Bai Hongtu stared at Jiang Li in disbelief.
“You… are you even human? You’re basically Heaven’s firstborn son!”
He had actually been worried — what if a Heavenly Immortal‑level Heavenly Demon appeared?
What then?
But seeing Jiang Li’s current strength, he realized Jiang Li could even defeat one! Earlier, Jiang Li had looked as though he were going off to die, and Bai Hongtu thought he had already prepared himself for mortal sacrifice. How foolish of him.
He spat to the side.
“He—tui! Waste of emotion!”
Jiang Li turned to him.
“If a Heavenly Immortal‑level Heavenly Demon had already arrived on the Nine Provinces three hundred and eighty years ago and had been acting in secret all this time, what would you think?”
Old Immortal Changcun looked astonished.
“You were already only at the Union Stage back then, yet you were able to threaten a Heavenly Immortal‑level Heavenly Demon? …Fine, fine, don’t look at me like that. I really don’t know the reason. After all, I am merely a small Earthly Immortal, not some all‑knowing being.”
Seeing that Old Immortal Changcun truly had no answer, Jiang Li remembered the tragic death of the Dao Ancestor and asked again, “Has nothing really gone wrong in the Immortal Realm? Otherwise, how could the Heavenly Demons find the Nine Provinces while the Immortal Realm cannot?
And the Dao Ancestor said, within the stone stele, that the Immortal Realm was in great chaos…”
“You’d better not hope for the Immortal Realm to come save the Nine Provinces.”
Old Immortal Changcun’s face darkened.
“Why do you think I came back to the Nine Provinces instead of staying in that Immortal Realm full of immortal power?”
“The immortals are cold and apathetic beings. After living for so long, they’ve lost even the traces of humanity. They only care about the Immortal Realm itself, never about the fate of other worlds. I despise that kind of Immortal Realm.”
“As for what my Master said about the upheaval in the Immortal Realm, it probably wasn’t due to the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons invading. You see, the stele didn’t mention those demons at all. I believe the great figures of the Immortal Realm probably started fighting among themselves. My Master took the wrong side and was expelled, only to run into the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons later.”
When he spoke of this, Old Immortal Changcun’s face filled with bitterness. If his Master had been like him—returning to the Nine Provinces to grow old peacefully—none of this would have happened.
“There are internal struggles even in the Immortal Realm?”
Jiang Li asked.
“Of course!”
Old Immortal Changcun snorted.
“The number of infightings there surpasses your imagination. One reason you’ve seen yourself—Red Dust Fairy.”
At the mention of that name, an impulse stirred within him again, and Jiang Li had to press him down.
“Other than that, there are disputes over Dao lineages, over influence, over worldly power… They don’t fear inner strife because the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons can’t threaten them.”
“It’s only that the Nine Provinces has become somewhat united right now.”
Old Immortal Changcun’s eyes turned distant, recalling the past. He said with frustration, “Before the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Ladder disappeared, with the Immortal Realm as a backing, the Nine Provinces experienced only a few fewer internal conflicts than the Immortal Realm itself.
Now, it’s because there are Heavenly Demons and you have the Human Emperor Palace that everyone dares not fight internally.” He sighed and added, “I originally didn’t want to tell you this. Knowing it changes nothing.
Not knowing might even be better—you could still hope the Immortal Realm would come to save the Nine Provinces.”
“What exactly are the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons? Even an Earthly Immortal‑level Heavenly Demon seems to have no reason—how could such a being cultivate to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage?”
Jiang Li asked again.
“Their cultivation system is completely different from ours,” Old Immortal Changcun explained.
“They don’t draw from spiritual or immortal energy. Their power comes from feeding on negative emotions like anger, dread, despair, anxiety. Death itself is the richest source of these emotions, so they kill to grow stronger. Some in the Immortal Realm speculate that the Heavenly Demons were born from the negative emotions of living beings—but that’s merely a speculation.”
Jiang Li frowned.
“Do you think it’s possible for killing people to actually grant one merit?”
“Killing evil‑doers, perhaps?”
“No. Killing anyone.”
“That sounds like something the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons would believe.”
“How so?”
Old Immortal Changcun shook his head.
“I only heard rumors—never saw it with my own eyes. But those who returned from the battlefields secretly told me: the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons have a god of their own. That god is said to be the one who distributes merit. Whoever believes in that god and kills others will gain merit in return.”
Bai Hongtu’s eyes widened. He couldn’t imagine that such a god could exist.
“Do you know the name of that god?”
Jiang Li stared straight into Old Immortal Changcun’s eyes. Old Immortal Changcun shook his head.
“Matters relating to this are strictly controlled in the Immortal Realm. I have no idea.”
Jiang Li nodded slightly, showing he understood. No matter if in the Nine Provinces or the Immortal Realm, a doctrine that promised you merit through killing would tempt cultivators far too much—this was nothing less than a proper Demonic Path. He chose not to tell Old Immortal Changcun about the Divine Repository Cult and Divine Repository Venerable.
For someone who possessed only immortal power, Old Immortal Changcun could easily follow the path of the Old Sumeru Buddha, killing for merit. And to sustain even one Earthly Immortal’s existence—Jiang Li dared not imagine how much merit that would require.
As long as he himself still lived, Old Immortal Changcun would not need to take action against the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons, and his immortal power would not be spent. … The Yelang Kingdom was a small, remote nation, ringed on three sides by mountains and facing a river on the fourth.
Its land was poor and its resources scarce; it interacted little with the outside world, and few ever paid attention to it. Yet one thing made it unique—its king. The king possessed extraordinary talent.
In only a few decades, without the aid of heavenly treasures or earth‑born elixirs, he had risen from the Qi Refinement Stage all the way to the Spirit Transformation Stage. The people of Yelang all knew that their king had not inherited the throne—he took it by force. This king, Zhang Han, had once been an executioner.
He was a burly man with a wide waist and fierce features. But those who truly knew him understood his temperament: despite his fearsome looks, his heart was kind. He often helped others and was beloved by his neighbors.
Gradually, people noticed that his cultivation base was increasing bit by bit. What had seemed an impossible breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Stage suddenly became reality. When they asked him how, he scratched his head and laughed, saying only, “Just luck, pure luck.”
People believed him at first. But as time passed, it seemed Zhang Han had truly awakened a thread of insight; within a few short years he had reached Late Foundation Establishment. When his superior learned he had such talent, he felt it would be a waste to leave him an executioner.
The superior intended to promote him, even planned to marry his daughter to him. But Zhang Han shook his head, saying he was satisfied being an executioner. Seeing his stubbornness, the superior thought him hopeless and abandoned the idea.
But the neighbors began noticing a change in Zhang Han’s temperament. After every beheading, he would sink into a few days of depression. Then, after he broke through Foundation Establishment, he stopped being gloom‑stricken—on the contrary, he became jovial, as if killing were not misfortune at all.
He even said he enjoyed executions. The neighbors grew fearful of the new Zhang Han. Then one day, a righteous hero appeared in the city.
At night this figure would assassinate the rich and cruel, redistributing their wealth to the poor. Coincidentally, about that same time, Zhang Han broke through to the Golden Core Stage—his core was even of top grade.
The legend of the city’s righteous vigilante spread long, and as the evil‑doers dwindled, Zhang Han’s cultivation continued to rise until he reached Late Golden Core. But after reaching that point, his progress slowed. There were no more villains left in the city for him to kill.
Impatience gnawed at him. At that very time, his superior decided to marry his daughter to a promising young talent. Zhang Han, who had long admired the daughter, opposed the marriage fiercely.
He wanted her for himself. Although the young lady also held affection for Zhang Han, her father judged that while Zhang Han’s aptitude was fine, his temperament was too unstable—he had been an executioner all his life and might already be addicted to killing. To marry his daughter to such a man would be courting danger.
So he rejected Zhang Han’s request. Fury exploded in Zhang Han’s heart. On the wedding day itself, he slaughtered the young man’s entire family and abducted his superior’s daughter by force.
Thanks to readers 20171123093845650, 150806011726308, 20190214234851489, Leng Ye Canyue, and Wufeng Sheng for supporting this chapter with votes. Thanks also to reader 20211028111145302 for the reward.
(End of this Chapter)