Chapter 1441: Lotus Seed Secured

Yue Mingzhu's eyes lit up. The fortune contained within the Black Lotus of Salvation was something she rarely encountered, and she was very curious. However, as she looked at the furious soul of the Divine Weapon State Venerable, she secretly shook her head. It would likely be very difficult to pry open his mouth and get the incantation for the spatial storage device.

Jiang Fan looked at the soul and said calmly, "You know what I'm going to ask, right?"

The Divine Weapon State Venerable coldly replied, "If I tell you, won't I lose my value? Do you think I'm that foolish?"

Jiang Fan said indifferently, "Have you forgotten why you were captured by me?"

The Venerable's soul stiffened, and he asked in a deep voice, "Why do you possess my domain?" The reason he was subdued at the last moment was that Jiang Fan had used his own 'Softening of All Things' domain, causing him to lose the power to resist. If Jiang Fan were to use it again, it could indeed soften the Venerable's resistance and extract the incantation.

Jiang Fan did not answer him, but instead said, "You have two choices. First, hand over the incantation. Second, I will extract the incantation, and then put you in here." He took out the jade bottle that Sinister Venerable used to torment his father's soul. Threads of white soul flames, visible through the black bottle, caused the Divine Transformation Venerable's soul to feel pain.

The Divine Weapon State Divine Transformation Venerable was both shocked and enraged: "You... are you a demonic cultivator? How can you possess such cruel methods?"

Jiang Fan's gaze turned cold: "When you tried to shift the blame, wanting the Black Dragon Grand Venerable to kill us to buy yourself time to escape, why didn't you consider yourself cruel then? Choose. You only have three breaths of time."

The Divine Transformation Venerable's soul's expression shifted continuously. It was hard to say how much of the 'Softening of All Things' effect Jiang Fan could replicate. Even if he didn't succeed with that, there was no guarantee he wouldn't have other methods. But if he spoke, he would lose his value. Gritting his teeth, he said, "If I tell you, can you guarantee to release me?"

Jiang Fan shook his head: "I won't release you. I can only guarantee that I won't kill you for now. I'll release you when you pose absolutely no threat to me someday. Alright, three breaths of time are up. Make your choice."

The reason he was so confident was that, besides being able to replicate the 'Softening of All Things' domain, he actually had another method: the Golden Serpent Saint Mother's domain. Her domain allowed him to control a person and turn them into a puppet. It should also be able to temporarily affect the soul body before him; he simply didn't want to waste it.

The Divine Transformation Venerable's soul gritted his teeth and said, "Do I have a choice? Thousandfold Tempering!"

Yue Mingzhu, standing nearby, showed a look of surprise. This guy's methods are truly something! He extracted the incantation so effortlessly; she had thought he would at least have to torment the other party first. She leaned closer curiously and said, "Quick, try it out! I've only heard of the Black Lotus of Salvation; I never thought it truly existed."

Jiang Fan, however, adjusted his posture, shielding Yue Mingzhu behind him. Yue Mingzhu laughed exasperatedly, "I can't even look? Do you think I'd steal it from you?" Jiang Fan said nothing more but used his Nascent Soul power to control the spatial storage device, sending it a hundred zhang away from his body. Only then did he open his mouth and shout, "Thousandfold Tempering!"

In an instant, the spatial storage device opened, but before Jiang Fan could examine its contents, an arrow, imbued with the immense power of a Divine Transformation Venerable, shot out with a whoosh. A large area of space visibly warped. If one wasn't prepared, even a Venerable of the First Heavenly Tribulation could be instantly blasted to death!

Yue Mingzhu's expression stiffened, and her hair stood on end, revealing a look of lingering fear: "This spatial storage device... has a trap?" Only then did she understand that Jiang Fan wasn't preventing her from looking. He had guessed there was danger and had therefore used his own body to shield her. Gazing at Jiang Fan's slender back, which nonetheless exuded an unusual sense of safety, she fell into a trance. This person was becoming more and more like Jiang Fan: equally cautious, possessing numerous ingenious methods, equally wise, and equally reliable.

Jiang Fan was staring coldly at the Divine Transformation Venerable's soul, murderous intent flickering in his eyes: "I knew you wouldn't be that honest!" The Divine Weapon State Divine Transformation Venerable before him appeared burly and simple, but from their previous encounters, he was exceptionally insidious. That was why Jiang Fan had taken precautions. He hadn't expected there to truly be a trick.

The Divine Transformation Venerable's soul's face turned grim, and he said, "How could you be wary of a spatial storage device?" In this world, very few Divine Transformation Venerables would set traps within their spatial storage devices. Firstly, Divine Transformation Venerables were extremely powerful and rarely perished, so the possibility of their spatial storage devices falling into others' hands was almost nonexistent. Secondly, the presence of a trap would create obstacles when one tried to retrieve items from it. He had originally thought that the person before him would fall for it severely, making his years of trap preparation worthwhile. To his surprise, Jiang Fan's caution was enough to drive him to despair.

Jiang Fan said calmly, "It's simple. Because I've fallen for this trick before." He still remembered how he had obtained the spatial storage device of Yan Daoan, the Vice-Building Master of the Jiangshan First-Rank Pavilion, back then. He had carelessly opened it without noticing, and was almost killed by a Nascent Soul power sealed inside. Now, when opening others' spatial storage devices, he had to be extremely vigilant.

The Divine Weapon State Divine Transformation Venerable's soul sighed deeply and closed his eyes in resignation: "Consider it my bad luck. Do as you please!"

Jiang Fan did not immediately deal with him. Instead, he carefully inspected the spatial storage device, confirmed that the trap within had been triggered, and only then reached inside. With a thought, the Black Lotus of Salvation was taken out.

Jiang Fan harbored a hint of apprehension toward this black lotus. The Golden Scale Grand Venerable regarded it as a forbidden item, which shouldn't be baseless. Furthermore, it was strange that the Black Lotus of Salvation, growing in black water, had no hellish creatures coming to pluck it. Initially, Jiang Fan thought there might be some danger in the black water, deterring the hellish creatures. Yet, the Divine Transformation Venerable before him had easily pulled it out without triggering any danger. Therefore, the danger likely stemmed from the Black Lotus of Salvation itself.

"Ugly girl, does the Black Lotus of Salvation pose any danger?" Jiang Fan asked thoughtfully.

Yue Mingzhu glared at him: "You're the ugly man!" After a moment of thought, she shook her head slightly: "It poses no danger; it's simply a rare natural treasure."

Is that so? Jiang Fan pondered, then looked at the single black lotus seed remaining in the topmost lotus pod. He projected a strand of Nascent Soul power from a distance, enveloping the black lotus seed. In any case, he had the Black Dragon Armor, so even if there was danger, it should be able to block most of it. Taking a deep breath, he exerted a little force. The black lotus seed was extracted. And there were no signs of any danger. "Was I overthinking it?" Jiang Fan wondered, but regardless, he had acquired the lotus seed that could help a Venerable of the Fourth Heavenly Tribulation advance to the Fifth. Without time for a closer look, he placed the lotus seed into a jade box.

As for the remaining parts of the Black Lotus of Salvation, Jiang Fan examined it from top to bottom, his gaze sweeping over the lotus pod and stem. When his eyes finally landed on the human-sized black lotus root, his pupils sharply contracted. His heart pounded violently in response.