Chapter 430: 429. Chapter 424: The Case of the Thirty-Three Paths

429. Chapter 424: The Case of the Thirty-Three Paths

Having left the Immortal-Abandoned Land, Ku Lu decided to enter seclusion for a period of cultivation.

Over these years, his soul had been incomplete, and his cultivation insights had remained fragmented.

Now that he had finally restored his soul, he naturally intended to perfect his consciousness sea and Dao path.

Ding Huan set up a shielding array, simultaneously controlling the iron cauldron's travel while furiously refining it.

After crossing the Gray Sea, Ding Huan's divine sense had strengthened considerably—not just a little. Otherwise, he could never have reached Level Nine divine awareness with only a Jin Xian cultivation level.

The iron cauldron, which had previously resisted refinement, finally stirred again.

In half a month, Ding Huan refined the iron cauldron to the fifty-seventh layer of sealing, and its speed surged once more.

Ding Huan was quite satisfied; his divine sense swept outward and halted at a ruined immortal sect far away.

In the Gu Gu Xian Realm, ruined immortal sects were numerous; once fallen and destroyed, they quickly crumbled into broken walls and shattered pillars, then became entwined by vines.

Ding Huan had spotted the ruins of a long-dead immortal sect and paid it no mind—until he clearly read the shattered characters outside the sect gate, at which point he immediately halted the iron cauldron.

Thirty-Three?

Isn't this the place where Tao Xiaomei told him the story happened—the one where the master was murdered, the sect destroyed, and the mistress raped? This "Thirty-Three" must be the Thirty-Three Paths, right?

"Zhang San, what's wrong?" Ku Lu sensed the iron cauldron stop.

In the past half-month, his cultivation had yielded tremendous gains: his realm had surged, his consciousness sea had steadily improved, and his previously shattered purple palace was nearly fully restored.

"I saw a ruined immortal sect—is this place the Thirty-Three Paths?" Ding Huan pointed to the broken sect beneath the iron cauldron.

"You mean this place? Yes, it's the Thirty-Three Paths—destroyed over a thousand years ago. A pity; it was actually a decent sect." Ku Lu replied casually.

"I'm going down to take a look." Ding Huan immediately resolved to investigate the sect.

Mainly because he had some connection to this sect.

Fu Yuxing murdered his master, Shi Li, the Thirty-Three Paths' sect leader, raped his mistress Rong Xiyu, then slaughtered every member of the sect.

That beast didn't just destroy the Thirty-Three Paths—he also made it so other cultivators were shunned by immortal sects, leaving a far-reaching impact.

If I can find any trace of Fu Yuxing, even if he's still alive, I'll kill him someday.

"Fine, I've cultivated for half a month—I'll accompany you down to take a look." Ku Lu stood up.

Ding Huan retracted the iron cauldron and landed with Ku Lu at the site of the ruined sect.

Despite the broken walls and shattered pillars, from the remnants of the relocated Shanfeng, Ding Huan could imagine how glorious this place once was.

"I've been here before. Look—that's where Shi Li cultivated on the Thirty-Three Heavens Shanfeng. But after Shi Li died, the Thirty-Three Heavens were looted, and the Shanfeng vanished."

Ku Lu pointed to a patch of thorny wasteland ahead.

Ding Huan stepped onto the thorns, waved his hand, and swept all the thorns aside, turning the area back into flat ground.

Ding Huan picked up a damaged array flag; the moment he touched it, he felt a familiar sensation.

He had sensed this Dao rhythm before.

Not only had he sensed it—he had a similar Dao rhythm imprint lying in his ring.

Long ago, he had obtained a Law Fruit from the ring of Yi Wan Xu Kong Zhao Fu Shuang Ping; he consumed the Law Fruit, but the imprint left on it had remained sealed in his ring.

Ding Huan casually pulled out the jade tablet sealed with the imprint, let his divine sense seep into it, and immediately knew: this array flag had been set by the same person who left that imprint.

He cultivated the Great Cosmos Art, which made him most keenly sensitive to the Dao rhythms and laws of all things; he didn't need other methods—he could perceive this the moment he touched it.

The two Dao rhythms belonged to the same person.

Fu Yuxing?

No—this array flag was forged at least three thousand years ago. Fu Yuxing only arrived over a thousand years ago, right?

"Old Ku, you know about Fu Yuxing, right?" Ding Huan asked.

Ku Lu sneered: "Who doesn't know about that beast? He died in the Gray Sea; if he ever showed his face again, he wouldn't live past three days."

Ding Huan frowned, staring at the array flag in his hand.

After a long while, he sighed: "I'm not sure whether Fu Yuxing is a beast, but I'm certain Shi Li is one without a doubt."

Ku Lu stared at Ding Huan in shock, utterly confused.

What Fu Yuxing did in the Thirty-Three Paths was known throughout the entire Gu Gu Xian Realm.

Shi Li, being too kind, wasted the sect's accumulated millennia of top-tier treasures to repair Fu Yuxing's consciousness sea and dantian, took him as a disciple, and treated him with complete sincerity.

In the end, he was deceived by that treacherous worm—murdered himself, his consort raped, his entire sect slaughtered.

Ding Huan said calmly: "If I'm not mistaken, the one who slaughtered the Thirty-Three Paths wasn't Fu Yuxing—it was Shi Li."

"Why?" Ku Lu was even more baffled.

Shi Li was the sect leader of the Thirty-Three Paths—was he insane? To slaughter his own sect?

Ding Huan raised the broken array flag:

"This array flag was definitely forged by Shi Li—it's been at least three thousand years since it was made. And I recently obtained the Dao imprint of the person who forged this flag… so…"

Ku Lu was stunned by Ding Huan's revelation: "Brother Zhang San, you can't say things like this lightly—you're implying Shi Li never died…?"

Ding Huan sneered:

"He's definitely still alive. If I'm not mistaken, he's alive in another body."

Put plainly—he possessed Fu Yuxing's body, used Fu Yuxing's identity to commit the massacre, then fled…"

At first, Ding Huan wasn't certain—but as his Great Cosmos Art sensed the lingering Dao rhythms from millennia of cultivation in this land, his conviction grew stronger.

Ku Lu was stunned by Ding Huan's conclusion.

This case, accepted as fact across the Gu Gu Xian Realm and even other realms, a famous and well-known case, had just been overturned by Ding Huan.

After a long silence, Ku Lu sighed: "I still believe you—but why would Shi Li do this?"

Ding Huan had no connection to Shi Li and no reason to slander him, so his words were credible.

"What level was Shi Li?" Ding Huan asked, putting away the sealed imprint jade tablet and the broken array flag.

Ku Lu said: "To be honest, Shi Li's becoming the sect leader of the Thirty-Three Dao is barely adequate—he's only at the early stage of Immortal King. The Thirty-Three Dao was once a great immortal sect that produced Immortal Emperors."

"How long has Shi Li been stuck at the early stage of Immortal King?"

"Probably over a hundred thousand years. He barely managed to ascend to Immortal King to begin with; it's normal he's remained stuck there."

Ding Huan, hearing this, felt even more certain he hadn't been mistaken: "Old Ku, you know Shi Li has a cultivation partner named Rong Rong Xiyu, right?"

"Of course I know—everyone knows. Rong Rong Xiyu possesses the Immortal Jade Dao Body…"

Ku Lu stopped speaking—he understood what Ding Huan was getting at.

Rong Rong Xiyu possesses the Immortal Jade Dao Body, and the greatest advantage of the Immortal Jade Dao Body is that it can assist a cultivation partner, elevating the partner's innate talent to Dao Jade Immortal Bones. Once one attains Dao Jade Immortal Bones, not only does cultivation advancement become easier, but body refinement becomes far simpler as well.

Since Rong Rong Xiyu is Shi Li's cultivation partner, there's no reason Shi Li should be stuck at the early stage of Immortal King without progressing.

Unless Shi Li has never practiced dual-cultivation with Rong Rong Xiyu at all.

His cultivation partner possesses the Immortal Jade Dao Body, yet Shi Li refuses to practice dual-cultivation with her…

Ding Huan knew Ku Lu now understood what he was implying—he chuckled: "There's only one possibility: Shi Li is impotent."

Ku Lu froze, then immediately affirmed without hesitation: "Absolutely correct—one hundred percent, Shi Li is impotent."

"Why?" This time it was Ding Huan who was puzzled.

He had merely speculated—why was Ku Lu so certain?

Ku Lu said: "Because the leadership of the Thirty-Three Dao is passed from father to son. Yet when it came to Shi Li, he produced no offspring. That's highly abnormal."

"This may also be why Shi Li destroyed his own sect—he fled and refused to entrust the Thirty-Three Dao to any outsider as its new leader. This man is truly ruthless and cruel."

Ding Huan sighed: "In that case, Rong Rong Xiyu truly was an extraordinary woman."

She must have discovered that her cultivation partner Shi Li had possessed Fu Fu Yuxing. Even though she knew Fu Fu Yuxing was Shi Li, she refused to practice dual-cultivation with Fu Fu Yuxing.

Rong Rong Xiyu's such aversion disgusted Shi Li so much that he raped his own cultivation partner and then killed her."

Ku Lu sighed: "A thousand-year injustice. For a thousand years, everyone only talked about this case, yet no one knew the truth. You've uncovered the key issue in just a few words."

Ding Huan sneered: "An injustice? Not necessarily. I always felt Fu Fu Yuxing wasn't any better himself."

"And you're wrong about one thing: the truth wasn't unknown. I suspect many people have guessed parts of it—they simply didn't care enough to act."

"What they truly care about is the Heavenly Scale. As long as the Heavenly Scale hasn't been found, what do you think will happen once it appears? They'll immediately dig up all the suspicious points about Shi Li."

"Forget it. These matters have nothing to do with us. Let's hurry to the Chaos Zone."

Ku Lu felt these were just idle gossip over tea and meals—he and Ding Huan were still on the run.

Ding Huan shook his head: "We can't go to the Chaos Zone now."

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