Chapter 441: Who Exactly Has a Mental Problem?
Jin Hu froze for a moment, his expression suddenly filled with extreme panic. He trembled as he spoke to his father beside him, “Dad! My Spirit Soul is trapped!”
“Who? Who trapped your Spirit Soul?” Elder Jin anxiously inquired.
“I don’t know. You should know, my Spirit Soul was hidden in the Storage Ring and taken out by Junior Brother Liao. I just contacted my Spirit Soul, and he said the Storage Ring has been sealed from the outside by Spiritual Sense and is completely impenetrable.” Jin Hu explained, forcing himself to remain calm.
“What about you?” Elder Jin quickly turned to ask Bao Gang.
“I… I’m the same!” Bao Gang replied, gasping for air. Due to his lower cultivation level, his head was already in unbearable pain.
“This definitely wasn’t done by your junior brother! Something happened to him!” Elder Jin’s face turned extremely grim.
…
“So that’s how they banish their Spirit Souls. No wonder they could last so long!”
“Yeah, hiding the Spirit Soul in a Storage Ring can weaken the Heavenly Dao’s Will’s suppression to a certain extent. It’s a good method.”
“It won’t weaken it much. If their Spirit Souls don’t return soon, they’ll be annihilated by the Heavenly Dao!”
“These two are going to have terrible luck. Once their Spirit Souls are annihilated by the Heavenly Dao, they’ll immediately dissipate into nothingness!”
… “Serves them right! Why would they try to take shortcuts!”
…
The cultivators around exclaimed or mocked, their true colors showing. After all, the remaining sects were somewhat ill-mannered and were not afraid of Jinliu Sect.
“Dad! What do we do now? I can’t hold on much longer. Once that Spirit Soul is annihilated by the Heavenly Dao’s Will, I’ll also dissipate into nothingness!”
“Yeah, Master! You must save us! If anything happens to us, no one will be able to honor you in the future!”
… Jin Hu and Bao Gang pleaded, their faces a stark contrast to their previous arrogance, now appearing panicked due to pain and fear.
“Don’t panic, everyone, don’t panic. I’ll use my Spiritual Sense to investigate first.” Elder Jin soothed them with a trembling voice, then immediately released his Spiritual Sense to scan the surrounding situation, trying to find any clues.
“Look, look! I’ve been telling you to recall your Spirit Souls quickly, but you wouldn’t listen. Now look what happened. Truly, you reap what you sow.” Qi Huang said sarcastically from the side. Although the people from Jinliu Sect were angry, they had completely lost their composure and had no energy to argue.
“You knew their Spirit Souls were in trouble long ago?” Cheng Hong Ling, being intelligent, immediately reacted and asked via Mind Transmission.
“Of course I did! Otherwise, why would I kindly remind him?” Qi Huang replied, unable to suppress a chuckle.
“But how do you know?” Cheng Hong Ling pressed on.
“Don’t worry, you’ll know soon enough.” Qi Huang kept her cards close to her chest, as revealing it now would spoil the surprise later. Cheng Hong Ling was so angry that her teeth gnashed. She really disliked this feeling of not being able to see through a clone, yet it wasn’t entirely her clone, so she could only fume.
“Dad… *hiss*… How is it? My Spirit Soul can’t hold on any longer!” After a while, Jin Hu asked with difficulty, clutching his head.
“Ah… Master, save me… My head hurts so much!” Just then, Bao Gang couldn’t hold on any longer. He rolled on the ground clutching his head.
“I haven’t found anything!” Elder Jin replied with a dark expression.
“Then… then what should we do? Are we just going to wait here to die?” Jin Hu stammered, his eyes red with fear. Elder Jin hesitated, but ultimately, he shamelessly cupped his fist and pleaded with those around him, “Fellow Daoists, for the sake of being under the Immortal Alliance, could you please help me find my son’s and beloved disciple’s Spirit Souls? I will surely repay you handsomely afterward!”
…
“He’s just making empty promises. Everyone is busy cultivating for this Evergreen Convention; who has time to help you find Spirit Souls?”
“Yeah, what does your son losing his Spirit Soul have to do with us? You also say we’re all under the Immortal Alliance, why don’t you say we’re all human?”
“Doesn’t Jinliu Sect claim to be the third major Immortal Sect in the Xihui Dynasty? How come someone in Yongning Prefecture dares to attack your disciples? It seems your influence is nothing more than this!”
… The surrounding major sects not only watched coldly but also kicked them when they were down, exposing the ugliness of human nature.
“Elder Zuo, Steward Cai, can you help us? Jinliu Sect has always shown respect to the Immortal Alliance.” Elder Jin had no choice but to plead with the two stewards from the Immortal Alliance.
“Fellow Daoist, there’s no need to worry. I am here. All movements in this Prefecture Capital will not escape my notice.” Elder Zuo did not refuse and confidently assured him, as he indeed had a responsibility to protect the cultivators under the Immortal Alliance.
“Thank you! Thank you. From now on, Jinliu Sect will follow the Immortal Alliance’s lead!” Elder Jin was overwhelmed with gratitude.
Qi Huang, however, slightly curved her lips. If you want to find them, you have to identify the suspects first. With everyone hidden, even if you see the perpetrator, as long as their words and actions don’t betray them, how can you confirm they are the culprit? Thinking this, Qi Huang immediately used Mind Transmission to remind the person who acted to hide themselves carefully.
Elder Zuo’s vast Spiritual Sense immediately spread out, covering the entire Prefecture Capital. Unfortunately, as Qi Huang had expected, due to the lack of clues and suspects, his brow began to furrow as time passed.
“Ah! I can’t take it anymore! My head is going to explode!” Just then, Jin Hu also clutched his head and rolled on the ground, while Bao Gang beside him was foaming at the mouth and rolling his eyes.
“Elder Zuo? Did you find anything?” Elder Jin urged anxiously.
“Fellow Daoist, I was indeed careless earlier. There are no clues and no suspects. If the culprit hid your son’s Spirit Soul, even if I saw them, I wouldn’t be able to confirm it!” Elder Zuo shook his head helplessly.
“Elder Zuo… then… what should we do now?” Elder Jin’s voice finally began to tremble.
“I’m sorry, I’ve done my best.” Elder Zuo could only respond with a blank expression.
“Dad! Save me!” At this moment, Jin Hu was in so much pain that his body shrunk into a ball, like a shrimp struggling to survive under the scorching sun.
“Elder Zuo, I beg you! He is my only son! If you can help me, I will honor you every year!” Seeing his son on the verge of death, Elder Jin completely lost his composure. He then plopped down on his knees in front of Elder Zuo and pleaded without thinking.
“Honor me? How dare you insult my integrity! Get lost!” Elder Zuo roared in anger and kicked Elder Jin away.
Qi Huang felt it was about time and lazily said, “It’s better to beg me than to beg him! As long as you agree to change your names, their Spirit Souls will naturally return!”
“What? Are you serious?” Elder Jin seemed to have grasped a lifeline and broke into a tearful smile.
“Of course. You can also question me; I’m not forcing you!” Qi Huang said lazily. Hearing this, Elder Jin showed hesitation.
“So, the Spirit Souls of those two were captured by you?” Cheng Hong Ling asked incredulously via Mind Transmission.
“Of course. Otherwise, why do you think I could remain so calm?” Qi Huang replied triumphantly.
“No, you stayed on the arena the whole time, how did you capture their Spirit Souls?” Cheng Hong Ling raised a doubt.
“Don’t you remember? I have many friends in this Prefecture Capital. It’s not a problem to ask them for a small favor.” Qi Huang guided her.
“Are you talking about Juyin Auction House?” Cheng Hong Ling indeed thought of that place first. She pondered for a moment and then asked, “But how did they find those two Spirit Souls?”
“They didn’t find them; I did. Don’t you think I was doing nothing while staying on the arena? Ever since I made the bet with the people from Jinliu Sect, I knew these guys would go back on their word. So, when I learned they had banished their Spirit Souls, I secretly searched the vicinity with my Spiritual Sense and quickly discovered a disciple in Jinliu Sect uniform acting suspiciously. After a little surveillance, his mission was exposed. I immediately told my friends about this disciple’s location, and then I had them control this Jinliu Sect disciple and, incidentally, trapped those two Spirit Souls.” Qi Huang revealed the events in a half-truthful manner. Although the general process was like this, the people who helped her were not friends, but her clone, Huang Di. At this moment, Huang Di was leisurely drinking tea at a tea house near Juyin Auction House, patiently waiting for the main body’s next command. Since he hadn’t exposed anything suspicious, even if Elder Zuo found out, he wouldn’t suspect him of being the culprit. Cheng Hong Ling, upon hearing the events, stared with her mouth agape. She never imagined that this mentally unstable clone’s thinking would be so meticulous, calculating every step of the opponent and having already prepared a countermeasure. “Who exactly has a mental problem?” For the first time, Cheng Hong Ling doubted her own intelligence.
