Chapter 681: All the Fourth Realm Cultivators

“Has that dragon left?”

Yu Lian noticed the Calico Cat cheering and realized Ao Hong must have left.

She descended on her cloud and glanced at the pavilion. She then went to play with the Calico Cat for a while before riding her cloud down to the river at the base of the mountain to catch fish and shrimp.

Wang Ping returned to the pavilion and took out the Communication Token for the Second Seat.

The next moment, he entered a projection hall. It was empty. Wang Ping had come to look up the files on all Fourth Realm Cultivators registered with the Daoist Palace.

Following the signs, he quickly found the archives he was looking for.

Among the Five Profound Sects and the two sects of the Heavenly Gate, the Yuqing Sect was recorded as having six Fourth Realm Cultivators. The other sects all had five, with the sole exception of the Taiyan Sect. The True Yang Sect also possessed two Magical Artifacts with Fourth Realm True Spirits. According to the archives, the True Yang Sect’s entry included ‘First Day,’ the First Sect, and the Sun Sect.

The Taiyan Sect, however, only had four Fourth Realm Cultivators. This number included Wang Ping himself and Chengxi, the new master of the South Sea Dojo. The other two were Chongxing Taoist and Daoist Miaoying, who was currently on the front lines.

‘You people are really determined to bleed the Taiyan Sect dry, aren’t you?’

Wang Ping murmured softly, ‘You all keep saying the southern Taiyan Inheritance is special. Is that because if this line of succession is broken, the Taiyan Sect itself will cease to exist?’

The Taiyan Sect had only four Fourth Realm Cultivators in total, and yet they’d taken the opportunity to kick Chongxing Taoist out before Wang Ping had even ascended. Now, the only one left besides him was Chengxi, a Fourth Realm Cultivator who was practically crippled.

‘If I had failed to ascend this time, would the Taiyan Inheritance truly have been severed? Or would it have fallen into someone else’s hands?’ A chill ran down Wang Ping’s spine as he considered this.

Next, he looked through the Star God Alliance’s registry of Fourth Realm Cultivators.

The Star God Alliance had a total of forty-three Fourth Realm Cultivators, more than the Mystic Sects and Heavenly Gate sects combined. However, seven of them were currently missing. Factoring in the recently defected Wei Kong, the Alliance could only mobilize thirty-five.

Thirty of these thirty-five were stationed on the front lines year-round, while the remaining five guarded various posts across Zhongzhou, the Western Continent, and the Eastern Continent. On the list, Wang Ping spotted the name of Min You Taoist—the one who had come to help during Xiao Shan Lord’s ascension. He was currently on the front lines.

Unfortunately, the records for Fourth Realm Star Gods who hadn’t rebelled or gone missing were only basic registrations, not detailed personal files. Otherwise, he would have loved to go through Min You’s file for any clues about Xiao Shan Lord.

In Wang Ping’s eyes, Xiao Shan Lord had always been a contradictory figure. Nevertheless, it was undeniable that the Lord had been his benefactor. As soon as Wang Ping had advanced to the Third Realm, Xiao Shan Lord had appointed him Pacification Envoy of Nanlin Road. This position allowed him to quickly amass the resources and prestige needed to make his cultivation path so smooth.

On his path of cultivation, he had relied on his master before reaching the Second Realm. After that, he had owed much of his success to Xiao Shan Lord.

The troubling thoughts passed in a flash. Wang Ping pulled up the files of the eight missing or rebellious Fourth Realm Star Gods, memorized their contents, and exited the projection hall. He then took blank sheets of paper from his storage bag and used a Wood Spirit to copy the eight files.

“It’s been a while since you ascended, yet you haven’t spoken with your disciples. Aren’t there other people you should be seeing, too?” Yu Lian stopped roughhousing with the Calico Cat, flew over on her cloud, and landed on Wang Ping’s shoulder.

Wang Ping looked up, his gaze first falling on the Calico Cat tearing into a fish amidst a pile of Spirit Grass outside. “I’ll talk to them after the magical duels in the front hall are over,” he said. “But right now, I need to make my stance clear.”

“What stance?”

Yu Lian asked curiously.

Wang Ping reached out and gently stroked Yu Lian’s head. “We obtained our current position by making promises about the future,” he explained. “So, now that we’re here, we have to act. There’s a big difference between doing something and doing nothing. Doing nothing is a matter of attitude. Trying and failing is a matter of ability.”

Yu Lian thought for a moment. “So attitude is more important than ability?”

“Exactly!”

“But you’re a genius. How could you fail at anything?”

“A young genius,” he corrected. “It’s normal to make mistakes sometimes. Besides, cultivation and managing affairs are two entirely different matters!”

As he spoke, Wang Ping took out one of the files.

It was Wei Kong’s.

Yu Lian craned her neck. The glow from her vertical golden pupils fell upon the portrait in the file. It was the face of a very young, handsome man. He was from the Eastern Continent, with short, golden-gray hair and a nose that was higher-bridged than those of Zhongzhou people. His eyes were grayish-blue, and he wore a silver earring in his left ear.

Wei Kong was born into a wealthy family within the East Continent Business Alliance, but he was an unremarkable child. Perhaps influenced by the extreme sense of justice of ‘First Day,’ he personally executed a thief at the age of thirteen. He was subsequently scouted by the Star God Alliance’s Jia Ling Ninth Camp and officially became a member.

After that, his life was a smooth ascent through the cultivation realms: Qi Cultivation, Marrow Cleansing, and Foundation Establishment, culminating in his fusion with a Star God Core. The ability granted by his Core was Gravity Crush—an exceptionally powerful combat skill.

After fusing with the Star God Core, he was sent to serve on the front lines. During his military service, he advanced to the Second and Third Realms, eventually succeeding in his breakthrough to the Fourth Realm. He was then assigned to the Yijishaba Camp as a Brigade Commander, leading a battalion of Cultivators against the Outer Realm Demons.

However, not long after his appointment, he led his troops to forcibly seize the Transfer Array in the Yijishaba Camp’s defense sector. He then used it to teleport his forces to the periphery of the Moon Base. While attempting to destroy the array, he was repelled by another Fourth Realm Star God who had rushed to the scene. Wei Kong then vanished into the vastness of space with his remaining troops.