Chapter 588: Sudden Slaughter

Tushan Xiancheng was in the midst of a festival welcoming honored guests, every person beaming with joy, in high spirits.

The collateral-branch Jin Dan cultivators of General General Heishi were excited, joyful; the long-cherished wish of how many years was to be fulfilled this very day.

Many Jin Dan cultivators' eyes grew moist as they recalled the past.

In their youth, the blood tax paid every year, the children they bore dying one after another, sent into the blood pool, their flesh and souls becoming nourishment for the main branch's aptitude, never permitting the appearance of a collateral cultivator with top-tier aptitude.

Whenever a child with Heavenly Spiritual Root or Variant Spiritual Root appeared, the main branch's Seeking Envoys would immediately find them, overjoyed, and the discovery became part of their record of merit.

This was the wound hidden in the deepest heart of every collateral cultivator.

Whether Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, or the lofty Jin Dan Peak cultivators, between the ages of sixteen and thirty they had to ceaselessly bear children, then personally send the infants in swaddling clothes into the blood pool, completing the strict clan rules set by the family.

If they could not fulfill it, it meant death.

These were things experienced by teenagers of merely ten-odd years, not the iron-hearted old cultivators of several hundred years later.

These scars were destined never to be forgotten.

When the Dari Sect appeared, large numbers of collateral cultivators from the Northern Plains families pledged themselves without hesitation, turning to fight against the Zhengmo Alliance, forming the main body of Dari Sect cultivators, and even more frenzied than Dari Sect cultivators themselves, throwing away their lives without a thought, scenes of Jin Dan self-detonation commonplace, earning indelible merit.

"It's all over now…"

A female Jin Dan Zhong Qi cultivator sobbed uncontrollably.

She recalled her girlhood, her first child, just born, only one month old, the crescent-shaped birthmark on its face not yet faded, fond of curling up in its swaddling clothes.

Then the family's Seeking Envoy came to the door, snatching the child from her arms; no matter how bitterly she pleaded, it was useless.

More than four hundred years had passed; she had thought she had forgotten, but now that she recalled it, the scene at the time was vivid before her eyes, not a single detail missing, even the appearance of that Seeking Envoy she could still remember clearly.

"From now on, there will be no more such things."

"The Old Ancestor has said, whether collateral or main branch, all are descendants of the ancestors…"

The weeping quickly infected the surrounding cultivators, spreading through the entire Xiancheng; countless cultivators wept in streams, whether Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, or Jin Dan elders, none could control the intense emotions surging up in them at this moment.

The whole city in tears,

A moment later, the whole city in relieved laughter.

"Mother…"

Hei Hei Louxi looked toward the woman beside her and asked: "The great matter, it should succeed, shouldn't it?"

"It is certain to succeed."

Without waiting for a reply, she answered herself: "The main-branch Jin Dan have withered to nothing, the only Jin Dan cultivators of General General Heishi are us; even if the Old Ancestor dislikes it, he can only use us, and he has even promised it publicly before everyone, so there should be no accident."

"The grasslands of General General Heishi need Jin Dan cultivators to guard them."

"It must be so! There is no other possibility."

Hei Chenghong also agreed.

Her eyes were slightly red; a person of more than five hundred years, and still unable to forget the children she bore in childhood and girlhood, her emotions out of control, faint ripples appearing in her heart lake.

After all, they were cultivators of several decades, several hundred years.

The weeping gradually faded; all cultivators gathered their emotions, wiped away their tears, and looked with full expectation toward the direction of the General Heishi Ancestral Hall.

As in the past, the cultivators of the Guishan Tie Family would witness the birth of the General Heishi Young Master, witness the General Heishi Young Master receiving the Nascent Soul inheritance of the ancestors, and then wish the new General Heishi Young Master to lead the family toward greater glory.

The gazes of Hei Hei Louxi and the other, along with many Jin Dan cultivators, were all fixed on the tall building of the ancestral hall, waiting in anticipation.

Before long, a person indeed appeared.

It was the Orthodox Path prodigy, Gui Gui Juzi.

A handsome appearance, flawless etiquette, walking step by step, following the rules since ancient times.

The crowd stirred somewhat.

This seemed not quite in keeping with etiquette.

According to past precedent, matters concerning the continuation and birth of a clan's young master must certainly be presided over by a Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Zhenjun of the Guishan Tie Family, who would personally announce the result.

Had they forgotten?

"It's fine, it's the same."

A Jin Dan cultivator comforted the companions around him: "Gui Gui Juzi is an Orthodox Path prodigy, the future Old Ancestor of the Guishan Tie Family; his status is in fact nobler than that of an ordinary Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Zhenjun."

"This shows even more the importance the Guishan Tie Family places on this."

"Indeed so, indeed so… haha…"

Some surrounding Jin Dan cultivators, at some unknown point, had their expressions turn strained, their bodies trembling, yet seemingly without noticing it themselves, laughing.

"Now, in extraordinary times, there are extraordinary matters; etiquette cannot entirely follow the past, and some changes are only right and proper."

"This shows even greater importance."

"Right, right, exactly so…"

A group of collateral-branch Jin Dan cultivators of General General Heishi were all laughing, laughing joyfully, overjoyed, thrilled to the extreme.

Yet the expressions on their faces were pale, venomous, icy.

The contrast was so eerie it made one's heart grow cold.

Hei Hei Louxi was also laughing, laughing heartily, as the pitch-black wings behind her slowly unfurled, extending to a hundred zhang in size, blocking out the light of the sky.

"Mother…"

"General General Heishi… I said long ago, we should have been like elder brother, with no attachment to this place at all."

Hei Chenghong's hands and feet were icy, she stared blankly, without any reaction.

"The heavens have sun and moon, the earth has yin and yang."

"The long river rushes on, the four seasons cycle, heaven and earth endure from ancient times to the present, without beginning or end."

"Why is this so?"

Gui Gui Juzi, in a chanting, sacrificial tone, recited the prayer, asking the cultivators of the four directions why heaven and earth endure from ancient times, what mysterious principle lay within.

"All this is due to order above and below, distinction between primary and secondary!"

He quickly gave his answer.

"No above, no below, no master, no subordinate. Heaven's wrath, the people's grievance, the four seasons no longer divided. Heaven shall fall into chaos, earth shall collapse, the Great Dao shall end."

"Now there are Hei Dong Xue and General General Heishi, Hei Chenghong, Hei Hei Louxi, Hei… and others, the lesser offending the greater, ignorant of rank, defying the main line. These are wretches who flout human bonds, utterly vicious and depraved—"

"Should be—"

"Slain!"

With every word Gui Gui Juzi spoke, another Golden Core of the Gui Mountain Tie family appeared behind him. One sentence, and more than ten Golden Cores had appeared. By the time he finished, the surroundings already held over a hundred Golden Core cultivators.

"Slay!"

"Slay! Slay!"

"Those who offend the greater—kill! Kill! Kill!"

The Tie family Golden Core cultivators roared furiously, their killing intent ice-cold. Each wielding blades, spears, swords, halberds, and magic treasures, they hunted down and slaughtered the names on the list one by one, accepting no surrender.

In an instant, a reeking wind and Hua Dong Xue Yu.

Not only Golden Core cultivators—vast numbers of Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators died one after another.

"You—!"

"You Tie family mongrels!"

A collateral-branch Golden Core cultivator of General General Heishi roared, no trace of a smile remaining. He charged into the sky, and moments later became countless chunks of flesh and blood.

The others laughed bitterly and each made a different choice.

Some felt life held no further interest. They charged straight at the Tie family Golden Cores, using no spells or magic treasures, and detonated their Golden Cores with a thunderous blast, taking several Tie family cultivators with them.

This was no isolated case. Many Golden Core cultivators chose likewise, and in an instant the once-mighty Tie family Golden Cores began suffering heavy casualties as well. They scrambled in panic; some cowered in fear, no longer the image of cold, merciless law.

Others turned and fled into the distance.

Hei Hei Louxi glanced at Gui Gui Juzi, who was charging straight at him, said nothing, and with a beat of the wings on his back, fled into the distance.

"Think you can escape?"

Gui Gui Juzi chuckled lightly.

A mere, unknown peak Golden Core cultivator—naturally he would not weigh on the heart of this prodigy of the righteous path.

Just as he was about to act, not far off Hei Chenghong burned her essence blood, burned her magic power, burned her lifespan, and drove an embroidery-needle magic treasure to intercept him here.

Her expression was wooden, as if these things being burned had nothing to do with her.

Then she detonated her Golden Core.

Gui Gui Juzi's face shifted slightly. His figure flickered several times as he put distance from the spot.

Boom!

Amid countless black-needle magic treasures spraying in all directions, Tushan Xiancheng was blasted into a massive deep crater. Gui Gui Juzi walked out of the explosion with his hair slightly singed and curled, no longer so composed.

"Wretched slave!"

Gui Gui Juzi's killing intent surged to the heavens. His pupils flashed, and using the clan's tracking secret technique, he locked onto Hei Hei Louxi in the distance. His speed suddenly skyrocketed as he gave chase.

The distance between the two closed rapidly.

A vast gulf existed between their strength.

After several breaths, Gui Gui Juzi stopped, staring darkly ahead.

Six or seven collateral-branch Golden Cores of General General Heishi stepped out from the shadows, regarding him with venomous hatred. Without a word they detonated their Golden Cores, and the thunderous explosions once again shook the four directions, blocking the road ahead.

When he broke free again, the figure ahead had vanished completely from his sight.

(End of chapter)