I have to get lucky right away.

Chapter 535 Good news: Past memories have been awakened! Bad news: Memories of internal strife!

As is well known, rogue cultivators are the largest and most disunited group in the entire cultivation world. Due to the reforms of the Righteous Path Alliance, the number of menial disciples and outer disciples has been reduced, which has resulted in many talented but not outstanding individuals being rejected, further increasing the number of rogue cultivators.

It can be said that in the entire cultivation world, 95% of cultivators are independent cultivators.

Such a massive quantity, with seventy percent suddenly disappearing, is clearly not a normal occurrence. The steward was previously blinded by a single leaf, but now, after Zhao Ping pointed it out, he suddenly realized—

Yes, besides the Alliance, who else could make so many cultivators disappear so quietly?
From the very beginning, he never considered that these cultivators disappeared on their own. As the saying goes, rogue cultivators are the most disunited group. In addition, the righteous alliance created a disharmonious atmosphere by using high-reward missions with limited numbers. How could it be possible that 70% of the rogue cultivators would unite and disappear without revealing a word?
Thinking this, the steward, no longer bothering with Zhao Ping who was nearly paralyzed by his silence, transformed into a streak of light and vanished without a trace...

"I..." Zhao Ping saw the senior disappear, but in the end he didn't dare to curse. He could only silently put away the spirit stones in his arms that he hadn't yet drained, and quickly disappeared into the market.

He finally understood that there was likely a major upheaval in the cultivation world during this period. Those who had disappeared were either killed or had run away after hearing the news, while he was still foolishly doing missions here!
Run, you must run!
Zhao Ping drained the spirit stones completely and left the market without looking back. He still had six hundred years to live at the Foundation Establishment stage, so he could hide for a few decades to temper his character!

This is also the common thought of many vanished cultivators.

Yes, besides the cultivators who went to farm after obtaining the Ziwei Nourishing Spirit Technique, there were also many cultivators who chose to hide after discovering that the density of cultivators in the market had decreased.

Those who haven't run away yet are either those who can't even digest a spirit stone a month and therefore haven't realized the abnormal Qi Refining stage at the exchange office, or "dog cultivators" who like to be dogs for the righteous alliance. People like Zhao Ping are the last remaining fools who dare to run away.

Now that even the most reckless daredevil knows to run away, the entire cultivation world of Xizhou is deserted beyond recognition.

……

"What did you say?" Elder Duzhi doubted his ears upon hearing the steward's report, but the steward simply tightened his expression and repeated his guess.

As a steward of the Ministry of Finance, he is already considered a mid-level cadre in the Righteous Alliance. Although he is not qualified to access higher-level inside information, he still knows a lot about the dark side of things.

He had considered that reporting his suspicions might lead to his being silenced, and he had also thought about simply running away.

But in the end, he still chose to return to headquarters and report to the Chief of the Ministry of Finance.

It's not that he was particularly loyal, but he knew that someone as closely tied to the alliance as he was no longer entitled to escape.

Since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well take a gamble. If the elder doesn't know about this, I won't be silenced, and I might even become a true member of the elder's inner circle!

Elder Duzhi knew the truth about spirit stones, so his first reaction was that it was absurd. But upon closer examination, if it were as he imagined, and there were substitutes for spirit stones, it would be impossible for there to be no word about it. After all, it was something that 70% of the rogue cultivators knew, and it was impossible to keep it from the righteous alliance.

After listening to the steward's analysis, he felt more and more that the steward's guess seemed to be correct. After all, who else besides the Alliance could make rogue cultivators disappear silently?

Even if you're going to kill someone, shouldn't you at least leave them some blood?

It's no wonder the Righteous Alliance was bewildered. To use Feng Xue's description from her previous life, it was similar to the White Elephant Kingdom suddenly and silently evaporating 70% of its population. The key point wasn't the evaporation, but the fact that it happened silently!
"Could it actually be the Alliance Leader, or someone from another sect, who bypassed the Xizhou branch to do it?" Elder Duzhi frowned, suddenly remembering the Tianwu Hall search team sent by the Alliance Leader, and felt a chill run down his spine.

The Righteous Path Alliance, to put it simply, is an organization formed by the union of the famous sects of the past. The current Xizhou branch is essentially a combination of the three major sects of Xizhou back then. If he, as the Elder of the Treasury, were a few hundred years ago, he would have been the leader of a sect. He was used to the absolute power of the Righteous Path Alliance, which made him a little dull. But when he thought about it seriously, the memories of scheming and fighting with others from hundreds of years ago quickly resurfaced.

He glanced at the messenger, took a deep breath, and his serious expression softened slightly:

"Don't tell anyone about this. Continue the investigation, but don't go too far. Just like before, investigate the missing cultivators. Wait for my orders! As for what others say, you know how to answer!"

"Yes!" Upon hearing this order, the deacon finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least his life was saved. As for what would happen next, that would depend on the elder's actions!
The deacon wasn't some kind of genius and couldn't play the game of strategists offering advice, so he quickly left the elder's room.

After the deacon left, the Elder of the Treasury sighed and began to ponder a question—

What does the disappearance of the cultivators mean?
Although he was completely clueless about the matter, based on his past experience, he deeply understood one conclusion—

If you don't know who did something, first think about who benefits from it!
The disappearance of rogue cultivators may seem harmful to the alliance, but if the alliance is divided and not viewed as a whole, then many people can benefit from this!
Elder Duzhi's mind raced through every possible beneficiary, and finally he frowned and sighed:
"First, we need to confirm if this is the worst-case scenario... Hmm, if this is the Alliance Leader's idea, then that Tianwu Hall team is probably just a decoy, used to test the waters? No, the risk is too great, let's monitor them first!"

……

Just as Elder Duzhi of the Xizhou Righteous Path Alliance was considering whether to keep an eye on the other elders as well, two search teams from the headquarters, Tianwu Hall, arrived at the border of Xizhou.

"Captain Qin, you'll have to leave on your own from here on out." A middle-aged cultivator dressed in a dark robe, exuding a chilling aura, checked his surroundings before bowing respectfully towards the void.

As he moved, it was as if a transparent curtain was suddenly lifted, and more than ten cultivators dressed in different clothes appeared.

The young man at the head, dressed in ordinary, unassuming monk's robes and looking rather unkempt, gave a bright smile and said:
"That's good enough, Captain Chu. We'll meet again someday!"

Captain Chu nodded, waved his hand, and the dozen or so cultivators beside him immediately used their escape techniques in unison, transforming into streams of light that were almost lined up in a row, heading towards the Xizhou Righteous Path Alliance branch.

Captain Qin stared at the trails of light for a moment before addressing his men, who resembled a ragtag army:
"Are all the tasks clear?"

"Clear!"

Although the responses were all the same, they sounded quite varied, with some dragging out the words, some pausing and deliberate, some effeminate, and some belting out high notes. Captain Qin was used to this and simply waved his hand, saying:

"Let's set off then, same as always!"

"Yes!"

The cultivators gradually disappeared from their original spots, while Captain Qin, as if taking a leisurely stroll, chose a direction and slowly walked into the distance...

(End of this chapter)