Chapter 166

Wa Yao was not punished.

After all, she is the Wa tribe's legitimate daughter; this dignity, this preferential treatment, must still be present.

Unable to withstand Gong Sun Sheng's endurance, he divulged all the so-called Heaven's Chosen Person's secrets in detail.

Inside the Wa Palace main hall, Wa tribe and Six Paths Palace high-ranking officials gathered; dozens of Wa Elders had faces as dark as storm clouds before a thunderstorm, their gazes cold and stern as they fixed on Wa Yao kneeling in the hall.

The Master of the Six Paths Palace sat on a large chair at Wa Mother's side; his whole body gleaming white, he wore a gentle smile, but on his bald scalp, a speck of black was continually contracting.

This speck of black was initially the size of a soybean, but at its largest it nearly covered the Six Paths Palace Master's entire head.

Whenever the black expanded, the Six Paths Palace Master's kind smile would unknowingly carry a hint of eeriness and cold severity, as if a demon lurked within his body, ready at any moment to burst out of his flesh and devour people.

Wu Tie stood beside Wa Mother's chair, squinting at the expressionless Wa Yao kneeling on the ground.

Gong Sun Sheng, covered in scale-like wounds, lay beside Wa Yao like a dead dog, yet he managed to reveal a strange smile, the kind that made Wu Tie instinctively feel uneasy.

A middle-aged woman with slightly blackened lips and a delicate, beautiful visage—according to seniority, she was Wa Mother's close maternal aunt, Wa Jiao—stood in the hall and recounted in detail the information just extracted from interrogation.

The so-called Heaven's Chosen Person, like Gong Sun Sheng, was around nine or ten years old when, during cultivation, he suddenly heard a faint, elusive tempting sound in his ear.

If it were a steadfast adult cultivator, such as the Six Paths Palace Master, there is a high probability he would regard this sudden voice as a heart-demon sound and suppress it by various means.

However, Gong Sun Sheng's age being what it is, after hearing that sound he subconsciously followed the method it taught, mobilizing his own blood and qi to inscribe the so-called Heaven's Chosen Seal on his body.

This seal is truly miraculous; once successfully inscribed inside the body, cultivation speed is certainly a thousand miles a day, and whenever encountering a cultivation bottleneck, one receives guidance and can break through the bottleneck using the fastest speed, most efficient method, and most perfect pattern.

Moreover, this seal can even sense heaven-sent treasures growing within a certain range, guiding the Heaven's Chosen Person to seek and harvest them; these treasures either rapidly increase cultivation, greatly improve physique, or enhance wisdom and strengthen the soul…

Thus, within a few years, the cultivation of these Heaven's Chosen Persons naturally advances by leaps and bounds, far surpassing peers of the same age.

After tasting these benefits, these Heaven's Chosen Persons naturally will follow the seal's instructions in their actions.

For example, do not reveal one's true strength before outsiders; this is the most basic requirement for Heaven's Chosen Persons. Moreover, the existence of the Heaven's Chosen Seal helps them greatly compress their cultivation inwardly, making it extremely difficult for outsiders to perceive their true strength.

For example, following the seal's mandate, destroy some ancient relics deemed sources of primordial pollution, destroy some cultivators deemed already polluted, and so on.

Once these tasks are completed, Heaven's Chosen Persons receive certain contribution points, gradually raising the grade of their Heaven's Chosen Seal, thereby increasing cultivation speed and granting themselves greater benefits.

When the Heaven's Chosen Seal reaches a certain grade, they can, like Gong Sun Sheng, directly pray for the projection of the Heavenly God's Divine Artifact.

The Heavenly God's Divine Artifact possesses supreme power, touted as omnipotent.

Its armor is extraordinarily sturdy, its weapons incomparably sharp, and it can directly boost a Heaven's Chosen Person's strength; for instance, Gong Sun Sheng was lifted from high-level Chonglou Realm cultivation to strength comparable to the Life Pool Realm.

If it weren't for the Six Paths Palace Master bullying the weak and using a sneak-attack-like method—striking Gong Sun Sheng with a golden pellet that left him dazed—Wu Tie would certainly not be a match for Gong Sun Sheng in the state of the artifact's projection.

After gaining the qualification to pray for the Heavenly God's Divine Artifact projection, Heaven's Chosen Persons' strength increases, enabling them to undertake higher-difficulty tasks.

For example, some individuals of extraordinary talent can become sacrificial offerings or trade commodities.

Regardless of which method they choose, they can obtain great benefits.

If they are sacrificed, they can receive the Heavenly God's feedback power according to the quality of the sacrificial offering, directly boosting their strength.

If it is trade… only the most precious, most valuable talents qualify as trade goods. Once a Heaven's Chosen Person captures an extraordinarily talented individual, they will carry these 'goods' to the mobile exchange established by the Heavenly God's Envoy to obtain large quantities of rare items.

To speak bluntly, trading with those who claim to be Heavenly God's Envoys usually yields benefits more than double the Heavenly God's direct bestowal.

If the 'goods' traded are truly outstanding in quality, the benefits will be even greater.

Following Gong Sun Sheng's instructions, after he sacrificed his own younger brother, the Heavenly God's bestowal he received caused his cultivation to breakthrough madly, granting him direct possession of the Gong Sun family's secret Nine Dragons Nine Elephants Mighty Power Divine Ability.

Mainly because, at that time Gong Sun Sheng lacked strength, he had no confidence to bring his younger brother to the exchange set up by the Heavenly God's Envoy, so he was forced to choose direct sacrifice.

Precisely because he chose direct sacrifice, his brother vanished outright, which provoked the Gong Sun family's anger and suspicion; after a frantic investigation, they happened to plant several high-level spies from the Luo family within the Gong Sun household, becoming the target for the Gong Sun family to vent their wrath.

The two top clans engaged in a bloody battle, fighting for three years; elite warriors lost on both sides exceeded 100,000, while ordinary fodder slaves suffered casualties numbering in the millions, constituting a massive war that ranks among the major conflicts of the surrounding dozens of domains over many years.

Wa Jiao repeated what Gong Sun Sheng had relayed, and the expressions of Wa Mother and the Six Paths Palace Master turned quite strange.

Wa Mother remained silent, while the Six Paths Palace Master heaved a deep sigh: "In that case, my little disciple was also harmed in this way by you… his disappearance was extremely swift; the Six Paths Palace sealed off several surrounding domains for a thorough search, yet found no trace of him."

"Sacrifice? Direct sacrifice? Direct human vaporization? Excellent method, excellent method…" The Six Paths Palace Master snorted coldly, pointing at Gong Sun Sheng and shouting sternly: "Not speaking of my little disciple… that, after all, is your own blood‑brother; how could you bring yourself to do this?"

Gong Sun Sheng raised his head, looking scornfully at the Six Paths Palace Master: "You lowly creatures, what do you know?"

He arrogantly declared: "We Heaven's Chosen Persons are by nature a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times more noble and exalted than you; we are the transcendent seeds of the Heaven's Chosen… you, heh… even if you are flesh‑and‑blood kin, what does it matter?"

Gong Sun Sheng's eyes bloodshot, he glanced over everyone present from the Wa tribe and the Six Paths Palace, then arrogantly said: "To be able to serve as the power source for our transcendent selves, to be the stepping stone for our ascent to heaven, you… ought to feel honored!"

With a strange "keke" laugh, Gong Sun Sheng coldly said: "Wrong, you don't even have the qualification to be honored… only a few can move the Heavenly God's will; not everyone is qualified to be a sacrifice… you, heh… you don't even qualify to be our stepping stone!"

Wa Mother gave a soft hum, her right index finger lightly swaying left and right.

Two tough‑clad girls stepped out from the crowd, whipping out their lashes and lashing Gong Sun Sheng in a violent barrage.

Unlike the thin whips the Wa tribe usually carry, these two girls' whips are specially made, extra‑loaded; as thick as a child's wrist, studded with barbs forged from poisonous scorpion tails, vicious and merciless to the extreme.

Each strike leaves a blood mark; each strike removes a strip of flesh.

The fine needles still embedded in Gong Sun Sheng's body had not been removed, and the Wa tribe's secret medicine was still taking effect; his pain was amplified manyfold, after a few lashes he was already writhing in agony, sweat spraying, soon pooling on the ground.

After several lashes, Gong Sun Sheng was in so much pain he could not speak.

Wa Mother flicked her finger, and the two girls retracted their whips, slowly retreating back into the crowd.

Wa Mother gave Yao a cold stare and said in a low voice: "So you're saying you too are a so‑called Heaven's Chosen Person?"

Although Wa Yao was forced to kneel, she still proudly lifted her chin, giving Wa Mother a provocative look: "Exactly, I am a Heaven's Chosen Person… so you know why I've always liked bullying the sisters in the tribe?"

Scoffing, Wa Yao arrogantly said: "Because they are all inferior to me."

Wa Mother ignored Wa Yao's provocation, saying lightly: "You, you want to give Xiao Xi…"

Wa Yao narrowed her eyes, letting out a "heehee" laugh: "Xiao Xi… she didn't just receive the ancestral spirit's baptism at the recent ancestor‑worship ceremony? I have received the Heavenly God's will; her talent qualifies her to be a sacrificial offering."

Wa Yao sighed, shaking her head helplessly: "But I truly don't want to just sacrifice her like this… not for greater benefit, I just feel… if we sacrifice her thus, no one knows what will happen afterward…"

"Is she just dead like that? Or… what happened to her? No one knows…" Wa Yao narrowed her eyes, giving a very malicious smile: "Perhaps she just met a swift end, just… died? Then wouldn't that be letting her off easy?"

Wa Mother's lightly moving finger suddenly froze, her face turning extremely grim.

"So I think it's better to sell her to those Heavenly God's envoys." Wa Yao laughed brightly: "Those who claim to be Heavenly God's envoys, but upon reflection they are probably not on the same side as the Heavenly God; even if they fly the Heavenly God's banner, their actions are actually about seizing goods from the Heavenly God."

Wa Yao tilted her head, squinting at Wa Mother: "Of course, they may well have close ties with the Heavenly God, but they are merely envoys… selling Xiao Xi to them, I eagerly await what fate awaits her."

Wa Yao licked her lips, laughing brightly: "What I can imagine is surely something bad… they'll buy Xiao Xi back and certainly won't treat her like an ancestor to be worshipped, right?"

"Third Aunt, you've always said I'm a licentious and depraved slut, haven't you?" Wa Yao looked at Wa Mu with a smiling gaze: "So, think about it—I sold her to the Heavenly Envoy; what will she become? Heh, who knows, she might become even more wretched than I am."

He sighed, Wa Yao shook her head helplessly: "I never expected that I would summon Gongsun Cheng and his group, even using the contribution points I had accumulated over the years to pray for a Heavenly God Prison to seal that stone fissure…… The result, the result……"

Wa Yao narrowed her eyes, glanced at the Six Paths Palace Master: "Old thing, if it weren't for you, Wa Xiaoxi would already have been captured alive and taken away…… You wait, we won't let the Six Paths Palace off."

The Six Paths Palace Master smiled, his smile gentle: "Our Six Paths Palace is famed for suppressing the Six Paths; mere demons and monsters—we naturally have the confidence to suppress them with a reverse hand."

He said in a deep voice: "Why, Miss Wa Yao, at this very moment you dare to speak so provocatively—why? Who gave you the courage?"

The Six Paths Palace Master turned his head to look at Wa Mu: "Madam, could it be that the Wa Clan still has such a rule—that a clansperson who commits such treason can still have her life spared and be allowed to live at ease?"

Wa Mu smiled indifferently, shook her head: "What nonsense? She, and her mother Wa Xiu, colluded with outsiders, plotted against the Wa Clan, even conspired to kill so many of our Wa Clan's allied family descendants—they all deserve to die."

Wa Mu said softly: "I have already notified the families of those deceased descendants; when they arrive, I will publicly execute her and her daughter……"

Wa Yao and Gongsun Cheng suddenly burst into laughter together, laughing out loud in unison.

Wu Tie shuddered, then lunged forward a step to reach Wa Yao and Gongsun Cheng, reaching out to grab their necks.

The Six Paths Palace Master and Wa Mu also acted at the same time.

The Six Paths Palace Master flipped both hands; the surrounding void trembled, and a Six Paths White Light Gate flew from his palm, crashing down near Wa Yao and Gongsun Cheng.

Wa Mu, meanwhile, swept her right hand; a golden light fell from the roof of the main hall, turning into a Golden Light Box that enclosed the two of them.

However, the bodies of Wa Yao and Gongsun Cheng simultaneously turned into a cluster of blue light.

Vast ice crystals sprayed out from the blue light, carrying terrifying Cold Qi; an unknown force descended from the heavens, and the roof of the main hall—Boom—was blasted open, leaving a huge hole.

A blue light enveloped the blue light that Wa Yao and Gongsun Cheng had become; the Six Paths White Light Gate released by the Six Paths Palace Master had not yet landed, the Golden Light Box released by Wa Mu had not yet fastened onto them, and Wu Tie's fingers were still several feet away from their bodies—two clusters of blue light simultaneously shot up along the blue light pillar and vanished instantly.

"Wa Xiaoxi…… I won't let you off!" Wa Yao's sharp cry echoed throughout the Wa Valley.

"Heh, Six Paths Palace, Wa Clan…… you'll wait." Gongsun Cheng's pained laughter came faintly.

The Six Paths Palace Master, Wa Mu, and the Wa Clan and Six Paths Palace masters present all had grim expressions; before so many experts, the two heavily imprisoned captives escaped right before their eyes, and everyone lost all face.