizen of Great Ming. Hence, to accomplish his plan, he could act without guilt.
At this moment, Pei Xuanjing had a vast heart, that could encompass the world, but at the same time, it was small because all he could see was the world of Great Ming and not the barbarians of the four directions.
Bai Xiaosheng didn't know that his words had triggered so many thoughts in Pei Xuanjing's mind.
He toyed with the folding fan in his hand and casually said, "I originally came tonight to discuss some important matters with you."
His arrival tonight was certainly not for leisure; it had a purpose.
With the continuous emergence of Spirit Realm powerhouses and the establishment of the Ji Fang Alliances, Bai Xiaosheng was quite worried. He found, for the first time, that the rapid changes in the world's situation far exceeded his grasp.
But with so many Spirit Realm powerhouses now, if Pei Xuanjing didn't make much progress in this closure, the situation might become very unfavorable.
"Oh?" Pei Xuanjing looked at him with a questioning look.
"I was somewhat worried initially, but now that I see you, I realize all my worries were unnecessary," Bai Xiaosheng said candidly.