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Chapter 1171: Who Decides Right and Wrong

Chapter 1171: Who Decides Right and Wrong

"However, this Source Power you've given me, Daoist friend," Daoist Baihua began, carefully choosing his words, "it seems... more advanced than what one would normally obtain through cultivation?"

"More potent, perhaps?"

Li Ping certainly wasn't going to tell Baihua that the reason this Source Power was far more effective than usual was because it was the result of his attempt to use the power of mortal faith to sublimate it into Source Power Essence.

So far, however, all his experiments had ended in failure.

After all, even something discarded by a True Immortal was a power that transcended the mortal coil. It was not so easily mastered.

"It's merely your imagination," Li Ping stated flatly. "How is your recovery? If you're well enough, it is time to be on your way."

Daoist Baihua gave an awkward smile. Seeing he had no other choice, he could only sigh, bid his farewell, and depart on his journey.

"Now that the main base is completely secure, I can begin to consider the conquest of other small worlds."

"The Spirit Wood Realm, the Empire Small World..."

"And the Gloomy Realm."

Just as Saint Emperor Li Ping returned to his throne, sitting in contemplation of the Holy Dynasty's future, his disciple Sun Erlang requested an audience.

"Um, Master. About an item that was pulled from the Fishing Pool before..." Sun Erlang appeared somewhat anxious.

"Speak your mind."

Sun Erlang then recounted the entire story.

It turned out that after the last fishing competition, nearly all the anglers who had won prizes were recruited by various agencies within the Holy Dynasty.

Among them was a middle-aged man named Quan Ruochu, whom Sun Erlang had taken a liking to and brought under his command.

From the Fishing Pool, he had pulled up a ball of white light.

At the time, Li Ping had personally inspected it and found it to be a common item called the Faint Orchid Dark Flower, so he hadn't paid it much mind.

But now, according to Sun Erlang, this Faint Orchid Dark Flower, which at most seemed to be of Nascent Soul quality, had begun to display abilities that defied all logic after a period of careful cultivation by Quan Ruochu.

"Quan Ruochu, though middle-aged, had accomplished nothing in his life. His parents were deceased, and he had no wife or children. His only passions were fishing and tending to his flowers. He has a placid temperament and little ambition. So, when he fished up the white ball of light, he wasn't particularly dismayed. In fact, he seemed to love this Faint Orchid Dark Flower more than any other treasure."

"We initially thought this Faint Orchid Dark Flower was like any normal plant, needing soil to grow and spiritual energy to be nourished. But after Quan Ruochu planted it, no matter how meticulously he cared for it, it remained frail and on the verge of withering. In his desperation to save the flower he loved, Quan Ruochu did something unimaginable," Sun Erlang recounted in a low voice, his head bowed before the Saint Emperor.

"He planted the Faint Orchid Dark Flower on his own body! Using his own flesh as soil and nourishing it with his blood essence..."

"In just a few days, he transformed from a reasonably robust man into a figure of skin and bones, his breath as faint as a silken thread! Yet even then, he refused to give up, intending to use his last drop of lifeblood to nurture it."

"When I hadn't seen him for several days, I went to his home to check on him, and that was the scene that greeted me."

Sun Erlang's voice grew heavy. "I was about to destroy this demonic flower, but Quan Ruochu threatened me with his own life, declaring, 'If the flower lives, I live; if the flower dies, I die...'"

"Besides, considering it was a treasure bestowed by you, Master, I hesitated and held back. But watching Quan Ruochu grow weaker by the day, not far from death, your disciple could not simply stand by and watch."

The moment Sun Erlang began speaking, Li Ping had already locked onto Quan Ruochu's location and was carefully examining his internal condition.

It was, after all, just an item from a blue ball of light, nothing particularly profound. A single glance was all it took to understand.

After Sun Erlang finished his report, Li Ping shook his head, his tone chillingly stern.

"Erlang, you have greatly disappointed me."

Sun Erlang's body trembled slightly, and he lowered his head even further.

"A commander must lead the entire army, never allowing his emotions to be swayed by a single individual, or even a small group of dozens or hundreds."

"Since you became my disciple, this is the first time you've actively sought me out, is it not? And it's for something as trivial as this?"

After a long silence, Sun Erlang spoke, his voice strained. "Master, you see everything clearly. If he had died in an instant, perhaps I would have been unmoved. But to watch someone I know have their life slowly drained away, to watch them wither before my eyes. . . In the heart of the disciple, my heart truly could not remain calm."

"I await my punishment, Master."

Li Ping's voice thundered through the throne room, booming like heavenly lightning.

"My disappointment in you stems not only from your indecisiveness, but from your inability to distinguish right from wrong. A demonic flower..."

"Go back and take a closer look!"

With a wave of his hand, Li Ping dismissed Sun Erlang.

Sun Erlang's heart first clenched with fear, then, as if realizing something, his face lit up with joy as he rushed back to Quan Ruochu's residence.

Prompted by his master, Sun Erlang observed the situation again, this time with greater care, and finally discovered the secret of the Faint Orchid Dark Flower.

While it appeared to be constantly devouring Quan Ruochu's life essence, it was simultaneously channeling a wondrous stream of power back into him, preventing his life flame from being extinguished.

In this liminal state between life and death, the Faint Orchid Dark Flower was thriving.

At the same time, Quan Ruochu was also beginning to undergo a complete metamorphosis.

"His single thread of life is entirely bound to this flower. If I had rashly severed it back then, both the flower and the man would have perished. I nearly made a terrible mistake!" A wave of cold fear washed over Sun Erlang.

He sealed the entrance to the residence, forbidding any outsiders from disturbing them. He also moved a miniature Heaven and Earth Furnace nearby to ensure a high concentration of ambient spiritual energy.

Only after doing all this did Sun Erlang breathe a sigh of relief.

"It is all thanks to Master's guidance," he said, a note of gratitude in his voice.

What Sun Erlang didn't know, however, was that while the Faint Orchid Dark Flower was indeed preserving a sliver of Quan Ruochu's life, it was not out of gratitude for his care.

It was merely a survival instinct, a way to keep its host alive until a new one could be found.

And Quan Ruochu, with his meager Qi Refining cultivation, could never have withstood such a relentless drain. Without external help, his death was only a matter of time.

The reason he appeared to be getting better was purely because Saint Emperor Li Ping had lent a hand.

"Right or wrong, good or evil."

"Until the final outcome is reached, no one can pass a correct judgment."

"Only by walking the path step by step, all the way to the end, can one justify their own actions."

"The process... is irrelevant."

Saint Emperor Li Ping sat upon his throne, these thoughts rippling through his mind.

...

Within the endless white mist, in one of its countless Maze Domains.

"This... just how many frozen corpses are there here?"

Shang Shaojun, who had been brought into the Life and Death Reversal Grand Array by the Sacred Embryo Li Fan, cried out in a choked voice, staring at the horrifying scene before him.