Although the matter of the Forest of Vengeful Spirits was over, Youyou still felt that something was off. First of all, where did those vengeful spirits in the forest come from? Although Yuyu Island was a large island, it didn't have any mortal kingdoms; only cultivators would go there. If those vengeful spirits were all cultivators, such a large number of them would require at least the annihilation of a top-tier or large immortal sect.
However, while many immortal sects have disappeared over the years on the Immortal Continent, most of these were caused by the fall of celestial maidens, and no such massacre of a sect had ever occurred. Furthermore, they had inquired about it afterward. Originally, Yu Yu Island did not have this Forest of Resentful Souls; in other words, this forest only appeared after the merging of that immortal-level secret realm. Those resentful souls originally resided within the secret realm.
This makes things even stranger. How could a celestial-level secret realm, especially one that's unclaimed, imprison so many vengeful spirits within it? Vengeful spirits aren't like dungeons or instances that can be created simply by having the ability. Only truly deceased people become ghosts. This means that so many people have indeed died within this secret realm.
So who imprisoned them in the secret realm, and what kind of torture did they suffer to turn them all into vengeful spirits?
"It was Jingchen!" Nie Zheng suddenly exclaimed excitedly. "It was definitely that traitor Jingchen who did it. No one in the mortal realm could have done this except for him." The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Mortals could never create a Celestial Realm; only immortals could do it. And right now, the only immortals in the mortal realm were him and the elusive Jingchen.
“That’s certainly possible!” Ling Qi nodded. “But what exactly is the purpose of this Jing Chen you’re talking about? And why haven’t you been able to find any trace of him all these years? And what is the purpose of creating so many vengeful spirits?”
"This..." Nie Zheng was also stunned. This was something he had been struggling to understand. Logically, Jing Chen was originally an immortal. If he stole the divine artifact to improve his cultivation or gain resources and status in the immortal realm, there was no need for him to risk descending to the mortal world. After all, for immortals, there was nothing in the mortal realm that they valued. Even becoming the number one person in the mortal world meant nothing to immortals. But Jing Chen's goal was very clear: after obtaining the divine artifact, he immediately descended to the mortal world. And what about the matter of the Forest of Resentful Souls? If he truly did it, what was his motive?
The more Ling Qi analyzed it, the bigger the mystery became. He couldn't figure it out for a while, so he turned to look at You You, who seemed to be deep in thought, and couldn't help but ask, "Sect Master, what do you think?"
You You then came to her senses, glanced at the two of them, and said in a deep voice, "I'm wondering, what if he did more than just this one thing?"
"What?" Nie Zheng and Ling Qi were both taken aback.
“There are more than just these vengeful spirits in that merged immortal realm; more importantly, there’s the soul essence!” You You analyzed seriously. “The soul essence can soothe the vengeful spirits, so before the realm merged, these vengeful spirits were bound beneath the Vengeful Spirit Forest. When I discovered the soul essence before, it was heading towards the Vengeful Spirit Forest. Now that I think about it, it might not be a coincidence.”
It's possible that initially, before the secret realm merged, the soul energy was used to suppress those vengeful spirits, but due to a deviation caused by the merging of the secret realm, the two separated. And when Youyou saw the soul energy heading straight towards the Forest of Vengeful Spirits, it's very likely that it was simply drawn back to its original location.
"What the sect leader means is that the Soul Breath might actually be part of the Forest of Vengeful Souls." Ling Qi was startled.
You You nodded, pondered for a moment, and then looked at the person next to him and said, "Father Yuan, soul essence must be very rare, right? Even for the gods, isn't it very precious?"
“Of course!” Yuan Qi nodded. “Even in ancient times, soul essence was extremely rare. I’ve heard that it is actually the innate primordial energy, which can comfort countless living beings. Even for the gods, it is something that is hard to come by.”
"I see..." Youyou frowned. "Then how does it compare to divine artifacts?"
Yuan Qi was stunned, and Ling Qi and the others were also surprised.
"Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence?" You You continued, "Whether it's this Soul Breath, or the Crimson Sword and the Earth-Shaking Cauldron before, these divine artifacts are springing up one after another like mushrooms after rain. The Three Realms are so vast, you could say these things are understandable in the Immortal Realm, but why do they have to appear in the Lower Realm? Is there some great allure in the mortal world that makes even divine artifacts yearn for the mortal realm?"
"Sect Master, do you mean..." Ling Qi's eyes widened as he thought of this.
“Nie Zheng…” You You turned to look at Nie Zheng and said, “Are you sure that the traitor Jing Chen you mentioned only brought down one divine artifact?”
Nie Zheng froze, his face filled with shock, and he suddenly became uncertain. "I...I'm not sure either. The Emperor's decree only stated that the Heart Mirror had been stolen, and didn't mention any other divine artifacts." Besides, even in the Immortal Realm, he had never heard of...so many divine artifacts.
"So if Jingchen really did this, there are only two possibilities. First, your emperor is lying to you, and the stolen artifact is likely more than one. Second, even worse, there might be another, more powerful enemy behind Jingchen, who wields multiple artifacts and can throw them out at will to harm people."
Nie Zheng gasped, his expression growing even more serious. If that were the case, would he still be able to complete the mission?
Ling Qi and Yuan Qi also frowned.
“If the matter of the divine artifact is related to the Forest of Vengeful Spirits,” You You continued to analyze, “then the incident where Lin Feng and the others were trapped in Taogui Town, and the locals used an array to absorb the cultivators’ cultivation, causing the Earth-Shaking Cauldron to riot, may also be related to this. Even more so, among these vengeful spirits, there may be the ghosts of the cultivators who died tragically back then.”
Everyone fell silent, their expressions growing even more somber, as they came to understand the crux of the matter.
“Even…” You You’s face darkened, and she unconsciously tapped the table as she continued, “The place where people consume cultivation products may not be limited to Taogui Town. Even the Demon Cave where Shuiyan and the others were imprisoned may be related to this matter.”
"A den of demons!" Nie Zheng exclaimed in shock. "You mean evil cultivators were involved too? How is that possible?"
“Possibly!” Before You You could explain, Yuan Qi spoke first, “Shui Yan and the others were also disciples of the Immortal Sect. The Demon Cave captured them to replenish their cultivation. It’s no different from the method of absorbing the cultivation of cultivators in Tao Gui Town.”
"This doesn't make sense!" After Ling Qi explained the Demon Cave to Nie Zheng, he couldn't help but say, "If these things were all manipulated by someone, their goal should be cultivation, but these cultivations haven't fallen into the hands of anyone else."
Indeed, the cultivation power in the Demon Cave was harvested by evil cultivators, while that in Taogui Town was directly absorbed into the underground. It seems the person behind it all gained nothing.
These things, though seemingly unrelated, are actually connected by a thread. Youyou felt something was off, as if something was missing.
Perhaps they weren't practicing cultivation, but rather... taking some kind of test?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
