This Demonic Art Has a Problem!

Three days later.

Yangzhou City, Eight Immortals Restaurant.

Yuan Benyu sat in a private room facing the street, watching the Canoe Gang procession with drums and gongs below. He calmly finished a cup of wine in his hand.

"The Canoe Gang is quite impressive these days!"

A'lun said sourly from beside him.

Yuan Benyu replied, "It's not the Canoe Gang that's impressive, it should be Li Xian!"

A'lun asked, "Sir, do you think this Li Xian will become the next leader of the Canoe Gang?"

Yuan Benyu said unhurriedly, "He can single-handedly kill a Buddha Son of White Dragon Temple, save the Canoe Gang from dire straits, and rescue a collapsing structure. Who else is more qualified for that position than him? Liang Haisheng?"

A'lun said, "But he's so young."

"So what if he's young? As long as he has the ability. If you had the ability, you could take my place right now," Yuan Benyu said, half-jokingly.

"You jest, sir," A'lun said, wiping sweat from his forehead with a trembling hand.

"Look at your useless self," Yuan Benyu said irritably.

"What has Zheng Ningji been up to these past two or three days?" he asked again.

A'lun replied, "He's been hiding in the Governor's Mansion and hasn't shown his face."

"Oh?" Yuan Benyu said in surprise, "It's truly strange that Zheng Ningji would be affected by something like this?"

A'lun chuckled, "It's a major event, after all. It's normal for him to act like a turtle hiding in its shell for a few days if he feels he's lost face."

Yuan Benyu shook his head. "No! You don't understand him. With his personality, he wouldn't do such a thing!"

"This..."

"Keep a close watch on the Governor's Mansion. Don't let any suspicious individuals in or out!"

"Yes!"

Yangzhou City, Governor's Mansion.

In a dimly lit secret room.

Zheng Ningji sat on a chair with a dejected expression.

Opposite him sat a mysterious person completely clad in a black robe, their face obscured.

"You failed, Lord Zheng!" the mysterious person said in a hoarse voice.

Zheng Ningji said resentfully, "It was an accident. I had no idea the Canoe Gang would have someone like Li Xian, and the organization never gave us any information!"

The mysterious person was silent for a moment before speaking.

"The appearance of Li Xian from the Canoe Gang was indeed an unforeseen variable. Even the Young Master himself did not anticipate it."

Zheng Ningji's eyes lit up. "So, the failure of this mission is not my fault!"

He then added, "After all these years, the Young Master knows that I have always been loyal to him and the organization!"

The organization's punishment for mission failure was too severe. He had to try to secure a sliver of survival for himself.

The mysterious person nodded.

"Everyone in the organization is loyal. There's no need to say more!"

"Then..."

"I've come this time..." the mysterious person continued, "to deliver the new mission assigned to you by the Young Master!"

Zheng Ningji's expression turned serious, and he sat up straight. "Please, speak!"

"The Young Master's oral decree: White Dragon Temple is now a mere shell of its former self. You are ordered to cooperate with the Green Lotus Saint Envoy and the Seventy-Two Demon Marshals to find the Demon Locking Tower and retrieve the Golden Body and Sarira left behind by White Dragon Temple's Patriarch Moluo. You must find a way to obtain them; the Young Master has great use for them! Also, incidentally, rescue the Green Lotus Saint King who is suppressed within the Demon Locking Tower, and the Demon King who was once revered by the Seventy-Two Demon Marshals."

"Ningji understands, but..." Lord Zheng hesitated.

"But what?"

"But I still have no clue where this Demon Locking Tower is located."

"I don't know either, so you have to search for it."

"Ah, this..."

The mysterious person then said, "The Young Master also mentioned something else."

"Please go on."

"The Young Master said that since the key, the Buddha Son, has been lost, they will find someone else to forge a new key!"

Zheng Ningji froze. "Does that mean..."

The mysterious person chuckled lightly, "That Heart Sutra of the Buddha Son must have already fallen into Li Xian's hands."

"With his talent and intelligence, after witnessing the power of the Great Heavenly Dragon Prajna Heart Sutra, he will definitely be unable to resist cultivating it."

"I understand!" Zheng Ningji burst into laughter.

"When the time comes, we'll have him replace the Buddha Son and become the key for us to enter that secret realm!"

Yangzhou City, Canoe Gang Headquarters.

In a quiet and tidy room within a dragon boat.

Li Xian, who was sitting cross-legged, opened his eyes.

"This cultivation technique has a problem!"

After the Buddha Son of White Dragon Temple died, Li Xian smoothly obtained this cultivation technique from him.

The Great Heavenly Dragon Prajna Heart Sutra!

Li Xian had been coveting this cultivation technique for a long time.

After all, during their battles, he had personally experienced the monstrous nature of this technique.

Its recovery was astonishing; even severe injuries could be healed in an instant.

When fighting a powerful enemy, this cultivation technique could maximize your endurance.

Therefore, after obtaining it, Li Xian flipped through it once and immediately began to cultivate.

However, as soon as he started cultivating, a problem arose.

This Heart Sutra had a total of nine layers.

Even with the Buddha Son's immense talent and intelligence, he had only managed to cultivate to the peak of the seventh layer.

To break through, one needed the support of a massive amount of incense power to protect the divine spirit within their heart from perishing, and to overcome the tribulation of inner demons before reaching the Prajna Freedom Realm of the eighth layer.

This was also why the Buddha Son needed to make grand vows and establish a terrestrial Buddhist kingdom within Qingzhou Prefecture.

However, these restrictive conditions were nothing to Li Xian.

After all, he had the Proficiency System. No matter how difficult a technique was to cultivate or how harsh the conditions were, as long as he spent Proficiency Points, he could instantly pile it up to the peak realm.

Finally, as Li Xian was about to spend the last of his meager Proficiency Points.

He suddenly heard a warning from the system.

"Warning: Cultivating this Heart Sutra to the highest level will result in unpredictable and terrifying consequences!"

The piercing warning echoed in Li Xian's ears, causing him to snap out of his cultivation state.

"What's going on? Does this cultivation technique have a problem?"

Li Xian was utterly bewildered.

In all this time, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

With a thought, he communicated with his system mentally.

"If I forcibly cultivate it to the highest realm, what will the consequences be?"

"If you cultivate to the highest realm without regard for the consequences, the host will become an irrational, puppet-like being at the mercy of others!"

What?!

Li Xian was shocked!

This cultivation technique was actually so sinister that it would turn him into a puppet in the end?

No wonder the monks of White Dragon Temple called it a Demonic Art!

Wait!

Immediately, his thoughts turned.

Since it was a Demonic Art, why did the Buddha Son cultivate it and put so much effort into reaching the highest level?

Or perhaps, he simply didn't know it was a Demonic Art, nor the consequences of cultivating it to the highest level, which was why he was so persistent, even going so far as to turn against his own sect.

Then who gave this Heart Sutra to the Buddha Son?

What intentions did they have in giving such an evil technique for the Buddha Son to cultivate?

Was it to turn this rising prodigy of Qingzhou into his own slave?

What a malicious intent, what a long-term scheme!

Thinking of this, Li Xian couldn't help but shiver inwardly.

He felt as if he was touching a vast, invisible, intangible net.

Slowly closing in on him