Chapter 59: The Three Big Inviolable Rules
Doctor Mo did not have many happy days. The Mortality Decimation Curse revealed its deadly side effects, causing him to age at the rate of one year for every passing day.
He was terrified at the rate he was aging and tried everything to find a way to control the abnormal effects of the curse, but there was little to no success.
He knew that if this continued on, he would not live for much longer, as his body would begin to fail him and he would eventually die like any other old man. Yu Zhitong, on the other hand, was in even more pain. When his soul entered Doctor Mo’s body, it was slowly but painfully being assimilated into Doctor Mo’s soul.
Assimilation, a passive event, would occur if one’s soul remained in a foreign body for a prolonged period of time. Since one body can contain only one consciousness, the stronger soul would try to subdue the weaker soul, thus beginning the long process of assimilation.
Yu Zhitong decided out of desperation to reveal everything he knew concerning why they wanted Han Li’s body. He was reluctant to do so not because he was good at heart loyal to Doctor Mo but rather because he was fearful of the the cultivation world’s Three Big Inviolable Rules.
First, cultivators must not forcefully possess the bodies of normal mortals as they were unable to withstand the immense amount of stress, causing the body to ultimately burn out.
Second, only those with greater magic power will be able to successfully overtake the body of a cultivator with weaker magic power and not suffer from any form of counterattack. The greater the disparity between the levels of power, the safer it would be for the the one attempting the possession.
Third, a cultivator is only able to perform body possession once in his entire life, no matter how powerful their magic power is. If they were to attempt to perform body possession a second time, their soul will perish without fail.
Although the number of people who tried to break the three rules is unknown, the Three Big Inviolable Rules have never been broken. These three rules limited countless evil cultivators who tried to use the body possession technique and prevented them from creating calamity in the mortal world. The Heavens frowned upon actions that go against Heaven’s Will because no matter what, the Heavens would not allow cultivators to throw the world into chaos.
If Doctor Mo had been a cultivator, Yu Zhitong would not be in his current predicament as he would have had a viable chance at possessing Doctor Mo’s body but since Doctor Mo was a normal mortal without a hint of Spiritual Qi, there was no way for Yu Zhitong to possess his body for fear that halfway through the possession, Doctor Mo’s body would be unable to handle the stress and ultimately break down.
Even if Yu Zhitong was able to find another body to possess, the process of assimilation was inevitable and he might fall under a more dire predicament as every time he leaves and enters a new body, he loses a bit of his Spiritual Qi, which will quickly be expended. When this happens, Yu Zhitong will no longer be able to enter and exit someone’s body at will and may even be indefinitely stuck in someone’s body and ultimately be assimilated.
It is also important to note that without a body, he was unable to replenish his magic power through meditation, so every time he used magic power it was lost forever. At the same time, his magic power also leaked out at a slow but steady pace and even he didn’t know how long his soul could maintain its current form.
So unless Yu Zhitong found a cultivator capable of using small amounts of magic power and had a body capable of withstanding possession,he would not take any risks and leave his current body, which was that of Doctor Mo.
Just when Doctor Mo’s body was about breakdown because of the blood curse, the aftermath would leave Yu Zitong’s soul without a body to lodge in.
After the collapse of Doctor Mo’s body under the blood curse, leaving him without a body to return to, and the fact that Han Li may consume his remaining life force, Yu Zhitong decided to temporarily place aside his hatred and give Han Li anything he wanted, even going as far as betraying Doctor Mo, revealing how they met and their plans, along with the stakes and benefits involved, without holding anything back.
When Doctor Mo first heard of Yu Zhitong’s plan for revitalizing his body, it made him express anger, but he quickly realized that this was a perfect opportunity and quickly pledged to achieve their goal, revealing him to be a man of dignity.
First, Doctor Mo must follow Yu Zhitong’s instructions and control his consciousness so that it does not assimilate his soul. Yu Zhitong also taught Doctor Mo a few secret techniques that allowed him to slow down the rate of aging he suffered from his curse while also temporarily allowing him to use magic power.
Then Doctor Mo must find someone with strong spiritual roots who was also able to practice the Eternal Spring Arts, teach him the incantation and then wait for when the time was right before Doctor Mo used his temporarily gained abilities to use magic power to forcefully take over the other person’s body in order to start a new life.
Doctor Mo’s sincere desire to traverse the path of cultivation was ridiculed constantly by Yu Zhitong since he knew firsthand how impossible it was for normal mortals to use magic power. Doctor Mo was merely a mortal cultivator of the mouth with no spiritual roots in his body. (TL: “cultivator of the mouth” means he only talks about cultivating without actually doing it.)
After Doctor Mo succeeded in overtaking a body with spiritual roots and had sufficient time to rest he would then proceed to help Yu Zhitong find a suitable body to possess and then provide any aid to help Yu Zhitong possess his new body.
From the conditions above it seems like Doctor Mo receives the most benefits from this deal, but that couldn’t be helped since Yu Zhitong was caught in a bad position with his remaining soul force under constant threat of assimilation. In the end, Yu Zhitong was forced to accept this unfavorable agreement and take a bit of loss. However, it was not clear if he really was taking a loss; after all, the only person who knew the exact terms of the agreement was himself.
At one point, Yu Zhitong suggested that Doctor Mo should go back to his family and ask for help, but the rapidly aging man refused to even consider that option, much to Yu Zhitong’s constant annoyance.
What came afterwards didn’t warrant much discussion as Doctor Mo spent most of his time trying unsuccessfully to look for a suitable body and reluctantly entered the Seven Mysteries Sect, where he accepted Han Li as a disciple and taught him the Eternal Spring Arts. The rest that occurred was not worth mentioning as they were either mentioned by Doctor Mo himself or was experienced by Han Li himself.
After Han Li finished hearing those words, he let out a long sigh as some of the confusions and questions within his heart were answered by Yu Zhitong. Seeing how Yu Zhitong did not continue, Han Li’s face grew darker and he coldly said, “It seems you still haven’t told me how Doctor Mo died.”
Yu Zhitong hesitantly opened his mouth and said “Is there else worth explaining? Doctor Mo underestimated your cultivation speed of the Eternal Spring Arts and his magic power was not as strong as yours, so therefore he was unable to take over your body, resulting in his soul being devoured.”
“So, the yellow ball of light that first entered my body was Doctor Mo and the second green ball of light was you,” Han Li stated calmly, almost as if the invasion of his body had not been a big deal.
“Well… about this, at that time I thought that both you and Doctor Mo were exhausted and I did not want to waste this opportunity and so I thought I might borrow your body for a bit,” Yu Zhitong replied awkwardly.
“Heng! I’m afraid that’s not the reason why you attacked. I think that you had it all planned out from the beginning.”
“Yu Zhitong, I bet that when you were first explained the process of body possession to Doctor Mo, you didn’t have any good intentions and therefore didn’t bother to mention that the success rate of body possession was directly correlated to the strength difference.
“Do you know what I think? I think that you had it all planned out from the beginning. You made Doctor Mo use the self-mutilating Seven Soul Devouring Technique against my fourth level cultivation of the Eternal Spring Arts, which are near equal in terms of power, so that we would both become exhausted to the point of perishing together. After the battle came to a draw, you would then step in and reap the benefits of Doctor Mo’s painstaking work and ultimately take over my body. Did I guess correctly, Cultivator Yu?” Han Li calmly stated his assumptions in the time it takes for several breaths.
After a long moment of silence, Yu Zhitong let out a sigh expressing his dejection. Without refuting, he said “I originally wanted to give you empty praises but now I sincerely mean it when I say that you are extraordinarily smart, even outshining your master Mo Juren, that cunning fox.”
“You guessed correctly. All of this was planned out by me, but I never would have thought that your talent for cultivation was so high that you would train up to the sixth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts, only one layer below me, in such a short period of time. Not only did you easily swallow Doctor Mo’s soul, but my heavily depleted soul force was not even a match for you and I even lost a large portion of my soul to you.”
Once finished, his tone suddenly turned prideful “Ha! That Mo Juren was only a normal mortal yet he wanted to stand on equal footing with us cultivators. Was he even worthy?
“Moreover he dared use such despicable means as to get rid of my cultivating body and still wanted to step onto the path of cultivation! He was simply daydreaming!” The hatred Yu Zhitong had kept bottled in his heart for a long time finally revealed itself.
“But you are different, you were born with spiritual roots and intelligence above the norm. Staying in the secular world would be too much of a pity! If you are willing to help me find a new and suitable body, I am willing to act as your guide, introduce you to the elders of my clan, and accept you as my disciple. What do you think?”
Chapter 60: Poison Test
Yu Zhitong was very confident he could sway Han Li since he did not believe that there was anyone who could resist stepping onto the path of cultivators and the temptation of immortality.
He thought back to how Doctor Mo hated him but still ended up working with him and even occasionally tried to get on his good side, believing this would make Yu Zhitong more submissive.
Much to Yu Zhitong’s disappointment, after Han Li heard his enticing promise, he did not reveal even a hint of excitement, his face remaining as impassive and unmoving as ever.
“As for the matter of cooperation, we can discuss that later. Right now, I still have one question that I hope you would provide me with a clear answer.“ Han Li said softly as he calmly stared at the ball of light.
“If I answer this question of yours, then you will be willing to cooperate with me?”
“That depends on your answer and if it is to my satisfaction.”
“Okay, ask away!” Yu Zhitong promised immediately and demonstrated his understanding of the concept that ‘one must learn how to yield under pressure’.
Han Li did not immediately answer, but instead raised his head up to the ceiling in a contemplative matter as if he were thinking deeply about how he should phrase the question.
Seeing Han Li’s solemn face, Yu Zhitong couldn’t help but feel a sense of fear creep up within his heart as he himself wondered what kind of headache-inducing question Han Li would ask him.
“I want to know if there are any negative side effects from devouring Doctor Mo and a portion of your own soul because I currently feel a pain in my head almost as if it ‘s being filled to the point of exploding with information that I am unable to recognize,” said Han Li, finally mentioning the one worry he had since he had woken up.
After listening this question and realizing that Han Li was worried about such a small problem, Yu Zhitong immediately felt unease in his heart dissipate, and even his voice lightened up.
“Hehe! So you were worried about this. Well, little brother, you worry too much. In fact, you don’t need to put this matter at heart. If you really want to know, the information you feel stuffed into your brain will slowly disappear within a year or two, so you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”
“So what you are saying is that the things I swallowed are absolutely useless and that I am completely unable to hold onto them? I don’t trust you on this,” Han Li said coldly as he glared at the Yu Zhitong with traces of suspicion evident on his face.
“Saying that you can’t even hold onto a bit of it is not actually true, but what you can hold onto is indeed only a small portion of it,” Yu Zhitong quickly added onto his explanation out of fear that Han Li would misunderstand something.
“For example, you will be unable to touch the included memories, experiences, and emotions, and even if you did absorb them, there is a high chance that you will instantly become mentally crippled , your personality will develop split versions of itself, your consciousness will collapse, and your brain will ultimately burst, leading to your death.
“You have to understand that the soul is the most precious thing a person can possess, how can it be so easily combined with other things? It is true that you can absorb someone else’s soul and have it temporarily rest in your subconscious, but to make it your own is simply wishful thinking. Otherwise, if a simple body possession can allow you to absorb all of one’s memories, experiences, Qi techniques, then wouldn’t that cause the whole world to fall into chaos? If things were that simple, then who would honestly practice cultivation along with going out and exploring the different realms of this world when they could obtain all this through simply possessing someone else’s body.
”Once a soul has been consumed, the only thing that can be used is a little bit of the energy the devoured soul has left which could then be used to bolster one’s own reservoir of energy for a short amount of time. It’s due to the fact that this types of energy escapes the fastest, staying within the body for only a few days before it dissipated along with the devoured soul. Once it’s gone, you will be unable to use it.”
As Han Li continued to listen to Yu Zhitong’s explanation, he slowly put down the last strand of doubt he carried within his heart because he could tell from Yu Zhitong’s tone that he was not lying. After all, it became increasingly obvious that Yu Zhitong was seeking out a similar cooperation with Han Li similar to the one that he had with Mo Juren. He knew that Han Li was testing him, so he did not dare to lie.
When Yu Zhitong finished the last sentence of his explanation, he saw Han Li nod his head and couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief as he knew that Han Li believed him. At the same time that Yu Zhitong brighten up a bit, he asked hurriedly: “Little Brother Han, it seems like you are satisfied with the answer I provided, so don’t you think that now would be a good time to discuss our terms of cooperation?”
“Of course, being able to work with a cultivator is my utmost pleasure!” Han Li said in a sincere tone, flashing a big smile that revealed his white teeth that gleamed in the candlelight.
“Really?” Yu Zhitong asked excitedly in disbelief as he did not even have to try to persuade Han Li, who agreed all by himself.
“Of course” Han Li answered crisply.
Then he pulled something out of his clothes and said to Yu Zhitong in a familiar tone “Now that we are partners, you wouldn’t mind doing a small test for me before we discuss any further, right?”
“Test?” Yu Zhitong paused for a moment, before looking at the familiar looking cylindrical object in Han Li’s hand while a bad feeling crept back into his heart.
“That correct. More specifically, a poison test”
Han Li uttered these words as he lifted up the cylinder-shaped object before moving his thumb a little, which then caused some black liquid carrying a rancid smell to shoot out straight towards its target.
“Ah!”
Yu Zhitong emitted a sharp and painful scream as the black liquid covered the whole green globe of light. The green globe dimmed significantly, showing that the injury he had received was not light.
“You, you dare attack me, to poison me…” Yu Zhitong screamed hoarsely, still in disbelief as he was unable to accept the event that just transpired.
Han Li did not pay attention to Yu Zhitong’s angry shouts and instead reached for the dagger located on his belt just above his abdomen. He then swiftly unsheathed it with a “shua,” revealing a shiny blade.
The dagger was one of those rarely seen “jade daggers,” which had blades that were incomparably flexible. The dagger in question was as wide as a knuckle and about half a meter long.
Han Li only obtained this double-edged dagger by paying larges amounts of money in order to get the blacksmith to custom-make it according to Han Li’s specifications. Since Han Li did not specialize in weapons, he did not have an opportunity to bring out this dagger during the struggle with Doctor Mo, but it seemed like the time has come for him to use it.
Previously, Han Li had kept this weapon hidden on his body and almost didn’t have an opportunity to use it. His face darkened and his original smile disappeared by half the thought of almost not being able to use the dagger that he paid a large amount of money to obtain.
He looked at the trembling ball of light with apathy and, without saying word, took a flying step forward as he savagely hacked at the green globe as if he were chopping a block of wood.
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