Chapter 963: Lu Tianshu |
Although this intelligence was not comprehensive, it provided many insights into the struggle between the Purple Yang Holy Sect and the Dali Dynasty.
Specific details like these couldn't be found in the Dali Dynasty's official reports. Those reports tended to glorify the Dali Dynasty's achievements in the conflict while painting a rosy picture of the situation.
According to the information, both the Purple Yang Holy Sect and the Dali Dynasty had not gone all out in their conflict. They were still in the stage of testing each other's strengths and weaknesses.
Before fully understanding each other's cards, neither side would likely initiate an all-out war.
The strength of the Dali Dynasty was beyond Meng Zhang's expectations. To be able to contend with the Purple Yang Holy Sect and engage in such a heated struggle, the Dali Dynasty might even have the potential to become the new Holy Land Sect.
In the past, when the Dali Dynasty attacked and wiped out the Crossing Severing Mountain Range and conquered the Jiuqu League, the battles were intense and the casualties were heavy. However, the Dali Dynasty had yet to deploy its true main force; those were merely probing attacks.
Since the Dali Dynasty was so formidable, capable of withstanding the attacks from the Purple Yang Holy Sect, Taiyi Sect would be a loyal vassal to the Dali Dynasty for a long time. No matter what Taiyi Sect did or what secret schemes they had, they could not openly confront the Dali Dynasty.
Meng Zhang spent a considerable amount of time in the tea house, carefully reading and analyzing the intelligence.
In the afternoon, he settled the bill and left the tea house. However, he hadn't finished reading all the information; he needed to take it back to Taiyi Sect for the senior members to review.
It had been a while since they last met.
Learning about Taiyi Sect's heavy losses, Xu Mengying felt a bit uneasy in front of Meng Zhang.
Meng Zhang didn't blame Xu Mengying.
After all, Yellow Lotus Sect was also a victim and suffered heavy casualties, losing many elite cultivators.
Only those who were incapable of confronting their true enemies would vent their anger on others.
Since Meng Zhang didn't show any signs of blaming her, Xu Mengying became more at ease.
Due to the close relationship between their sects, Xu Mengying usually stayed in the small courtyard of Taiyi Sect.However, most of the time, she was running around outside, and her actual time spent here was not much.
She came this time because Grandma Qiansi had something to discuss with Meng Zhang.
Right after leaving Grandma Qiansi's place earlier, she had sent Xu Mengying to find him, indicating that it was indeed something important.
Although Xu Mengying didn't reveal the purpose of Grandma Qiansi's request, Meng Zhang didn't neglect it and immediately followed Xu Mengying outside.
The two arrived at Grandma Qiansi's mansion, and a servant in charge of receiving them led them inside.
Last time they came here in a hurry, coupled with Meng Zhang's preoccupation, he hadn't had a chance to carefully observe the surroundings.
Grandma Qiansi's mansion was located in a dedicated residential area within the Heavenly Palace.
Only Return to Emptiness great powers and Primordial Spirit temporary workers serving Return to Emptiness great powers were allowed to reside in this area.
For Grandma Qiansi's mansion to be situated in this area was quite impressive.
Not only was it sizable, but there were also specialized automaton servants inside the mansion.
Of course, these servants were not living beings but rather mechanical puppets.
These mechanical puppets had high intelligence and were capable of performing most human tasks.
If it weren't for the high cost of these mechanical puppets, Meng Zhang would have considered purchasing some to place in Taiyi Sect's small courtyard to handle menial tasks like cleaning.
When his financial situation eased up, he could buy a few mechanical puppets and bring them back to the sect for the disciples of the Divine Artificer Hall to study. That's what Meng Zhang thought.
The servant led Meng Zhang and Xu Mengying directly to the main hall.
Inside the hall, Grandma Qiansi was seated at the head, and below her was a Dao-robed old man with an immortal demeanor.
Upon seeing Meng Zhang and Xu Mengying, Grandma Qiansi took the initiative to introduce them.
The Dao-robed old man was Grandma Qiansi's dear friend, Lu Tianshu True Monarch. He was a cultivator from the overseas major sect, the Sea Spirit Sect.
In Grandma Qiansi's presence, Meng Zhang couldn't brazenly probe into Lu Tianshu True Monarch's background.
However, from their initial contact, Meng Zhang couldn't discern Lu Tianshu True Monarch's cultivation base.
The most likely reason for this was that Lu Tianshu True Monarch's cultivation base surpassed Meng Zhang's.
As for the Sea Spirit Sect, Meng Zhang had not heard of it before.
The Grand Dust World was vast, with numerous regions, and Meng Zhang had only been to a small corner of it.
With so many cultivation sects in the Grand Dust World, it was impossible for Meng Zhang to know all of them.In reality, apart from Jiuqu Province and its surrounding areas, Meng Zhang's knowledge of the Cultivation World was limited. Even the situation in Dali Dynasty's homeland was only understood through purchasing information.
As for other regions, he might have only heard of a few well-known Holy Land Sects from the Middle-Earth Continent.
Xu Mengying's situation was similar to Meng Zhang's, as she also didn't know much about Lu Tianshu True Monarch and his affiliation with the Sea Spirit Sect.
Grandma Qiansi had collaborated multiple times with Taiyi Sect and Yellow Lotus Sect before. With her Return to Emptiness great powers, she could easily uncover their backgrounds.
Due to past interactions with Taiyi Sect during its heyday, Grandma Qiansi held a favorable impression of Meng Zhang.
Even if Lu Tianshu True Monarch didn't know about Taiyi Sect and Yellow Lotus Sect before, he had received relevant information from Grandma Qiansi.
Lu Tianshu True Monarch greeted Meng Zhang and Xu Mengying amiably and engaged in casual conversation.
Lu Tianshu was well-informed and had insightful views on many matters. His speech was impressive, and even a few casual words revealed his profound accumulation in the Dao.
Meng Zhang couldn't see through Lu Tianshu's true cultivation base, but he could roughly guess that he was a large cultivator at the Primordial Spirit late stage.
The difference between the Primordial Spirit initial stage and the Primordial Spirit mid-stage was not substantial, and the combat strength of ordinary cultivators didn't vary significantly.
However, when it came to the Primordial Spirit late stage, it was an entirely different level.
The threshold and difficulty of cultivation between the Primordial Spirit mid-stage and the Primordial Spirit late stage exceeded all previous thresholds combined.
To put it in perspective, among the Jiuqu League cultivators in the past, there were dozens of Primordial Spirit stage cultivators, but only Qing Gu True Monarch and Jade Sword True Monarch reached the Primordial Spirit late stage.
In reality, if Azure Origin Sect and Jade Sword Sect didn't possess special inheritance methods, it would have been difficult to maintain a consistent presence of large cultivators at the Primordial Spirit late stage.
The reason why Primordial Spirit late stage cultivators were known as "great cultivators" was due to their overwhelming advantage over cultivators below the Primordial Spirit late stage.
This advantage couldn't be compensated for by any magic tool or secret technique.
Even the most talented cultivators couldn't bridge the gap between the Primordial Spirit late stage and the mid-stage.
A Primordial Spirit late stage cultivator could easily kill cultivators at the Primordial Spirit mid-stage and below.
A Primordial Spirit late stage "great cultivator" would have a place in the highly advanced Middle-Earth Continent's cultivation civilization.
In the entire Grand Dust World, any faction with a Primordial Spirit late stage "great cultivator" would have a dominant position and be regarded as a regional overlord.
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