A terrifying smile suddenly split the paper effigy's stiff face.
It really did split open.
Its paper face tore apart at the mouth, opening a gash that reached all the way to the roots of its ears. Its hollow, pitch-black mouth appeared before Aromatic Silk Beauty, frightening her so badly that she nearly died on the spot.
"So after all that, everything's fine!" Ming Zhao breathed a sigh of relief.
Tang Hao was a sect slave, and so was Tang San. The only difference was that Tang Hao's sect-slave nature was directed toward the Clear Sky Sect, while Tang San's was directed toward the Tang Sect.
Father and son were essentially the same.
Tang San placed enormous importance on the Tang Sect. Not only had he reestablished it on the Douluo Continent, but he also regarded himself as its founding ancestor and placed great importance on the Tang Sect Secret Arts.
Before ascending to the Divine Realm, he had divided the Tang Sect Secret Arts into three versions.
One was the original Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record that he used himself. It contained every secret art, Hidden Weapon technique and Hidden Weapon blueprint he had brought from another world, as well as the chapters on poisons and medicines.
Another was an incomplete, gutted version, the one now in Ming Zhao's hands. The circulation routes through some of the main meridians for the Mysterious Heaven Skill had been deleted, including those through the Ren and Du meridians. As a result, both its effects and its power were far inferior to the complete original.
Not only that, but many Hidden Weapon blueprints had also been deleted. Ming Zhao had seen neither the blueprint for the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus, which bore the flattering name of fragmentation grenade, nor the one for the Torrential Pear Blossom Needles. The Peacock Plume's blueprint was there, though.
As for whether the chapters on poisons and medicines had been gutted, Ming Zhao couldn't tell. Even if they were incomplete, he had nowhere to check.
The last version was the one the Tang Sect of Tang Ya's lineage had always passed down. Far more had been cut from it.
Not only had the Mysterious Heaven Skill been gutted again, but in addition to the Ren and Du meridians, the other extraordinary meridians had also been cut out, further weakening the cultivation method.
Moreover, the blueprints for powerful Hidden Weapons had been deleted, as had profound and unfathomable Hidden Weapon techniques such as Guanyin's Tears and Bat Wing Reincarnation. Much of the content concerning Immortal Herbs in the chapters on poisons and medicines had also been altered or deleted.
Yet even the third, severely gutted version of the Tang Sect Secret Arts was guarded by Tang San with an iron grip. He strictly forbade the Tang Sect from letting it leak, and anyone who left the sect had to cripple their own cultivation. No one on the continent had heard of any sect or faction seizing the Tang Sect's secret arts, either.
Presumably, they either hadn't dared, or those who did had been secretly eliminated by people Tang San sent.
If the third version was guarded so tightly, the second went without saying. It contained more complete Tang Sect Secret Arts than the version passed down outside. If anyone dared covet it, Tang San would surely be unable to contain his fury at the cultivation method leaking and would definitely intervene.
But he hadn't intervened, and nothing had happened nearby.
This was the strongest proof that Tang San's divine sense was not present in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
With that, Ming Zhao's true body could come here without worry and use the power of this treasure land to condense his own Soul Core.
Ming Zhao, who was in Heaven Dou City, immediately decided to set out, following his connection with the hundred ghosts straight to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
At the same time, he did not withdraw the consciousness he had sent into the ghost of Dongyang City's lord. Instead, he continued leafing through the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record in his hands.
Although this copy of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record had still been gutted, very little had actually been cut. Most of what Tang San possessed was in it, and what was missing would have little impact on Ming Zhao, who was only using it for reference.
In any case, he wasn't counting on surpassing Tang San by cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record. But he could draw on its principles to enrich his own path of cultivation, or even use it to find flaws in Tang San.
So, during his journey, he read it with great interest.
From the Mysterious Heaven Skill at the beginning to the final chapter on medicines, which recorded an illustrated catalog of Immortal Herbs, Ming Zhao committed it all firmly to memory through the perspective of Dongyang City's lord.
While Ming Zhao was traveling and reading the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, the Immortal Herbs began an encrypted conversation in private, using their own unique means of communication.
Ming Zhao could tell they had opened a group voice chat, but he didn't care.
The lives of these Immortal Herbs were in his hands, and they had no means of countering him whatsoever. There was no chance of them turning the tables at the brink of death, so if they wanted to whisper among themselves, he would let them.
In any case... they didn't have long to live.
Ming Zhao wouldn't waste even a fraction of a mortal's soul, much less these highly nourishing Immortal Herbs. Since Tang San couldn't protect them, they were destined to become nourishment for Ming Zhao.
Before they died, he would let them share one last moment of sibling affection after ten thousand years together.
And just as Ming Zhao had expected, they weren't discussing ways to save themselves at all. Instead, they passed the blame around in their private chat, then joined forces to accuse Aromatic Silk Beauty.
"Heavens, heavens, where did this ruthless man come from? It hurts so much!" Aromatic Silk Beauty was the first to speak, pouring out her grievances to the other Immortal Herbs in a plaintive voice. "He's simply not human! That strange Soul Power blows up the nodes in our root systems in an instant. It's practically like chopping off a human's arm!"
"His methods are far too cruel! No human has been able to enter this place for ten thousand years, so why did such a ruthless man have to be the one to get in? Tang San never told us about any of this!"
"Youyou, how can you even say that?!" Infernal Delicate Apricot's somewhat angry voice rang out in the channel. "You lost the fastest in the fight just now. You were the first one he subdued!"
"And you had so little backbone! He only gave you a scare, and you handed over the book Tang San left you. Did you ever think that if Tang San found out, even if that human was punished, you surely wouldn't fare much better?"
"What else could I have done?" Aromatic Silk Beauty felt even more aggrieved, her words full of indignation. "I was never a combat-type Immortal Herb. The only useful ability I have is detoxification, and it was useless against that human. Besides, was he just trying to scare me? He really wanted to kill me!"
If she handed over the jade booklet, Tang San might understand that she truly had been at a disadvantage and not punish her.
But if she didn't hand it over, she would perish right now and have to turn back into a seed and start over-and that ruthless man might not even let her leave a seed behind!
Compared with the second choice, dying right now, Aromatic Silk Beauty naturally had to think of herself. Even if Tang San settled accounts with her in the future, that was definitely better than dying now.
"Search your hearts. If you'd been in my place, would you have chosen death over surrender?" Aromatic Silk Beauty posed her final, soul-searching question.
The Immortal Herbs fell silent at once.
Nor did they continue accusing her.
They all knew that Aromatic Silk Beauty's choice hadn't been wrong. Had their positions been reversed, they would have made the same choice she had.
"Then what do we do now?" Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass's calm voice cut in. "We're already under their control. According to Youyou, once those strange powers entrenched in our root systems are detonated, we'll die instantly."
"Unless we can find a way to neutralize the power inside us, or cut off those people's control over it, we'll be helpless prisoners."
The Immortal Herbs fell silent again.
If they had a solution, they would have used it long ago, and they wouldn't have let the ghosts Ming Zhao controlled inject ghost Qi into their bodies.
In particular, this seemingly icy, sinister power was completely unaffected by the extreme cold and heat of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Not only did that leave them unable to use the well's power, but they were instead suppressed by this power.
They could count themselves quite fortunate.
They were the first beings to experience firsthand just how sinister Ming Zhao's fate was. This bizarre power, which was suppressed by no power yet could corrode most powers and suppress a few attributes, was simply beyond anyone's understanding.
It was not yet ten thousand years later. They had not discovered the remnant souls of the Dragon Kings beneath the twin springs of ice and fire, much less learned to control them against their enemies.
They...
Seemed to have truly reached a dead end.