576: Chapter 86 Another Plan

Huqi Mountain, Ghost King Sect headquarters.

Inside the dim great hall, candle flames flickered, reflecting off the dark, gloomy face of Wan Wanwang.

After escaping from the attack of the Blackwater Xuan Snake, he dared not linger to avoid any accidents and rushed straight back to his lair.

Upon returning, Wan Wanwang was in a foul mood, so he dismissed Azure Dragon, You Ji, Ghost Master, Bi Yao, and the Disciples, remaining alone to cool down, calm his mind, review the situation, and think about what to do next.

But the more he thought about it, the more stifled and irritated he felt. He slammed a palm onto the black stone table in front of him, and the hard table instantly cracked with spiderweb-like fissures.

"Qingyun Sect! Qingyun Sect!"

Wan Wanwang growled, his voice echoing through the empty great hall, filled with irrepressible irritation.

During the last Righteous-Demonic War, he was defeated by the Qingyun Sect. The injuries he sustained were only stabilized after his wife, Xiao Chi, spared no cost to her own lifespan to save him, and he had to hide in Huqi Mountain for nearly a hundred years to fully recover.

During that period, his wife and daughter were intercepted by Old Nian, and his wife died tragically while protecting their daughter.

He hated Old Nian, the direct murderer, but he hated the Qingyun Sect, the "instigator," even more.

Because the Qingyun Sect had ruined too many of his plans: the Wanfu Ancient Cave, the trip to the East Sea...

At the mere thought of the East Sea trip, Wan Wanwang was so angry that his teeth itched.

Not only did he fail to capture the ancient exotic beast, the Kui Ox, during this trip, but even the Sect's supreme treasure, the fulong cauldron, had fallen into the hands of Meng Li. It was simply a case of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it.

He paced back and forth in the great hall, the image of the fulong cauldron constantly appearing in his mind.

The fulong cauldron was the key to setting up the Four Spirits Blood Formation; without it, the Four Spirits Blood Formation was just empty talk.

And without being able to form the Four Spirits Blood Formation, his ambition to dominate the world was like a flower in the mirror or the moon in the water, a distant and unreachable dream.

Thinking of this, Wan Wanwang felt as if a giant rock were pressing on his chest, suffocating him, and intense reluctance filled his heart.

Just as Wan Wanwang was feeling agitated, a figure silently appeared in a corner of the great hall.

This figure was none other than Ghost Master.

Noticing his arrival, Wan Wanwang slightly restrained his emotions but said nothing.

Seeing this, Ghost Master slowly said, "Sect Master, please calm your anger. Although there were losses in this matter, it was not without gains."

Wan Wanwang stopped pacing, turned his head to look at Ghost Master, and asked with a frown, "We have fallen into such a state, what gains could there possibly be?"

Ghost Master said unhurriedly, "Has the Sect Master forgotten? Although we accidentally lost the fulong cauldron on this trip, we successfully obtained a scroll of the Heavenly Tome."

"The Heavenly Tome?" Wan Wanwang paused for a moment, then a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes.

That's right, the Heavenly Tome!

He had been so blinded by anger that he had actually forgotten about this matter.

Ghost Master nodded and said, "Exactly. As long as we can collect the other scrolls of the Heavenly Tome, with the power of the Heavenly Tome, we can still resurrect the Beast God. When that time comes, once the Beast God emerges, who in the world can resist? The Sect Master's grand ambition can still be realized."

Wan Wanwang's brows gradually relaxed, feeling that Ghost Master's words made a lot of sense.

The Heavenly Tome is mysterious and unfathomable; if they could collect them all, it might just compensate for the loss of the fulong cauldron.

But then, he frowned again.

Because as far as he knew, there were five scrolls of the Heavenly Tome in total, and he currently only had two.

One scroll was obtained this time from Dinghai Village, and the other was obtained by chance by the previous Sect Master of the Ghost King Sect.

It was precisely because they obtained a scroll of the Heavenly Tome that the Ghost King Sect was able to rise and learn of the matter regarding resurrecting the Beast God.

With only two scrolls of the Heavenly Tome, resurrecting the Beast God was not guaranteed.

As for the remaining three scrolls, the whereabouts of two were unknown, and the only one with a clue was the one in the Wanfu Ancient Cave.

It should currently be with either the Black-Hearted Old Man or Meng Li.

But not only was the Black-Hearted Old Man's strength unfathomable, the key was that his whereabouts were unknown; since the events at Yudu City, there had been no news of him at all.

Even if he wanted to scheme, he had nowhere to start.

As for Meng Li...

Wan Wanwang least wanted the Heavenly Tome to be with him, firstly because of his strong strength, and secondly because the Righteous Path and the Demonic Path were irreconcilable.

Given the style of the people from the Qingyun Sect, if the Heavenly Tome fell into Meng Li's hands, even if it wasn't destroyed due to its special material, it would be sealed away.

It would be incredibly difficult for him to obtain it, especially after the trip to the East Sea.

Originally, the only things Wan Wanwang feared from the Qingyun Sect were the zhu xian sword, the zhu xian sword formation, and Mysterious Dao; now, there were also Meng Li, Tian Buyi, and the Blackwater Xuan Snake.

Each one of them could not be underestimated, and his psychological pressure had more than doubled.

"The strength of the Qingyun Sect cannot be underestimated; we cannot wait any longer," Wan Wanwang said in a deep voice.

Ghost Master asked, "What does the Sect Master mean?"

A trace of ruthlessness flashed in Wan Wanwang's eyes: "We already have two scrolls of the Heavenly Tome from our Sect's Legacy, plus the one we just obtained. Although it is still incomplete, perhaps we can try to use their power in advance to resurrect the Beast God first, giving it sufficient combat power."

"As long as the Beast God can help us open up the situation, it will be much easier to collect the other Heavenly Tome scrolls or do other things later."

His voice was filled with urgency and ambition, as if he had already seen the scene of the Beast God helping him sweep across the world.

Ghost Master heard this, pondered for a moment, and reminded him: "Although there are two scrolls of the Heavenly Tome, there is only one portion of the Beast God's blood, and Xiao Yicai has already consumed part of it. Resurrecting the Beast God under such circumstances means the preparation is insufficient."

"In my humble opinion, it would be better to delay for a while and seek cooperation with the Black-Hearted Old Man."

"That would be relatively safer."

Wan Wanwang frowned and said, "According to You Ji and Bi Yao, that Black-Hearted Old Man's strength is unfathomable. Cooperating with him is like negotiating with a tiger for its skin."

"Setting that aside, his whereabouts are unknown, and we can't even see him, so how can we cooperate?"

Ghost Master replied, "Although the Black-Hearted Old Man is not a kind person, he is still a member of the Demonic Path. Having been defeated by the Righteous Path back then, he must have lingering unwillingness and resentment. With that premise, we have a foundation for cooperation. As for the difference in strength..."

"No matter how strong the Black-Hearted Old Man is, he will certainly not be able to compare to the Beast God."

"Once the Beast God is successfully resurrected, and the Sect Master uses secret arts to borrow its power, the Black-Hearted Old Man will naturally be nothing to fear."

"As for the whereabouts of the Black-Hearted Old Man..."

"We cannot find him, but Old Nian of the Blood Refining Hall should know a thing or two."

"He has met the Black-Hearted Old Man before, and his later decision to go into closed-door cultivation was most likely because he obtained the follow-up Cultivation Technique from the Black-Hearted Old Man. Thus, it can be seen that although more than eight hundred years have passed and things have changed, the Black-Hearted Old Man should still have some lingering affection for the Blood Refining Hall."

"He might even be in the Blood Refining Hall."

"We were blinded by our own perspective and overlooked this."

Hearing this, Wan Wanwang fell into deep thought, his eyes flickering with uncertainty. After a long while, he said, "Fine, then I shall make a trip to the Azure Fire Celestial Ice Lake."