Chapter 271: The Fourth Divine Child
The purpose of planting death spiritual fire is to prevent strong mind power practitioners from extracting souls and probing for information, leaking secrets.
The young hidden persons of Jiu Li Hidden Sect must also have death spiritual fire planted when they go out on missions.
Given the power and mystery of Twin Rice Cult, the death spiritual fire planted in the bodies of Dao Seed Realm members is absolutely extraordinary and will not allow core secrets to leak. Even if a Saint Spirit Mind Master takes action to extract souls and probe, it is most likely futile.
Yet this red-clothed woman in front of him actually detected something under the condition of her body being burned by death spiritual fire. Shi Jiuzhai leaned against the wall, gazing at the man and woman in the distance, no longer daring to have the slightest mentality of underestimating Li Weiyi.
Although this hidden person had his martial way crippled, the invisible power he mastered was still frightening.
Perhaps in the near future, he could once again shock the world with the identity of a strong mind power practitioner and legendary insect tamer.
It was just unknown whether he could catch up to the ten people who had gone to Du’e Temple for cultivation?
This was destined to be a difficult road of pursuit!
……
Lakeside.
Zen Sea Observing Mist’s skin glowed white in the night, her beautiful hair had an extraordinary luster, surrounded by rosy glow, mysterious and hazy, narrating in a melodious tone: “Rice Person is Benevolent Rice grown to maturity.”
“The history of Benevolent Rice is incredibly ancient, and in the ancient books of various living realms, it first appeared about six hundred thousand years ago.”
“It is said that it originally came from the depths of the Nether Realm of the Dead, as the staple food of the supreme existences in the world of the dead, and later gradually flowed into the living realms, where it was widely planted.”
“So, the existence of Benevolent Rice should far exceed six hundred thousand years, but the years are too long, antiquity has blurred, and books have turned to dust.”
“Lingxiao Life Realm, because it borders Blood Sea, has blood rivers flowing underground everywhere, making it the best fertile field for Rice Persons to grow.”
“Therefore, Rice Persons have always wanted to seize this vast fertile land and reclaim the entire living realm into rice paddies for nurturing offspring.”
“Precisely because of this, for thousands of years, Lingxiao Life Realm has prohibited the planting of Benevolent Rice, aside from concerns of human nature and ethics. The greatest fear is the terrifying reproductive ability of Rice Persons, and their ambition for this land that has not been extinguished from ancient times to the present.”
“But even a thousand years ago, the forces in Lingxiao Life Realm secretly planting Benevolent Rice were too numerous to count, impossible to eradicate completely. However, with the control of the Imperial Court, Rice Persons could not grow strong or appear openly, and the lid on the Pandora’s box of disaster has always been firmly suppressed.”
At this point, Zen Sea Observing Mist sighed softly, her eyes looking toward the north.
That was the direction of Lingxiao City!
Li Weiyi had heard Zhao Zhizhuo mention it before, and he had looked into it himself: the major powers under heaven had long begun large-scale planting of Benevolent Rice.
First, to select cultivation talents with exceptional aptitude from them, for training dead soldiers, troops, and retainers.
Second, for population replenishment. After all, wars among martial way powerhouses have extremely high mortality rates; fields need people to till, mines need people to excavate.
Third, those without cultivation aptitude are treated as resources and commodities for selling, as slaves and servants, as oxen and horses, or as playthings on the beds of martial way powerhouses. The reason is that trading Rice Persons involves few disputes.
Even some brutal righteous armies use Rice Persons to feed exotic beast mounts.
When one kind of person treats another kind as grain or objectifies them, problems of human relations and human nature are infinitely amplified. Contradictions and hatred, distortion and extremism breed in the shadows unnoticed by anyone.
Zen Sea Observing Mist said: “Your friend indeed tracked Wang Zhi and Yang Qingxi, leaving Qiu Prefecture City. In Wang Zhi’s memory, they should have arrived at a place called Qingyi Town, located about two hundred li north of Qiu Prefecture City.”
“Qingyi Town.”
Li Weiyi memorized this place.
“Do you need me to make a trip?” Shi Jiuzhai asked.
Li Weiyi shook his head: “Too dangerous. I have a better candidate.”
“Then in the next period, I’ll have more contact with people from the evil path to gather more information on Twin Rice Cult.”
Shi Jiuzhai sniffed hard, his body leaped up, landing on top of the courtyard wall, looking toward the night outside, somewhat nervous: “It’s the scent of white rose emanating from that slut Shi Qiqing’s body; the whole street block will be filled with amorous vibes tonight. She must have done something to me and has already found her way nearby!”
Li Weiyi laughed: “Brother Nine seems a bit afraid of her.”
“This is a woman who made even Shi Liuyu flee upon smelling the fragrance… I’ll go hold her off. Although Jiu Li tribe and Earth Wolf King Army are now in a cooperative relationship, if she discovers us two meeting privately, she’ll inevitably grow suspicious.” Shi Jiuzhai said.
“Go ahead. I’ll handle these two corpses. For Twin Rice Cult matters, have Yin Er inform Hidden Lord.”
After Shi Jiuzhai left, Li Weiyi sniffed hard.
In the air, there was indeed a sweet fragrance.
After sniffing, many alluring scenes appeared in his mind, his heartbeat quickened, and looking at Zen Sea Observing Mist beside him, much of his previous wariness and respect diminished, giving rise to an impulse to pull her into his arms.
On the distant rockery, Li Ling who was keeping watch also had rapid breathing at this moment, her jade cheeks slightly flushed.
“What powerful white rose fragrance!”
Li Weiyi quickly performed the Jade Void Breathing Technique, his mind immediately clearing, suppressing the distracting thoughts.
……
The next morning at dawn, the sky was dimly lit.
Qingyun Vehicle Company was filled with black-clothed people, all silent, the atmosphere solemn and murderous.
Twin Rice Cult’s Fourth Divine Son Wang Shu, wearing a golden mask that covered only the upper half of his face, stood beside two charred corpses, his calm gaze looking toward the shattered small building nearby.
“Swish!”
His figure flashed.
He appeared in the building like teleportation, his double pupils turning blood-red.
Instantly, the entire world was crystal clear, even the dust on the ground countable particle by particle.
The footprints where Shi Jiuzhai had stood last night, and the way Wang Zhi had shattered the wall, were all restored one by one in his mind.
The next moment, Fourth Divine Son appeared on the street where Wang Zhi and Li Weiyi had fought, the deep grooves in the ground still there, various traces linking into scenes in his consciousness.
Returning to Qingyun Vehicle Company, he examined the two corpses again, and he already had an idea.
A black-robed old man used golden escape Daoist arts, flashing in golden light to appear beside Fourth Divine Son, his skin rapidly recovering from metal state to flesh and blood state.
His head and face completely covered by the hooded cape, in a hoarse voice he asked: “Any results? Who did it? Qingyun Vehicle Company is one of our important intelligence bases.”
Fourth Divine Son’s tone was icy: “The matters in Qiu Prefecture City are under your responsibility; I just entered the city.”
The black-robed old man squatted down to inspect.
“No need to check. It was that hidden person from Jiu Li Hidden Sect who brought people to do it; it must be Sui Sect and Yang Qingxi who leaked flaws and were traced here.” Fourth Divine Son said.
The black-robed old man said: “That hidden person is preparing to make a comeback, emerging from the shadows of decadence?”
“Anyone possessing seven marquis-level strange insects can rebuild confidence; this should be his last trump card. It’s laughable indeed: the Divine Cult wants to capture him, yet he kills two Dao Seed Realm powerhouses first. Explain this yourself to Southern Venerable!” Fourth Divine Son said.
The black-robed old man said: “The death spiritual fire in their bodies has already been triggered, showing Jiu Li Hidden Sect didn’t extract anything; the loss is controllable.”
“Controllable loss? My brother died here, and you tell me this is controllable loss?”
Fourth Divine Son removed his mask, revealing a young man’s face identical to Wang Zhi’s, and continued: “I’ll settle this score with Yang Qingxi. We must act quickly to capture Li Weiyi; no more talk of Taoli Mountain being a forbidden zone—he can’t stay on the mountain forever. Since Jiu Li Hidden Sect dares to oppose the Divine Cult, make them pay a price too: kill a few of their hidden persons.”
The black-robed old man was not afraid of this Fourth Divine Son before him; divine sons only had high aptitude and status, but cultivation not as high as his.
Heavenly prodigies of successor level within a jia zi could be listed as divine sons or divine maidens.
The higher the cultivation, the higher the ranking.
The reason this Fourth Divine Son targeted Yang Qingxi.
Was because Yang Qingxi, as the Sixth Divine Maiden of Dragon Seed Dao Cultivation, had terrifying cultivation speed in the recent half year, already reaching Dao Seed Realm Second Heaven, step by step threatening the status of other divine sons and divine maidens.
Having suffered heavy losses last night, the black-robed old man was at a disadvantage due to being in the wrong, so he could only respond cautiously. He said: “This is hard to handle! Jiu Li Hidden Sect is different from other hidden sects; it seems to have extremely few members, with strange selection methods—known by name but never seen. The Divine Cult has tried many ways but always failed to infiltrate their interior.”
“Hard to handle? Then don’t bother… Anyway, the cult is short on Dao Seed Realm rice fertilizer lately.”
Fourth Divine Son examined Wang Zhi’s corpse again; the flesh and blood were severely burned, but the bones, sea of qi, Feng Fu, Zu Tian were not destroyed, and the inner world had not perished.
Thus, he took out a porcelain bottle.
Pouring out golden liquid from it.
The golden liquid turned into light rain, sprinkling onto Wang Zhi’s charred corpse, surprisingly causing the shriveled corpse to gradually swell.
This golden liquid was refined from the life spring fluid inside the Benevolent Rice that nurtured him and Wang Zhi, which could save their lives in critical moments.
Of course, Wang Zhi now was thoroughly dead.
Definitely impossible to revive.
“One body, twin souls; ten thousand rice share roots.”
Fourth Divine Son muttered in his mouth, one hand pressing on Wang Zhi’s Zu Tian, injecting magic energy, which flowed through the veins throughout the body.
At the same time, he had someone cut open his own wrist, continuously dripping his blood into the corpse.
As large amounts of blood entered, Wang Zhi, shrouded in golden light, grew new flesh and blood and skin on the charred corpse.
“Pa!”
The charred shell fell off, revealing an intact corpse.
Fourth Divine Son’s blood consumption was severe, having lost about a third, and he immediately swallowed a blood pill to replenish.
Then, from his boundary bag, he took out a soul jar sealed with runes, performing a ritual that only twins could perform.
The black-robed old man saw that Fourth Divine Son intended to refine Wang Zhi’s corpse into a departed spirit soul servant and puppet substitute to enhance his own combat power.
This was a treatment enjoyed only by divine sons and divine maidens, and elders and above.
The soul jar contained powerful departed spirits suppressed by the Heavenly Principle Hall, the foremost of the cult’s four halls, in the Nether Realm of the Dead. These powerful departed spirits had been refined into soul seeds.
At this moment, Fourth Divine Son was planting the soul seed and one of his own mind soul intents together into Wang Zhi’s Zu Tian.
Using Wang Zhi’s corpse as a medium to control that powerful departed spirit.
“Whoosh!”
Blood-colored radiance flowed back and forth inside Fourth Divine Son and Wang Zhi’s corpse.
When the ritual ended, Wang Zhi on the ground let out a low roar from his mouth, eerily standing up, erupting with an aura that made even the black-robed old man wary.
Wang Zhi tried to attack Fourth Divine Son, but was suppressed by the latter’s mind intent, kneeling to the ground.
“Handle things here! That kid Long Ting has arranged to meet me; I still need to make a trip.”
Fourth Divine Son took Wang Zhi and sank into the underground, using Daoist arts level earth escape to leave.
