Chapter 791: Conscience (I)

At the Evilheart Sect, within a secret chamber beneath the main hall, a waist-high Primordial Chaos Pool stood quietly amid a formation. Before long, a dark gleam shot out from the Primordial Chaos Pool and landed beside it, revealing Lin Zheyu's figure. He had just used Origin Force to restore the golden energy he had expended to its peak. With a wave of his right hand, the Primordial Chaos Pool rapidly shrank and flew into his palm.

I have some leads now. This should be quite feasible, Lin Zheyu thought.

Through Cao Hongchang, he had glimpsed the possibility of mastering the teleportation ability of Nascent Soul realm cultivators. However, he still needed more Nascent Soul-realm demonic cultivators as test subjects before he could determine the solution best suited to himself.

With a thought, his spiritual sense extended into the formation node within the secret chamber. This was the central node controlling every formation on the island, allowing him to monitor the entire island with a single thought.

In the main hall, Cao Hongchang sat cross-legged on the floor, taking medicinal pills to recover. Without permission from Lin Zheyu and Cao Hongchang, Kong Yujing and the others did not dare allow the visiting Nascent Soul-realm demonic cultivators into the sect.

***

Outside the island, two burly men stood proudly atop a reef as the biting sea wind whipped at their robes. The two appeared to know each other, but neither spoke, instead remaining where they were and waiting in silence. Suddenly, the bearded, middle-aged man on the left narrowed his eyes and looked toward the sky. The other man turned his gaze in the same direction.

A streak of dark purple light raced across the distant sky at astonishing speed and arrived before the two men in a flash.

"I am Lu Siwan. Greetings, fellow friends," the newcomer said with a smile. "Did the two of you come because of that matter?"

She was a woman who exuded a powerful fragrance and wore a seductive expression. Her face was thickly made up, giving her the air of a passionate courtesan.

"Rui Yi," the bearded middle-aged man said indifferently.

"Zhou Wenbo," the other man said.

"It seems Fellow Cao informed quite a few people. Interesting..." Rui Yi, the bearded middle-aged man, said with a smile.

"Besides the three of us, I noticed that several other fellows have also arrived, though they seem to intend to keep observing for a while longer," Zhou Wenbo said calmly.

As the three exchanged idle remarks, Cao Hongchang's voice suddenly rang out.

"Haha, apologies for keeping you three waiting. Please come inside," Cao Hongchang said with a smile.

Energy surged above Evilheart Sect's island-protecting formation and coalesced into a projection of Cao Hongchang.

"Fellow Cao is too courteous. As long as you can solve my problem, I would gladly wait another year," Lu Siwan said with a smile, casting Cao Hongchang a flirtatious glance.

"Haha, I will not disappoint you three," Cao Hongchang said with a laugh.

With a thought, he opened a passage through the island-protecting formation. Although the three looked somewhat wary, they followed him inside without hesitation.

In Evilheart Sect's main hall, Cao Hongchang followed Lin Zheyu's instructions and first had the three sign a contract and swear a Blood-Soul Oath. Only then did he reveal more information to them.

Before they signed the contract and swore the Blood-Soul Oath, Cao Hongchang had merely told them that he possessed a way to help them deal with the yao will within their bodies. Beyond that, he had revealed nothing.

"All right, you can tell us now," the bearded middle-aged man said calmly.

"Of course. I am sure you have all heard about what happened to Evilheart Sect. Not long ago, the sect underwent a change in leadership. I am now merely the vice sect master of Evilheart Sect. Someone else holds the position of sect master, and the one capable of purging the yao will from your bodies is none other than Evilheart Sect's new sect master," Cao Hongchang said with a smile.

"Oh? Are there any other risks involved?" the middle-aged man asked calmly.

"I have personally undergone the process and can guarantee that there is no risk whatsoever. However, throughout the entire process, you guys must completely relax your minds, open your seas of consciousness, lower the defenses around your nascent soul, and offer no resistance at all," Cao Hongchang said calmly.

"That certainly sounds wonderful. But how can you guarantee that Evilheart Sect's sect master will not suddenly try to kill us? After all, once you kill us, all the spirit stones in our possession will belong to you," Lu Siwan said with a charming smile.

Hearing this, the other two also looked at Cao Hongchang and waited for his explanation.

"Haha, you are worrying too much, fellow friends. As demonic cultivators, as long as we remain alive and are unwilling to relinquish our cultivation, we must constantly endure the erosion of yao will. As time passes, you will need to ask the sect master to intervene again and help you resolve the problem. This is a steady and lasting source of business. The three of you are far more valuable alive than dead," Cao Hongchang said with a smile.

He deeply envied the powerful divine ability Xiao Zhe possessed, which could purge the yao will from other demonic cultivators. With such a divine ability at his command, he would never lack spirit stones or need to worry about other cultivation resources.

"That may be true, but I do not know your sect master. Who can say whether something might go wrong? After all, we would be opening our seas of consciousness and relinquishing every defense! How would we be any different from fish laid out on the chopping block?" the bearded middle-aged man said calmly, curling his lip.

"Exactly. Why not ask your sect master to appear and swear a Blood-Soul Oath, just as we did? If he does, I will trust him," the man named Zhou Wenbo said calmly.

As a demonic cultivator, he trusted no unfamiliar cultivator, much less one who was also a demonic cultivator.

"That is also what I had in mind," Lu Siwan said with a smile.

"I agree as well," Rui Yi, the bearded middle-aged man, said with a chuckle.

A trace of helplessness appeared on Cao Hongchang's face. "A Blood-Soul Oath... The sect master will most likely not agree to such a request..."

The Blood-Soul Oath was an extremely vicious oath. From what he knew of the sect master, there was no possibility that the man would ever swear such an oath. Before Cao Hongchang could finish speaking, however, he abruptly stopped.

Lin Zheyu's figure slowly materialized within the main hall. Not the slightest aura emanated from him, making him seem like an ordinary person who had never cultivated. Yet his very presence conveyed an overwhelming sense of danger, causing the three visiting demonic cultivators' hearts to tighten.

"A Blood-Soul Oath is out of the question, but I can swear a Great Dao Oath that I will do nothing to harm any of you. Those who can accept this may stay. Those who cannot may leave," Lin Zheyu said calmly, regarding them with indifference.

Zhou Wenbin's brows furrowed slightly before quickly relaxing as he said calmly, "Very well! However, I will take certain precautions when the time comes. My life is at stake, after all. You will not object, will you?"

Although the problem of the yao will within his body had not yet become an immediate crisis, it was still extremely serious. If he did not resolve it soon, the yao will within him would likely erupt completely after just one or two battles.

"That is fine. What about the two of you?" Lin Zheyu asked calmly, looking at Rui Yi and Lu Siwan.

"I have no objections," Lu Siwan said.

"A Great Dao Oath is fine as well. It makes no difference to me," the bearded middle-aged man said with a smile.

Lin Zheyu nodded slightly. "Very good."

With a thought, fluctuations of the Great Dao suddenly emanated from Lin Zheyu as he swore a Great Dao Oath before the three of them. The oath primarily bound him and Evilheart Sect from harming the three or secretly tampering with them while purging the yao will from their bodies.

"Then we will begin with you," Lin Zheyu said calmly, looking at Zhou Wenbo.