The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

Zhang Jun fell silent upon hearing this.

Chen Dong continued, "The Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Manual contains six methods, one of which is called Heart Fire Soul Refinement. I can conjure Heart Fire to burn away your connection to that wisp of soul. After that, you'll never have to worry about it again."

Zhang Jun remained silent, but the ten Golden Core cultivators beside him grew anxious.

"Daoist, if that's the case, why are you seeking death?"

"Right, Daoist! As long as you're here, Yun Gu still stands!"

Zhang Jun slowly asked, "What do you want?"

Chen Dong said with a smile, "We need to repair the Realm Passage. Just don't get in our way. It would be even better if you're willing to help."

'Repairing the Realm Passage? That's what they're really here for?' Zhang Jun was utterly astonished. His mood immediately grew heavy again. 'If they truly repaired the Realm Passage, cultivators from the Upper Realm's Yun Gu Sect could descend. When that happened, they would never spare a traitor like me.'

'But if I stay in this realm, even if the soul problem is resolved, Feng Fu will find me sooner or later! Compared to dying at Feng Fu's hands, I'd rather be purged by the Yun Gu Sect. That way, my guilty conscience might feel a little better.'

So, he asked indifferently, "How do you need me to help?"

Although Zhang Jun no longer cared if he lived or died, the people around him did. They all started talking at once, "Daoist, not so fast! Let this person help you with the soul issue first!"

"Right, right! If the soul problem can't be solved, we'll still have to fight them. Otherwise, once Feng Fu arrives, we won't have any chance of survival!"

"With Feng You dead, Feng Fu must already know. He's definitely on his way here now. If this person takes a long time to solve the soul problem, we might as well just fight them to the death!"

Chen Dong said confidently, "It won't take long. Just a few breaths! As long as Zhang Jun doesn't resist and opens his mind."

Hearing this, the Golden Core cultivators looked conflicted. Asking their Daoist not to resist and to open his mind… if Chen Dong had malicious intentions, wouldn't capturing their Daoist be as easy as a thought?

Zhang Jun, however, didn't think that way. 'He and Feng Fu had both witnessed Chen Dong's Saint's Afterglow. To him, Chen Dong was the reincarnation of a Saint; it was impossible that he would use such a despicable tactic.'

Withdrawing the warhammer in his hand, he closed his eyes. "Do it!"

Chen Dong lightly stepped forward. A strange flame ignited on his fingertip. It looked weak, yet it gave off a heartwarming sensation.

He gently tapped Zhang Jun's forehead, and the flame instantly burned its way into Zhang Jun's soul…

Among the myriad Daoist arts, some pursue the purity of the soul, seeking a state without flaws. After the Divinity Transformation stage, the seven emotions and six desires become obstacles to cultivation, which gave rise to techniques like "Wisdom Sword Severing Thoughts" and "Supreme Emotionlessness."

The art of Heart Fire achieves the same goal as these techniques, just through a different method. Unlike techniques of "severing" or "eradicating," its principle is "refinement." Once Heart Fire is condensed from one's willpower, it can be used to continuously refine one's soul, removing impurities to achieve purity and strengthening one's Divine Sense.

Normally, one must be at least in the Nascent Soul Stage to condense even a wisp of this Heart Fire. However, Chen Dong's Divine Sense and willpower were different from those of an ordinary Cultivator, allowing him to condense a wisp of Heart Fire while only at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Naturally, this wisp of Heart Fire had endless wondrous uses. It could not only refine oneself but also harm enemies, making it an extremely potent method of spiritual attack.

With Zhang Jun opening his mind and offering no resistance, using the "refining" method of the Heart Fire to sever his connection to that wisp of soul would only take an instant.

At first, Zhang Jun felt a slight sting, but after two breaths, he only felt his soul become clear and lucid, free from that binding thread. 'If not for the threat of this wisp of soul, I would never have ended up in this situation. My cultivation speed even slowed with that wisp of soul gone; otherwise, I wouldn't be much weaker than Li Zhixuan.'

Chen Dong withdrew the flame and smiled faintly. "It's done! Now, we must immediately drive out the Qixia Cultivators and take control of the Yun Gu Sect's Mountain Protection Array. If Feng Fu arrives, we won't be completely helpless!"

Zhang Jun shook his head and said, "I destroyed the Yun Gu Sect's Mountain Protection Array from the inside long ago. It's useless now."

Only after hearing this did Chen Dong realize something was wrong with the Yun Gu Sect. It didn't even have basic spirit-locking or spirit-gathering effects. He had been so engrossed in his deductions about the Realm Passage that he hadn't noticed. He'd just assumed Zhang Jun had intentionally left the Array inactive, but the truth was that the Mountain Protection Array was already broken.

Without any hesitation, Chen Dong flew up into the high heavens, looking down upon the entire Yun Gu Sect.

One look made his heart sink. The Yun Gu Sect's entire Mountain Protection Array was completely destroyed. He could repair it, but it would take a considerable amount of time. A Mountain Protection Array wasn't like other Arrays; the project was massive and the details were incredibly complex. Working alone, it would take him a month at the very least.

'With that much time, it would be better to just start repairing the Realm Passage.'

Chen Dong flew back down. Li Zhixuan quickly asked, "How is it?" He knew the importance of the sect's Mountain Protection Array. If it could be fixed, he would feel much more at ease.

Chen Dong shook his head. "No good. It's too thoroughly destroyed. We don't know when Feng Fu will arrive, so let's not waste any more time. I'm going to start work on repairing the Realm Passage now!" With that, he flashed back into the Daoist Hall.

The crowd started to follow, but Li Zhixuan blocked them with the flat of his sword. He said coldly, "Where do you think you're going?"

Zhang Jun frowned. "We're in the same boat now. What is the meaning of this?"