Although Spirit Phoenix Island was immersed in excitement, and everyone showed great confidence in the Emperor's defeat of the enemy in one blow, the Holy Emperor Venerable was not affected by this jubilant crowd.

While others were celebrating, he was using the lively power of Human Dao generated by the people's excitement to repair the damage to the Divine Country and attempting to reconstruct the laws contained within it.

He knew that the mysterious enemy who attacked his Divine Country hadn't harmed the core... no, he couldn't even be sure if that guy was injured. He couldn't understand that guy at all, it was utterly incomprehensible.

"Surely, they will come again..."

For some reason, he had a premonition that this person would definitely return.

With this thought, Spirit Phoenix Island gradually began to enforce martial law. After the celebration of the Ancient Method Practitioners ended, the terrifying and grave atmosphere gradually began to surface.

However, the exposure of that Divine Country Technique made the prestige of the Holy Emperor Venerable reach its peak. Although everyone felt restricted and inconvenient, there was no discussion, and no one dared to express dissatisfaction—after all, the Holy Emperor Venerable alone was stronger than all the cultivators on Spirit Phoenix Island combined, and no one dared oppose.

Fortunately, in the Holy Emperor Venerable's eyes, each cultivator on the island was a cornerstone for his future achievement of the Dao, akin to sacrificial victims for Heaven, and not to be killed without a very good reason, so no one disappeared silently.

Gradually, everyone got used to it all. At the beginning, the Lian siblings, who were aware of Wang Qi's questionable identity, were on edge for a few days, but soon they also got accustomed to everything.

Even the Ghost Mysterious Fog was gradually repaired, and the black market began to reopen.

Of course, that too was part of the Holy Emperor Venerable's plan. Wang Qi estimated that he intended to leverage the concepts symbolizing "conspiracy," "concealment," "under-the-table deals," "grey areas," etc., within the Human Dao from the Ghost Mysterious Altar True God, thereby gaining power from both positive and negative aspects of Human Dao. Therefore, no matter how big the incidents in the Ghost Black Market, the Holy Emperor Venerable would persist through them.

However, he wouldn't be going there again anytime soon.

The Holy Emperor Venerable, with his Divine Country Technique, was likely able to observe every move within the Ghost Black Market. It was only because he didn't thoroughly search it last time that Wang Qi managed to exploit a loophole, but that doesn't mean he can't do it.

A few days later, Wang Qi heard that the Divine Flame Industry Lotus Sect had fallen; Sect Master Bai Lianxun and their closed-door disciple Xie Ying'er disappeared on the day of the "Evil Demon" invasion. Although Spirit Phoenix Island annually faced instances where some cultivators vanished, becoming casualties in the bloody sect power struggles, Bai Lianxun Old Lady was a Divine Separation Stage cultivator, and there were only about a hundred of them on Spirit Phoenix Island. Her death was a major event.

The presence of the Holy Emperor Venerable on Spirit Phoenix Island kept the internal strife among these Ancient Cultivators under control, to ensure his "sacrificial victims" weren't consumed due to infighting, hindering his path to Dao. Suddenly losing a Divine Separation Stage cultivator was no small matter.

The Divine Flame Industry Lotus Sect, having only one Divine Separation Stage cultivator, inevitably declined due to this incident. Originally, with a Divine Separation Stage cultivator, they were ranked among the top forces on Spirit Phoenix Island. But now, without their sect master, their highest combat power was only four Nascent Soul Perfection, and one Late-Stage Nascent Soul.

The sects here have been passed down from ten thousand years ago. With trouble in the Divine Flame Industry Lotus Sect, everyone wanted a piece of the pie.

It was said that Luochen Sword Palace had some connections with the Divine Flame Industry Lotus Sect. They used this connection to gain considerable benefits from the Divine Flame Industry Lotus Sect. The most direct evidence was that many core disciples of Luochen Sword Palace had concubines from the Divine Flame Industry Lotus Sect, skilled in Joy Zen.

Wang Qi vaguely guessed how those two guys, Bai and Xie, disappeared, but he wasn't entirely sure. In the Ghost Black Market, everyone concealed their identity, and Wang Qi was uncertain of who exactly bought his "Boluo Divine Flame."

—Anyway, he just wanted a puppet machine, does it matter who it is?

Finally, the aftermath of that event was just some joke left by the old ghost of the Blood Refining Sect, Hu Xuanjia.

"What did Old Man Hu say in the end?"

"'Heaven and Earth have Vast Righteous Energy, freely flowing in myriad forms.' You didn't hear it, but the old dog's tone was so righteous at the time!"

"Tsk, I can't believe he was such an old ghost, unraveling the mysteries of Ghostly Refinement with a righteous aura, all the while dealing with life and death, yet in secret he was... a gentleman? Hahaha, I can't, let me laugh for a while..."

"And he was supposed to be a Grandmaster of the Evil Path..."

"No, no, no, after hundreds of years of murder and sin, to still sing the Confucianism Righteous Qi Song, that's already quite bizarre, isn't it?"

"But if I wasn't mistaken... when he blocked the Emperor's Divine Sword, he cultivated a body of Vast True Gang..."

"Vast? Him?"

"That old monster with vastness... Vast his grandmother's vastness!"

"Such a person was able to cultivate Vast Righteous Energy, if the Confucian Sage and the Teacher knew, they would surely cry!"

In short, the reputation of the Nascent Soul Perfection old monster of Blood Refining Sect, Hu Xuanjia, had a touch of hilarity and irony forcibly added during this joyful discussion among the people, much to the frustration of Blood Refining Sect—Wang Qi privately felt it was a pity they didn't know how frustrating Hu Xuanjia's death really was.

Since he could not go around spreading the Heart Demon Curse and causing endless harm, Wang Qi found himself temporarily idle. The extra time he had each day was spent thinking about mathematics and deducing his cultivation technique.

Half a month after that event, Mi finally brought some good news.

"The part of my body in the sea has finally managed to communicate with 'Evil'," Mi said with a hint of joy on her face. "I have already reported it. However, my exterior body is small and not very capable, and I also have to prevent the Holy Emperor Venerable from noticing, so I can't transmit much information at once."

During these days, Mi's body in the sea had been "growing". Her original form was algae, and the speed of its proliferation was truly astonishing. Within a few days, it had surrounded Spirit Phoenix Island and covered dozens of square kilometers of sea area. After encircling Spirit Phoenix Island, Mi no longer spread in all directions, but extended her body westward, reaching towards the eastern coast of Shenzhou.

The name "Evil" was also one Wang Qi had heard of, also a Sea God type, and like Mi and Xi, it was one of the Sea God types guarding the southern and eastern coasts of Shenzhou.

The eastern and southern coasts of Shenzhou were areas with fewer Sea Demons. The Immortal Alliance had long cleared this area, unlike the Western Border where they directly faced the Dragon Clan and the guarding task was not so heavy. Moreover, the Southern Sea was close to Shenzhou's equator, with higher temperatures more suitable for the growth of Sea God types, unlike the bitter cold of the North Sea. Therefore, the southern and eastern coasts were only guarded by this one Sea God type.

Upon hearing this news, Wang Qi also felt a lift in spirit. He and Mi were still in the Night Night Song, unafraid of enemy detection, and immediately asked, "Did you report the matters here?"

Mi shook her head, "That's for you to decide. I don't quite understand your modes of thinking and speech; I'm afraid I can't write anything 'concise'."

Wang Qi nodded, carefully choosing his words, and reported on the events of the past half month along with his future plans.

................................................

Soon after, Feng Luoyi received Mi's report. After listening to the report, he was deep in thought, "Hmm, so that's it. No wonder a powerful Divine Tao aura suddenly erupted from Spirit Phoenix Island...Using Divine Tao to refine Human Dao. This Holy Emperor Venerable indeed has a grand ambition. However, this also exposes his shallow accumulation; he poses no great threat. This matter can be fully entrusted to Wang Qi."

In front of Feng Luoyi, Mi manifested in the form of a mirage and nodded, "Understood, I will have 'Evil' transfer it."

"Besides, his plan is quite good. Let him proceed boldly. Also, emphasize to him, for ordinary Ancient Method Practitioners, capture them alive if possible."

Mi nodded, "Understood."

Feng Luoyi then took out a paper, on which several formulas were written, "These are the latest from Daoist Turing, representing the latest research achievements in Shenzhou. These could also be of some help to his current cultivation, pass them along to him."

"Yes."

Seeing that Feng Luoyi had no further requirements, Mi was about to leave. At this moment, Feng Luoyi called Mi back and asked, "Mi, I'm curious about something."

"Hmm?" Mi tilted her small head, "What is it?"

"The 'human body' you accompany Wang Qi with, it's not connected to you now, right? How do you determine that it is 'you' and not your avatar? Aren't you now two completely independent entities?"

"Ultimately, we can't quite grasp your concept of 'avatars'. In our view, your sophisticated methods of dividing or transforming oneself just extend the concept of 'self' to other entities. What does 'independent avatar' even mean? I don't understand." Mi shook her head and then reminded, "Speaking of which, Master, this is not something you should be researching! This falls under the realm of the Yangshen Pavilion."

"True. Only, I've been pondering over the things Wang Qi and Daoist Turing have been creating, and I've become quite curious about concepts like 'judgment' and 'reference'...I'm quite eager to know by what mechanism you gained human-like intelligence..."

"I feel that the difference between us and the Human Clan is still significant; to say 'human-like' doesn't seem appropriate."

Feng Luoyi said earnestly, "In the end, we are still able to communicate, we still have a shared language."

Mi thought for a moment, then asked back, "So, Master, do you know by what mechanism the thoughts of the Human Clan operate? Where are their most fundamental parts?"

"I would love to assert it's the binary judgment of 'yes or no', but...there's no evidence."

Mi said, "See, even you all don't know."

"Perhaps by comparing yourselves with us, you can learn a bit more." Feng Luoyi said before suddenly laughing again, "Ultimately, the Seekers of Dao are always greedy for the unknown..."

................................................

That night, Wang Qi received a transmission from Shenzhou.

After Mi wrote out that bunch of formulas in Wang Qi's palm, she said to Wang Qi, "Master's words, in summary, are twofold. Go ahead and do it, and kill less."

Wang Qi nodded. For some reason, Mi felt her junior brother only heeded the first part.