Longzang

Chapter 1222 It's Hard to Be a Good Person
Wei Yuan emerged from the ancestral land of the Lü clan and flew towards Qingming. As he soared through the heavens, seven faint lights emanated from his body, each a different color. Now, with the added power of a new grotto-heaven, Wei Yuan's flight speed increased by 30% compared to before. He no longer needed an external flying device, and his escape was faster than that of ordinary immortals.

However, immortals can fly through the celestial realms much faster than flying in this world. Ordinary immortals flying through the celestial realms can easily intercept Wei Yuan's path. Those who are not immortals, and do not have the authority over the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, will fly through the celestial realms as slowly as a tortoise.

However, if the speed difference in this realm is too great, intercepting Wei Yuan will be useless. Wei Yuan can easily bypass him, and you will most likely suffer verbal humiliation.

However, Wei Yuan would not waste time on the way. He took out his flying vehicle, launched it vertically, and then, as if he had been kicked by the Lord, he arrived in Qingming in an instant.

Wei Yuan returned to Qingming this time for two reasons. First, he wanted to see Sun Yu's research. Sun Yu's research on salvation had finally shown some promise, and he invited Wei Yuan to come and observe.

In this respect, the clone's cultivation level of only the Dharma Aspect stage is still quite limited. The vision of the Dharma Aspect stage is completely blurry to Wei Yuan at present. Such important research requires the main body to come and see the clues.

In addition, Ji Liuli has been in seclusion to break through to the Yujing realm after taking the Great Elixir a month ago, and news has recently come that the Heavenly Tribulation is imminent.

This senior sister is no ordinary person; her Dharma form and Dharma body are integrated into one, making her even more powerful than Wei Yuan. She fears that the Heavenly Tribulation is not strong enough, but she is also afraid of the Heavenly Demon Tribulation, which tests one's will and character. Therefore, she needs Wei Yuan to come and watch over her.

With Wei Yuan present, the difficulty of the Heavenly Tribulation will increase dramatically. However, he also possesses the Yellow Springs Grotto, where the guardian, Jialuo, is a genuine Heavenly Demon. With her there, the world will assume that a Heavenly Demon already exists, and the Heavenly Demon Tribulation will largely be prevented from occurring.

Ji Liuli's scheduled tribulation was still a few days away, so Wei Yuan went to Sun Yu's place first.

At this moment, Sun Yu's hospital has expanded dozens of times in size, with thousands of beautiful disciples. What was originally a small courtyard has now become a complex of buildings consisting of more than ten halls and high-rise buildings of various sizes, and it is isolated from other places, like an independent town.

The primary function of this place has now shifted from treating the sick and saving lives to becoming a research and training center. There are four research halls, each undertaking research in a different direction. In addition, there are three academies, which train talents in three major areas: human medicine, alien analysis, and preliminary exploration of extraterrestrial species.

Wei Yuan scanned the entire area with his divine sense and discovered that the number of beautiful female disciples in this academy was surprisingly high, accounting for 60%. As long as Sun Yu or other high-level cultivators were not present, these beauties could effortlessly dispatch mountain people, ghost races, or witch races.

Sun Yu sensed Wei Yuan's divine sense and hurried over, saying, "You've arrived? Perfect timing, there's been some progress on a new batch of samples, but... come with me!"

Wei Yuan followed Sun Yu toward a secluded main hall deep inside, passing a tall building. This building, with its otherworldly style, caught Wei Yuan's eye, and he saw a nameplate at the entrance inscribed with: Xuanming Comprehensive Medical Research Center.

Seeing that Wei Yuan had taken notice, Sun Yu said, "This place treats all kinds of difficult and complicated diseases, many of which I have never even seen before. Cases that the branch hospitals in other places cannot handle are sent here."

Wei Yuan looked at the densely packed small square windows on the outer wall, which resembled a honeycomb. The room behind the windows wasn't large to begin with, and it already contained four bunk beds. Adding a table and chairs left no room for anything else.

The cramped and narrow ward was several times worse than the treatment Wei Yuan received in the Xuanming Palace. Moreover, Sun Yu didn't learn anything else from the outer world, but he certainly learned how to get in and out of bed.

Wei Yuan pointed to the building and asked, "Won't it be a bit too crowded?"

Sun Yu remained calm and said, "The patients who come here have all signed a waiver of life and death. They are already mine. They come here as a last resort, so I can test my medicines and new treatment methods. If they can't be cured, then it's all over. But if they are cured, they will have to pay a large sum of money for treatment or work for me until they pay off the fees."

Wei Yuan also had to search for the right words before he could say, "Uncle-Master is a benevolent healer, and... he is doing good deeds."

Sun Yu suddenly sighed, "It's hard to be a good person!"

Wei Yuan didn't understand where this sentiment came from, but everyone has a fear of death. As long as one fears death, one will fall into Sun Yu's hands and be at his mercy. Just look at how Sun Yu has developed from a small clinic into the behemoth he is today over the past few decades.

The current Xuanming Medical Clinic Complex has more than 10,000 floors, making it much larger than the Xuanming Palace.

Sun Yu led Wei Yuan past the three guardians, then through two sealed rooms, where they underwent water and fire sterilization before finally entering the research hall.

Upon entering, the first thing that caught the eye was a grand hall, divided into hundreds of separate areas. Each area contained several or a dozen cultivators, some deep in thought, others gathered for discussion. The hall also housed countless lifelike specimens of human, witch, Liao, and mountain bodies. A quick scan with Wei Yuan's divine sense revealed that these were all genuine materials; no wonder they looked so realistic.

"This is a public research area. The portals on both sides lead to special research labs. The bald guys' research goes even further down, to the deepest part of the underground area. These bald guys... are very dangerous."

Wei Yuan frowned and asked, "How is it dangerous?"

Sun Yu's expression revealed a hint of lingering fear as he said, "As long as you're close to them and can hear their voices, you might be converted. In the past few months, dozens of my research disciples and guards have been converted. Several guards even tried to close the great formation, open the gate, and let a few mages escape."

"Is it that serious?"

"Come with me, and you'll see." The main hall has five underground levels. The first underground level is where various ferocious beasts that are harmful to humans are imprisoned, and experiments are also conducted here.

The second underground level is inhabited by all sorts of tiny, eerie, and extraterrestrial beings, all capable of causing serious illness and death. Because many of these beings are too small to defend against, they are placed on the level below. Even if one manages to escape, they will still have to overcome another level of formation.

The third underground level was used specifically for studying believers, and the fourth level for studying monks. All believers and monks awaiting study were concentrated and imprisoned on the fifth level.

The entire underground area is surrounded by weak water. If something goes wrong, all that is needed is to control the array to destroy the valve, and the weak water will instantly flood the entire underground area.

The Weak Water is forbidden to living beings, and it is said to be soul-consuming and corrosive. Few sentient beings, regardless of size, are unafraid of it. Having heard Sun Yu's plans along the way, Wei Yuan knew that if anything went wrong, Sun Yu intended to destroy the entire underground section. As for whether the hundreds of research disciples working below could escape, that was another matter entirely.

Upon entering the third underground level, Wei Yuan scanned the area with his divine sense and was immediately taken aback. This level was also divided into dozens of independent laboratories, but the doors to each laboratory were locked from the outside, and could only be opened from the outside.

To Wei Yuan's surprise, although this floor was clearly where believers were imprisoned, nearly half of the various laboratories were filled with strange and bizarre monsters. Even with thick walls, heavy doors, and arrays separating them, various shrill screams still echoed continuously.

Sun Yu led Wei Yuan into a research room, where they saw a writhing mass of rotten flesh inside the inner array. It was completely shapeless, with its facial features moved to various parts of its body, its hands moved to its back, and one leg in its original position while the other grew out of its chest.

In addition to several researchers, there were two mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators in the laboratory, each holding a magical artifact, ready for battle.

The lump of rotten flesh kept spinning in place, but every time it approached the doorway, it would cause the cultivators to become very nervous.

Sun Yu pointed a finger at the array plate on the table, and a farmer appeared on it, dressed in tattered clothes with a simple and honest face. Sun Yu said, "Ten days ago, he looked just like this. But now..."

As soon as Sun Yu spoke, the monster's shoulder ear twitched, as if it had heard something. It immediately crawled over and let out a series of screams.

The cry actually shook the formation. Wei Yuan's divine sense penetrated the formation and touched the cry. He felt a slight tingling sensation, and at the same time, a lot of information surged into Wei Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness!
Wei Yuan was not afraid and accepted it all. Then he erased the hidden Buddhist power inside, leaving only the simple information, which turned out to be a passage of scripture, a part of the "Buddha's Discourse on Various Sections of Hell".

The monster's screams, after being read through by Wei Yuan, actually sounded like cries of "My lord, spare my life!"

However, the monster's screams were able to shake Wei Yuan's consciousness and forcibly input the scriptures, no wonder Sun Yu's men couldn't withstand it. If they hadn't been prepared, Sun Yu himself would probably have been in a sorry state after hearing those screams.

Wei Yuan's expression turned serious as he asked, "How did you turn into a monster?"

"These are the research logs." Sun Yu sent over hundreds of files in one go.

Wei Yuan watched quietly for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and he had roughly understood.

From the very beginning of the research, it was determined that the cause could not be found simply by relying on divine sense. Therefore, Sun Yu changed his approach, starting by looking for clues in the subtle changes of the physical body, and focusing on exploring the sea of ​​consciousness.

After studying hundreds of samples, a researcher stumbled upon a small mountain in a believer's dream. The mountain appeared normal from a flat perspective, but when viewed from above, it resembled a hand, with several winding streams in the palm forming a magical talisman!
The moment the believer saw the talisman, his dream shattered instantly, and all sorts of invisible forces surged in from the void, immediately engulfing the entire dream. The cultivator who had entered the dream was also unable to escape!

In the blink of an eye, two monsters appeared in the laboratory.

In the following days, Sun Yu conducted further research and discovered that many believers had the same talisman in their dreams. Whenever this talisman was seen, all sorts of strange occurrences would happen, and the believers would grow erratically, transforming into various inexplicable monsters within a few days.

After transforming into monsters, the various sounds they emitted possessed the power of salvation. Moreover, as more believers transformed into monsters, the strength of the mages on the next level significantly increased, making it difficult for the original array to suppress them. Sun Yu had to urgently add another layer of array to bring the situation under control.

However, afterward, Sun Yu searched through Buddhist and Taoist scriptures but could not find the origin of the talisman at all. If it were drawn in the outside world, the talisman would not show any abnormalities or reactions, let alone connect with the strange powers of the world.

Sun Yu waited for Wei Yuan to finish reading before saying, "Just yesterday, I learned a technique called 'Soul-Binding and Spirit-Refining Technique' from the sect's collection. I used it to bind the souls of two dying people and refine them. After the souls turned to ash, what remained was this talisman."

Wei Yuan's expression changed slightly: "Is this thing hidden in the soul?"

Sun Yu shook his head: "I suspect it's worse than that. It's possible... that it has replaced the soul."

Wei Yuan paused for a moment, then said, "Let's go check on those mages."

(End of this chapter)