Chapter 165: Merit, Xuanzang

Watching the black energy slowly decrease, everyone let out a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, Master Xuanzang could purify this resentful energy; otherwise, they wouldn't have known what to do.

As time passed, the resentful energy gradually began to fade, and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

As time passed, Yang Jian and the others began to slowly shrink the perimeter. Finally, only a small area remained—the exact spot where the stone box was located.

"I will try my best to suppress the resentful energy in the stone box. You find an opportunity to close it. The material of this box is very special and can isolate the leakage of the energy," Xuanzang said at this moment.

"Good!" Dapeng and the others nodded.

In the following time, Xuanzang went all out, suppressing the resentful energy to within half a foot of the stone box. This was Xuanzang's limit.

"This is my limit. The rest is up to you," Xuanzang said, looking at Dapeng and the others. Fine beads of sweat were already overflowing on his face, indicating that Master Xuanzang was reaching his limit.

"I'll go first!" Ao Mo'ang said, and then he used the water of the Tongtian River to condense a hand, reaching toward the stone box.

Just as Ao Mo'ang touched the stone box, the hand condensed from river water instantly dissipated, and Ao Mo'ang began to pant heavily.

"What's wrong?" Yang Jian asked.

"This resentful energy is very strong. It will invade the mind through magic power. You all should be careful," Ao Mo'ang said to the group.

"Let me try," Dapeng said upon hearing Ao Mo'ang.

He used the same method as Ao Mo'ang, using the water of the Tongtian River to form a palm to touch the stone box.

Dapeng fared better than Ao Mo'ang; his palm made of river water touched the box, but the moment it did, his body suddenly swayed, and a flush of unnatural redness appeared on his face. The palm naturally turned back into river water.

"What happened?" Everyone asked hurriedly.

"This stone box is strange. When magic power touches it, it is instantly absorbed, and a very bizarre energy can follow the magic power into the body to attack the primordial spirit," Dapeng said, looking at the group.

Next, everyone tried, but none could shake the stone box. Xuanzang's face was already flushed; he probably wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.

"Let me try!" Sun Wukong, who had been silent until now, spoke up.

After speaking, he reached behind his head and plucked a monkey hair. With a puff of breath, the hair turned into a small monkey.

"Go, close that stone box," Sun Wukong said to the small monkey.

The small monkey squeaked a few times and then dove into the range of the resentful energy. Once inside, the monkey froze in place. The next second, its eyes turned red, and it let out squeaks; clearly, the monkey's mind had been eroded.

Fortunately, it didn't have much of a mind, and for the most part, Sun Wukong was still controlling its actions. When the monkey lost its mind, Sun Wukong took over its body.

In one step, the monkey reached the side of the stone box and grabbed it. When it did, the monkey's whole body shook, and even Sun Wukong's face showed a look of discomfort.

The monkey squeaked a few times and, with a great effort, closed the box. As the box closed, the endless resentful energy vanished from the surface of the Tongtian River, leaving only a gray, dusty box floating on the water.

The small monkey disappeared, leaving behind a pitch-black monkey hair on the box. Sun Wukong waved his hand, and the hair instantly turned to ash.

Watching the stone box bobbing in the water, Xuanzang stood up, intending to pick it up, but was stopped by Yang Jian: "No!"

"It should be fine. When the box is not opened, it shouldn't be dangerous. Otherwise, the Inspiration King wouldn't have been able to keep it in her hand," Xuanzang said with a smile, then grabbed the box.

The box was somewhat heavy and felt warm to the touch, different from how it looked.

"Many thanks, Immortal!" Just as Xuanzang was about to put the box away, the voice of the River God of the Tongtian River appeared in his ear.

Xuanzang and the others turned to look and saw the River God's primordial spirit standing not far away. The previous explosion of resentful energy had caused losses to Xuanzang's side, but the River God's side had been wiped out, including himself. If not for the remaining human incense power on him, he wouldn't even have been able to keep his primordial spirit.

"Immortal, my primordial spirit cannot last much longer. I am about to enter reincarnation. Please, never open this box again; the things inside are ominous," the River God said solemnly, looking at the box in Xuanzang's hand.

"Rest assured!" Xuanzang nodded.

"Can you tell us the origin of this stone box?" Dapeng suddenly asked.

"I don't know the specific origin. I was originally just an ordinary little turtle in this Tongtian River. I happened upon this box by chance, and by relying on the slight spiritual energy leaking from it, I achieved enlightenment. Through a stroke of luck, I became the River God of the Tongtian River."

"Then how did you know the box was ominous?" Yang Jian asked immediately upon hearing this.

"After I became the River God, I tried to open the box. I only opened a crack, and I was severely injured. Even the water palace I had built vanished into thin air, and all the little demons were killed or injured. Afterward, I built a secret room in the depths of the new water palace to guard the box, until the arrival of the Inspiration King," the River God sighed.

"This Inspiration King..."

"It was that lotus phantom. The Inspiration King is Guanyin's pet. Initially, Guanyin brought her to find me, saying she wanted me to cooperate with them to complete a tribulation on the pilgrimage, and I could gain some merit. Later, I don't know why it turned out like this." Speaking of this, the River God sighed.

"Go to reincarnation. We will keep this box for you," Xuanzang said, looking at the River God.

"Many thanks, Immortal!" The River God bowed and then vanished before everyone's eyes.

"Master Xuanzang, what do we do next?" After the River God reincarnated, Sun Wukong pointed at the Tongtian River and asked.

Only then did everyone notice that because of the previous explosion of resentful energy, the entire Tongtian River had become a dead river. If not dealt with, it might become a greenhouse for demons and ghosts.

"Leave this to me. In the name of the Dragon Race, I will have the River Gods from various places send some aquatic tribes over. It should help, but we must clean up this place first before talking about anything else," Ao Mo'ang said at this moment.

"Fine, then you go contact the River Gods, and we will clean up the Tongtian River first," Yang Jian nodded.

Afterward, they let Xuanzang rest. With their strength, cleaning up the Tongtian River was not a problem.

After Xuanzang went to the side to rest, he couldn't help but take out the stone box and observe it carefully.

Just now, while they were discussing things, Xuanzang's hand had been stroking the box involuntarily. When he touched the gap at the opening, the demonic energy in his body became active, which shocked him. Now that he was resting, he wanted to see what was going on.

When Xuanzang's hand stroked the opening again, the demonic energy in his body became active once more. Xuanzang brought the box to his eyes and soon discovered a very fine crack on it—a crack that seemed man-made.

"Exquisite, truly exquisite!" After observing for a while, Xuanzang exclaimed.

The crack on the box was indeed man-made and done on purpose, because this crack could release the resentful energy from within. Because the crack was very small, the energy would be worn away by the spiritual energy as soon as it was released, causing no ill effects.

After observing the box, a thought suddenly appeared in Xuanzang's mind. Once it appeared, it took root and wouldn't go away.

"No, this is absolutely not allowed," Xuanzang muttered to himself.

But the more he said it, the clearer the thought became, and it gradually began to gain the upper hand, causing Xuanzang's reason to retreat bit by bit.

Just as Xuanzang's reason was about to be swallowed by this thought, a golden light suddenly appeared in the sky. In an instant, it reached the Tongtian River and turned into a small patch of golden merit light.

Then, the merit light split into several parts and fell upon Xuanzang and the others. Those who received the merit light showed expressions of excitement, while those who did not looked somewhat dejected. Who told them to be bewitched when the resentful energy exploded?

After receiving the merit light, Xuanzang's reason instantly gained the upper hand, suppressing that thought firmly. This made him breathe a sigh of relief; it was the first time he had experienced such a situation.

After absorbing the merit light, Xuanzang's strength stabilized at the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal. He was intentionally suppressing his cultivation; otherwise, he would easily expose his demonic state. Although Lingshan had begun to suspect, as long as he didn't appear in the public eye, he was safe.

"Let's rest here for two days. The newly moved aquatic tribes need to adapt to the environment here. By the way, let's find a new River God for the Tongtian River. What do you think?" Ao Mo'ang said to the group after absorbing the merit light.

"Fine!" Yang Jian and Dapeng nodded. Since they had already done this, they might as well do it thoroughly so the surrounding people would have no worries.

But Xuanzang was somewhat unwilling, though he didn't show it. The reason he was unwilling was that he feared that once he was idle, he wouldn't be able to resist studying the stone box.

On the second day of rest, everyone was busy. Even Princess Long Ji was helping Yang Jian and the others within a mile of Xuanzang. Only Xuanzang was resting, but no one said anything.

Once idle, Xuanzang's heart became restless. In the end, he couldn't resist the temptation and took out the stone box. Looking at the crack, a voice in his heart told him: *Absorb it, absorb a wisp of this resentful energy and see. It's fine, absorb it. *

Xuanzang's hand slowly covered the crack. The next second, the demonic energy in his body began to circulate, directly absorbing a wisp of the resentful energy. When this wisp was absorbed, his eyes widened. The energy had actually caused his demonic energy to grow by a wisp—it was almost a one-to-one growth! That was why he had such an expression.

"It seems nothing happened," Xuanzang muttered to himself, feeling the demonic energy in his body.

Afterward, he tried absorbing a few more wisps, and they were all well assimilated by the demonic energy without any discomfort. Xuanzang's heart finally settled. If this was the case, the stone box could be considered his opportunity.

He knew how much resentful energy was in the box. If he absorbed it all, he might reach the Quasi-Saint realm directly. But Xuanzang didn't intend to do that; he would absorb it slowly and improve steadily. The best result would be for him to reach Lingshan with his strength already at the Quasi-Saint level.

"Let's take the rest of the journey slowly." After formulating his plan, a smile appeared on Xuanzang's face.

Back in the Women's Kingdom, the three of them watched Xuanzang's performance, and Changxi and Xihe frowned immediately.

"Husband, is it really okay for Xuanzang to do this?"

"It shouldn't be a big problem. After all, his demonic seed..." Pan Huang stopped at the end and shook his head. It was better not to let them know about this.

This demonic seed was obtained from Jinna Luo, and Jinna Luo was the man who had merged with the Black Lotus of Destruction. The demonic energy on him came from the Demon World and was very pure, and the demonic energy on Xuanzang was also very pure.

Seeing Pan Huang stop halfway, the sisters were stunned for a moment before realizing that this must be one of their husband's schemes.

Three days later, the Tongtian River returned to its previous state, and a new River God was selected. Everyone could finally set off with peace of mind.

"Help the surrounding people well. That incense power will be enough for you to eat for a lifetime," Ao Mo'ang said with a smile, looking at the old turtle before him.

"Yes, Crown Prince," the new River God nodded.

In these three days, Xuanzang had increased his strength significantly by absorbing the resentful energy, but he still didn't advance to the Da Luo Golden Immortal realm. He chose to suppress his cultivation and purify his demonic energy.

"Huh! Master Xuanzang, you seem a bit different," Dapeng said, looking at Xuanzang.

"Of course! After all, I received more merit than all of you," Xuanzang said with a smile.

Hearing this, envy flashed in everyone's eyes. Dapeng also smiled when he heard this; he had forgotten about that.

Because Xuanzang had formulated a plan, they traveled very slowly. In Xuanzang's words, everyone had gained merit and improved their strength, so they needed to consolidate it, and he also needed to consolidate his cultivation. Everyone thought this made sense and stopped worrying.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 166 =====