Chapter 355: Red Lotus True Spirit

“Plenty of people want to tear me to pieces. Who do you think you are? Get in line.”

Chen Yuan sneered and sent another stream of Nether Blood Fiend into her body, sealing her mouth shut.

The Red Lotus Sect didn’t even dare to show its face these days, resorting to shady tricks in places like this. ‘And she still thinks she can kill me?’

“Benefactor, you’re not going to kill her?”

Chu Hongshang asked, confused.

“Not yet. She’s useful for now.”

Chen Yuan waved his hand and took out the Human Skin Evil Book. Lines of text immediately appeared on its surface.

“Master, it’s useless to kill her. Her core is a True Spirit bestowed by the Red Lotus Saint Mother. Her physical body is just a cage. If you kill her, you’re actually saving her.”

Chen Yuan frowned. “Of course, I know she can come back from the dead, but what can be done about it? Bury her here in the Heaven-Reaching Tower? Even if she starves to death, her True Spirit will just revive again.”

After learning about the Red Lotus Saintess’s strange ability, Chen Yuan found the situation quite troublesome.

Her strength was clearly not that great, yet like some ancient evil creature, she was impossible to kill. Even sealing her away was useless.

After being sealed for a while, her physical body would starve and die, but she would still be able to revive.

However, Chen Yuan speculated that even if she could revive, it couldn’t be completely without cost.

Otherwise, back in Senluo Hall, she would have just self-destructed to take him with her. She wouldn’t have chosen to abandon the Endless Divine Tree and the other Red Lotus Sect disciples to flee. Only now, in a truly desperate situation, did she choose to self-destruct as a last resort.

“But I have a solution! You cultivate the Sumeru Free Observation of the Hidden Treasure Realm. You can drag her True Spirit into the Hidden Realm, then erase the memories within it, returning it to its most primordial state. When only a pure wisp of True Spirit remains, it naturally won’t resist. If a person loses all their previous memories, how is that any different from being dead? So, this can be considered a way to kill her completely. Besides, this is a wisp of the Red Lotus Saint Mother’s True Spirit. It will be of great use to you when you eventually step into the Divine Platform Realm. Of course, if you choose to devour this wisp of True Spirit, you will be marked by the Red Lotus Saint Mother and might face her retaliation in the future.”

Chen Yuan was taken aback. “You know about the Red Lotus Saint Mother too? But the Red Lotus Sect has only been around for a few decades.”

In Chen Yuan’s memory, the earliest mention of the Red Lotus Saint Mother traced back to the Red Lotus Sect’s rebellion in Qin Province over twenty years ago.

That Red Lotus Saint Mother claimed to be an incarnation of the Daoist Ancestor, a disciple of the future Maitreya Buddha, who wielded the Red Lotus and followed the Buddhist Teachings of Maitreya to save all living beings.

‘Of course, in my opinion, such claims are pure nonsense. She was just the leader of an Evil Cult,’ Chen Yuan thought. That Red Lotus Saintess was also slain by Yuwen Tai, the Grand General of the Vigorous Martial Army.

However, this time he had discovered that Su Mei hadn’t died, and the Red Lotus Sect’s power was truly bizarre. Only now did he feel that the Red Lotus Sect was not so simple.

The Human Skin Evil Book said, “The Red Lotus Sect may only have a history of a few decades, but the Red Lotus Saint Mother has existed since ancient times.”

Hearing this, Chen Yuan’s brow furrowed. “Existed since ancient times? Doesn’t that mean the Red Lotus Saint Mother has lived for tens of thousands of years? That’s not a human anymore, is it? Could she be an Ancient Divine Demon?”

“I don’t know exactly what kind of existence the Red Lotus Saint Mother is, but she is definitely not an Ancient Divine Demon, nor can she be considered human. In my records, she is a very mystical being that requires Wish Power to sustain herself. Therefore, every so often, a Red Lotus Sect will appear in the world. Of course, sometimes it doesn’t go by that name, but its power always belongs to the Red Lotus Saint Mother. The Red Lotus Saint Mother doesn’t seem to exist in our world. She can only descend some of her power through her followers. The wisp of True Spirit in this woman is a power unique to the Red Lotus Saint Mother. Other Red Lotus Sect Martial Artists do not have it; they are merely consumables.”

Chen Yuan pondered for a moment before asking, “So, the current Red Lotus Saint Mother isn’t in our world. Even if I devour her True Spirit, she can’t possibly come looking for trouble with me?”

The Human Skin Evil Book said cautiously, “Theoretically, yes. But we can’t rule out the possibility that the Red Lotus Saint Mother will descend another True Spirit and cultivate other Holy Sons and Saintesses to come after you.”

Chen Yuan hesitated for only a moment before deciding to devour the Red Lotus Saint Mother’s True Spirit.

He was already in so much trouble that he had become numb to it.

He had already devoured the Original Demon Pill and earned the attention of the ‘Demon Venerable’ Han Guang. What was one more Red Lotus Saint Mother on his list of enemies?

Although he couldn’t fully trust the Human Skin Evil Book’s words, Chen Yuan’s own knowledge led him to a similar conclusion: the Red Lotus Saint Mother probably couldn’t directly affect this world.

The reason was simple. During the Red Lotus Sect’s rebellion twenty-odd years ago, that era’s ‘Red Lotus Saintess’ was likely just like Su Mei—a person chosen by the real Red Lotus Saint Mother to host a descended True Spirit.

Yet, that Red Lotus Saintess was killed by Yuwen Tai, and the entire Red Lotus Sect was slaughtered and suppressed by the Vigorous Martial Army. The true Red Lotus Saint Mother never showed up to seek revenge on Yuwen Tai.

Instead, it took over twenty years for the Red Lotus Sect to recover some of its Vitality and start causing trouble again.

Refining the Red Lotus Saint Mother’s True Spirit could also enhance Chen Yuan’s Primordial Spirit Power.

But he wasn’t at the Eighth Realm Divine Platform, so he couldn’t directly wield this power. The only noticeable boost would be an increase in his Spiritual Power.

However, refining this wisp of True Spirit would be extremely beneficial for his future attempt to break through to the Eighth Realm Divine Platform, helping him overcome many bottlenecks.

Thus, Chen Yuan didn’t hesitate. He reached out one hand, covering Su Mei with the power of the Sumeru Free Observation of the Hidden Treasure Realm.

The next moment, Su Mei’s True Spirit was dragged directly into Chen Yuan’s sea of consciousness.

Once inside the sea of consciousness, Su Mei’s True Spirit was freed from its bonds and regained its liberty.

“Chen Jiutian! If you dare touch me, the Red Lotus Saint Mother will not spare you!”

Chen Yuan sneered. “If your Red Lotus Saint Mother were so useful, would you have ended up in this state?”

Su Mei’s expression was grim. She looked around, feeling the power of the Hidden Realm and the suppressive force from the Sanskrit Talismans. Gritting her teeth, she began to frantically burn her Primordial Spirit Power, intending to self-destruct directly within Chen Yuan’s sea of consciousness.

She had only ever self-destructed her physical body before; this was the first time she was attempting to detonate her Primordial Spirit. She had no idea if her True Spirit could escape the Hidden Realm after such an explosion.

But Su Mei had no other choice but to be this decisive. If this Chen Jiutian truly erased her memories, leaving only the True Spirit gifted by the Red Lotus Saint Mother, it would be no different from death for her.

But she was now inside Chen Yuan’s Hidden Realm. How could he possibly let her self-destruct successfully?

The Black Dragon Temple manifested. Its colossal, majestic body suddenly coiled around Su Mei, then bit down, shattering the golden glow of her Primordial Spirit.

In the end, Su Mei’s Primordial Spirit body completely vanished, leaving only a single, fire-red Red Lotus behind in Chen Yuan’s Hidden Realm.

Chen Yuan looked at the Red Lotus and immediately used the Emperor’s Qi Observation Skill for Introspection. After confirming that it was just an extremely pure True Spirit, he felt safe enough to use his Spiritual Power to refine it.

The moment the True Spirit entered his body, Chen Yuan had an extremely strange sensation. It felt as if something extra had appeared inside him, but it vanished in an instant. He only felt that his Spiritual Power had grown stronger by a fair measure.

Primordial Spirit Power was something Chen Yuan couldn’t currently use, nor could he concretely perceive its existence.

But since his Spiritual Power had increased, it meant the Red Lotus Saint Mother’s True Spirit was truly useful to him.

“Master, since you have already refined the True Spirit, the Red Lotus Saintess’s physical body is now completely useless. Could you give it to me?”

Just then, a small stick figure appeared on the Human Skin Evil Book, flashing Chen Yuan a fawning, sycophantic smile.

“Oh? You eat people now?”

The Human Skin Evil Book replied aggrievedly, “I only eat books, not people. Strictly speaking, this body isn’t even human. It was created from Red Lotus Willpower and the Red Lotus Saint Mother’s True Spirit Power. It’s basically a container.”

“For me, its effect is the same as that female corpse’s skin from before, but its power isn’t as great.”

The Human Skin Evil Book had its own little scheme in saying this.

Before, it was one thing for Chen Yuan not to give it the female corpse’s skin; after all, that item was small when folded and could easily be stored in a Qiankun Bag.

But the Red Lotus Saintess’s corpse was not small. ‘Surely Chen Yuan isn’t going to stuff this body into his bag too, right?’

In fact, the Human Skin Evil Book’s guess was more or less correct. Chen Yuan certainly wasn’t going to take the body with him.

And considering how well-behaved the Human Skin Evil Book had been recently, Chen Yuan was prepared to give it a little treat.

He had used the stick on it several times in a row, teaching it enough lessons. It was time to offer a carrot.

Otherwise, if some other valuable treasure appeared in the future and the Human Skin Evil Book went on strike and didn’t tell him, the loss would outweigh the gain.

So, after a brief moment of thought, Chen Yuan said, “Fine, the body is yours. But how are you going to… eat it?”

“You just need to cover the body with me, Master.”

Chen Yuan first took Su Mei’s Qiankun Bag, which still contained the Life Transformation Pearl, the ultimate treasure of the Beast Taming Hall.

Then, he draped the Human Skin Evil Book over Su Mei’s body. The book squirmed, and the skin from Su Mei’s body was slowly absorbed into its pages, revealing the raw, red flesh and tissue underneath.

After just a few moments, the Human Skin Evil Book had absorbed a complete human skin, leaving only a bloody, mangled corpse behind.

Chen Yuan’s brow twitched slightly at the sight.

‘The Human Skin Evil Book is still the Human Skin Evil Book.’ He couldn’t let his guard down just because it had been behaving recently, nor could he believe everything it said.

‘This thing is, and always will be, an evil object. I must remain vigilant and keep it suppressed.’

After absorbing Su Mei’s skin, an extra page appeared in the Human Skin Evil Book, and its surface seemed much fuller and more lustrous.

With a wave of his hand, Chen Yuan didn’t even give the Human Skin Evil Book a chance to speak before sealing it and putting it away again.