Chapter 267: Chapter 267 A Deal
“Senior brother, did you just go to the Heavenly Palace?” Zhou Heng couldn’t help but be astonished and exclaimed, “To find the Crimson Sky Scrolls?”
His heart was tremendously shocked.
The Crimson Sky Scrolls were currently second on the Celestial Rankings, and it was said that they had crossed the threshold of the Celestial Man’s realm five or six hundred years ago, and had already survived the first Celestial Man’s decline, making them incredibly powerful.
Although Yan Shouyi was first on the Celestial Rankings, from this ranking, it didn’t seem as though he was much stronger than the Crimson Sky Scrolls.
After all, between the first and the second, if the cultivation realms are on the same level, their strengths couldn’t possibly be worlds apart.
Moreover, if you were to go to the Heavenly Palace to find the Crimson Sky Scrolls, that would be tantamount to entering the opponent’s home ground, starting at a disadvantage before the fight even began.
But looking at it now, it seems like Yan Shouyi had the upper hand?
After all, Yan Shouyi had just returned holding three heads, which didn’t look like the outcome of someone who had been on the losing side.
Could it be that he had forcibly broken through the Heavenly Palace’s forbidden formation and the many defenses, and managed to decapitate the Crimson Sky Scrolls on their own turf despite being the away team?
That would be incredibly formidable.
Despite being second on the Celestial Rankings and the head of the world’s foremost evil sect, the Crimson Sky Scrolls were crushed on their own territory by Yan Shouyi?
And had three of their heads chopped off in the process?
If that were truly the case, how formidable was his senior brother’s strength?
Was he really still a Celestial Man?
“The Middle Third Rank Martial Artist from the Heavenly Palace attacked you, so naturally, I had to seek out their palace master to reason with him, with no initial intention to strike,” said Yan Shouyi, sitting casually on a nearby bluestone, smiling. “But he’s always been stubborn and refused to come out and talk with me, so I had to take matters into my own hands and grab him, yet he fiercely resisted. There was no other way, so I had to chop off his three heads as a warning.”
“Uh… senior brother, I want to ask, do Celestial Men all have many heads?” Zhou Heng couldn’t contain his curiosity and inquired.
“That has to do with the cultivation of the ‘Dharma Body’ at Absolute Fourth Rank,” Yan Shouyi patiently explained. “If the Dharma Body isn’t humanoid, then it doesn’t have a head. Humanoid Dharma Bodies are further divided into the normal humanoid form and the abnormal humanoid form.
“For example, our Pure Yang Palace’s Pure Yang Golden Light Body is a non-human Dharma Body, the True Yang Undying Body is a humanoid Dharma Body, and the Nine Yang True Immortal Body is an abnormal humanoid form with nine heads.
“Crimson Sky Scrolls cultivated the ‘Heaven’s Mandate Noble God Body,’ which after manifesting their Primordial Spirit true form, has four heads and eight arms. I only chopped off three of their heads, leaving one intact, which you could say is letting them off easy.”
“Then, doesn’t that mean Celestial Men with only one head are at a disadvantage?” Zhou Heng curiously continued, even forgetting to ask why someone from the Heavenly Palace had attacked him.
“Not necessarily,” Yan Shouyi lightly shook his head, saying, “If it’s a normal humanoid Dharma Body, then the head is merely an image, and there’s no difference between chopping off the head or an arm or leg.
“But if the abnormal humanoid Dharma Body has irregularities on the heads, arms, or other parts, that’s where the essence of the Primordial Spirit Dharma Body lies. If those parts are chopped off, it would cause severe damage to their vital energy.
“Dharma Bodies are distinct and gods are divergent, each with their own strengths and characteristics. After you reach the Secret Six Rank, Brother, you should pay more attention to this kind of information, so that you can choose your own path in the future,”
“Hmm, thank you for the guidance, Older Brother, and thank you for risking yourself this time to go to the Heavenly Palace on my behalf.” Zhou Heng clasped his hands in thanks, then turned to ask Yan Shouyi, “Do you know why the Heavenly Palace suddenly sought to have me killed?”
“What’s there to thank between brothers? As my younger brother, Zhou Heng, how could I let someone assassinate you out of the blue?” Yan Shouyi waved his hand dismissively, his gaze turning to the northwest, “I had suspected it was related to that Evil Spirit. After asking the Crimson Book, it turned out to be the case.”
“That so-called Li You from another world’s Evil Spirit?” Zhou Heng furrowed his brows and said, “Could it have already descended here? But even if it’s an Evil Spirit, it shouldn’t have the power to command the Heavenly Palace.”
Li You was an Evil Spirit that he had encountered previously in Qingquan Town of Sanshui County under the jurisdiction of Ganlu Mansion in Fangzhou.
It was incredibly arrogant, demanding that Zhou Heng become its follower upon its first meeting.
It promised Zhou Heng that, should he face insurmountable difficulties, all he had to do was pray to the name “Li You” thrice with sincerity, and it would solve all his troubles and vanquish all his enemies.
This method of prayer was known as “Heavenly Spirit Descending from Beyond,” a technique of the Middle Third Rank. Later, Zhou Heng eliminated it using the Divine Thunder Command, leaving behind an Evil Spirit Mark on him.
From this, it was evident that the level of this Evil Spirit was at least comparable to the Middle Third Rank.
But even if an Evil Spirit of this level were to cross the barriers between worlds and descend upon this one, it would have surely suffered great damage to its vitality. It wouldn’t be possible to stir up trouble in a short period, so how could it command the Heavenly Palace?
“Has Junior Brother forgotten that there is an Evil God within the Heavenly Palace, a place of heresy?” Yan Shouyi chuckled, looking to the sky with a sigh, “The Evil God has the power to sense the spirits of all heavens.”
“Although the Divine First Rank do not appear now, the palace lord, the Crimson Book, is still able to tap into the power of this Evil God to establish connections with some out-worldly Evil Spirits to procure certain items or engage in transactions.”
“The Crimson Book has established contact with Li You using the power of the Evil God from the Heavenly Palace?” Zhou Heng asked in surprise, “Did he make some kind of deal with Li You? Was killing me the condition?”
“Correct,” Yan Shouyi nodded slightly, saying, “Li You is a Second Rank Evil Spirit. It promised Crimson Book that after descending into this world, it would join the Heavenly Palace and submit to the Evil God, bringing at least five hundred Evil Creatures with it.”
“The condition was for Crimson Book to have someone kill you, with or without the Life-saving Talisman. As long as they killed you once, the transaction would be considered complete. To the Crimson Book, this was a very profitable deal.”
Pausing for a moment, he chuckled, “It’s just that it’s been too long since I made a move, and they seem to have forgotten what kind of person I am, as well as what kind of conduct the Pure Yang Palace maintains. They actually dared to go through with this transaction.
“Speaking of which, the Crimson Book is quite the double-dealer. Although he made a deal with Li You, after I severed three of his heads, he directly betrayed that Evil Spirit.”
“Li You wants to kill me, but why does it want to kill me?” Zhou Heng said in confusion, “The Evil Spirit Mark on me has already been eradicated, so there shouldn’t be any relation between us.”
“What Li You is plotting, neither Crimson Book nor I have any idea,” Yan Shouyi shook his head, giving Zhou Heng another appraising look, his voice growing grave, “However, I suspect that the Evil Spirit Mark on you might not have been completely eradicated or there could be some other nefarious methods lingering.”
“Ah?” Zhou Heng was startled upon hearing this.
He had thought that he had completely eradicated the Evil Spirit Mark, but now that Li You was still after him, it was indeed possible that some remnants of it lingered on him.
“Don’t panic, Junior Brother, I have already found the solution,” Yan Shouyi said with a smile.
“What should we do?” Zhou Heng asked, feeling distinctly unpleasant about being targeted by a Second Rank Evil Spirit.