Chapter 528: The Beginning and End of the Matter

"Nine-heart Lotus?"

This time, not only did Zhang Xuan frown in confusion, but Luo Zhu, who was beside him, also looked puzzled, as if he had never heard of the name.

"Yes! The Seven-heart Lotus is known as a Sacred Artifact, and after refining, it can form a physical body. But... the Nine-heart Lotus is something that has never appeared on the Master Teacher Continent. If you had to assign it a grade, it would definitely be considered a Divine Artifact!"

"Divine Artifact?" Everyone gasped in unison, frozen in place.

Like cultivation techniques, treasures are also categorized into five levels: Divine, Sacred, Spirit, Ghost, and Mortal. Sacred Artifacts are treasures that cannot be found even if one searched the entire Myriad Kingdom Alliance. Higher-level Divine Artifacts exist only in legends, and it's unknown if even one can be found on the entire Master Teacher Continent.

And this pitch-black object was actually a treasure of that level? That was truly terrifying!

Divine Artifacts were treasures that even Master Kong could not obtain back then.

"I naturally couldn't succeed in forcibly refining a Divine Artifact. Not only was all my wealth swallowed, but my soul was also imprisoned within it, unable to leave. This imprisonment lasted for tens of thousands of years..."

At this point, the tomb owner sounded extremely depressed. It was understandable; he had intended to refine the lotus, condense a physical body, and then soar through the heavens, rising to prominence. He never dreamed that not only would he fail, but he would also be imprisoned and unable to escape, unable even to die... It was a miracle he hadn't gone mad from the despair.

It was like being thrown into a prison for an unknown number of years, unable to leave. To have endured until now, this person's willpower must have been incredibly strong.

"So, you want to use the 'substitute' strategy, having one of us suffer in your place so you can regain your freedom?" Zhang Xuan looked over.

"Yes!" the tomb owner replied, "Trapped for tens of thousands of years, I constantly thought about how to escape this thing's grasp. After an unknown period, I finally came up with an idea!"

"The Nine-heart Lotus imprisoned me, but since it didn't refine or devour me, it meant it couldn't kill me. If I could find another fresh soul to replace me, I might be able to escape!"

It was like how, when someone drowned in a river, every few years, it would seek a scapegoat. The Nine-heart Lotus merely needed a soul. By finding a replacement, he could escape this suffering and wouldn't have to remain in this dark tomb forever.

"Once I understood this, I began to work on separating my soul. After an unknown amount of time, I finally managed to split off a portion. However... its strength was too weak, only around Mortal Transcension 3-dan. I thought that with such low strength, it wouldn't last long before being consumed by the 'Streamer Decay' and dying naturally. Who knew... at that very moment, this grave robber arrived!"

Everyone was stunned, then looked at Luo Zhu. His face flushed.

Having his identity exposed publicly, he felt a bit embarrassed. After all, this profession wasn't exactly glorious; it was more like petty theft, something that couldn't be openly discussed.

"So, I had a bold idea! I intentionally made the entrance mechanisms relatively simple, allowing him to enter smoothly, and then... I rushed forward to possess him!"

The tomb owner continued, "And it succeeded. This fellow, out of fear, hastily left the place. Originally, my plan was simple: after successfully possessing him, I would use the Soulless Golden Men to attract more people, then carefully select the most suitable one to replace my soul. Who knew that this fellow's will was firm, and after the possession, my strength was greatly reduced, so I never succeeded. In the end, I was even destroyed by a weak fatty..."

As he spoke, the lotus trembled non-stop, filled with deep resentment.

"Cough, cough!" Sun Qiang, called a weak fatty, scratched his head awkwardly. The soul had tried to possess him, but it was devoured by the Heaven's Path True Qi left in his body by his young master. To be precise, his strength was indeed negligible compared to the other party's.

Hearing this, everyone finally understood. No wonder such a powerful entity was here; how could Luo Zhu have escaped so easily the first time? It turned out he was intentionally allowed to leave to attract more people.

Although the plan was good, he probably never dreamed he would encounter a monster like Zhang Xuan. The soul, painstakingly condensed over unknown years, was completely destroyed on the spot.

"Wait..." Zhang Xuan waved his hand, frowning as he looked over. "Since you could separate your soul and leave the lotus, why did you still need to possess others?"

Since this entity's main goal was to escape the lotus, and it could already separate a portion of its soul to leave, why did it still need to lure others here and try to possess them? After all, the separated soul was part of it, carrying its thoughts and consciousness, which was already equivalent to escaping its confinement.

"I... did separate a soul, but... that soul was severely damaged when it left the lotus and wouldn't last long! Even if the possession succeeded, it would only be a temporary solution. To truly escape this thing, someone else must replace me with a new soul..."

"Then... why didn't you just directly bewitch Luo Zhu and have him replace you? What if he left and didn't want to come back? Wouldn't you be stuck again?" Zhang Xuan continued to ask.

Trapped in the tomb for tens of thousands of years, and only then did Luo Zhu arrive. How could he be sure the other party would bring more people? Wouldn't it have been better to try to bewitch him and have him act as a substitute first?

"Grave robbers are inherently yin-natured; such people cannot cultivate the Soul Guiding Art!" the tomb owner said. "Besides, looking at his age, he's almost at the end of his life, and with such low strength, what good would possessing him do? Would I have to face death again?"

Luo Zhu's face flushed. He didn't expect that right after Sun Qiang was disdained, he would be disdained too...

Hearing the explanation, Zhang Xuan nodded. That made sense.

When a Witchcraft Soul Master possesses someone, there's a 'possession decay' where their own power diminishes with each possession. Given this, if he were to act, he should aim for a good target, not just settle... It would be better not to waste the opportunity.

"Later, the soul I separated was destroyed, and I thought all hope was lost. But then you arrived... The rest was simple!"

"Then you lured us into cultivating the Soul Guiding Art. Once we could make our souls leave our bodies, you would, under the guise of a challenge, make our souls contact the lotus... In this way, our souls would be automatically attracted, and thus... become your scapegoats!" Zhang Xuan said.

"Yes!" The tomb owner did not deny it.

Only then did everyone understand what was happening, and cold sweat broke out on their backs.

Before, this entity had spoken nicely, claiming to be testing them. But now it seemed that if they had truly cultivated the Soul Guiding Art and succeeded, their souls would likely have been devoured by this bizarre flower, and their bodies completely possessed.

Fortunately, Master Zhang discovered it early; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"Wait a minute!" Zhao Fei Wu frowned. "Given your strength, shouldn't you be able to directly extract our souls from our bodies and have them devoured by the lotus?"

Since this entity was a six-star Soul Master, capable of setting up even the Mirage Divine Illusion, extracting the souls of cultivators whose strongest was only Mortal Transcension 4-dan shouldn't have been difficult!

Why bother with the trouble of having them cultivate the Soul Guiding Art?

"Let me explain that," Zhang Xuan said, looking over calmly. "It's not that he didn't want to do that; it's that... he couldn't!"

"Couldn't?" Everyone was puzzled.

"There are two reasons. First, Witchcraft Soul Masters suffer from 'combat decay.' Forcibly using soul power to extract others' souls would cause significant harm to himself! Second, trapped within the lotus, he has already exerted all his strength just to control the mechanisms and ambush me. He simply cannot fight or even eliminate so many of us! Otherwise, he would have acted long ago instead of constantly using mechanisms against us, even hiding himself to avoid detection!"

Zhang Xuan said. When the other party used martial arts to attack, the Library of Heaven's Path generated books, which allowed him to see through the trick.

Otherwise, he couldn't have been so courageous as to rush forward directly and dig out the lotus.

Being trapped by a Divine Artifact, it was already impressive that he could extend his soul and aura to control mechanisms. If he could easily eliminate everyone, he wouldn't have gone through so much trouble.

Only then did everyone realize. No wonder such a powerful entity had been so hesitant and secretive when facing their group of weaklings. It turned out... this entity was merely putting on a show, at most capable of radiating an aura and using some mechanisms, but unable to actually harm them.

The tomb owner evidently hadn't expected that his inability to exert his full strength would also be seen through by this young man. He was filled with horror and a sense of defeat.

He had originally thought that if the other party didn't know, he could still use his aura to pressure and threaten them. Now, it seemed, even that last shred of hope was gone.

Especially with this fellow's silver needles inserted into the very spot where the lotus's will could emanate, preventing him from even controlling the mechanisms. He was living a life worse than death, and any thought of resistance was certainly impossible now.

"Alright, let's talk about the Dragon-Severing Lock!" With everything uncovered and the most powerful six-star Witchcraft Soul Master subdued, everyone sighed in relief as Zhang Xuan looked over.

Now that the passage was sealed, the only way to leave was to open the Dragon-Severing Lock. Since this entity had locked it, it must have a way to open it.

"That... I really can't open it!" the tomb owner's slightly embarrassed voice resounded.

"You can't open it? Then if you had succeeded in possessing someone, how would you have left here?" Zhang Xuan couldn't help but ask.

Since this entity wanted to escape the lotus, it must have thought about how to leave. It couldn't possibly succeed in possession only to trap itself here again because of the Dragon-Severing Lock!

"I can leave using... a Witchcraft Soul Master's methods!"

"Witchcraft Soul Master's methods?" Everyone was puzzled.

"Look up. Above the tomb, there's a mechanism. If opened, it leads directly to a pool of water above... Witchcraft Soul Masters, with their light souls, can fly freely. Even if I had succeeded in possession, as long as I was willing to pay the price, I could still fly out from here... Normal Mortal Transcension realm cultivators cannot fly, so... even if I told you, it would be useless!"

"Fly?" Everyone looked up in unison and indeed saw a peculiar-looking rock at the very top of the main hall. At such a height, let alone Zhang Xuan and the others, even Pavilion Master Sai, at Mortal Transcension 4-dan, wouldn't be able to reach it.