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Chapter 441 Recollections (Three-in-One)

This strange cloud, shaped like a calf, was constantly surging and changing, just like the other "clouds" in the heavens.

Not only does its shape change, but its color also changes.

Even during the process of change, it will emit all sorts of strange sounds.

Some looked like a piece of paper crumpled into a ball, some like a flock of pigeons taking flight, and some like rocks collapsing—they were all incredibly varied.

Most clouds not only lack a fixed shape, but also randomly merge with other clouds or suddenly split off into a separate cloud during the process of change.

Those clouds that can maintain their basic shape, like this strange cloud shaped like a calf, are extremely rare in the heavens.

Xu Yuan's lice burrowed into it and became one with it.

It was only at this point that Xu Yuan finally understood the basic principle of this strange technique: the reason why this thing could sneak in unnoticed by the host was because it invaded the mind from the Lingxiao.

The ability to easily control the parasite is also due to starting with the mind.

In this vast expanse of the heavens, besides the strange cloud shaped like a calf, there were dozens of other strange clouds of various shapes in the distance.

There are big ones and small ones—but that doesn’t mean the big ones are strong and the small ones are weak.

Some are large but very superficial, while others are small but solid.

After Xu Yuan used the lice to control the calf-shaped strange clouds, he scanned the area, intending to devour all of them.

But upon closer inspection, it was discovered that:
These strange clouds and the calf-shaped strange clouds are not from the same source. In other words, they are ordinary strange phenomena in the Lingxiao Palace, not the "Great Sage's offspring" created by the Pingtian Society.

"This is unexpected..." Xu Yuan thought to himself.

I thought that these descendants of the Great Sage, who slept together in the mortal world, would also appear together in the "Lingxiao" realm.

Moreover, after Xu Yuan conceived the idea of ​​"devouring," the strange cloud itself showed some resistance.

"Huh—" Xu Yuan exclaimed inwardly in surprise, "Could it be that these Great Sage offspring do not grow by devouring each other?"

Xu Yuan calmed down and carefully sensed the strange clouds with his lice.

The first gain was the ability to vaguely sense the locations of other Great Sage offspring.

Then he realized that as long as "himself" had a thought, he could appear next to any of the Great Sage's offspring.

In the celestial realm, "distance" is never an obstacle.

The barrier comes from its own power.

In Lingxiao, "power" naturally refers to the strength and quantity of thoughts.

The stronger and more numerous they are, the better they can maintain the existence of their own will; otherwise, they will turn into the most ordinary "cloud" in the heavens.

If one is not strong enough, one might have a thought and the next moment turn into an ordinary cloud of thoughts, completely losing oneself.

Xu Yuan then discovered from the "Great Sage's Offspring" itself that it could indeed assimilate the surrounding cloud of thoughts or devour other strange clouds to strengthen itself.

But none of these are as quick and convenient as directly drawing power from the "Great Sage"!
"The Great Sage Equaling Heaven is actually hiding in the Heavenly Palace!" Xu Yuan thought to himself.

The various descendants of the Great Sages can freely approach or distance themselves from each other, but facing that "Great Sage" is a completely different feeling.

They can sense the presence of the "Great Sage" and can even draw power from him.

However, they cannot directly cross the "distance" to appear beside the Great Sage.

Only the Great Sage can "summon" them; they cannot voluntarily "pay homage".

Xu Yuan was puzzled again: "Why would the Great Sage allow his offspring to continuously absorb his own power?"

"If what White Fox guessed earlier is true, this operation is a high-ranking member of the Repentance Sect stealing the power of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven in order to advance to the thirty-fifth mortal god... Since the Great Sage Equaling Heaven has escaped to the Heavenly Palace, he should have restrained his power to prevent it from being stolen."

Xu Yuan secretly slapped his forehead: "...Unless it's already beyond its control."

These "Great Sage's offspring" are not allowed to pay homage—this is the Great Sage's suppression of all his offspring.

However, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven may have fallen into a coma, so he was unable to sever the connection between his bloodline and could only let his offspring absorb his power.

When the Great Sage Equaling Heaven escaped from the control of the Repentance Cult, he was probably seriously injured.

The Pingtian Society is constantly creating "Great Sage Offspring" to steal power from the Great Sage of Pingtian by using blood ties.

The more offspring one has, the faster one can steal.

Then the one from the Repentance Sect stepped forward and collected all the "fruits".

The strange cloud of calves that Xu Yuan chose had some experience in absorbing the power of the Great Sage.

The blood connection between the Great Sage and his offspring is as thin as a silkworm thread.

Therefore, the ability to steal power is naturally limited by this connection, and only a little bit can be stolen each time.

But the calf-like strange cloud reinforced this "connection" with its own thoughts.

How was it strengthened?
I came up with it!

This is Lingxiao. As long as you have a thought, you can create anything from that thought!
In other words, as long as you "want" to make this connection strong and solid, it can become strong and solid!
The principle is quite simple.

But don't forget that in "Lingxiao", all actions are "subconscious".

This is a reflection of the "subconscious" that exists in every room.

Even if you teach it to all believers hundreds of times in the mortal world, they still cannot perform it in the celestial realm.

Even now, these "Great Sage's offspring" are unaware that they have already entered the Lingxiao realm.

Xu Yuan, who infiltrated the area using a "lice" and his own will... is an outlier.

After roughly understanding the situation in "Lingxiao", Xu Yuan had an idea arising from the lice.

This "idea" caused four "hooks" to quickly grow on the calf-shaped cloud, hooking onto four other strange clouds nearby.

These strange clouds are not the offspring of the Great Sage, but rather oddities from the Heavenly Palace.

One was a cloud ball the size of a washbasin, covered in long hair.

One looks like a parrot, but it doesn't have eyes on its head.

Underneath each of its two paws, it held two eyeballs almost the size of its head.

It was shaped like a stone tablet, but instead of any writing on it, various small winged monsters kept flying out.

The last one is hundreds of cloud snakes intertwined together, and it's unclear what they're trying to form; they just keep changing.

The hooks caught them and pulled them back, and then Xu Yuan had a second idea from the lice.

For each strange cloud, a vortex was created, swallowing the strange clouds.

This second idea arose, and the calf-shaped cloud also underwent corresponding changes.

But Xu Yuan suddenly felt everything go black.

The connection between myself and the louse was almost severed!
"As expected, there are limitations," Xu Yuan thought to himself, "The 'power' of the lice is also limited."

“No…” Xu Yuan suddenly made a new discovery: “I control the lice through the skin dragon.”

Xu Yuan was multitasking, with part of his attention focused on Pi Long.

It wasn't that Xu Yuan's connection with the louse was almost severed, but rather that his connection with Pi Long was almost severed.

The portion of "spirit" left in Pilong's body is almost exhausted!
Xu Yuan then "followed" Pi Long again and re-established contact.

Then Xu Yuan "saw" that in the sky, the calf-shaped strange cloud had transformed into four vortexes, swallowing the four strange clouds.

But they all got stuck halfway through.

Four strange clouds are struggling to resist.

Xu Yuan then continued to generate new "ideas".

The vortex grew larger and larger, spinning faster and faster.

The four strange clouds were swallowed up.

Immediately afterward, Xu Yuan had another "idea," and the calf-shaped strange cloud transformed into a giant millstone. As it was pushed and rotated, the four strange clouds were completely ground up and absorbed.

After having his second "thought," Xu Yuan's vision went black again.

It has also been clarified that the current limit for the lice is two ideas.

Xu Yuan focused his mind on Pi Long again, and this time he also felt a bit tired.

This kind of fatigue is truly "mental exhaustion".

In the heavens, the calf-shaped cloud maintained the form of a millstone.

Xu Yuan sensed it again, and this one was already the strongest among all the "Great Sage's offspring".

The speed at which the Great Sage Equaling Heaven's power was stolen was also the fastest.

The millstone disappeared immediately, and the next moment it appeared next to another Great Sage's offspring.

This is one of the batch that was transformed tonight; it's still very weak.

The millstone pressed down, and with just one grinding motion, it absorbed the other into itself.

Then it disappeared again and reappeared next to the next one.

The great sage's offspring, who were transformed tonight, were quickly devoured by the millstone.

The millstone then appeared beside one of the creatures that had been transformed the previous night.

The millstone is now enormous, and the one from last night was unable to put up a fight; it was instantly ground up and swallowed up.

……

In the gloomy mountains of southwestern Huangming Zhengzhou, someone suddenly opened their eyes.

A glint of light flickered in his eyes.

His expression immediately turned angry: "Who is stealing my opportunity?"

"Those idiots in the Pingtian Society are incompetent!"

He was in poor condition, and even though he was furious and wished he could fly out immediately and rush to southern Jiaozhi to kill that arrogant madman with one palm, he could only endure it for the time being.

He barely managed to raise his hand, and a folding blade flew up beside him.

He wrote a few words on the document.

This is a very high-ranking ancient tomb.

It is located in a dangerous "uncivilized land".

There are more than a dozen tomb keepers stationed outside the tomb year-round, and not a single evil spirit in the mountains dares to "disturb" it.

Even in the dead of night, two tomb keepers would sit by the lamp, guarding the memorial in front of them.

The two of them forced themselves to stay awake.

They used to dare to slack off, but recently the scheme of the one in the tomb has reached a critical stage, and they dare not relax.

Suddenly, a patch of characters appeared on the calligraphy copybook.

The two hurriedly replied in their memorials: "Your subordinates will take care of it immediately!"
……

Qiao Jin had already gone to sleep, but he was woken up by one of his subordinate leaders.

The matter was of great importance, so one of the four of them had to guard the memorial and receive news from Zhengzhou at any time.

Qiao Jin's face was gloomy. In fact, choosing "Champa" was a last resort.

The one from the Repentance Sect plotted against the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, but he did not expect the Great Sage Equaling Heaven to be more difficult to deal with than they anticipated. He risked serious injury and escaped into the "Lingxiao" (the Heavenly Palace).

After that, they disappeared without a trace.

The condition of the one from the Repentance Sect was already very bad; even with various extraordinary measures, he couldn't hold on for much longer.

Not long ago, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven suddenly revealed his whereabouts, but to "capture" him, it is necessary to act within Champa.

The reasons for this involve certain connections between the mortal realm and the celestial realm, which are quite complex. The Repentance Sect offered an explanation, but Qiao Jin didn't understand...

But Qiao Jin knew about the place called "Champa".

I have a feeling something bad is going to happen this time...

This bad premonition has indeed come true. Qiao Jin swayed slightly.

His shadow swayed in the candlelight.

A fifth-rate demon emerged from the shadows—the first one, followed by the second, the third, and the fourth.

Qiao Jin, being a divine cultivator, unhesitatingly released all four of his fifth-rate great ghosts!
They slipped through the crack in the door, then took flight and headed straight for the warehouse.

"All of you go," Qiao Jin said to his three branch leaders. "I will secretly control the Yin soldiers; we must destroy those corpses no matter what!"

"As ordered!"

The three leaders flew away quickly.

After they left, Qiao Jin quickly changed his clothes—and then dragged a wooden doll out from under the bed, putting his original clothes on the doll to disguise himself.

Then he quietly slipped away through the back door.

This wooden figure is a crafted object; by dressing it in Qiao Jin's clothes, it can temporarily replace Qiao Jin.

Even those four low-level demons would think that their master was still in the house.

……

The white fox suddenly twitched its nose and said, "There's the stench of an evil spirit..."

Xu Yuan looked up.

Under the "Wangming" command, the four fifth-rate demons had nowhere to hide and were baring their fangs and claws, fierce and menacing, as they attacked from mid-air.

The white fox timidly tried to hide behind Xu Yuan: "I am weak and cannot fight them..."

Xu Yuan raised his hand, and long, sharp bells appeared. He shook his wrist, and the bells made strange noises.

This bell can tear apart souls, and naturally it can also tear apart ghost soldiers.

Four low-level demons screamed in agony as they fell from mid-air, clutching their heads in pain.

Xu Yuan breathed out a mouthful of fire, and the five Yin Soldiers were engulfed in flames.

Suddenly, a series of rattling sounds came from outside the courtyard gate.

Immediately following, countless crossbow bolts flew in with a "whoosh whoosh whoosh" sound. These bolts had hidden gunpowder in their arrowheads, and they exploded immediately upon hitting the wall.

Amidst the deafening explosions, the wall was blasted to pieces.

A barrage of explosive crossbow bolts followed immediately.

The white fox has long since disappeared.

Xu Yuan, however, opened his Pi Dan and held it in front of him as a shield.

The dense explosions on Pidan's back caused large bulges to form from the impact.

Outside the wall, a master craftsman was operating a "thousand-arrow crossbow".

When unfolded, this thing is as big as a horse-drawn carriage.

Arrows were fired in succession from the ten firing holes on the front.

Even the stepmother could not forge a similar artifact.

Xu Yuan quickly peeked out and immediately felt a chill run down his spine!
The craftsman took out his brain and placed it in the very center of the "Thousand Arrows Crossbow" to control the artifact.

It is precisely because of this brain that this craftsman can operate so smoothly.

Otherwise, we'll get stuck after firing only a few dozen arrows!
The body of the craftsman leader stood blankly to the side, with the upper part of his skull opened, revealing various intricate craftsmanship structures!

He can live again if his brain is put back in.

But this craftsmanship leader is himself a "craftsman's object"!
The purpose of his craftsmanship was to control this "thousand-arrow crossbow".

Suddenly, Xu Yuan sensed something amiss and turned around to see a pill had silently entered the warehouse, crawled into the seven-layered bed, and exploded with a snap.

This is a poison pill!
The shattered poison powder fell, and any "Great Sage's offspring" on the bed that came into contact with even a little bit would immediately begin to melt!
"Chichichi..."

Acrid white smoke billowed from the corpse.

In an instant, all the corpses were melted into a pool of liquid!
Their real purpose was to destroy these corpses.

The one who advocated repentance had no hope of regaining those "Great Sage's Offspring".

He knew very well that it was impossible to do so with the useless members of the Pingtian Society.

He also has further methods to retrieve these Great Sage offspring from the Heavenly Palace.

Xu Yuan opened his mouth and spat out a sword pellet that pierced through several layers of walls and, with a hiss, passed right through the forehead of the alchemist leader who had secretly attacked him!

Although both are alchemists, the leader is only a seventh-rate cultivator.

They were powerless against the fifth-rate sword pellet.

Another leader lurked in the shadows, trembling with fear!

He was a sixth-rate soldier, but looking at the fifth-rate ghost soldiers who were almost burned to ashes... he quietly retreated.

Anyway, the mission is already accomplished.

Suddenly he felt himself step on something—and then he was knocked over!
The leader swiftly slashed at his own calf with a knife in his hand!

But something in the darkness wrapped around him, trapping his hand that was holding the knife.

Immediately afterwards, he was tightly bound and fell to the ground with a thud.

The leader shouted, "Surrender! I surrender! Don't kill me! They planted a spell in my soul; if I die, my soul will explode!"

No one responded to him.

In the darkness of night, only the master craftsman's "Thousand Arrows Crossbow" continued to fire away.

The explosions sounded like popping beans, and they kept going.

Finally, the Thousand Arrows Crossbow emptied its magazine, and the machine spun a few more times before slowly coming to a stop.

The brain in the middle controlled the body, reaching out to pick up the brain and put it back into the skull—but half of it was reached out by a hand and snatched away!

Xu Yuan examined it closely and exclaimed in admiration, "The soul is still in the brain, excellent technique! We can't waste it, let's take it back to show my stepmother something new!"

So he reached out and put the brain back into the skull!

The master craftsman thought he was doomed, but unexpectedly he was able to escape from a desperate situation.

Unexpectedly, a sword pellet flew over and sliced ​​several times on several key parts of his body.

He was unable to move.

Xu Yuan also has a good understanding of craftsmanship.

Moreover, he coveted this "thousand-arrow crossbow" so much that he ruined his brain, rendering the crossbow useless.

Of course, we should take her back and let her stepmother find a way to "reform" her.

Chaos had broken out in the courtyard of the Pingtian Society.

Xu Yuan wasn't worried at all; Young Master Miao and the others would handle it themselves.

Even while fighting the Yin soldiers and the leaders, Xu Yuan did not stop his actions in Lingxiao.

The "millstone" appeared repeatedly beside the Great Sage's offspring—growing stronger with each devouring.

The faster it devours things, the faster it becomes.

By the time the battle ended, the millstone had already devoured all the "Great Sage's offspring" that the Heavenly Peace Society had produced.

……

Qiao Jin had already quietly slipped to the north gate.

Before the four lowly Yin soldiers were completely burned to ashes, they saw that the bodies of the Great Sage's offspring had melted away.

He quietly wrote two words on the document: "All done."

Then put the folded book away.

He still couldn't understand: "Why didn't the leader of the Repentance Sect send Qiang Xiu to Champa to oversee such an important matter?"

"With only a few of us, if something unexpected happens—like now—we'll have no choice but to give up..."

Although it is said that once the "son of the Great Sage" enters Lingxiao, the Exorcism Department is very likely to hesitate to take action, what if the Exorcism Department knows nothing about "Lingxiao" and just goes to fight?
Qiao Jin felt that the Champa Exorcism Bureau was truly "ignorant and fearless" this time, so he took action.

Although the Purification Bureau would have endless troubles, the Repentance Sect's plans also failed.

For something so important, are we really just pinning our hopes on the enemy's "fear of harming the innocent"?
Qiao Jin secretly shook his head. The sect leader once said that the high-ranking members of the Repentance Sect had long lifespans and were all shrewd and calculating people.

But judging from this incident... that might not be the case.

As people age, they may become intelligent or they may become senile.

Qiao Jin looked at the sky; the east was beginning to lighten. He huddled in a hole in the earthen wall, disguised as a laborer, waiting for the city gates to open so he could escape.

But as soon as they shrank inside, they heard footsteps coming from behind them.

Little did he know that, in Lord Xu's "fate-seeking," he, a fifth-rate cultivator, shone as brightly as an ever-burning lamp in the night.

……

In that ancient tomb in the southwest of Zhengzhou, those eyes have always been open.

Finally, the memorials beside me flew up again, and there was a reply from southern Jiaozhi.

It's done.

He raised his hand and pressed down the folded document.

The anger that had been in their eyes was gone.

But it was still a gloomy place.

"A total of sixty-one Great Sage offspring have been born this time."

"What a pity. If there were two hundred of them, they could have absorbed one or two hundred of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven's power."

"The Great Sage Equaling Heaven deliberately revealed a flaw this time, thinking that I, whose lifespan is about to end, will surely be unable to hold back."

"But He deliberately exposed himself in Champa. Hmph, how could I not be on guard!"

"If we fail this time, there will always be another. I may not have much time left, but how long can you, Pingtian, hold on?"

"If we do this a few more times, and as long as the Great Sage has enough offspring to absorb one-tenth or one-twelfth of your power, you will be mine!"

From the very beginning, he guessed that Champa was a "trap" set by the Monkey King.

He never even considered using Champa as bait to devour the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and ascend to the mortal realm as a god.

It's just going with the flow, exhausting the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.

His anger stemmed from the fact that someone had stolen the power of the sixty-one great holy offspring of Champa—power that, in his view, would be his sooner or later.

After consuming the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, he will naturally reclaim all the power "stored" within the Great Sage's offspring.

……

When Xu Yuan came up behind Qiao Jin, Qiao Jin was still facing the cave, trying to bury his head in the sand like an ostrich.

Xu Yuan patted him on the shoulder.

Qiao Jin turned around stiffly, the flying sword wreathed in flames from his abdomen, pointing directly at his brow.

Qiao Jin obediently raised his hand.

The white fox followed behind Lord Xu, watching him send the criminals one by one into the prison of the Exorcism Department, and couldn't help but say, "You acted rashly. Although it was satisfying, what about those Great Saint's offspring..."

Xu Yuan waved his hand: "It's all been resolved."

"It's resolved?!" The white fox asked in surprise and disbelief, "Really?"

Xu Yuan just smiled and let it go.

The white fox was inwardly shocked. How could someone of such lowly skill level have the means to interfere with the Heavenly Palace?!
This is a skill only top-tier individuals possess!
No, we must inform my elder brother about this as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)