Published at 14th of January 2026 8:29 am

Chapter 1724: The Duchess’s Way of Doing Things

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Maitreya hesitated. Involving other powerful beings might complicate matters, but after calming down and thinking rationally about Wang Wei’s situation, she realized it was indeed the best approach. She only needed a drop of blood, which is meaningless to the Tribunal Lords. However, a successful injury to the enemy’s Saint would be pretty advantageous to their situation.

"Fine, but who do you suggest we contact first?"

"The duchess," Wang Wei replied without hesitation. He did not know much about these people, but he would never trust the Trinity Venerable and the True Dream Lord. As for the remaining individuals, one practiced the Way of Slaughter, and as much as Wang Wei loved Li Jun, his kind did not elicit trust. The Cardinals were out of the question, so of the remaining individuals, only he knew or had a "decent" relationship with the Erudite Duchess.

"Alright," Maitreya nodded. One of the powers granted to the Expedition Commander was the ability to contact the Tribunal Lords. Wang Wei was careful not to abuse this power, hence why he did not even do so when the Primordial Saints refused their initial deployment.

"This better be important," the Erudite Duchess said as she distracted herself to separate a projection back on the base. Wang Wei did not waste time explaining their plan — including Maitreya’s desire to acquire the blood.

"You’re lucky you contacted me," the Erudite Duchess calmly said.

"Oh? Is there something wrong with the plan?"

"Do you think our blood will be easily gathered after condensing the Flesh Quintessence? In truth, we don’t even bleed in the sense you understand," she shook her head. "Not to mention you cannot fathom the vast difference between our intuition and reaction speed and yours."

Wang Wei instantly wanted to ask more questions, but after realizing he wasn’t that familiar with this woman, he chose to remain silent. Meanwhile, Maitreya realized how foolish her thought was and became silent.

"So, we can’t gather the blood?" Wang Wei asked after seeing how quiet Maitreya was.

"Let me see the sealing container you wanted to use."

Maitreya manifested a black and white pill bottle with thirteen small magic circles floating above the cap. The duchess reached out to observe: "Those runes — that little girl succeeded in perfecting her Dao Quintessence Prototype? I thought she would only reach that level after sanctifying."

Her eyes lit up as she tried to contain her excitement. She finally saw a peaceful path ahead. As long as that little girl becomes a Grand Dao Saint — no, even as a second step — Wu Hong only needs to repay the karma by allowing the Duchess to observe her almost completed Dao Quintessence, and she can use that knowledge to complete hers.

"My wife is, of course, the best," Wang Wei shamelessly said, trying to build some kind of rapport or connection with the Duchess to build more support and protection for himself during this dangerous expedition.

Erudite Duchess calmly glanced at him. "Yes. Of all the people I’ve sown karma with, her talent is probably the second best, and her value is the highest."

"Second best?" Wang Wei muttered as his pupil suddenly squinted. Then, he casually said, "The first must be the Heavenly Book Paragon."

"You know him?"

"We’ve never met face-to-face, but we’ve had a few unpleasant interactions," Wang Wei admitted.

"Then, you’d better be careful," the Duchess calmly stated. "I’ve never dug into his affairs, but the little I know indicates he’s a truly dangerous individual."

"If even you are saying that, then I must raise my caution against him," Wang Wei nodded. He never took Heavenly Book Paragon lightly, but if even a Tribunal Saint has such an evaluation of him, then Wang Wei must raise his danger level by a few levels.

"Let’s get back on topic," the duchess said. "This seal is enough to hold that blood for two hours — and that’s if you’re lucky."

A sense of heavy solemnness weighed on the Mother Buddha. She then sighed: "Greed and obsession have overwhelmed my state of mind." Had Wang Wei not insisted on sharing this plan with the Tribunal Lords, she could have foreseen her fate: The sneak attack would have failed and probably resulted in her death. And even if it had succeeded, she would not have drawn blood, and even if she did, her sealing would have failed, leading to a disastrous end.

"You sacrificed your future to be the guardian and protector of the upcoming era. Grand Dao should have rewarded you for your efforts; instead, you were ignored and even denied perfection," the Erudite Duchess shook her head.

Maitreya remained silent. She was not stupid. Although her memories are gone, she still knew someone must have done something that either forced or convinced her to abandon her bright future and used the flawed method of sanctification in the name of protecting the Eternal Ascension World and the upcoming Transcendent Era. However, what happened afterward?

Instead of allowing her to regain what she lost, Grand Dao made it so that she had to work a hundred times harder to do so, and only by relying on the Exchange List. If not for Wang Wei providing her with numerous ideas, Maitreya knew how much time and effort she would have to waste to rebuild her foundation, and even then, her limit would have been 9 — maybe 10 — foundation pillars.

"All things happen for a reason," Maitreya sighed as she summoned a prayer bead and played with it. The texture and soft power it released soothed her mind.

The duchess secretly shook her head. Although she knew Buddhism was all about benevolence, too much of it was an issue. However, she would not comment on someone’s faith or path. With a flicker of her wrist, she modified the pill bottle before handing it back.

"I know the origin of Buddhism is linked to the Prehistoric World, but I do not know the details. One day, when you find out the truth, you must bring the information to me as compensation for today’s help."

Maitreya immediately felt relieved after hearing these words. Favors are the hardest thing to repay in this world, and now that she knew what price must be paid, her mind was at peace. Meanwhile, Wang Wei was nodding internally. He likes the duchess’s direct approach to dealing with people. On the surface, it sounds cold and calculating, lowering everything down to a transaction. However, most cultivators would prefer such an approach to the scheming and plotting of people like Wang Wei or the Trinity Venerable.

"I will talk to the Cardinals so they can deal with the enemy’s intuition and reflexes," the Duchess continued. "Then, there is the attack itself." Her vision penetrated the Heaven and Earth Origin Cycle Array and pondered briefly.

"I can’t distract myself to nurture a talisman with one of my attacks." Her opponent was quite powerful and required all her focus and attention. More importantly, the hidden Tribunal Lord was most likely observing any changes to the battlefield. "However, I can modify this array to secretly achieve the same goal. Finally, I will create a distraction, and that will be your sign to attack."

"A sign?"

"You’ll know when it happens."

"I understand," Maitreya nodded.

"Lord Duchess, is there any way you could give her some extra protection? After all, this is an attack on a Tribunal Lord." Wang Wei shamelessly asked.

"No," the Erudite Duchess directly refused. "I don’t have any extra artifacts, nor can I spare the time to send my powers into her body. And since she’s doing this for her Dao, she must accept a certain level of risk."

"I’m fully aware of the danger and accept any consequences," Maitreya swiftly said, while giving Wang Wei a look that said he was being too greedy. Wang Wei responded with eyes that said that he was doing it for her own good.

"Alright, time is of the essence," the Erudite Duchess stated. It took a few minutes for her to secretly modify the Heaven and Earth Origin Cycle Array, probably because she was still wary of the Infinite Divine Court’s hidden expert. Finally, she transmitted information to Maitreya about how to operate this new change before dismissing the projection.

Wang Wei watched as Maitreya slowly condensed a talisman with a terrifying aura before departing. While he couldn’t understand what was going on, he could still record every aspect to bring back to his wife. He still believes she can set up the same array, and maybe even a better one, after she sanctifies.

’I’ve been worried about the safety of the sect and the Eternal Ascension World after news of the lower dimension’s ability is revealed. Maybe this Heaven and Earth Origin Cycle Array might be the key to our salvation,’ Wang Wei thought. Although he had deduced that Grand Dao would leave specific protection in place since the Eternal Ascension World will become the Destiny Center of the Chaos Universe, Wang Wei was not too keen on relying on someone else — especially Grand Dao — for his and the people he loves ’ safety.

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