Chapter 97: Afraid the Answer is Too Dark

Lin Fanyun flew quickly towards the now-flattened Dragon Cave Valley.

Along the way, all he saw was dust and debris. The once serene landscape was now a complete mess. There was even a faint scent of blood in the air.

Within a thousand-mile radius, everything was dead, wiped out by the multiple shockwaves.

As he got closer to Dragon Cave Valley, Lin Fanyun didn’t sense any signs of life.

Hmm? 

With his keen eyesight, he noticed numerous storage bags buried beneath the soil. With a wave of his hand, the storage bags burst from the ground and flew towards him. Easily breaking the seals on these now-ownerless storage bags, their contents were laid bare before him. Inside were numerous treasures of various grades, including many high-level spiritual herbs and plants.

“Looks like these belonged to the ten great powers and the local True Core cultivators.”

Glancing at the faint blood mist still lingering in the air, mixed with highly concentrated spiritual energy, he clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk, that’s what happens when you’re too close. They couldn’t even escape before getting caught in the crossfire and died without a trace.”

Lin Fanyun quickly deduced that these True Core cultivators were too close to the valley and got killed in the forbidden light and the subsequent massive explosions he had caused.

“With these treasures, I can recover some of my earlier losses.”

Stashing away the storage bags, Lin Fanyun flew into Dragon Cave Valley.

The Palace of All Things still hovered in mid-air, untouched and unmoving. It was as if everything that had happened was just a passing breeze, not affecting it at all.

“A demi-god artifact, just having the word god in its name puts it in a whole different league compared to anything else.”

Staring at the ancient and majestic Palace of All Things, Lin Fanyun felt his excitement growing.

This demi-god artifact now had no one else to contend for it!

Lin Fanyun placed his hand on the Palace of All Things, hoping to gain some control over it. If that failed, he would figure out another way.

But as soon as Lin Fanyun touched the palace, his body suddenly stiffened. A surge of demi-god power flowed from the palace into his body, binding him in place.

A voice echoed in his mind.

“Hmph! Finally, you show yourself. You destroyed the body I painstakingly acquired, so I’ll use yours as compensation.”

A massive will surged into Lin Fanyun, causing his entire being to tremble. Just sensing its presence made Lin Fanyun feel as if his very soul was about to shatter.

“Will Parasite Technique!” 

The invading will observed Lin Fanyun’s spirit. It was smooth and round in his sea of consciousness, and nodded approvingly. This spirit was far superior to that of the Innate Li Donglai, making it perfect for parasitizing and reshaping his own soul.

The will condensed into an image of an elderly man with flowing white hair and an imposing presence. The elder’s eyes were filled with unrestrained greed as he saw Lin Fanyun’s constrained spirit.

With a leap, the elder lunged forward, dispersing like water upon contact with Lin Fanyun’s spirit and then merging into it.

But then, a scream of agony erupted.

“Damn it! It’s the Flame of the Divine Lamp! You bastard!”

The dazed image of Lin Fanyun’s spirit dispersed, revealing a divine lamp inside. At the heart of the flame was the part of Lin Fanyun’s soul that he had separated.

The powerful will was being burned by the flame, causing it to writhe in agony.

“So, the real Li Donglai has long been dead, and it was you using his body to stir up trouble. Who are you?”

From within the soul, Lin Fanyun’s voice emerged. He had suspected that Li Donglai might have been possessed, but he hadn’t expected it to be merely a will.

Could a will really possess someone?

This baffled Lin Fanyun. He had never heard of such a thing before.

At the same time, it made him even more cautious. A will capable of possessing others was clearly beyond the level of a mere Law Manifestation.

“You bastard! Put out that divine lamp,” the elder’s will screamed in agony as the fire of the divine lamp burned it.

This will was incredibly powerful, able to overwhelm even a Law Manifestation expert if it invaded their body. But the divine lamp’s flame, fueled by the thoughts and breaths of the masses, was the nemesis of such wills and souls.

Although Lin Fanyun’s lamp was only a mid-grade Law Manifestation treasure, the elder’s will was rootless and lacked a physical anchor, so it couldn’t extinguish the flame.

“That’s not an answer.” 

Lin Fanyun urged his soul to intensify the flame. This divine lamp was a prized possession of a Law Manifestation sect, passed down for generations. The lamp’s oil was accumulated from the breath and thoughts of over a billion people over hundreds of years. Though the sect was located in the Abyssal Sea, it ruled an island and had a massive population.

If the sect’s patriarch hadn’t perished in a space disturbance, Lin Fanyun would have definitely avoided them back then.

“Damn it!” 

The elder’s will roared in anger.

But faced with the divine lamp’s flame, he had to admit defeat. After a long while, seeing that Lin Fanyun’s soul remained unmoved and he couldn’t breach the lamp’s protection to attack Lin Fanyun’s soul, he spoke.

“Kid, I am the will left behind by the demi-god Zhong Chun. Given the situation, how about a truce? I possess the complete demi-god inheritance. If you extinguish the divine lamp’s flame and spare me, the demi-god techniques in my mind will be yours.”

Seeing Lin Fanyun’s soul remain silent, the elder’s will continued.

“Boy, in this world, there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. As long as you spare me, our previous conflicts will be wiped clean, and you will gain demi-god techniques. It’s a win-win situation for you.”

However, Lin Fanyun’s soul remained silent, forcing the elder’s will to continue speaking.

“Are you worried that I will go back on my word? I can first give you half of the technique. After you release me, I’ll deliver the other half.”

As he spoke, the elder’s will manifested part of the demi-god technique, braving the divine lamp’s fire to show it. The technique was complex and abstruse, clearly of an advanced nature.

“Boy, I have shown my sincerity. But do not think I fear you. Though the divine lamp’s fire restrains me, with a great enough sacrifice, I can still break free of it. When that time comes, we’ll be in a fight to the death.”

Using both carrot and stick, the elder’s will played his cards masterfully.

At this moment, Lin Fanyun’s soul, without even glancing at the technique, said, “I saw through my puppet how those ten or so puppets tried to read your memory and were countered. So, save your efforts.”

The elder’s will paused, choosing not to argue. Seeing how cautious Lin Fanyun was, he realized that any further words would be useless if suspicion was already raised. He stopped trying to persuade him, instead, he spoke with a dark tone, “It seems you are set on a fight to the death!”

“Heh, as if you ever intended to let me live.” Lin Fanyun’s soul retorted mockingly.

“Indeed, I will kill you!” 

The elder’s will surged with murderous intent and began to violently resist. An overwhelming aura erupted, momentarily dispersing the divine lamp’s fire around him.

The elder did not attack the soul, instead, his will coalesced and rushed towards the outside.

At this moment, Lin Fanyun’s soul sighed softly.

“This body took a great deal of effort to create. Did you really think you could come and go as you please?”

Outside, the vacant body began to twist, transforming into a seamless, rounded flesh ball. With the support of the divine technique of Body Manipulation, not a single gap was left.

The elder’s will attempted to escape to the outside world, but it collided with the flesh barrier and was promptly bounced back.

The small dent it created instantly healed.

“A seamless body? How is this possible?” 

The elder’s will was shocked.

Although entities like wills and souls did not have a physical form, their penetration was hindered by density and the lack of gaps, much like how probing underground became harder with depth.

The tighter and more gapless the area, the harder it was for a soul or will to penetrate.

Moreover, crimson veins appeared on the flesh barrier. This was extremely concentrated blood energy. Blood energy benefited one’s own soul and will but was more toxic than poison to others.

The surging blood energy, combined with the divine lamp’s fire, besieged the elder’s will.

“You actually want mutual destruction?” The elder’s will was astonished.

Lin Fanyun’s soul sneered, “Sacrificing a wisp of my soul to annihilate you is worth it.”

The divine lamp opened, pouring out a vast amount of lamp oil, and the fire of the divine lamp instantly engulfed the entire sea of consciousness and dantian.

“Damn you!” 

In despair, the elder’s will lunged at Lin Fanyun’s soul, hoping to obliterate it before being completely burned, thereby unlocking the sealed apertures of the seamless body.

But it was in vain.

By the time the real Lin Fanyun arrived with Ye Xiaoshu, there was only a pile of ashes and a somewhat damaged divine lamp left. The flesh ball, along with the elder’s will, had been completely incinerated.

Lin Fanyun waved his hand to summon the divine lamp and the storage bags hidden by his soul.

“Even in a final desperate struggle, it managed to heavily damage the divine lamp. If it weren’t for igniting my blood flame with blood energy combined with the divine lamp’s fire, I might not have burned that old man to death. No wonder he’s a demi-god. Even a sliver of his will was so hard to deal with.”

Thinking of how this will had nearly ended him, Lin Fanyun shivered.

If not for his caution, he might have been reduced to ashes as well. Fortunately, he was the one who laughed last.

Now it was time to claim his spoils.

To be safe, Lin Fanyun flipped his palm, and a small lump of flesh appeared, forming a tiny human figure.

Body Manipulation Divine Technique!

The little figure flew toward the Palace of All Things and touched it again. This time, nothing happened.

Lin Fanyun extended his perception into the palace. He didn’t sense any consciousness inside, only a vast amount of demi-god power.

Just feeling that power made Lin Fanyun shudder and feel incredibly lucky.

“It seems like it could only use part of the palace’s power because it was just an isolated will. If it could fully control the palace, it would’ve crushed everything without any hassle.”

He tried to channel a bit of his physical energy into refining it, but it was immediately dispersed by that immense power.

“I figured as much.” Lin Fanyun sighed. 

It was similar to when his main body faced the small blessed land bottle. Without locating the bottle spirit, it couldn’t be refined. And this demi-god artifact was of an even higher level.

From a distance, Lin Fanyun formed two large hands to push open the palace doors.

The little figure veered in and flew inside.

Ye Xiaoshu stood silently on the side.

‘Isn’t this a bit too cautious?’

He couldn’t help but grumble internally, while also noting down Lin Fanyun’s extreme caution in his mental notebook. It was something worth learning.

As for why Lin Fanyun kept taking him along? Even when the situation had escalated beyond Ye Xiaoshu’s capability, hadn’t told him to leave.

Ye Xiaoshu chose not to dwell on that question. He feared the answer might be too grim.

Despite choosing not to think about it, he still made a mental note.

‘Always have someone you can sacrifice. Preferably someone with good fortune—they can be used multiple times and are very durable.’

Meanwhile, the little figure darted around inside the Palace of All Things.

From the outside, the palace appeared castle-sized, but inside it was vast. This vastness wasn’t just a single large space upon entry. It was a series of interconnected corridors. Numerous doors lined these corridors. Behind each door was a room, varying in size, with the smallest being several acres.

The problem was that none of the doors had labels, so there was no way to know what was inside.

It was like opening blind boxes.

Fortunately, the little figure had a clear goal, heading directly to the area with the densest spiritual energy and the most dao resonance. Otherwise, checking each door would take days.

Three hours later, under Ye Xiaoshu’s envious gaze, the little figure came out carrying a small, dimly lit white castle.

The white castle was palm-sized, and Lin Fanyun could hold it easily with one hand.

At this point, Lin Fanyun finally relaxed and smiled joyfully.

“I’ve hit the jackpot. This was a huge win.”