Emperor Zhou, Ji Zhi, sighed in his heart. He naturally knew where the story of slaughtering the people of an entire city came from. At that time, an Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon was defeated and unleashed the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Great Art, transforming into a hundred thousand avatars.
The entire city was enveloped, and the contaminated people, regardless of their cultivation, would fall prey to their inner demons, lose their sanity, and bite anyone they saw. Those who were bitten became new sources of contamination, spreading it to others. Even Integration Stage cultivators could not escape.
If these people were not killed immediately, the entire Nine Provinces would be contaminated. However, the karmic force involved was too great, and if word got out, it would tarnish one's reputation. Therefore, the several Human Emperor candidates were unwilling to act.
Only Jiang Li acted without hesitation, killing on sight without delay. In the end, he even killed the infected Integration Stage cultivator, and only then was the spread of the contamination stopped. At that time, Jiang Li had said that a solution had not yet been found, and letting the news spread would only cause more panic.
"Just say that I accidentally injured the innocent while battling the Heavenly Demon."
After that, no one dared to call themselves a Human Emperor candidate in front of Jiang Li. Jiang Li casually tossed the man aside and said to the prostrating Jiang Clan Leader: "Jiang Clan Leader, I know your intention in inciting the crowd.
It's nothing more than thinking that I value the people's wishes, wanting to use their thoughts to coerce me, to force me to allow the Jiang Family to join the Human Emperor Palace."
"The Human Emperor Palace has a transcendent status with many privileges. The case of Jiang Yixing cultivating the Demonic Path would naturally fall under its jurisdiction. You then repeatedly emphasize Jiang Yixing's innocence and repentance, reminiscing about his childhood. Isn't this all just to make me raise my hand high and let it fall lightly, to let the Jiang Family off the hook?"
"Jiang Clan Leader, do you really think I care about the people's thoughts?"
Jiang Li paid no more mind to the Jiang Clan Leader's reaction or the crowd's thoughts. He turned his head to Emperor Zhou, Ji Zhi, and said, "Brother Ji, regarding the case of Jiang Yixing cultivating the Demonic Path, try it as it should be tried, and sentence him as he should be sentenced. You don't need to consider me."
"What a pity. I was originally hoping you would plead for mercy and ask me to let the Jiang Family off the hook. Then I could have taken the opportunity to have a battle with you!"
After speaking, the two looked at each other and laughed heartily. Yuan Wuxing had an epiphany, sweeping away his timidity. Silently and without a trace, he shattered his core to form a Nascent Soul.
The Nascent Soul was revealed in exquisite detail, of the highest possible grade. ... With Emperor Zhou and the Human Emperor presiding, the case progressed rapidly. Emperor Zhou even used a Shadow-Retaining Sphere, in conjunction with Time Tracing, to arrest all involved parties one by one.
The Jiang Family, with the exception of a few uninformed members, were all thrown into the great prison, to be executed after autumn. Of those who had served as the Green City Lord, only two were unaware of the Jiang Family's affairs. The other former City Lords were thrown into the great prison, to be executed after autumn.
Jiang Yixing was thrown into the Heavenly Prison and sentenced to the punishment of having his body and soul extinguished. The two princes, for the crime of harboring a criminal—a crime made even more severe due to their special status—were thrown into the great prison, to be confined for a hundred years without the possibility of sentence reduction or parole.
Emperor Zhou took this opportunity to launch a strict investigation into corruption and sheltering, throwing the officialdom of Great Zhou into turmoil. The Heavenly Prison was dark and damp, with a Ten Directions Spirit Severing Great Array infused into its very foundation, causing the Spiritual Qi to be thin and Spiritual Insight to be obscure.
This prevented the cultivators imprisoned here from cultivating and breaking through. If one were to spend their whole life in this place, they probably couldn't even achieve Qi Induction into the Body, let alone the subsequent stages of Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation. Only two types of people were imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison.
One type was those of profound cultivation; these individuals would first have silver needles used to lock their Eight Extraordinary Meridians and the Seven Apertures of their Divine Soul, rendering them unable to cultivate.
The other type was the heinous and utterly vicious; although their cultivation was not high, they possessed a fierce ruthlessness and would easily cause trouble if imprisoned elsewhere. In the Heavenly Prison, neither of these two types of people submitted to the other.
The former usually looked down on everyone, viewing all living beings as insects, and despised those who committed crimes out of sheer ruthlessness. The latter feared neither heaven nor earth.
"I don't care how high your cultivation was before, now that you're here, aren't you just a mortal like me?"
Therefore, the sounds of clamor and curses never ceased in the Heavenly Prison. But today was different. These two types of people no longer cursed at each other.
Instead, they sat cross-legged, quiet and obedient, not daring to cause any trouble.
"Human Emperor Jiang is truly imposing. Just by sitting here without a word, you can suppress this bunch of prisoners."
Jiang Yixing chuckled as he looked at Jiang Li, his aged body causing him to cough incessantly after just a few laughs. To an uninformed observer, the two people sitting opposite each other would look like a grandson and his grandfather, rather than cousins only a year apart in age.
Jiang Yixing killed several hundred infants and cultivated the Demonic Path. Fulfilling just one of these conditions was enough to be imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, let alone Jiang Yixing, who had done both.
"You should be glad this is Great Zhou. If we were in any other Imperial Dynasty, I would have killed you right at the Jiang Family, regardless of what the law stipulates!"
Jiang Li said, his face showing his displeasure. Jiang Yixing sneered, "The Mahayana Stage is truly extraordinary. Not like me, with my ordinary talent, no Heavenly Spiritual Root, and no Immeasurable Dao Body.
Without resorting to clever means, I would have died at the Foundation Establishment Stage and been stuck there my whole life."
"Stop playing dumb. When I first started cultivating, my Heavenly Spiritual Root was self-obscured and my Immeasurable Dao Body was blocked. To the outside world, I was just the worst kind of Five Elements Waste Body. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been bullied by you. To have cultivated to the Mahayana Stage, I've faced more life-and-death crises than even I can count."
"Even I don't bully the weak, yet you do the exact opposite, slaughtering infants. You are truly devoid of all humanity!"
Jiang Yixing snorted coldly and said no more. What he had just said were only words spoken in a fit of anger.
"I only have one question. You haven't returned home in five hundred years, so why did you suddenly decide to come back and visit a few days ago? If you hadn't returned, no one would have ever discovered me!"
As Jiang Yixing spoke, a resentful expression appeared, the wrinkles on his face trembling. If Jiang Li had not returned, he could have secretly controlled all of Green City, borrowing another's might to act tyrannically.
When the time came, he would have found an opportunity to break through to the Spirit Transformation stage, and he would have been content to live for a thousand years. You could have been your Human Emperor, and I would have been my uncrowned king of Green City. We could have all lived in peace, wouldn't that have been perfect?
Why did you have to come back?
"I felt something in my heart and wanted to come have a look. It's hard to explain clearly."
Jiang Li had originally thought about explaining what a "System" was to Jiang Yixing, but he realized it would be difficult for even him to explain it clearly. So he decided against it and attributed it all to Spiritual Insight.
"The ways of Heaven are constant. Perhaps even Heaven itself could no longer stand my actions and sent you to punish me."
Jiang Yixing mumbled, not surprised by this answer. Jiang Yixing had long anticipated this answer, but as long as Jiang Li didn't say it, he couldn't be certain if his thoughts were correct. It always felt like a stone was weighing on his chest.
Now that Jiang Li had given the answer, the great stone was moved aside. His entire demeanor changed from listless to bright, as if he was now prepared to face death.
"I've finished asking my questions. Now it's your turn."
"You knew I had questions?"
Jiang Li was somewhat surprised.
"One doesn't visit a temple for no reason. If you were only here to see me off on my final journey, I would have happily thanked you."
Jiang Li didn't stand on ceremony and asked directly, "Where did you get the method for the infant blood sacrifice, and where did you learn that the Power of Faith could wear away the infants' Resentment Qi?" Jiang Yixing looked up at the damp ceiling of the cell, remaining silent.
He seemed to be in a daze, or perhaps he was organizing his thoughts.
"It was about three hundred and eighty years ago. A man in black appeared before me and, with a casual point of his finger, raised my cultivation from the Foundation Establishment Stage to the Golden Core Stage. At that time, my heavenly lifespan was nearing its end, yet I was struggling, stuck in the mid-Foundation Establishment Stage, able to do nothing but wait for death. But the man in black allowed me to live for another hundred years. Naturally, I thanked him profusely."
"He then told me about the method of infant blood sacrifice. Having been brought back from the brink of death, I desired to live more than anyone else and was greatly tempted by the blood sacrifice method. But I was also worried that the infants' Resentment Qi would expose my cultivation of the Demonic Path."
"The man in black saw my hesitation and told me that the Power of Faith could eliminate the Resentment Qi. Then he vanished, and I have never seen him since."
Jiang Li thought to himself, if he had relied on the Power of Faith, then the exposure of Jiang Yixing's affair would have had an enormous impact on him. Was this a conspiracy aimed at him, or was it simply a matter of spreading the Demonic Path?
But three hundred and eighty years ago, he was just a Human Emperor candidate. Could it be that the man in black had left a hidden trap for every Human Emperor candidate? As Jiang Li pondered this, his figure vanished, drifting away to some unknown place.
Jiang Yixing gazed out the small, barred window at the blue sky and the birds in flight, covered his face, and wept. Even if I've come to terms with it, in the end, I'm still afraid of death...
(End of this chapter)