Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 2284 - 1611: Darkness

Li Zhirui naturally had no intention of choosing to leave directly; otherwise, wouldn’t this trip have been for nothing? Then he’d still have to go somewhere else afterward.

He had already wasted quite a bit of time in Guangzhou, and he really didn’t want to keep pouring time into this anymore.

As for whether to resolve the pollution in the Spiritual Energy, or to purify Lands of Evil, he still hadn’t made a decision.

After all, Li Zhirui himself wasn’t clear on how the Spiritual Energy had become polluted, nor did he know how difficult it would be to resolve this matter. If it proved too difficult, beyond his capabilities, he wouldn’t act tough—there was no need to work too hard for something that had nothing to do with him.

Anyway, places where he could resolve his karmic entanglements weren’t limited to just Cloud Continent.

With this mindset, he carried out a serious investigation, wanting to figure out what was causing the Spiritual Energy to be polluted.

Li Zhirui started his investigation with the Cultivators, because they were living beings he could converse and question in detail. Logically speaking, he should be able to obtain quite a few useful clues from them.

Yet when he grabbed a few Cultivators and asked whether they knew the Spiritual Energy had been polluted, confusion actually appeared on their faces.

"None of you noticed anything wrong?"

If it were only the first one or two who didn’t know, he could still understand. But it was five or six Cultivators in a row, and among them were High-level Cultivators like Earth Immortals.

Yet all of their reactions were the same—utterly confused, doubtful expressions, as though they couldn’t understand what he was talking about at all.

Li Zhirui released the Earth Immortal he’d grabbed at random, ignoring the man as he fled in terror, scrambling madly to escape. Zhirui just stood where he was, deep in thought, turning the matter over in his mind.

Because this situation was simply too bizarre!

As Earth Immortal Cultivators, for them to have failed to notice such a huge problem lurking within the Spiritual Energy was a bit too absurd.

And it was precisely this strangeness that suddenly made Li Zhirui feel that this might not be some abrupt change in Heaven and Earth at all, but something being controlled by someone behind the scenes!

It was even possible that all of this was the handiwork of a hidden mastermind!

And for someone to possess such methods, looking across all of Cloud Continent, it was probably only those few Mystic Immortal Cultivators standing at the very apex of all living beings.

But why would they do this?

There had to be enormous benefits behind this; otherwise, no one would be willing to commit such a sin—offending Heaven and Earth, shouldering an immense burden of Karmic Force.

Realizing that the matter was not as simple as he’d imagined, Li Zhirui decisively put away his curiosity, ceasing to probe into the cause of it, and even more so abandoning any thought of solving this affair.

He planned to purify a few Lands of Evil, settle the karmic entanglements between himself and the Sect, and then depart Cloud Continent immediately.

Unfortunately, when the tree wishes for calm, the wind will not cease!

Li Zhirui’s earlier actions had already drawn the attention of someone with an agenda.

What he didn’t know was that the moment he began investigating the polluted Spiritual Energy, met the first Cultivator, and asked whether the man knew of this matter, he had already been discovered by the person behind the scenes and marked as a key target.

After that he repeatedly triggered alarms one after another; it would be hard not to be noticed.

Most crucially, he himself was a Mystic Immortal Cultivator!

This was practically like a bright ray of light cutting through the darkness of night, extremely conspicuous—almost impossible not to be discovered.

Meanwhile, Li Zhirui was still feeling pleased at having found his first Land of Evil, completely unaware that he had already stepped into danger.

Especially after he completely purified this place and discovered that the Merit he obtained was almost no different from purifying a Land of Evil in Guangzhou, he became all the more delighted.

"Didn’t expect such a pleasant surprise." The corners of Li Zhirui’s mouth lifted slightly; he looked to be in quite a good mood.

If all the Lands of Evil within Cloud Continent were like this, then he would only need to purify one more to completely dissolve his personal karmic entanglements.

After that, if he purified three more Lands of Evil, the Sect’s karmic entanglements should be nearly gone as well.

If everything went smoothly, then in just a few days he could wrap this up and return to Ascension Mountain in Mingzhou.

Unfortunately, matters were not as simple as he imagined.

...

Cloud Continent, in a hidden place where not a single ray of light existed, completely devoured by darkness.

"Have you found out the identity of that Mystic Immortal Cultivator who suddenly appeared?" Suddenly, an aged voice sounded.

Just from the voice alone, that aura of old age and decay could not be concealed in the slightest!

Someone immediately responded, their tone carrying a trace of respect: "The other party seems to have undergone a certain degree of disguise; among the Mystic Immortal Cultivators in the surrounding continents, there isn’t a single one who matches him."

"But based on the fact that this person has acted to purify a Land of Evil, he should be either the Supreme Elder Jing Yue of Guangzhou’s Taiyin Bright Moon Palace, or the Sect Leader of Mingzhou’s Tongtian Sect—the latter is more likely."

"Tongtian Sect? That name sounds somewhat familiar; I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before." A third person spoke up, asking.

"A Sect that was buried in old records long ago; nowadays many people probably haven’t even heard of it. But in the ancient era, Tongtian Sect could be said to be the most powerful force in the Tao Spirit Realm!"

That aged voice slowly said, "I just don’t know whether this Tongtian Sect is a continuation of that earlier lineage, or merely a coincidence among later generations."

However, it seemed that voicing this thought had exhausted him significantly; by the end, there was actually a sense of shortness of breath and waning strength in his tone.

"There isn’t much information about Tongtian Sect. All we know is that it suddenly appeared in Mingzhou, and had a Mystic Immortal right from the start. Yet in just the last few thousand years, it has grown from a newly established force into what it is now—a Sect that possesses several Heavenly Immortals." The Cultivator who spoke second only recited the intelligence he’d gathered, without offering any judgment.