Chapter 627: Defying Heaven and Changing Fate!

"You emptied the Celestial Wind Sect's treasury?"

Wang Sheng stared at the pile of Spirit Stones, rare materials, and immortal treasures. He was genuinely startled. The planetary fragments around them had faint primal qi, allowing sound waves to travel.

The dragon fiend, who was coiled tightly, lowered his head with utmost respect. "Master, those are only from the main treasury within the Celestial Wind Sect's mountain gate. It accounts for a third of their accumulated wealth, not the whole of it."

Wang Sheng's lips twitched. Without restraint, he aimed his Qiankun Ring at the radiant mound before him. He even had to expend a bit of immortal power just to store everything.

The first two layers of the ring quickly swelled to fullness, and the pagoda within once again released a hazy, spiritual glow. Wang Sheng thought that he had truly struck fortune this time.

He then considered the Celestial Wind Sect's present condition.

Their sect master's fate was unknown, but he had undoubtedly been gravely wounded. Wang Sheng and Lishang had killed one of their two strongest elders, and Wang Sheng had altered the personality of the other using the Fiend-Controlling Incantation. Moreover, they had lost a third of the treasures that they had accumulated over more than a hundred thousand years.

After storing the treasures, Wang Sheng frowned at the young female fiend kneeling beside Long Aotian. Having just been scolded by her master, she could only lower her head, weep, and stand in helpless confusion.

Long Aotian transformed back into his human form and knelt beside the young lady, quietly awaiting Wang Sheng's next command.

Although this fortune had come unexpectedly, Wang Sheng's greatest priority remained the banner already in his hands. Following Yaoyun's guidance, he carefully began removing the restriction that Tan Lang had left on it. The process was nearly certain to succeed, yet he still feared that some accident would occur and damage the supposedly sinister artifact.

He asked casually, "What about her? Why did you bring her?"

Long Aotian bowed his head. "This is my disciple Binglu. She possesses a rare fiend bloodline. Before I pledged myself to you, I raised and cherished her greatly. I have brought her here to present to you, Master."

The young lady trembled profusely, but she didn't dare glare at Wang Sheng. Instead, she just cried out hoarsely, "Master, what happened to you?!"

"His mind is under my control," Wang Sheng explained briefly, then watched her for a moment.

From within Spiritless, Yaoyun asked, "Should we just kill her? Keeping her alive will only bring trouble."

Binglu shuddered again and nearly burst into loud sobbing.

"Forget it," Wang Sheng said. "Let her remain beside her master. I do loathe Long Aotian, but there is no need to resort to such extreme measures. We still have to take his fiend core later. If it proves useful, then we can simply consider him as already dead. This isn't me being soft, though. I just don't see the point."

"

Pfft.

" Yaoyun chuckled softly, clearly amused by his final remark.

A faint trace of embarrassment lingered within Wang Sheng. After all, he had truly taken her words to heart.

At that moment, Long Aotian opened his mouth, spat out a purple jewel, and raised it with both hands above his forehead. Although it contained half of his cultivation and had a chance of evolving into a true dragon pearl, he still offered his fiend core without the slightest hesitation.

Unsure what to say, Wang Sheng just focused completely on breaking the restriction on the banner in his hands.

Half a day later, dense blood light erupted from the banner, and within the artifact itself, countless vengeful ghosts seemingly howled.

Spiritless slipped free on its own and arranged several formations across the shattered planet. Meanwhile, Wang Sheng sat cross-legged and refined the banner.

He smiled bitterly and shook his head. "I never thought I would one day wield such a vicious artifact."

His immortal perception entered the banner, discovering a ruin filled with black and crimson blood mist. This was the ghost realm that came with the banner itself.

After searching for a while, he found a stone palace wrapped in chains at the bottom of the artifact space. He guessed it was where the remaining Primordial Spirits of the war slaves were suppressed.

He did not dare act rashly. Once Yaoyun had returned from arranging the formations, he had a lengthy discussion with her before finally channeling Pure Yang Immortal Power into the banner.

Pure Yang was the bane of all sinister things. Since Wang Sheng already fully controlled the artifact, expelling the surrounding ghostly aura became far easier.

Before long, the space inside the artifact grew clear, causing some fierce spirits to hide and tremble in the corners. Not even sparing them a glance, Wang Sheng used Pure Yang Immortal Power to dissolve the black chains little by little.

This continued for several more hours.

When the final chain melted away, the stone palace did not erupt violently as Wang Sheng had expected. Instead, several nearly transparent Primordial Souls drifted out and stared blankly at the unfamiliar surroundings.

A sense of foreboding rose in Wang Sheng's heart. His immortal perception immediately rushed into the stone palace. Inside, he saw rows of stone pillars. The chains that had bound them had all fallen to the ground, and many remnant souls that had yet to disperse floated aimlessly.

Every one of them was a True Immortal. If they were refined into fierce spirits, this banner would have certainly become a formidable, sinister weapon.

Disappointment stirred within Wang Sheng, yet he quickly steadied himself.

Qinglin should have been among the last batch of surviving war slaves, and not much time had passed since they had slain Tan Lang. There was a strong chance that the other half of Qinglin's Primordial Spirit was still around.

Qinglin...

"Senior Qinglin!"

The faint clinking of chains echoed from a corner. Wang Sheng's immortal perception swept toward it at once and found the female war slave who had once intercepted him.

She looked faint and indistinct. With her Primordial Spirit's power nearly exhausted, she was beginning to transform into a Primordial Soul.

Raising her left hand, she pointed to a nearby stone pillar. Wang Sheng's immortal perception followed her direction and finally found Qinglin bound to the pillar. He had his head lowered, and his hair was disheveled.

"Senior Qinglin!"

Wang Sheng's immortal perception immediately condensed into his own phantasm and rushed to the pillar.

Qinglin slowly raised his head. He was already extremely faint, but a trace of his Primordial Spirit's power fortunately remained!

Once a war slave died, the other half of their Primordial Spirit would sense it from here and gradually fade away.

This banner could use a ghostly aura to slow the rate at which they dissipated, allowing it to gradually refine them into remnant souls. Tan Lang could then forge them into vicious things any time he wanted.

The figure on the pillar murmured, "Who are you?"

Did I get the wrong person?

That wasn't quite it. The banner simply prevented the two halves of one's Primordial Spirit from communicating, making it impossible for them to share memories.

Wang Sheng whispered, "Xi Lian sent me to rescue you."

"Little Lian..." The phantasm suddenly became alert. He raised his head and fixed his gaze on Wang Sheng. "Who are you?! How do you know that name?!"

Only then did Wang Sheng become certain that the man before him was Qinglin. There were barely any differences between him and the war slave that Wang Sheng had faced.

"It's a long story, Senior. Please wait. I'll free you now," Wang Sheng replied softly as a stream of Pure Yang Immortal Power flowed down from above the stone pillar and carefully wrapped around Qinglin's Primordial Spirit. It then slowly melted the surrounding chains and carried him out of the stone palace.

Qinglin's Primordial Spirit frowned deeply. Had he not sensed that the immortal power around him was upright and gentle, and that its Pure Yang aura was completely out of place here, he would have already resisted with his life.

After a short while, the banner flashed with a glimmer of light. Qinglin's remaining Primordial Spirit appeared before Wang Sheng and Yaoyun.

He frowned at Wang Sheng and then turned to Yaoyun, finding her somewhat familiar. He seemed to have once seen her from afar long ago, though the impression had not been deep.

Wang Sheng extended a deep Daoist salute to Qinglin and solemnly declared, "Senior, I am Wang Sheng, an honorary elder of the Shu Sword Sect."

He then took out his identity jade pendant and summoned six flying swords, making them circle him.

Seeing the Sword-Controlling Art made Qinglin's tense expression immediately soften. He smiled faintly, then sighed deeply.

"Good, good... Good! The Shu Mountains still stand, and our sword sect has not been destroyed!"

"Senior, I'm about to do everything I can to heal you. Please do not resist what happens next. We can talk afterward."

"Heal?" Qinglin's gaze remained as calm as before. Smiling, he said in an ancient tone and a hint of Shu accent, "Don't trouble yourself. I'm about to meet my end. Fortunately, you only get to see this version of me. My body and the other half of my soul are probably already gone.

"Now, I'm but a soul from a distant past. I am neither worth the effort nor worth wasting any treasure. I'm already content just meeting you, learning that the Shu Mountains are safe, and knowing that my homeland hasn't been obliterated. I have no regrets left."

Wang Sheng fell silent.

Yaoyun smiled and bowed slightly. "You're being rather dense. If my sword master had not come into contact with the other half of your soul, how could we have known that you were still alive?"

Wang Sheng suddenly said, "Let's begin, Yaoyun. We'll use the safest method to fuse his soul with Long Aotian's fiend core."

Yaoyun nodded at once.

Qinglin, however, frowned deeply. "You two..."

Wang Sheng cupped his hands. "Forgive me, Senior, but I must bring you back."

Starlight flickered within his eyes. Qinglin tried to speak, but the Pure Yang Immortal Power around him had already suppressed him.

Nearby, Long Aotian presented his fiend core on his own. He then struck his chest with a fierce palm. Since he was already gravely wounded, he spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed limply to the side.

The dragon fiend had severed his connection to his fiend core himself. In return, he had preserved the foundation of the fiend core. Given enough time, he could slowly recover the lost cultivation. The drawback was equally obvious: it caused extreme pain.

Binglu panicked and kept calling for her master. In the end, she could only sob soundlessly.

"Long Aotian, consider our old grudges settled," Wang Sheng whispered as he reached out and took the fiend core.

Yaoyun had already begun activating the formation that she had set up, while Wang Sheng carefully started merging Qinglin's Primordial Spirit into the fiend core in his hand.

Qinglin smiled bitterly. "Why go this far? It's not worth it!"

"If Big Sister can be happy, then it is worth it," Wang Sheng replied softly. "Rest assured, Senior. This dragon fiend has committed many evils. Now that he is under my control, taking his fiend core without killing him already counts as settling the blood feud between us."

Qinglin's eyebrows knit further. He had already realized that Wang Sheng's cultivation was only at the late stage of the True Immortal Realm. The dragon fiend, on the other hand, was at the late stage of the Heavenly Immortal Realm.

How much did this junior of mine sacrifice? How much hardship did he have to endure just to save me?

For a moment, a trace of reluctance showed in Qinglin's eyes, yet he no longer resisted. If reviving him was his junior's obsession, then he could not bear to disappoint him.

"What do I need to do?"

Wang Sheng brightened. He quickly replied, "You only have to relax and accept the power of the fiend core."

"Alright." Qinglin closed his eyes as he quietly sensed the fiend core's power.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Wang Sheng slowly guided Qinglin's damaged Primordial Spirit into the core, drawing out its fiend power to nourish the soul.

With the formation fully activated, Yaoyun slowly guided Wang Sheng through the procedure. They were essentially attempting to defy heaven and change Qinglin's fate. Unforeseen mishaps could come at any moment.