Chapter 602 - 598: Eternal Annihilation
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"Isn’t this too easy?" Cheng Yifeng still found it hard to believe.
The main altar of the Evil Sect, mysterious and powerful, an unshakable existence.
If it weren’t, the Evil Sect wouldn’t have existed for so many years.
Yet, such a formidable stronghold was no match for Chu Zhiyuan, easily destroyed with a flick of the hand.
This contrast struck him intensely.
Chu Zhiyuan laughed, "For those who know, it’s not difficult; for those who don’t, it’s impossible. Once you find their weakness, they crumble with one blow... Let’s go in."
"...Come, let’s go in and have a look."
Cheng Yifeng snapped back to his senses and nodded fiercely, "Let’s see what their main altar looks like!"
The two floated in, reaching the valley.
The silent valley, under the sunset, was almost soundless.
Standing in the valley, one could hear the wind rustling from afar and the chirping of birds.
The ground was littered with skeletons, jade cauldrons embedded in the stone walls, faintly glimmering.
Cheng Yifeng felt uneasy all over and turned to ask, "Princely Heir, these jade cauldrons seem alive."
Chu Zhiyuan laughed, "Ignore them; they no longer pose a threat."
"Really not a problem?" Cheng Yifeng asked.
He felt something was off.
Chu Zhiyuan said, "They probably want to lower their power; we just won’t let them succeed."
While speaking, he formed a sealing gesture with his hands and lightly struck the largest jade cauldron.
The jade cauldron immediately began to emit light.
The glimmer grew stronger, from gentle to dazzling, and finally blinding.
Cheng Yifeng even found it hard to open his eyes.
When he managed to open them, a burst of light flashed before him like a small sun falling.
"Bang!" The violent force erupted.
He felt like a leaf in a storm, powerless to resist, carried away by the wind.
In mid-air, he opened his eyes wide, seeing Chu Zhiyuan standing stably a hundred meters away.
The huge jade cauldron had vanished, leaving only a large pit on the stone wall.
Chu Zhiyuan appeared in the pit in a flash, quickly picking up an orb with a smile.
Cheng Yifeng adjusted his breath mid-air, steadied himself, and floated down beside Chu Zhiyuan, "Princely Heir, what’s this?"
"These orbs must be collected in full; they can sense the Evil Sect sorcerers."
"No wonder."
"All remaining jade cauldrons must be destroyed to find the orbs inside."
As he spoke, he floated to another jade cauldron and treated it the same way.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
...
Chu Zhiyuan stood in the twilight, examining the orb the size of a green apricot in his hand.
Cheng Yifeng had already ordered nine grandmaster-level experts to scour the valley for all that could be scavenged.
Chu Zhiyuan was uninterested in any of this, focused solely on the green apricot-sized orb.
"Princely Heir, is something wrong with it?"
Cheng Yifeng stood beside him, watching Chu Zhiyuan stare at it for a quarter of an hour, eyes fixed as if entranced.
Chu Zhiyuan sighed and shook his head.
"What’s there to see?"
"Indescribable wonder!" Chu Zhiyuan exclaimed, "That the world has such strange things!"
Upon integrating all the orbs contained within the jade cauldrons of the Yuding Sect, the Outer Heaven Divine Crystal underwent an inexplicable transformation.
Some of its secrets finally unfolded to him.
Cheng Yifeng asked, "What makes it indescribably wonderful?"
Chu Zhiyuan shifted his gaze from the Outer Heaven Divine Crystal to Cheng Yifeng, smiling, "All Yuding Sect sorcerers can be annihilated with a thought!"
"What does that mean?"
"Every sorcerer of the Yuding Sect carries a strand of their primordial spirit in this orb, and that strand can destroy them," Chu Zhiyuan chuckled, shaking his head, "Such a method of control, it’s truly ruthless!"
Cheng Yifeng blinked, trying hard to understand what this meant.
Moments later, he slowly said, "So, those sorcerers have already submitted their lives in advance?"
Chu Zhiyuan nodded, "At the cost of their lives, they could quickly gain great power in life, but after death, they had to offer all their soul and essence blood."
"Isn’t that too tragic?... Are these people fools?"
"Living to enjoy life, after death, who cares how? They think once they’re dead, everything disappears, offering essence blood and soul doesn’t matter."
"Does it really not matter?"
"If it truly didn’t matter, would these Outer Heaven Demons be toiling in vain?"
"After a person dies, does their soul remain?"
"As far as I know, it’s definitely there, but when it dissipates or how it dissipates, I don’t know."
He practiced the Yin Yang Return to Void Technique, able to see Yin Yang Qi and souls.
Through the Eternal Spirit Secret Scripture, he learned that within a soul resides a primordial spirit.
This is an indestructible entity.
But for more specifics, without condensing the Eternal Spirit Seal, figuring it out is impossible.
He only practiced the Divine Return Secret Technique, aiming to practice the Eternal Spirit Seal, he had to finish his duties and cultivate under the Eternal Spirit Divine Tree.
"So it doesn’t matter if they are devoured?"
"It definitely matters, but what the mysterious intricacies are, remains unknown; these Outer Heaven Demons are on a higher level that we cannot comprehend."
"So you can directly eliminate the Yuding Sect sorcerers?"
"Yes, I’m going to try." Chu Zhiyuan said, "Zou Fang."
"Yes." Zou Fang, returned hastily, nodded solemnly.
He looked around.
Cheng Yifeng curiously watched Chu Zhiyuan, who closed his eyes and stayed motionless.
A moment later, the orb, the size of a green apricot, became crystal clear, its glow shimmering like a rippling clear spring.
A quarter of an hour later, Chu Zhiyuan opened his eyes and smiled, "Done."
"Those Yuding Sect sorcerers are dead?"
"Yes, they’re all dead."
"Regardless of how far away they are?"
"That’s right." Chu Zhiyuan smiled faintly.
Earlier, he had used the Sacrificial Refining Method to thoroughly refine the Outer Heaven Divine Crystal for his own use.
The strands of souls contained within obeyed his command; with a single thought to kill, these souls would perish, taking their masters with them.
Such a control method was indeed exceptionally treacherous.
"What about sorcerers from other evil sects?"
"The rest of the Evil Sect isn’t affected... probably only after all main altars are destroyed and all Golden Venerable statues are obliterated."
This control was only applicable to the disciples of the Yuding Sect.
The other Evil Sect disciples couldn’t be controlled this way yet.
He speculated it was because not all the orbs within the Golden Venerable statues were gathered.
If the orbs were gathered and integrated into the Outer Heaven Divine Crystal, it could be like the Yuding Sect.
"So, if all the main altars of a sect are destroyed, all disciples of that Evil Sect can be annihilated?"
"Exactly."
"That’s wonderful!" Cheng Yifeng clapped, "We worried they’d rise again after we destroyed the main altar; now this is great!"
"One end is an eternal end, forever eradicated." Chu Zhiyuan slowly said, "It’s well worth all the effort."
Cheng Yifeng said, "If you can truly achieve this, everyone would bow to you."
Chu Zhiyuan chuckled.
Cheng Yifeng said, "That would be a great merit, the Princely Heir will surely ascend the imperial throne; no one could outcompete you."
Chu Zhiyuan smiled but said nothing.
If he wanted to become the Emperor, he’d need to wait ten years, though he didn’t want to wait that long.
Cultivation demands, slow by a step, slow by every step.
Just like Grandmasters and Great Grandmasters have age limits, once past the age, they can’t take the step.
The Outer Heaven cultivation surely follows a similar principle.
If he found himself powerless, relying only on the Emperor’s Sword to ascend, he’d have to wait.
But now, without relying on the Emperor’s Sword to ascend, there was no need to waste ten years.
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