Chapter 789: Begin (I)

Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, more than a day had gone by. Cao Hongchang watched with great interest as Lin Zheyu helped the Golden Core demonic cultivators purge the yao wills from their bodies, hoping to glean something from the process.

Unfortunately, even after more than a day had passed and the yao wills within all eight Golden Core realm demonic cultivators had been almost completely purged, Cao Hongchang still had not found the slightest clue. Only one thought remained in his mind: Good grief, is purging yao wills really this easy? Have I been ripped off?

Seeing Lin Zheyu resolve the yao will corruption afflicting eight Golden Core realm demonic cultivators in less than two days, at more than four or five times his previous speed, made Cao Hongchang so envious that his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Those are all spirit stones!

Hiring Lin Zheyu to treat an early-stage Golden Core realm demonic cultivator cost one hundred high-grade spirit stones; a middle-stage one cost two hundred, and a late-stage one cost five hundred. For someone at the Nascent Soul realm, the price soared straight to three thousand. Cao Hongchang had originally considered the price quite reasonable. After all, the life of a Nascent Soul realm powerhouse was worth far more than three thousand high-grade spirit stones.

Cao Hongchang reckoned that even if Xiao Zhe demanded ten thousand high-grade spirit stones, he would probably grit his teeth and do everything in his power to gather the sum. However, after once again seeing him deal with the yao will corruption afflicting eight Golden Core realm demonic cultivators with such effortless ease, Cao Hongchang suddenly felt that the price did not seem quite so reasonable after all.

As Cao Hongchang gazed at Lin Zheyu, all manner of greedy and wicked thoughts began stirring restlessly in his heart. Just where did Fellow Xiao Zhe come from? His strength is formidable, and his defenses are astonishing enough, yet he also possesses such a remarkable divine ability. I truly want to capture him and force every last secret out of him!

Lin Zheyu withdrew his hand and said calmly, "All right. You may all leave. If you change your minds in the future and become willing to join the Evilheart Sect, you need only offer up your soul blood. If you remain unwilling, that is fine as well. You will simply have to pay the same price next time."

The Golden Core demonic cultivators all bowed respectfully to Lin Zheyu, their eyes filled with disbelief. "Many thanks, Senior!"

Originally, they had only come to give it a try and see whether the results were truly as remarkable as Cao Hongchang had claimed. After meeting the other demonic cultivators of the Evilheart Sect, they were mostly convinced, but only after experiencing it for themselves did they understand just how astonishing the results were.

After they left, Lin Zheyu turned to Cao Hongchang with a smile and asked calmly, "Are you ready, fellow friend? Do we need to move somewhere else, perhaps to your imitation Yao Demon Nest?"

Hearing Lin Zheyu's voice and seeing the placid smile on his face, Cao Hongchang, whose mind had been teeming with all manner of restless thoughts, felt his heart skip a beat.

For some reason, every thought in his mind vanished without a trace in an instant. At the same time, a faint sense of danger arose within him.

What keen perception! Did he detect a thought that merely flashed through my mind? Cao Hongchang was slightly startled, but he revealed nothing on his face. Instead, he gave a faint smile and assumed an amicable, friendly expression.

"That won't be necessary. We can do it here. I trust you," Cao Hongchang said with a smile. With a turn of his right hand, a black, oval-shaped dharma treasure appeared in his palm, and he cast it aside. It spun across the floor and rolled into a corner. Lin Zheyu glanced at it and smiled faintly. "You certainly place a great deal of trust in me."

"Of course. You are the sect master of the Evilheart Sect. Moreover, whether I can reach greater heights on the Yao Dao in the future will depend on you." Cao Hongchang spoke with a calm smile, seemingly oblivious to the faint mockery in Lin Zheyu's tone. Anyone unaware of the truth might have thought the two of them were genuinely close.

"I am truly honored to have your trust," Lin Zheyu said with a smile.

He did not particularly mind Cao Hongchang's little precaution. After all, it was natural to stay wary when you completely lowered your mental defenses and put your life in another's hands. However, if Lin Zheyu turned out to be a little rougher later, failed to control his power as precisely, and accidentally made Cao Hongchang suffer a little more, that would also be understandable.

After all, Lin Zheyu had only just finished purging the yao will corruption from eight Golden Core realm demonic cultivators. The exertion had been somewhat taxing. Surely Cao Hongchang would understand... right?

"Please begin. I am ready."

Cao Hongchang stepped forward, lowered his mental defenses, and withdrew the spirit power protecting his Nascent Soul. After his previous experience, he appeared much more composed this time.

"A Nascent Soul is different from a Golden Core and demands much finer control over one's power. This may hurt a little, so please bear with it," Lin Zheyu said with a smile.

Cao Hongchang froze slightly upon hearing this, a sense of foreboding arising within him. He opened his mouth, about to say something, but what emerged instead was a bloodcurdling scream.

Cao Hongchang could not help screaming as his soul convulsed and an excruciating pain tore through him. "Argh!"

For that brief instant, Cao Hongchang felt as though his soul were about to be torn apart completely. Fortunately, the excruciating pain lasted only a moment. Otherwise, he might not have been able to stop himself from activating the oval-shaped dharma treasure and commanding the puppet within to retaliate.

Enduring the intense pain, Cao Hongchang hurriedly sent him a voice transmission. "Hiss... Take it slowly. There is no need to rush. If your earlier exertion was truly too great, we can continue another day."

He suppressed the urge to curse and forced an exceedingly strained, amicable, and gentle smile onto his face.

Damn it! How could I have forgotten what an utterly vile personality this fellow has! Cao Hongchang cursed inwardly.

He felt somewhat regretful. Had he known this would happen, he would never have provoked the fellow with those insincere words.

"My apologies for hurting you. The earlier treatments did not take much out of me, so there is no need to postpone this. I will be more careful from now on. Please rest assured," Lin Zheyu said with a smile.

He then added, "However, this session may take a little longer. I hope you will not mind."

"Not at all. Please proceed as you see fit, but do remember to be careful," Cao Hongchang hurriedly replied.

He genuinely feared that if he refused, this despicable fellow might suddenly inflict that pain on him a few more times. Cao Hongchang never wanted to experience that soul-piercing agony again.

"Of course," Lin Zheyu replied amicably with a faint smile.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Zheyu pushed his Heavenly Eye to its limit, and torrents of golden energy surged into it. He began carefully studying the Nascent Soul within Cao Hongchang.

Compared to that of a Golden Core realm cultivator, the spiritual soul of a Nascent Soul realm powerhouse was merely stronger and had few other extraordinary qualities. The true source of a Nascent Soul realm cultivator's power lay in the Nascent Soul within their body.

This was the vital step through which immortal cultivators cast off the inherent limitations of the human body and condensed a Dao Body of their own as they pursued the Great Dao. Although Cao Hongchang was a demonic cultivator who followed the Yao Dao, he employed methods of the Immortal Dao to serve as its vessel. Almost all his power also came from the Nascent Soul within him.

Therefore, Lin Zheyu did not begin by purging the yao will from Cao Hongchang's spiritual soul within his sea of consciousness. Instead, he started with Cao Hongchang's Nascent Soul. Purging the yao will within it was merely incidental. What he cared about more were the mutated demonic patterns inscribed upon Cao Hongchang's Nascent Soul.