After purchasing a collection of semi-mindless spirits to replace the tortured souls fueling the Ghostwood, the origin of those tormented beings became the sudden center of attention. After being captured Count Voctem was submitted to psychological manipulation and forced to give up information about his home and all his hidden resources. He cracked a bit quicker than might be expected from a Nascent Soul, but it wasn’t like there was a specific time where everyone would cave under interrogation.
Voctem had reluctantly relinquished control of the Ghostwood which stripped much of his strength, but after his compliance he was given a new life on the Inner World. Given his past he would have to work for the Lang Clan so they could keep an eye on him, but it was better than death or years of suffering. Yet, it turns out Voctem was trying to plot an escape. He worked hard to build up a little trust with those keeping watch over him so he could get closer to the Ghostwood once again.
The Ghostwood was located in its own dimension and the crack in the ground that Voctem had opened was actually a pathway to the real body of the tree. The tree that sprouted out of the ground was essentially just a larger branch it extended out and not an individual tree. This quality was what Sage valued the most, but it was also what Voctem tried to take advantage of. To access the Ghostwood they had sprouted one of these large branches on the Inner World in order to begin studying it.
Voctem’s plot was based around the idea that he’d handed over the secret techniques to control the Ghostwood, when it turns out he had something like a bloodline connection to it. With this secret control, as soon as he earned some trust and got close, he took control of the Ghostwood and used it to clear a path. Voctem’s goal was to travel to the main body of the Ghostwood and then exit again through one of its other branches. Unfortunately, he was unaware of the extent of the defensive formations around the Ghostwood. The tree-like branch and Voctem were trapped by powerful barriers and the ‘Count’ was captured again by a thought from Sage.
Sage was far from omnipotent or omniscient, but he could send his consciousness to any part of the Inner World in just a few moments and could mobilize the power of the whole world. On the outside, the ‘energy of the heavens and earth’ was everywhere and was what Cultivators drew upon to transform themselves and gain strength. They fill their body with Qi extracted from this energy of the world, and eventually tap into the laws of the universe hidden within. On the Inner World, that same ‘energy of the heavens and earth’ was created by the many Heavenly Materials that Sage had gathered. He could cut off someone’s access to that energy and turn it against them, which meant that as soon as the Soul Clone was aware of the issue, Sage could put a stop to the problem.
Voctem was captured and restricted in a dozen different ways until someone cultivating Life Shadow Consumption was strong enough. This fellow was already a nasty character and now there was an actual risk of him escaping the Inner World. Sage was impressed by the capabilities of the Ghostwood, but it also became apparent that it was a risk. Creating a path in and out of the Inner World that wasn’t under his complete control was a dangerous concept. The idea that so many people’s lives were in his hands made him uneasy, but there was also the fact that the Inner World was his most powerful advantage in this dangerous world. If there was a path for those on the Inner World to leave, wouldn’t his secrets become exposed to the public? The thousands of years of unique culture, bio-computers, public utilities, and so many other things were still far from being introduced to the outside world for one reason or another.
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Despite being so dangerous, Sage couldn’t give up the benefits of the Ghostwood. While it would be safer to have none of the Ghostwood’s branches on the Inner World, that would mean he could only study it on the outside world, which was impractical given that he was constantly ascending the levels of the Tianxia Capital. Given the dangers, Sage decided to go on guard duty personally. The branch of the Ghostwood was moved into the most well defended compound on the Inner World, where Sage spent most of his time with the researchers to supervise the creation of new inventions, and also to analyze everything that he saw in the outside world. It was defended by a constantly active Formation Array, and he was always nearby, ready to act if he felt any foreign energy or disturbances in the area. This was especially true of the branch itself. There was no telling who or what else had a connection to this tree and that might appear from it, ready to cause trouble.
This heightened state of readiness lasted for decades on the Inner World until one of the people cultivating the Life Shadow Consumption technique was finally strong enough to finish off Count Voctem. In less than forty days on the outside world, a hundred years flew by on the Inner World. This wasn’t very long for raising a true expert, but they only needed someone to reach the fourth rank with Life Shadow Consumption. They didn’t have to duel with Count Voctem, they only needed to harvest his soul when he died.
In the 93rd year, someone finally met their requirement and was brought forth to finally finish the job. Sage mobilized the energy of the Inner World, as well as the Formation Array and poisons to put Voctem into his weakest state so that this 4th rank individual could finish off the 6th rank Voctem.
Completing the job, revenge for all those tormented souls was finally achieved. Voctem’s soul was collected, suddenly giving a boost to the cultivation of the Foundation Building Cultivator to push him up a few stages. Part of the Life Shadow Consumption technique was to harvest souls to improve their Cultivation speed. Something which had been done using the Demonic Beasts in the wilds of the Inner World, but was even more effective when harvesting a Nascent Soul. After the surging energy finally slowed down, Voctem’s soul was then placed inside the Peachwood Ring and offered to Sage. As a reward, a huge amount of Cultivation resources were given to this man, Su Ru so he could finish building his foundation and form a core. After reaching rank five, Su Ru was allowed to study laws with the Purple Mist Sect and the research team. They still had no systematic way to master the power of laws, but Su Ru would be called upon to help gather Souls in the future and so his advancement was prioritized.
When Sage looked into the Peachwood Ring, Count Voctem’s soul was floating around in the swirling yellow water. It wasn’t alone as there were the eighteen spirit beings there waiting. Voctem’s shattered Nascent Soul was much more powerful than the other spirits, but they all seemed quite placid here inside the ring.