Chapter 902: Nangong Yaoyao, Cut Off From All Help, Cultivates the God-Devouring Technique

Celestial Lotus Sect, White Lotus Peak.

Nangong Yaoyao stepped out of True Lord White Lotus’s palace and returned to her own cave residence.

“My lady.”

Her handmaids, Huo Wu and Liu Yin, saw Nangong Yaoyao in her white lotus dress—ethereal and pure, yet with a figure that drew the eye—and bowed at once.

Even as women who served by her side, they still found themselves entranced by their lady’s beauty.

Blessed with peerless looks and the Immaculate Heavenly Fragrance Body, Nangong Yaoyao’s fame spread the moment she entered the Celestial Lotus Sect.

After forming her core and advancing her cultivation, the Heavenly Fragrance Gu, Immortal Grace Technique and Jade-Bone Physique magnified her allure to a stunning degree, like a woman stepped out of a dream.

Every frown and smile carried an indescribable charm that tugged at peers in her realm, stirring fondness, even a racing heart, until they surrendered at the hem of her white lotus dress.

On looks and talent alone, the name “White Lotus Enchantress, Nangong Yaoyao” had spread far over the decades.

People knew True Lord White Lotus had taken in another breathtakingly beautiful female disciple, whose methods outstripped those before her.

She not only converted the Daylight Golden Crow Sect’s personal disciple Ji Shaoyi, she also gathered several well-known Core Formation cultivators as devotees under her skirt.

Eight years ago, even a rogue Core Formation cultivator who had escaped a Core Formation Grand cultivator fell to her charm, leaving many stunned.

“Master has summoned me to Gusang City. Pack up. You’re coming with me.”

Nangong Yaoyao told her two handmaids.

The two were her trusted aides. Their talent trailed far behind hers, yet both had reached Core Formation.

“Gusang City?”

Their faces tightened. They asked why True Lord White Lotus would send their lady there.

Gusang City lay under the Daylight Golden Crow Sect’s control.

Years ago, Nangong Yaoyao not only converted the sect’s prodigy Ji Shaoyi, she also bewitched Elder Liu Yan’s daughter, Ruan Qianqian.

The Daylight Golden Crow Sect and Elder Liu Yan flew into a rage and put a bounty on her head.

Over the years, disciples of the Orthodox Mystic Gates and the Daylight Golden Crow Sect had ambushed her more than once.

In a recent secret realm clash she lost two devotees, escaping only by burning a secret treasure.

Returning to their territory now, even if Nascent Soul True Lords wouldn’t lower themselves to act, top talents of the sect would still challenge her.

“Master made a wager duel with the Lord of Gusang City.”

Nangong Yaoyao spoke, eyes cold despite the bewitching light that always seemed to ripple through them.

After years in the Celestial Lotus Sect, she understood well what it meant to be a top demonic sect of the Southern Desolation.

True Lord White Lotus cherished talent and had taken her in, but not as highly as she’d once imagined.

He had accepted eleven disciples in total. Only five remained, and one was half-crippled.

The disciples didn’t support one another as she’d first seen. They competed.

A True Lord’s resources for disciples were limited.

One more disciple meant thinner shares for everyone else.

True Lord White Lotus, the lineage heads and the peak lords all had one aim—to raise a Holy Maiden for the sect.

So rivalries ran not only between peaks and lineages.

Even the True Lords’ disciples competed against one another.

During an earlier trial her own Senior Sister had joined others to ambush her.

To win True Lord White Lotus’s favor she hadn’t hidden her edge, which made Senior and Junior Sisters see her as a threat.

Now she was in an awkward spot.

The sect left her isolated. She had only herself to rely on.

Her conversion of Ji Shaoyi had spread across demonic and orthodox factions alike, and they kept their guard up.

So she could only dive into secret realm trials or dangerous missions to earn resources, push her cultivation and build her own following.

The Celestial Lotus Sect’s inheritance wasn’t built for frontal combat.

In the Holy Maiden struggle, raw strength mattered, but so did outside support.

Whether that support came from those converted by the Lotus Pure Land, recruited guest elders or devotees under her skirt didn’t matter.

But she’d shown her edge too early. Few would partner with her now; most were wary.

For instance, the Core Formation cultivator she subdued years back had damaged his essence while fleeing and was mediocre in battle.

Yet other true disciples fanned the flames, hyping her fame and the threat she posed, which only made her situation worse.

Nangong Yaoyao regretted flaunting her edge.

Or rather, showing some edge was necessary.

Only by proving enough talent could she earn True Lord White Lotus’s favor and a tilt in resources.

But it couldn’t be too sharp. There was a line.

Show strength, appear a touch weak and keep cards hidden.

Several Senior Sisters were no weaker than her. They just hid deeper.

The title “White Lotus Enchantress” landed on her instead, drawing all eyes and fire away from them.

She knew if she failed to keep proving her strength and value, her master would stop favoring her with resources.

When that happened, a Celestial Lotus Sect disciple like her wouldn’t end well.

“Yes, my lady.”

Huo Wu and Liu Yin understood their lady’s plight. They answered respectfully and went to prepare.

Yin Ghost Sect.

Inside Meng Xiaochan’s cave residence.

Nangong Mili, Meng Xiaochan and Qu Zhenzhen gathered, staring at a three-foot sapling bare of leaves or branches, with a fruit atop it shaped like a sleeping infant.

After the second drop of Wuling Heaven Dew, the Heavenly Infant Fruit that needed just a century more to ripen matured completely, filling the air with a tempting fragrance.

“So this is the Heavenly Infant Fruit!?”

Nangong Mili gazed at the crystalline fruit veined with natural dao patterns, its surface rising and falling like a baby’s breath, and her eyes lit up.

As a ninth-layer Core Formation cultivator, she knew the fruit well.

It was the main ingredient for the Huaying Pill and one of the finest Nascent Soul spirit items. Eaten directly, it boosted both the chance and quality of forming a Nascent Soul.

Out in the world, countless would kill for it.

“So focus and push to the peak of Core Formation.”

Lu Changsheng chuckled, took out a finely crafted jade box he’d prepared, plucked the Heavenly Infant Fruit and sealed it inside to keep its essence from leaking.

Back in the Starry Sea he had already gathered half the ingredients for a Huaying Pill.

After pacifying the Yin Ghost Sect and the Liang-Yue War, and now with this fruit, he had everything he needed to refine the pill.

Through the Zhenhai Seven Sects he could even swap out some ingredients of lesser age or quality.

But his alchemy was only third-rank top-tier, not enough to refine a Huaying Pill.

Even raising it to lower fourth-rank would be hard. He couldn’t pop out three pills with ease like he did with Foundation Establishment Pills or Condensing Crystal Pills.

Still, through the Turtle Immortal Patriarch, Lu Changsheng indirectly controlled the Zhenhai Seven Sects.

He could have the Zhenhai Patriarch refine the Huaying Pill for him.

That was one reason cultivators built forces.

Do everything yourself and you’d run out of time and energy.

“Thank you, husband.” Nangong Mili’s eyes rippled with light, no longer calling him a dog of a man like before.

“Xiaochan, Zhenzhen, the same goes for you. Train well. I’ll handle the rest.”

Lu Changsheng looked at the other two as he spoke.

Meng Xiaochan was only at the fifth layer of Core Formation, far from Nascent Soul, so she wasn’t in a rush for those resources.

But his generous promise left her eyes misty with warmth.

Qu Zhenzhen was still sunk in the sorrow of her brother and son leaving, and only nodded.

She cultivated the Heaven and Earth Everlasting Method and didn’t need a Huaying Pill. She wasn’t fussed about speed either, content to let things flow.

The Heavenly Infant Fruit didn’t tempt her; at most she wondered how it tasted.

After stowing the fruit, Lu Changsheng stayed with the three for a few days, then went to see Yin Yuge.

He didn’t feel much affection for the new concubine, but she was his concubine all the same.

More importantly, Yin Yuge was his bridge to the Heaven Corpse Sect.

He was strong enough now to cow the Heaven Corpse Sect Master.

But if he wanted proper cooperation, he needed to show respect and sincerity.

If he slighted Yin Yuge after taking her in, the sect master would overthink it.

Without a helper to share the burden, Yin Yuge couldn’t withstand Lu Changsheng’s “discipline.” After several rounds she felt as if she would fall apart.

Yet she feared the Yangming True Lord too much to protest and bore it with clenched teeth, not daring to suggest using her life-bound corpse, Yin Wugou, to help share the strain.

Afterward.

Lu Changsheng told the pretty girl with silver hair and a youthful face, “Yuge, tell Yan Wujiang to come to the Yin Ghost Sect when he has time.”

He’d come to call on the Heaven Corpse Sect and the Five Poisons Sect to send people to help him collect the spoils of the Liang-Yue War.

He also wanted the Heaven Corpse Sect Master to examine Bing’er.

“Okay…” The girl forced out a weak reply through her exhaustion.

“It’s fine. No rush.”

Seeing how limp she looked, Lu Changsheng softened his voice.

When he finished, he sent word to Ah Youduo, then headed to the deepest part of the Yin Ghost Sect, to True Lord Mingsha’s cave residence.

“Chitter chitter—”

Sensing Lu Changsheng’s aura, the Soul-Taking Beast that had been dozing here woke up.

“You’re living the good life, huh.”

Lu Changsheng chuckled at the beast.

In its current form you couldn’t judge it by size or miasma like other demon beasts.

But as its master, he could tell its eyes were brighter, its nose a touch larger and the dark red at the tip of its tail more vivid.

“Chitter chitter.” It looked adorably earnest and insisted it had been training hard.

It was true. It had slept most of the past two years, but in the Yin Ghost Sect’s rich environment it had devoured ghost spirits and burned through the Soul Crystals in its belly.

“Oh? How strong are you now?” Lu Changsheng asked.

Of his spirit pets, only this one could keep pace with his cultivation.

The beast told him it was at the peak of early fourth-rank, and a trip to the Sealing Demon Realm would push it to mid-fourth-rank.

“Tsk.” Lu Changsheng sighed. He worked himself to the bone while this thing just ate ghost kings and slept.

“When I have time, I’ll take you to the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons.”

To reach the Sealing Demon Realm he needed to grasp the array spirit’s teleportation method.

He was a third-rank top-tier formation master, yet he still couldn’t set it up without studying it for some time.

And helping there meant more than slaying nether demons. He’d have to help repair the grand sealing array.

That was a major undertaking beyond his current level.

He needed time to absorb the array spirit’s insights and study the grand array.

So he had immediately tossed the array spirit’s notes and the teleportation method to Ling Zixiao to study.

Once she had it down, he’d take her along to help with the sealing.

As for the dangers there—

With himself and the Soul-Taking Beast, the Sealing Demon Realm would be a blessed land, brim with the world’s fortune.

“Chitter chitter.” The beast knew the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons.

It wasn’t as tasty as the Sealing Demon Realm, but it was still a fine place. It couldn’t wait to feast.

“Stand guard for me. Don’t let anyone disturb me.”

Lu Changsheng told it, then prepared to plant the Ghost Tree and attempt the God-Devouring Technique.

The beast nodded and went to nap by the entrance.

Lu Changsheng surveyed True Lord Mingsha’s cave residence and settled on a blood spring.

The Mountain-Moving Whip appeared in his hand. He cleared the area around the spring, then thought silently—

“System, extract!”

In an instant a grotesque giant tree surfaced, ridged like a mountain spine, dead black from root to crown, as if soaked in foul blood and layered with resentments.

The Ghost Tree had barely appeared when the cave brimmed with wails, like ten thousand vengeful spirits. On its bark, faces seemed to howl and sob.

The tree was gnarled and twisted, its branches clawing in all directions like grasping ghost hands. No leaves, only heads.

Some were human, some were savage beast skulls and some were warped ghosts. The sight chilled the bone.

“Ghost Tree.”

Even Lu Changsheng felt a visceral discomfort looking at it.

The faces on the branches seemed mired in pain, venom and unwillingness, hungry to draw in every soul in the world.

Which was exactly what it did.

Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment and even early Core Formation cultivators who looked upon it would have their hearts swayed and souls tugged free.

And this was before it had truly grown and birthed a host of ghost soldiers.

If it did, those soldiers would be stronger near the tree, and ordinary Core Formation cultivators wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Seems this Ghost Tree really does belong in the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons.”

Lu Changsheng mused. The tree could feed on ghost spirits by itself.

Plant it in the abyss and ghosts would pour in as nourishment, pushing its growth.

But someone had to guard it there, or trouble would follow.

Calm-faced, he used immense magical energy to plant the Ghost Tree, rooting it in the Yin Ghost Sect’s fourth-rank spiritual vein and watering it with the blood spring.

He then sat cross-legged as the God-Devouring Technique surfaced in his mind and began to cultivate it.

The technique was neither easy nor hard.

To train the first layer, the first step was comprehension.

Any art demanded understanding before practice.

As a true immortal-grade technique, the God-Devouring Technique demanded high comprehension.

For an ordinary Core Formation cultivator, mastering it fully was quite difficult.

But Lu Changsheng had the System’s legacy and could skip that step.

The second threshold required Core Formation cultivation, a divine sense on par with mid-Core Formation and a physique at mid third-rank.

None of which posed a problem for him.

So in moments he sank into the state and began to train.