If you die, I will be able to inherit your cultivation.

After hearing this, Zhou Ming had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

Su Mingyue and Su Yongning must have reached a tacit understanding.

Although the father and daughter did not break off relations, the actual control of Youzhou had changed from being solely held by Su Mingyue to being divided between father and daughter.

Su Yongning took over the military power of the northern border army, while Su Mingyue continued to hold power in the heart of Youzhou and within her existing sphere of influence.

As for the warlord-controlled areas that had already broken free of their control, neither of them had the time to deal with them.

The current Three Kingdoms: Xia, Yuan, and Yan.

It was a time of numerous warlords, each ruling their own territory.

The return of more than two thousand Blood Refining Realm martial artists, coupled with the widespread dissemination of the Crossing the World Scripture among the common people and the military.

The line between martial artists and cultivators is rapidly blurring.

Local forces are frantically recruiting soldiers, cultivating the Scripture of Salvation, stockpiling grain and fodder, and while remaining inactive, they are also secretly accumulating strength, waiting for the right moment to strike.

On the surface, it seems that everyone is maintaining a fragile balance, developing on their own, and no one has taken the lead in starting a full-scale war.

But Zhou Ming knew all too well what this calm meant.

It's like a parched grassland, where all forces are desperately piling firewood at their feet. Just one spark is needed to turn the entire grassland into a sea of ​​fire.

Zhou Ming didn't ask anything more, and his figure silently disappeared from the city lord's mansion.

He rose into the night sky once more, his gaze passing over the city below that had changed its flag.

Su Yongning is back.

Emperor Yongchang died.

These two events completely disrupted Su Mingyue's path to becoming empress.

But none of that mattered to him.

The world is in chaos, warlords are everywhere, and everyone is desperately trying to cultivate the "Scripture of Salvation".

Isn't this exactly the situation he wanted?

After standing there for a while, Zhou Ming's eyes lit up, and he figured out how to start the fire.

Instead of heading towards Youzhou, he turned around and flew northwest.

We will return to Yongning City sooner or later, but there is something more urgent right now than returning to Yongning City.

It's chaotic, but not chaotic enough.

Whether it's warlordism or independent governance, all parties are currently observing and holding back, unwilling to be the first to break the ice.

The firewood is piled up everywhere, but it's missing a single spark.

Zhou Ming, on the other hand, now intends to personally set this fire.

His destination was Liangzhou.

Liangzhou is located at the junction of the three kingdoms of Daxia, Dayuan, and Dayan. There is a city on the border called Fengdu City.

This city is not under the jurisdiction of any of the three kingdoms; it is a true no-man's-land.

Merchants traveling from the north and south would rest here, and fugitive bandits would sell their stolen goods here.

Spies from various countries meet here, and collateral branches of powerful families operate secretly here.

People from all walks of life, a melting pot of all sorts, spread news faster than anywhere else.

Zhou Ming came here precisely because of this.

When Zhou Ming arrived over Fengdu City, it was sunset. The summer evening was the coolest time of day, and people who had been hot all day were sitting in their courtyards enjoying the cool air.

Zhou Ming hovered directly above the city, channeling his magic to cover his face with a thin layer of mist.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his robes fluttering in the wind, his feet firmly planted in the void.

Taking a deep breath, Zhou Ming channeled his magic power into his throat, and his voice, like rolling thunder, crashed down from the sky, causing the windows of the entire city to tremble slightly.

"I am Qingyun Shangren of the Qingyun Sect. I will now select three disciples to impart the Great Dao of Immortality to: the one who will conquer the world, the one whose bravery surpasses that of the three armies, and the one whose wisdom is unparalleled. Each of them will receive one of these three paths."

The entire city of Fengdu seemed to have been put on pause.

The peddler carrying his load on the street stood frozen in place, craning his neck and looking around.

A tea drinker on the second floor of the teahouse, sitting by the window, held his teacup suspended in mid-air, staring intently at the figure in the sky.

In the caravan queuing to enter the city, someone subconsciously tightened the camel's reins, and the camel, startled by the roar from above, raised its head and neighed.

After a moment of deathly silence, someone shouted, "There are immortals in the sky!"

The shout caused people to look up at the sky, and when they saw Zhou Ming's figure...

The entire city's population knelt down in unison, as if the tide were receding.

With his forehead pressed against the bluestone slabs and dirt road, he shouted "Immortal!"

Many people didn't even realize what was happening before someone grabbed their arm and pulled them to their knees.

He didn't even bother to rub his knees, which were throbbing with pain, and only dared to steal glances at the sky out of the corner of his eye.

Zhou Ming repeated his words aloud, each word distinct and clear, his voice resounding throughout the surrounding area.

He paused briefly, giving the people below enough time to process the shock, and then repeated it for the third time.

After reciting it for the third time, he didn't linger. He simply floated away and disappeared into the horizon, as if he had never existed.

His disappearance had no immediate consequences; instead, Fengdu City below erupted into chaos, like a hornet's nest that had been stirred up.

The people got up from the ground, brushed the dirt off their knees, and their expressions changed from awe to excitement, and then from excitement to fervor. They started talking loudly in the street.

Three apprentices?

The one who gains the world, isn't that the emperor who unifies the world?

A warrior whose bravery surpasses that of the three armies—isn't that an unparalleled general with unparalleled martial prowess?

Unparalleled wisdom and strategy—isn't that the master strategist who plans and strategizes in the major aristocratic families and guilds?

The method of achieving immortality was personally taught by an immortal.

Whoever gets one of these three tickets will be granted the right to live forever.

How many people could resist such a temptation?

Of course, some people don't believe it.

Several traveling merchants squatted at the entrance of the teahouse, holding rough porcelain bowls and shaking their heads, saying that the figure in the sky looked intimidating, but no matter how far the voice carried, it might not be an immortal. It must be some kind of trickery.

But some people firmly believe it.

Especially those Blood Refining Realm warriors who escaped from the Blood Pool Cage.

They recognized Zhou Minggang from afar when he appeared in the cloud.

The same clothes, the same figure, the same face were hidden in the thin mist, indistinct.

He was exactly the same mysterious person who crushed Liu Jun with a single palm strike and severed more than two thousand chains with a single sword strike in the valley, and then casually carved the Scripture of Salvation on the stone wall.

They knew better than anyone else that it wasn't a scam, not some kind of charlatan trick, but a celestial being.

Just as the whole city was abuzz with discussion, hundreds and thousands of eagles suddenly took flight from the rooftops of Fengdu City.

Carrier hawks and pigeons of various colors took to the sky one after another, their wings flapping in a cacophony of sounds. Each one was tied with a thin bamboo tube, inside which was a newly written secret message.

These carrier eagles circled half a circle above Fengdu City before scattering and flying off in different directions towards the three kingdoms of Daxia, Dayuan, and Dayan.

Zhou Ming stood atop a distant mountain range, his divine sense encompassing Fengdu City from afar, taking in everything.

He watched the eagles disappear into the horizon, nodded, and turned to fly towards Yongning City.

The sparks have already been thrown in; now we'll see when they start to burn.

He didn't believe anyone could resist the temptation of immortality.

Power, wealth, and beauty—these things will eventually become tiresome, but immortality will not.

Emperors desire an everlasting reign, fierce generals wish for invincibility, strategists seek to unravel the secrets of heaven, and immortality is the ultimate answer to all of this.

What's even more interesting is that this "immortal" doesn't just exist in some vague legend.

Those two thousand-plus Blood Refining Realm martial artists were all living witnesses.

Others may not believe it, but these two thousand-plus people will definitely believe it without a doubt.