Chapter 317: Chapter 317: Peach Mother Divine Tree on Peach Mother Divine Mountain
After searching the bodies of those four individuals, Shen Ying activated the old peach tree. The roots twisted, smoothing over the overturned ground of Taohua Village once again.
As for the corpses of those four, they were deeply buried underground.
Returning to the main hall of the estate, the two sat down, and the Eighteen Celestial Maidens served tea. Only then did Shen Ying begin to tell Lu Zheng about the surprise attack that had occurred before dawn.
"From their actions and words, it seems they intended to capture my divine soul and take it back for that thousand-year-old Peach Tree Spirit to devour."
Shen Ying continued, "Its true form is also a peach tree. If it could devour me, it could use me as a conduit, merge the ’Peach Blossoms’ as the source, and transform into a new Peach Blossom Fairy."
Lu Zheng nodded, "I see, that’s the real reason it’s coveting you; it wants to achieve Dao through you."
"That’s probably it," Shen Ying agreed.
"Shameless old demon, these demons and devils from the Southern Border are truly malevolent, all of them are bad!" Tao Zhen exclaimed angrily, and the other celestial maidens nodded in agreement.
They were victimized by an old monk from Mist God Valley in the Southern Border. After finally becoming Peach Blossom Celestial Maidens with Shen Ying, now they met a thousand-year-old Peach Tree Spirit from the Southern Border coveting Shen Ying’s essence.
Shen Ying smiled, cutting off Tao Zhen, "Naturally, those who come to the Central Plains to cause trouble are from the evil sects, but there are surely good people in the Southern Border. Good people just don’t come to bother us."
Turning to Lu Zheng, Shen Ying said, "There’s still a divine soul. Lu Lang, having learned the techniques of the Jinhua Sect, might you extract some information from its mouth?"
Lu Zheng nodded, "In the ’Inference Secret Technique,’ there’s a spell I should try."
He patted the gourd with his right hand, and the divine soul of the Western Envoy appeared before them, dazed due to being sealed.
Lu Zheng had no intention of unsealing it; instead, he pinched a seal with his hand and directly cast a spirit seal on it.
Mirror Observation Curse.
It allows viewing the memory images of a target shortly before their death.
Lu Zheng knew there were soul-searching techniques in the world and had previously encountered the "Devouring God Technique."
If evil sects can do it, then of course the Daoist techniques can too, but due to the heavy emphasis on self in Daoist practices, they never cultivate such techniques.
However, there are times when out of necessity it is required to probe into another’s secrets...
It was only the Jinhua Sect, which specializes in refining spirits, that could find a method to pass down this technique that allows one to both probe another’s memory and remain unaffected themselves.
The Mirror Observation Curse from the ’Inference Secret Technique’ is different from ordinary soul-searching techniques and the previous ’Devouring God Technique.’
The Devouring God Technique directly digests the target’s memories, experiences, and even psyche, then assimilates them as one’s own, almost allowing one to impersonate a real person, while various soul-searching techniques generally allow one to experience it in the first-person perspective.
This spell focuses on the word "observe," functioning more like consulting data from a third-party perspective, fast-forwarding through the other’s experiences and memories, and only showing the most recent and significant memory images and sounds.
The downside is that the observation is incomplete, and the stronger the opponent’s true spirit, the less can be searched; the advantage is that it has little influence on oneself, leaving one’s core untainted.
Nonetheless, scriptures suggest refraining from using this technique too much, as experiencing too much of others’ lives might influence oneself.
So when Lu Zheng had seen enough, he immediately severed the spell.
Southern Border...
Peach Mother Divine Mountain...
Thousand-Year-Old Peach Mother Divine Tree...
Four Directions Divine Envoys from the North, South, East, and West...
"Just as I thought!"
"How is it?" Shen Ying couldn’t help but ask, while the Eighteen Celestial Maidens looked on with curiosity.
Lu Zheng withdrew from the Mirror Observation Curse, then snapped his fingers lightly.
"Poof!"
The divine soul of the Western Envoy completely disintegrated, vanishing into thin air.
...
In a certain place amidst the mountains of the Southern Border, there is a Peach Mother Divine Mountain.
This mountain is covered with peach trees, among which stands a thousand-year-old peach tree, known as the Peach Mother Divine Tree.
The Peach Mother Divine Tree has cultivated itself into a spirit, protecting an area of hundreds of miles, and is worshipped by millions of Southern Border tribes under its protection, who revere Madam Peach.
Madam Peach has a thousand years of Dao practice, accepts disciples to cultivate Qi, passes down techniques, and commands dozens of cultivators, the most powerful of whom are the Four Directions Divine Envoys from the North, South, East, and West, each with two to three hundred years of Dao practice, forming a significant force in the Southern Border.
However, since Madam Peach attained her spirit form through self-insight and cultivation without a lineage, her path is rather unconventional. Despite having a thousand years of Dao practice, her true form cannot move, and her divine soul true spirit is not pure, making it difficult for her to leave Peach Mother Divine Mountain.
If things continued this way, it’d be fine; Madam Peach has stayed on the Divine Mountain for centuries, slowly improving through her cultivation and the offerings of the people.
In the end, she might refine her cultivation to the point where her divine soul roams and increases her lifespan, or her true form may wither, her divine soul dispersing back into the world.
These are normal occurrences.
However, one day, a song "Peach Blossoms" spread to the realm of the Peach Mother Divine Mountain.
The Peach Mother was also a peach tree, and "Peach Blossoms" symbolized a beautiful life, so when the Southern Border natives worshipped the Peach Mother, they unconsciously incorporated the poem into their prayers.
Thus, the incense power generated during their worship was partially absorbed by the Peach Mother, while another portion flew across the void to the Central Plains.
This effectively diverted some of the Peach Mother’s incense, which immediately caught her attention, prompting her to send practitioners under her command to the Central Plains to investigate the details.
Subsequently, the Western Divine Envoy discovered the truth about Shen Ying, realizing she was merely a small Incense and Candle Land God, but had accidentally merged with "Peach Blossoms," making her potential limitless.
After reporting back to the Peach Mother, the matter immediately aroused her greed.
One must know that she too was a peach tree, naturally more compatible with "Peach Blossoms" than Shen Ying, a Postnatal Peach Ghost!
If she could devour Shen Ying, then all the future incense and candle qi of "Peach Blossoms" would be hers.
Furthermore, with her thousand years of Dao practice and extraordinary talent, this would be like adding wings to a tiger, making her one of the top figures in the Southern Border within a hundred years!
She was a Southern Border Great Demon, and Shen Ying was a Great Jing Land God. It was impossible for Shen Ying to agree to being devoured and merged.
What more needed to be said?
Thus, she decisively summoned back the Four Directions Divine Envoy, imparted the Four Extremes God-Locking Curse and corresponding dharma artifact wooden token, even leaving behind hidden preparations, all with one aim: to capture Shen Ying’s Divine Soul and take her to the Southern Border Peach Mother Divine Mountain.
Then, the battle just now occurred.
...
Lu Zheng looked at Shen Ying, "You’re right, this Peach Mother indeed cannot leave the Peach Mother Divine Mountain, and her most powerful followers are just these four. With these four dead, she won’t be able to do anything to you in the near term."
Shen Ying clung to Lu Zheng’s arm, gently saying, "Lu Lang is also right. I was rather overconfident before. I didn’t expect that even though this Thousand-Year-old Great Demon couldn’t come in person, she had powerful means. If it weren’t for Lu Lang arriving quickly, even if I escaped this disaster, my primordial qi would have been greatly damaged, and my Divine Soul harmed."
"Fairy, Young Master, please don’t show your love in front of us. If you really care for each other, why not return to your room and get some rest?"
"Exactly! It’s finally safe, we should rest and calm our nerves!"
"Hehe, we promise not to eavesdrop!"
"I heard it’s because the Young Master saved the Fairy last time, so the Fairy decided to give herself to him."
"Hehe, indeed indeed!"
Shen Ying rolled her eyes charmingly, giving a few girls a sidelong glance.
"First, bring me those dharma artifacts. Let me refine them so you can use them."
The celestial maidens nodded repeatedly, then presented the spoils of battle one by one.
A porcelain bottle, a peach branch, six peach wood flying swords, and six peach wood tokens.
Shen Ying examined them one by one, "The quality is even better than the old peach tree, more importantly, they’ve been ritual refined and nurtured, their power is not weak. Once I fully refine them, you can each enjoy some of their benefits."
"Thank you, Fairy!"
With the addition of dharma artifacts, their own strength could further improve, so the celestial maidens were naturally delighted.
Meanwhile, Lu Zheng also noticed something he had previously overlooked.
"Do any of you need weapons? I see Tao Zhen is still using an ordinary saber." Lu Zheng pulled out another Brocade Spring Saber from the gourd for Tao Zhen, "How do you like this saber?"
"Great saber!" Tao Zhen’s eyes lit up.
Lu Zheng nodded with a smile, "Saber, spear, sword, halberd, staff, axe, mace, hook, freely choose."
The celestial maidens who practiced Martial Dao all showed joyful expressions.
They knew Lu Zheng could provide excellent weapons since they had seen the staff he gave to Hou Ping.
However, they thought these weapons were costly, so they dared not ask Lu Zheng for them.
Shen Ying didn’t know the situation either, and believed that since the Eighteen Celestial Maidens were switching to Incense and Candle Dao, they wouldn’t need weapons, so she also didn’t bring it up.
Thus, the matter was overlooked.
But since Lu Zheng noticed, he wouldn’t let these celestial maidens face enemies empty-handed in the future.
Lu Zheng generously said, "What do you all want?"
"Heaven-piercing Halberd!"
"Mandarin Duck Double Mace!"
"Horse-cutting Long Saber!"
Lu Zheng: 〣(ºΔº)〣