System crash? I prove it with my control panel!

"Holy crap... Senior, is it really Chen Jingwen?!"

Upon hearing the name from Cao Yunde, Chen Jingrun's eyes widened, and he almost forgot that the person in front of him was a Foundation Establishment Ancestor. He was so excited that he lost his composure.

Fortunately, the brakes were applied in time.

However, Cao Yunde still noticed it, but he just glanced at him and didn't pursue the matter, giving a kind smile.

"It's naturally because of young friend Chen. This was truly a misunderstanding. Please come back with me, everyone. Mention any compensation you wish, and let's turn hostility into friendship, shall we?"

The Chen family members immediately sent messages to Chen Jingrun to confirm whether Chen Jingwen was real.

Chen Jingrun was still a bit confused. He couldn't believe that the little kid who used to pester him to fly had now become a true disciple of the Qingming Sect!

Is the threshold for the Qingming Sect really that low?

He felt a pang of envy; if he had chosen to join the sect back then, could he have become an inner disciple, too...?

After being repeatedly contacted by family members, he finally realized what was happening and explained:

"Jingwen is the thirty-sixth son of Uncle Polang. He was sent to the Qingming Sect seven years ago, and then disappeared without a trace. Even the steward Wang who accompanied him did not return. We wanted to investigate, but it just so happened that Uncle Polang went missing..."

The Chen family members exchanged glances, their faces immediately filled with excitement. They never expected the Chen family to have such an opportunity; it was truly a genuine inheritance!

Who says it's bad to send your disciples to the Qingming Sect?

That's wonderful!

An old man stepped forward and said respectfully:

"Senior Cao, you are too kind. I am Chen Wangchuan, the current patriarch of the Chen family. If I may be so bold as to say this, since Jingwen has taken these uncles home, it is an honor for my Chen family. Senior Cao, rest assured, the Chen and Cao families have been on good terms for generations, and this will never change!"

Upon hearing this, Cao Yunde's expression softened slightly. Regardless of whether what he said was true or false, at least his attitude was good.

Having an attitude is enough.

The cultivation world is inherently driven by self-interest and the supremacy of strength.

Previously, the Chen family lacked the strength to protect their ancestral property, so I helped them look after it. Now, it's only reasonable for me to return it.

Even though that person is a true disciple, he can't really do anything to me.

He immediately stroked his beard and said, "In that case, please make arrangements for your people to return. I will take you back first to meet the envoy."

"How can that be? Senior Cao, please go ahead first, and we will follow shortly."

Chen Wangchuan looked on with awe.

It's true that he has the true teachings, but ultimately he still lacks the strength. When facing a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he still has to bow down.

Cao Yunde did not insist; it was just a polite gesture. Now that the Chen family members had been found, it was time to go back and handle family matters.

Thinking of this, his face turned grim.

He had finally gotten his chance, and in exchange for giving up his clan's land to the surrounding forces, he obtained the complete cake from the Chen family.

Now, a mere Qi-cultivating youth can ruin all his previous efforts with just a single sentence. How could he possibly accept that?

Living in the Azure Netherworld is not easy; what should the Cao family do?

He sighed softly, "Without reaching the Purple Mansion, one is ultimately just an ant!"

"Not even daring to utter a word in rebuttal, only able to wallow in self-pity—pathetic, laughable..."

...

Three days have passed.

Chen Wen sat quietly in the courtyard, closing his eyes and looking inward at the soul-piercing needle in the Taotie's stomach.

It can no longer be called a soul-piercing needle; it's just a clump of flocculent material that's about to be completely corroded.

However, in Chen Wen's eyes, there was a faint aura of divine soul flashing within it.

Chen Wen chuckled, "This old rascal is really good at hiding his true intentions. He's got three burrows, but who knows how many Dao Souls he's divided up?"

He opened his mouth and spat it out, and the fluffy substance fell to the ground.

Suddenly, a jet-black divine soul shot out and rushed towards the outside world.

Chen Wen did not stop him and let him escape.

That divine soul was none other than Chen Polang.

He behaved himself this time, partly because he was frightened.

For the past few days, he has been in a blood-red, tumor-like world filled with devouring power, which even high-grade magic weapons cannot stop.

He once thought he was about to be swallowed up.

Unexpectedly, it managed to release an outlet before being swallowed up.

This was a backup plan he had prepared for himself, which would only be activated if something went wrong during the rebirth process.

Now that things have changed so drastically, he is utterly despondent; he fears his son is already dead...

He didn't dare look back at all; he just wanted to escape as quickly as possible. As long as the green hills remain, there's no fear of running out of firewood!

He quickly flew into the air.

However, at this moment, a golden light enveloped the entire courtyard.

That is, his soul began to melt away like a wax candle.

"ah--"

Unseen wails echoed through the courtyard.

This is the Golden Light Array, recorded in the inheritance given by Chu Feng.

Although it is a mid-grade first-order formation, it is specifically designed to suppress the soul.

soon.

Under the golden light, Chen Polang's soul was reduced to a mere phantom.

Chen Wenben intended to kill him outright.

However, considering that Chen Polang, as a Qi Refining cultivator, was able to split his soul into three parts, this was clearly unreasonable.

Even with the help of the Ink Soul Qi, it would be impossible to do so.

After all, he has not yet stepped into the Foundation Establishment stage; he has only merged with the Ink Soul Qi, which can barely be considered as half a step into the Foundation Establishment stage.

There's definitely something fishy going on here!

In fact, if Chen Polang hadn't divided himself into three parts...

Dealing with him isn't going to be that easy for me!

A half-step Foundation Establishment level divine soul and three Qi Refining late stage divine souls are two different concepts!

He immediately made a hand seal to retract the golden light array, and Chen Polang's soul instantly lost its struggle, floating in place with empty eyes, like a puppet.

This is due to severe damage to the spirit and soul.

Chen Wen breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing his appearance.

This is the true state of a severely damaged soul.

As he did in the mud pill, he was just a transparent shadow, about to dissipate, yet still conscious.

It's clearly a manipulated split soul.

Having immersed himself in the Dao of Souls for two and a half years, how could Chen Wen not see this flaw?

Fortunately, Chen Polang revealed a flaw, otherwise he might have entered the Soul Pool without any precautions.

To be on the safe side, he used the Innate Great Capture Technique to lock Chen Polang's soul, and then used the Thread Technique in conjunction with the Soul-Piercing Thorn to inject into his soul, confirming that if he made any unusual movements, he could immediately detonate his soul body.

Only then did he bring it to himself.

He then channeled the ink-like energy within his body, separating a wisp of ink-like power and injecting it into Chen Polang's soul.

After the seal was broken, the soul energy of the Ink Swamp finally began to merge more deeply with Chen Wen's soul.

Now, that Soul Pool has completely merged with Chen Wen's soul.

His long-stagnant soul, nourished by the Soul Pool, finally began to grow slowly, but without suitable nutrients, the growth rate was extremely slow.

However, he was not in a hurry. He was already at the ninth level of Qi Refining, and it was fortunate that he could advance ahead of schedule. He couldn't have it all at once!

Over the past three days, Chen Wen has been trying to comprehend the power of the malevolent energy in this place.

He was finally able to unleash a trace of the mysteries of the Ink Swamp Soul Possession Technique.

For example, what we are using right now is the Soul Searching Technique!

Chen Wen's spiritual consciousness followed the mysterious power of the Ink Swamp Soul-Possession and enveloped Chen Polang's soul.

Its soul, stimulated, immediately exerted a force of resistance.

However, her soul was severely damaged, and like an incompetent husband, she could only let Chen Wen brutally invade her soul and arbitrarily search through her memories.

Chen Wen's spiritual energy is limited, making it impossible to conduct a prolonged soul search.

I simply retrieved the fragmented memories and browsed through them superficially.

Suddenly, Chen Wen's eyes lit up.

"Found it!"

In Chen Polang's memory, a boy with a face that looked like it had been pixelated pointed at him.

Then, a cultivation technique appeared in his mind: the Heart Sutra of Cutting Off Thoughts and Seeing Me!

Before Chen Wen could check, he heard the boy's words in his memory. His voice had a kind of aloof arrogance, as if he were teasing a dog.

"This cultivation technique is a top-grade secret method. It severs nine separate souls and merges them into one, allowing one to forge divine consciousness ahead of time, making foundation building twice as effective!"

"I will teach you the method of severing the three souls, the method of returning essence to emptiness, and I will also give you the Earthly Fiend Qi. With these, you can go back and give birth. After giving birth, send your child to the Azure Nether Sect. With the method of severing the three souls, you will surely succeed in possessing another's body. From then on, you will be a member of my Lei family. Do you understand?"

Chen Wen's first reaction upon seeing this memory was, "Oh no, I've been set up!"

The next instant, he immediately withdrew his thoughts, ignoring the splitting headache caused by overusing the profound magic, and quickly sealed Chen Polang in layers, putting him into the Soul Jade Bottle, and then set up four layers of restrictions on the outside of the jade bottle: warning, sealing, suppression, and isolation.

Finally, Chen Wen completely eradicated all traces of this place, even turning over the soil, and then used his Little Withering and Flourishing Hand to spur the growth of weeds.

Instantly, a refreshing scent dispelled the previous gloom.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, "Damn that dam!"

However, his expression suddenly froze, as if he had thought of something.

He hurriedly took out a jade talisman brush from his storage bag.

I took it and looked at it, and sure enough, there was a character "雷" (thunder) written in esoteric script on it.

Without hesitation, he swallowed it whole, devouring it with his gluttonous stomach.

However, the gluttonous stomach that usually devours anything is now facing a problem.

After grinding the talisman into powder, a cylindrical object was revealed.

It looks like gold or jade, yet it is extremely sturdy; I don't know what it is.

Chen Wen thought about it for a while, but still didn't take it out. Anyway, his gluttonous stomach swallowed everything and never gave up, so he wasn't afraid of getting diarrhea. He could just grind it slowly, like eating sunflower seeds!

The Lei family.

Only now did he have the mind to ponder the word he had just heard.

He then remembered that the boy had apparently communicated with Chen Polang using Xuanwen (a type of script).

A thorough comparison of the sect's subordinate forces revealed no family with the surname Lei.

Chen Wen was suddenly horrified. Could it be the legendary extraterrestrial demon?

Is the world we live in being targeted?

Upon realizing this, Chen Wen suddenly understood.

No wonder Chen Polang was able to have a child with a mortal while only at the half-step Foundation Establishment stage.

He had been in the sect for so long, yet he had never heard of such a secret technique.

Moreover, the Heart Sutra of Severing Thoughts and the Soul-Gathering Qi of the Ink Swamp are both top-grade items.

Especially that secret technique, just hearing its description is incredible, it grants one divine sense in advance!

It's comparable to being admitted to Tsinghua University early in the senior year of high school.

Not only did he split his soul, but he split it nine times!

It should be known that for ordinary people, splitting their souls once is a matter of life and death, and of those lifespans, nine out of ten die from mental instability.

There is also the soul energy of the Ink Swamp, and the excellent earthly evil energy of the soul path.

What kind of terrifying family could so casually produce such a gift?

They also figured out the purpose behind sending him to the Qingming Sect.

The extraterrestrial demons are indeed cunning, but luckily I'm not one to be trifled with!

However, while Chen Wen was pondering...

Suddenly, the cylindrical object inside its gluttonous stomach emitted bursts of spiritual energy.

"Holy crap, there's an expert!"

Chen Wen immediately stopped what he was doing.

The spiritual energy within that object seemed extremely unstable, as if it were gradually awakening.

Without hesitation, he immediately unleashed a variety of soul-manipulating techniques, penetrating the soul with silk-threading magic and sparingly employing soul-capturing techniques, attempting to soothe the spirit within.

"Sleep well, sleep well, it's not dawn yet."

"The moon is bright, the wind is still, the leaves are rustling against the window..."

The gluttonous stomach frantically crushed spirit stones to replenish its magical power.

After an incense stick had burned, the fluctuations in the divine soul gradually subsided.

"Damn, I won! Too bad there's no prize..."

Chen Wen's face was pale, and he didn't even dare to breathe.

He quickly took out the Soul Jade Bottle, threw Chen Polang's soul aside, and then spat out the cylindrical object and put it into the bottle.

It is still protected by various restrictions.

Several more sealing and binding talismans were affixed.

After doing all this, Chen Wencai wiped away his cold sweat, and looked at Chen Polang to the side, feeling angry.

"You old bastard, you want to possess someone? You didn't even know you were keeping a ghost in your house! You deserve your retribution!"

After this incident, Chen Wen understood perfectly well.

This is a classic case of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

It seems that Chen Polang possessed him, but that's not actually the case!

If they succeed, there will be a real mastermind who will possess Chen Polang's body.

The spiritual fluctuation I just sensed wasn't too strong; it was only at the level of a half-step Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Considering that more than a decade has passed, it is very likely that it is in the fragment of that boy's soul.

This earthly evil energy wasn't bestowed upon Chen Polang; it was clearly prepared for his own clone!

Chen Wen finally understood; no wonder he gave away such precious Soul Dao Killing Qi so easily.

However, he did not experience the satisfaction of unraveling the mystery.

Instead, they felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy, and were filled with unease!

The extraterrestrial demon's fragmented soul is with me, and since I'm its target, I'll definitely be targeted by it again...

No, this place is no longer safe. We must return to our sect quickly!

Chen Wen suddenly stood up, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

He turned and called out to Xiaoxue, who was sleeping in the tree in front of the yard:

"Xiaoxue, wake up, it's time to go back to the sect!"

"Gurgle..."

Little Snow covered her head with her wings, half-asleep, trying to pretend she couldn't hear.

But soon, a large handprint grabbed him and placed him on Chen Wen's shoulder.

Xiaoxue remained fast asleep, showing no sign of waking up.

Chen Wen smiled helplessly. What else could he do but spoil his pet?

He waved his hand to dispel the formation in the courtyard and soared into the sky.

At this time.

Cao Yunde, who had already brought the Chen family back and was settling them in while preparing for the banquet, suddenly saw Chen Wen in the sky. He quickly flew to Chen Wen's side and respectfully said:

"Envoy Chen, what is it? Please tell me your instructions."

"Have all the Chen family members been brought back?"

Although Chen Wen asked a question, his gaze had already turned to the bustling square below and locked onto a familiar face.

Cao Yunde chuckled:

"Reporting to Your Excellency, a total of over 320 people have been found. There are still some who have not reunited with them and have strayed far from this place, and I have not been able to find them..."

Chen Wen waved his hand to interrupt, saying impatiently, "I know. You can handle the rest with the Chen family yourself. I have other important matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first!"

After saying that, Chen Wen prepared to leave.

However, at this moment, the person below and Cao Yunde behind him spoke at the same time;

"Your Excellency, please wait!"

"Envoy Chen... please wait!"

Chen Wen frowned. That was really bad luck!

...........