Jiang Li truly wanted to laugh. When had he ever cultivated the Demonic Path? The Demonic Path was a primary target for the Human Emperor Palace.
Anyone who dared to cultivate the Demonic Path had to be prepared to make an enemy of the entire cultivation world.
There were many paths to immortality, several dozen in fact, such as the Body Tempering Dao which honed the physical body, the Gu Dao which raised Gu worms within one's own body, the Qi Refining Dao which refined qi into essence, the Talisman Dao of worldly sigils and formations, and so on.
But there was one path, and one path only, that was forbidden by the cultivation world. That was the Demonic Path, where one person ascended at the expense of all others. The Demonic Path preached a philosophy of no taboos and using any means necessary.
It nurtured a single person with the lives of the masses. It did not matter how many people died, so long as one could survive and grow stronger. It could be said that back when the path to ascension still existed, the Nine Provinces Continent was not so hostile towards the Demonic Path.
After all, even if one cultivated the Demonic Path to its peak, it still ended in ascension, which was within the continent's range of tolerance.
But after the path to ascension was severed, those of the Demonic Path began to think of a blood sacrifice of the Nine Provinces, using all the living beings of the Nine Provinces to nurture a single Immortal, who might then be able to ascend.
They even went so far as to create a tragic case where an entire Imperial Dynasty was left without a single survivor. In light of this, the cultivators of the Nine Provinces Continent reached an unwritten rule: cultivators of the Demonic Path were to be hunted and killed by all.
"You are not surprised?"
"Without proof or evidence, naturally I am not surprised."
"Of course there is evidence. Have you not heard of a legend, its truth unknown, that before Human Emperor Jiang became the Human Emperor, he disregarded the consequences and fought an Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, resulting in the death of an entire city's population, with not a single person left alive?
Furthermore, the number of infants stolen by the Jiang Family has long surpassed one hundred. What could the Jiang Family possibly want with so many infants? It must be for a blood sacrifice of infants, using form to supplement form, to help someone shatter the core to form the infant.
This is a complete and utter Demonic Path method. How could Human Emperor Jiang not know of this?"
"With Human Emperor Jiang's means, helping someone achieve Nascent Soul is exceedingly simple. Yet, he does not stop the Jiang Family from using Demonic Path methods. This shows that not only is he indulging the Jiang Family, but he himself is likely a person of the Demonic Path. Only someone of the Demonic Path would ignore other methods of achieving Nascent Soul and allow their own family to use such extreme Demonic Path methods!"
"Senior Zhang, if my deductions are true, and the contemporary Human Emperor is a person of the Demonic Path, then the Nine Provinces Continent will face a great calamity! I implore Senior Zhang to inform your esteemed Sect Master of this matter!"
Having said his piece, Yuan Wuxing was about to kneel down to plead with Jiang Li, but he found himself being held up by what felt like a pair of large hands, unable to kneel no matter how he tried.
"Senior Zhang..."
Yuan Wuxing wanted to say more, but he saw Jiang Li, his face grim, rise and walk out of the house. Jiang Li's aura was terrifying, as if he were on the very edge of fury. Yuan Wuxing swallowed hard and said no more.
No matter what bad things Yuan Wuxing said about the Human Emperor, such as Human Emperor Jiang secretly helping the Jiang Family, or Human Emperor Jiang secretly cultivating the Demonic Path, Jiang Li would just smile faintly, unconcerned, treating it as a bit of amusement. He knew he had never done those things.
But Yuan Wuxing's speculation that the Jiang Family was performing a blood sacrifice of infants was different, because Jiang Li knew this was very likely true! Otherwise, it was difficult to explain why the Jiang Family would need so many infants!
The Human Emperor Palace was the number one power in the Nine Provinces Continent opposing the cultivation of the Demonic Path, yet the Jiang Family was very likely using his name to cultivate it! Jiang Li was overcome with rage. With himself at the center, his divine sense spread out for hundreds of miles.
He had a clear view of the situation in several cities, including Green City, yet he found nothing. Finding nothing was, in itself, the problem. He found no trace of a blood sacrifice of infants, but he also found no trace of the missing infants.
Jiang Li also specifically swept his divine sense over the Jiang Family Grand Residence. The Jiang Family was still conducting their ancestor worship, just as he had seen before. There were no changes, nor were there any places like basements or secret passages.
For this to be the case, either everything Yuan Wuxing said was wrong, or someone had hidden the infants in another space. There were two ways to use space on the Nine Provinces Continent.
One was to use a storage ring as a medium, allowing one to enter the space at any time, but such spaces could not contain living beings. The other was to find a spatial node. This spatial node was immovable but could contain living beings.
Secret Realms were created in this way. The location of a spatial node was extremely well hidden. If one was not entering or exiting the space, it was fundamentally impossible to discover from the outside.
"Do you have any concrete evidence for what you've said? For example, did you use a Shadow-Retaining Sphere to record the conversation between the Jiang Family Head and the City Lord?"
Yuan Wuxing saw Jiang Li walk back into the house, his expression having returned to the same calmness as before, completely devoid of the gloominess he had when he first stepped out.
"No. Using a Shadow-Retaining Sphere at that time would have created a magical power fluctuation that would not have escaped the notice of the Nascent Soul stage City Lord. As for other evidence... there is none."
Yuan Wuxing seemed a bit dejected as he said this, but he quickly added, "The frequency of the Jiang Family's ancestor worship is similar to the frequency of the infants disappearing. I suspect that the Jiang Family is only performing ancestor worship on the surface, but in reality, they are performing a blood sacrifice of infants.
However, the security during their ancestor worship is far too strict. I tried for several years and could never get in."
"The Jiang Family is performing ancestor worship right now. Senior, you could try..."
Jiang Li shook his head.
"I have already been to the Jiang Family, and there was nothing abnormal... hmm?"
The corners of Jiang Li's mouth curled up slightly, as if in delight at finding a clue, but also like a cold sneer.
"And just as we were talking, I found something."
Jiang Li's divine sense had not been withdrawn; it had been blanketing the area for a hundred miles around. ... Beneath a large tree in the outskirts of Green City, space distorted, and a hemp-robed elder walked out. The hemp-robed elder cautiously observed his surroundings.
After confirming that no one was around, he rose and flew towards the Jiang Family Ancestral Hall. ... Jiang Li did not follow the hemp-robed elder to the Jiang Family. Instead, he pulled Yuan Wuxing to that spatial node in the outskirts of Green City.
With a light tap, ripples spread through space, eventually forming a stable Gate of Space. This space was very small, only the size of a cave. The moment they entered, the pungent smell of blood assaulted them, making Yuan Wuxing cough.
Once Yuan Wuxing had somewhat adjusted to the smell of blood, he was stunned by the sight before him. Hundreds of skeletons, each less than the length of a forearm, were piled on both sides of the cave, as if they had been casually tossed aside.
Skulls were detached from spines, hand bones and leg bones separated from torsos, all in a great, messy heap. At the end of the path was a sacrificial altar stained red with blood. Upon the altar lay a dozen intact infant corpses.
Wisps of blood qi were diffusing from the skeletons into the air, and flesh and blood were dissipating at a rate visible to the naked eye, adding another layer of richness to the nauseating, bloody stench. In just a short while, the white of bone could be seen at their fingertips. Yuan Wuxing could not bear it.
He stumbled to the wall and leaned against it, dry-heaving once more. But he failed to brace himself properly against the wall, and with a slip of his hand, he fell into the pile of skeletons. He did not have the strength to get up.
Instead, he lay in the pile of bones, vomiting and crying loudly, "Beasts! These beasts of the Jiang Family! How could they bring themselves to do this?
Don't they have children of their own!" Jiang Li was silent, but his expression was frighteningly cold. Jiang Li had not followed the hemp-robed elder.
He knew the man could not escape. He had come here to see if there was any possibility of saving a few lives. Now, it seemed, not a single one could be saved.
The righteous and peaceful Rebirth Mantra echoed within the small space. What was originally a low, fast-spoken, unintelligible chant gradually became loud and clear. The final few syllables shook the space until it began to tremble, pebbles falling from above as if it might collapse at any moment.
"Se... Senior Zhang."
Yuan Wuxing stared at the enraged Jiang Li, dumbfounded. To be able to shake a space to the brink of collapse with just the sound of one's voice was clearly not something a Nascent Soul stage cultivator could do. Jiang Li turned his head to look at the middle-aged man with red-rimmed eyes.
He revealed his stark white teeth in a smile and said, "Let's go pay the Jiang Family a visit."