Chapter 216 - 209: Aftermath, Diagnosis
After confirming there was nothing wrong with his body, Jiang Zuo’s Divine Sense entered the Pet Beast Spirit Garden.
Worried that the Leichan’s remains would affect the Pet Beasts in the Spirit Garden, he had previously transplanted the Black Lotus to a more remote corner.
After most of the power from the black light fell into the Spirit Garden, it too landed in that corner.
This power contained exceptionally dense Spiritual Qi and other forces, making it appear viscous and heavy.
It looked like heavy, black Spiritual Qi.
The black Spiritual Qi only began to slowly spread outward after it landed in the area around the Black Lotus.
Last night, Jiang Zuo had Great Black, Xiaoqing, and the others mobilize all the Spirit Beasts to build a tall wall around this corner, containing the black Spiritual Qi near the Black Lotus.
Overnight, the wall had been built both high and thick.
If this black Spiritual Qi had severely corroded the soil and the wall couldn’t stop it, Jiang Zuo would have had no choice but to find an uninhabited place to release it.
However, a night had passed. Jiang Zuo checked and found that the black Spiritual Qi only eroded life.
In the corner where it had fallen, the grass and trees had all turned black and begun to wither.
However...
’The Black Lotus... it actually bloomed overnight!’
Jiang Zuo looked at the dozen or so Black Lotus plants that hadn’t bloomed in nearly two hundred years. Overnight, every single one had blossomed with black lotus flowers!
Seeing this, Jiang Zuo decisively scattered all his remaining Black Lotus Seeds in the area within the wall.
The Black Lotus blooming to produce seeds was a secondary concern. Although the resulting seeds could increase one’s Lifespan, they were of little use to Jiang Zuo.
Jiang Zuo’s plan was to purify this black Spiritual Qi as quickly as possible to prevent any complications.
After sowing the Black Lotus seeds, Jiang Zuo stopped paying attention to the situation inside the Spirit Garden.
’Next up is my Sea of Consciousness.’
Jiang Zuo’s Divine Sense returned to his Sea of Consciousness.
With the Mysterious Stele standing guard and his own Cultivation of the Divine Body Freedom Technique, Jiang Zuo’s Sea of Consciousness had suffered the least impact.
Compared to when Wu Zhonghai had tried to possess him, Jiang Zuo’s Divine Sense was now far stronger, and the methods at his disposal were vastly different.
After a little experimentation, Jiang Zuo quickly found the most effective countermeasure.
He could guide these foreign powers from his Sea of Consciousness into his Visualization World.
Inside the Visualization World, he could use the life forms he had already successfully visualized to fight against these foreign powers.
Jiang Zuo had long since figured out a rule regarding the Visualization World.
The more familiar he was with something, the more successfully he could visualize it into existence within the Visualization World.
Thus, within his Visualization World, Jiang Zuo had already visualized himself, Great Black, Xiaoqing, the Seated Mountain Eagle, and several other Pet Beasts he had raised.
However, whether it was his own Visualization Body or those of his Pet Beasts, they all still appeared rather faint.
By having them fight this foreign power, Jiang Zuo felt he could make them more solid. His own Divine Sense would also grow stronger through the battles.
However, they would also be consumed during the fight.
When they were depleted to a certain point, Jiang Zuo would have to use visualization to slowly restore them.
All in all, completely eliminating the foreign power from his Sea of Consciousness would take a rather long time.
But the final benefits for Jiang Zuo were self-evident.
In the following days, a large number of Cultivators flocked to Sword Casting Manor after hearing the news, while many others departed.
The series of events that had occurred at Sword Casting Manor also began to spread.
The news that over six hundred captured disciples from various families and sects had all died within one of Celestial Eye Black Pupil’s Secret Realms shocked countless Cultivators.
One must understand that while most of them were disciples from smaller families and sects, anyone deemed worthy by the Celestial Eye Black Pupil organization would not have poor talent.
Adding the more than two hundred who had died in the great battle within the Secret Realm earlier, it meant that nearly eight hundred young disciples had perished in a short time.
Even though these disciples came from the Ancestral Continent and the Western Divine Continent—two incredibly vast landmasses—the sudden death of so many promising young Cultivators would still have a significant impact on the future of the Cultivation Realm.
Celestial Eye Black Pupil had been dormant for several hundred years, but their first move back in the open shocked the entire Cultivation Realm.
In an instant, Celestial Eye Black Pupil surpassed all other Evil Cultivation Organizations, once again becoming public enemy number one in the Cultivation Realm.
Some organizations suspected of being associated with Celestial Eye Black Pupil were struck down without mercy.
Implicated by Celestial Eye Black Pupil’s actions, many Evil Cultivator organizations decided to lie low for the time being.
The other piece of news was undoubtedly related to Jiang Zuo.
He was born with a mid-low grade Mixed Spirit Root. Because of his special Beast Taming Talent, he wanted to join the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect but was ultimately rejected due to his poor Spirit Root Talent.
Having no other choice, he joined the Black Tortoise Dao Sect, where he quickly demonstrated the Beast Taming Talent he claimed to have.
Under the Black Tortoise Dao Sect’s guidance, in a mere fifty years, he went from the Qi Cultivation Stage to the Divine Body Realm and helped lead a group of disciples in a rare escape from a Secret Realm belonging to the Celestial Eye Black Pupil organization.
At Sword Casting Manor, the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect’s Elder Liao Shitong—the very elder who had rejected Zhou Yong’s entry—questioned Zhou Yong because of his Spirit Root Talent.
To prove himself, Zhou Yong, with only his early-stage Divine Body Realm Cultivation, brazenly challenged the mid-stage Three Flowers Realm Elder Liao Shitong. He won a resounding victory, relying on his eighteen third-rank Spirit Beasts and a Divine Sense he had possessed since the Qi Cultivation Stage.
Unfortunately, such a genius suffered retaliation from a great Cultivator of the Manifestation Realm. He was afflicted with the Daoist Shackles, his path to Cultivation completely severed. It was rumored that even Divine Doctor Lu could do nothing for him.
Normally, Jiang Zuo’s personal affairs wouldn’t compare to the deaths of hundreds of disciples.
But the fact that a great Manifestation Realm Cultivator would personally retaliate against someone with a mere Divine Body Realm Cultivation instantly drew countless eyes to his story.
You could say that in just two or three days, Zhou Yong’s name had spread throughout the Cultivation Realm.
Many Cultivators couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of regret after hearing his tale.
’If he hadn’t suffered retaliation from a great Manifestation Realm Cultivator, it would have only been a matter of time before this young man advanced to the Manifestation Realm himself.’
And with Jiang Zuo’s rise to fame, the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect was in for a world of hurt.
Not only was Liao Shitong criticized for being blind to talent, but many people also believed the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect was jealous and wary of Zhou Yong’s Beast Taming Talent. They speculated that the sect, not wanting him to grow powerful, had tried to frame him as a traitor at Sword Casting Manor.
This sort of thing wasn’t a huge deal in the Cultivation Realm, but for the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, one of the Ten Great Sects of the Ancestral Continent, to show so little magnanimity was truly a disgrace to their status as a great sect.
For the past two or three days, disciples of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect began to feel the faintly disdainful gazes of other Cultivators around them.
The Ten Thousand Beasts Sect quickly issued a response, stating that Liao Shitong had acted on his own out of anger and shame.
The Ten Thousand Beasts Sect had already stripped Liao Shitong of his elder position and sentenced him to a hundred years of penitent reflection.
Many Cultivators in the Far West Land who were more familiar with the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect scoffed at this news.
It was true that Liao Shitong was being punished, but the probable reason was his incompetence, which had implicated the entire Ten Thousand Beasts Sect.
The Ten Thousand Beasts Sect needed a scapegoat, and that was why Liao Shitong was being punished.
Jiang Zuo wasn’t interested in any of this. He didn’t leave his room or ask anyone for information, simply cultivating quietly inside.
Luo Taidong and his third senior brother, Yu Ying, came to see Jiang Zuo every day, worried that he might not be able to overcome his despair.
Jiang Zuo had once had a limitless future, but now his path of Cultivation was severed. It was no exaggeration to say he had fallen from heaven to hell.
Seeing him constantly cultivating, they assumed he wasn’t ready to give up and so they didn’t disturb him.
However, on the fourth day, the Little Monk Ling Xu came to visit, bringing a slender monk with him.
"Brother Zhou, this is my Master Jingkong. Master Jingkong is quite experienced in dispelling evil and breaking illusions. He heard about your situation and wanted to come have a look," Ling Xu said, introducing the slender monk.
"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Master Jingkong."
Jiang Zuo had no objection.
In his current state, he wasn’t afraid of anyone investigating him.
Letting Master Jingkong examine him would actually be more beneficial.
"Then this humble monk shall be so bold."
Master Jingkong placed his palms together, then came to Jiang Zuo’s side. He placed his fingers on Jiang Zuo’s wrist pulse and sent his Divine Sense probing into Jiang Zuo’s body.
Master Jingkong’s Divine Sense was very powerful; he could see through an ordinary Cultivator’s body in a single glance.
But the power inside Jiang Zuo’s body severely obstructed any invading Divine Sense.
Wherever Master Jingkong’s Divine Sense passed, all he could see was Jiang Zuo’s physical body bound by chains of Runes.
Or, in other places, there was only complete darkness.
"These Daoist Shackles are too profound and mysterious. Forgive this humble monk, for I am powerless to help."
Master Jingkong released his hand, shook his head, and sighed.
Hearing this, the hearts of Luo Taidong and the others sank once more.
Although Master Jingkong only had a Dao Fruit Realm Cultivation, his ability to dispel evil and break illusions was in no way inferior to that of a great Manifestation Realm Cultivator.
Manor Master Ou had said so, and now Master Jingkong was saying the same. It was basically certain now that no one could remove the Daoist Shackles on Zhou Yong.
Zhou Yong’s Cultivation would never advance another inch.
What’s more, under the influence of the Daoist Shackles, Zhou Yong’s Lifespan would also likely be greatly reduced.
Many other Cultivators from Sword Casting Manor and elsewhere had followed Master Jingkong inside.
Master Jingkong’s words also spread quickly.
Many who heard sighed, thinking to themselves that the genius disciple the Black Tortoise Dao Sect had worked so hard to cultivate was about to meet a dim and tragic end.
"Junior Sister, have you given up hope now?" Senior Sister Zhao said to Sikong Bing in her room. "Senior Sister has already delayed here for many days for your sake. I must return to the sect. Are you coming or staying?"
Sikong Bing sighed. She wanted to find Jiang Zuo to say goodbye.
But she figured that Jiang Zuo probably didn’t want to see her at a time like this, so she wrote a letter, had someone deliver it to him, and then gracefully departed with Senior Sister Zhao.
Jiang Zuo soon received Sikong Bing’s letter and felt a bit regretful.
He had been thinking that after getting out, he could still have a few fierce dual cultivation sessions with Sikong Bing before they parted ways.
He hadn’t expected events to develop so far beyond his predictions.
With Sikong Bing gone this time, he had no idea when they would meet again.
After Master Jingkong’s diagnosis, Jiang Zuo and his group no longer lingered at Sword Casting Manor.
Luo Taidong departed quietly with two other disciples.
On the Flying Ship, Luo Taidong said to Jiang Zuo, "Zhou Yong, although you’ve been afflicted with the Daoist Shackles, you can still raise Spirit Beasts. If your Spirit Beasts become powerful, it’s the same as your own strength increasing."
"As for your Lifespan, don’t worry. The Black Tortoise Dao Sect will do its best to find Life-Extending Spiritual Objects for you."
"Master, you don’t have to comfort me like this. Although I am afflicted with the Daoist Shackles, I have a feeling that I’ll be able to break free from them one day," Jiang Zuo said, giving him a heads-up for the future.