Chapter 792: Conscience (II)

With that, a passage leading directly to the secret chamber suddenly appeared on the floor. Lin Zheyu entered first. Zhou Wenbo formed a hand seal and activated a secret art before following him inside.

Inside the secret chamber, Zhou Wenbo surveyed his surroundings curiously. His powerful spiritual sense spread outward, searching for any hidden dangers nearby.

I cannot see through him at all. Just how powerful is this man? He managed to become Evilheart Sect's sect master and has earned Cao Hongchang's complete loyalty, so he must be stronger than Cao Hongchang. Is he in the middle or late Nascent Soul realm? Zhou Wenbo narrowed his eyes and studied Lin Zheyu thoughtfully.

After entering the secret chamber, the two slowly made their way to its center. Lin Zheyu looked calmly at Zhou Wenbo and asked, "Are you ready, fellow friend?"

"One moment," Zhou Wenbo said.

His hands rapidly formed seals, and his body abruptly expanded into a massive figure over eight meters tall. Immediately afterward, the flesh on Zhou Wenbo's body began to writhe. A mass of flesh condensed and fell to the floor, transforming into a figure identical to his human form.

Mass after mass of flesh fell away, each one forming another body identical to Zhou Wenbo. He stopped only after creating five such bodies. His body then rapidly shrank back down to around two meters tall.

"It is merely a small precaution to protect myself. You do not mind, do you, fellow friend?" Zhou Wenbo asked.

"That is fine. Since you are ready, relax your mind, open your sea of consciousness, and lower the defenses around your Nascent Soul," Lin Zheyu said calmly.

"Very well!" Zhou Wenbo said, exhaling softly.

With a thought, the five identical figures moved swiftly into specific positions around his true body. Some kind of special connection formed between the five bodies and the original. Lin Zheyu watched Zhou Wenbo's actions with interest but paid them little mind.

Zhou Wenbo was merely an early Nascent Soul realm demonic cultivator. Had they been outside, Lin Zheyu would still have needed to worry about him using teleportation to escape. Here, there was no such concern.

The secret chamber was filled with all manner of powerful formations and restrictions. If Lin Zheyu intended to harm him, even ten Zhou Wenbos would not be able to escape. However, this man was a long-term source of income, and Lin Zheyu could not bear to kill him.

As long as Zhou Wenbo was unwilling to relinquish his cultivation and wished to stay alive, he would have to travel far and wide to earn vast quantities of spirit stones, then ask Lin Zheyu to resolve the erosion of yao will within him. This was a hen that laid eggs, and golden eggs at that! Lin Zheyu would never do anything as foolish and shortsighted as killing the hen to obtain its eggs.

"The process may be somewhat painful, so you must endure it. If your Nascent Soul origin or soul is damaged, I will not be held responsible," Lin Zheyu said calmly.

"Do whatever you must. No matter how great the pain, I will not so much as flinch," Zhou Wenbo said calmly.

"That would be best," Lin Zheyu said.

He slowly extended both hands, pressing one against Zhou Wenbo's abdomen and the other against the spot between his brows. Fine strands of golden energy flowed along his arms and into Zhou Wenbo's body, traveling separately toward his Nascent Soul and sea of consciousness.

To prolong the time available for studying Zhou Wenbo's Nascent Soul, Lin Zheyu deliberately slowed the process and chose to purge the yao will from his Nascent Soul and the soul within his sea of consciousness simultaneously.

Wisps of black smoke drifted out of Zhou Wenbo's body. His face twisted in agony, his eyes became bloodshot, and his cheeks twitched uncontrollably. The pain of the process was even more terrifying than he had imagined, but the results were astonishing. As he sensed the yao will ravaging the soul within his sea of consciousness and his nascent soul turn into wisps of black smoke and dissipate under Lin Zheyu's purging, Zhou Wenbo gradually lowered his guard.

Incredible! Just what kind of ability is this? A divine ability? Even if it is a divine ability, such flawless control is still astounding. He can purge the yao will without harming either my soul or nascent soul! A trace of shock flashed through Zhou Wenbo's mind, but it was soon drowned beneath the tide of overwhelming pain.

Time slowly passed, and Lin Zheyu's eyes grew increasingly bright.

There are indeed many similarities... The path followed by demonic cultivators does not seem to be the pure Yao Dao. It incorporates many aspects of the Immortal Dao. The mutated demonic patterns within the nascent soul could never have fused so perfectly without the Immortal Dao aspects of the nascent soul... Lin Zheyu murmured inwardly.

By comparing the Yao Dao nascent souls within Zhou Wenbo and Cao Hongchang, his understanding of Yao Dao nascent souls grew increasingly profound.

***

Time slowly passed. In the blink of an eye, fifteen days had gone by. Within Evilheart Sect's main hall, the entrance to the secret chamber suddenly opened, and Zhou Wenbo slowly emerged.

Sensing the disturbance, Rui Yi and Lu Siwan abruptly opened their eyes and looked toward him. Zhou Wenbo's face was somewhat pale, and his aura was exceedingly weak. However, his eyes were clearer than ever before, while the aura of yao will emanating from him had been weakened to an extreme degree.

So soon? A hint of surprise appeared in Cao Hongchang's eyes when he saw Zhou Wenbo emerge so quickly.

He carefully sensed the aura of yao will on Zhou Wenbo. Although it had been reduced by nearly a third, a considerable amount still remained.

No wonder it was so quick! As expected of Fellow Xiao, he is truly ruthless when it comes to business! At this rate, the yao will within these fellows will return to its peak in less than ten years. If they fight frequently, that period will be considerably shorter. Fortunately, a twist of fate allowed me to meet Fellow Xiao early on. Otherwise, I would probably have received the same treatment as these fellows, Cao Hongchang grumbled inwardly.

He could tell that the sect master had held back rather than doing his utmost to purge all the yao will that could be removed from Zhou Wenbo's body. By his estimate, only around a third had been purged. How utterly unscrupulous!

"How do you feel?" Rui Yi asked through a private voice transmission as he stepped forward.

"The results are excellent. It worked even better than asking those high priests for help, and there were hardly any side effects. The price is simply too high. It costs a full three thousand high-grade spirit stones!" Zhou Wenbo replied through voice transmission.

"Is it worth the price?" the bearded middle-aged man asked.

"Compared to asking those high priests for help, I believe Fellow Xiao's methods are superior. Furthermore, the three thousand high-grade spirit stones cover two separate treatments rather than just one," Zhou Wenbo replied through voice transmission.

Although Lin Zheyu was unscrupulous, he was not quite as unscrupulous as Cao Hongchang imagined. Three thousand high-grade spirit stones covered two treatment sessions. Although each session only purged around 30% of the yao will, the price was still quite reasonable.

Lin Zheyu had little choice if he wanted to study the Nascent Souls of more Nascent Soul realm demonic cultivators within a short period. He could only remain here for six months. Once that time was up, he would have to report to the Formation Hall.

"Could you tell what kind of... Ah, right. You swore a Blood-Soul Oath and cannot tell me. I suppose I will have to experience it for myself," the bearded middle-aged man said through voice transmission.

The Blood-Soul Oath was extremely rigorous and imposed comprehensive restrictions. It not only forbade them from revealing any relevant information but also stipulated that demonic cultivators who received Lin Zheyu's help could not initiate hostilities against members of the Evilheart Sect.

Besides these two most important conditions, there were many other detailed clauses. Every aspect had been considered with great care and thoroughness. Beside them, Lu Siwan studied Zhou Wenbo's expression with a smile, attempting to glean something from it.

Judging from his appearance, the results must have been quite good, Lu Siwan thought.

"The sect master says he expended a great deal of energy and needs some rest. You two will have to wait patiently for a few days," Cao Hongchang told the remaining two with a smile after receiving a voice transmission.

"Naturally," Rui Yi and Lu Siwan replied with smiles.

Inside the secret chamber, Lin Zheyu sat cross-legged on the floor with his eyes closed, his mind immersed in the insights he had just gained. He needed to digest the many profound mysteries he had comprehended from Zhou Wenbo's Nascent Soul. At the same time, he began testing whether his current accumulation of insights was sufficient to create a cultivation technique that would allow him to master the teleportation ability of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

In the blink of an eye, two days passed. Within the main hall, the entrance to the secret chamber opened once more.

"Next!" Lin Zheyu's voice rang out.

Lu Siwan and Rui Yi opened their eyes.

"How about letting me go first, fellow friend?" Rui Yi asked with a smile.

"That is fine. I have nothing else to do, so there is no need for me to rush," Lu Siwan replied with a smile.

"Then you have my thanks!" Rui Yi cupped his hands and strode into the secret chamber.

When Rui Yi emerged more than ten days later, his face was pale and his aura exceedingly weak, just like Zhou Wenbo's. The two recuperated in Evilheart Sect for several days before departing together. During this period, more Nascent Soul realm demonic cultivators arrived one after another, and Cao Hongchang handled them all with practiced ease.