When Wang Wei arrived at the inn, he immediately called True Monarch Yan Chen and Great Elder Wang Fu, then explained to him the feeling he had a few moments ago.
Wang Fu then placed a formation in the room to isolate it from the outside world, providing True Monarch Yan Chen a quiet room to operate.
Soon, Wang Wei felt a powerful force scanning every part of his body. Whether it was his body or soul. Although he felt a little discomfort at the fact that he had no privacy whatsoever, well considering what is at stake, he did not say anything.
Yan Chen, noticing the young master's discomfort, said a few words to appease him. "Young Master, I know this feels uncomfortable, but bear with it for a few moments."
A few moments later, Yan Chen frowned. Noticing the change on his facial expression, Wang Wei asked. "Did you find something? Is there something wrong with me?"
"No, that's not it. Young Master. I'm just surprised at how powerful your soul is."
"Oh."
Of course Yan Chen did not tell the whole truth. What he did not say was that he noticed a strange breath deep in the soul of the young master. However, as he approached to scan it, an overwhelming sense of dread came to him. His instinct was warning him that if he got closer, he would suffer dire consequences.
After the scan, Yan Chen did not find anything worthy of taking note; there was nothing wrong with the young master. However, he was not happy. He suddenly realized that the young master' soul might become a big problem on his path of cultivation before it would become his boost. He should warn the other Old Guys so that they can prepare in advance. There is still plenty of time left.
"Young Master, I did not find anything wrong. Maybe you had noticed the wrong person or thing?"
"Is Supreme Elder Yan Chen right? Am I too on edge?" Wang Wei started thinking. Then, he immediately overthrew this idea. He believed in his intuition.
So now he had to find the exact cause of the problem. Then, he thought of the situation during the day. That riot was too coincidental.
"Supreme Elder, check again. This time focused on the arm that I was bumped into. Do not leave any place unchecked."
"As you wish, young master."
True Monarch followed instruction and used his divine consciousness to scan the shoulder and arms that Wang Wei referred to.
Suddenly, he asked. "Young master, did you ever have a tattoo or mole on your clavicle?"
"Tattoo? Mole? No, never."
Wang Wei slid off his robe and noticed a little mole on his shoulder. It was never there before, so he was perplexed.
As True Monarch Yan Chen scanned the moles carefully, he finally discovered something.
"This seemed to be some kind of talisman. What a fascinating idea to make one so small and plants on people. However, I'm not really proficient in runes, so I do not know what it is for. Wang Fu, come look and see if you can discover something."
Wang Fu walked over and also scanned the small tattoo.
"What a genius design. If I'm not mistaken, this should be a tracking talisman. Another person should have a similar talisman on his body allowing him to track the whereabouts of the young master at all times. However, who would do such a thing?"
"The Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty," answered Wang Ju in the corner. "Only them have sufficient motives to know the whereabouts of the young master at all times."
"It seems that our bait has been hooked," pondered Wang Wei. "What about the task that I have given you regarding Prince Ji Su?"
"As you ordered, young master, I have been increasing the intelligence gathering around prince Ji Su, but it will take some time to infiltrate his inner circle without arousing his suspicion."
"Wei'er, do you think that this plan was orchestrated by prince Ji Su?"
"Yes, uncle Wang Fu. Ever since prince Ji Su came to our sect, I have been paying attention to him. From the information that I have read about him, Ji Su seemed to have no malice or grudge against his brother for taking over his position as crown prince."
"One might think that he truly loved his brother, but we all know that there is never true brotherhood between members of the royal family. Killing fathers and brothers for the throne is a completely normal thing."
"Of course I'm not bored enough to simply snoop at the personal affairs of the Great Zhou royal family. The reason I pay attention to Ji Su is because I noticed that he seemed very intelligent and had a very tactical mind. More importantly, Ji Song seemed to listen to him, or at least considered his opinion for most things."
"Ji Song is a brute by nature. You can easily deal with him as long you are stronger than him. However, if he has an intelligent brother like Ji Su behind his back, then his shortcomings will be made up, thus raising his level of threat by a great deal."
The people in the room started to ponder the meaning of Wang Wei's words. In the fight for the Heaven Mandate, force might not always be the solution. In this world, the concept of "in front of absolute strength, all plans are a joke" is in fact the greatest mockery of itself.
Throughout the history of the Myriad Emperor Plane, there have been countless invincible geniuses that suffered great losses in front of a well-thought out and methodical plan.
A great example can be easily discovered: that is sect master Wang Tian. In his generation, he was an unparalleled swordsman who installed great fear and dread on his peers as an enemy. However, he suffered countless losses at the hands of his now wife who preferred to use her brain.
According to information that Wang Wei heard from his mother, he once tricked his father into a Dead Zone where there was no food, water, or spiritual energy to replenish his cultivation level. And he could not open his space ring or contact the outside world. If it was not grandpa to pay some price to track him down and rescue him, he would have died in there.
In the fight for Heaven Mandate, intelligence can be a great asset. That is why Wang Wei had someone monitor Ji Su, and even try to infiltrate his inner circle.
"Young master, do you want me to remove the talisman?"
"There is no need, Supreme Elder. Leaving it will make things easier for us as we do not need to use our own way to track Ji Song. He will come to me on his own."
After a brief moment, Wang Wei suddenly asked. "Wang Ju, did you receive any information of other Emperor Tier factions from other continents participating in the Spirit Road Trial?"
"Young master, according to the information sent by the spies located in other cities that have entrances to the Spirit Road Trial, there were no other Emperor Lineage that participated in the test. They all seemed disinterested this year."
"Well, that's good, it means less variables to our plans. Alright, I will go rest now."
After ending the conversation, everyone acted like nothing happened. Wang Wei continued to enjoy his newfound freedom and his tour around the city. He needed to be in the right mindset to participate in the slaughter that was about to take place.
However, another unexpected thing happened to him. During one of his tours, on the day before the opening of the secret realm where the Spirit Road Trial takes place, he encountered a boy who made his Qi Dragon act weird.
After observation, Wang Wei came to the conclusion that this boy would have a lucky encounter that is of great value to him. As such, he did not hesitate to use a similar method of the Great Zhou Dynasty and secretly tracked him.
The day of the trial soon arrived. A massive formation appeared in front of the participants, forming a gate.
Wang Wei was the first person to enter, followed by the people of the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty and the Beating Heart Cult, then the rest of the participants.
In the Dao Opening Sect, as soon as Wang Wei and the other participants left, a group or delegate of the sect left and headed straight toward the Heaven Mystery Pavilion.
Among the people present in the delegation, there were more than 10 Saint Realm True Person, 3 Supreme Realm True Monarchs, and a middle aged man that seemed to have the highest status in the group. All the people stood patiently and awaited his order, without the slightest impatience or arrogance, only boundless awe and envy.
As soon as that person appeared, all the powerful people in the world felt a unique pressure that emanated from his presence alone, as such they all looked in the direction of the Dao Opening Sect and uttered the same thing:
"Immortal Venerable!"