Chapter 140
Chapter 140: The Evil Soul
Albeit the encounter at the City God Temple being brief, the whole event from entering to exiting the City God Temple took more than half a day. Nevertheless, the chaos and the setbacks that had happened were something that was never experienced by Wen Leyang in his twenty years of life.
The ferocious battle between Hanba, Leyang Wen’s participation, the continuous arrivals of the master cultivators of the Five Blessings and Qin Zhui’s, the transformation of Hanba into a corpse, the conjuration of the white hair drought spirits that submerged the entire City God Temple, the arrival of the enlightened person Tian Shu along with his Kunlun disciples until the release of Hanba by the beautiful maiden Cone Nail, Tian Shu’s severe injuries, the havoc wreaked by the poltergeist ghosts and Wen Leyang’s poison power that was greatly enhanced by the Art of Ghost happened in just a few hours. Everyone was occupied by the unexpected twists to the events.
There were too many questions that were suppressed within Wen Leyang’s chest. Finally, as everything slowly calmed down, he hastily blurted out the most crucial question to the enlightened person Tian Shu, inquiring whether Xiang Liu was resurrected.
The enlightened person Tian Shu did not provide an answer, but asked another question, “Are you aware of the event that took place two thousand years ago at the Black and White Island, involving the two outstanding great demons, the demon cat and Guo Huan, who crushed the Heaven’s cone nail?”
Wen Leyang nodded.
Tian Shu suddenly diverted the topic savagely, “The cat was a witty creature. How can she be unaware of the consequences if Xiang Liu was resurrected? I don’t understand her reason for breaking the Heaven’s cone nail! Has your family’s ancestor told you about this? This matter here has been troubling me for the past two thousand years. I will never be at peace if I never clarify the situation!”
Wen Leyang smiled shyly as he spoke insincerely, “I do not know either…” He was kind-hearted. He felt that if he were to tell Tian Shu the truth, the truth would not benefit Tian Shu’s healing process.
Tian Shu scoffed once but did not continue to inquire anymore. Instead, he started explaining to Wen Leyang, “Xiang Liu was a primitive monster that lived as long as the heaven and earth exist. Unless the heaven and earth merged and returned to the chaotic world in prehistoric times, it would never die nor perished. This monster had nine heads with nine souls. Within each head, a portion of its soul was hidden. Two thousand years ago, when one of the Heaven’s cone nail was crushed, even though Xiang Liu’s physical body could not struggle free from the other eight Heaven’s cone nails, the portion of soul that was suppressed underneath the crushed Heaven’s cone nail successfully seized the opportunity and escaped.
At that moment, Wen Leyang realized that the ‘Xiang Liu’ that was mentioned by the enlightened person Tian Shu to Fifth Brother Hanba earlier was not referring to the large nine-headed monster, but referring to one of the nine souls of that monster. Since the nine-headed monster did not escape, naturally the wrath of gods would not befall upon the Grand Master Chang Li. He felt a slight relief.
The little supreme leader Liu Zheng was concerned of his esteemed master’s health and did not want Tian Shu to be exhausted from explaining. Hence, he interrupted and continued the topic, “The thing that escaped was one of the nine souls of Xiang Liu. Fortunately, when the soul escaped the physical body, the soul would be weakened such that it could not cause trouble. However, if it was to develop and take form, the mortal world would be plunged into misery and sufferings. I am afraid that the disaster it would cause would not be any better compared to the entire nine-headed monster escaping from the Black and White Island.”
Tian Shu had a junior and a senior brother disciple, named Tian Shu, Tian Hua and Tian Ge. Amongst them, Tian Ge injured his primordial energy during the great battle with Tuo Xie and Chang Li and he had since engaged in closed-door cultivation. In order to go after and kill one of the nine souls of Xiang Liu, Tian Shu and Tian Hua had no other choice but to re-enter the mortal world. Hence, to make matters easier, they formally acknowledged some disciples and formed the Kunlun Sect. More than a millennium ago, the right and evil path of cultivation world were involved in a chaotic dispute. With the Kunlun Sect’s talent, it became an eminent sect and one of the Five Blessings of the world.
Wen Leyang pondered for a while. The Great Mercy Temple became a part of the Five Blessings because of the old demon rabbit being the abbot. However, it was also due to Chang Li who created a demon foundation for the old demon rabbit in the ancient cave of Zhanyan Peak. The Jilong Sect ascended to the Five Blessings because its first ancestor who built the temple on the mountain accidentally received Guo Huan’s ‘Yin’s Error and Yang’s Mistake’. On the other hand, the Kunlun Sect was founded solely by the enlightened person Tian Shu in order to locate Xiang Liu’s escaped soul. Based on his calculation, out of the five great sects of the right path of cultivation world, there were three sects that were closely related to the event of the demon cat Chang Li professing her love for Grand Master Tuo Xie two thousand years ago.
Liu Zheng continued, “My esteemed master had a hard time too! The heaven was vast so was the earth. Who knew where the soul would hide. Two thousand years had passed since he started looking for it.”
The enlightened person Tian Shu heaved a long and loud sigh. He had encountered so many bitter hardships there was no way he could tell everything…
Initially, the destruction of the demon sects of the world did not manage to attract the enlightened person Tian Shu’s attention. However, recently, Tian Hua unintentionally read from the ancient recordings left behind by the seniors that when Xiang Liu was tormenting the world, it inherently fancied killing demons and extracting their vitality the most in order to nourish its souls and demon power. Tian Hua was suddenly enlightened. The person who was continuously killing demons in the past two thousand years could very possibly be nourishing Xiang Liu’s escaped primordial soul. The esteemed master and his brother immediately traced the clue in relation to the destruction of the demon sects and the disappearance of the great demons to investigate this matter.
Wen Leyang was stunned. He asked Liu Zheng softly, “Does your esteemed master has a master teacher?”
Liu Zheng was at a loss whether to cry or laugh as he gave Wen Leyang the evil stare, “Nonsense!”
Looking rather confused, Wen Leyang asked, “Has the enlightened person Tian Shu had been suppressing and guarding the heaven’s cone nails on the Black and White Island since the start?”
Liu Zheng explained to him patiently, “The Black and White Island had been suppressing Xiang Liu for an unknown amount of years. Even though the esteemed master had profound magic power and lived a long life, he certainly could not have lived that long. The legacy was passed down from generation to generation.”
The enlightened person Tian Shu also peered at Wen Leyang once with a spurious smile, “All of us have the bodies of a half immortal. It is not a problem for us to live for three to five thousand years.”
Wen Leyang was even more confused. He muttered to himself, “Half immortal?” He was wondering in his heart, ‘Was the sword immortal’s father a mortal human and the mother an immortal fairy?’ His gaze was complicated as he met the enlightened person Tian Shu’s gaze.
Tian Shu did not know that Wen Leyang was thinking about the ‘fairy couple’. He explained dully, “Once a person, who engages in the cultivation of heaven, can thoroughly understand the origins of the universe and the law of all things, either the god’s punishment will befall on him or he will ascend to the immortal world and not continue to stay in the mortal world. However, if one still cannot thoroughly understand, his supernatural power will be limited and he would be able to live up to two to three hundred years at best. However, as the descendants of the Black and White Island received the divine appointment to suppress and guard Xiang Liu, our cultivation method is profound yet we will not suffer from the god’s punishment. That is why we live longer than the rest of the cultivators.
Wen Leyang understood the concept of the god’s punishment. When a person was so incisive he could no longer be contained on the earth, he would be struck by a thunder, and nothing would be left behind. He did not know whether the person was destroyed by the thunder or he had ascended to the immortal world. However, it was incredulous to learn from Tian Shu that one who guarded the Black and White Island could be exempted from the god’s punishment. He suddenly realized that Liu Zheng was standing with his back against the esteemed master and winked at Wen Leyang.
Wen Leyang’s face was filled with a maniacal smile as he asked, “The supreme leader Liu Zheng, what are you trying to tell me with your expression?” Liu Zheng cried out ‘oh no’, when the enlightened person Tian Shu gave an icy-cold scoff, “Liu Zheng, what are you trying to deceive?”
Liu Zheng turned around to face his esteemed master with a distressed expression. He did not try to hide his thoughts, but intentionally squeezed out a joyful smile on his face as he spoke in a cautious tone, “The esteemed master, our Black and White Island’s method of cultivation may not necessarily be exempted from the god’s punishment. I have been pondering about this myself. This form of method is supposed to prolong our lives. Our cultivation progress during the later stage of life may be slow. Perhaps the god’s punishment does not arrive because our cultivation base is not at the mastery level.”
Wen Leyang found that Liu Zheng’s thoughts were much more logical. The god’s punishment did not mind the appearance or the age. He did not care who you were as long as you were powerful enough and He would strike you with a thunder. It was possible that people like Tian Shu had yet to be struck by the heaven’s thunder because of his poor cultivation base.
Albeit being incisive, Tian Shu was of no match to Tuo Xie, Chang Li, Guo Huan and Fifth Brother Hanba. According to Tian Shu’s explanation, the descendants of the Black and White Island possessed the actual power that exceeded the god’s punishment. In that case, Tuo Xie, Chang Li and Hanba would have received the god’s punishment and would have ascended to the immortal world.
Liu Zheng glared towards his esteemed master as he hastily diverted the topic. He continued to explain about locating one of Xiang Liu’s soul, “The esteemed master and his brother had exceedingly high spiritual intelligence. They knew that the demonic primordial energy could be used to nourish Xiang Liu’s soul and they immediately thought about the matter of great demons’ disappearance in the past two thousand years. Hence, they started investigating, following the clues…” As Liu Zheng offended his esteemed master earlier, he started to flatter him.
The brother of Liu Zheng’s esteemed master, the junior brother disciple of Tian Shu pursued the clue and investigated all the way to Shanghai. However, more than half a month ago, he suddenly transmitted the supernatural power of the Black and White Island to Tian Shu, informing Tian Shu that he discovered a big clue, requesting Tian Shu to come as soon as possible.
Tian Shu brought along the Kunlun disciples and rushed over to Shanghai. By the time they located Tian Hua, he was already severely injured by someone and was in comatose. There was no way to tell what was the clue that he discovered.
It was certain that Tian Hua had a fierce battle with the enemy, such that he alarmed all the sects of the Five Blessings that was monitoring the spirit primordial energy in the world. Other than the Jilong Sect, which had already sealed off the mountain and engaged in closed-door cultivation, the rest of the sects sent out their master cultivators to Shanghai.
Wen Leyang suddenly interrupted cautiously, “The enlightened person Tian Hua did not mention that the person who injured him was Hanba?”
Liu Zheng peered at him once in slightly surprised manner, “Other than Hanba, who else could injure my esteemed master’s brother?”
Wen Leyang shook his head, “It was just a question. So when all of you first arrived in Shanghai, you did not know that Hanba was hiding in the City God Temple?”
Liu Zheng nodded, “Of course we didn’t know that. It was after your fight with the enemy that we sensed that someone was launching some supernatural power in the City God Temple. After that, the big-muzzled weapon was fired. Judging by your cultivation base, a person that was worthy of your shot should be the person we were looking for.”
Wen Leyang finally understood the sequence of events. In order to frighten Fifth Brother Hanba and the short man Leyang Wen, he fired a shot in the sky. Liu Zheng was aware that Wen Leyang had great abilities and he was even more aware of the shocking power of the Thunder Heart Sand. He understood that Wen Leyang must be facing an opponent that was incomparably difficult. Hence, he immediately rushed over to the City God Temple with the enlightened person Tian Shu and the Kunlun disciples.
Fifth Brother Hanba revealed his corpse body and launched the white hair drought spirits because the Kunlun Sect’s Taoist priests were approaching, but when Tian Shu finally witnessed Hanba’s actual power, he did not need to say anything else and was certain that Hanba was the enemy. After all, Tian Hua was a top master cultivator and was a sword immortal, there were less than a few persons in the world that was capable of harming him.
The enlightened person Tian Shu came to Shanghai so he could investigate the person who was killing demons and extracting their vitality. As a result, he was severely injured and fell into a coma, the person who injured him was logically the leader of the people who killed demons and extracted their vitality.
However, Wen Leyang was pondering in his heart that the person who injured Tian Hua could possibly not be Fifth Brother Hanba even if Hanba was the supposed leader of the people who killed demons and extracted their vitality.
The demon cat Chang Li parted ways with the giant pangolin more than a month ago and stayed in Shanghai alone. Tian Hua was injured in Shanghai half a month ago. If Chang Li and the ‘Solitary Sword Immortal’ of the Black and White Island were to bump into each other, they would certainly have a grand battle.
This form of hypothesis could only be confirmed once he found Chang Li or when Tian Hua woke up. Wen Leyang felt that it was a waste of his effort to make wild guesses, so he refused to guess anymore. He raised his head and looked up at Tian Shu who was ghastly pale, “The Heaven’s cone nail…”
Liu Zheng was slightly infuriated, “Ask me!”
Wen Leyang chuckled, “It is the same no matter who I ask. Cone Nail refused to return to the Black and White Island. How is that related to her releasing Hanba?”
Liu Zheng was astonished. He pondered for a moment before he smiled shyly, “You will have to ask my esteemed master.”
The enlightened person Tian Shu gave his precious disciple an evil glare, his voice sounded helpless, “You have misunderstood her intention.”
Wen Leyang was stunned. He started feeling confused again. When Cone Nail released Hanba, her explanation to Tian Shu was that she would never return to the Black and White Island to become the Heaven’s cone nail that suppressed demons.
On the enlightened person Tian Shu’s face, the expression of deep despair and rage when he heard of Cone Nail’s words appeared once again, “She said that she refused to return anymore. It was telling me that the justice of the heaven and earth was not as important as her carefree and unfettered life!”
Wen Leyang pondered for a moment. He wondered since when was the carefree and unfettered life more important than the justice of the heaven and earth. The split vision of the corners of his eyes caught sight of the enlightened person Tian Shu’s expression and he blushed slightly.
The enlightened person Tian Shu continued, “If I could capture Hanba, I would naturally find the escaped one of the nine souls of Xiang Liu.”
Wen Leyang hastily tossed aside his complicated thoughts. He nodded in agreement to Tian Shu’s words. Hanba collected the demonic primordial energy so that he could nourish Xiang Liu’s escaped soul.
“Xiang Liu would never die or perish. Its nine souls were hidden in its nine heads. Naturally, it was protected against the invasion of outside forces. However, the moment this strand of primordial soul that had escaped and returned to the world, it simultaneously loses its body’s protection. If I could capture it, there would certainly be a way for me to refine it!” The enlightened person Tian Shu’s voice was akin to a fully rusted knife that was grinding against a rough sandpaper. The hoarseness of his voice was accompanied by some suffocating uneasiness, “The nine sticks of Heaven’s cone nails were born to deal with Xiang Liu’s nine evil souls. That was why they could form a protective circle to suppress that monster. If the escaped strand of evil soul was put out by me, then the god’s will that was embodied within the Heaven’s cone nail would dissipate, heh, then she…she would die.”
Wen Leyang could not help but to grind his teeth once. No wonder Cone Nail released Hanba. Her soul and Xiang Liu’s escaped soul were destined to live and grow together even though the two lives were on the opposite sides.
Tian Shu’s voice became angrier, “She was created by the vital energy of the heaven and earth. How could she let loose Xiang Liu’s evil soul for her own life?”
Wen Leyang and Liu Zheng gazed into the eyes of one another but no one chimed in. The sword immortals of the Black and White Island were the monsters that did not enter the mortal world and had no feelings. It was not inappropriate to describe them as rocks, ice cubes, or cold-blooded creatures.
After a while, Wen Leyang continued to ask, “If that strand of evil soul and Cone Nail were to die simultaneously, then the rest of the eight heaven’s cone nails could suppress the other eight heads once again?”
Tian Shu shook his head, “With one of the Heaven’s cone nails, the entire great formation will be destroyed. However, the power of Xiang Liu with one less head is only diminished by one out of nine portions. Sooner or later, it will still struggle free from the rest of the Heaven’s cone nails and escape the Black and White Island.”
Before Wen Leyang could speak, Liu Zheng could not help but to inquire closely, “So what if…Cone Nail returned to the Black and White Island now? If Xiang Liu’s one of the nine souls is still out there…”
Tian Shu shook his head, “If the Ice Cone Nail was to return to the Black and White Island now, the formation will be in proper arrangement again. They could firmly suppress the physical body of Xiang Liu. No matter what trouble that strand of the escaped soul could cause, the two matters are not related.” When the evil soul escaped, in reality, it was already separated from Xiang Liu’s physical body. Nevertheless, even Tian Shu did not know that if the escaped evil soul ever missed its home, whether it could still return to its original head again.
After pondering for a moment, Wen Leyang frowned and considered for a while before he looked towards Tian Shu, “So you should be figuring out a way for Cone Nail to return and guard the Black and White Island, such that the Heaven’s cone nail’s formation could function again and try not to kill Xiang Liu’s escaped evil soul.”
Tian Shu suddenly burst out laughing hoarsely, “How could I have known in the past that the Ice Cone Nail can still be resurrected? Before I bumped into her, my view was that since the formation was already destroyed, sooner or later Xiang Liu would struggle free. If I could execute one of its evil soul, it was still better than doing nothing at all. By the time Xiang Liu truly broke free, the people at the Black and White Island would engage in a life and death battle with it. We would sacrifice our lives for it!”
Liu Zheng was startled, he stared at his esteemed master, “You have never mentioned about this matter of perishing together when you formally acknowledge me as your disciple in the past.”
The enlightened person Tian Shu gave a slanted stare at Liu Zheng, “Based on your cultivation base, do you think you are worthy of dying on the Black and White Island? You are nothing but a disciple endorsed by the Black and White Island, there is no need for you to seek doom with me. But right now…” Tian Shu cast his gaze at Wen Leyang once again, “The Ice Cone Nail has already been resurrected only that she still refused to return to the Black and White Island. The effort to look for that strand of Xiang Liu’s evil soul must be continued with more effort, but it cannot be simply destroyed anymore.”
Liu Zheng smiled with flattery, “The esteemed master is brilliant!”
Everyone there was wise. There was no need to discuss further. Cone Nail’s actual power was indeed shocking. However, it was more difficult to compel her return to the Black and White Island than to ascend to the heaven. Nevertheless, once they found Xiang Liu’s escaped soul, it was equal to pinching onto Cone Nail’s life. Cone Nail could only return to the Black and White Island obediently if she wanted to live.
On the other hand, Wen Leyang was bothered by a mixture of five senses, he did not speak. After all, he was only an ordinary person. From his point of view, Cone Nail was rather kind towards Tian Shu.
As the life of Cone Nail and Xiang Liu’s escape soul was dependent on each other, naturally, she would not allow others to kill or capture Xiang Liu’s soul. The safest method would be for her to join the evil soul at a location. As Fifth Brother Hanba was collecting demonic primordial energy on behalf of the evil soul, naturally he was protective towards the evil soul. Judging by the actual powers of Cone Nail and Hanba, once they joined hands, there was very few in the world that was capable of harming them.
However, after Tian Shu was injured by Hanba, Cone Nail made up her mind to kill Hanba in an effort to avenge Tian Shu. This was equal to destroying one of her arms. When she was tricking Wen Leyang and the rest into a state of confusion back in the Gold-Consuming Lair, it was shown that she had a meticulous and ferocious thinking. Clearly, she would have thought of this as well, but she sill insisted to kill Hanba. That was enough to show Cone Nail’s affection towards this old acquaintance of hers.
Of course, Tian Shu was not an evil man and he was even less of a vile man. Judging based on his words to Wen Leyang earlier, ‘it wasn’t you who crushed the Heaven’s cone nail two thousand years ago, feel free to help your grand master in the future’, it was enough to show his generosity. However, since everyone was standing on his own cliff, the person could only see that he was already at the point where it was difficult him to move a single step, he could not take into consideration that others were about to be killed too!
Cone Nail was also not a wicked witch. She was just like an innocent little girl that was unfamiliar with the worldly matters. She frequently attacked and harmed others. Even Qilian Immortal Sect’s dwarf supreme leader was beaten to a bloody pulp by her in the stone forest. While she was calm in the face of the people that were intimidating to her, including Tian Shu, and Wen Leyang, Cone Nail seemed to never have the idea to kill them.
Wen Leyang refused to think anymore, he had other matters to keep him occupied, such as figuring out a way to trick Cone Nail, such that she would return to the Black and White Island willingly, or else the Grand Master Tuo Xie’s laborious effort for two thousand years was thoroughly wasted. Besides, Chang Li was in imminent danger as well.
The enlightened person Tian Shu closed his eyes and recuperated for a while before he looked towards Wen Leyang once again, “How are you acquainted to the Ice Cone Nail?”
Wen Leyang hesitated for a moment, but he still roughly explained about his encounter in the Gold-Consuming Lair, especially the part in the stone forest. Even for someone like the enlightened person Tian Shu who lived through thousands of years and spent his entire lifetime concentrating on cultivating spirituality was still dumbstruck when he heard of the encounter. The little supreme leader Liu Zheng’s brows were frowned into a knot, “The people from Painting Town resurrected Cone Nail in an effort to return her to the Black and White Island and even sacrificed his own life but this Leyang Wen was of the same side as Hanba?” When Liu Zheng first arrived in the City God Temple today, the short man Leyang Wen and Fifth Brother Hanba stood side by side as they dealt with Wen Leyang and the rest.
Wen Leyang shook his head in slight dejection. This was the biggest unsolved mystery in his head.
Tian Shu disregarded all these. For him, the matter as a simple and clear. Their purpose was to capture Xiang Liu’s evil soul and compel Cone Nail to return to the Black and White Island. He smiled as he said to Wen Leyang, “The Pickle Jar…Tuo Xie entrusted someone to resurrect the Heaven’s cone nail. He seemed to have an admirable moral, trying to figure out a way to atone his mistake.”
Wen Leyang was caught off guard and laughed out loud. He was thinking in his heart that the grand master was not trying to atone for his mistake but was trying to save his wife…Wen Leyang shook his head as he diverted the topic again. “The enlightened person, there is still something I can’t quite understand yet. This matter is unrelated to the Black and White Island, but…”
The enlightened person Tian Shu answered in a rather delightful manner, “Ask away, if I know the answer, I will naturally tell you.”
Wen Leyang nodded, “I don’t understand. Hanba’s actual power is exceedingly high. Why did he refuse to reveal his corpse body in the beginning so he could kill me directly?” As he was saying that, he roughly told Tian Shu about the incident that happened between him and Hanba before Liu Zheng arrived at the City God Temple.
Liu Zheng burst out laughing, “Hanba was afraid that he might reveal his corpse body too soon, such that he might draw our attention!”
Wen Leyang immediately shook his head in denial, “Hanba did not know the existence of the enlightened person Tian Shu, the extremely predecessor sword immortal, in Shanghai.”
The enlightened person was feeling contented by Wen Leyang’s words of flattery. He pondered for a moment before smiling suddenly, “This ghost is indeed remarkable!”
Wen Leyang inquired closely out of concern, “How remarkable is it?