Chapter 997: Rotten Within

Seeing this, the High Priest waved his hand, and the water in the pool within the hall churned as a white jade stone bed slowly rose from it.

Soul-Devour lay flat on the stone bed, her expression calm, her chest not rising or falling, and no trace of breath emanating from her body, making her look like a perfectly preserved corpse.

The High Priest slowly stepped forward, reached up to remove the hood of his cloak, revealing an exquisitely beautiful, flawless young face. However, his skin was deathly pale, utterly bloodless, which somewhat diminished its color.

After scanning Soul-Devour with his gaze, he said, "Fellow Daoist Han, please first remove the puppet禁制 on this young lady."

Han Li nodded, stepped forward, and formed hand seals. A ball of white star power condensed in his palm, starting from her Baihui acupoint on the crown of her head, passing through her neck and shoulders, all the way to the Yongquan acupoint on the soles of her feet.

At each point, white light flashed within her body, and white bone needles, each only as thick as a toothpick but covered with complex runes, emerged from her body and were collected by Han Li.

After the bone needles were withdrawn, Ti Hun's brow suddenly furrowed, her body abruptly contracted, and she began to tremble violently.

At the same time, her original aura once again leaked out.

"This is..." the High Priest exclaimed, his expression suddenly changing as he sensed Ti Hun's aura.

"High Priest, do not be alarmed. Ti Hun is indeed not human; her true form is a type of celestial beast you commonly call a 'Punishment Beast,'" Han Li said, speaking up.

"I see... I see. No wonder..." the High Priest said, as if suddenly enlightened.

"What do you mean by that, High Priest?" Han Li asked, frowning.

"Although the Punishment Beast is a type of celestial beast and not a true spirit lineage, it is actually rarer and more precious. The primal law force within its body is one of the three supreme laws of the world: the Law of Reincarnation. Just now, when she was sealed by the soul-sealing needles, I could not detect it, but now that the needles have been removed, I still cannot sense any primal force within her. This is likely why she has fallen into a coma," the High Priest said after a moment of deliberation.

"The High Priest is correct. At the beginning of the year, due to an accident, she was affected by some law force, and then she became like this." Han Li listened and quickly nodded.

"It seems certain. She must have been affected by the law of reincarnation, causing her origin power to fall into slumber. As long as we channel the law of reincarnation into her dantian and awaken it, she will recover." The High Priest said.

"Is it that simple?" Han Li looked hesitant, finding it hard to believe.

"Fellow Daoist Han, do you know that cultivating the law of reincarnation is even more difficult than the law of space, and perhaps even the law of time cannot compare? And controlling the power of the law of reincarnation is even harder; the slightest mistake could lead to unpredictable consequences." The High Priest said in a hoarse voice, looking at Han Li.

"I only know that the three supreme laws dominate all other laws because they hold absolute authority in their respective domains, requiring extremely rare opportunities and talent, so very few people practice them. Could it be that the High Priest cultivates the law of reincarnation?" Han Li asked in surprise.

"To be honest, the reason I can serve as the High Priest is that I master the art of Heavenly Yuan Divination, a branch of the Great Prophecy. By using this art, I can borrow a portion of the power of the law of reincarnation to predict future events. But fundamentally, I do not truly master the law of reincarnation." The High Priest said with a faint smile.

"I see. So... the High Priest intends to use that power to help the Soul-Devouring Beast awaken its origin power?" Han Li realized.

"Yes, as long as—"

Before the High Priest could finish, his expression suddenly changed, and Han Li also frowned and looked over.

The Soul-Devouring Beast lying on the white jade bed suddenly relaxed, no longer curling up, and lay flat. A faint light appeared at her brow, and strands of white light emerged from it, drifting away like willow catkins.

"What is this! Why is her soul dissipating?" Han Li's expression changed drastically, and he quickly asked.

"It's not surprising. Once the origin power in the body is lost, the soul becomes like duckweed without roots. It can only stay in the body for a while, then begins to dissipate. The 108 Soul-Sealing Needles used earlier were extremely clever, locking her soul tightly in the body to prevent it from scattering. However, the Soul-Sealing Needles were originally a method to refine living people into puppets, which inherently damages the soul. Now that you have removed the needles, the loss naturally accelerates." The High Priest shook his head and said.

Hearing this, Han Li immediately activated his Soul Refining Art, pointed at his brow, and pulled forward. A crystalline thread of divine sense shot out and entered the Soul-Devouring Beast's brow.

A white light flashed at her brow, and the strands of white light that had been dissipating disappeared.

"Please, High Priest, save her immediately." Han Li's expression turned serious, and he turned around, cupping his hands in salute.

"The rescue cannot be interrupted. You must guard me for a while." The High Priest nodded and spoke.

"Rest assured, High Priest, there will be no disturbance whatsoever." Han Li said solemnly.

The High Priest said no more and went to the other end of the white jade stone bed, standing behind the head of the Soul-Devouring Beast. He pressed his hands together before his chest, as if praying to heaven and earth, then opened his hands and swept them forward as if scattering coins.

A spray of blood shot from his palms, transforming into five plum blossoms that dripped onto the Soul-Devouring Beast's forehead. The center of his palms cracked like a tortoise shell with many twisted lines.

At the same time, a blurry red halo emerged behind him. His robes billowed without wind, rustling as they fluttered. A law aura, somewhat familiar yet strange to Han Li, emanated from him.

Just then, Han Li caught a glimpse of the High Priest's exposed skin beneath his robes and felt a sudden urge to vomit.

Beneath that handsome face, his skin was covered with large festering sores, most oozing pus, mottled purple and blue, mixed with yellowish-brown mucus, looking utterly disgusting.

These scars were clearly old wounds. Some had completely scabbed over, leaving large, goiter-like scars; others had only formed dry scabs around the edges; still others were still oozing pus.

The High Priest's bloated and obese appearance was actually due more to these goiters and scabs covering his body. Han Li couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion as he looked at his handsome face now.

Earlier, due to the strong medicinal smell in the hall and the robes covering him, Han Li hadn't noticed any unusual odor. But now, a foul, putrid smell emanated from the High Priest's body.

"Fellow Daoist Han, if it's hard to bear, you may wait outside the hall. The treatment will take at least an hour." The High Priest's voice suddenly sounded in Han Li's sea of consciousness.

"No matter." Han Li replied succinctly and said no more.

The High Priest then fell silent.

However, after only a dozen breaths, Han Li frowned and spoke again: "It seems I have no choice but to go outside."

"Go ahead, Fellow Daoist Han. Just make sure no one breaks in." The High Priest instructed.

"I'm obliged." Han Li clasped his hands in a salute, and with a flicker, he was outside the hall's door.

In the pitch-black night sky, several streaks of light pierced the darkness and landed a dozen zhang away from Han Li.

The leader had snow-white hair meticulously combed and tied high on his head with a jeweled crown. His eyes were violet, his features handsome, and his resemblance to Shi Chuankong was striking. He was indeed his third brother, Shi Pokong.

Behind him stood two demon clansmen. One was a zhang tall, built like an iron tower, with half a metal mask covering his nose and mouth, his face full of fierce muscles, looking like a demon.

The other was a slender, gray-haired, gentle old man in a green robe, with a faint smile on his face and his hands behind his back, looking like an ordinary village schoolteacher.

Han Li suddenly released his divine sense, enveloping the surrounding area. Upon inspection, he found that besides the patrolling guards in the palace, only these three had come.

The aura emanating from the iron-tower man was the weakest of the three, merely at the mid-Taiyi stage. Shi Pokong, also a mid-Taiyi Jade Immortal, had a more steady and profound aura, slightly surpassing the iron-tower man.

The old man who looked like a schoolteacher seemed the most harmless but was actually the highest in cultivation among the three, at the late-Taiyi stage.

"Hehe, long time no see, Fellow Daoist Li." Shi Pokong clasped his hands slightly and said with a smile.

"Thanks to your care, Fellow Daoist Shi, I didn't die in the Scales of Accumulated Emptiness." Seeing that Shi Pokong was not in a hurry to act, Han Li replied with a smile.

"Since Fellow Daoist Li has quietly returned to the Holy Domain, my thirteenth brother must have returned as well, right? Where is he now?" Shi Pokong's smile widened as he asked.

"Shi Chuankong has always regarded you as his closest kin and never had any intention to contend with you. Don't you think this is unnecessary?" Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he answered evasively.

"Fellow Daoist Li is a wise man. Surely you know the saying, 'Not contending is the greatest contention'? Besides, whether he contends or not makes little difference. This matter is not for him to decide, nor for me." Shi Pokong's expression dimmed slightly as he spoke, but quickly returned to normal.

"Whether you brothers contend or not has no bearing on me, and I have no desire to get involved. As long as you don't obstruct me, we can each go our separate ways." Han Li said indifferently.

"I could refrain from stopping you, provided you tell me what happened in the Scales of Accumulated Emptiness. Why have all the pieces I placed there gone silent?" Shi Pokong frowned and asked.