Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

Chapter 78 – Hidden corruption

True Yin Mountain, original location of Violet Spirit Pavilion.

Two years ago, when True Yin Mountain erupted, its natural might razed Violet Spirit Pavilion in a day, the lava spewing forth for a month before stopping. Now, after two years, the area blanketed by the ash was filled with the vivid green of lush growth. The lava had reshaped the landscape around True Yin Mountain, but fortunately it was remote and had no human settlements nearby. Countless plants and animals had died though. The life in the vicinity had undergone a cleansing, reemerging stronger than ever before.

After the eruption, a new spiritual vein had formed underneath True Yin Mountain, enriching the spiritual energy around it. If no new sect claimed it, after a thousand years, there was a good chance it could give rise to a few primordial spiritual beings or new species.

Yin Hanjiang selected this place because the surroundings were remote, so even a major battle wouldn’t affect mortals. Also, though it was covered with lush plants, new animals had yet to appear after the disaster. This was the location where the least innocent lives would be harmed.

Even though his thoughts had been muddled and filled with the desire for revenge, Yin Hanjiang instinctively chose a place which would do the least harm to the mortal world.

He had watched Wenren È for so many years, so even if he didn’t understand, he had been subconsciously influenced by many ideas.

The sects here had all been threatened by Zhongli Qian, so in tacit agreement, they arrived ahead of time, checking that the demonic cultivators hadn’t set up a trap and setting up an inescapable net of their own, hoping to bring the demonic path down in one move.

The previous Great Sect War started because under Wenren È’s management, the internal strife in Xuanyuan Sect decreased. Their influence grew by the day, and since demonic methods were faster than righteous ones, in just ten years, the Xuanyuan Sect had the power to take on the entire righteous path alone, and Wenren È had become the top expert of the cultivation world, unmatched by anyone.

Thus, the righteous sects needed to curb the expansion of the demonic sects and fight over the limited spiritual energy. Also, of course, both the righteous and demonic sides had realized that only by having this war could they escape the judgment of heaven.

The last time, the righteous sects found a random excuse to declare war. A small sect had been slaughtered, everyone assumed by the demonic cultivators, so that had become the fuse to kick off the Great Sect War.

This war, however, wasn’t fate. It was Yin Hanjiang’s determination for justice.

Altar Master Yuan used to work with the righteous sects’ scum, growing his own power in the shadows, so his death unearthed many secrets. Any one of the things Yin Hanjiang discovered would be enough to make a great sect’s reputation completely collapse. Zhongli Qian well understood the importance the righteous sects and cultivation clans placed on reputation, and since Yin Hanjiang was impatient and Zhongli Qian had his own motives, he had used the Xuanyuan Sect’s name to threaten each and every sect.

Several arrays from ancient texts had been dug up, and the small mountain was blanketed with the Drunken Dream Array, the Sky Fire Array, the Ascending Firmament Array, and over a dozen others, awaiting the arrival of Xuanyuan Sect so they could massacre them all at once.

A red streak flew over the mountain first. The people waiting in hiding saw it was Yin Hanjiang and quickly gave the signal to activate the arrays.

A vast torrent of spiritual energy approached Yin Hanjiang. He made no move to avoid, stopping in the air and watching as countless cultivators emerged from hiding.

His Venerable had said that he should just focus on doing what he wanted, and not worry about anything else.

When the force that could collapse mountains and overturn seas was about to crush Yin Hanjiang’s frail body, a halberd cut through the air, severing the lines of several arrays.

Wenren È appeared behind Yin Hanjiang. He raised a hand, and the natural spiritual energy gathered by the arrays instantly fell under the control of his primordial chaos.

The cosmos was born from chaos, so all spiritual energy came from chaos and would return to chaos. After Wenren È comprehended this, all the techniques of the cultivation world were nothing more than transformations of energy to him. These arrays used secret techniques to transform the spiritual energy suffusing the human realm into weapons, so he could then use the power of chaos to return the weapons to the earth. He no longer needed to use his own power to block, leading to both sides being hurt and spiritual energy being wasted pointlessly.

A whirlpool of spiritual energy formed around him, absorbing the power of the arrays and magic weapons around him. When the righteous cultivators no longer dared to attack and were powerless to do so, with a wave of Wenren È’s sleeves, the terrifying volume of spiritual energy reversed its direction, transforming into sparks of light and falling onto True Yin Mountain as a rain suffused in spiritual energy.

When Baili Qingmiao, following Qiu Congxue, saw this scene of rejuvenation, she was moved and instantly sat cross-legged in the sky, having a moment of sudden enlightenment.

Qiu Congxue, Zhongli Qian, and Su Huai never could’ve imagined that with a war on the brink of starting, Baili Qingmiao could just have a moment of enlightenment whenever she wanted. What kind of talent did she have? She was already at the peak of Void Boundary, so when she woke up from meditation, wouldn’t she be at Mahayana?

Sensing a change in spiritual energy, Wenren È glanced toward Baili Qingmiao and finally realized. Back then, True Yin Mountain had been influenced by Baili Qingmiao and thus shown signs of erupting. Even though it was eventually brought about by Wenren È’s fight with the Pavilion Master, the ultimate trigger was Baili Qingmiao’s command over disaster.

Her duty was unleashing disaster, so wherever she went, any kind of hidden danger would be prematurely awakened. Even in the spiritual realm, what Baili Qingmiao had seen was the darkness and terror that always surrounded her.

But after she closed her eyes, the spiritual realm was peaceful, bright and dazzling, abundant with treasures.

That scene in the spiritual realm resembled the True Yin Mountain now. In both cases, Baili Qingmiao had brought about disaster, and the disaster had been followed by new life.

After awakening to the Path of Indifference, Baili Qingmiao no longer placed her gaze on a single person, but looked further and higher. When she looked at someone, she saw not a human, but the earth behind them.

The Dao was dispassionate yet held compassion, and such was the cosmos.

After the prairie fires raged, new flowers would always open trembling petals in the aftermath, greeting the new land in a new form.

For millions of years, the three realms had existed like this, destruction being followed by rebirth in turns, the cycle repeating without end.

In her meditation, Baili Qingmiao seemed to hear someone speak incessantly by her ear. She didn’t remember their words, but she faintly remembered there was something she had never been able to say.

“You’re incorrect,” Baili Qingmiao muttered in her trance. Only Su Huai, laying out a chair near her, heard.

What? Su Huai leaned close to his master, hearing her say, “If a god of heaven were to place their sight on a single species, then they would not be worthy of being a god.”

As she spoke, Hè Wenzhao was tossed at Yin Hanjiang like a dead dog, whom he caught in one hand. Yin Hanjiang looked around, his gaze finally falling on the Shangqing Sect Master, throwing Hè Wenzhao at his feet.

“Since you’ve completed your oath, I’m returning your disciple to you,” the red-robed man said coldly.

“Wenzhao!” The Sect Master threw himself at Hè Wenzhao. He saw that he was covered with talismans and unconscious. Seemingly even his soul had been sealed away.

“Yin Hanjiang,” the Sect Master said furiously, “On that day, I led the attack on the Blood Demon. The Shangqing Sect has ancient records that say, when a blood demon appears, all life in the mortal realm will perish, so he must be eradicated at all costs. Now that Wenren È has survived, I’m willing to give my life in order to slay the Blood Demon! But none of this has anything to do with my disciple. If you have a grudge, then take it up with me! Why harm an innocent?”

With Wenren È’s appearance today, everyone knew they had failed to eliminate the Blood Demon. Somehow, he had gotten more powerful in the Blood Hell, breaking their painstakingly set arrays in one move. Many people wanted to flee at that moment, but their paths were blocked by the members of Xuanyuan Sect, and many people also prepared to fight to the death against the Blood Demon.

The new abbot of Wuxiang Temple placed his palms together, saying to Yin Hanjiang, “Benefactor Yin, a blood demon is like no other cultivator. If you are determined to shelter him, then even if we’re to give up our mortal bodies, we must prevent you from making a grave mistake.”

“Shelter him? Hahahaha!” Within the spiritual rain, the red-robed man burst into laughter. His eyes were filled with contempt, as if he saw the righteous sect experts before him as no more than a herd of silly sheep.

With a sweep of his sleeves, Yin Hanjiang appeared before Wenren È. “Today, if you’re determined to kill the Blood Demon, I certainly won’t stand in your way. But as for who truly is the Blood Demon, we need to clarify matters.”

As he spoke, Yin Hanjiang’s fingers flew through hand seals. The talismans of the Ziwu Soul Locking Array on Hè Wenzhao’s body faded, the power sealing him growing weaker and weaker.

Over this past month, the Ziwu Soul Locking Array had been steadily draining at the Blood Demon’s soul. In order to survive, the Blood Demon would’ve had to expend his spiritual essence to fend off the corrosion. By now, the spiritual essence he’d absorbed from those seventeen experts should all be used up.

At the moment before the array lifted, Yin Hanjiang summoned the Burning Sky Drum, which began to sound in the sky. The cultivators prepared themselves to defend or attack Yin Hanjiang in order to stop him from casting his techniques, but after a few beats, they realized that the drum’s sound wasn’t targeting them.

The pressure of its sound waves were all focused on Hè Wenzhao.

The sound of the Burning Sky Drum had the power to awaken someone’s demonic nature. Yin Hanjiang had experienced this heavily. Now he wanted to see whether the Blood Demon, who was so steeped in dark impulses, could withstand it.

The Blood Demon and Hè Wenzhao regained consciousness simultaneously. The past month had been hard on them. Hè Wenzhao had been protected by his divine nature and the power of primordial lightning, so could resist the array for some time, but the Blood Demon was vulnerable to it. By the last few days, he had long expended the spiritual essence he previously absorbed and held out by secretly consuming Hè Wenzhao’s primordial essence and divine power.

Hè Wenzhao didn’t know it was the Blood Demon absorbing his essence, and just assumed it was the array.

Now, finally, the array had been lifted, and when Hè Wenzhao opened his eyes, he saw his master before him. Joy rose in his heart. Had his master come to rescue him?

And the Blood Demon was hungry, starving, as if he hadn’t eaten for a hundred thousand years, his soul parched without the nourishment of spiritual energy. He felt as though if he didn’t eat a few people, he wouldn’t survive.

Underneath the pounding of the drum, the Blood Demon was brought back to ten thousand years ago, when he was attacked by the entire cultivation world. So many people flashing about before his eyes, attacking him like they wanted to throw their lives away. When he ran out of spiritual essence, he could randomly grab one of them to consume and use the power he replenished to continue fighting. Countless died in that battle, and the Blood Demon, drunk on slaughter, laughed madly as he watched the cultivators fall one after another.

He was hungry, so hungry, enduring as a wisp of a soul for ten thousand years. After he had finally consumed a few more cultivators, all of that spiritual essence was lost. He desperately needed to replenish his spiritual essence.

His rationality told him that before he had fully subjugated Hè Wenzhao, and without knowing the current situation, he needed to endure. After figuring out what was going on, he could find an opportunity to act.

But if rationality could suppress demonic nature, then Yin Hanjiang wouldn’t have been so tormented by inner demons, unable to free himself.

Only those who had experienced this madness could understand it, so only Yin Hanjiang could awaken it.

The Blood Demon shook his head, seeing the Shangqing Sect Master through Hè Wenzhao’s eyes. Hè Wenzhao had dragged his battered body toward the Sect Master, who supported him upright.

The moment Hè Wenzhao’s hand touched him, the Blood Demon felt the overflowing energy beneath his skin.

At that moment, his dark urges were impossible to resist. In an instant, he took over Hè Wenzhao’s body, and with a slight effort, blood mist enveloped the Sect Master while his guard was down.

The Sect Master let out a scream as his body began to dissolve into blood. He watched helplessly as a heartless smile appeared on his disciple’s face, as he ripped off his leg which had already dissolved and began absorbing his soul.

Fortunately, the new abbot of Wuxiang Temple reacted quickly, thrusting his staff at the Sect Master and separating him from Hè Wenzhao, and forcing back the blood mist with Buddha power, saving the Sect Master’s life.

However, half of the Sect Master’s spiritual essence had been absorbed by the Blood Demon, his own disciple. Staring at Hè Wenzhao uncomprehendingly, he asked, “Wenzhao?”

Yin Hanjiang raised his voice. “You say my Venerable is a Blood Demon, but who’s personally seen him killing cultivators? You say this Lord is sheltering the Blood Demon, but this Lord wants to ask the Shangqing Sect Master, exactly what is Hè Wenzhao?”

While the righteous cultivators were too shocked to act, Yin Hanjiang clapped his hands, and his subordinates tossed out the scum of the righteous sects. They had been tormented by Altar Master Miao for a month and had lost any will to fight.

Yin Hanjiang kicked one of them in the chin and said, “Tell them what you did!”

“I—I’m a disciple of Biluo Valley. We cultivate by signing contracts with resentful ghosts—we help them fulfil their lingering regrets and they serve us for a few years. I wanted a more powerful resentful ghost in order to show up the other disciples, so I pretended to be a demonic cultivator and killed a bunch of people, and tortured a woman for a few months before killing her, then showed up and told her the culprit was Xuanyuan Sect, getting her to sign a contract in exchange for revenge. I—I even forced her to eat her family’s souls in order to become the most powerful ghost,” that disciple said, sobbing with a battered face.

Yin Hanjiang kicked another one. “And you?”

“I—I’m from Nanguo clan, I…”

One righteous cultivator after another was brought forward, confessing what evil deeds they had pushed onto the Xuanyuan Sect. Even Qiu Congxue couldn’t stand to listen in the end and shattered the Bilou Valley disciple’s skull with a kick, saying, “You’ll do the deed but you won’t admit it! Worthless!”

The Biluo disciple’s body was dead, but his spirit lingered in the air, yelling, “It wasn’t just me who did it, my sect’s strongest resentful ghost was created using evil techniques!”

After his words, several other people, at Yin Hanjiang’s hinting, also yelled out what their sects had done, such as how Tianjian Sect had forged their immortal blades, how the Gongxi clan had unleashed plagues of locusts onto the populace because of a feud with the Liangqiu clan, and various other matters, revealing that not a single person present this day was innocent.

It wasn’t that the sects had never done anything good, but there were too many members and too many connections, and there would always be people willing to do evil for power or fame. It was as if a sheet of white paper was stained by dots of ink, and they could no longer stand up for themselves.

“Shangqing, Biluo, Jiuxing, Tianjian, Wuxiang, Nanguo, Gongxi, Zhongli, Liangqiu… the great righteous sects and four cultivation clans have a thousand years of heritage, following the path of heaven and preserving mortal lives. This is how you preserve mortal lives? Such righteousness! Such value in sentient lives! What a breeding ground of hidden corruption!” Yin Hanjiang said.