Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 383: Stench of Blood

“I have intelligence that may be related to Great Yu cultivators.” Seeing how readily Lu Yang agreed, Vice Creed Leader Shi felt their chances of dealing with the Great Yu cultivators had increased, making him more willing to deepen their cooperation.

Lu Yang let out an “Oh” and relaxed as he leaned back into his chair. “Do share.”

“There are two reasons the Great Yu cultivators are not tolerated by the Great Xia Dynasty.” Vice Creed Leader Shi raised two fingers.

“The first point goes without saying. The Great Yu cultivators refuse to acknowledge Great Xia’s existence, demanding restoration of the Great Yu Dynasty’s rule. Naturally, the Great Xia won’t tolerate this.

“The second reason stems from the conflict between the righteous and diabolic paths.

“According to historical records, blood sacrifices were frequent during the Great Yu Dynasty. To consolidate their authority and rope in powerful allies, the imperial preceptors and Yu emperors tacitly permitted such atrocities. Take the Calamity Venerable Lord, for instance. Why was his title ‘Calamity?’ Why did Great Yu not care about him bringing suffering to the commoners? This is precisely why.

“Great Yu was of the opinion that sacrificing a few cities to recruit a Transcendent Tribulation expert was an excellent bargain.” Vice Creed Leader Shi turned his nose up at Great Yu’s methods. Although our diabolic creed also kills people, we do so because of our faith to promote the existence of the Nine Netherworlds. We’re worlds apart from bastards like the Calamity Venerable Lord who delight in killing people.

Lu Yang remarked coldly, “Had Great Yu dared to commit such acts in the ancient era, they would have been exterminated by the Heavenly Court.” Even in ancient times, blood sacrifices were rare.

Before the Five Ancient Immortals ascended, the ancient era was lawless and chaotic, so it’s not surprising that there were blood sacrifices. But for such atrocities to persist even after the immortals’ ascension would be a blatant disregard for their authority.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s stance makes this clear. She may be naive, but she is no fool. She would never have tolerated something like blood sacrifices.

Hence, one can deduce that if the other four ancient immortals had been wanton killers, she could never have befriended them.

“The newly awakened Great Yu cultivators are in a weakened state. And what’s the fastest way to recover? It’s blood sacrifices and blood offerings. But under the Great Xia Dynasty’s strict rules now, it’s hard for them to conduct such rituals openly as they had over a hundred thousand years ago.

“By exploiting 'Rules' or other means, they could secretly carry out blood sacrifices, and detection would be almost impossible for Great Xia.”

Lu Yang recalled the incident in Buyi Town, another instance of Great Yu cultivators’ tactics to regain their strength.

“The Nine-Netherworlds Creed has informants across the continent. We may not compare to Great Xia in the open, but in the shadows, we know much more than Great Xia!” Vice Creed Leader Shi chuckled. To have existed for tens of thousands of years, we wouldn’t have survived if not for our information networks.

“A few days ago, I received information about suspected blood sacrifices. They don’t seem like the work of the Radiant Sun Creed or the Heartless Creed. The archaic cultivators are likely the culprits!”

“Suspected blood sacrifices?”

“Yes, suspected. It’s unconfirmed as of now.”

“What exactly happened?” Lu Yang probed.

“My subordinate reported passing a small village called Huai’an Village in Liang Province. From a distance, he observed that the village was empty, with no signs of any living person. His special cultivation technique makes him particularly sensitive to the stench of blood, and he detected a trace of it in the air.

“To have caught a whiff of blood even from such a distance would mean that a staggering number of people had died in the village!

“Fearing that Fusion cultivators might have established rules in the village, he dared not get close and immediately reported the anomaly to me!”

Tao Yaoye’s pulse quickened. This reeks of something sinister.

Lu Yang frowned. “A small village without a soul in sight, and the authorities didn’t do anything?”

“That’s what makes it even stranger! The authorities ignored this village, as if they didn’t know it existed! It could also be that the disappearance was too recent for them to notice.

“Based on my speculation, it’s likely that archaic cultivators performed blood sacrifices in that small village and employed some methods to block people’s or even the righteous cultivators’ awareness!”

Lu Yang drummed his forefinger rhythmically against the table. This matter is bizarre. Vice Creed Leader Shi’s explanation may not necessarily add up.

Regardless, investigating this small village is necessary.

Lu Yang was not worried about Vice Creed Leader Shi potentially deceiving and luring him there. The Heavenly Court Creed has already displayed our power. Even if his head is rammed by Fifth Elder’s flying shuttle, he’d never dare cross me, the young creed leader.

“Let’s go there to take a look then.” Lu Yang rose, preparing to head for Liang Province.

Vice Creed Leader Shi was shocked, not expecting Lu Yang to be so swift and decisive. I’d assumed this Young Creed Leader Lu would have to return to consult the heavenly kings and protectors before going to Liang Province.

Two prodigies alone dare to venture into Liang Province, where there are suspected activities of archaic cultivators? Either they possess life-preservation skills, or the heavenly kings and protectors are already lurking nearby, undetectable even to me!

“Vice Creed Leader Shi, will you be joining us?”

“Of course,” Vice Creed Leader Shi agreed gladly. I was the one who raised this matter. How could I not go?

The trio boarded his flying vessel parked outside Yanjiang Commandery and set off.

Vice Creed Leader Shi wanted to say something more to Lu Yang, but the latter closed his eyes to rest and appeared reluctant to speak, so he didn’t press further.

Tao Yaoye likewise stayed quiet, aware that her senior brother closed his eyes because he was scared of heights and didn’t want to see the scenery outside.

~~~

Three days later, the flying vessel reached Liang Province.

Situated west of the Central Continent, Liang Province’s climate resulted in sprawling grasslands and sparse forests. Further west was the Golden Buddhist Kingdom, a region of yellow sand where greenery was a rare sight.

“This is the place.” Vice Creed Leader Shi stopped the ship midair and verified their position. Confirming that the bizarre village was right below, he leaped out.

Due to a fear of heights, Lu Yang didn’t dare to jump down the same way, but he had come prepared. “Junior Sister Tao, cast an illusion on me and make me believe I’m standing on solid ground.”

Covering her smile, Tao Yaoye raised her hand and enveloped Lu Yang in an illusion before leaping out together, since Golden Core cultivators could fly freely.

The three eventually landed approximately one li away from the village. Wary of alerting their enemies, Vice Creed Leader Shi avoided using his spiritual consciousness to scout out the village.

“There doesn’t seem to be signs of Rules used.” Vice Creed Leader Shi concluded after circling the perimeter. With his experience, he rarely made a mistake in this aspect.

“That’s even more strange. Where did the villagers go?” Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye were baffled. It doesn’t make sense.

The trio tried to walk into Huai’an Village and successfully entered without being hindered by any rules.

Vice Creed Leader Shi’s nose twitched, his expression turning grave. “The stench of blood here is far thicker than I had anticipated!”

“You smell something?” Tao Yaoye sniffed the air but couldn’t smell anything.

Vice Creed Leader Shi explained, “The two of you are different from me. You cultivate the Heavenly Court Creed’s legitimate cultivation techniques, while the cultivation techniques of us diabolic cultivators are more or less related to blood sacrifices. Only a diabolic cultivator like me can sense the anomalies here.”

Lu Yang asked, “How strong is the scent?”

“It’s overpowering. Even if the entire village was massacred, there still wouldn’t be this much blood!

“This place was likely a sacrificial altar built by archaic cultivators, where captured mortals and cultivators were rounded up and offered as blood sacrifices!”

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