Insufficient balance

  "What about the demon outside?" Qin Si Ruo continued to ask.

  "He was originally a notorious flower thief in the cultivation world, cultivating a special technique that allowed him to secretly manipulate female cultivators. Once he succeeded, the woman would fall deeply in love with him and do anything for him. This technique worked regardless of the cultivator's level, even those far stronger than him, it just took longer. Many cultivators wanted to capture him, but this flower thief had many female cultivators protecting him, including some at the Nascent Soul stage. Those who tried to catch him were either killed if they were male or became his puppets if they were female."

  Tang Hao's heart skipped a beat, this technique was really too useful, if it were himself... However, he soon let go of the thought, after all, what's the point of such love that doesn't come from the heart.

  Wang Dui continued: "I don't know when, this flower thief met the body occupied by the pavilion master and the five supreme elders. He was born with a heart of envy and deceit, so he changed his name to Zhao Hongxin and infiltrated our sect. At that time, our sect had just been established and was in need of people, and Zhao Hongxin also showed a positive and upright attitude, so he easily entered the Lingxian Pavilion and became an elder of the White Gold Hall. This Zhao Hongxin appeared to be honest and unyielding during the day, but secretly performed sacrifices on White Spirit at night. Just when he thought White Spirit would be his captive, and was about to perform the ritual of recognition, he was suddenly counterattacked by a strange power, causing him serious injury. In urgent need of finding a female cultivator to replenish his energy, he hastily found Miss Xu from the west of the city, but unexpectedly got caught by her family members, so he killed them all and destroyed the evidence. Finally, his crimes were exposed, and he was captured by the pavilion master, executed, and his soul was imprisoned in the Aggregation Spirit Altar, never to be reborn or cultivate again, only able to provide energy for the sect's protective array."

  Qin Huan looked puzzled and said: "Then why did it become like this again?"

  Wang Qun sighed and said, "I'm not very clear about this either. The protective array of the sect was maintained by the elder monks who returned every now and then to repair it. Originally, things would have continued like this, and Zhao Hongxin would never have had a chance to turn things around. But after the Sect Master's ascension eight hundred years ago, the five Supreme Elders suddenly made a decision, saying that the Sect Master was dead and that Heaven would eventually send someone to find trouble with Lingxian Pavilion. To avoid everyone being killed unjustly, they decided to disband Lingxian Pavilion and have everyone destroy all the array formations, thoroughly eliminating the evil spirits inside."

  According to Wang Qiu's words, dissolving the Lingxian Pavilion was the most rational decision at that time. So why did the White Gold Hall still exist?

  Wang Qiu looked at Tang Hao and said, "The Supreme Elders issued the order and left, many people also left with regret, but most people were unwilling to leave. After all, they had lived here for so many years, this place was like their home, how could they just leave? Therefore, everyone did not follow the Supreme Elder's order, chose to stay, and the Spirit Gathering Platform continued to be preserved as the eye of the protective array."

  Everyone had lived for decades, and the Heavenly Court did not come to find trouble with the Lingxian Pavilion. Just when everyone thought they could continue to stay here, something suddenly happened, becoming the beginning of all nightmares. The Spirit Binding Array on the Altar of Gathering Spirits began to weaken gradually after losing its repair, but no one noticed, thinking that the seals left by the Transcendent Elders could be used for hundreds or thousands of years. Until one day, several handsome male cultivators suddenly died next to the array outside the Altar of Gathering Spirits. That was when Zhao Hongxin took advantage of the weakening binding and his own divine sense expanding outward, using a lewd and evil technique to control several Qi-refining cultivators, wanting them to enter the altar to seize their physical bodies. However, he was too naive; at that time, the Altar of Gathering Spirits had not only the Spirit Binding Array but also the Life-Taking Great Array that blocked everything. Those people naturally died outside after forcing their way into the Life-Taking Great Array.

  "Zhao Hongxin, unable to possess anyone, could only continue to increase his soul's intensity, attempting to control everyone in the White Gold City. From that day on, people often saw some young women suddenly lose themselves and indulge in self-destruction in public, but everyone thought it was just the decline of morality and didn't investigate further. After those young women indulged in self-destruction, they began to disown their families and all entered a brothel in the city, becoming prostitutes. Unbeknownst to them, the women in that brothel had all become Zhao Hongxin's puppets, and the men who visited those brothels were also completely under his control. The number of people being controlled grew more and more, even Yuanying cultivators began to be constantly controlled."

  Qin Huan sighed and said: "If this continues, won't everyone in the city become Zhao Hongxin's puppet?"

  The king nodded and said, "Originally, if Zhao Hongxin could have persisted a little longer, he would have occupied the bodies of others and wreaked havoc on the world. Unfortunately, he was too impatient and launched a suicidal attack on the Aggregation Altar. I had already taken precautions and used an array to fend him off for a while, allowing the uncontrolled cultivators to discover the situation in time. After a great battle, Zhao Hongxin's plot was foiled, and the remaining people realized the severity of the problem. However, by then, Zhao Hongxin's aura had already formed, and everyone was powerless to stop him. They could only seal off the entire inner city with all the heavenly materials and earthly treasures in White Bone City. The remaining people also didn't want to be controlled by Zhao Hongxin, so they packed up their things and escaped from here, leaving White Bone City to become a ghost town completely. As the restraints continued to weaken, he was able to control the surrounding demonic beasts to some extent. With the killing array outside the altar having disappeared a few months ago, the surrounding restraints on his divine soul were still strong. This gave Zhao Hongxin the idea of driving out the cultivators and entering White Bone City to seize their bodies."

  Everyone understands that those monsters and dry corpses did not destroy themselves, but only wanted to preserve their intact bodies.

  "What's our next move?" Tang Hao asked.

  Wang Qiu shook his head, "I don't know either, I only know that it's relatively safer here."

  Tang Hao was momentarily speechless, and said in a bad mood: "There's nothing here, even if we're not killed by that demon, we'll still starve to death here. We haven't eaten for a whole day and night."

  When a monk is practicing, some of the energy will enter various parts of the body to maintain their functions. However, during the Qi-gathering period, the amount of spiritual energy that enters each organ is insufficient to sustain life, so it is unavoidable that they must eat some grains and cereals.

  Wang Qiu suddenly enlightened, said: "Fortunately, the back was originally the residence of the pavilion master and deputy pavilion master, they often grew some ordinary people's melons and fruits inside, although it has been nearly 10,000 years, there should still be some."

  Wang Qiu opened a secret door in the White Gold Hall, temporarily disabling the restrictions on the door, and led everyone inside.

  Everyone entered the dark door and was shocked by everything in front of them. Unlike the outside buildings, this place was like a paradise on earth, with small bridges, flowing water, green trees, and a small building in the middle. Although it couldn't be called luxurious, it was unique. What made people most delighted was that the spiritual energy here was extremely dense. Tang Huang was certain that the spiritual energy was denser than outside, even though he didn't know why no spiritual stone had formed. Under the nourishment of the spiritual energy, the fruit trees in the orchard next to the small building grew exceptionally robust, and the fruits on the trees emitted a hint of spirituality. At this point, the fruits could no longer be called ordinary fruits, but should be called spiritual fruits instead.

  Tang Hao's stomach was growling, so he jumped up onto a fruit tree that was over twenty meters high and picked some spiritual fruits. He ate them together with the others. Tang Hao took a bite, and it was fragrant, smooth, and juicy. As soon as he swallowed, the spiritual energy inside automatically surged into his body without him needing to cultivate.

  "Are you a descendant of Qing Yi?" Wang Qiu suddenly asked.

  Tang Hao was taken aback and didn't know why both he and Yin Mo thought they were Qing Yi's descendants, so he asked in return: "Why do you think I am Qing Yi's descendant?"

  "Wang Qiu replied: 'You wear the hairband of Qing Yi's elder on your head, and you can also drive the White Golden Temple's attacking array. If you are not his descendant, then who are you?'"

  Tang Hao thought of tricking him into thinking he was a descendant of Qing Yi, but feared that it might backfire, so he simply said: "No, this ribbon was just something given away when buying things, didn't think it would have such a good use, and that attack formation was also used randomly."

  "What's going on?" Wang Jun's face showed a hint of doubt, but he didn't ask any further questions, as if he believed Tang Huang's words.