Chapter 578: Merit and Virtue

Vast, boundless flat sands stretched out, with not a soul in sight.

Chen Mobai arrived at the outermost border of the Rainbow Nation. With his exceptional eyesight, he could discern only a few withered, yellow wild grasses on the vast, endless desert, utterly devoid of life.

Yan Yuanhao, the Rainbow Nation's guardian, pointed at the endless yellow sands, where the sky stretched over the four fields like a vast dome. "Sect Master," he addressed Chen Mobai, "beyond this lies the Boundless Sand Sea. It's a desolation where earth spirit locusts have completely devoured all life, even consuming the spiritual veins. Cultivators who enter cannot absorb even a trace of spiritual energy and can only rely on the spirit stones they carry."

This was also the border of the Eastern Desolation. Many desperate cultivators fled here. With his Void-Piercing Spiritual Eyes, Chen Mobai could see the piles of white bones buried beneath the yellow sands.

It is said that in the past, a great cultivator from the Eastern Land Holy Land, after suppressing the locust plague, also attempted to cross the Boundless Sand Sea. However, after three years, he returned, stating directly that the sand sea was barren and desolate, not worth his further time to explore.

"I'll go a bit further; you wait here," Chen Mobai instructed Yan Yuanhao, signaling that he didn't need to follow. He then rode his five-colored clouds and flew a kilometer towards the Boundless Sand Sea.

Indeed, the spiritual energy grew increasingly thin. He estimated that at most, it would only suffice for Qi Condensation cultivators to absorb. After flying another twenty kilometers forward, Chen Mobai glanced at the faceless puppet's psionic progress bar; it was already down to 1.

He stopped and replaced his spirit stone with a high-grade one. It was time to return. However, before returning, he had a few ideas to verify.

He landed on the sand sea, scooped up a handful of sand, and put it into his storage bag. Then, the faceless puppet's spirit-sensing function was activated to maximum efficiency. After a few minutes, tiny red lights, representing spiritual veins, appeared on the display screen.

"Indeed," he mused, "although this place was devoured by locusts and turned into an endless desert, the spiritual veins deep within the earth have recovered some spiritual energy after thousands of years of rejuvenation..."

While not fully recovered, as long as there was spiritual energy, there was a possibility of transforming the land.

On Địa Nguyên Star, there were once thousands of miles of yellow sand, but under the persistent governance of the Gou Mang Daoist Academy, it was all transformed into an ocean of green oases and forests, which is now the Linwu Cave Heaven! It is said that the opportunity for the Great Chun Tree to ascend to the sixth-tier was due to the merit gained from desertification control.

In the future, if the Eastern Desolation were unified, this desertification control could also be included in the scope of future new policies. However, the Boundless Sand Sea was far vaster than that on Địa Nguyên Star, and its spiritual veins had been too severely damaged by the earth spirit locusts. Without a divine tree of the Great Chun's caliber to regulate the earth's meridians and guide celestial phenomena for irrigation, it would certainly be impossible to achieve solely through human cultivators.

But while the Boundless Sand Sea itself might be untreatable, there was great hope for the Rainbow Nation. After all, although much of the soil here had also turned to sand, the core spiritual veins were mostly intact. With the right methods and persistence, this place could also be transformed into a forest ocean.

Chen Mobai also thought of the neighboring Stone Nation and Sky Nation, which bordered the Rainbow Nation! These two nations were located on the Eastern Desolation Plateau, dense with mountains and rivers. Before the locust plague, their lands were fertile and abundant with vegetation. Besides various spiritual trees and fruits, they also possessed rich mineral resources, making them the greatest treasure troves of the Eastern Desolation.

Unfortunately, after the locust plague, and years of continuous wind and sand erosion from the Boundless Sand Sea, the soil degraded, losing its fertility, and most areas were no longer suitable for cultivation. It is said that when the Eastern Desolation was first opened up, the Rainbow Nation, like the Stone and Sky Nations, was not yet a desert. It was only after more than six thousand years of continuous erosion by the Boundless Sand Sea that it became what it is today.

If he wanted to control the desertification, he would first need to plant a large protective forest in the Rainbow Nation to isolate it from the sand sea, but this would also require solving the water supply problem. Although cultivators could bring rain, facing such a vast and boundless desert, it could at most provide temporary relief. It was impossible for them to waste all their cultivation time on this endeavor.

However, Chen Mobai had various successful experiences from the Immortal Sect. He waved his hand, manipulating the pervasive yellow sand, and conjured a map of the Eastern Desolation in the void before him. After a moment's thought, his finger landed on the Cloud Dream Lake, which bordered the Sky Nation.

He could excavate a great river to channel the abundant water from here, flowing through the Sky Nation, then the Stone Nation, and finally to the Rainbow Nation, to be used for planting trees and controlling desertification. Only by utilizing the great creative power of nature could the world be renewed.

However, to undertake this, he would certainly have to wait until the Eastern Desolation was unified and his territory was secure. After all, desertification control would take decades, even a century, to show results. Without a powerful force and a peaceful environment, it would be absolutely impossible to complete. But in his heart, Chen Mobai was already planning this meritorious endeavor.

Since desertification control was a long-term undertaking, and he himself would be busy with cultivation and managing two realms, it would be difficult for him to personally oversee it. Fortunately, he had an exceptionally capable disciple: Zhuo Ming! Her talent was perfectly suited for this task. Perhaps, she was born on this land of the Eastern Desolation precisely to accomplish this great feat.

As her master and the chief engineer of desertification control, Chen Mobai would be able to share at least half of the merit once Zhuo Ming completed this task. As he thought about this, Chen Mobai vaguely had a feeling: the opportunity for his second disciple to form her Core would lie on this Eastern Desolation Plateau and desert. And it would be the highest-grade Dao Comprehension Core Formation! If she could truly achieve this, Zhuo Ming might even have a chance to form her Nascent Soul! Would this disciple's cultivation someday surpass that of her master? As Chen Mobai pondered, a sense of urgency suddenly arose within him.

He immediately scattered the topographic map made of sand and returned the way he came. Yan Yuanhao was still waiting for him at the border. As they returned, Chen Mobai instructed him to collect spiritual plants that could survive in the sand sea, the more types and quantities, the better, as planting trees was essential for desertification control. And these plants should preferably be native ones, as only spiritual plants that had survived millions of years of struggle against the sand sea held the true hope for desert management.

Although Yan Yuanhao didn't understand Chen Mobai's command, he would do whatever the Sect Master told him. In the Rainbow Nation, the most remote and desolate country under the Divine Wood Sect, achieving meritorious service was incredibly difficult. Now that the Sect Master had personally assigned a task, he would certainly do everything in his power to complete it well.

Although the Rainbow Nation had the largest territory, Chen Mobai's inspection time there was the shortest. After checking in at Mount Liujia, circling the border, and collecting some sand, he led the Divine Wood Sect group back. On the way back, he specifically chose a route that passed through Frost Nation and Snow Nation, territories of the Blowing Snow Palace. Upon hearing of his visit, Lan Lingping from Blowing Snow Palace immediately brought Xue Ting and Bai Si to meet them, escorting them all the way from Frost Nation.

Three days later, as she watched Chen Mobai and his party leave the Snow Nation border, Lan Lingping's tense mind finally relaxed. She had thought that "that matter" had been discovered.

After returning to Giant Wood Ridge, Chen Mobai's true body, hidden in the Longevity Wood Daoist Temple, recalled the faceless puppet. After reviewing all the experiences from this period, he called for Yue Zutao and gave his instructions. "From now on," he said, "the sect should pay more attention to the Blowing Snow Palace. Also, if anyone from their territory crosses our borders, apprehend them immediately."

"Yes, Sect Master!"

Yue Zutao generally knew about the new policy to unify the Eastern Desolation, so Chen Mobai didn't conceal it from him. He tasked him with collecting intelligence on the two nations under Blowing Snow Palace and, simultaneously, to devise a plan for the most time- and effort-efficient way to take down this major Eastern Desolation sect.

Next, Chen Mobai dealt with various accumulated matters within the sect that had piled up during his absence. Although he had returned much earlier, to prevent other Eastern Desolation forces from learning about the existence of his faceless puppet, he had remained hidden there, helping Luo Yixuan suppress the Yellow Springs spiritual energy. Only Zhou Shengqing and Fu Zongjue knew about his return. He did not conceal Luo Yixuan's condition from them and directly told them about it. They had never encountered such a situation before and admitted they were at a loss.

Chen Mobai also informed Fu Zongjue about the possibility of Hong He cultivating demonic techniques. Upon hearing this, Fu Zongjue's expression immediately changed drastically, and he nearly rushed out to purge the sect. However, Zhou Shengqing and Chen Mobai dissuaded him, as it was only a possibility.

"We cannot risk the sect being visited by the Nine Heavens Demonic Suppression Sect. It's better to deal with this matter in advance," Fu Zongjue said. He wasn't prejudiced against cultivating demonic techniques; it was simply because the Nine Heavens Demonic Suppression Sect's reputation in the Six Eastern Land Regions was too renowned. Countless sects had been targeted by this Eastern Land Holy Land because of collusion with demonic cultivators or because someone within their sect practiced demonic arts.

Even if it was eventually clarified that cultivating demonic techniques was an individual act, once the Nine Heavens Demonic Suppression Sect had visited, that sect would become a prime target for all rogue cultivators in the future. For attacking and plundering such a sect was considered eliminating demons and defending the Dao! In the Eastern Land, the number of Nascent Soul-level major sects annihilated by the Nine Heavens Demonic Suppression Sect was already more than ten.

Although the Divine Wood Sect was located in the remote Eastern Desolation, if Hong He were truly caught cultivating demonic techniques and this was reported by hostile forces to the Eastern Land Holy Land, even if they resorted to a drastic measure like cutting off a limb (sacrificing Hong He), they would likely be targeted by the Nascent Soul-level major sects in the Eastern Yi region. To clear his name, Old Ancestor White Crow from the Sun-Bathing Sea might even use the excuse of purging the sect on behalf of Old Ancestor Hunyuan, joining forces with Old Ancestor Jinfeng from the Xuán Xiāo Dao Palace to annihilate the Divine Wood Sect.

"Then let's find an opportunity to persuade Hong He to leave," Zhou Shengqing finally decided. He also felt deep regret about this. "However, he has indeed performed meritorious service for the sect, so we should compensate him with ample spirit stones and resources." After all, among the next generation, besides Yin Qingmei, who possessed a Heavenly Spirit Root, Hong He was the most likely to form a Core. But the hidden danger of cultivating demonic techniques was something the Divine Wood Sect could not afford.

"Let me handle this matter," Chen Mobai said. "Coincidentally, the sect might have some 'dark' affairs in the future that we can't directly handle ourselves. If Hong He's mind hasn't been corrupted by demonic techniques, we can guide him to become a shadow hidden in the darkness, protecting the sect." Zhou Shengqing and Fu Zongjue strongly agreed with Chen Mobai's words. The Shaman Divination Department within the Divine Wood Sect already played a similar role. Having other cultivators hidden in the shadows would naturally be even better for the Divine Wood Sect.

There was also another reason: Luo Yixuan might also need to cultivate demonic techniques in the future. This could be seen as Chen Mobai preparing a fallback for his disciple in advance. Chen Mobai also honestly informed Zhou Shengqing and Fu Zongjue about this matter.

"If you, Junior Brother, are going to the Cloud Dream Lake to confront demonic cultivators, you can look for Junior Brother Nujiang," Zhou Shengqing said, knowing that Chen Mobai was going to search for Tu Daohua. "I will also send a message to Junior Brother Mo, and the three of you working together will be more secure."

"That would naturally be best," Chen Mobai replied. "Coincidentally, my puppet body met Senior Brother Nujiang when it was in the Cloud Nation..." Chen Mobai had originally intended to call upon Mo Douguang and Fu Zongjue. Although he possessed the Purple Lightning Sword, he was unsure of the demonic ghost cultivator's strength. To be safe, it was best to gather enough people for a three-on-one fight. If Nujiang, as the local master, was willing to help, they would be even more confident.

However, first, they needed to locate Tu Daohua. Furthermore, if cultivating demonic techniques could be avoided, it was best to avoid it. Chen Mobai planned to think of a way on the Immortal Sect's side to see if there were any better methods to resolve Luo Yixuan's current problem.

Locating Tu Daohua proved simpler than expected. Chen Mobai once again dispatched his faceless puppet, taking Granny Ming to Cloud Dream Lake, and found that Tu Daohua was still on his original island. The problem was that Tu Daohua had managed this island for a long time, even setting up a Tier 4 grand formation that could withstand a Nascent Soul cultivator for a while. If Chen Mobai made a move, he might startle the snake in the grass, allowing Tu Daohua to escape before the formation was broken. Understanding this situation, Chen Mobai could only suppress his impulse to act and quietly await a favorable opportunity.

He left more than a dozen puppet fish, designed to detect spiritual vein fluctuations, in the waters near the island. These were methods from the Immortal Sect, used to detect underwater volcanoes or changes in earth meridians, and were extremely sensitive to spiritual energy variations. As long as there was any sign of the island's grand formation activating, he would know. To this end, he even specifically acquired a Tier 2 Heaven's Calculation Pearl from the Immortal Sect, placing it in the Cloud Dream Lake market, the closest to the island. He instructed the Divine Wood Sect cultivators stationed there to hold it and immediately notify him if the puppet fish transmitted any unusual signals.

"Holy Son," Granny Ming suggested, "I could actually pretend to possess your disciple's body, then visit him as if I had successfully taken over. When he opens the grand formation to welcome me, you could then ambush him from the shadows..." But Chen Mobai shook his head, refusing. After all, doing so would very likely put Luo Yixuan in danger; he would not risk his disciple's life.

"Have you had any contact with demonic cultivators?" Chen Mobai asked.

"I met them a few times at trade gatherings organized by Tu Daohua, but we were all very cautious and left no traces of ourselves," Granny Ming answered truthfully. Upon hearing Granny Ming's frank reply, Chen Mobai showed a look of regret. He had been thinking about whether Hong He, after leaving the Divine Wood Sect, could mingle among demonic cultivators and then find a way to contact Tu Daohua.