NOVEL WEB Chapter 349: Tainted Spiritual Qi (3)
Feng Fan and his group stole a flying vessel and returned to Red Pole. All flying ships were powered by arrays and spiritual qi, and with Feng Fan's abilities, tampering with the control arrays was far too easy. To ensure it would take the Intergalactic Council as long as possible to realize they were gone, he also added an illusion array to conceal the missing ship and the girls' absence.
"Let's talk with Tan Wei," Feng Fan said. He believed that even if Tan Wei didn't know how to deal with the tainted spiritual qi, the God-tier alchemist inside his pendant certainly would. Fortunately, Tan Wei was in his room, so they found him without any trouble.
"Brother Tan," said Feng Fan, sitting on a chair with the girls beside him. "We've been fighting cultists from the Fou Demon Venerables of the Immortal Realm. They're using a type of spiritual qi to control people from the Intergalactic Council. Do you have any idea how to counter it?"
Holding the Suppression Relic in his hand, Feng Fan created a small array to contain the dark spiritual qi before releasing a small portion. As if alive, the dark spiritual qi clashed against the array the moment it escaped the relic's grasp. It wasn't any ordinary spiritual qi Feng Fan had ever seen; it behaved like a living creature.
Tan Wei studied it with interest. He had never seen anything like it either, so he turned to Lai Hu for guidance. 'Master, do you know what this is?'
Inside Tan Wei's pendant, Lai Hu stared at the dark spiritual qi in disbelief. 'This... this is spiritual qi infused with Dao laws and the intent of its creator. More precisely, it comes from the Soulsucker Demon Venerable. This kind of thing should not exist in the Mortal Realm.'
'Is there a way to deal with it?'
Lai Hu sighed. 'If we were in the Immortal Realm, with my means, it would be far too easy to handle the Soulsucker Demon Venerable's spiritual qi. But I'm afraid that here... it will be too difficult.'
Feng Fan, who had been listening to the conversation using his mind-reading abilities, frowned. If there truly was no way to counter it, he would be forced to kill everyone affected. It was far from an ideal solution; it would be like killing everyone infected with a highly contagious disease instead of finding a cure.
'If we could find a few specific tier 9 herbs or an Earthly Immortal artifact,' Lai Hu continued, 'I could handle it. But in the Mortal Realm, tier 9 herbs are rare, and immortal artifacts are even rarer.'
'Master, can't we use my Suppression Cauldron to deal with it?'
Lai Hu shook his head. 'You're too weak to control it. I need to tamper with an immortal artifact in a way that allows it to absorb and destroy the tainted spiritual qi, but doing so will damage and eventually destroy the artifact. As for your Suppression Cauldron, even if I wanted to use it, I couldn't. It's impossible to tamper with a Primordial artifact."
Hearing Lai Hu's words, Feng Fan's eyes gleamed. Didn't he have an immortal artifact given to him by one of his dear friends? The fact that it would be destroyed was truly unfortunate; it was like throwing away a fortune, but Feng Fan silently swore he would make the Intergalactic Council pay for every penny he wasted on this mission.
After Tan Wei finished relaying Lai Hu's explanation, Feng Fan quickly retrieved the black immortal-grade dagger from his space ring and held it out.
"Brother Tan, I have this dagger, but I'm not sure of its exact grade. I wonder if it might be enough."
The others in the room looked at him in surprise. Where had the dagger come from? Though it couldn't rival the power of the Suppression Artifacts, the spiritual pressure it exuded was anything but ordinary. Its aura was sharp, potent, and far beyond what should exist in the Mortal Realm.
The moment Lai Hu's eyes landed on the black dagger, he instantly recognized it. 'That's an Earthly Immortal-grade artifact!' He couldn't suppress his laughter. 'The Sect Masters of the Heavens Suppression Sect truly are extraordinary. He's not even in the Immortal Realm, yet he already has his hands on an immortal artifact.'
Hearing Lai Hu's words, Tan Wei nodded. "Yes, it's an Earthly Immortal-grade artifact. But Brother Feng, are you sure you want to use it? The dagger will be as good as destroyed once we're done."
Feng Fan grinned. "It's a small price to pay. Let's make sure both the Demon Venerables and the Intergalactic Council cover our expenses."
Feng Fan had already offended two of the four Demon Venerables, and he was certain they would try to kill him once he stepped into the Immortal Realm. In that case, the best course of action was to ensure their plans failed miserably.
And when he grew strong enough, he would find them in the Immortal Realm and rob them blind. With his cultivation technique, he had no fear of eventually surpassing them; his only enemy was time.
"Since Brother Feng is determined, I won't try to stop you," Tan Wei said with a nod. "Leave the dagger with me. I need some time to prepare."
Feng Fan nodded and left with the others, leaving Tan Wei alone in his quarters with the dagger.
'Master, what should I do next?' he asked inwardly.
With the rise of Tan Wei's cultivation, Lai Hu's soul had also been healing and growing stronger. Thanks to that progress, he could now manifest in his ghostly form outside the pendant. At that moment, he did just that.
Lai Hu's translucent figure appeared, hovering over the dagger. He reached out, brushing his spectral fingers across its surface, sensing the artifact's structure and the aura it contained. His expression hardened into one of solemn determination.
'Tan Wei, I've spent the past few years recovering using your spiritual qi. What I'm about to do breaks the natural order of the Mortal Realm. Because of that, the Heavenly Laws will strike my soul. I'll need at least a few months to recover afterward. During that period, I won't be able to assist you. Do you understand?'