Chapter 11

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Zong Zi

Heng was startled, and he squatted down to examine the corpse's fatal wound

carefully. Due to the decay, the exact location could no longer be determined,

but it was undoubtedly in the abdominal area. For the first time, he saw a

cultivator who was rumored to have had his core stolen. He had little

experience, but these two brothers have walked the Jianghu and had seen a lot.

He asked, "How did you know that he had his golden core dug out?"

Huang

Hong said, "Your Highness, as you saw, his abdomen had such a large hole.

Although it's decayed, at that time of death, there must have been a large

wound at this area. In addition, other than the dantian* area,

there are many wounds elsewhere, yet they are not fatal, as if deliberately

trying to keep him alive. The cultivation level of this cultivator is not

shallow. Any fighting techniques that underestimated the enemy will most likely be shooting oneself in the foot*. To take such a risk, most likely

the person must be kept alive in order to dig out the golden core. Once a

person is dead, followed by the dispersion of spiritual power, the golden core

would be useless. Finally, this corpse specialized in digging out people's

bellies and intestines. It is obviously caused by strong resentment. Core

thieves killed repeatedly and endlessly, so we've seen a few before. The way

the murdered cultivators died is similar to the way he died."

"These

demonic cultivators really deserve to be hacked into pieces." Zong Zi Heng

gritted his teeth and said, "Stealing people's lifelong cultivation and

still killing them."

Huang Wu

sighed: "It's because the temptation of the human core is too great. The

more powerful the cultivator refining the human core, the more effective

the human core. I heard that the top human core can even change a person's

roots."

"Aren't

roots determined from birth?" Zong Zi Xiao looked at the corpse and

shuddered at the thought of the despair of having the golden core ripped out of

one's body while one was alive.

"The

golden core condenses one's innate qualifications and acquired cultivation.

Eating this kind of human core is equivalent to eating a part of

the cultivator's essence. It is said that those who have had their

golden cores dug are unable to form cores again even after reincarnation."

"Since

the evil Tianshu Sect who had specialized in this path was exterminated, the

demonic cultivators who stole cores have rarely been seen in the immortal

cultivational world. Such demonic cultivators will be punished if they are

encountered, but I never thought that they would still be so daring." Zong

Zi Heng looked at the cultivators who died in vain and felt compassion for them

in his heart.

"After

the Tianshu Sect was eliminated, such demonic cultivators were indeed reduced

in numbers, but it is impossible to get rid of them completely. In

fact..." Huang Wu wanted to say something but stopped.

"What?"

"Ten

years ago, there was a tragic case related to the theft of cores in Yanzhou. I

am not sure whether Your Highness heard of it before."

"I

haven't."

"Your

Highness was young at that time, so it’s normal that you have not heard of it.

It was a small sect, but it was also a righteous immortal sect. That master had

cheated and killed his best friend of thirty years in order to change his own

son's roots."

The Zong

brothers were frozen.

Huang

Hong's expression was gloomy: "He got that cultivator drunk, dug out his

golden core and destroyed the corpse to get rid of the evidence. Later, when

the matter was revealed, vengeful people slaughtered the whole sect."

Zong Zi

Heng listened until his scalp tightened*. The evil in people is far

worse than evil spirits.

"So,

it is not only the demonic cultivators who specialize in stealing golden cores.

There are special 'core hunters' in Jianghu. The golden cores are extremely

expensive. Ordinary people cannot afford them. In the end, no one could say for

sure who ate those

cultivators' golden cores."

Huang

Hong's left out a few points, but how could the people present not understand?

Have those righteous cultivators never been tempted by human cores before?

Zong Zi

Heng looked at that cultivator’s corpse which was too horrible to look at, and

he thought that he must have

had sentiments of saving people during his lifetime as well

as the idea of pursuing immortality. Since the day he became sensible, he

learned to cultivate diligently regardless of rain or shine. But just like

that, his lifetime of work was ruthlessly plundered. In the end, he

couldn't even be buried in peace and was reduced to a walking corpse that harmed

people. As an immortal cultivator, it was impossible not to empathize with such

a tragedy.

Zong Zi

Heng was flustered, and he said: "Since we passed by here and just

happened to run into him, it can also be considered as a kind of fate. He is

also a victim. To help others to the end, this matter should not end this way.

Huang Hong and Huang Wu, it's dawn. You guys go to the Chunyang Sect and the

Wuyun Sect respectively. Order them to investigate the cause of death of this

cultivator. One of them is to find the murderer and stop him from committing

evil again, and the other is to find out the identity of this cultivator and

send him back to his hometown to be buried."

"Got

it."

"Big

brother." Zong Zi Xiao tugged at the corner of his big brother's clothes,

"Why would someone want to practice cultivation in such a harmful

way?"

"...Because

there are bad people in this world."

----

This

time, the ones who hosted the Jiaolong assembly was the Wuliang Sect of Mount

Shu. The two brothers had been riding their horses since they set out from

Daming Mansion, stopping every now and then along the way. They were supposed

to have plenty of time, but now, in order to investigate this case of core

theft, they were going to be delayed in Gutuo Town for a few days and planned

to go directly to Mount Shu by sword flight.

Later in

the evening, Huang Hong and Huang Wu came back. Their expressions did not look

very good.

"How

was it?"

Huang

Hong said, "Chunyang Sect and Wuyun Sect both made a promise, but they

tried to shift their responsibilities to each other with their words. I don't

know if they will investigate seriously."

Zong Zi

Heng frowned and said, "This is not acceptable, I will go there

personally."

"Your

Highness, you'd better not go." Huang Wu had a difficult look on his face.

"What's

wrong?"

"Chunyang

Sect is known for its old-fashioned thinking and stubbornness. They refused the

government decree of Daming Mansion several times and were impolite to the

emperor. On the surface, the Wuyun Sect is much more sophisticated, but it has

not paid taxes for two years and has been looking for various excuses to delay

payment. I am afraid Your Highness will get frustrated if you go."

Zong Zi

Heng became silent.

The

ancestor of the Zong Clan once relied on the Zongxuan Sword Technique to make a

name for himself in Jiuzhou and aspired to be the best in the immortal

cultivation world. He laid the foundation for a hundred years afterwards but

failed to produce a supreme talent for three consecutive generations. It was

already difficult to maintain its former glory, and the resistance from various

immortal sects and families was becoming more and more apparent. These were the

things that Zong Zi Heng had learned from his travels. And now that the

Chunyang Sect and the Wuyun Sect would not regard him as the eldest prince, he

could understand why his father wanted him to win the championship at Jiaolong

assembly, which was to show the world that the Zong Clan had a successor.

"As

the immortal sects who are stationed in the local area, they didn’t care about

the death of the cultivators who got their cores stolen and ignored the

people's request for help against the evil spirits. What kind of path were they

cultivating by being so indifferent and negligent in their

duties?" Zong Zi Heng looked irritated, "Transcending the world of

mortals is not the same as retiring from the world. By just focusing on your

own ascension and ignoring the suffering of the people, isn't it against the

original intention of cultivation?"

"Your

Highness is absolutely right."

Zong Zi

Xiao said, "Big brother, if they don't investigate it, we will investigate

it."

"Okay,

we'll investigate it."

---

The four

of them spent two days visiting several villages and towns near Mount Gutuo and

made some discoveries. In line with their description, there was only one

cultivator who appeared in Gutuo town more than a year ago. He was about 40

years old. His skin was very dark, and he had no obvious sect marks on his

body. He walked alone and might have a Minnan* accent. Other

than that, there were no useful clues.

Although

they didn’t come out completely empty-handed, but just relying on this to find

the identity of the cultivator, required more than a few days of work.

Two days

later, Chunyang Sect dispatched somebody. One of them greeted the Zong

brothers, and the other reported some clues that they have found while

investigating. Although it seemed like they were slacking and shifting

responsibility, at least Chunyang Sect did some investigations.

Unfortunately, their abilities were limited, but at the same time, they sent a

letter to the Huaying Sect to request assistance in the

investigation. Huaying Sect was the largest immortal sect in the Jianzhou

territory.

Huang Wu

said: "It seems that this Tongnan* [virgin] sect is

still better than the Wuyun Sect."

Zong Zi

Xiao asked curiously, "What Tongnan [child-boy] sect? Is

there a sect full of children? "

Zong Zi

Heng almost spat out the tea that he was

drinking.

Huang

Hong glared at his own younger brother: "You’re shooting your mouth off in

front of Ninth Highness."

Huang Wu

was slightly embarrassed.

"Big

brother?" Zong Zi Xiao looked at Zong Zi Heng in confusion.

Zong Zi

Heng coughed lightly: "They are talking about the Chunyang Sect. Chunyang

Sect is mainly based on martial arts cultivation, and they cultivate the body

of Chunyang. This so-called body of Chunyang is...cultivating yuan yang*, and then..." He trailed off at the end and didn't

know how to give an appropriate explanation. He gave a sideways glance at Huang

Wu, feeling annoyed and amused at the same time.

"The

body of Chunyang? What exactly do you mean?" Zong Zi Xiao was at the age

where children were curious, so naturally, he couldn’t be placated.

"It

means if you want to cultivate their technique, you can't get married."

Huang Hong said euphemistically.

Chunyang

Sect cultivated the body of Chunyang. The profound meaning of the technique was

to keep the yuan yang intact. Once the yuan yang leaks, the technique is

immediately broken. Unless they practice other techniques from scratch, there

is no possibility for further improvement. Therefore, one must have a pure

heart, few desires, and cannot lust. Although the Chunyang technique had

achieved great success, it always had a crucial position in the immortal

cultivational world. However, not many people are willing to practice this

technique. After all, the outsiders looked at them as if they simply lost all

interest in life.

Zong Zi

Xiao wasn't sure if he understood: "Big brother, why don't you cultivate

this technique?"

Zong Zi

Heng couldn’t help laughing: "Why should I cultivate it?"

"If

you cultivate the Chunyang technique, will you not get married?"

"Hmm?"

Zong Zi Heng was puzzled, "Don't you want me to get married?"

"I

don't want you to."

"Why?"

Zong Zi Heng pinched his face and teased him, "Don't you want to have a

gentle and beautiful sister-in-law who might cook even better than big

brother?"

"I

don't want you to." Zong Zi Xiao said seriously, "Second brother said

that I can't sleep with you after you become a married man."

"Hahahahaha."

Zong Zi Heng couldn't help but laugh, "Do you want to sleep with big

brother for the rest of your life? You'll also get married in the future."

Zong Zi

Xiao's little face was wrinkled into a ball, "Then I won't get married.

Can’t we stay like this without getting married?" He didn't understand the

real meaning of marriage yet. He only knew that if another person appeared, he

and his big brother couldn't be like this anymore. That wouldn't be right, and

he wouldn't allow it.

Huang Wu

laughed, "Ninth Highness, it's fine if you don't want to get married, but

His Highness has reached the age to get married. I heard that at this Jiaolong

assembly, the emperor is intending to find a girl* for His

Highness."

Zong Zi

Heng laughed, "Really? How come I didn't hear about it?" He was at

the beginning of his youth and had fantasies about love, but he did not

think about his future wife. After all, it was not his decision to make.

Zong Zi

Xiao was stunned and stopped talking.

"The

Emperor and Consort Shen are worried that you would get distracted, so they

didn't say anything. I heard it from Elder Hui Neng." Huang Hong said,

"If Your Highness won the championship at the Jiaolong assembly and set a

marriage contract with a wealthy family's daughter, that would be two joyous

occasions."

Zong Zi

Heng was slightly embarrassed, but his heart was slightly looking forward to

it.

Zong Zi

Xiao fiercely pushed Zong Zi Heng, turned his head, and ran away.

"Hey..."

Zong Zi Heng staggered from the push, almost falling off his chair, "I

spoiled this child too much. He has no manners at all."

Zong Zi

Xiao got angry and refused to eat or sleep with Zong Zi Heng at night. He insisted

on renting another room. Zong Zi Heng just thought that he was throwing a

childish tantrum and didn't take it to heart. He asked the shopkeeper to keep

the food in case he was hungry and went looking for food in the middle of the

night.

In the middle of the night, Zong Zi Xiao never stepped out of his room. Zong Zi

Heng was just next door. He was hesitating on whether if he should go and coax

him, but he started to feel tired and fell asleep instead.

He was

unsure how long he slept, but Zong Zi Heng suddenly woke up. He felt a burst of

spiritual pressure mixed with a murderous aura. Their Zong Clan's Guiyuan Heart

Technique can make one's perception of danger very keen.

Zong Zi

Heng rolled over and got up. He didn't care what it was, but his first priority

was to ensure Zong Zi Xiao's safety.

----

dantian*

[丹田]---acupuncture

point 3 inches below the navel

shoot

oneself in the foot* [搬石砸脚] --- you

carry the stone and smash your own foot, basically trying to do something that

will hurt yourself

scalp

tightened* [头皮发紧] ---feel

terrified

Minnan*

---Southern Fujian in China

Tongnan*

aka virgin boy [童男]--- In

this novel, all Chunyang Sect's disciple have to remain virgin, so the

characters came out with a nickname for this sect, called virgin boy sect xD

But our cute innocent SZX thinks that they are saying "children"

sect. SZH isn't that pure...since he almost puked his tea, LOL.

yuan

yang* [元阳] ---

from my POV, it should mean semen. Basically, when a woman and man have

intercourse, the male will release his yuan yang, which results in breaking the

Chunyang [纯阳 means

Pure Yang] cultivation. Kindly refer to the phrase

"Once the yuan yang leaks, the technique is immediately broken" in

one of the paragraphs.

girl* [千金]---it’s an honorable way to call other people’s daughter.

Editor's Thoughts:

Took a little break yesterday~ work this week is

tough T.T anyone else doing coding who knows my pain? 😢

REJOICE FOR WE HAVE GIVEN BIRTH TO... THE LIKE

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Edited on

11 Mar. 21 (Emzie)

Edited on

9 Jul. 21 (Ari)

Edited on

29 Jul 21 (Limit)

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