#145 - Retribution (4000 words, two in one)

Within the Lava Heart Cave, Shen Sheng and Zhao Qiongman had already donned the black robes of the Black God Cult, officially becoming members.

The Black God Cult held no particular guard against Shen Sheng and Zhao Qiongman, as they had nowhere to run, especially since Zhao Qiongman would be participating in the construction of an important formation for a Black God Cult branch.

If Zhao Qiongman slacked off, or deliberately delayed the formation, the Black God Cult cultivators would punish Shen Sheng.

This made Zhao Qiongman afraid to act recklessly each day.

During these days after joining the Black God Cult, Shen Sheng and Zhao Qiongman had also learned what the Black God Cult was actually doing.

They wanted to fuse mortals and magical beasts.

This way, mortals could possess the power of magical beasts and cultivate using the magical beast as a spiritual root, somewhat similar to the 'spiritual root implantation' of mortals.

However, the problem was that the cost of 'spiritual root implantation' was extremely high, because there were very few spiritual roots that could be implanted.

Those spiritual roots that could be implanted were not spiritual roots in essence, but rather natural treasures that could absorb spiritual power, only planted in mortals to serve as spiritual roots.

Moreover, the cultivation ceiling for most ordinary people who had spiritual roots implanted was very, very low; very few could reach the Cave Realm, and breaking through to the Golden Core Realm was even more impossible.

Generally, those who had spiritual roots implanted were the feudal lords of various great human dynasties, or famous martial artists who wanted to live longer; these people did not want to become cultivators at all, but only wanted to live a little longer.

The richer and more powerful people were, the more afraid they were of death.

And only these people could afford the capital to use 'artificial spiritual roots'.

But now, what the Black God Cult was doing was subverting this world.

Magical beasts were not comparable to those natural treasures.

Magical beasts were readily available.

If the method of 'fusing humans and magical beasts to allow humans to cultivate' worked, then the Black God Cult would almost be changing the world.

This was an extremely crazy thing.

Just imagine, everyone in the world could cultivate, what a grand occasion that would be!

But the question arises.

Was this really a 'grand occasion' or a 'tragedy'?

When humans fuse with magical beasts.

Can humans really maintain their sanity?

Will humans really not become beast-like?

Taking ten thousand steps back, even if fusion with magical beasts had no side effects on the body, and everyone in the world could cultivate, would the world's resources be enough?

The resources needed by a cultivator are massive! And the higher the realm, the more they need.

If everyone could cultivate, could this world really bear it?

However, Shen Sheng and Zhao Qiongman felt that it would not reach the point where 'everyone could cultivate'; the Black God Cult had not even solved the first step.

In the Black God Cult, although Shen Sheng did not participate in the magical beast fusion experiments, Shen Sheng could only stay by Zhao Qiongman's side and could not leave for half a step, but Zhao Qiongman and some other formation masters were improving the human-beast fusion formation.

Therefore, during this period, the two witnessed the Black God Cult's insane actions.

The Black God Cult cultivators went to the mortal world to capture mortals, including not only young men and women, but also the elderly, and even these beasts did not spare children and even infants!

These mortals, along with magical beasts, were placed in the formation, and then, with the help of the spiritual power emitted by the White Wawa City's treasured object, the two were fused together.

The fusion process was extremely painful, and the failure rate was very, very high.

Out of a hundred people, at most only one person could successfully fuse.

Zhao Qiongman and Shen Sheng also knew what was going on in White Wawa City.

Zhao Qiongman and Shen Sheng originally thought that the treasured object that caused the White Wawa City phenomenon was brought by the Black Lotus Cult.

The fact was that this treasured object in White Wawa City did not belong to the Black Lotus Cult.

The Black Lotus Cult came to White Wawa City because they saw that White Wawa City was a land without an owner, located at the junction of the Southern Border Demon Kingdom and the Wu Kingdom, with no jurisdiction.

As a result, the Black Lotus Cult did not expect that suddenly a natural treasure would be generated in this place by itself.

And this treasured object was the entirety of White Wawa City.

According to the Black Lotus Cult's deduction, White Wawa City would become a secret realm, and then this secret realm would be contained by a carrier, and this carrier would be a painting.

This kind of example was not without precedent.

Ten thousand years ago, in the desolate land, a region was剥离 by the Great Dao and became a blessed land, contained in a painting, and finally obtained by an Ascension Realm cultivator.

Shen Sheng knew that the leader of this Black God Cult branch had his own ideas and wanted to take the entire painting for himself, so he did not report it to the main altar.

Otherwise, this level of treasured object would definitely have a great power to guard it.

The 'White Wawa Painting' would repel previous foreign objects during the formation process, and finally, what was left would be the native 'White Wawa City residents'.

That was why there were those white lights.

Although the Black God Cult's ultimate goal was to devote itself to the fusion of mortals and magical beasts.

But, this span was too large, they planned to find a common point between cultivators and magical beasts, and then apply it to mortals.

It was like medical cultivators first testing drugs on animals, and then using them on people, which was roughly the same principle.

And the Black God Cult used the white light of White Wawa City.

The Black God Cult asked Zhao Qiongman and other formation masters to create a formation that could directly send the cultivators repelled by White Wawa City to the Lava Heart Cave.

Every day, Zhao Qiongman watched her own creation harm one person after another, Zhao Qiongman's heart was like a knife, extremely guilty.

Shen Sheng also knew that he had become his wife's weakness.

Shen Sheng even thought about simply dying.

But even if he died, what could he do? Could he rescue his wife from this place?

Shen Sheng had been enduring, even actively helping the Black God Cult to do things, as if Shen Sheng had 'figured it out', wanting to help the Black God Cult complete this great cause!

Shen Sheng's performance had also been recognized by the Black God Cult branch leader.

Shen Sheng even went from being a small captive at the beginning to an executive of the Black God Cult branch.

Because the Black God Cult did not have enough manpower at the time, and that poison would suppress Shen Sheng's strength, plus Shen Sheng had indeed done a lot of things for the Black God Cult during this period.

So after careful consideration, the Black God Cult branch leader gave Shen Sheng the antidote.

It was on the fifth day after Shen Sheng obtained the antidote that Shen Sheng planned an escape.

Taking advantage of the lax guard, Shen Sheng took his wife and ran out.

Shen Sheng watched as he was about to succeed, but in the end, the Black God Cult's branch leader stood in front of Shen Sheng.

Shen Sheng and Zhao Qiongman were caught back in the cave.

"Shen Sheng, I trusted you so much, but you have let me down."

The Black God Cult branch leader - Qi Hui stared at Shen Sheng.

"This matter has nothing to do with my wife, kill me if you want, let my wife go!" Shen Sheng clenched his fists tightly.

"Why do you think you are qualified to negotiate with me?" Qi Hui asked.

"Let my husband leave! I will work wholeheartedly for the Black God Cult! I will never have any second thoughts in the future! I guarantee it with my Great Dao!" Zhao Qiongman stood in front of her husband.

Qi Hui just smiled: "Negotiation requires capital, but unfortunately, you have no capital at all now!"

Qi Hui waved his hand and threw Zhao Qiongman away. When Zhao Qiongman got up, she saw Qi Hui grabbing her husband's neck tightly.

Qi Hui looked at Zhao Qiongman: "The formation has been completed, and the main altar has also sent a lot of formation masters. You were not very useful in the first place. If it weren't for the fact that you have contributed to the Black God Cult, you would have been thrown into the formation for fusion long ago, but now, this situation is your own fault, so don't blame me."

"What do you want to do?!" Zhao Qiongman roared.

Qi Hui threw out a magic weapon and tied Zhao Qiongman to a pillar.

"What do you think I want to do?" Qi Hui's mouth curled up, and then he threw Shen Sheng into the formation, "Come on, release the Blood Bat Beast."

"Yes."

The Black God Cult disciple opened a cage and placed the bound Blood Bat Beast in the formation.

"Beast! Let go of my husband! Beast! Beast!"

Zhao Qiongman kept struggling.

But Zhao Qiongman could only watch her husband fuse with a magical beast.

Listening to her husband's painful screams, Zhao Qiongman shed tears of blood.

"I didn't expect that it would actually fuse successfully, and so successfully."

After a stick of incense, Qi Hui looked at Shen Sheng, who was lying on the ground with only some magical beast characteristics left on his back, and couldn't help but praise.

The Black God Cult's ultimate goal was not only to allow every ordinary person to successfully fuse with magical beasts, but also to ensure that ordinary people had no magical beast characteristics after fusion.

Currently, in this Black Demon Cult branch, none of the hundreds of successfully fused people have reached this level.

But there have been two existences with very few characteristics.

One of them is Shen Sheng.

"Kill me if you have the ability!"

Shen Sheng lay weakly in the formation, staring at Qi Hui.

"Why would I kill you? Now our Black God Cult needs to expand and create some commotion. You should go to the Wu Kingdom to carry out the mission." Qi Hui said coldly, "If you don't go, then I will kill your wife. You choose."

"Don't agree to him!" Zhao Qiongman shouted at her husband, "Husband, I have too much blood on my hands. I deserve to die. Husband, we can't harm other innocent people anymore. Let's be husband and wife again in the next life."

Qi Hui didn't stop Zhao Qiongman from shouting, but instead threw a token in front of Shen Sheng: "If you agree, then pick up this token, otherwise, you two will die together."

Shen Sheng looked at the jade token on the ground, then at his wife.

In the end, Shen Sheng chose to grab the jade token.

"A wise choice."

Qi Hui's lips curled up, he put away the magic weapon, and left with his hands behind his back, his voice coming from behind.

Zhao Qiongman stumbled and ran over, tightly embracing her husband.

Not long after, when Shen Sheng had completely adapted to his body after merging with the demonic beast, Shen Sheng was assigned a mission.

The night before the separation, Zhao Qiongman handed Shen Sheng a storage bag and a palm-sized coffin:

"Inside are my treasures, and I'm also giving you Xiao Tiao, you must take good care of yourself."

Zhao Qiongman looked at her husband earnestly and said in a low voice.

"The Baiwa Painting will be completed in seven or eight years. At that time, many sects will definitely come to compete for it. The Black God Sect is playing with fire by doing this.

Although the formation we escaped from before was destroyed, they definitely wouldn't have thought that I actually set up another formation.

Didn't I intercept the laws of Baiwa City and make a law pearl before I left Baiwa City?

After you come back, when the various sects enter Baiwa City, we will find a way to send this law pearl into Baiwa City. This will not only help those cultivators escape, but also earn us a favor from those cultivators. Maybe they can help us escape.

In short, all of this will have to wait until you come back."

"Okay!" Shen Sheng nodded heavily, "You must take good care of yourself."

"Yes." Zhao Qiongman hugged her husband tightly, "Be careful on the road."

The next day, Shen Sheng left, and Zhao Qiongman watched her husband leave.

Standing beside Zhao Qiongman, Qi Hui carried his hands behind his back: "You two, there would be no problem if you just joined us. All the sacrifices we make are for a better world. I really don't understand why you are so resistant."

"What you are doing is outrageous! There will be no good karma!" Zhao Qiongman said coldly.

"Karma?"

Qi Hui smiled.

"My father was the owner of a sword estate. One day, a cultivator came to our sword estate. My father treated him warmly, but he saw my mother's beauty and defiled her. My father was killed by him in order to protect my mother, and the entire sword estate, except for me who escaped, was burned to the ground.

Guess what happened to that cultivator later?"

Qi Hui turned around: "Then I'll tell you, that cultivator later reached the Nascent Soul Realm, founded a sect, and was revered as an immortal by countless cultivators and people. Tell me, where is the karma?"

Zhao Qiongman: "."

"Go back."

Qi Hui walked back.

"You two are actually considered my old friends. I didn't tell him about you being pregnant with his child, but after Shen Sheng merged with the demon beast, whether the child you conceived is human or beast, that's unknown.

Logically speaking, people who have merged with demon beasts cannot have children.

You are an exception.

I should have reported it to the main altar, but I didn't in the end.

If you don't keep this child, that's your business, I won't threaten you to keep it.

This is the last thing I'll do to help you 'old friends'."

[I have a cold, it's really uncomfortable, my head hurts so much, my shoulders are also sore, the whole family has a cold, is it flu season?

Speaking of which, it has been raining here for almost a month, right?

I just looked at the weather forecast, and it will be raining for the next half month or even longer, I'm numb]