Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

Broken off all Ties

Following Yin Hanjiang's directions, the Sect Master stood in Qingyue's room and began the technique. He had been told that, using this array, the transferer would be able to maintain some of their spiritual essence. He waited for a moment, perfectly still, and was overjoyed to discover that he wasn't losing as much spiritual essence as he thought he would.

Hè Wenzhao, standing guard outside, glared at Yin Hanjiang and Baili Qingmiao. At first, his thoughts filled with rage, he didn't feel anything. But gradually, he realized that his spiritual essence was incessantly pouring away. However hard he tried to take in spiritual energy, he couldn't keep up with the rate of loss.

Abruptly, he found out he couldn't move his legs from the spot he stood. Hè Wenzhao wasn't an idiot. He turned toward Yao Jiaping. "Is this your scheme?"

Underneath his skin, Yao Jiaping slowly smiled. He had already chased off all the other Shangqing Sect members, claiming that he needed peace and quiet, so now only the Sect Master, Qingyue, Hè Wenzhao, "Yao Jiaping", and "Baili Qingmiao" were in the side hall.

Hè Wenzhao circulated his spiritual essence, trying to resist, but found out that the more he did, the quicker it was drained.

"What exactly did you do?" he said.

"Nothing much. I just feel so sorry for your master, being so old and having to fall back to Foundation Establishment. As his disciple, isn't it proper for you to take on your master's burdens?" Yao Jiaping said casually, as he enjoyed Hè Wenzhao's look of alarm and fury.

This array was certainly an invention of Yao Jiaping's. It had a very clever manner of action. The one undergoing the transfer inside was not actually transferring their spiritual essence, just maintaining the array, inexorably sucking away the spiritual essence of the guard outside. Yao Jiaping, to think of such an array that traded people's lives, certainly was a twisted person.

However, this array didn't have the ability to prevent the guard's escape. What Yao Jiaping wanted to see was the guard running away in order to preserve their spiritual essence, and the two people inside suffering backlash from the array, one ending up dead and one injured, knowing they had been betrayed by someone they trusted. That was Yao Jiaping's goal.

Yin Hanjiang obviously didn't want Hè Wenzhao to run. That's why Wenren È had created that talisman, which Liu Xinye had gotten Hè Wenzhao to drink.

It was made to restrain the Blood Demon. Wenren È was one of the only two blood cultivators in the world. During the battle at the Blood Hell, the demon's attack on his blood marks allowed Wenren È to comprehend how to restrict the marks. After Hè Wenzhao drank the talisman he had made from primordial chaos energy, the Blood Demon's marks were sealed and he fell into slumber.

As for Hè Wenzhao, he was currently affected by an immobilization spell Yin Hanjiang had cast. Without the Blood Demon as backup, there was no way Hè Wenzhao could stand up to Yin Hanjiang, who had already broken out of the mortal realm.

"Yao Jiaping, you're too vicious!" Hè Wenzhao shouted.

"Vicious?" said "Yao Jiaping". "It's your master inside, and the shishu you owe your life to. It's only right for you to sacrifice yourself. Don't you want to help your master? The Shangqing Sect still needs a Sect Master who understands the bigger picture."

Hè Wenzhao knew there was no use talking to Yao Jiaping. He immediately sent a transmission to his master, about to ask him to stop the transfer, but it was blocked.

Yin Hanjiang had already sealed off the courtyard, so that only he and Baili Qingmiao could hear Hè Wenzhao.

Seeing his spiritual essence was already half gone and he had fallen from Mahayana to Deity Transformation, Hè Wenzhao gave up on yelling at Yao Jiaping and turned to Baili Qingmiao. "Shimei, shimei, please, save me! If this goes on, I'm going to become an ordinary mortal who's just stepped through the gates!"