“Essence Genesis?” Dahong inhaled sharply in surprise.
Essence Genesis looked at Dahong with some distaste. “This Immortal Origin doesn’t belong to you!”
Essence Genesis gently grasped the Immortal Origin. As he did so, it resonated with the entire immortal firmament as if they were interconnected. Extracting it was not a simple task. However, this was Essence Genesis, and the Immortal Origin had no master; how could he fail to seize it?
Rumble…!
As Essence Genesis gave a tug, the space trembled.
Dahong watched as Essence Genesis was about to pocket the Immortal Origin. Despite knowing his strength was inferior, he was unwilling to let it go without a fight.
He had suffered considerable losses: many of his subordinates were dead, and only the upper half of his body remained. After a bitter struggle, was he going to let someone else swoop in and reap the rewards just as victory was in sight?
The Immortal Origin is mine! Essence Genesis might be powerful, but so what? I have the secret shaman race technique—mind control!
Numerous consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivators have fallen victim to my mind control in a blink.
“Essence Genesis, look into my eyes!” Dahong suddenly commanded, his face distorted in a ghastly smile.
Buzz!
Dahong’s eyes instantly turned blood red, emitting a dazzling red light like two lanterns.
Dahong’s call attracted Essence Genesis’s attention; the white-clad man turned to look at him.
“Damn it!” Gu Hai’s expression darkened in the distance.
Is Dahong trying to control Essence Genesis? If he succeeds, that will mean the end.
Essence Genesis stared back at Dahong. Dahong’s body shook with excitement. He looked! He looked into my eyes! Hahaha! Anyone who looks into my eyes will fall prey to my mind control.
But after Essence Genesis looked at him, the expected scenario of control did not unfold. Essence Genesis still appeared cold and indifferent.
“Why? Why haven’t you fallen under my mind control? This can’t be possible…. Let’s try again!” Dahong’s eyes flashed with terror.
“The ancient shaman race’s mind control?” Essence Genesis suddenly said.
Dahong’s expression changed dramatically. Is Essence Genesis really not controlled? It’s impossible. My mind control has always worked. How could it fail?
To his horror, he saw Essence Genesis extend a hand, pointing a finger towards his forehead.
Dahong wanted to dodge but found it impossible. The hand of Essence Genesis, although seemingly slow, gave him an oppressive sense of inevitability and despair. The finger stiffened into an awl-like shape, shooting towards Dahong’s forehead.
“No! No!” Dahong howled in despair.
At this moment, he was filled with regret. Why did I attempt to confront Essence Genesis, an entity even His Holy Eminence could not handle? Isn’t this just seeking death?
Phish!
There was a muffled sound, and everyone saw Essence Genesis’s finger penetrate Dahong’s forehead, creating a hole. His hand delved deep into Dahong’s brain, making all the onlookers shudder.
Dahong was utterly defenseless before Essence Genesis?
Phish!
Essence Genesis withdrew his hand from Dahong’s forehead, holding a tumor-like mass shining with red light. With the extraction of this object, the red light in Dahong’s eyes instantly vanished.
“You... how did you know?” Dahong stammered weakly, horror-stricken.
“Mind control, it all stems from this heart core, right?” Essence Genesis asked, curiously studying the tumor-like mass.
“Argh!”
“Don’t!”
“Demon!”
“Save me!”
The tumor-like heart core started screaming in pain, the voices seeming to come from various people.
“Oh? Are these screams from pregnant women?” Curiosity flickered in Essence Genesis’s eyes as he stimulated the heart core again.
Buzz!
A series of images suddenly appeared before them, playing back history.
The scenes in every image were the same, with only the characters differing. In the images, Dahong tore open the abdomen of a pregnant woman, took out the unborn baby, and snapped the fetus’s neck amid a splatter of fresh blood and continuous mad laughter. Witnessing her child’s brutal demise immediately drove the pregnant woman to madness.
Despair, fear, hatred, resentment, helplessness, and mournful cries accumulated in the pregnant woman’s screams, creating a boundless resentment so powerful it seemed to surpass all the resentments in the world. Bizarrely, this colossal resentment flowed into Dahong’s forehead in the scene, merging into this heart core.
Essence Genesis squinted at Dahong and said, “So, the heart core was created through such a wicked method. There are one hundred thousand portions of resentments here, which means you killed one hundred thousand pregnant women. You butchered their unborn children right before them and used their resentment to form this heart core. Even a consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator would find such a powerful resentment unbearable, wouldn’t they?”
Dahong, who had a hole in his forehead, was on the brink of death. “Give it back to me! Give me my heart core! Give it back to me quickly!”
Essence Genesis glanced around and said coldly, “It seems not only one hundred thousand pregnant women. This resentment is consumable; every bit used is one bit gone. You have used a portion, haven’t you? You planned to use the remaining one hundred thousand poisonous resentments on me?”
Phish!
Essence Genesis pinched gently, and the tumor-like heart core shattered.
“No!” Blargh!
Dahong spat out a mouthful of fresh blood; evidently, his mind was connected to the heart core.
“Do you not know this is a great sin? Those with great sins will not have a good death or end well. This is the cycle of the natural order. You cannot escape the cause and effect of the world. I may not care about karma, but that does not mean you, a piece of trash, can disregard it. Are you one of Ji Dihong’s men? Why doesn’t Ji Dihong cultivate this secret technique himself? It’s because its karma is too heavy. Back then, that shaman race’s line of inheritance was invincible with its mind control. But do you know how they died? They were the most miserable among the shaman race. It is not that they did not suffer retribution; it was just not the time yet. You have offended me today, so you deserve to go to hell!” said Essence Genesis coldly.
While speaking, Essence Genesis waved his hand.
Whoosh!
The shattered heart core released surging resentments, which Essence Genesis gathered in his palm and slowly pushed back into Dahong’s body.
“Give back my child!”
“My son!”
“Demon, you will not die well!”
“Don’t kill me. Ah!”
Suddenly the boundless resentments filled Dahong. Without the heart core to restrain them, the most desperate resentment instantly shattered Dahong’s will.
The scenes of the pregnant women before they died made Dahong feel like he was in their shoes.
“No, don’t! Don’t kill me!”
“I’m sorry!”
“Don’t chew my flesh!”
Dahong constantly tore his own flesh with his hands like a madman and frantically gnawed on his own flesh. For a moment, Dahong’s self-mutilation chilled everyone’s heart.
Buzz!
The very moment Essence Genesis crushed the heart core, Kong Xuan, Houqing, Houtu, and Mao Tianyun instantly regained their senses.
“What just happened? Unborn Man, did you age me?” Kong Xuan exclaimed in surprise.
“I…? Long Wanqing, why was I fighting you?” Houtu cried out in shock.
“Meow! My black fur! Unborn Man, you old fogey, give me back my lifespan!” Mao Tianyun yowled in alarm.
Houqing also looked at the Unborn Man in terror.
Both the Unborn Man and Long Wanqing were taken aback for a moment. Then they glanced at the distant Gu Hai, who nodded.
“I did not use your lifespan. Take it back,” the Unborn Man said.
Whoosh!
Three colorful rays of light streaked towards Kong Xuan, Mao Tianyun, and Houqing. They quickly swallowed the lights, and colorful glows immediately enveloped them. Their white hair gradually returned to its original state.
Houtu and Long Wanqing quickly approached Gu Hai.
“Husband, Dahong’s methods were too cruel. He didn’t even spare pregnant women?” Long Wanqing said in horror.
“Some people are capable of anything in their quest for power. However, it was indeed terrifying just now; was he at the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm?” Gu Hai asked gravely.
“His cultivation was a sham because this secret technique forcibly raises the heavenly soul to the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm!” Long Wanyu stated.
“Oh?” Gu Hai turned to Long Wanyu.
“Only those with extreme ruthlessness, who can shut off their emotions, can withstand this cruel cultivation technique. This cultivation technique can push them to consummation, but it’s all hollow; they merely enter the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm and can never increase their strength!” Long Wanyu explained.
“He had fifty subordinates, all of whom I consumed. Could all of them control minds?” asked the Mosquito Daoist.
“Those fifty people definitely lacked Dahong’s ruthlessness; hence, they couldn’t achieve consummation. Furthermore, they needed Dahong’s guidance to practice this method. They were merely Dahong’s aides. However, they were not good people, either, and they deserved to die!” replied Long Wanyu.
“Indeed, they deserved to die, but I wonder if Dahong was the only one under Ji Dihong?” Gu Hai said with a grim expression.
Ji Dihong got Dahong to cultivate mind control. Could he have gotten others to do the same?
“Don’t worry, Brother-in-Law. Very few people possess such extreme ruthlessness. Dahong was a special case. Generally, anyone attempting to cultivate this method independently would instantly be driven mad by the resentment. Even if they could cultivate it, they wouldn’t live long because of the significant karma; they would not die well!” Long Wanyu explained.
As everyone gathered, Essence Genesis suddenly pulled.
Rumble…!
With a loud noise, Essence Genesis yanked the Immortal Origin out of the void. The entire flawed immortal firmament trembled as if an earthquake had occurred.
“I can move!” the golden dragon beneath the Immortal Origin exclaimed in joy as it twisted its body.
“Is that the demonic phantom?” Gu Hai asked, looking at the golden dragon.
“Yes, he’s actually Hetu’s reincarnation. Unfortunately, he lost some of his memories during the process and ended up in my body! I have separated him from me!” Long Wanyu confirmed.
The golden dragon was still rejoicing when a large hand suddenly grabbed it. Essence Genesis held the Immortal Origin in one hand and seized the golden dragon with the other.
“Is my bad luck not over yet?” The golden dragon gazed at Essence Genesis in shock.
Essence Genesis stared at him coldly. “The Immortal Origin is mine now, and from this moment, you are mine too!”
“What?” the golden dragon exclaimed in horror. In its heart, it cried, Why am I so unlucky? I was about to be free, but now I’m captured again?
“Save me, Lady Houtu! Save me!” Hetu called out in desperation.
Before Gu Hai and the others could react, a dignified voice resounded from the distant void.
“The Holy Heavens Immortal Firmament’s Immortal Origin? It doesn’t belong to you!”
Gu Hai had heard this voice more than once.
“The Six Paths Immortal?” Kong Xuan’s face changed instantly at the sound.
