Hell Emperor.

Chapter 291 Shen Qingge-Xian Yuan
"Let me see how this golden wheel should be turned to send wandering souls into reincarnation..."

Hua Xiaomei rubbed her hands, her eyes sparkling, and was about to go to the Golden Wheel to try it out, but was quickly stopped by the quick-witted Ren Changhong:

"Be careful, this golden wheel cannot be activated by ordinary ghosts. If you operate it carelessly, you might even be sucked into it and sent to reincarnation."

Hua Xiaomei's face turned pale, and she quickly stepped back a few steps, away from the Golden Wheel. She had finally met a group of like-minded family members, and she didn't want to go back to reincarnation so early.

Seeing that Nan Linghe was still standing in the dangerous area in a daze, she quickly reached out and pulled Nan Linghe to the safe area at the back.

"Since turning the golden wheel is so dangerous, what should we do? Do we have to find another way?" Xie Xinyu asked, biting her finger.

Ren Changhong smiled faintly: "If I had taken a risk before, I might have been able to activate the Golden Wheel. But now, there is a more convenient way. Xiaowei just realized a technique from the Golden Wheel. If I let her operate it, the danger will be greatly reduced."

Everyone turned their eyes to Xia Wei. Seeing this, Xia Wei did not refuse. She came to the front of the golden wheel and placed her hands on it.

As Xia Wei's hand approached, the layers of prayer wheels on the golden wheel, which had been turning as slowly as a snail, now began to turn rapidly. Golden light shone brightly around them, and under the shining of that light, all the ghosts around felt a heartfelt warmth and could not help but move closer to the golden wheel.

Ren Changhong was the first to react. He was horrified and shouted to the ghosts around him, "Wake up! Don't get any closer! If you touch the Golden Wheel, your souls will be sucked into it. It will be difficult to get out then."

The ghosts all came back to their senses. Even if they did not, they would be held back by their companions and prevented from approaching the prayer wheel any further.

On the side, Li Fei'e and Shen Qingge didn't feel anything. Their physical bodies were still there, and they were not walking in the world as souls, so they were not affected by the power of the Golden Wheel.

Xia Wei did not move. In the process of activating the Golden Wheel, she used the special techniques of the Vajra Demon Suppression Technique. Perhaps it was because of this that the Golden Wheel was inspired by the same power and mistakenly identified her as a member of the Golden Wheel Palace, thus opening the passage to the afterlife for the wandering soul.

Golden light shone down from the top of the golden wheel, like a rising staircase, enveloping the soul of the merchant. As if pulled by some force, his figure rose into the air, flowing along the light like a wisp of green smoke, circling outside the prayer wheel, and finally being sucked into the golden wheel.

"It's done!"

Seeing the golden wheel turning smoothly and sending the dead person into reincarnation, everyone was smiling, except Xia Wei. After the golden wheel finished turning, her expression was solemn, her body froze in place, and she couldn't help shaking all over.

"What's wrong, Sister Xia Wei?" The first person to notice Xia Wei's abnormality was Li Fei'e, who was standing beside her. She asked with concern, "You look so bad, could it be that you have been attacked by the power of the Golden Wheel?"

Xia Wei looked bitter as she explained, "When I activated the Golden Wheel, I also saw other souls contained inside the Sutra Wheel. Many of them died in this temple. When they saw me, they all thanked me."

Hua Xiaomei exclaimed: "Is there such a thing? How come we didn't see anything?"

Xia Wei just shook her head: "Their souls have been in the golden wheel for too long and can no longer recover their original appearance. Many people's minds have even been refined. They only know how to pull the huge prayer wheel like a mule pulling a millstone, turning it continuously without stopping..."

Everyone was silent. Li Fei'e said angrily, "This Vajra Treasure Wheel Temple has the support of the Lord of the Golden Wheel Palace. I don't know how many people have been harmed here. If it weren't for Sister Xia Wei who razed this place to the ground, more people would have been killed in the future."

Shen Qingge glanced at his disciple and spoke slowly, "Everyone has their own destiny. Maybe dying here is where they belong. Why force it? There are so many injustices in this world, and so many people have died. It's all God's will. We shouldn't interfere."

Li Fei'e became anxious when he heard this, and quickly argued with his master: "But if we don't intervene, are we going to leave the thieves here alone? I think Sister Xia Wei is right."

Shen Qingge held his forehead helplessly: "There are so many misfortunes and injustices in this world. How can you manage them all by yourself? Everything is God's will. You can't say that only good things are God's will and bad things are unfair. Since it's all God's will, why don't you just let it go? Why do you have to get involved in cause and effect and force changes?"

Shen Qingge's words were not directed to Li Fei'e. Her eyes had been on Xia Wei since some time ago and had never been moved away for a moment.

Listening to Shen Qingge's words, Ren Changhong raised his eyebrows and praised: "After not seeing you for so many years, Xiao Qingge, your awareness has improved a lot."

Shen Qingge's words seemed to be accusing Xia Wei of not taking action and being too involved in karma. It was obvious that letting things take their own course and watching from the sidelines was the best choice for a cultivator, but Xia Wei ignored it and insisted on taking the lead. Although the injustice was redressed, she also had to bear the karma, which was not good for her future cultivation.

Xia Wei was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What would Master Shen do if he was alone?"

"Me?" Shen Qingge blinked and answered truthfully, "If I were alone, no matter how much the evil ghost begged, I probably wouldn't do anything. I would just tell him that everything was God's will, and let him follow God's will, accept the result of being a ghost now, let go of his obsession, and return to normal."

Xia Wei was stunned and asked, "What if he can't let go of his obsession? How can he let go of the obsession of dying in vain?"

Shen Qingge sighed softly: "Then he is defying the will of heaven and betraying the Way of Heaven. As a member of the Immortal Sect, I naturally have to protect the operation of the Way of Heaven. If he remains stubborn, I can only kill him with my own hands and let him rest in peace."

"Why..." Xia Wei felt a pang of heartache. Her brows were tightly furrowed, and there was a hint of sadness and disappointment in the depths of her bright eyes.

Shen Qingge, who was born in an immortal sect, took it as his responsibility to uphold the way of heaven. He and Xia Wei, who was dedicated to seeking justice in the world, embarked on completely different paths.

Since they started walking together, they have had constant disagreements, often arguing over something. The root of the dispute is that they have different paths. If they can't resolve the issue, staying together will only cause trouble for each other.

"It is God's will." Shen Qingge was silent, with a hint of coldness in her cold eyes. In daily trivial matters, she could let Xia Wei do what she wanted, but in such a great dispute, her attitude was very tough, and she never thought of giving in. The dispute between the two made everyone worried. Would they break up? If there was a rift in the relationship between the family members, it was definitely not something that everyone wanted to see.

The worried looks of the crowd also invisibly infected Ren Changhong, who was ready to watch the show, so she couldn't watch it with peace of mind. She had to open her mouth to remind him: "Xiao Qingge, do you really know what it means to follow the will of heaven?"

Shen Qingge was slightly stunned. She had no way to escape from her master's words, so she could only answer: "Of course I know. The way of heaven is unpredictable. All living beings have their own destiny. We must accept it and obey it. Only then can we be considered to be in compliance with heaven's will. Forcing ourselves to be affected by cause and effect and stand up for others is definitely not in compliance with heaven's will."

Hearing this, Ren Changhong raised his lips and said, "You are wrong. Mortals cannot know what the will of heaven is. Even immortals can only guess the will of heaven through various means. No immortal dares to say that he knows the will of heaven. If other masters hear what you said, I am afraid they will laugh at you for a long time."

Shen Qingge was puzzled and had to ask, "What exactly does it mean to follow the will of heaven? Does Master know?"

Ren Changhong shook his head: "No one knows, and I don't know either. Take the previous evil spirit as an example. Do you think that letting him accept the news of death and let go of his hatred is in line with God's will? Maybe God originally intended to use his death to inspire everyone. The reason why he died in vain was that God deliberately let him die in order to eliminate evil. From this point of view, Xiaowei is in line with God's will."

Shen Qingge's pupils contracted, still showing a bit of disbelief: "But how could this be... How can this be considered in accordance with God's will?"

Ren Changhong waved his hand and said, "So, don't use mortal ideas to speculate on God's will. When evil is revealed and sentient beings die in vain, some people grieve and feel grief-stricken, thinking that God's will is unfair, while others stand by and watch, thinking that it is God's will. Little do they know that God may be using their deaths to inspire others and give those with aspirations the courage to fight against evil. Simply avoiding cause and effect is actually against God's will."

Listening to Ren Changhong's words, Shen Qingge had a complicated expression and it took her a long time to fully digest the content of the words.

If these words were said by anyone else, even by Xia Wei, the effect might not be so ideal. Everyone could hold their own opinions and think that their actions were in line with God's will, and there would be no result in the end of the argument.

Only when the person who spoke changed to Ren Changhong, Shen Qingge had to listen, because Ren Changhong was her master who taught her, how could she not believe in her master's words? Even the concept of conforming to the way of heaven was also taught to her by Ren Changhong.

Li Fei'e touched his chin, a hint of amusement flashed in his bright eyes. As expected, if he wanted to make his master speechless, he had to ask his grandmaster. Apart from his grandmaster, Li Fei'e didn't know who else could make his master obedient.

They both share the philosophy of following the laws of nature, but compared to the serious and rule-abiding Shen Qingge, Ren Changhong seems much more flexible, or it can be said that he doesn't take those rules to heart at all.

For Ren Changhong, no matter what she did, she could explain it by saying that she was following God's will, and thus she would no longer have to worry or burden. Anyway, she didn't know what God's will was, so she could only guess and it was better to just act on impulse. However, Shen Qingge couldn't do that. After being reprimanded, she couldn't come back to her senses for a long time, and her thin body looked a little weak.

Seeing Shen Qingge's depressed expression and her breath becoming increasingly weak, even Xia Wei couldn't help but feel a little worried about her. It would be terrible if her Taoism was broken and she became devastated.

Xia Wei was just about to step forward and say a few words of comfort to Shen Qingge when she suddenly sensed an inexplicable aura emerging from Shen Qingge.

"That breath... is it immortal essence?"

Sensing carefully, Xia Wei was stunned, and soon she exclaimed in surprise.

"Immortal essence? Could it be that... Sister Qingge is about to break through and become an immortal?" Xie Xinyu was shocked. Becoming an immortal is not something you can see casually. She opened her eyes wide and was determined to write down all the changes that happened to Shen Qingge.

Ren Changhong's heart tightened. Becoming an immortal also meant the coming of calamity clouds, which was extremely dangerous. She hurried forward and felt it for a while. She finally let go of her worries and said to everyone, "It's just a little bit of immortal energy. It's still a long way from truly breaking through and becoming an immortal."

"Sister Hong, what's going on?" Li Fei'e was curious. She wanted to know the changes in her master more than anyone else. She quickly grabbed Ren Changhong and asked her master carefully.

Ren Changhong took a deep breath, his eyes solemn: "You should know that what flows in the body of an immortal is no longer ordinary spiritual power, but a more refined and more powerful immortal essence. Whether it is used to activate magic weapons or fly with the wind, the effect of immortal essence is much stronger than ordinary spiritual power."

Everyone looked curious. It was a rare opportunity to learn about things related to immortals, especially how to break through and become an immortal.

Attracting everyone's attention, Ren Changhong continued, "However, replacing spiritual power with immortal essence is a process. Without external forces, it will not be achieved overnight. When the first ray of immortal essence appears, the rest of the immortal essence will soon follow, thus helping practitioners to ascend to the immortal position. Practitioners in this process are generally called semi-immortals."

"I see……"

Everyone showed a look of enlightenment, and listened to Ren Changhong sighing: "Now Xiao Qingge has reached the level of semi-immortal. Her realm is higher than the ordinary fifth-level peak, but she is still a significant distance away from the first-level immortal. Calling her a semi-immortal is the most accurate."

After listening to Ren Changhong's story, everyone exclaimed in amazement, and the surprise in their hearts could not be calmed for a long time.

"Master has become a half-immortal, that's great..." Li Fei'e felt something in her heart and was sincerely happy for her Master. Although Master was left speechless by the Grand Master's rebuttal in the dispute about God's will, to her, that did not seem to be a bad thing. It meant that she also had the opportunity to let go of the stubborn obsession in her heart and gain new enlightenment.

Even though Shen Qingge has become much gentler recently and can get along well with his family members on many small matters, Li Fei'e knows that deep down, his master is actually very stubborn. Especially when it comes to the Way of Heaven, he is no less stubborn than Xia Wei and will not tolerate any doubt from others at all.

It’s a pity that no matter how tough the master is, his momentum will weaken a little when he meets the grandmaster who is more senior than him.

Everyone looked at Shen Qingge, whose aura was rising, with great anticipation, and were happy for her progress.

(End of this chapter)