Following Yin Hanjiang's directions, the Sect Master stood in Qingyue's room and began the technique. He had been told that, using this array, the transferer would be able to maintain some of their spiritual essence. He waited for a moment, perfectly still, and was overjoyed to discover that he wasn't losing as much spiritual essence as he thought he would.
Hè Wenzhao, standing guard outside, glared at Yin Hanjiang and Baili Qingmiao. At first, his thoughts filled with rage, he didn't feel anything. But gradually, he realized that his spiritual essence was incessantly pouring away. However hard he tried to take in spiritual energy, he couldn't keep up with the rate of loss.
Abruptly, he found out he couldn't move his legs from the spot he stood. Hè Wenzhao wasn't an idiot. He turned toward Yao Jiaping. "Is this your scheme?"
Underneath his skin, Yao Jiaping slowly smiled. He had already chased off all the other Shangqing Sect members, claiming that he needed peace and quiet, so now only the Sect Master, Qingyue, Hè Wenzhao, "Yao Jiaping", and "Baili Qingmiao" were in the side hall.
Hè Wenzhao circulated his spiritual essence, trying to resist, but found out that the more he did, the quicker it was drained.
"What exactly did you do?" he said.
"Nothing much. I just feel so sorry for your master, being so old and having to fall back to Foundation Establishment. As his disciple, isn't it proper for you to take on your master's burdens?" Yao Jiaping said casually, as he enjoyed Hè Wenzhao's look of alarm and fury.
This array was certainly an invention of Yao Jiaping's. It had a very clever manner of action. The one undergoing the transfer inside was not actually transferring their spiritual essence, just maintaining the array, inexorably sucking away the spiritual essence of the guard outside. Yao Jiaping, to think of such an array that traded people's lives, certainly was a twisted person.
However, this array didn't have the ability to prevent the guard's escape. What Yao Jiaping wanted to see was the guard running away in order to preserve their spiritual essence, and the two people inside suffering backlash from the array, one ending up dead and one injured, knowing they had been betrayed by someone they trusted. That was Yao Jiaping's goal.
Yin Hanjiang obviously didn't want Hè Wenzhao to run. That's why Wenren È had created that talisman, which Liu Xinye had gotten Hè Wenzhao to drink.
It was made to restrain the Blood Demon. Wenren È was one of the only two blood cultivators in the world. During the battle at the Blood Hell, the demon's attack on his blood marks allowed Wenren È to comprehend how to restrict the marks. After Hè Wenzhao drank the talisman he had made from primordial chaos energy, the Blood Demon's marks were sealed and he fell into slumber.
As for Hè Wenzhao, he was currently affected by an immobilization spell Yin Hanjiang had cast. Without the Blood Demon as backup, there was no way Hè Wenzhao could stand up to Yin Hanjiang, who had already broken out of the mortal realm.
"Yao Jiaping, you're too vicious!" Hè Wenzhao shouted.
"Vicious?" said "Yao Jiaping". "It's your master inside, and the shishu you owe your life to. It's only right for you to sacrifice yourself. Don't you want to help your master? The Shangqing Sect still needs a Sect Master who understands the bigger picture."
Hè Wenzhao knew there was no use talking to Yao Jiaping. He immediately sent a transmission to his master, about to ask him to stop the transfer, but it was blocked.
Yin Hanjiang had already sealed off the courtyard, so that only he and Baili Qingmiao could hear Hè Wenzhao.
Seeing his spiritual essence was already half gone and he had fallen from Mahayana to Deity Transformation, Hè Wenzhao gave up on yelling at Yao Jiaping and turned to Baili Qingmiao. "Shimei, shimei, please, save me! If this goes on, I'm going to become an ordinary mortal who's just stepped through the gates!"
"Why don't you answer him yourself." Wenren È gave Baili Qingmiao's body back to her, leaving the choice to her.
If at this point, Baili Qingmiao's mind was still muddled by the divine nature, then Wenren È would give up on her. He might as well cherish the time he had with Yin Hanjiang, before the three realms were destroyed.
Regaining control of her body, Baili Qingmiao watched Hè Wenzhao wordlessly, then said, "Shixiong, Sir Yao's methods are indeed excessive, but he's not wrong. You owe a debt to both your elders, and just happened to break through to Mahayana, so the duty should be yours.
"Ever since I was young, you taught me that a cultivator must not obsess over temporary gains and losses, and instead value justice above all else. I've followed your teachings for all this time, putting others before myself in everything I did. Even if I can save just one life, then it's worth it no matter what losses I suffer.
"If you can save shibo's life, then what's a bit of power? The Sect Master is already very old. If he were to fall to Foundation Establishment, then even though he says he'll be able to cultivate again, he's already over eight hundred years old. There's no way Foundation Establishment power can sustain eight hundred years of age. After the transfer, when the technique ends, the Sect Master's time would instantly be up. This is just exchanging one life for another!
"But it's not the same for you. You're less than a hundred years old, so Foundation Establishment power can extend your life to one hundred and fifty or even two hundred years. If you undertake the transfer, it's the only way every person involved can survive."
This was the reason Baili Qingmiao didn't try to stop Wenren È. She herself also thought it would be for the best if her shixiong took her Sect Master's place.
"Shimei! Are you under Yao Jiaping's influence?" Hè Wenzhao was frantic, but he still maintained a loving expression toward her. "Shimei, think about me as well. I'm the Sect Master's direct disciple. All my peers' eyes are on me, treating me as an example. If I fell to a level below even an outer disciple's, how will they all look at me? Do you know how hard it'll be for me?"
Listening to him, the last traces of hesitation and affection in Baili Qingmiao's eyes vanished. She shook her head. "The Sect Master would've had a harder time than you."
She had always thought her shixiong was a righteous person. Even if he had relations with other women, that just meant he hadn't learned better on that front. Baili Qingmiao understood very well how difficult love was to control, so didn't really blame her shixiong, just grieving on her own.
Yet right now, Hè Wenzhao's actions could not live up to the words he had said in the past. He had never taken to heart the things he'd taught Baili Qingmiao.
"Shixiong, you have truly disappointed me." Baili Qingmiao shook her head. "I thought you at least had compassion."
She turned uncaringly to Yin Hanjiang and said, "From now on, Baili Qingmiao has broken off all ties with Hè Wenzhao. We no longer have anything to do with each other. You can take up any grudge with him that you wish. I won't get in your way. The agreement that we made is, as of now, nullified."
The condition that Baili Qingmiao had raised before letting Yin Hanjiang bring her to Shangqing Sect was that Hè Wenzhao needed to be judged before the public, instead of privately condemned. Now, Baili Qingmiao had been truly disappointed by Hè Wenzhao. She had no more feelings toward him, and thought it was perfectly natural for Yin Hanjiang to want to take vengeance on him.
"I never planned to follow that agreement anyway." Yin Hanjiang gave Baili Qingmiao an approving look. "This Lord is glad you were able to make this decision, in the end."
He was glad that his Venerable's efforts had not gone to waste, and that Wenren È no longer needed to be placed side-by-side with Hè Wenzhao.
"The time has almost come." Yin Hanjiang nodded slightly, watching Hè Wenzhao's level steadily fall towards Foundation Establishment.
Inside the room, the Sect Master watched as Elder Qingyue regained his youth, rising to Body Unity, while his own realm had actually not decreased at all, remaining at Mahayana.
He had expended his spiritual essence, but after taking some supplemental elixirs and spending a few months in secluded cultivation, it would all recover.
The outcome was far better than he had expected. He sent a transmission to "Yao Jiaping" outside. "Sir Yao truly is a legendary doctor. Shidi has recovered fully, yet your array has managed to preserve this humble Daoist's cultivation!"
"Since he's recovered, this Lord can take his fee, right?" said the man outside the door.
This Lord? The Sect Master didn't think about it too hard. "Sir Yao can go ahead and say it, as long as it's something in my power."
"It's no big deal," Yin Hanjiang transmitted. "On the seventh of next month, have all the sect masters and major elders of the Biluo, Jiuxing, and Tianjian Sects, the Wuxiang Temple, and the four great cultivation clans gather at True Yin Mountain. This Lord has an announcement to make."
"This will naturally be no issue, but what does Sir Yao want to announce?" the Sect Master asked.
"If you're worried I'll set up an array there in advance, you can send out disciples to check beforehand. If you agree, then make a vow."
Seeing that Elder Qingyue was slowly waking up, the Sect Master felt grateful towards "Yao Jiaping", and thought that nothing could possibly happen with so many powerful cultivators going to the deserted True Yin Mountain, so he agreed to the vow.
"Well, remember this debt. This Lord is leaving."
Upon hearing Yao Jiaping was going to leave, the Sect Master stopped the technique and, after making sure his shidi was okay, rushed out of the room.
Stepping outside the door, he stopped in his tracks, seeing his favorite disciple had now become forty years old in appearance, being carried off by Yao Jiaping.
Yao Jiaping, Baili Qingmiao, and the unconscious Hè Wenzhao were all riding on an enormous drum. No one in Shangqing Sect was more familiar with this drum than the Sect Master. Eighteen months ago, Yin Hanjiang had ridden it as he chased him home.
Yao Jiaping ripped off the skin on his face, revealing an extremely handsome, yet somewhat cruel face. He smiled calmly at the Sect Master. "This Lord is Yin Hanjiang."
He tossed Hè Wenzhao to Baili Qingmiao and formed seals with both his hands. Two translucent drumsticks condensed from spiritual energy beat madly on the surface of the drum. Scarlet flames roared to the sky, carrying the Burning Sky Drum upward.
With the Moon Pool Bell's wards, flight was restricted within Shangqing Sect, but wielding the Burning Sky Drum, the Moon Pool Bell's restrictions were nothing to Yin Hanjiang.
Among the three people in Shangqing Sect who could use the Moon Pool Bell, the Sect Master had expended his spiritual energy, Qingyue was still recovering, and Hè Wenzhao had fallen to Foundation Establishment and was being dragged away by Baili Qingmiao. The sect array could prevent entry, but not exit. Who was left to help Shangqing Sect?
There was no one.
If the Sect Master wanted to stop them, he had to get to the Moon Pool Bell and activate the array's maximum strength, but he had to ride on a flying boat to get there. By the time a flying boat arrived, Yin Hanjiang would be long gone.
"Yin Hanjiang! Do you want to start another Great War?" The Sect Master yelled, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
"What's wrong with that?" Yin Hanjiang said indifferently. "Don't forget who suffered defeat in the last war thirty years ago? If my Venerable were not benevolent, thinking of the survival of mortal lives, how could the righteous path have even held out for ten years?"
"Release Wenzhao and Baili Qingmiao!" the Sect Master shouted.
"Baili Qingmiao must return to Xuanyuan Sect to have her heart-linking gu and tracking curse removed. As for your disciple... this Lord will take back everything he is owed, one by one. I'll be counting on you to inform the other sects. Their disciples are all at Xuanyuan Sect, and if they want to see them again, they better be at True Yin Mountain on the seventh of next month."
With that, an enormous flame broke through the Shangqing Sect's array. Yin Hanjiang flew out, riding on the drum. After the Great Sect War and the battle at the Blood Hell, there was no one left at Shangqing Sect who could stop him. Everyone was helpless to do anything but watch as the Xuanyuan Sect Leader entered and left Shangqing Sect unobstructed.