Chapter 521: The Way of Cause and Effect

Cluster Heavy Artillery Bombardment to Kill Cultivators Main Text Volume Chapter 553: The Way of Cause and Effect, Tushan Xiancheng.

This was Jiang Ding's second time coming here. The ones guarding the city gate were still the Heishi cultivators of the Dog Division, and the wanted posters on the city wall were still the same as before — at the front were Xue Liuyun, Li Jin Yu, and Xue Shou Ren Mo Li Tu.

The ones further back had changed greatly.

Some people had disappeared — either killed by enemies, or slain by Heishi experts, the circumstances varied — and some unfamiliar Jin Dan cultivators had popped up in their place.

But the number of people on the wanted list was still the same: one hundred.

This did not mean there were only one hundred criminals; rather, it was the one hundred Jin Dan cultivators with the most serious crimes who were recorded on it, their heads bounty-hunted, to intimidate outsider Jin Dan cultivators who wished to commit crimes.

There was some effect.

The Jin Dan cultivators in the latter half of the wanted list could usually only roam free for a little over ten years before being slain by companions, Heishi experts, or Jin Dan cultivators whose hunting instincts had been stirred.

As for those at the front, demonic overlords like Xue Liuyun, there had been almost no change.

Occasional large-scale changes only happened when Dinghai Zhenjun himself took action, combined with some luck, happening to encounter them — only then could some be cleared away.

But afterward, there would still be a steady stream of evil Jin Dan cultivators filling the vacancies.

They would either slay the Heishi's Jin Dan cultivators, or massacre Heishi clansmen at certain spiritual veins, or directly attack large numbers of Heishi commoners — the so-called noble breeds on the grasslands — directly weakening the Heishi from their very foundations.

The Heishi absolutely hated these people to the bone.

"The killing and strife on the Black Snow Great Grassland is growing more and more intense…"

Jiang Ding murmured to himself.

Within this, there was a fundamental contradiction.

After the Heishi's bloody war with the Dari Sect lasting over two hundred years, their Jin Dan cultivators had gradually withered away, and they could no longer suppress such a vast territory.

At the same time, two hundred years of war and chaos had caused scattered Jin Dan cultivators across various lands to emerge and grow one after another.

The Heishi stubbornly wished to continue their previous ruling order — the Heishi possessed everything on the Black Snow Great Grassland, and wanted absolute control over everything, refusing to share benefits in exchange for the loyalty of scattered Jin Dan cultivators.

As long as this fundamental contradiction remained unresolved, the large-scale killing and chaos on the Black Snow Great Grassland would not cease.

Measures like the wanted list were nothing more than a drop in the bucket.

"Greetings, Senior."

Two Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Dog Division cupped their hands casually, their attitude relaxed, and stepped aside to clear the road.

Jiang Ding didn't mind, took back the waist pendant registered last time, and hung it at his waist.

This thing clearly had a surveillance function; it was not permitted to be removed within the city. Normally, he kept it sealed layer upon layer within his storage jade pendant.

He walked slowly into the immortal city.

On the streets, people came and went — Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators were common, Jin Dan cultivators were encountered from time to time, and most practiced the skinning methods of the Beast Dao.

Shops and houses coexisted with dog dens, pig pens, and cattle stalls. Cow dung and dog droppings appeared from time to time on the streets, a strange stench hitting the nose — still the same as ever.

For an immortal city with nearly ten thousand years of history, a decade or so was far too brief to allow any changes to occur.

Clang!

Clang clang!

On the street corner, a Foundation Establishment peak cultivator with knotted muscles struck a bronze gong in his hand, calling out loudly: "The Divine Crow Royal Army is recruiting brave warriors! Late-stage Qi Refining can serve as soldiers, Foundation Establishment cultivators can serve as Ten-Man Leaders and Hundred-Man Leaders, and Jin Dan cultivators can serve as Thousand-Man Leaders and Ten-Thousand-Man Leaders!"

"In the Divine Crow Royal Army, the salary is generous, rewards are constant — Foundation Establishment Pills, Golden Core Formation Pills, third-grade breakthrough pills — as long as you earn military merit, everything is available!"

"Even opportunities for Nascent Soul, if you render great merit, are not impossible!"

"Fellow Daoists, Seniors, this is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity, a carp leaping through the dragon gate — once missed, it will never come again!"

"The Divine Crow Army?"

The surrounding cultivators were stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood, and swarmed over in a dark mass, the expression on every face similar.

Fear, yearning, and yet desire.

"I, I…"

"my lord, my brothers and I are willing to join the army…"

Many late-stage Qi Refining cultivators eagerly stepped forward, and after slight hesitation, Foundation Establishment cultivators also gathered around.

The few surrounding Jin Dan cultivators paused and stood still.

"The Divine Crow Royal Army…"

Jiang Ding recalled the intelligence he had gathered over the years.

The Wang Ting War.

It originated from that invincible expert over ten thousand years ago. To maintain the martial spirit of his descendants and prevent them from losing their strength in peace and comfort, he used a piece of Nine Heavens fragment he had obtained to refine it into the Wangting Fudi. Within it were vast spiritual medicine gardens and all manner of heavenly materials and earthly treasures — things rarely seen in the outside world.

Moreover, within it there might even exist alchemist puppets he had refined by scouring the entire world, with countless cultivators serving under his command, as well as self-operating alchemist formations that continuously produced rare treasures like Nascent Soul Formation Pills every thousand years.

To enter it, one had to defeat the other twenty-seven clans in the Wang Ting War and obtain the Wang Ting Command.

The fighting was extremely bloody.

With opportunities for Nascent Soul before their eyes, no one cared about sharing the same ancestor — even the deaths of direct descendants of the twenty-eight clans were commonplace.

The only restriction was that only those below Nascent Soul were permitted to participate.

If a Nascent Soul cultivator bullied the weak with their greater power, secretly took action, and killed an officer possessing the Wang Ting's destiny among the Twenty-Eight Royal Armies, for a time nothing would happen — there would be no change.

But within the following ten years, they would inevitably be plagued by misfortune, their cultivation prone to qi deviation, enemies constantly appearing to duel them, and they would repeatedly fall into seemingly reasonable life-and-death crises.

Ten years later, of those who escaped, not one in ten remained; the rest were all dead.

If one went further and killed a possessor of the Wang Ting's dragon destiny — such as a direct son of the Heishi, a prince or dragon son who had already claimed kingship and established a regime — it was even more terrifying. They would fall into unceasing calamity, and even during cultivation, Nine Heavens Lei Ting would coincidentally strike down and blast the cultivator to death.

Throughout history, no Nascent Soul cultivator had ever survived after killing a Wang Ting dragon son.

"The Way of Cause and Effect."

"The ancestor of the Northern Plains clans…"

A look of wariness appeared on Jiang Ding's face.

This person, although from a minor realm, absolutely could not be underestimated. To have cultivated the Way of Cause and Effect at the Soul Transformation stage, and to have been able to influence the Northern Plains for ten thousand years after departing — it was truly terrifying.

The realms are boundless and vast, and prodigies emerge in endless succession.

Dealing with such a mysterious and evasive figure, one must strike to kill on sight, pursue them to the ends of the earth and still kill them; if outmatched, flee immediately and never let them see one's face.

"Fellow Daoists, are you tempted to join this Divine Crow Royal Army?"

At that moment, a voice reached his ear.

Jiang Ding looked up and saw a Jin Dan early-stage cultivator, whose face now showed an indecisive expression, seemingly weighing the pros and cons, chatting with his divine sense to those around him—Jin Dan cultivators could hear it; it wasn't directed at anyone in particular.

Jiang Ding remained silent, making no conspicuous moves.

"How does one make up their mind?"

"Of the twenty-eight families, seven were wiped out by the Dari Sect, and another seven or eight lost their family spirit veins and territories, with only some cultivators escaping. Now their only hope of forming a Nascent Soul lies within the Wangting Fudi."

"This struggle for the Wang Ting will surely be bloodier than ever before."

"And we cultivators of other surnames,"

A nearby Jin Dan cultivator sighed: "At most we can get third-tier breakthrough pills; as for the chance to form a Nascent Soul... I do believe in it, but my fortune is thin, I dare not hope for too much."

"It should be so."

The surrounding Jin Dan cultivators nodded slightly, finding nothing strange about it.

The Bei Yuan families' reputation,

among them was in the negative.

"Fellow Daoists are indeed carefree as wandering clouds."

"Unfortunately, we vassal families must go to war; we cannot compare with you fellow Daoists."

A Jin Dan cultivator's face showed bitterness, losing all interest in idle talk, and turned to leave.

Several nearby Jin Dan cultivators wore mocking expressions, feeling no sympathy.

These lackeys of General Heishi had bullied them plenty in ordinary days, throwing their weight around; loose-cultivator Jin Dan mostly dared to be angry but not speak out.

Jiang Ding paid no more attention to this, turned and left, heading to the Lingbao Merchant Guild to purchase Gold Copper Stone.

The struggle for the Bei Yuan Wang Ting,

was a children's game of playing house.

He would not enter the fray; it would be too shameful.