Chapter 375 266: Righteousness and Demons, Virtue and Conduct

In Soulscourge Mountain, blinding white bolts of electricity crisscrossed like dragons and snakes!

Two Cultivators from the Thunderclap Mansion landed their Escape Lights one after the other, touching down before the woman in yellow.

The young man, wearing a Daoist Crown and with his hair held by a jade pin, asked with concern:

"Junior Sister Zhou, are you injured? That villain who you forced to flee in a panic just now—was he one of the wicked Demons of the Illustrious Cult?"

The woman in yellow nodded gently.

"He cultivates Blood Qi and has refined Yin Fiend. His Magical Combat methods were quite impressive!

Alas, I was too weak. He forced me to use the Thunder-Devouring Essence-Transforming Pearl, and it consumed too much of my True Qi. Otherwise, I would have held him here so you two Senior Brothers could join me in slaying Demons to defend the Dao. It would have been a fine deed to earn us some merit!"

The other man had a lean, gaunt face and was considerably older. He had a three-stranded black beard and an otherworldly, transcendent bearing, like a true Immortal.

He said:

"That person's Cultivation is not bad, around the Eleventh Layer of Qi Cultivation. Though he has yet to forge a Dao Foundation, the Magical Artifact he carries is seething with baleful energy. It must have been refined in a 'pit of ten thousand corpses.'

It's fortunate you forced him to retreat when you did, Junior Sister Zhou. Otherwise, the consequences would have been dire."

The younger Cultivator, however, was unconvinced. He said in a deep voice:

"The 'Forty-Eight Thousand Thunder Techniques' passed down by the Thunderclap Mansion can certainly subdue evil Demons and annihilate Blood Evil!

When have we ever gone easy on the wicked Demons of the Illustrious Cult? There's no reason we should ever suffer a loss against them!

Senior Brother Xu, why are you boosting their morale and diminishing our own prestige!"

The elder Cultivator called "Senior Brother Xu" simply smiled without a word. Junior Brother Tang had spent too long within the Sect and didn't understand how formidable the wicked Demons of the Illustrious Cult truly were.

The members of this cult raised the common people like livestock to cultivate Blood Qi, slaughtering living beings to strengthen their Yin Fiend.

By relying on the heretical path of consuming Blood Refining Pills and using humans as medicine, their Cultivation in the early stages progressed with extreme speed, creating a vast number of Qi Cultivation Disciples.

This had forced righteous powers like the Thunderclap Mansion and Cold Cloud Palace to retreat to the Northern Realm, surrendering the fertile and prosperous Southern Domain.

But such disgraceful history was considered taboo by the Sect's elders. They mostly glossed it over with excuses about having compassion for the common people and not wanting them to suffer.

Senior Brother Xu couldn't explain the inside story too clearly to Junior Brother Tang.

The woman in yellow's pretty face turned slightly cold as she said:

"Senior Brother Xu is right. Ever since the Illustrious Cult's Blood Demon Elder Ancestor appeared and passed down the 'Purple Gold Demon Dao'—which turns all living things into blood-sustenance to be consumed for one's own benefit—it has given rise to an endless tide of Demonic disciples.

The situation of the Demon Dao rising while the righteous Dao wanes is already set in stone. It's difficult to stop!"

The woman in yellow paused, then said with grave earnestness:

"Even though several Elder Ancestors from the major righteous Sects have ascended to the upper realm, hoping to beseech the great Daoist Monarchs to turn the tide and restore order...

...the 'Distortion of All Qi' Spiritual Aura remains, which shows their efforts have had little effect.

The only way now is for us to strive and strengthen ourselves, only then can we support the righteous path!"

The young Cultivator was mesmerized by her words, the adoration in his heart deepening. He couldn't help but agree:

"Junior Sister Zhou is right! Even if the world is in chaos, swarming with evil, we of the righteous path must do everything in our power to turn the tide and not let the hard work of our ancestors go to waste!"

The Cultivator named Xu didn't join in. The fundamental reason for the Demon Dao's rise and the righteous Dao's decline was that the world's Spiritual Aura favored the cultivation of the Demon Dao.

This was what had allowed the Illustrious Cult and the Form Sect to flourish for eight hundred years.

To destroy the 'Distortion of All Qi' and establish a Spiritual Aura beneficial to the righteous path, like 'Profound Peace and Harmony' or 'Auspicious Sighting of a Dragon Flock,'...

...was not something Lower Cultivators could achieve just by striving hard. It still depended on whether the Elder Ancestors could suppress the Blood Demon Elder Ancestor.

The Cultivator surnamed Xu changed the subject, asking with a smile:

"Junior Sister Zhou, that person you just rescued from the wicked Demon of the Illustrious Cult—does she have any special destiny? Could she be brought into the Thunderclap Mansion to strengthen the righteous path?"

The woman in yellow nodded.

"This woman ascended from a lower world. Her physical body shattered the void and passed through the world's embryonic membrane, where it was irrigated by a wisp of the purest, most essential Spiritual Energy. You could call her a 'little Immortal seedling'."

A look of joy appeared on the face of the Cultivator surnamed Xu.

"One so favored by the Celestial Lord, her destiny touched by the extraordinary, is perfectly suited to join our righteous path!"

...

...

'The righteous path uses Fate Shuzi as 'human pillars' to establish a Spiritual Aura suitable for their cultivation…'

Jiang Yi awoke from his meditative state. He habitually pinched a cluster of Ding Fire flames into existence and activated the mysteries of Illuminating the Dark and the Light.

The situations for Si Jiancan, Yan Fei, Xu Zhu, and the others hadn't changed much; they were each struggling in their own ways.

Only Yao Yun was different. After being taken to the Thunderclap Mansion, she had actually been accepted into the Sect and granted a Qi Cultivation technique.

'That makes sense. The world's Spiritual Aura is the 'Distortion of All Qi'. The five turbidities are like a tide sweeping the world, greatly benefiting Blood Qi and Yin Fiend.

For those who cultivate Thunder Techniques and Clear Qi, the difficulty of every breakthrough has probably multiplied.

Without 'human pillars' to alter the Spiritual Aura, the foundations of their Sects would have long since crumbled.'

Through the mysteries of Illuminating the Dark and the Light, Jiang Yi could not only spy on Yao Yun's situation but also perceive her innermost thoughts and even exert a subtle influence.

'The woman who brought Yao Yun into the Thunderclap Mansion is named Zhou Youting. She is a famous fairy of the Northern Realm, quite well-known.

Through some discreet inquiries, Yao Yun has also gradually come to understand the state of the righteous path. Besides searching for Fate Shuzi to use as 'human pillars', they also absorb them to study their Techniques.

These righteous sects also create Fate Shuzi through various means... not much different from the few Inner Sects of Beimang Ridge.'

Jiang Yi's gaze swept over the information, and he understood. It was nothing more than finding some "talent," making them suffer a great calamity—be it shouldering a blood feud, losing a loved one and having their heart turn to ash, or attaining enlightenment by killing their wife to sever worldly ties...

Then, they would grant them a stroke of Immortal fortune, enlighten them, and guide them to the righteous path.

It was much like when Jiang Yi sought the Ziwu Fire in the mortal world. People like Yao Yun and Xiao Feibai seemed to be dragons transforming at the first sign of a storm, but in reality, their success or failure rested entirely on the whims of an Upper Cultivator.

But he was just a detached observer. For the righteous path of the Spirit Realm to manipulate destiny and guide fortune in this way was more akin to the methods of the Demon Dao on the Yanfu Vast Land.

'According to the righteous path, the world's Spiritual Aura changes once every thousand years. Previously, there was the 'Clear Sky Hanging Clouds' era, which greatly benefited Clear Qi and suppressed Blood Qi. Because of this, the righteous path flourished for several hundred years, producing countless brilliant talents.

Before that, there was the 'Celestial Ghosts in Hiding' era, where death energy surged and dense Yin Fiend filled the air…'

Jiang Yi silently mulled over this information, feeling more and more certain that more than one Daoist Monarch was using the great world of Juku Continent to carry out some kind of deduction.

'Even with the elevation from the Golden nature allowing my perspective not to be limited to that of a Lower Cultivator, the plans of Daoist Monarchs are like an antelope hanging by its horns—trackless and impossible to fathom.'

Jiang Yi could only put these speculations to the back of his mind. He had been diligently studying recently and had come to grasp about seventy or eighty percent of World Burner, a mystery derived from another Bing Fire Technique.

'Every fire technique I've learned is extraordinary. Even the most common Ding Fire technique has been elevated several times under the guidance of the Celestial Book.

With the augmentation from the 'Ten Thousand Chariots Imperial Technique Dao Foundation', its power is even greater.

To fully master this World Burner mystery, I need to offer a Foundation Establishment-level Fire Virtue Spiritual Object as a sacrifice.

The mortal world is barren and naturally lacks such things. I must enter the Spirit Realm to find one.'

Fire Virtue and the Fire Element are two different things.

'The Five Elements are Spells and techniques, but the Five Virtues are Dao Skills, a merit of heaven and earth.

Therefore, by cultivating any one of the Five Virtues to supreme Perfection, one can still attract the attention of the Golden Position.'

Such Foundation Establishment methods were things Jiang Yi should have only learned after returning to the Innate Sect and poring over its vast sea of records and scriptures.

But the grade of his Dao Foundation was among the absolute best in the Yanfu Vast Land, and he also had the Shao Yang golden nature fused with his soul, intertwined with his Life Essence.

Many hidden matters classified as "Daoist secrets" began to emerge on their own as Jiang Yi established himself in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

For instance, "Virtue and Element"!