Chapter 470: Suicide by Demonic Deviation

Jiang Ding walked through Tushan Xiancheng.

Around him, the immortal city remained bustling, even more so than before.

Only the state of orderly order had vanished.

Occasionally, a bit more chaos appeared: cultivators openly entering and exiting while wielding demonic Dao methods such as skull heads and yin ghosts; cultivators dueling in the streets; deaths and injuries occurring from time to time; victors fleeing swiftly before the enforcers of the Law Enforcement Hall arrived—

Most of these Law Enforcement Hall cultivators were still the original ones from Tushan Xiancheng; only the upper echelons had changed.

Occasionally, someone was caught, immediately detained, stripped of all their money and goods, and sent to the mine caves for hard labor; without the puppet of the previous lord of Tushan Xiancheng, mine slaves were in desperate shortage.

If someone paid a huge price to redeem them, they could be exempted.

Within the city, auction houses openly auctioned off high-profit demonic Dao items such as furnace cauldrons, living souls, and fresh blood.

No one knew from which city these were plundered from hundreds of thousands of common people, nor how they evaded the surveillance of the Beast Path cultivators who regarded city populations as their exclusive property, yet were openly whitewashed in the auction houses.

The style of this immortal city had changed abruptly; short-term profits had risen.

"The world is always filthy..."

Jiang Ding glanced at a Law Enforcement Hall cultivator who looked vaguely familiar and shook his head, saying.

He did not blame these people for defecting to a new master.

Because he himself had not cultivated them as his own loyal faction; it was merely a simple employer-employee relationship; defecting to others was very reasonable and should not incur any moral condemnation.

He walked toward the third-grade superior spiritual vein at the city center.

After several dozen steps, his foot stopped.

Before him, on the former site of the Tushan Demon Palace, burned into magma, stood Lin Musensen; pavilions and towers rose up one after another; flowers, birds, and water pavilions wove through them; white mist steamed upward.

From time to time, immortal cranes danced; spiritual apes leaped nimbly among the trees; deer nibbled on dew-covered leaves; the song of the oriole was pleasant to the ear...

Such rare and exotic beasts left one overwhelmed, feeling only the misty aura of immortality, as if arriving at the legendary grotto-heavens and blessed lands.

However, if one cultivated a divine ability like the Heavenly Eye, a single glance would make one's hands and feet turn ice-cold and the whole body shiver with cold.

"The Beast Path... indeed lives up to its name."

Jiang Ding swept his gaze over these rare exotic beasts; the entry-level Magnetic Concealment Art already activated throughout his body; he lifted his step and walked into these towers.

The rigorous array formations, hidden sentries concealed in various places, and even the guards of several Jin Dan cultivators—all were ignored; they still performed their duties faithfully, their divine sense sweeping over the surroundings from time to time.

Jiang Ding's gaze fixed on a lively white crane.

Beneath the ethereal appearance of immortal qi, a clear and beautiful woman's soul was bound within the body of the crane; blood tears streamed from her eyes; she screamed in agony, frantically rushing toward the outside of the crane's body.

The moment she stepped out even slightly, the orchid-patterned forbidden runes flashed, dragging her back; this repeated again and again; there was no escape.

Every few hours, her gaze, filled with hatred, would turn hazy and confused.

Unknowingly, she would activate the Spiritual Crane Method throughout her body, absorbing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth to refine the crane's body and feathers; especially that layer of skin membrane, which was refined with particular fineness, as if it were her greatest love in this life.

The other spiritual apes, deer, demon bears, and so on were all the same; each contained a living soul of unknown origin, processed through many stages, bound within.

Beneath these magnificent immortal scenes lay countless bones of cultivators, buried in unknown numbers.

While admiring the surrounding scenery, Jiang Ding strolled leisurely, following a familiar path to the very center of this third-grade spiritual vein, where the spiritual qi was most dense.

"The Xiang Qiyu Sect of Yue State has surrendered as a whole, but their Grand Elder Bai Mei, True Person, and Zhou Zhou Sanyan, as well as Sect Master Li Li Qingyun, are nowhere to be found; I suppose they do not trust us of the Beast Path, the General Heishi."

"The Huaxuedian of Chu State is similar; True Person Huaxue and his direct disciples fled, leaving the sect members behind to surrender..."

Inside the Main Hall, the black-robed elder Hei Hei Chengwu took the secret report from his subordinate and sneered: "These barbarian minor sects all seem to distrust our Holy Sect; what use are a few Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining disciples?"

"They are indeed clever."

Another beautiful woman said calmly.

"This place has already been regarded by the Holy Sect as a den, the exclusive property within exclusive property; how could they possibly be allowed to remain here? They must be subjected to forbidden seals and sent to the Northern Plains battlefield; if they merit merit, there will still be rewards."

"Naturally; the opportunity to form a Nascent Soul cannot be given to them."

"If they achieve merit in battle and remain loyal and obedient, it would not be impossible to grant them the position of a vassal family."

"That is only right."

Hei Hei Chengwu stroked his long beard and smiled: "The Northern Plains is our family's Northern Plains; these barbarian Jin Dan and the like, wishing to form a Nascent Soul, are truly indulging in wishful thinking, unaware of the height of the sky and the depth of the earth."

"Indeed."

The beautiful woman nodded.

"In a few more years, this entire Cultivation World will be brought under the Holy Sect's jurisdiction; Nascent Souls, along with many second- and third-grade heavenly treasures and rare herbs, will increase somewhat, becoming more abundant."

With True Person Shen Ya not present, the two got along fairly well between themselves; there was no sword-drawn tension; they had much in common.

Between their brows and eyes, occasional hints of affection appeared.

"Cheng Xiu,"

Hei Hei Chengwu hesitated for a moment, then said.

"The distinction between legitimate and illegitimate branches runs very deep; it concerns many things; it is not as simple as you think."

"After the defeat at the Northern Plains, the family has also reflected; in the future, close-branch family members will be added to this category; close-branch members will no longer need to hand over Nascent Souls to supply the main branch; their cultivation will have more guarantees; the status of some collateral branch family members will rise."

"Cheng Xiu, we have known each other for many years; I advise you: stop."

He said earnestly.

"Although the Ancestor feels sorrow over the family's dwindling talent and wishes to reform, thus promoting you, he ultimately could not withstand the pressure from the Guishan Tie family and other families."

"If your influence grows any larger, he very likely will no longer protect you."

The beautiful woman fell silent.

"Nascent Soul..."

After a long while, she spoke two words.

"Sigh."

Hei Hei Chengwu shook his head slightly, ceased his persuasion, and shifted the topic to another direction: "The sword cultivators of Tushan, whose origins remain a mystery, suddenly rose to prominence over a hundred years ago; the Ancestor ordered us to investigate..."

"Investigate..."

He suddenly froze, motionless.

The beautiful woman sitting before him was the same; her sandalwood lips parted slightly, about to speak, then stiffened.

Time,

seemed to solidify at this moment.

"Interest..."

A youth in green robes entered this heavily guarded Zhudian, returning as if to his own home, his divine sense sweeping the surroundings, finding nothing worth noting.

Jiang Ding's fingers gently pressed against the two people's foreheads.

Instantly, a transparent, hazy sword intent simulating the Broken Sword Intent, akin to Yin Sword Intent, flew into the two people's souls and quietly lay dormant.

"Although you smashed my rice bowl and turned me into a pauper, I am too kind to kill you."

Jiang Ding said magnanimously.

"In twenty or thirty years, find an opportunity yourself, suffer qi deviation, and commit suicide."

Having spoken, he did not look at the two again and walked out.

Inside the Zhudian, silence reigned once more for a long while.

"... Investigate"

"Investigate his whereabouts, origin, and so on."

Hei Hei Chengwu, unaware of the time that had passed, continued: "This was personally ordered by the Ancestor. If you slack off and the Ancestor holds you accountable, do not blame me for not having warned you."

"You need not say it."

The beautiful woman let out a light laugh.

Two

(End of this chapter)