Chapter 226: Shentu's Past, and the Path of Mortals through Suffering

Wei Tu only had a vague idea about what was inside the storage pouch and the Red Jade Ring.

After all, in the battle that killed the ghost infant, it was mostly thanks to the power of the Golden Purple Destiny. He hadn’t fully devoured the ghost infant’s soul.

Which, in hindsight, was actually a good thing.

Like a snake trying to swallow an elephant—it might succeed, but it’s far more likely the snake gets torn apart.

Master Shentu’s memories spanned over a thousand years. Wei Tu, a cultivator with just two hundred years of cultivation, simply couldn’t bear that kind of weight.

At that point, would he still be Wei Tu… or just another version of Shentu?

Besides, Wei Tu didn’t want his mind crowded with the life of a stranger.

After rummaging around Master Shentu’s corpse for a while, Wei Tu found a red storage pouch hidden inside the folds of his robe near the ribs.

“A self-destruct restriction… Seems that ghost infant didn’t lie. If I hadn’t agreed to the deal, this pouch would’ve been destroyed the moment he died.” As soon as he held it, Wei Tu noticed the complex array of restrictive marks all over the storage pouch.

And the sole purpose of these marks was to destroy it.

Wei Tu remembered that back when he was in the Qi Refinement Realm, he fought Geng Wen. At the time, Geng Wen, on the brink of death, destroyed his own storage pouch. But because his strength was lacking, he failed to fully obliterate it, and some jade slips had survived.

But this was different.

Nascent Soul cultivators like the ghost infant had more than enough power. Even if things looked grim, he could have activated the restrictions and wiped the pouch clean.

That he didn’t—was only because of the deal they struck before the fight.

“This ghost infant… he really kept his word. But why was he willing to stay here for centuries instead of seizing someone outside?” Wei Tu frowned.

His question was soon answered by a yellowing jade slip inside the storage pouch.

This slip was left behind by Master Shentu, containing a record of his entire life.

From birth to death, from Qi Refinement to Nascent Soul—it recorded everything in detail.

Seeing this, any regret Wei Tu had about not absorbing all of the ghost infant’s memories disappeared.

After reading the slip,

Wei Tu finally understood the strange behavior of “Master Shentu.”

The ghost infant didn’t leave to possess someone else because before his death, Shentu had sealed the stone chamber with a Nascent Soul-level restriction to keep the ghost infant from harming the outside world.

The ghost infant was Shentu, and yet also not Shentu.

As the ghost infant had said—

Seven hundred years ago, Master Shentu’s life had already ended.

The being left behind—this “ghost infant”—was merely a creature born of Shentu’s refusal to accept death. It was a ghostly entity he had forged with secret arts before dying.

He sealed the stone chamber…

Then turned himself into a ghost infant for the purpose of possession.

Everything he did was filled with contradiction.

And yet, after reading the jade slip, Wei Tu found himself understanding Shentu a little better.

Master Shentu’s real name was Xia Pinchen. He was born over three thousand years ago, in a bureaucratic family of the Jing Kingdom.

But Xia Pinchen disliked studying the classics. He loved roaming rivers and lakes, and at seventeen, he left home on horseback with a long sword at his side, becoming a wandering swordsman.

For several years, he wandered the martial world. During that time, he helped a descendant of a fallen cultivator. In gratitude, that person gave Xia Pinchen a cultivation technique.

From that moment on, Xia Pinchen stepped into the world of cultivation.

But his journey wasn’t smooth. He had poor aptitude—only a low-grade spiritual root—with almost no chance of ever establishing a foundation.

In order to buy Foundation Establishment Pills, Xia Pinchen went to the Demon Wolf Mountains and became a hired blade.

Thanks to his years of martial experience, he was skilled in combat. In the mountains, he quickly gathered enough spirit stones to purchase a Condensed Foundation Pill.

At one hundred and seven, Xia Pinchen successfully established his foundation and became a Foundation Establishment True Person.

Afterward, he married a female cultivator from a Foundation Establishment clan. This clan had produced talisman masters for generations.

With easy access to resources and teachings,

Xia Pinchen transitioned into the path of talisman cultivation.

But his talent in the Talisman Dao was just as lackluster as his cultivation aptitude.

By all logic, the Foundation Establishment Realm should’ve been the end of his path.

However, at two hundred and thirty-one, Xia Pinchen unexpectedly encountered a demonic cultivator. After slaying him, he learned about the existence of the Great Void Realm.

The demonic cultivator had been a direct descendant of the Stone Demon Sect. Unfortunately, the sect had long since fallen, and this man’s cultivation was also only at the Foundation Establishment stage.

After learning about the Great Void Realm—

Xia Pinchen immediately set off for Tonghu Mountain in the Zheng Kingdom to explore the legacy site of the Stone Demon Sect.

Just like Wei Tai and other Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators, Xia Pinchen successfully entered the Great Void Realm.

However, unlike “Wei Tai” and the others, Xia Pinchen had in his possession the “Great Void Stone” from the direct disciple of the Stone Demon Sect. So even if he encountered danger within the Great Void Realm, he could still escape unscathed by relying on the Great Void Stone's teleportation.

Because of this, Xia Pinchen quickly gathered the resources needed to break through to the Golden Core realm and at the age of three hundred forty-six, he successfully formed his core, becoming a True Lord of the Golden Core.

Later on, outside the Great Void Realm, Xia Pinchen came upon other fortuitous encounters—such as talisman master inheritances and more. These accumulated over time, paving the way for the birth of a rogue cultivator at the Nascent Soul realm.

At the age of seven hundred eleven, after condensing his Nascent Soul,

Xia Pinchen, out of gratitude for the opportunities provided by the Great Void Realm, gave himself the name “Shentu Shangren” using the name of the Blood Slaughter Sea.

In the following century, he founded a sect named the Fire Essence Sect. In addition, on the ancient plains of the Southern Desolate Wastes, he built an underground palace for himself to monopolize the immense opportunity that was the Great Void Realm.

His actions matched closely with the murals on the walls of the underground palace corridor.

After reaching the Nascent Soul realm, Xia Pinchen’s potential was exhausted. Breaking through to higher realms became nearly impossible.

As such, Xia Pinchen secluded himself in the underground palace for a death-closed-door cultivation. One reason was to attempt a breakthrough in cultivation, and the other was to explore the inner region of the Great Void Realm.

Confident in his Nascent Soul cultivation, Xia Pinchen believed he could pass the “Cold Crystal Platform” and reach the inner realm of the Great Void Realm to obtain the complete legacy of the Stone Demon Sect.

In reality, he truly did cross the seventh demonic trial, the “Cold Crystal Platform,” with his Nascent Soul cultivation and arrived at the inner region of the Great Void Realm.

Yet, just as the Great Void Realm had brought him great fortune, it also became his downfall.

Upon reaching the inner region of the Great Void Realm,

Because he wasn’t a true descendant of the Stone Demon Sect, Xia Pinchen was unaware that the inner region was filled with a colorless, odorless poison known as the “Qixing Haitang Toxin.”

This poison was planted by the Stone Demon Sect ten thousand years ago, during the sect’s destruction, to prevent their enemies from seizing their sect’s legacy.

Once infected, even Nascent Soul cultivators would find it difficult to completely expel the poison. All they could do was watch as their cultivation regressed day by day.

Upon discovering this, Xia Pinchen attempted to use the Great Void Stone to escape, only to find that it failed at the crucial moment and was instead shattered by a formation's backlash.

With no other options, Xia Pinchen had to temporarily retreat to the Blood Slaughter Sea and use his profound cultivation to forcibly purge the Qixing Haitang Toxin.

Several centuries passed, and bit by bit, Xia Pinchen managed to expel the poison from his body. But unfortunately, by the time he had succeeded, his lifespan was down to less than two hundred years.

What’s more, the detoxification process left him in a weakened state.

With no hope for another breakthrough in cultivation,

Xia Pinchen exited the underground palace, settled his affairs, and prepared for one final closed-door attempt to break through and extend his life.

If he failed, he would die in that very underground palace.

Time passed, and before long, two hundred years went by. The moment of Xia Pinchen’s death drew near.

At the brink of life and death, he felt deep fear.

It was then that he remembered a ghost cultivation secret art he had obtained in the past—an art that could “extend life” by sustaining one's soul.

It even offered the chance to seize another’s body.

However, the practice of body-snatching had always been condemned by righteous cultivators. And Xia Pinchen had always considered himself part of the righteous path.

Practicing ghost cultivation methods, and even going so far as to seize another’s body… was a moral line Xia Pinchen could not cross.

Caught in this internal struggle,

Xia Pinchen made a choice.

He left behind the “Daoist Sword-Wielding Scroll” inside the underground palace, placed it on an offering altar, and returned to his Blood Slaughter Sea residence to begin cultivating ghost techniques.

Before doing so, Xia Pinchen set up restrictions at the entrance of the stone cave, and erased his own memories of talisman and formation arts. If no one entered the cave, he would meet death as expected—and in that case, he wouldn’t have made any mistakes.

But if someone did enter the cave, it meant that the heavens hadn’t abandoned him.

That fate hadn’t ended yet.

He would seize this person’s body, fulfill their unfinished goals, and after leaving the Great Void Realm, return to walk the righteous path again.

“Righteousness in the mortal world is forged through hardship.” After reading Master Shentu’s jade slip, Wei Tu let out a sigh.

Two years ago, Master Shentu tried to seize his body—he was at fault and carried guilt for it. But if Wei Tu had been a disciple of the Fire Essence Sect, holding reverence for Master Shentu as their founder, he might not have met such a grim fate.

The “Daoist Sword-Wielding Scroll” was, in truth, Master Shentu’s enshrined portrait.

“To carry the heart of a chivalrous hero to the end is no easy task. A man who lived righteously all his life can, with a single slip in his final moments, become a villain.”

Wei Tu shook his head. He intended to uphold the agreement he had made with the “Ghost Infant”—to return Master Shentu’s remains to his homeland.

If he hadn’t stumbled into the Great Void Realm this time, then Master Shentu would’ve died as that wandering swordsman from Dafa Slope, not some wretched soul turned ghost to steal another’s body just to cling to life.

Of course, in a way—

The Ghost Infant’s failed attempt to possess Wei Tu, and its eventual destruction, could be seen as fulfilling Master Shentu’s final wish—to a certain extent. If he had truly wanted to seize another, Master Shentu wouldn’t have left a restrictive formation in the cave to bar the Ghost Infant’s escape. Nor would he have erased his own knowledge of talisman and formation arts before death.

The Ghost Infant that followed was merely the lingering malicious intent Master Shentu left behind in this world.

…

After understanding the full story of Master Shentu, Wei Tu began sorting through the contents of the storage pouch he left behind.

The contents weren’t much. Hardly any Spirit Stones remained—Master Shentu had already exhausted them all in the final years of his life.

There were several dozen jade slips.

But most of their contents were identical to what Wei Tu had already found in the underground palace.

Aside from repeated “Talisman Master inheritance” and “cultivation manuals,” there was also a set of third-rank formation art inheritance and some unorthodox demonic techniques.

For example, the ghost path technique Master Shentu practiced near the end of his life—Rakshasa Yin Technique.

As for magic tools, there were two: a yellow jade tablet, and a bronze mirror with a crimson-reflective surface.

However, upon seeing these two magic tools—

Wei Tu hesitated.

Both artifacts had been brought out from the inner region of the Great Void Realm by Master Shentu. They were stained with a spiritual poison known as “Seven-Star Begonia.”

This poison, even with Master Shentu’s cultivation, had taken several hundred years to completely expel.

Facing such items, Wei Tu had to exercise the utmost caution. He wasn’t going to take unnecessary risks right now.

Thankfully, apart from the magic tools, Master Shentu had also left behind a talisman box.

Inside were a number of high-grade third-rank talismans, personally drawn by Master Shentu before his death seven hundred years ago. These were likely left behind as compensation for whoever his successor might be through possession.

The talisman box was sealed with several restriction seals.

However, Wei Tu noticed that the box had a slot shaped like a miniature stele.

After a brief moment of thought, he retrieved the “Talisman Heart Stele” and inserted it into the matching slot.

In an instant, spiritual light burst forth from the talisman box. The lid separated from the box, revealing ten golden-glowing jade talismans inside.

“All of them are high-grade third-rank talismans. Five offensive, five defensive. Master Shentu truly planned this out thoroughly.” Wei Tu scanned the rune marks and instantly recognized the names and types of the ten talismans.

“It's just a shame there are no fourth-rank talismans.” A trace of disappointment flickered across Wei Tu’s face.

Still, he hadn’t really expected fourth-rank talismans before opening the box.

First, to prevent the Ghost Infant from using a fourth-rank talisman to blast open the restrictive formation that Master Shentu had placed in the cave during his lifetime.

Without fourth-rank talismans, the Ghost Infant wouldn’t bother trying to open the box, thus saving its strength.

After all, with the cave’s limited spiritual energy, expending even a bit more power could mean one less chance of a successful possession in the future.

Second, the spirit ink and talisman paper needed to craft fourth-rank talismans were incredibly hard to obtain.

Master Shentu had been among the weaker Nascent Soul cultivators. He likely didn’t have many fourth-rank talismans to begin with.

Before his death, he had clearly made arrangements for his sect and descendants. If there had been any fourth-rank talismans, they would’ve gone to his sect—not to the one meant to be possessed.

“Still, these high-grade third-rank talismans are good enough for me. I don’t need to go up against Nascent Soul cultivators.” Wei Tu tucked the ten jade talismans into his sleeve, thinking silently.

His current enemies were people like Gui Luo, the Demon Lord. With these ten high-grade third-rank talismans and his current cultivation, he had enough strength to protect himself. He didn’t need fourth-rank talismans.

“In fact…”

“I don’t even need to clash with Gui Luo and the others. I’ll just leave the cave, retrace my steps, and exit the Great Void Realm.”

Wei Tu smiled slightly.