A Conversation with Jiang Yixing

Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi sighed inwardly, knowing exactly where the claim of slaughtering an entire city came from.

At the time, an Extraterrestrial Demon was defeated and used the Extraterrestrial Demon Disintegration Technique, splitting into a hundred thousand clones that covered the entire city. Anyone contaminated, regardless of cultivation, would fall into heart demons, lose their reason, and bite others—those bitten becoming new sources of contamination. Even Body Integration Realm Cultivators were not spared.

If these people were not killed immediately, the entire Nine Provinces would have been contaminated.

But the karmic force involved was too great, and the reputation damage too severe, so none of the Human Emperor Candidates were willing to act. Only Jiang Li killed without hesitation, without a moment's pause, and finally slew the infected Body Integration Realm Cultivator, stopping the spread of contamination.

At the time, Jiang Li said that since no solution had been found yet, spreading the truth would only cause panic, so he told everyone to say the casualties were caused by his battle with the 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 prostrate Jiang Clan Leader, "Clan Leader Jiang, I know what you're doing by stirring up the crowd. You think I value people's opinions, so you want to use public sentiment to coerce me into allowing the Jiang Family to join the Human Emperor Palace."

"The Human Emperor Palace holds an exalted position with many privileges, so Jiang Yixing's Demonic Path cultivation case naturally falls under its jurisdiction. You repeatedly emphasize Jiang Yixing's innocence and repentance, recalling his childhood—aren't you just trying to make me raise my hand high and bring it down lightly, letting the Jiang Family off easy?"

"Clan Leader Jiang, do you really think I care about what people think?"

Jiang Li paid no further attention to the Clan Leader's reaction or the crowd's thoughts. He turned to Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi and said, "Brother Ji, try Jiang Yixing's Demonic Path cultivation case however it should be tried, sentence him however he should be sentenced. Don't consider me."

"What a pity—I was hoping you'd plead for leniency so I could have an excuse to fight you!"

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Yuan Wu Xing had an epiphany. Shedding his fear, he silently shattered his core and formed a Nascent Soul—every detail of the Nascent Soul was perfect, of the highest grade.

With the Zhou Emperor and the Human Emperor overseeing the proceedings, the case moved swiftly. The Zhou Emperor even used an Image Retention Orb combined with Trace Time to arrest all involved parties one by one.

Except for a few who were unaware, the entire Jiang Family was thrown into prison, to be executed in autumn.

Of those who had served as Green City's City Lord, only two were ignorant of the Jiang Family's deeds. The rest were imprisoned and sentenced to autumn execution.

Jiang Yixing was sent to the Heavenly Prison and sentenced to annihilation of body and soul.

The two princes, guilty of harboring criminals and bearing even heavier sentences due to their special status, were imprisoned for a hundred years without possibility of commutation or parole. The Zhou Emperor took the opportunity to crack down on corruption and harboring, throwing the Great Zhou officialdom into turmoil.

The Heavenly Prison was dark and damp. The Ten Directions Spirit Severing Grand Formation was embedded in its foundations, making spiritual energy scarce and spiritual mechanisms sluggish, preventing imprisoned cultivators from training and breaking through. If one spent their entire life here, they might not even achieve Qi Induction, let alone Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, or Core Formation.

Only two kinds of people were held in the Heavenly Prison: those with profound cultivation, who would first have their Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Seven Orifices of the Soul pinned with silver needles to prevent cultivation, and those guilty of heinous, vicious crimes—though their cultivation was low, they had a fierce ruthlessness that would cause trouble if confined elsewhere.

These two groups in the Heavenly Prison never submitted to each other. The former, accustomed to looking down on everyone, regarded the latter as mere insects. The latter, fearing nothing, didn't care how high the former's cultivation had been—here, they were all just mortals like them.

Thus, the Heavenly Prison was never free of shouting and cursing.

But today was different. Neither group was arguing; they sat quietly and obediently, not daring to stir up trouble.

"Human Emperor Jiang cuts quite a figure. Sitting here without a word, you've cowed all these prisoners." Jiang Yixing smiled cheerfully at Jiang Li, his aged body forcing him to cough with every few laughs.

To an uninformed observer, the two sitting opposite each other would look like grandfather and grandson, not cousins only a year apart in age.

Jiang Yixing had killed hundreds of infants and cultivated the Demonic Path. Either crime alone was enough to land him in the Heavenly Prison, let alone both.

"You should be grateful this is Great Zhou. If it were any other dynasty, I'd have killed you at the Jiang Family estate, laws be damned!" Jiang Li's face showed anger.

Jiang Yixing sneered coldly. "A Great Ascension Stage cultivator is truly extraordinary. Unlike me, with my mediocre talent—no Heavenly Spiritual Root, no Immeasurable Dao Body. Without a shortcut, I'd have died at Foundation Establishment."

"Don't play dumb here. When I first started cultivating, my Heavenly Spiritual Root was hidden, my Immeasurable Dao Body was blocked—outwardly, I was just the worst Five Elements Waste Body. Otherwise, you wouldn't have bullied me. I've faced so many life-and-death crises on my path to Great Ascension that I've lost count."

"And yet I never bully the weak. You do the opposite—slaughtering infants. You have no humanity!"

Jiang Yixing snorted coldly and said nothing more. What he'd said was just angry venting.

"I only have one question. You didn't come home for five hundred years. Why did you suddenly want to visit a few days ago? If you hadn't come back, no one would have discovered me!"

Jiang Yixing's face twisted with resentment, wrinkles trembling. If Jiang Li hadn't returned, he could have secretly controlled all of Green City, borrowing his cousin's authority to throw his weight around. When the time came, he'd find a chance to break through to Spirit Transformation, live a thousand years, and be content.

You be your Human Emperor, I'll be Green City's uncrowned king. We'd leave each other alone—wouldn't that be perfect? Why did you have to come back?

"I had a feeling and wanted to visit. Can't explain it clearly." Jiang Li had thought about explaining the system to Jiang Yixing, but realized he couldn't quite articulate it himself, so he simply attributed it to spiritual intuition.

"The way of heaven is constant. Maybe even the heavens couldn't stand my actions and sent you to punish me." Jiang Yixing muttered, not surprised by the answer.

He had expected this answer all along, but until Jiang Li said it, he couldn't be sure if his guess was right. It felt like a stone was lodged in his chest.

Now that Jiang Li had given the answer, the stone was removed. His whole demeanor shifted from dejection to brightness, as if he had prepared himself for death.

"I've asked my question. Now it's your turn."

"You knew I had a question?" Jiang Li was somewhat surprised.

"One doesn't visit the Three Treasures Hall without reason. If you'd only come to see me off, I'd have gladly said thank you."

Jiang Li didn't stand on ceremony and asked directly, "Where did you get the method for the Blood Sacrifice of infants? And how did you learn that Faith Power could dissolve the infants' resentment?"

Jiang Yixing looked up at the damp ceiling, silent, as if in a daze or organizing his words.

"About three hundred and eighty years ago. A Black-Clothed Man appeared before me. With a casual point of his finger, he raised me from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation. My lifespan was nearly spent then—I was stuck at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, waiting to die. But the Black-Clothed Man gave me another hundred years to live. Naturally, I was quick to thank him."

"Then he told me the method of Blood Sacrifice of infants. Having come back from the brink of death, I craved life more than anyone. I was very tempted by the Blood Sacrifice Method, but I worried the infants' resentment would expose my Demonic Path cultivation."

"Seeing my hesitation, the Black-Clothed Man told me Faith Power could eliminate the resentment. Then he vanished, and I never saw him again."

Jiang Li thought to himself: if I rely on Faith Power, then once Jiang Yixing's deeds come to light, the impact on me would be enormous. Was this a scheme targeting me, or simply spreading the Demonic Path? But three hundred and eighty years ago, I was still only a Human Emperor Candidate. Could the Black-Clothed Man have left hidden traps for all the candidates? Jiang Li pondered, then his form faded, disappearing to who knows where.

Jiang Yixing gazed at the blue sky and flying birds through the small iron window, covering his face as tears streamed down.

Even if he had made peace with it, in the end, he was still afraid of death...