Chapter 254: Master and Disciple Debate the Dao

Wu Dao Peak.

Void Sage sat in a secluded chamber, his eyes closed in meditation. Uncharacteristically, his Demonic Heart stood obediently to one side, resembling a formal painting. On the nearby table, Bai Su sat opposite him, dressed in white, one hand propping up her chin, her gaze fixed intently on the sage.

This tense standoff had persisted for an unknown length of time. Finally, Void Sage couldn’t bear it any longer and opened his eyes. A flash of helplessness crossed his features as he met Bai Su’s gaze.

“Finally willing to open your eyes?” Bai Su’s eyes gleamed with triumph. “Don’t think you can fool me by feigning ignorance.” It seemed she had finally won this battle of wills.

“You’re not her. Why…”

“Spare me the preaching,” Bai Su interrupted sharply. “When you forced me into this body, you should have foreseen this outcome.”

They had argued this point countless times before, each session ending with Void Sage falling silent. This pattern continued until six months prior, when Bai Su, taking advantage of Void Sage’s seclusion, administered a pill to him—a pill refined by Chen Luo.

From that moment, their relationship fundamentally changed. Void Sage could no longer treat her with his former detachment.

“It’s my fault. I’ll… I’ll handle this.”

Void Sage sighed, a pang of regret twisting in his heart.

He regretted that impulsive decision he’d made after leaving the demonic cultivation realm years ago. But an arrow once shot cannot be retrieved; the deed was done, and now he had no choice but to face the consequences.

“Someone’s here!”

Void Sage’s expression shifted mid-sentence. His figure blurred as he instantly teleported to the entrance. Bai Su’s panic flared. Why must something go wrong at the critical moment?

Chen Luo stepped back onto Wu Dao Peak, riding the wind. He no longer watched over Huang Ying’s ordeal.

The path had been cleared. Now, the rest depended entirely on her own efforts.

Yesterday, while helping Huang Ying through her tribulation, Chen Luo had discovered a method to conceal his aura. This technique would precisely circumvent the detection of the immortal sect’s master.

At the cliff’s edge, Master Xianhe and Master Chengfeng dozed below. Chen Luo didn’t disturb them. With his current cultivation level, even deliberately concealed, Master Xianhe couldn’t sense him.

After ascending the mountain, Chen Luo unleashed his divine sense, instantly enveloping the entire Wu Dao Peak. Such a blatant sweep of his spiritual power immediately alerted Void Sage, who emerged from within moments later, clad in black robes. His aura surged forth, abruptly cutting off Chen Luo’s divine sense.

“Which fellow cultivator…”

“Master, I’ve returned.”

A faint smile spread across Chen Luo’s face as he interrupted Void Sage mid-sentence. Before descending the mountain, he had speculated about Void Sage’s cultivation level, but now he finally saw it clearly: Foundation Establishment Peak! No wonder the sage had shattered the curse on his body so effortlessly before.

“Little Luo? Is that you?!” Void Sage froze, just as Bai Su flew out of the inner chamber. Her face lit up with delight upon seeing Chen Luo.

“Junior Brother, you’re back! Thank you so much for refining the Marriage Pill. Without it, I never would have subdued that old monster.”

Chen Luo’s expression stiffened, and he met Void Sage’s gaze.

You refined the pill?

Void Sage’s face twisted bitterly. Truly worthy of being my most promising disciple. This blunder cuts deep.

Half a day later, Chen Luo and Void Sage sat together in the cultivation hall.

“Your Elder Sister Bai Su isn’t human,” Void Sage said, pouring Chen Luo a cup of tea. “I brought her out of the Demonic Heart Art using the Soul Attachment technique. She now inhabits the body of a human infant in Guoshan County.”

For the first time, master and disciple spoke as equals.

“The Demonic Heart Art can bring people out?”

Chen Luo himself had practiced the Demonic Heart Art, but he hadn’t discovered any method to bring people out of it.

“I trained in the wrong direction,” Void Sage said. “My obsessions couldn’t be purged; I could only store them in external objects.”

He pointed to a painting nearby. A group of Demonic Heart women, unusually quiet today, didn’t even dare emerge from the scroll in Chen Luo’s presence.

Void Sage was a successor to the Demonic Heart Ancestor, or, more accurately, a vessel cultivated by the Old Demon as a host for his soul. However, Void Sage thwarted the Old Demon’s possession plan and leaked the information.

The already soul-damaged Demonic Heart Ancestor was slain by the Blackstone Ancestor in alliance with the Qiong Hua Sect. It was Blackstone Ancestor who had led the Qiong Hua Sect from the far west to this region.

After the Demonic Heart Ancestor’s death, various factions divided his legacy. Void Sage obtained the cultivation technique, the Blackstone Ancestor seized secret arts and his former Daoist temple, and the Qiong Hua Sect claimed the Demonic Heart Ancestor’s corpse. Among the three forces, Void Sage was the weakest, so after securing the cultivation technique, he swiftly fled, unnoticed by anyone. Later, conflict erupted between the Blackstone Ancestor and the Qiong Hua Sect, leading to multiple battles. Both sides mistakenly believed the other had inherited the Demonic Heart Ancestor’s full legacy and reaped the greatest rewards.

It was under these dire circumstances that Void Sage found a glimmer of hope. He eventually reached the Seven Kingdoms region, where he was rescued by an ordinary family.

The trial he later set for Chen Luo involved descendants of that very family.

This karmic connection had been established long ago.

After recovering from his injuries, Void Sage left the Shi Kingdom and traveled north. There, he met the previous master of Wu Dao Peak, who rescued him once more. He stayed on Wu Dao Peak and eventually became its master.

Bai Su was born from the Demonic Heart left behind during that near-fatal injury.

Void Sage’s Demonic Heart Art differed from Chen Luo’s. Due to the incomplete nature of the original technique, he had devised his own method to complete it. This method was unorthodox, as he lacked the knowledge and experience derived from studying a mummy brain. The resulting technique harbored significant flaws.

The greatest problem was that the Demonic Heart couldn’t be destroyed, only transferred.

During his Demonic Heart Tribulation, he lived an entire lifetime with a woman in his demonic realm. When he awoke, unwilling to part with the ‘wife’ from that tribulation, he collected that demonic will and, during a later demonic upheaval, implanted it into the body of a deceased female infant in Guoshan County, resurrecting her.

And thus, a karmic entanglement was born.

Void Sage’s eyes flickered with helplessness as he reached this point in his tale. He himself didn’t know what he was feeling.

“What level of cultivation has the Demonic Heart Ancestor attained?” Chen Luo asked.

This was Chen Luo’s first time hearing of the soul-seizing technique. For the Demonic Heart Ancestor to have accomplished such a feat, he must be far more powerful than an ordinary Core Formation cultivator.

“Mid-stage Core Formation. But his origins are shrouded in mystery. He’s not a cultivator from the Southwest Territory, and he carries many secrets. His cultivation techniques and treasures differ fundamentally from our region’s system.”

“What about the demonic turmoil in Guoshan County? I passed through there before returning, but I didn’t sense any presence stronger than Foundation Establishment.”

Guoshan County.

When this name was mentioned, Void Sage’s expression turned grave.

“The aura wasn’t strong, yet it proved impossible to eradicate. You must have seen the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Art when you were there, correct?”

This technique, similar to the Demonic Heart Art, was one Void Sage had studied himself. In fact, his completion of the Demonic Heart Art relied heavily on references to the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Art.

“It shares some similarities with the Demonic Heart Art, but its level is far too crude. I burned it.”

Chen Luo didn’t hide anything. He was now at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage and possessed a Silver Carapace Corpse King. If he unleashed his full power, he could move freely throughout the Seven Kingdoms. He was confident he could even face the Core Formation Ancestors of the Three Sects.

At worst, he might not be able to defeat them, but he was certain he could retreat unscathed.

“It can’t be destroyed. Once the time reaches the third quarter of the morning, everything in Guoshan County will return to its original state. The people who were killed, and the items that were destroyed—all will be restored.”

The Three Sects had tried to annihilate the area before. Three Core Formation Ancestors personally intervened, using their Core Formation power to flatten the land. But every time the third quarter of the morning arrived, everything they had destroyed would immediately reappear. After dozens of such attempts, the Three Sects concluded:

Guoshan County cannot be destroyed.

It can only be sealed!

Strange Tales: Written by one who attained enlightenment through brush and ink.

Suddenly, a thought surfaced in Chen Luo’s mind from the mummy’s brain.

“A book?”

Chen Luo was startled. Could Guoshan County actually be a book? Could this magical land have formed from a fallen book? Could its author be an immortal from the upper realm?

“The Three Core Formation Ancestors once calculated that Guoshan County isn’t a real place, but rather a projection.”

Void Sage was unaware of Chen Luo’s thoughts. He simply shared the information he knew.

“I see,” Chen Luo nodded, not pressing further.

The master and disciple continued talking, gradually moving from mundane matters on the mountain to cultivation techniques. As they spoke, Void Sage discovered that Chen Luo’s cultivation level was actually stronger than his own. The youth had even condensed a Pseudo-Core Seed within his body—if one disregarded the quality of a Golden Core, he could attempt Core Formation at any time!

The conversation shifted to an exploration of their respective dao paths.

Void Sage was also preparing for Core Formation, but he lacked confidence in overcoming the Demonic Heart Tribulation. Despite cultivating the Demonic Heart Art, he remained fundamentally a conventional immortal cultivator, leaving him uncertain when facing this trial.

Chen Luo offered some advice based on his own experience with Tribulations.

Having ‘survived’ a Demonic Heart Tribulation—albeit the one faced by Elder FusionSpirit—he had learned valuable lessons. Sharing these insights proved immensely beneficial to Void Sage. In turn, the elder shared his experiences in deducing and creating cultivation techniques, greatly enriching Chen Luo’s understanding.

Their discussion began at dawn and continued through the night, stretching from the darkness into another dawn.

After the philosophical debate concluded, both sides gained valuable insights.

“What’s the Sect Master’s condition now?” Chen Luo asked, suddenly remembering the Sect Master’s presence on Divine Lake Peak after the debate.

“I’m not entirely sure. That old man’s behaving strangely. He likely won’t pass away peacefully,” Void Sage replied, shaking his head.

Over the years, he had tried probing Divine Lake Peak, but the Sect Master was a Core Formation expert. Even Void Sage could only conduct indirect inquiries.

“Do you think he might be attempting soul possession?” Chen Luo blurted out.

“No. The secret art of soul possession involves much higher realms. After the Demonic Heart Ancestor’s death, that technique was lost,” Void Sage answered, shaking his head. As the one who had personally destroyed the soul possession manuals, he spoke with authority on the matter.

“Forget it. There’s still over four years left. If we endure this period, we’ll naturally uncover the old man’s tricks.”

Lifespan is something no human force can resist.

Even the Sect Master of an immortal sect is ultimately human.

Leaving the cultivation hall, Chen Luo went to the back mountain once more. To him, the spirit meridian enhancements on God Lake Immortal Sect held little value. Even Divine Lake Peak, where the Sect Master resided, was merely a second-rank spirit meridian, no better than the Gu Demon Mountain in the demonic cultivation realm.