Chapter 33 Forbidden Cultivation Skill

Evil Cultivators!?

Li Jing turned around, his eyes glaring.

Evil Cultivators generally refer to cultivators who choose to practice forbidden cultivation techniques.

Before officially starting cultivation, individuals in this world must specifically choose a cultivation method suitable for them; they then intake Spiritual Qi into their bodies through this method.

Cultivation methods form the basis of cultivation.

Only by learning a cultivation method can one formally step into the world of cultivation and make use of spiritual Qi.

There are various types of cultivation methods, each with its distinct characteristics.

Unlike regulated Immortal Learning Spells, the entrance barrier to learning cultivation methods is quite low, and completely free; one can find thousands to tens of thousands of methods online casually.

Some more peculiar ones might require some effort to find.

However, only the cultivation method suitable for oneself is the best.

The criteria to judge whether a cultivation method is suitable vary from person to person, usually based on whether one’s introduction to the method is smooth.

Forbidden cultivation methods are a type that is explicitly prohibited, often considered unorthodox and malicious.

These types of cultivation methods have a common characteristic.

They allow for fast progression to higher realms with relative ease.

Their cultivation methods often contradict human ethics by causing harm to others for self-benefit.

Some even resort to taking other’s lives or snatching others’ cultivation levels for advancement.

Evil Cultivators who base their practice on forbidden cultivation techniques are the most dreaded group of people in the world.

Evil Cultivators often regard human lives as insignificant, taking pleasure in harming others.

Forbidden cultivation techniques are akin to poison.

Once contaminated, one will undoubtedly be addicted to the thrilling feeling derived from quickly progressing by hurting others and unable to pull themselves out of it.

An encounter with a foreign Demon Miasma that Li Jing had a while back had already given him quite a surprise.

However, he was now faced with an Evil Cultivator committing a crime.

He had only just started working as an assistant inspector not long ago...

Evil Cultivators committing crimes was less common than monsters suddenly appearing in a city.

Even career patrollers encountered these cases very rarely.

The reason is simple.

Evil Cultivators were hunt-on-sight targets and were genuinely treated as vermin.

If an inspector comes across a human-shaped demon that has exposed its identity but not yet harmed anyone, they might deal with the situation based on the circumstances.

However, in case where an Evil Cultivator is involved, inspectors will show no mercy.

The offender will be executed on the spot!

No interrogation process is needed and there is even no need to consider arresting the individual.

Kill upon sight! How dare Evil Cultivators randomly reveal their identities in the city?

While Li Jing was taken aback, Chen Yuran ended his call and looked over.

As he made eye contact with Yuran, he hesitated briefly before saying softly.

"It’s only a guess, but the present situation suggests that the crime is most likely committed by an Evil Cultivator."

"About half a year ago, a violation committed by an Evil Cultivator occurred in the North City area, where the violator advanced their cultivation level by extracting Qi from human organs. The case had over ten victims, and every one of their corpses became hollow with organs removed. Our North City Branch had coordinated with other divisions across the city on this case, but unfortunately, we failed to capture the offender who managed to escape."

"Evil Cultivators practice in their unique ways. The same Forbidden Cultivation Skill might spread over a relatively small range, but it is highly unlikely that Evil Cultivators, who master the same Forbidden Cultivation Skill, would commit crimes in the area where another one has."

"The one responsible for the current incident has a high probability to be the one who escaped half a year ago. What’s worse is that his Forbidden Cultivation Skill appears to have significantly improved the past six months. Although the victims in the case half a year ago were also hollowed out, their corpses were directly dissected. Not like the dried corpses before us without any apparent physical damage and organs disappeared."

When she finished recounting, Chen Yuran looked somewhat unwillingly at the other dried corpses in the cold storage.

"If the perpetrator is the person from back then, these victims were likely slowly drained of life, their organs gradually leeched dry while they were still alive, serving as nourishment for his progression to a higher realm."

"..."

Li Jing moved his lips but said nothing.

He had heard of the brutality of Evil Cultivators while studying the cultivation system.

But the extent to which this was cruel was somewhat beyond his imagination.

Seeing that he wasn’t responsive, Chen Yuran ordered without pressing for more description.

"You first go outside and help your two colleagues keep an eye on the onlookers in the field. Evil Cultivators are notorious for their violence and cunning, and the one who dared to commit a crime in this situation may very well be here at the scene. If you find any, remember not to startle them rashly. There are many people gathering around, and the consequences of alerting them could be dire."

She then added.

"The support from the Patrol Department could arrive within five minutes. They will take over the scene at that time. I will personally notify your superiors."

"Okay."

Li Jing nodded and turned to leave.

...

Outside the seafood shop,

Lu Yangcheng and Yi Xiuzhu were still keeping their posts on either side of the police cordon.

After failing to convince the crowd to disperse at first, they had given up trying to speak to them.

There was no hope of moving them.

Those who were looking for excitement would never back away from it.

The fact that fourteen people had died in the seafood shop did not deter anyone.

If you know you can’t convince them, why waste your breath?

Seeing Li Jing walking out of the shop, the two men called after him and gave him questioning looks.

Under their gaze, Li Jing pressed a button on his earpiece and spoke softly.

"I’ll explain the situation in detail later, the patrol bureau’s support will arrive soon. Pay attention to any suspicious individuals at the scene but don’t cause a commotion."

Lu Yangcheng and Yi Xiuzhu furrowed their brows upon hearing this.

The patrol bureau’s support?

Shouldn’t the ground staff from the Assistant Inspector Department be the ones arriving?

Li Jing said to be on guard for suspicious people...

Does that mean that the murderer could still be at the scene?

They exchanged a glance from a distance, decided against saying anything, and quietly observed the crowd.

Upon leaving the shop, Li Jing too scanned the crowd nonchalantly.

He didn’t expect much from that look.

He had the ability to notice a monster’s health bar, but he couldn’t possibly determine which individual in the crowd was an evil cultivator.

That’s not to mention that, the culprit being evil cultivators themselves, would have had the audacity to be amongst the spectators.

However, what Li Jing had not anticipated was,

Right when he was about to look away, he noticed a health bar near the drainage channel at the corner of the market.

Upon a closer look, he realized it belonged to a large rat. The number marked was 621.

A monster!?

Li Jing jolted upright.

It may have been his imagination, but it seemed like the rat monster was observing the seafood shop through the crowd.

Before he could get a good look at it, the rat monster glanced at him and scurried into the drain.

Upon witnessing this, Li Jing froze momentarily, instinctively readying for flight.

However, he immediately changed his mind and stayed in his place.

And it turned out to be the right decision.

Not long after the rat monster slipped into the drain, it poked its head out from another part of the drain.

Upon seeing the rat monster poking its head out, Li Jing acted as if he had not noticed and looked straight ahead.

The rat monster, unsure of being noticed, cautiously climbed out of the drain.

From the corner of his eyes, Li Jing watched and became certain that something was off about this rat.

When he arrived at the market earlier, he had overlooked the area from above.

His view from the sky was expansive, and he did not see any health bars at the time.

The rat monster had appeared out of nowhere and it was highly suspicious that it was observing the seafood shop.

What’s more suspicious was that the rat monster was overly cautious.

It ran away just after one glance at him, which clearly indicated it was alert to his presence.

Health bar 621.

This implies that the rat monster is just within One Realm intermediate phase.

Whether it was a natural-born monster or mutated afterwards, a One Realm intermediate phase monster would merely have opened its spiritual intelligence; it shouldn’t be this alert.

After a moment of thought, Li Jing took his phone out of his pocket and opened up the Immortal Learning website.

His Palm Thunder was powerful.

Unfortunately, it had a limited range, the effective distance is only fifty meters.

The rat monster was currently next to the drainage channel that was about a hundred meters away, too far for him to reach.

If he flew up, the cautious rat monster would most definitely slip into the drain beforehand, making it near impossible for him to kill.

To get the rat monster, he needed a new skill with a longer range of attack!