Chapter 71: Tainting Thoughts, the Nascent Soul Virus

Two days had passed since Zhang Fan and Jiang Lai were kept at the Shen household.

Even though Wen He had called several times to urge them to leave, they remained unmoved—after all, the Shen family was a major client of Yebuliang, and since the other side insisted on their stay, they couldn’t easily depart.

More importantly, both Zhang Fan and Jiang Lai wanted to stay, to witness the legendary [Mystic Mirror Scripture] and see what mysteries it held—whether it truly could condense ten thousand talismans into one, giving rise to a Nascent Soul code and unlocking the secret of eternal life and immortality.

For this, Wen He was helpless; even Bai Ruan couldn’t find fault.

After all, they were working for the company.

Over the two days, Jiang Lai spent most of his time with Shen Qingli; they had known each other since childhood and were practically childhood sweethearts.

The only irritation was Qi Ji, who kept popping up with the demeanor of a moral guardian, making Jiang Lai deeply uncomfortable.

As for Zhang Fan, when he occasionally stepped out for air, he met Shen Xiangrong a few times; otherwise, the person he encountered most was Qiu Zhengdao.

This man had suffered a calamity in his youth, losing both arms, yet his insight was extraordinary—he knew much about Daoist matters, especially the art of talismans.

Zhang Fan had spoken with him several times and gained much from it.

Of course, though only two days had passed, Zhang Fan had not been idle—he had begun to doubt his own Nascent Soul and started exploring it.

“The Nascent Soul fears most the agitation of the conscious mind, scattered thoughts.”

That night, as darkness deepened in the mountains, Zhang Fan sat cross-legged in his room, a bold idea already forming in his mind.

Since the Nascent Soul and the conscious mind give rise to and oppose each other, mutually generating and extinguishing, perhaps stimulating the Nascent Soul with the conscious mind could reveal its anomalies.

“Thoughts… the conscious mind agitates because of thoughts; the Nascent Soul quiets because of thoughts… this thing seems worth pondering…” Zhang Fan’s courage grew.

As he observed his Nascent Soul, he no longer maintained stillness—his thoughts scattered, and he shifted out of the awakened Nascent Soul state back into reality.

Such complexity brought a fine sweat oozing from every pore—a sensation like fire scorching ice, alternating between cold and heat, filling him with unbearable pain, his mind galloping wildly, his will racing unchecked, then returning to stillness…

Yet as he gradually grew accustomed to this feeling, a strange sensation arose from deep within his Nascent Soul…

At this moment, Zhang Fan had no idea how insane, how bold, how reckless his exploration and experimentation were…

He found it endlessly captivating, immersed in it.

…

Tonight’s moon was unusually bright.

In the courtyard, Jiang Lai and Shen Qingli leaned against the shade of a massive tree, gazing at the hazy night of the mountains.

“Only on Purple Gold Mountain can you see such a night.”

Shen Qingli gazed at the starry sky, her delicate face exuding an irresistible charm.

“Why don’t you call Zhang Fan to join you?” Shen Qingli smiled faintly.

“He’d be too bright here,” Jiang Lai said, turning his head away, not meeting her eyes, his tone oddly suggestive.

Shen Qingli laughed softly, choosing not to press the matter.

“I heard from my brother that the [Mystic Mirror Scripture] will be completed within these next few days,” Shen Qingli changed the subject.

Jiang Lai was startled, instinctively glancing toward the Talisman Hall.

“Your Shen family’s dream—no, their obsession—is about to be fulfilled.”

“The mortal world churns endlessly; as long as one is human, as long as one lives in this world, one carries an obsession…”

Shen Qingli murmured softly: “Jiang Lai, you have one too…”

“My obsession…” Jiang Lai fell silent.

“You still cling to the art of talismans—otherwise you wouldn’t have stayed,” Shen Qingli said, gazing at the bright moon, her beautiful eyes glinting with an unusual light.

“All forms are illusory… it is only through obsession that we live more truly within this false world…”

“Qingli…” Jiang Lai turned to look at her—tonight, Shen Qingli was especially captivating, yet different from her usual self.

“Jiang Lai, if a person had no obsession, would they still be human? What meaning would life hold? What purpose would cultivation serve?”

Shen Qingli’s gaze seemed to stretch far away—to the Shen family’s three generations of obsession, to the future pointed to by the [Mystic Mirror Scripture].

Boom…

At that moment, a tremendous noise shattered the night’s stillness, coming from the direction of the [Talisman Hall].

“The [Mystic Mirror Scripture]!?”

Jiang Lai leapt to his feet, turning to look—he observed with his Nascent Soul, his expression instantly changing. Above the Talisman Hall, dark clouds churned, its interior a pitch-black void; a strange aura slowly rose, as if formed by countless peculiar strokes, radiating the breath of life.

Countless voices screamed, roared…

Thick black liquid continuously flowed into those strokes, making them more vivid, lifelike, as if about to leap forth…

“This is…”

Jiang Lai’s face darkened—he sensed a familiar aura emanating from the thick black liquid.

“Nascent Soul… you… you used Nascent Soul as ink?”

Jiang Lai spun around, staring at Shen Qingli, radiant with triumph—he could hardly believe his eyes.

“It’s completed… that is the true method of immortality…”

Whoosh…

Jiang Lai took a step forward, racing like a gale toward the Talisman Hall.

Roars echoed from within—the moment he reached the entrance, Jiang Lai saw a talisman master, in his thirties, nearly bald, burst out…

His face was drenched in terror; seeing Jiang Lai, he looked as if he’d found salvation, tremblingly extending his hand: “Save… save me…”

“What happened?” Jiang Lai demanded.

“I don’t know… I don’t know…”

The man shook his head wildly—suddenly, his third eye twitched violently, revealing a strange talisman, like two coiled serpents, resembling a sequence…

At that instant, he went mad, lunging at Jiang Lai; simultaneously, his tongue shot out like a long whip, surging toward Jiang Lai’s third eye, black viscous fluid splattering across the ground.

Hum…

Suddenly, a fire talisman flared like a falling star, piercing straight through the man’s skull—he froze, then collapsed stiffly.

“Qi Ji…”

Jiang Lai turned and saw the newcomer—he had just narrowly escaped death.

He had no idea why the man had suddenly gone mad, or why his body had mutated…

Jiang Lai vaguely sensed that if he had been caught by that tongue, something terrible would have happened.

“The [Mystic Mirror Scripture]… sinister and ominous,” Qi Ji said grimly, staring coldly at the Talisman Hall’s entrance, bracing himself.

“That is the true method of immortality.”

At that moment, Shen Qingli’s voice rang out under the moonlight—she walked forward, dressed in a black evening gown, as if attending a grand banquet.

“Qingli, what has your Shen family done?” Qi Ji asked sternly.

“Qi Ji, you were raised in the Shangqing Sect of Maoshan… you should know the mysteries of talismans…”

“It is the key to unlocking the secrets of heaven and earth, the only path to immortality,” Shen Qingli said calmly.

“You dare use Nascent Soul as ink?” Qi Ji said coldly.

“The original talisman forged by the [Mystic Mirror Scripture] can merge with the Nascent Soul…”

“The Nascent Soul is the talisman; the talisman is the Nascent Soul! And it can imprint the same talisman onto other Nascent Souls…”

At these words, Jiang Lai couldn’t help but glance at the corpse on the ground—the talisman on its third eye was slowly fading.

“This talisman can annihilate the conscious mind, utterly extinguishing the seven emotions and six desires, preserving only the power of the Nascent Soul.”

“When the power of the original talisman is exhausted, it can take refuge in a new Nascent Soul…”

“Thus, as long as this talisman continues to spread, with infinite individuals and infinite Nascent Souls, the original talisman will never die…”

“That is the Nascent Soul code!”

“That is eternal life!”

With these words, a fervent longing appeared on Shen Qingli’s beautiful face.

“That is not the Nascent Soul code…”

Jiang Lai’s face darkened—he could not believe the Shen family had chosen this path.

“That is a virus…”

(End of Chapter)