Chapter 657: Number One Enforcer of the Ghost Division

The Fiend-Controlling Incantation was truly hard to grasp. It had failed against the herb spirits earlier, yet this time, it succeeded on the first attempt.

What exactly defined the boundary between fiends, sprites, and spirits?

Wang Sheng did not fully understand it either. For now, he could only attribute the difference to whether a being could project its fiend soul outward. After all, the spell revolved around seizing the opponent's soul and carving an imprint straight into their true spirit.

As he looked at the young girl kneeling in midair before him, a strange feeling stirred in his heart.

Have I been too self-righteous?

The Ghost Heart Vine had been born evil, but it had remained here all this time, not once going out to harm others. Nevertheless, he had attacked decisively and nearly destroyed her without truly sufficient cause.

Was he really any different from "righteous " cultivators who shouted about exterminating devils, yet acted only to satisfy their own bloated sense of honor?

Perhaps this could be called the "beginner's version " of hypocrisy. He silently reminded himself to learn from this.

The vine was evil, but the fiend-controlling spell was equally sinister. Their collision seemed to have yielded surprisingly great results.

The young girl knelt. Trembling lightly, she softly called out, "Master. "

Wang Sheng studied her for a while, still uncertain how he should deal with her in the future or how to even make use of her.

She was certainly powerful. Through the sustenance of the tea tree's spiritual power, she had cultivated here for more than a hundred thousand years. Still, her divine ability focused on confusing and ensnaring the mind.

According to Yaoyun, the vine that had destroyed an entire celestial body had only cultivated for several tens of thousands of years. The true power of the young girl before him could likely rival a star-destroying battleship, if it were ever unleashed.

Wang Sheng thought of the Celestial Wind Sect. Its own experts alone would find it extremely difficult to fend off the Ghost Heart Vine. If he acted with foreknowledge against their ignorance, he could easily use her to obliterate the three qi planets of the Celestial Wind Sect.

Yet doing so would weigh heavily against the harmony of heaven. After all, the vast majority of their planets' inhabitants were unaffiliated practitioners.

Forget it. Better to store her in the Qiankun Ring for now.

The young girl softly requested, "Please give me a name, Master. "

Without hesitation, Wang Sheng answered, "From now on, you will be called Ling Sheng. Always remember that life itself is hard-won. You must never use your cultivation to bring suffering and harm to living beings. "

"Yes. I will keep this lesson in mind, Master. "

The old eyes of the Spirit-Stabilizing Tea Tree reddened slightly. It knelt beside the Ghost Heart Vine and bowed deeply. "Master, please allow my child to heal for a while. "

Wang Sheng asked in confusion, "How will she heal? What does she need? "

"Her injuries only require that I supply her with spiritual power. "

"Can she not absorb spiritual power on her own? "

"She can only absorb death aura or siphon life force from other living beings. " The Spirit-Stabilizing Tea sighed softly. "Rest assured, Master. My child and I are the same species. I will never allow her to harm others. "

Yaoyun manifested beside them. "Where did the Ghost Heart Vine first come into contact with death aura? "

The Spirit-Stabilizing Tea Tree replied, "It connected through the veins underground. Death aura has always flowed in the roots of this primordial divine tree. Recently, the aura has even grown more concentrated. I've been paying special attention to this matter out of fear that my child would absorb too much of it and exceed the limits of my control. "

Underground, death aura, and a sudden surge in recent days?

Wang Sheng and Yaoyun exchanged a glance, their minds aligning instantly. Both recalled the wooden coffin sealed with the Apricot-Yellow Banner.

Turning to the divine tree and the immortal palace within it, Wang Sheng murmured, "Could this Daoist heritage be nothing more than bait? "

"From what I know, Emperor Qinghua was naturally compassionate. When he governed the Eastern Sky Region, he saved those who were suffering and rarely took lives, " Yaoyun countered. "Those who have reached such heights in the Great Dao of Life would never commit wanton slaughter. "

"Have you forgotten that the Five Heavenly Declines affected Emperor Qinghua? Watching their own vitality fade little by little could make even someone so powerful resort to actions otherwise unexpected of them. "

Yaoyun fell silent, her eyebrows knitting as she pondered.

Wang Sheng gestured forward. "You two should enter the Qiankun Ring and recover. "

The tree and the vine reverted to their true forms and allowed the Qiankun Ring to suck them in. Afterward, Wang Sheng put them in a relatively spacious area on the third layer. He even had Yaoyun adjust the qi-gathering formation, increasing their supply of primal qi severalfold.

The tea tree would be extremely useful in the future. He could not allow the vine to drain her dry.

Later, he would have to find a few plants rich in vitality. They would serve as her host and nourishment. That would free her elderly mother, allowing her to focus solely on producing Spirit-Stabilizing Tea Leaves.

Afterward, Wang Sheng and Yaoyun descended to where the tea tree had once been. The ground was riddled with pits from heavenly tribulation, its surface scorched black.

"This place seems to have been specially designed to block most immortal perception. Should we go down and investigate? " Yaoyun asked.

"No need. "

Wang Sheng grabbed a Flying Cloud. Using his Sword-Controlling Art, he plunged the sword into the ground. His immortal perception followed it, slowly spreading. Through their connected senses, Yaoyun could see what was happening underground as well.

The root system of the divine tree was unimaginably complex, spreading through almost every inch of the earth. Wang Sheng also discovered that the black mist drifting through the soil had spread everywhere, with not a single gap to be found.

After descending for a short while, the Flying Cloud discovered that some of the divine tree's roots had intertwined into an impenetrable barrier, blocking its path. Wang Sheng tried to force the sword through, but he failed to slightly damage even the hair-thin rootlets, let alone the massive roots that loomed like mountain ranges.

However, that was only natural. After all, the divine tree had already become one with the Apricot-Yellow Banner.

Coming up empty-handed, Wang Sheng could only recall Flying Cloud and stare at Yaoyun in silence. The two were momentarily at a loss.

"I still do not believe that Emperor Qinghua would set things up this way, " Yaoyun said as she summoned the bronze mirror. She then carefully scanned the surroundings, though she naturally found nothing out of place.

"Forget it, " Wang Sheng said as he swept his gaze across the area. "Let's move these medicinal herbs first. Whatever plans the emperor has left here have little to do with us. So what if he truly cultivated from the Great Dao of Life to the Great Dao of Death? All that matters is that my senior sister remains unaffected. We have already gained more than our fair share here anyway. "

With a briefly complicated expression, Yaoyun pressed her lips together and murmured a soft acknowledgment.

Wang Sheng had her stand by to monitor and intercept any approaching targets while he went to inspect the area.

Influenced by the sinister light of the Ghost Heart Vine, the medicinal herbs within seven or eight nearby restrictions turned vicious and violent earlier. Now that she had been subdued and her evil radiance had dispersed, each herb gradually returned to its original nature.

They had fought violently not long ago, yet only a few were truly destroyed or lost a limb. When they saw Wang Sheng approach, they drooped even lower, looking utterly dejected.

Wang Sheng stopped and said calmly, "Everyone, come out on your own. "

More than a dozen medicinal herbs immediately lowered their heads and shuffled outward. Their pitiful appearance perfectly embodied despair and resignation, as though each one had resigned itself to its fate. They lined up and were escorted into the Qiankun Ring to settle in their new home.

Every single medicinal herb here was priceless. If he managed to bring a few out with him, selling some to the Qiling Immortal Sect would probably be enough to make quite a dent on their finances.

However, Wang Sheng would not act so shamelessly. Zhuge Lin had given them the opportunity to enter this place, and it was already a rare blessing for his senior sister to obtain her fated opportunity. To repay Zhuge Lin, Wang Sheng thought it was only natural to give the herbs to the Qiling Immortal Sect and let its members use them however they wanted.

At most, he would have them refine a few thousand more Three-Essence Enlightenment Pills for him. Since Earth's cultivators had only just begun setting out, the progress of their countless talents still had to be accelerated.

Over the next half day, Wang Sheng conducted a sweeping campaign while humming a gentle melody that his father used to sing when he was young.

He passed every restriction from north to south, then east to west. The herb spirits inside didn't dare resist. They obediently lowered their heads before walking out.

His battle with the vine had already taught the spirits that the heavenly tribulation he created was not an ordinary lightning technique; it was a true and orthodox lightning tribulation. For abnormal herb spirits who had been living on over a hundred thousand borrowed years, nothing was more terrifying.

The Great Dao operated according to fixed laws. Birth, aging, illness, and death all followed heaven's decree.

Having lived for so long despite the lack of spiritual roots, these spirits were anomalies under the Great Dao.

Once the divine tree's restrictions were lifted, the medicinal herbs planted here would reach the end of their lifespan. Whether Wang Sheng took them with him or the invaders seized them, they would ultimately be refined into pills.

After a day and a half of continuous work, Wang Sheng had finally cleared most of the inner array's restrictions.

In total, he harvested four hundred fifty-six spiritual herbs, subdued a Ghost Heart Vine, and obtained a Spirit-Stabilizing Tea Tree. They had an incalculable combined value.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Wang Sheng was now rich enough to rival an entire planet.

Still, he had to carefully consider how to use these spiritual herbs. For now, his greatest concern was how he and Mu Wanxuan could safely leave once she had completely inherited Qinghua's Daoist heritage.

When Zhuge Lin arranged for Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan to enter this place, he likely never imagined that Wang Sheng's Heavenly Tribulation Sword Intent would scare the medicinal herbs into complete submission.

Even so, this outcome was hardly a bad thing. It was far better for these spiritual herbs to fall into Wang Sheng's hands than into those of others.

Wang Sheng then turned his attention to the restrictions that had sealed various treasures. Compared to the herb spirits, the items seemed somewhat dull. Still, many of those stored within the inner array were Forged Spiritual Treasures.

The true treasures that Emperor Qinghua left behind are probably all where my senior sister is. He would never casually leave them outside.

Wang Sheng searched for quite some time but found very few immortal swords. Only a handful of treasures caught his eye, too.

The arrays protecting these treasures were also far sturdier than those around the herb spirits, and they hid far more lethal traps. Even after half a day, he only managed to break six or seven restrictions open. In the end, he just took the ones he liked and left the rest.

Yaoyun had already selected six interceptable targets for him, scattered in four directions. They were all close to the middle array and had begun probing how to enter the central ring.

Wang Sheng took the bronze mirror and studied it briefly. He then asked, "Why don't we just stay hidden in the tree canopy and intercept anyone who breaks into the middle layer? "

"We could place the Ghost Heart Vine in one of the middle-layer restrictions. That would ease much of the pressure. "

He glanced at the green vine inside the Qiankun Ring, pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Not yet. Let's keep it as a trump card. If we cannot control the situation and a large number of cultivators charge in together, I will station Ling Sheng outside the palace. "

Yaoyun was rendered speechless.

If there was anyone whose safety could drive Wang Sheng to unleash ruthless slaughter, Mu Wanxuan was certainly among them.