Chapter 141: Soul Devouring

　　Xiang Liu had nine heads and nine souls. Ice Cone Nail was smashed by Chang Li two thousand years ago resulting in the escape of one of the souls. Hanba had been killing demons and extracting their primordial energy in the past two thousand years, which, according to the speculation of the Sword Immortals of the Black and White Island, was to keep this evil soul to survive and thrive. The resurrected Cone Nail was in an inimical yet symbiosis relationship with this evil soul. When one dies, the other will follow. At the moment, Sword Immortal Tian Shu no longer wanted to kill the evil soul but wanted to seize it alive to threaten Cone Nail to return to Black and White Island to form the original formation to subdue the monster.

　　The crucial figure in locating Xiang Liu at the moment would be the boss of ‘Year 221 Before Christ’ porcelain shop, Fifth Brother, who was being hunted by Cone Nail.

　　The atrocious Fifth Brother Hanba first launched the white hair drought spirits, submerging the business district of the City God Temple of Shanghai, then took on Sword Immortal Tian Shu and the entire Kunlun Sect on his own, and finally endured a series of bizarre attack from Cone Nail before leaving behind hundreds of poltergeist ghosts that could not be beaten or killed and left calmly. The strength that he showcased was indeed incomparable.

　　The stronger and powerful Fifth Brother Hanba was, the more Wen Leyang could not understand that they nearly got him earlier on in the porcelain shop. This utter mayhem fight simply would not have happened if the dwarf Leyang Wen was late.

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu pondered for a while before asking Wen Leyang, “Have you heard of the Ghost Inlaying Glaze Mirror?”

　　Wen Leyang answered quite frankly, “What sword?” (Translator’s note: The pronunciation of mirror and sword in Chinese are the same.)

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu smiled forbearingly, “Although there are many cultivation methods around, one always looks at the cultivation methods from his own sect and forgets the efforts of the predecessors. The Heaven’s Path is not a cultivation art, it’s not meant to be cultivated but enlightened. There will be no enlightenment without a wide array of knowledge on the world…” Tian Shu, being the descendant of Black and White Island with exceptional power and lived in seclusion in the name of Heaven’s Path to protect the world, had always looked down on other cultivation sects. No matter good or evil, in the eyes of Tian Shu, they all belonged to the unorthodox ways, and of no par to his profound authentic sect.

　　Tian Shu continued his ramble for a long time before turning to little supreme leader Liu Zheng, “Liu Zheng, explain to him the seventh chapter of Ghost Inlaying Glaze Mirror.”

　　Liu Zheng initially was full of smiles listening to his master teasing Wen Leyang. Never would he have thought that the ball was passed to him all of a sudden. Dazed, he smiled awkwardly before answering in hesitation, “I just read until the…third chapter…”

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu nodded, “No harm, in that case, just explain the synopsis to him.”

　　With his mouth wide opened, he took a look at Wen Leyang and his master before jumping up suddenly, “The medicine should be ready by now. I’ll go have a look!”

　　Tian Shu slammed the table in anger, “We are not cooking any medicine!” After a few breaths, he let out a long sigh of disappointment and ignored the little supreme leader Liu Zheng totally. Without further referencing to ancient articles, he said to Wen Leyang directly, “Every single living thing is equal under Heaven’s Path, whatever the living thing is, it stands a chance to reach divinity of Heaven’s Path. All but the walking dead zombie!”

　　Wen Leyang hesitated, not knowing if he should intervene.

　　The eyes of Tian Shu were filled with reserved conceit, he slowly shook his head, “After all, it’s still too little that has been learned. There’s no way to succeed with cultivation of heaven like yours…” Though Liu Zheng had embarrassed him earlier on, his ego was as strong as ever.

　　Wen Leyang hurriedly interrupted him, “The art that I cultivate is not the Heaven’s Path, and neither is Wen Bucao a sect of heaven cultivation.”

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu gave a look of disdain, “There is no way to practice a folk art like yours!”

　　Liu Zheng may be terrible in terms of recitation, but his reasoning skill is not too far off.

　　Carefully, he explained the meaning of his master’s words to Wen Leyang, “As corpse has no qi of life, thus they do not belong to living things. They can only be regarded as filth. They have no foothold or position in the heaven and earth, nor do they qualified to be an immortal in the path of heaven cultivation. The zombies created by the evil arts and wicked spells can only absorb the negative qi of violence in the world. They’ll never have intelligence, at most, turning the master’s command into their instinct and execute it mechanically. Since the ancient times, regardless of its power, no zombie has ever become a threat. Without intelligence, they won’t be hard to deal with no matter how powerful they are. A normal priest from the folk could easily manage an ordinary zombie, in fact, there’s no need for a cultivator at all.”

　　After listening to the long explanation of Liu Zheng while munching on his carrot, Wen Leyang shook his head with a wry smile, “Are you telling me that Fifth brother Hanba is a fool with no intelligence?”

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu sighed at this moment, with a sense of despise.

　　Liu Zheng smiled as well, “Be patient! What I’ve just said is a common truth. As for Hanba, he is, of course, no ordinary zombie but a mysterious one!”

　　Wen Leyang stomped his feet in urgent, “How mysterious?”

　　Liu Zheng gave a stare and said, “I also don’t know!” He then looked at his master smilingly.

　　After listening to the ridiculous conversation between Liu Zheng and Wen Leyang, Sword Immortal Tian Shu showed no sign of urgency or anxiety. A hint of smile was spotted on his face instead. He seemed to like this senseless disciple. When both youngsters looked at him, he said with a smile, “I was shocked too when I first saw Hanba, as the ghosts do not only have intelligence but also understand the human language!”

　　Wen Leyang nodded his head in agreement, “Not just intelligence and human language but human transformation! When I first arrived at the porcelain shop, he looked and sound like a 30-year-old businessman, with skin as tender as a baby.”

　　Liu Zheng said in disdain, “Compared to my master?” The skin of his master was also fair and tender like milk.

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu grunted angrily and the frightened Liu Zheng immediately shut his mouth, “It’s a natural instinct for a zombie to absorb the negative qi of hostility. Although with more qi of hostility absorbed and the more violent the zombie becomes, it does not produce intelligence! Unless…” With that said, he looked at Liu Zheng, obviously aiming to test his disciple again.

　　Liu Zheng pretended to not see it and lowered his head to count the number of ants on the ground.

　　Liu Zheng did not speak, but Wen Leyang did, “Unless Hanba had devoured the soul of a cultivator?”

　　Clearly dumbfounded, Sword Immortal Tian Shu asked, “How did you know?”

　　Of course Wen Leyang knew, as it was similar to Ah Dan back home. The Tian Shu master and disciple duo explained for such a long time, it was nothing more than saying that no matter how strong a zombie is or how much qi of hostility has a zombie absorbed, it would forever be one walking dead that could act but would not have its own mind. It was far from the Fifth Brother at the City God Temple. In order for a zombie to be like Fifth Brother, there had to be some sort of extraordinary encounter.

　　Ah Dan devoured the broken soul in the ghost mushroom back in Miao Jiang and soon turned from a zombie with white face and black eyelid into a human-like doll with tender skin. Apart from not talking but babbling, he was not lacking in terms of emotions.

　　The expression of Sword Immortal Tian Shu was slightly stiff, with the sense of superiority of a prestigious cultivation sect encountering a setback, he said, “It seems that you know quite a lot indeed. I’ll ask you then, after devouring the soul, Hanba…”

　　Liu Zheng suddenly uttered a cry with cold sweats bursting out from his forehead, “You’re saying…that Fifth Brother Hanba devoured the evil soul of Xiang Liu that escaped from Black and White Island?”

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu shook his head with limited patience, “Nonsense! Xiang Liu is the monster that exists in the world since the very beginning, and its evil soul is condensed from the essence of heaven and earth. It is possible to refine its soul with the Art of Taoism, but it’s definitely impossible to be devoured by a zombie!”

　　Wen Leyang temporarily ignored the identity of the soul devoured by Hanba and asked with a frown, “Fifth Brother Hanba devoured a soul, won’t it receive the god’s punishment? If he can’t get through it, he’ll be shattered into burnt bones and scorched earth. If he gets through it, he’ll turn into a human instead. How can he switch?” Wen Leyang’s theory of Hanba devouring the soul was based on the encounter of Ah Dan. After all, the difference between Hanba and Ah Dan was so great, not in terms of strength but the ability of Hanba switching between the human body and zombie at will; when Hanba was in human form, his look was not as mellow as Ah Dan and his movements were considerably slow and stiff.

　　The little supreme leader Liu Zheng was asking Wen Leyang smilingly, “Is it really true? There’s the god’s punishment?”

　　The expression of Sword Immortal Tian Shu was shocked and depressed, he stared at Wen Leyang with no word. At first, he wanted to talk about the god’s punishment to stun the unorthodox Wen Leyang. Who would have thought that Wen Leyang had stunned his beloved disciple instead?

　　Puzzled, Wen Leyang looked at Sword Immortal Tian Shu, “Can you…say something?”

　　Shaking his head, Tian Shu went, “What else do you know? Just say it. I won’t explain things that you already know.”

　　Wen Leyang followed him and shook his head, “After devouring the soul of others, the zombie will develop intelligence. After becoming human, he’ll have to go through the god’s punishment. After the god’s punishment, I have no idea either.”

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu seemed to be relieved. He had no major issue normally. However, coming from the orthodox heaven cultivation background, he always looked down on the other cultivators. Moreover, Wen Leyang was the descendant of his old enemy, he could not help but wanting to satirize him in between words.

　　He had no idea that these things that Wen Leyang knew were told by Chang Li, not to mention Ah Dan was looking into the sky anxiously back in the Wen’s Village on Nine Peaks Mountain, waiting for his second god’s punishment.

　　Little supreme leader Liu Zheng got intrigued by the topic and waited for his master to clear the mystery.

　　Tian Shu finally restored the conceited look of an old savant, “Zombie devouring the soul of cultivator will develop its intelligence, with its body veins unimpeded not long after. When the heart veins are finally connected, so is the god’s punishment. If it gets past that, it’ll become human. If it doesn’t, it’s needless to say.”

　　Wen Leyang nodded, secretly admired Sword Immortal Tian Shu in his heart. If he was talking about Ah Dan, they were all right.

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu squinted his eyes suddenly and looked at the two youngsters, “But if the god’s punishment somehow did not fall on the zombie, what will happen?”

　　Seemingly startled, Liu Zheng went, “It’s impossible!”

　　Wen Leyang answered listlessly, “Then the second god’s punishment within the next three years, with power greater than the first one. If it misses again, it’ll then trigger the… Uncountable Time?”

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu looked at Wen Leyang as if staring at a monster and shrieked with a hoarse voice, “How do you know everything? Why are you still asking me if you’ve already everything?” With that, he then stared at his disciple to defy, “Why do you not know a thing? Have you read all the ancient transcripts that I gave you?”

　　Wen Leyang was thinking to himself what does he know? From the beginning until now, they were just talking about Ah Dan, and not Fifth Brother Hanba.

　　Ah Dan was the dearest little baby to both Mu Mu and Xiaoyi, as well as half a brother-in-law to Wen Leyang. Not long ago, Wen Leyang had just withstood the god’s punishment on behalf of Ah Dan and became a living proof of the theory of old demon rabbit Bu Le and demon cat Chang Li.

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu thought about how this frivolous disciple of his had lost the mighty face of the orthodox Black and White Island. Without holding back further, he continued on as if in resentment, “If the god’s punishment’s not triggered, then the zombie with intelligence will never become a human but a half-human-half-zombie kind, living in between the dead and the living!”

　　Stunned, Liu Zheng asked, “What do you mean by the god’s punishment is not triggered?”

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu finally lost it, “Shut up! Don’t you ever speak if I don’t ask you to! Zombie with intelligence is now qualified in heaven’s cultivation to achieve divinity. Before devouring the soul, Fifth Brother Hanba was originally the King of Zombie. With intelligence, if he mastered the way to cultivate the qi of hostility into life vitality, it is not difficult to acquire a series of treasures and skills that belong to a ghost. After completing the great cultivation, it is not surprising that he’ll be able to switch in between the form of zombie and human at his will after all.”

　　Wen Leyang now finally vaguely understood the meaning of Sword Immortal Tian Shu, Fifth Brother Hanba obtained intelligence after devouring the soul of a cultivator, learned the art of cultivating the qi of hostility and became a half-zombie-half-human kind of formidable monster. After thinking through, he continued to ask Tian Shu, “What about the god’s punishment? Where did it go?”

　　After devouring the soul within the mushroom, Ah Dan could not help but become a human and grow naturally, just like the flowers grew into fruits, there was no way to block or reverse it. The moment that he became a true man, so came the god’s punishment.

　　If Hanba had been through the god’s punishment, he would either become a human or get shattered into pieces. In any case, he would not become a half-zombie-half-human kind of monster that Fifth Brother Hanba was right now. If Fifth Brother Hanba missed the god’s punishment like Ah Dan did and after missing it twice consecutively, the Uncountable Time would be triggered and the world would be reset and unity would be returned.

　　This time, Sword Immortal Tian Shu shook his head in puzzlement as well, “After thinking through, there’s only one possibility. This Hanba must have stalled the god’s punishment with some kind of method!” Upon saying that, he immediately stared at both Liu Zheng and Wen Leyang and said, “Don’t ask me what kind of method it is, I don’t know either!”

　　Wen Leyang suddenly smiled eccentrically, the little supreme leader Liu Zheng pondered for a while before staring at Wen Leyang like his master, “Hanba is not the descendant of Black and White Island!”

　　Tian Shu mentioned it earlier that the cultivation method of Black and White Island was free from the god’s punishment. Snorted, he asked Wen Leyang, “Anything else you want to ask?”

　　Wen Leyang hurriedly restrained himself and nodded, “Yes! Is it difficult for a zombie to devour the soul of a cultivator?”

　　Tian Shu did not seem to understand the question of Wen Leyang, after pondering for awhile, he answered, “Not just difficult, it’s an opportunity of a lifetime! Its probability is way too small compared to finding ginseng doll or the millennium-old Ganoderma Iucidum! The soul that was devoured by the zombie is not the life vitality as called by the common cultivators but the soul of primordial! The common cultivators are unable to cultivate the real soul…”

　　Liu Zheng quickly carried on the words of his master, “Only cultivators with extraordinary cultivation level will be able to cultivate the real soul. However, cultivators with the real soul of primordial will usher in the god’s punishment in return. Under the god’s punishment, one either becomes immortal or gets destroyed to nothing…Jeez, master, in this case, where did Hanba get the opportunity to devour the soul?”

　　Liu Zheng confused himself with his own words.

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu was sneering his disciples, thinking he should have just shut up if he did not know a thing, “Unless the power of the god’s punishment is just right, destroying his dharmakaya yet conserving his soul of primordial! The strength of god’s punishment will destroy both the dharmakaya and the soul if it gets too much, too little will result in the cultivator escaping it. Therefore, it’s said to be an opportunity of a lifetime.”

　　Wen Leyang smiled as he finally understood that with god’s punishment, there was a chance of getting dharmakaya destroyed but not the soul, though the chances were very slim. Wen Leyang suddenly felt like giving Ah Dan a big kiss. It seemed that the task of locating Fifth Brother Hanba could only fall on his shoulders!

　　Wen Leyang let out a sigh of relief finally. He had obtained a clearer view on things that could be answered by Sword Immortal, he gave a proper bow to Tian Shu and said sincerely, “Thank you so much for your guidance, senior. The enmity between the bloodline of Tuo Xie and Black and White Island is not something I can comment on. Right now, I just hope that the monster subduing grand formation can be launched and grant the wish of Tuo Xie!”

　　Standing next to him, Liu Zheng asked, “Are you leaving? To look for Hanba? Where to?”

　　Wen Leyang hesitated, “To the Painting Town I think…It’s difficult to look for Hanba, but Leyang Wen should be easier to find.” Wen Leyang killed those poltergeist ghosts with Poison Stream and upgraded his own life and death poison strength, with that he thought he could handle Leyang Wen on his own. As for Fifth Brother Hanba, he would not think about it at all for the moment and the relationship between Painting Town and Fifth Brother Hanba remained one of the biggest doubt to him as well.

　　Liu Zheng nodded, “Then you better leave, till we meet again! I’m pretty busy as well, have to heal my master…”

　　Wen Leyang laughed and stretched out his hand to Liu Zheng, “Give me back the big muzzled weapon first!”

　　While fighting the poltergeist ghosts, Wen Leyang had thrown away the flying sword of Liu Zheng, which Liu Zheng happily picked up on his own, but he never returned the big muzzled weapon to Wen Leyang.

　　Liu Zheng gave a mocking smile before saying, “I thought you’ve forgotten…”

　　Not finishing his words, Sword Immortal Tian Shu suddenly ordered, “Liu Zheng, go ahead with Wen Leyang!”

　　Startled, Liu Zheng said, “Master, your injury…I’ll take you back to the mountain…”

　　Sword Immortal Tian Shu shook his head with a smile, “Not to worry, I still have a few magic weapons with me, the general evil demon won’t be able to come near me. I’ll go back on my own few days later.”

　　Not conforming, Liu Zheng went on, “What if there’s a formidable monster…”

　　Wen Leyang gave Liu Zheng a strange look, feeling quite anxious deep down, thinking that although Wen Buzuo was equally talkative, he never delay serious tasks.

　　Tian Shu sneered, “Even if there’s a formidable monster around, will you be of much help then? Finding the whereabouts of Hanba matters most.”

　　Not the match of his master, Liu Zheng finally stomped his feet and said the truth, “Cone Nail is bent on killing Hanba, whether they’re fighting or escaping, there’s no place for me at all!”

　　Tian Shu gave a wave and scolded laughingly, “Just do as I said! As long as you locate Hanba, there will be a way to deal with him!”

　　Liu Zheng promised with a wry smile and turned to Wen Leyang, “Can I carry the big muzzled weapon?”