Chapter 793: Brainwash (I)

In the Chaotic Star Sea, within a lush mountain forest, a hundred-meter waterfall thundered down from the cliff into the deep pool below. The spray cast up by the crashing water formed a brilliant rainbow beneath the sunlight. A burly man sat cross-legged beside the pool. His appearance was unremarkable, though there was a faint viciousness about him. With a faint smile, he put away the communication jade slip in his hand.

"Just as I thought, Cao Hongchang must have obtained some method of purging the yao will from demonic cultivators! It is bad enough that the bastard did not come to me with such an excellent opportunity, but he even asked me to introduce other demonic cultivators to him!" the man muttered with a displeased expression.

A trace of violent madness flashed through his eyes as the yao will lying dormant within his body suddenly surged. The man hastily formed hand seals, and a lustrous black Divine Power Crystal abruptly appeared in his hand. With a crack, the crystal shattered and transformed into powerful divine power that merged into his body. Under the influence of the divine power, the surging yao will fell dormant once more.

Huff~~

The man let out a long breath, but his expression remained grim.

"This will not do. I cannot hold out much longer. I must either return to the main altar immediately or seek out Cao Hongchang and try that mysterious method of his," the man murmured softly.

He and Cao Hongchang had been friends for over a century, but the two had spoken far less often after he joined the Painful Holy Sect. Indeed, this man was none other than Li Xiang. Of the several Nascent Soul realm demonic cultivators Cao Hongchang had contacted, two had been reached through Li Xiang.

Afterward, Li Xiang personally met with them. Although both had signed contracts and sworn Blood-Soul Oaths, Li Xiang could still infer something from his own observations. He could clearly sense that after leaving Evilheart Sect, the fluctuations of yao will emanating from them had weakened considerably.

After that, he contacted other Nascent Soul realm demonic cultivators who had visited the Evilheart Sect. By probing them indirectly, he discovered that their conditions also seemed to have improved considerably. Clearly, Cao Hongchang's request that he contact other fellows was closely related to the yao will within demonic cultivators.

"Perhaps that method is still somewhat unstable and requires numerous Nascent Soul realm demonic cultivators to assist with experiments. Otherwise, although Cao Hongchang is a bastard, there is no reason he would keep such a splendid opportunity from me..." Li Xiang slowly rose as he muttered to himself, finding an excuse for Cao Hongchang.

However, how could Cao Hongchang possibly be so kind? That fellow was thoroughly unscrupulous. Cao Hongchang had kept Li Xiang in the dark solely so that he could use him to contact more Nascent Soul realm demonic cultivators, then act as the intermediary and collect a referral fee. If Li Xiang learned the truth and established a connection with Lin Zheyu, Cao Hongchang would no longer be able to earn that fee.

After all, Lin Zheyu asked every demonic cultivator he treated to introduce other demonic cultivators to him. The more people they referred, the greater the discount they would receive on their next treatment. Every additional person treated meant a substantial loss in referral fees for Cao Hongchang. As for those demonic cultivators tormented by the erosion of yao will, whose conditions had grown so severe that they were on the verge of death...

They represented vast quantities of spirit stones. If Li Xiang knew what Cao Hongchang was thinking, he would probably want nothing more than to pin him to the ground and give him a vicious beating. Just as Li Xiang rose and prepared to head to Evilheart Sect to seek out Cao Hongchang and investigate the situation, he sensed something and took out a Spirit Resonance Sphere.

"My name is Ling Xin of the Rebirth Sect. I heard that you are suffering from the erosion of yao will. I have a way to resolve this problem, but I can only tell you after you swear a Blood-Soul Oath. I guarantee that this is no deception. I am even willing to swear a Blood-Soul Oath that I have no intention of deceiving you. If you wish to learn more, you need only pay one thousand high-grade spirit stones and swear a Blood-Soul Oath..."

Li Xiang stared at the message within the Spirit Resonance Sphere, his cheek twitching involuntarily. He had once met Ling Xin while traveling, back when the man was merely a peak Golden Core realm demonic cultivator. Unexpectedly, Ling Xin had since advanced to the Nascent Soul realm and had even managed to contact him through other members of the Painful Holy Sect. None of that mattered. What mattered was that the information revealed in Ling Xin's message immediately made him think of Cao Hongchang and the Evilheart Sect.

Li Xiang pondered briefly before asking a question in an extremely subtle, probing manner. "Is this connected to Fellow Cao?"

Upon receiving the message, the other party immediately fell silent.

Due to the lack of response, Li Xiang instantly deduced a great deal. His expression immediately darkened.

"So this is your doing, Cao Hongchang!" Li Xiang said through gritted teeth. His figure flickered and instantly vanished from the spot.

***

Within the Evilheart Sect, inside the secret chamber beneath the main hall, Lin Zheyu was now alone. He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, immersed in the mysteries of the nascent soul he had just comprehended. Countless accumulated insights collided within his consciousness, producing one spark of inspiration after another. With each movement of his thoughts, the outlines of entirely new cultivation techniques took shape.

Whenever a new cultivation technique took shape, Lin Zheyu would examine the data within his consciousness. If no corresponding cultivation technique appeared there, it meant that the underlying concept was flawed and had to be discarded and deduced anew, or further refined and perfected.

An unknown amount of time passed. Lin Zheyu let out a long breath and slowly opened his eyes.

"I am still just a little short... Using divine patterns to condense a 'pseudo-Dao Body' in the form of a Martial Dao Golden Body is far more difficult than I imagined," Lin Zheyu murmured softly.

He glanced at the data within his consciousness and saw that more than twenty cultivation techniques had been added. Creating a cultivation technique capable of producing a 'pseudo-Dao Body' was far more difficult than anticipated.

Lin Zheyu had divided the process into several smaller objectives, then sought the correct direction for his comprehension by creating a corresponding cultivation technique for each objective. Once he fused all those cultivation techniques into one, he would be able to formally create a technique for cultivating the 'pseudo-Dao Body.' This was precisely the step at which Lin Zheyu was currently stuck.

"Next." With a thought from Lin Zheyu, the entrance to the secret chamber opened, and his voice carried into the main hall.

After waiting for a moment, he received no response from outside. Instead, Cao Hongchang's voice came through. "There is no one left. Fellow Cui was the last one."

"Already?" Lin Zheyu was slightly startled.

During this period, he had been immersed in comprehending the Nascent Souls of demonic cultivators and had lost track of time. Lin Zheyu calculated the passage of time and realized that nearly five months had passed since he left the Ascension Assembly. As he treated more demonic cultivators, he had also grown much faster at purging the yao will from their bodies.

Furthermore, the yao will Lin Zheyu purged only amounted to around 30% of everything that could be removed from a demonic cultivator's body. This portion of the yao will was the least difficult and quickest to purge. That was why he had been able to purge the yao will from those Nascent Soul-realm demonic cultivators so quickly.

Had he not needed to comprehend their nascent souls, Lin Zheyu could even have shortened each treatment to less than ten days. However, if he were to purge nearly all the removable yao will as he had previously done for Cao Hongchang, the difficulty would increase severalfold. Even with his current proficiency, it would take him more than a month.

"Indeed, it was far too quick. The speed at which you earn spirit stones is truly enviable," Cao Hongchang said, his voice filled with envy.

"You earned quite a few spirit stones this time as well, did you not?" Lin Zheyu said calmly, glancing at him.

He had long since discovered that Cao Hongchang was charging the other demonic cultivators referral fees. However, Cao Hongchang did deserve those spirit stones. Only then would he remain motivated.

Cao Hongchang laughed and changed the subject. "Ah, haha! I have contacted another two Nascent Soul realm demonic cultivators, but they have been delayed by other matters and will not arrive anytime soon."

"Then forget it. It is about time I left as well," Lin Zheyu said calmly as he slowly rose.

He felt that he had accumulated nearly enough insights. All he needed now was an opportunity to fuse them into one and create a cultivation technique for cultivating the 'pseudo-Dao Body.' He had been away for long enough. It was time to return to the Martial Alliance, then report to the Formation Hall.

"Very well. I will let him know. When will you be available again?" Cao Hongchang asked.

"I will notify you when the time comes." Lin Zheyu waved his hand, and his figure flickered before disappearing from the secret chamber.

Cao Hongchang watched Lin Zheyu's departing figure with a heartfelt smile. He had truly made a fortune this time. Even without going through Evilheart Sect, he had earned enough spirit stones to personally hire Fellow Xiao's help two or three times.

"Unfortunately, more and more people know about this now. With them competing for referrals, it will probably be difficult to... Uh..." Cao Hongchang's expression abruptly froze. He stared stiffly at Lin Zheyu, who had reappeared in the main hall.

Could this fellow have come back to demand a share of my referral fees? The thought involuntarily crossed Cao Hongchang's mind.

Given how well he knew Xiao Zhe, Cao Hongchang had firsthand experience with just how unscrupulous the man could be. He would not be surprised in the slightest if Xiao Zhe did something like that.

"Did you not just leave? Why have you come back?" Cao Hongchang asked.

"Another person is coming to visit, so I will attend to him before leaving," Lin Zheyu said calmly.

Cao Hongchang inwardly breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this. Fortunately, Lin Zheyu had not returned to demand a share of his referral fees.

Was this person referred by another demonic cultivator? Cao Hongchang wondered.