Dai Bufan whipped out a sheet of paper. His eyes twitched uncontrollably as he carefully compared the flickering soul lamp’s signals against the contents recorded on the paper, deciphering the message Lu Yang had transmitted at the cost of his own life.

For years, Dai Bufan had been in charge of intelligence at the Great Mission Hall, analyzing which pieces of information concealed traces of the Heartless Creed. Unfortunately, even when he pinpointed their whereabouts, the Heartless Creed operated with such caution that by the time he arrived, he usually wound up empty-handed.

“He’s only been in the Buddhist Kingdom for a few days. How did he already catch the Heartless Creed’s trail?”

Why is it that I couldn’t find the Heartless Creed despite my painstaking efforts in analyzing the reports?

“Senior Brother, what do you have on the paper?” Gu Junye asked curiously.

Dai Bufan folded the paper and explained, “Your Senior Brother Lu Yang invented this method of transmitting information. By varying the timing of the soul lamp’s flickering, it forms something called ‘pinyin.’ String the pinyin together, and it will be a sentence.

“The matter of the Heartless Creed is of great importance, and it also involves the Buddhist Kingdom. Big Senior Sister should make the decision.” Dai Bufan was prepared to look for Yun Zhi.

“Junior Brother Gu, stay here. If anything changes, inform me.”

Dai Bufan had assigned Gu Junye to the soul lamp chamber, hoping he would stay put and stop stirring up trouble outside. Several people from the imperial court had already leveraged their connections to inquire with him which expert Gu Junye was.

Despite Dai Bufan repeatedly explaining that Gu Junye did not have his body taken over by an expert, those people became even more certain of their suspicions. Quite a few had even come to propose marriage.

~~~

Buddhist Kingdom, Kaihuang Temple, guest quarters...

Lu Yang returned to life, feeling a bit dazed. Repeated use of the Play-Dead Technique took a considerable toll on his mental power.

“Has the message been sent to the sect?” Meng Jingzhou asked. “What kind of spell is this?”

Lu Yang smiled smugly. “This is an ancient, mighty divine ability imparted to me by an immortal, integrating the paths of karma and life and death. It is the technique of deceiving heaven and defying fate.”

“That powerful?” Meng Jingzhou was astonished. Although I haven’t heard of such a divine ability from ancient times, I can tell it is terrifyingly powerful just from its name.

Perhaps it was precisely because of its immense power that it was classified as a forbidden art and lost to history.

The two went to the abbot’s chamber and found Master Duanchen.

“Great Master, we’ve already informed our sect about the matter.”

“Ah? So fast?” Master Duanchen glanced down at the letter he had only half-finished. I haven’t even finished writing the letter yet, much less dispatching someone to send it to Xitian Temple. That would take at least ten days.

“We have a secret communication method.”

Master Duanchen thought, As expected of immortal sect disciples. Small establishments like ours can’t compare at all.

“What brings the two of you here?”

“Great Master, you mentioned earlier that the three-eyed ghost monk and the hollow shadow were drugging people with Emotion-Forgetting Pills. We would like to see the Emotion-Forgetting Pills.”

This was the first time Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had heard of a pill that could strip away one’s emotions, and they were immensely curious.

“I have already sent people to the two ghosts’ hideout. Some Emotion-Forgetting Pills should still be there. Why don’t I finish writing this letter first, and then accompany you both to the hideout?”

“We’ll have to trouble you then, Great Master.”

~~~

“The three-eyed ghost monk and the hollow shadow were extremely cautious ghosts. Fearing that the tasks assigned by the Heartless Creed would be leaked, they never recruited underlings, but carried out every mission themselves.”

On the way to the two ghosts’ hideout, Master Duanchen shared other intelligence about them with Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.

“Here it is.” Master Duanchen led them to a river, the waterway that ran through Kaihuang City and served as its main water source. It was called the Transport River.

The Transport River’s waters were clear, the result of careful maintenance by Kaihuang Temple.

After Master Duanchen had excavated the river, problems soon arose. People often dumped garbage into it, turning the water filthy. Even a sip could make one ill. Only then was Master Duanchen forced to assign people to maintain the river.

“Their hideout is at the bottom of the Transport River.”

The three jumped into the river and swam to the bottom, where they found a hollowed-out cavity. Only upon swimming toward it did they realize that the monks of Kaihuang Temple had removed the sand and silt from this area and dug several meters deeper, revealing the hideout below.

A thin, transparent membrane separated the Transport River and the hideout, preventing the river from flooding it.

The three passed through the membrane and entered the hideout.

Inside, monks were busy taking inventory of the seized goods, recording crate after crate of spirit stones before placing them in storage rings.

Master Duanchen called over the lead monk. He exchanged a few words with him, and the lead monk brought over a few bottles of pills.

“These are Emotion-Forgetting Pills.” Master Duanchen poured out a few unremarkable white pills. “According to the results of the soul searches on the two ghosts, taking one pill causes a mortal to lose their emotions for three to five years. For cultivators, the higher their cultivation, the shorter the duration.”

“It’s that miraculous?”

Lu Yang nodded. He analyzed, “In previous soul searches on captured Heartless Creed higher-ups, we never found anything like these Emotion-Forgetting Pills. It seems they were developed only in recent years; otherwise, the Heartless Creed wouldn’t have needed to test them on random people.”

With that, Lu Yang swallowed one of the pills.

After ingesting the Emotion-Forgetting Pill, Lu Yang felt as though everything in the world had lost its meaning, yet his mind was clearer than ever before.

A few breaths later, the pill’s effects wore off. Emotions came flooding back like a tide, and Lu Yang returned to normal.

“No wonder so many people left secular life after consuming this pill. It really is rather interesting.”

Meng Jingzhou also took a pill. His pupils contracted sharply, and he jolted, feeling an inner stillness, a state better than ever before.

A few breaths later, the pill’s effects wore off.

“Why did you react so strongly?” Lu Yang was baffled.

Meng Jingzhou couldn’t stop smiling as he looked at the Emotion-Forgetting Pill as though it were a precious treasure. “This is good stuff. Ever since one layer of the sun’s seal was removed, and the solar power increased, my Single’s Spirit Root has been restless. I’ve had to constantly divert some of my focus to suppress that malicious fire.”

The more he spoke, the more excited he became. “After I consumed the pill, that fire vanished. My mind became hyper-focused, and I felt fantastic!” He felt that his combat power had risen to a whole new level after taking the Emotion-Forgetting Pill.

Lu Yang pondered for a bit. Actually, there is a simple explanation for Old Meng’s state just now. “You went soft?”

Meng Jingzhou flew into a rage. “You’re the one who went soft... Hang on, I think I’ve read about this. According to the books, isn’t this exactly how a man feels after a night of passion?”

“Regardless, this is definitely good stuff.”

Meng Jingzhou checked his physical condition. There were no side effects.

“The Heartless Creed can do some good things after all.”

“This Emotion-Forgetting Pill is indeed good stuff.” Lu Yang nodded. Setting aside its special benefits for Old Meng, its practical value alone is significant.

“If one pill can make a mortal lose their emotions for three to five years, wouldn’t scraping off a bit of powder make them lose their emotions for a few hours?

“In the emotionless state, one’s mental power is highly concentrated, and their thinking is more active than usual. If this is used in imperial examinations or similar tests, it would prevent anxiety over challenging questions, greatly improving efficiency and scores.

“It should also have decent effects on treating patients suffering from heartbreak and the like.”