Chapter 1336: Six Paths of Reincarnation Covers the Mortal World

Jiang Ding suppressed the various thoughts in his heart and began carefully reading the memories of Blood Lake Old Ancestor.

Skipping over the many killings, bloodiness, and all manner of physically revolting scenes of revelry and torture, he focused on extracting all kinds of useful intelligence.

"He wasn't lying before — the Qi Sect truly is unmatched under heaven in mechanical constructs and puppets."

"In Blood Lake Old Ancestor's consciousness, the Qi Sect has always been this way, never undergoing any change… The history on this side may require stronger individuals, or perhaps even more classified intelligence to learn — what exactly happened from the past Spirit Treasure Realm to the present Qi Sect, after the coup."

Jiang Ding filed away the intelligence he had gathered.

In this Upper Realm, intelligence on Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong and Jiang Jiang Jinxian-level forces is the source of everything; all changes extend outward from Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong, fermenting over time into what they become.

"The reason Blood Lake Old Ancestor previously displayed such a strong demand for Soul Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators — I've found it now."

"It comes from the pressure of the Blood Puppet Elder's faction within the Qi Sect. The Blood Puppet Elder was the founding patriarch of Blood Lake Corpse Mountain ten thousand years ago; his descendants and direct disciples are united, ambitious and enterprising, and combined with fortune, they rose to prominence roughly fifty thousand years ago. This faction even produced a Dao Merging Divine Lord, wielding tremendous power within the Qi Sect…"

"However, this is not the main reason Blood Lake Old Ancestor received protection and favor."

"In the eyes of the Blood Puppet faction of the Qi Sect, the cultivators of Blood Lake Corpse Mountain are nothing but poor country relatives — they have never been well-disposed toward them. Occasional meetings in the past were always lukewarm, hardly worth mentioning in terms of patronage, let alone defying Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong rules for Blood Lake Old Ancestor. That is simply impossible."

"Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong's rules are strict and stern; a poor country relative could never make them pay such a price."

Jiang Ding continued reading.

"What truly earned Blood Lake Old Ancestor favor and importance was the hundred thousand pairs of living cultivators he tributed every century — mortals with decent aptitude, mortals with ordinary aptitude, cultivators with special spirit bodies, and even the extremely rare in the Upper Realm Five Spiritual Root cultivators, as well as numerous Soul Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators… there was even demand for living Void Refinement cultivators — all kinds."

"The only common thread: they were all human."

"This puzzled Blood Lake Old Ancestor greatly, but he wasn't interested — he simply did the work and exchanged it for rewards from above, nothing more. To make the work more efficient, the Blood Puppet Elder's faction even supported him in unifying the Thunder Flame Domain; the demand was extremely urgent."

"Over the years, the living humans funneled to the Qi Sect are beyond counting — billions would not suffice to describe it — yet it is still far from enough."

Reading up to this point, a strong sense of revulsion and killing intent rose in Jiang Ding's heart.

All manner of humans — mortals, cultivators, every kind of spiritual root, spirit body… this collection encompassing every type of human — he had an intense sense of déjà vu.

Research.

This was conducting immortal dao

research — and the cruelest kind of live experimentation, with countless living beings wailing and dying.

"These damned things."

"The evils of the world number in the hundreds of millions… baffling."

Jiang Ding said coldly in a low voice: "There are so very many ways to grow stronger — artifact forging, pill refining, talisman drawing — known as the hundred arts of cultivation, but in truth there are far more than a hundred; a thousand or ten thousand arts would be commonplace, each direction vast and profound, with boundless potential."

"Why must you fixate on live experimentation of your own kind?"

"You truly deserve to die."

The rise of the Blood Puppet Elder's faction, beyond their own effort and drive, seems tied to this research trend within the Qi Sect — they even produced a Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong Dao Merging cultivator, with a brilliantly bright future ahead.

"I often reflect on myself — whether I am too fond of killing, influenced by the instinct of the Great Sun Sword Dao, falling into madness, killing too much, harming the harmony of heaven."

"Now it seems I have made no mistake at all."

"The only mistake is that the sinners I killed were too few, and too weak!"

Jiang Ding sighed: "How could such sinners have any right to live?"

"All of this is my fault alone — for failing to slaughter and sweep clean these so-called Divine Lords and Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong celestial beings in the shortest possible time, removing the tremendous oppression weighing upon all living beings."

"It's all my fault, my fault!"

Jiang Ding carefully reorganized Blood Lake Old Ancestor's memories once more, including the various reports his sect regularly filed with the Qi Sect's Tribute Hall, so that for at least the next several hundred years there would be no discrepancies.

"Sweeping clean the Upper Realm — this goal is far too difficult."

"All I have to rely on is the sword in my hand…"

Jiang Ding's divine sense swept over the various vaults and secret stores of Blood Lake Corpse Mountain, as well as the storage magic treasures already unsealed from Blood Lake Old Ancestor, checking which items could be used for sword-forging: "Not bad, I'm a bit better off now, escaped from bankruptcy, no longer having to scrape by miserably on immortal sect loans."

"Right now, I have a total of seventeen Void Refinement spatial treasures — two on Blood Lake Old Ancestor, eight in Blood Lake Corpse Mountain's secret stores, and the remaining seven are being held by four Void Refinement cultivators of Blood Lake Corpse Mountain."

"One hundred and one Void Refinement-grade heavenly materials and earthly treasures, some of which are stored on those four people."

"The remaining Nascent Soul-grade and Soul Transformation-grade heavenly materials and earthly treasures are countless; converted to spirit stones, roughly one hundred and ninety million supreme-grade spirit stones — about the total accumulation of a True Sect over ten thousand years, more or less."

"Not bad — finally, supreme-grade spirit stones can be counted in units of hundreds of millions."

"By the standards of the Upper Realm's Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong, one hundred million supreme-grade spirit stones can compare to one immortal stone… This is currency used only by top-tier powerhouses, and has always existed only in major Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong transactions."

Immortal stones.

Spirit stones legendarily tinged with a trace of Xian Gao Jie's aura, usable in the cultivation of Jiang Jiang Jinxian-level powerhouses, allowing them to undergo a certain metamorphosis — considered a universal trade currency, extremely precious.

This currency, for Void Refinement and Dao Merging cultivators, is merely following a trend; in practice, they don't actually use it.

"As expected, it's still great and righteous causes like chivalry that can make one rich overnight."

Jiang Ding said joyfully.

This counts as the Upper Realm's living beings investing in him; in the future, he will repay them with the happiness and well-being of all beings.

Beyond these material assets, there was also the inheritance of Blood Lake Corpse Mountain, which Jiang Ding absorbed in full and transcribed into the immortal sect's library, making up for the past shortfall when collecting inheritances in the Swamp Demon City — where the inheritances were too low-end and lacked mid-tier ones — and many precious immortal dao knowledge was recorded.

Besides these material assets, there was also the inheritance from the Blood Lake and the Mountain of Corpses, which Jiang Ding absorbed in its entirety and transcribed into the Immortal Gate Library, making up for the past shortcomings of the inheritance being too low-end and lacking mid-tier inheritance when collecting inheritances in the Swamp Demon City, allowing many precious immortal dao knowledge to be recorded.

Jiang Ding looked toward the rear mountain — the place where Blood Lake Corpse Mountain sealed its immortal art fragments, obtained through some past patriarch's fortuitous encounter, known only to each generation's patriarch.

"Those four Daoist friends of mine who are holding my wealth for safekeeping — it's time they entered reincarnation."

"Otherwise, the upheaval caused by extracting the immortal art fragments would be too great, and my Human Dao's ability to conceal might drop below Void Refinement, carrying enormous risk."

Silently and without a sound, the Six Paths of Reincarnation Human Dao Illusion Realm — having fully grasped the entire Blood Lake Corpse Mountain's formation structure and spirit veins — spread throughout the entire sect, drawing all living beings within it, including Void Refinement cultivators, into the Six Paths of Reincarnation Illusion Realm.

Silently and without a trace, the Six Paths of Reincarnation — Human Path Illusion Realm, having fully grasped the structure of the entire Blood Lake and Bone Mountain formation and its spiritual veins, spread throughout the sect, drawing every living being within it — including Void Refinement cultivators — into the Six Paths of Reincarnation Illusion Realm.