In the past year, Gu Shenwei's Qi deviation had actually stabilized, settling into a regular pattern of occuring every forty or fifty days. It was like a reasonable parasite which had made a tacit agreement with its host and agreed to lower the amount of torture its owner had to suffer before dying.
But it couldn't be stimulated, neither internally nor externally.
This was also one of the drawbacks of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship, which focused on exerting one's full strength and killing in one strike. If one's power was not fully released, the force would turn on the wielder. Lotus who was fine now had once suffered through Qi deviation due to it. Gu Shenwei still had this hidden danger and therefore, was more sensitive to being pressured.
The combined force of the five Taoist priests was a heavy pressure.