Chapter 5

Jiang Li really wanted to laugh. When had he ever cultivated the demonic path?

The demonic path is a key target of the Human Emperor Hall's crackdown. Whoever dares to cultivate the demonic path must be prepared to oppose the entire cultivation world.

There are many paths to becoming an immortal, with dozens of methods, such as the Body Refinement Path, the Insect Cultivation Path, the Qi Cultivation Path, the Talisman Path, and so on. However, there is one path that is forbidden in the cultivation world.

That is the path of individual ascension through the demonic path.

The demonic path emphasizes no taboos and any means necessary, using the masses to nurture one person. It doesn't matter how many people die; the important thing is to survive and become stronger.

When the path to ascension still existed, the Nine Provinces Continent was not very averse to the demonic path. After all, even if someone cultivated the demonic path to its end, they would still ascend, which was within the continent's tolerance. However, after the path to ascension was cut off, those who cultivated the demonic path began to think of blood sacrifices to the Nine Provinces, using the lives of the people to nurture a single immortal. They hoped that this might lead to ascension, and even caused massacres where no one in a certain dynasty survived.

Given this, the cultivation world of the Nine Provinces Continent reached an unwritten agreement: anyone who cultivates the demonic path should be eliminated.

"Are you not surprised?"

"Without any evidence, I naturally am not surprised."

"The number of infants stolen by the Jiang family has long exceeded a hundred. What could the Jiang family do with so many infants? They must be using them for blood sacrifices, using the form to supplement the form, helping someone to break through the dan and form an infant. This is a thoroughly demonic method. How could Emperor Jiang not know about this?"

"With Emperor Jiang's abilities, helping someone to achieve the yuan infant stage is very simple. But he did not stop the Jiang family from using demonic methods, which means he is not only indulging the Jiang family but is likely a practitioner of the demonic path himself. Only someone who cultivates the demonic path would ignore other methods to achieve the yuan infant stage and allow their family to use extreme demonic methods!"

"Senior Zhang, if my speculation is true and the current Human Emperor is a practitioner of the demonic path, the Nine Provinces Continent will face a great calamity! Please inform your sect's leader about this matter!"

Yuan Wuxing was about to kneel and beg Jiang Li, but he found himself held up by an invisible force, unable to kneel.

"Senior Zhang..."

Yuan Wuxing wanted to say more but saw Jiang Li's face darken as he stood up and walked out of the room.

Jiang Li's aura was terrifying, as if he was on the verge of anger. Yuan Wuxing swallowed hard and said nothing more.

No matter what bad things Yuan Wuxing said about the Human Emperor, such as Emperor Jiang secretly helping the Jiang family or secretly cultivating the demonic path, Jiang Li would just smile and not care, treating it as a joke. He knew he hadn't done these things.

But Yuan Wuxing's speculation about the Jiang family's blood sacrifices was different because Jiang Li knew it was very likely true!

Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why the Jiang family needed so many infants!

The Human Emperor Hall is the leading force against the cultivation of the demonic path on the Nine Provinces Continent, yet the Jiang family might be using his name to cultivate the demonic path!

Jiang Li was overwhelmed with anger. With himself as the center, his divine sense spread for hundreds of miles, encompassing several cities, including Qingcheng. However, he found nothing.

Finding nothing itself was a problem.

He found no traces of blood sacrifices or missing infants.

Jiang Li also used his divine sense to scan the Jiang family's mansion. The Jiang family was still performing ancestral worship as before, with no changes, no basements, or secret passages.

This situation meant either that Yuan Wuxing was wrong or that someone had hidden the infants in another space.

There are two ways to use space on the Nine Provinces Continent. One is through a storage ring, which can be used to enter the space at any time, but this space cannot accommodate living beings. The other is to find a spatial node, which cannot be moved but can accommodate living beings. Secret realms are created this way.

Spatial nodes are extremely hidden and cannot be detected from the outside unless someone is entering or leaving the space.

"Do you have any concrete evidence? For example, did you use a recording sphere to capture a conversation between the Jiang family's head and the city lord?"

Yuan Wuxing saw Jiang Li re-enter the room, his expression as calm as before, without the gloom from earlier.

"No, using a recording sphere would cause a magical fluctuation that the city lord, who is at the yuan infant stage, would notice. As for other evidence... there is none."

Yuan Wuxing was somewhat disappointed but quickly added, "The frequency of the Jiang family's ancestral worship is similar to the frequency of the missing infants. I suspect that the Jiang family is only pretending to perform ancestral worship and is actually conducting blood sacrifices. However, the security during the ancestral worship is too strict, and I have been unable to enter for years."

"Right now, the Jiang family is performing ancestral worship. Senior, you can try..."

Jiang Li shook his head. "I have already been to the Jiang family and found nothing... Hmm?"

Jiang Li's lips curled slightly, as if he had found a clue, or was sneering.

"While talking, I found something."

Jiang Li's divine sense had not been retracted and still covered a hundred-mile radius.

...

At the foot of a large tree in the outskirts of Qingcheng, space distorted, and an old man in a hemp robe stepped out.

The old man in the hemp robe cautiously observed his surroundings, confirmed that no one was around, and then flew toward the Jiang family's ancestral hall.

...

Jiang Li did not follow the old man in the hemp robe to the Jiang family but instead took Yuan Wuxing to the spatial node in the outskirts of Qingcheng.

With a light touch, space rippled and eventually formed a stable spatial gate.

This space was small, only the size of a cave. As soon as they entered, a pungent smell of blood hit them, making Yuan Wuxing cough.

After Yuan Wuxing adapted to the smell of blood, he was stunned by the scene before him.

Hundreds of infant-sized skeletons were piled on both sides of the cave, as if thrown there carelessly. Skulls were separated from spines, and hand and leg bones were detached from the torso, creating a chaotic mess.

At the end of the path was a blood-stained altar, on which lay several complete infant corpses. Blood vapor was spreading from the skeletons into the air, and the flesh was visibly decaying, adding to the nauseating smell of blood. Soon, the tips of the fingers were visible as white bones.

Yuan Wuxing, unable to control himself, stumbled to the wall and vomited again. However, he lost his balance, slipped, and fell into the pile of bones.

He had no strength to get up and lay in the bone pile, vomiting and crying, "Monsters, the Jiang family are monsters! How could they do this? Don't they have children?"

Jiang Li's body was also trembling. He had participated in many operations to eliminate the demonic path and had seen even more hateful and disgusting scenes, but he still couldn't control his emotions when he saw this again.

He gritted his teeth and muttered, "Damn it."

Jiang Li did not follow the old man in the hemp robe, knowing he couldn't escape. He came here to see if there was any chance of saving anyone.

Now it seemed that no one could be saved.

The peaceful and harmonious chant of the Soul Crossing Spell echoed in the small space. Initially, the chant was low and fast, indistinct, but as Jiang Li's anger rose, it became louder and clearer.

The final syllables shook the space, causing stones to fall, as if it might collapse at any moment.

"Zhang... Senior Zhang."

Yuan Wuxing looked at the angry Jiang Li, dumbfounded.

The ability to shake space to the point of near-collapse with just a voice was clearly not something a yuan infant could do.

Jiang Li turned to look at the middle-aged man with red-rimmed eyes, baring his teeth in a smile. "Let's pay the Jiang family a visit."