Chapter 1526: An Old Friend's Admiration
The banquet concluded, and only then did Yang Haoran and Wang Yiming get a chance to be alone. Yang Haoran remained as he always was, a faint smile gracing his face, his expression unchanged. Wang Yiming's expression, however, had undergone a drastic transformation. He no longer wore a stern face, his demeanor no longer serious. Instead, his face was wreathed in smiles, and his attitude towards Yang Haoran had become exceedingly warm. Moreover, this warmth wasn't feigned; it sprang from the depths of his heart.
The two conversed for a long time. Yang Haoran spoke of some events that had transpired in his life, and Wang Yiming recounted his experiences over the years. Before they knew it, they had chatted through the entire night.
According to Wang Yiming, his realm had now broken through to Spirit Talisman Master. His ability to break through to this realm, besides his innate talent, was also due to the Talisman Order's vigorous cultivation of him. If he had only talent, but lacked the support of abundant resources, then it would be ages before he could step into the Spirit Talisman Master realm.
Of course, if he had no talent, the Talisman Order wouldn't have expended vast resources on him. It was a reciprocal relationship.
With the same resources, those with talent could enter the Spirit Talisman Master realm in the shortest time, while those without talent could only reach the Gold Talisman Master realm. Therefore, the leaders would certainly allocate resources to the former, to forge a powerful expert for the Talisman Order, unless the latter was the personal son of the Talisman Order's leader.
It was precisely because Wang Yiming possessed talent and was exceedingly diligent himself that the Talisman Order was willing to invest astonishing resources in him, allowing him to step into the Spirit Talisman Master realm in the shortest possible time.
A Spirit Talisman Master, equivalent to a Life Soul realm expert in the Underworld Office system, such a realm was rare throughout the entire Talisman Order. Thus, after successfully entering the Spirit Talisman Master realm, Wang Yiming naturally became a high-ranking member of the Talisman Order. His status and position had undergone immense change. Though he hadn't yet reached the point of being "one man below ten thousand," there were now few individuals above him.
Upon learning that Wang Yiming had entered the Spirit Talisman Master realm, Yang Haoran was delighted and also deeply relieved. Because by entering this realm, there were now very few experts in this world who could threaten Wang Yiming's life. His safety could be greatly guaranteed.
Although Wang Yiming was from the Talisman Order, Yang Haoran had never entertained the thought of harming him. Not in the past, and certainly not now. As a friend, he only wished for Wang Yiming to live well. Therefore, upon learning that Wang Yiming had now entered the Spirit Talisman Master realm, he was genuinely pleased.
Compared to Yang Haoran's happiness, Wang Yiming was utterly astonished by Yang Haoran's current achievements. He had never dreamed that after so many years apart, upon their reunion, Yang Haoran had already become a regional Emperor, and personally established a powerful empire. Furthermore, Yang Haoran was still collecting the Power of Faith from his followers, seemingly intent on becoming a god.
Whether it was Yang Haoran's strength, the Great Night Empire he had founded, or his ambition to become a god, all of these utterly shocked Wang Yiming. Had not all of this been laid out before him, truly existing, he would surely have believed he was dreaming, for it was all truly unbelievable.
Originally, Wang Yiming felt his achievements were already quite remarkable, enough to fill him with profound pride. After all, looking across the entire Talisman Order, there weren't *no* Talisman Masters who could enter the Spirit Talisman Master realm at his age, but their number was as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Every single one was an astonishing talent. For him to be one among them, feeling profound pride was entirely justified, and even a touch of arrogance would have been warranted.
However, compared to Yang Haoran's accomplishments, his own achievements paled by a vast margin of ten thousand eight hundred li. His gradually swelling heart was thus deflated. With his heart no longer inflated, he naturally wouldn't feel light-headed or conceited. Instead, it gave him even greater motivation. Yang Haoran naturally became the goal he wished to pursue. However, this pursuit was a limited one, not an ambition to emulate Yang Haoran in every aspect. Because there was one thing Yang Haoran dared to conceive and act upon, but which he absolutely dared not: becoming a god.
For Wang Yiming, a large part of everything he now possessed was granted by the Talisman Order. What the Talisman Order could give, it could naturally take back. The Talisman Order could cultivate him, and similarly, it could destroy him. Once he harbored the thought of becoming a god, and acted upon that idea, he would certainly face the Talisman Order's furious retaliation. Because the Talisman Order could only have one True God. For other believers to desire godhood was absolutely forbidden, not even to be contemplated.
Yang Haoran dared to entertain such a thought, and dared to implement his ideas. Most importantly, his implementation was going exceptionally well. This filled him with genuine admiration. What Yang Haoran dared to do, he dared not. He knew this was the gap between him and Yang Haoran. A gap that couldn't be bridged by mere effort. This depended not on one's own strength, but on one's own attitude and faith. He possessed faith, and was very devout. Conversely, Yang Haoran had no faith at all; more accurately, he was a god without faith.
During his extensive conversation with Wang Yiming, Yang Haoran confirmed one thing through subtle probing. That was, this time, the Talisman Order and Spirit Mediums seeking an alliance with the Great Night Empire held no conspiracies or traps. They simply wanted to ally with the Great Night Empire and collectively oppose the Underworld Office.
Just as he had surmised, the Spirit Mediums and the Talisman Order valued the Great Night Empire's strength. They both believed that by allying with the Great Night Empire, their chances of defeating the Underworld Office would greatly increase. Moreover, once the three forces successfully allied, the likelihood of the Underworld Office daring to initiate war would become very small. The Underworld Office would certainly not dare to easily provoke war with any single one of the three forces, because an attack on any one force would be equivalent to declaring war on the other two simultaneously. Given the Underworld Office's current strength, they would certainly be unable to bear such a burden. Therefore, under normal circumstances, the Underworld Office would absolutely not dare to do this.
In other words, this alliance with the Spirit Mediums and the Talisman Order would play a significant role in stabilizing the Great Night Empire. With the Great Night Empire's formidable strength coupled with the support of its allies, the possibility of the Underworld Office actively launching an attack on the Great Night Empire diminished even further.
The current Underworld Office was no longer the Underworld Office of old. From the Ghostly Chaos to the present, the Underworld Office had successively seen numerous high-ranking officials fall. Especially the scorching hot seat of the Tong Continent Great Emperor—anyone who sat upon it met their demise. Two successive Tong Continent Great Emperors had already died tragic deaths, and both were connected to Yang Haoran. One died tragically directly at Yang Haoran's hands, and the other died tragically indirectly at Yang Haoran's hands.
The continuous downfall of numerous high-ranking officials caused the Underworld Office's strength to repeatedly decline. Furthermore, the internal strife among the Underworld Office's high-ranking members had caused no small drain on the Underworld Office's resources. Thus, the current Underworld Office had become thoroughly corrupt and decaying.
The Underworld Office of the past was domineering yet powerful, possessing the capital to be so. The current Underworld Office, though still domineering, lacked much of that capital. Their domineering nature was no longer truly regarded by other major forces of equal standing. If the Underworld Office continued to decay in this manner, its demise would be a matter of time. There would certainly come a day when it would be replaced.
Under Yang Haoran's warm hospitality, Yuan Ji and Wang Yiming, along with the other four, departed from the Great Night Empire only after resting for several days. As the six had completed their mission smoothly, and were treated as esteemed guests by the Great Night Empire, all six were very happy. They arrived with serious expressions, but departed with faces wreathed in smiles.
After the six departed, Yang Haoran sent a Communication Talisman to Tang Shi, instructing him to immediately investigate the approximate current numbers of Spirit Mediums and their combat capabilities.
The reason for investigating the Spirit Mediums instead of the Talisman Order was because the Talisman Order didn't require investigation at all. The Talisman Order had always operated openly, and Tang Shi's scouts had always kept an eye on them. Thus, Yang Haoran had a general understanding of the Talisman Order's current strength.
The Talisman Order's strength had seen considerable recovery over the years. However, it was still far from its level before the Ghostly Chaos. After all, during the Ghostly Chaos, the Talisman Order lost a great many experts. To cultivate these experts, it required not only vast resources but also a significant amount of time. Although many years had passed since the Ghostly Chaos, it was still far from sufficient for the Talisman Order's strength to fully recover to its pre-chaos level.
Despite this, the Talisman Order's strength was still not to be underestimated. After all, the Talisman Order still had the Talisman Ancestor, a True God, in existence. Therefore, in Yang Haoran's view, the Talisman Order becoming an ally of the Great Night Empire was not only perfectly fine, but rather, the Great Night Empire was reaching above its station. However, compared to the Talisman Order, the Spirit Mediums were a completely different matter.
The Spirit Mediums suffered the most devastating losses in the great war of the Ghostly Chaos. The surviving Spirit Mediums all went into hiding under the Underworld Office's relentless pursuit. Even Yang Haoran had known very little about the Spirit Mediums' movements over the years. Furthermore, since there was no conflict of interest between them, he hadn't bothered to expend vast effort to specifically clarify the situation.
After this alliance with the Spirit Mediums, Yuan Ji directly revealed some information about the Spirit Mediums to Yang Haoran. This information included the current strength of the Spirit Medium collective. After all, to ally with the Great Night Empire, it certainly wouldn't do to show no sincerity. Revealing a portion of one's strength to an ally was a very necessary practice.
According to Yuan Ji, although the Spirit Mediums' current strength was far from recovered to its pre-Ghostly Chaos level, they had no problem asserting themselves among the major forces. He also informed Yang Haoran that their new leader had emerged, and under the guidance of this new leader, the Spirit Mediums would certainly grow increasingly powerful!
When Yuan Ji spoke these words to Yang Haoran, though Yang Haoran showed nothing on his face, he was inwardly quite surprised. Besides surprise, a degree of doubt still lingered in his heart. Therefore, after the six departed from the Great Night Empire, Yang Haoran sent a Communication Talisman to Tang Shi, instructing Tang Shi to thoroughly investigate the current state of the Spirit Mediums, based on the information Yuan Ji had revealed.
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