After purifying those resentful souls, Lin Yan faced no further obstacles.
He slowly approached the Ghost-Faced Withered Vine.
Without the resentment sustaining it, the vine seemed to have withered considerably. The twisted faces on its trunk had all grown dull and lifeless.
It no longer radiated that chilling aura. It simply stood there quietly, like an ordinary plant with an unusual appearance.
Lin Yan reached out and gently pressed his hand against its rough trunk.
Closing his eyes, he sent a thread of divine sense down his arm and into the vine.
Instantly, a vast, chaotic torrent of information, filled with pain and bitterness, flooded his mind.
These were the vine's "memories."
They were the deepest obsessions of the dead Phantom Troupe members in their final moments.
There was rage at their companions' betrayal, curses against the world, bitterness over ambitions they would never fulfill...
Like poison, these negative emotions had branded themselves deep into every cell of the plant, becoming part of its growth.
What a pitiful bunch.
Lin Yan offered this objective assessment inwardly.
In pursuit of so-called "strength," in defiance of the world's "abandonment," they had ultimately met an end that denied even their souls any rest.
But none of that concerned him.
He had come here solely to obtain the "Essence of Yi Wood."
As for these lingering obsessions, purifying them along the way would settle a karmic debt.
With that thought, Lin Yan hesitated no longer.
He withdrew his hand, stepped back, and sat cross-legged.
He formed the Purity Seal with both hands before his chest.
His eyes half closed, he sank his awareness into his dantian.
The next moment, pure yang true qi, purer and vaster than what he had used for the Golden Light Divine Mantra, slowly rose from his dantian.
This time,