Dai Bufan took out a piece of paper and, according to the information recorded on it, carefully compared the messages conveyed by the flickering of the Soul Lamp, thus deciphering the intelligence that Lu Yang had transmitted with his life, his eyes twitching.

Dai Bufan had been coordinating intelligence in the Task Hall for years, analyzing which pieces of information hid the involvement of the Ruthless Sect. Unfortunately, even when he pinpointed the whereabouts of the Ruthless Sect, their cautious actions always led to empty pursuits upon arrival.

"I only went to Buddha Country a few days ago. How did I manage to catch the tail of the Ruthless Sect?"

Why did his careful analysis of the intelligence fail to locate the Ruthless Sect?

"Senior Brother, what is written on this paper?" Gu Junye asked curiously.

Dai Bufan folded the paper and explained, "Your Elder Brother Lu Yang invented this method of transmitting intelligence. Depending on the different durations of brightness of the Soul Lamp, it forms something called ’pinyin’, and when connected, it forms a sentence."

"The matter of the Ruthless Sect is of great importance and also involves Buddha Country. We must still let Eldest Senior Sister make the decision," Dai Bufan decided to consult Eldest Senior Sister.

"Junior Brother Gu, you continue to watch in the Soul Lamp Chamber. Let me know if there are any changes."

Dai Bufan arranged for Gu Junye to stay in the Soul Lamp Chamber, hoping he would stay put instead of stirring up trouble all day. Several people from the Dynasty had already used connections to inquire about him, eager to know which Great Power Gu Junye really was.

Dai Bufan repeatedly explained that Gu Junye was not a Great Power possessing a new body. This only made those people more convinced of their speculation, leading to quite a few marriage proposals.

...

Buddha Country, Kaihuang Temple, guest room.

Lu Yang came back to life, feeling a bit muddled, as using the Playing Dead Technique repeatedly had taken a significant toll on his spiritual power.

"Has the message been sent back to the sect?" Meng Jingzhou asked, "What is this magic skill?"

Lu Yang smiled proudly, "This was taught by an Immortal, integrating the causality, the doctrine of life and death from ancient times, the great divine skill known as ’Deceiving Heaven’."

"Is it that powerful?" Meng Jingzhou was astounded. Although he had never heard of such a divine ability from ancient times, the name alone indicated its terrifying strength.

It’s possible that due to the overwhelming power of this magic skill, it was deemed a forbidden practice and thus lost to time.

The two went to the Abbot’s Room to find Master Duanchen.

"Master, we have already informed the sect of the situation."

"Ah? Already?" Master Duanchen looked down at the letter he had only half-written.

He hadn’t even finished the letter, and sending it to the Western Paradise Temple would take over ten days.

"We have a secret method of communication."

Master Duanchen thought to himself, truly fitting for disciples of the Immortal Sect. His own modest background could not compare.

"What brings you to this humble monk?"

"Just now, master mentioned that Three-eyed Ghost Monk and Hollow Shadow drugged people with an Oblivion Pill. We would both like to see this Oblivion Pill," they said.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, hearing for the first time about the Elixir that stripped people of their emotions, were quite curious.

"This humble monk has sent people to the stronghold of the two ghosts. There should still be some Oblivion Pills left there. How about you wait until this humble monk finishes this letter, and then accompany you both to the stronghold?"

"We would be troubled, but thank you, Master."

...

"Both the Three-eyed Ghost Monk and Hollow Shadow are extremely cautious ghosts. Concerned about the Ruthless Sect’s tasks assigned to them being exposed, they haven’t recruited any followers but have personally completed every task," Master Duanchen shared further intelligence about the two ghosts as they headed to the stronghold.

"This is the place." Master Duanchen led the two to a river, known as the Canal, which spanned through Kaihuang City, providing water to all its residents.

The canal water was crystal clear, a result of the dedicated maintenance by Kaihuang Temple.

After Master Duanchen excavated the river, it soon developed problems with people dumping garbage and other items into it, making the water filthy and diseased to drink. Master Duanchen then had no choice but to assign people to maintain the water.

"Their base is at the bottom of the canal."

The three of them jumped into the river, swam to the bottom, and found a hollow in the riverbed. It turned out that the monks from Kaihuang Temple had cleared away the sediment and silt and dug several meters deeper, exposing the base below.

There was a thin, transparent film of water between the canal and the base, preventing the river water from flooding the base.

The three of them passed through the water membrane and entered the base.

Inside the base, monks were busy tallying captured supplies, registering and storing spirit stones box by box into storage rings.

Master Duanchen called over the leading monk and said a few words to him, after which the leading monk brought over several bottles of elixirs.

"This is the Oblivion Pill," Master Duanchen poured out a few white pills, which looked quite ordinary.

"Based on the soul search results of the two ghosts, taking one pill can cause a person to lose their emotions for three to five years. That’s the effect on mortals; for cultivators, the higher the cultivation level, the shorter the duration of lost emotions."

"That miraculous?"

Lu Yang nodded and analyzed, "Previously, when we soul-searched the high-ranking members of the Ruthless Sect, we didn’t find anything like the Oblivion Pill, which seems to indicate that the Oblivion Pill must have been developed only in recent years; otherwise, they wouldn’t be looking everywhere to experiment with it."

Having said that, Lu Yang swallowed the Oblivion Pill directly.

After swallowing the Oblivion Pill, Lu Yang felt as if everything in the world lost its meaning, yet his mind was clearer than ever before.

After a few moments, the effects of the drug passed, and emotions surged back like a tide, returning Lu Yang to normal.

"No wonder so many people took the pill and then became monks; it really is somewhat interesting."

Meng Jingzhou also took a pill, his pupils constricted sharply, and his body shook violently, feeling an unprecedented inner peace and excellent state.

A few moments later, the effects of the drug passed.

"Why was your reaction so strong?" Lu Yang wondered.

Meng Jingzhou couldn’t suppress the smile on his lips as he looked at the Oblivion Pill like it was a treasure, "This is good stuff. Ever since the Sun Power increased when the Sun seal was broken, my Single Body Spiritual Root has been restless, and I’ve had to divert part of my spiritual power to suppress the evil fire."

Meng Jingzhou grew more excited as he spoke, "Just now, after taking the pill, the evil fire disappeared, and my spiritual power was highly concentrated. My body feels incredibly good!"

He felt that after taking the Oblivion Pill, his combat power had risen to a new level.

Lu Yang thought about it, and realized Meng Jingzhou’s condition was actually understandable, "Wilted?"

Meng Jingzhou was furious, "You’re the one who’s wilted... wait, it seems like this is the state described in books after a passionate night?"

"Regardless of what you say, this definitely is a good thing."

Meng Jingzhou checked his bodily condition and found no side effects.

"The Ruthless Sect still knows how to do human things, huh."

"This Oblivion Pill really is a good thing," Lu Yang nodded, not mentioning the special bonus it gave to Old Meng, but recognizing its practical value alone was very high.

"Since one pill can make mortals forget emotions for three to five years, wouldn’t scraping off some powder enable mortals to forget their emotions for a few hours?"

"In an Oblivion state, spiritual power is highly concentrated, and thinking is more active than usual. If it were used in examinations like the imperial exams, it would prevent anxiety from not being able to solve problems, and both the efficiency and results of problem-solving would greatly improve."

"It should also be effective for treating ailments like heartbreak."