Chapter 129: Water of Oblivion, Lure of Yearning, Tome of Parting Sorrows, and Soul-Snatching Decree

"The reason Lu Chuanying launched the Rebellion of the Common People was indeed because his temperament had undergone a drastic change!"

Dismissing Lu Sheng's doubts, Lu Chunyuan explained:

"The Rebellion of the Common People occurred in the 432nd year of the Great Jing era. By that time, some of the grandmasters who had followed the Jing Emperor to establish the Great Jing dynasty had already begun to pass away, while Lu Chuanying's Common People Sect was flourishing. Under such circumstances, he only needed to wait a few more decades to ensure a much higher chance of success. However, stimulated by the various emotions embedded within the 'willpower' he harvested, Lu Chuanying could no longer wait and launched the rebellion prematurely. As a result, both he and the Great Jing imperial court suffered heavy losses, ultimately benefiting local factions."

"Various emotions within the willpower? Why did I not sense any?" Hearing this explanation, Lu Sheng took out the Common People Sect statue he had obtained that morning and asked, "This statue seems to contain only raw willpower, without the emotions you mentioned. Could it be that those emotions have dissipated over time?"

"Haha! You are indeed fortunate!" Lu Chunyuan chuckled as he held the statue. "Willpower is indeed infused with various emotions, but these emotions are usually directed at specific targets. Once the target of those emotions dies, the feelings naturally fade away. Since the Common People Sect was annihilated centuries ago and its leader has long been dead, the willpower in this statue is naturally devoid of such emotions."

Returning the statue to Lu Sheng, he added, "Back then, after this was discovered, a chaotic struggle broke out in the martial arts world as people fought over the remnants of the Common People Sect that still contained willpower. There is very little left today. Being able to obtain this is your good fortune!"

The methods for utilizing willpower might seem mysterious to contemporary martial artists, but to those who once held high positions within the Common People Sect, they were no secret. After the sect leader died, the remnants of the group discovered that the willpower could be used without emotional interference, leading them to hoard such artifacts. Lu Sheng was indeed lucky to have found this one.

"So that is how it is!" With his confusion cleared, Lu Sheng felt a sense of disappointment. "It seems that the path to acquiring merit and karma through the remnants of the Common People Sect has been effectively severed. I must find other ways to accumulate merit on a large scale." He faintly thought of the Fire God Sect spreading through the Western Regions, lost in contemplation.

***

"The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect is most famous for its martial art: the Red Dust Tribulation."

Mentioning the emotions within willpower finally led Lu Chunyuan to the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect. "This martial art was a technique for exploiting emotions created by the late Common People Sect leader, Lu Chuanying, after he discovered the nature of willpower. It excels at using the seven emotions and six desires to influence a martial artist's core consciousness."

Understanding one's true heart and illuminating the spirit are necessary conditions for becoming a Martial Sect Master. The fact that the Red Dust Tribulation could influence such a mind demonstrates its terrifying power. Even Martial Sect Masters and grandmasters who had attained such clarity spoke of this art with trepidation. Consequently, it became one of the signature techniques of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect.

Having studied countless records in the Martial Archives, Lu Sheng was familiar with this technique. When Lu Chunyuan mentioned it, a poem he had once read immediately came to mind:

"Colorless and odorless, the Water of Forgetting Love; lingering and sorrowful, the Lure of Longing; white-haired gazing, the Book of Parting Hate; soul-stealing and魄-snatching, the Summoning Post."

The Water of Forgetting Love, the Lure of Longing, the Book of Parting Hate, and the Summoning Post were the four strange poisons of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect. Throughout the world, they were considered virtually incurable.

"Those who practice the Red Dust Tribulation are masters at refining poisons using human emotions. The poisons they create are most adept at manipulating the feelings of others. Among the sub-sects of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, besides the mysterious Yuan Gu Sect, the people of the Red Dust Sect are the most feared."

As he spoke, Lu Chunyuan seemed to recall something and said with a touch of melancholy, "Years ago, someone with talent even greater than my own fell victim to the Book of Parting Hate and was left with nothing but eternal regret."

That event was one of the greatest regrets of Lu Chunyuan's life. Because of it, he had remained in the Martial Garden for decades, rarely venturing out.

***

"Someone with more talent than the teacher, and they died of poisoning... who could it be?" Sensing Lu Chunyuan's emotional distress, Lu Sheng did not press him, but pondered to himself. "Someone with greater talent than the teacher must have been ranked on one of the three major lists. Who was it?"

His mind raced, quickly calling up his memory of the Heaven, Earth, and Human rankings to search for someone who had been close to Lu Chunyuan and died from the Book of Parting Hate. Soon, a name surfaced: "Chu Chunfei. She was once the sect leader of the Yin-Yang Sect and reached as high as fourteenth on the Heaven Ranking—exactly one spot higher than the teacher at the time! According to the records, she died thirty years ago from the Book of Parting Hate. It must be her that the teacher is mourning!"

Though she bore the surname Chu, Chu Chunfei was actually a member of the Great Jing Lu clan; her real name was likely Lu Chunfei. She had adopted the surname of the Chu royal line of Jiangzhou—her ancestral roots—to avoid tarnishing the reputation of the Great Jing Lu clan due to her affiliation with the infamous Yin-Yang Sect.

It was hard to imagine that she and Lu Chunyuan, who also hailed from the Great Jing Lu clan, had no connection. "The Great Jing Lu clan has existed for nearly a thousand years. Many are descendants of the Jing Emperor, yet their bloodlines are quite distant. Therefore, as long as they are not within the 'five degrees of mourning,' intermarriage is not forbidden. Could the teacher have had a relationship with Chu Chunfei?" Lu Sheng wondered.

At that moment, Lu Chunyuan seemed to have regained his composure and said to Lu Sheng, "Sheng'er, this Yin-Yang Sect technique was passed down by a friend of mine. You should practice it during this time so you will know how to respond should you encounter people from that sect."

He then instructed Lu Sheng to open his mind and, through a mental connection, transmitted a technique for preserving essence and energy through Yin-Yang dual cultivation. "Beyond their methods of using others as 'cauldrons' to plunder vital energy, the Yin-Yang Sect also possesses orthodox dual cultivation arts. If you encounter a practitioner, you may attempt it to enhance your Profound Qi cultivation."

Lu Chunyuan spoke without the slightest embarrassment. For a man over a hundred years old who had experienced countless trials, he did not dwell on the past despite his nostalgia. Instead, he encouraged Lu Sheng to boldly engage in dual cultivation if he met anyone from the Yin-Yang Sect, believing that the disciples of that person would not turn him away once they learned he was his student.

Upon hearing this, Lu Sheng was left both amused and enlightened as to why the Yin-Yang Sect was rarely targeted: "No wonder the Yin-Yang Sect, despite its poor reputation and lack of grandmasters, continues to exist!"

To the Great Jing imperial court, the Seven Killings Sect, which occupied southern Jiangzhou and was constantly causing trouble, was strictly suppressed by the Divine Catch Division. The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, located in Yuezhou, was far from the court's direct control, though it frequently clashed with the forces of the Prince of Wu in Yangzhou. The Yin-Yang Sect, however, was rarely targeted, even though its reputation was abysmal due to its practices.

The reason, besides the fact that some women of the Great Jing Lu clan joined it, was that dual cultivation with its members could enhance one's cultivation. In particular, the *Yin-Yang Sutra* was a derivative of the *Hunyuan Sutra*, meaning the Profound Qi cultivated through it could be integrated perfectly into the Hunyuan technique. As long as the Yin-Yang Sect did not cross the taboos of the Great Jing court, its existence would naturally remain undisturbed.