Why Is Your Heart Even Darker Than Ours, the Demonic Cultivators?

The cold wind howled, carrying bone-piercing chill.

Yet strangely, an endless stretch of ice plains was thick with verdant ancient trees.

The ancient trees were lush, their branches reaching toward the heavens. Dense leaves blocked out the sunlight and cast vast shadows, like a slumbering ferocious beast that filled one with unease.

Jiang Chuan stood before the dense forest and turned to Que Jinling. "Are you sure this route is safe? A dense forest growing out of an ice plain looks abnormal no matter how you look at it."

"According to the description on my map, some sinister things did appear in this forest before, but they were all destroyed by an eminent monk from Vajra Hall," Que Jinling answered.

"Vajra Hall? Is this map of yours really reliable?" Jiang Chuan became even less willing to enter.

As a disciple of Bodhi Temple, Jiang Chuan knew very well what kind of force Vajra Hall was.

The Vajra Kings were manifestations of the Buddha's wrath, born to subdue demons and eradicate devils.

In terms of murderous intent alone, they surpassed ordinary demonic paths by far.

The Demon Slaying Saber Jiang Chuan cultivated had been created by a Vajra King of the Buddhist sect. When used, it bore not the slightest trace of a Buddhist divine art. Calling it a demonic saber would not be an exaggeration.

If an eminent monk of Vajra Hall had truly acted, Jiang Chuan felt that more than just sinister ghosts should have vanished—this entire forest before them should have disappeared as well.

"I bought this map at a steep price. There definitely won't be a problem. Let's go."

Que Jinling wore a confident expression, then took the lead and flew into the forest.

As Jiang Chuan followed, he cursed inwardly, Damn Love Brain Simulator!

If it were Jiang himself, knowing full well that the forest ahead might be problematic, he would never have entered.

Yet now, he had followed her against his will. This clearly was not something he would do.

Not long after flying into the forest, Jiang Chuan smelled a heavy stench of rot.

"This smell..."

"This smell is common in the Northern Territory. There's nothing strange about it, right?" Que Jinling asked.

Jiang Chuan fell silent.

How many people died in your Northern Territory every day?

Oh! The Northern Territory was Demon Race territory. They were all demons.

Then there was no problem.

"Huh? Why are there so many coffins here?"

At that moment, many vermilion wooden coffins appeared in Que Jinling's field of vision.

The vermilion wooden coffins were packed densely among the trees, their rotting stench spreading out from within. Beneath the canopy's shadows, they gave off an eerie, ominous feeling.

"Of course I put them there. Did you think they fell from the sky?"

An exasperated voice rang out. Then a vermilion wooden coffin flew open, and a bloodless middle-aged man sat up from inside, looking disdainfully at Jiang Chuan and Que Jinling.

"Two more fools who got cheated out of Spirit Stones and still helped count the money for the ones who cheated them."

"Let me correct you. I didn't spend any Spirit Stones." Jiang Chuan did not want to be called a fool.

Que Jinling ground her silver teeth and snapped furiously, "You had better explain clearly what you mean by fools who got cheated out of Spirit Stones and still helped count the money! Otherwise, I'll burn you to ashes immediately!"

"If you found this place, you must have bought a Sunfall Sea map from one of my junior brothers at a high price."

The middle-aged man explained, "This is my cultivation seclusion site. I use the deathly energy here to cultivate the supreme inheritance of my Yellow Springs Demonic Sect, the Netherworld Life-Death Scripture."

"My junior brothers want to kill me and become true disciples. That is why they deliberately sold maps, luring cultivators here to disrupt my seclusion and kill me."

"That's a pretty good idea!" Jiang Chuan's eyes lit up as he secretly committed it to memory.

"Hm?" The middle-aged man's face darkened.

Jiang Chuan said solemnly, "Demonic cultivators truly are sinister and cunning!"

"You aren't lying to us, are you? If you really are a demonic cultivator, why didn't you massacre a city? Why did you come here to absorb deathly energy instead?" Que Jinling asked.

"I'm a demonic cultivator! A demonic cultivator! I'm human, not a demon!" the middle-aged man shouted in rebuttal.

Whether they followed the immortal path, the demonic path, or the Outer Dao, they were all human cultivators.

No matter how fiercely they opposed and slaughtered one another, how their sects fought internally, or what filthy and ruthless deeds they committed in secret, their public declaration was always the same.

We are all human cultivators. We slay demons and eradicate devils, defending the human race.

If any demonic cultivator truly dared to massacre a city, the immortal, demonic, and Outer Dao factions would join forces to hunt them down the next day.

"Where did you hear that demonic cultivators slaughter cities at every turn to cultivate?" Jiang Chuan asked.

"I read it in storybooks. That's how they all describe them." Que Jinling blinked.

Jiang Chuan fell silent.

Please, could we use our brains before believing everything we read?

Demonic cultivators slaughtered cities and exterminated clans whenever they cultivated.

With the number of demonic cultivators in the Qingyuan Realm, did she think there would still be any living creatures left in the Qingyuan Realm?

The middle-aged man looked at Jiang Chuan with eyes full of sympathy.

"Fellow Daoist, it is not often one finds a female cultivator this foolish."

Jiang Chuan nodded. "Fellow Daoist, since the map is fake, we will leave now. But please tell us a safe route into Sunfall Sea."

"I have no obligation to tell you." The middle-aged man spoke as he prepared to lie back down.

"Fellow Daoist, you should think this through."

"Are you threatening me?"

The middle-aged man sat upright again.

"You don't think this is my true body, do you? This corpse is merely a zombie I control with Divine Sense to guard my seclusion. I have hundreds of similar zombies!"

"Of course I know this isn't your true body."

Jiang Chuan smiled. "But if I make one hundred thousand copies of the map and hand them out for free, then alter it to say there is a true immortal's cave estate here, Fellow Daoist, what do you think will happen?"

"Why the hell is your heart even darker than ours, the demonic cultivators?!" The middle-aged man's face turned livid.

Jiang Chuan's expression was firm. "To deal with demonic cultivators, one must be even more sinister and cunning than demonic cultivators!"

The middle-aged man fell silent.

I've only been in seclusion for half a year!

Have cultivators of the Qingyuan Realm already become this treacherous?

Didn't that mean that we demonic cultivators were now more upright than the immortal path?

"Fine! I, Shen Gongming, admit defeat!"

Shen Gongming took out a Sunfall Sea map and handed it to you.

This map had been left behind after generations of Yellow Springs Demonic Sect cultivators explored Sunfall Sea. It marked numerous dangerous locations throughout a million-mile radius of Sunfall Sea, as well as many treasure lands that nurtured rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures. To an ordinary cultivator, it was worth a fortune.

You felt that you had made a killing this time, then began searching for a safe route into Sunfall Sea.

After discussing it with Que Jinling, you ultimately chose to pass through the Flesh Mire.

The Flesh Mire was a perilous region formed during the Human-Demon War after a tenth-realm great demon was slain and its flesh fused into the earth.

Countless ferocious beasts without intelligence had been born within it, but they specialized in devouring living creatures.

With the aid of formations and Darkness Space, you could perfectly block any leakage of your aura and avoid being detected by the ferocious beasts. Thus, you chose to enter Sunfall Sea through the Flesh Mire.

After deciding on the route, you and Que Jinling set out immediately.

Half a day later, you began crossing the Flesh Mire.

Everything went just as you had expected. The ferocious beasts living within did not discover you.

However, maintaining both the formation and Darkness Space required an enormous amount of spiritual power. You could only refine Spirit Stones without pause, replenishing the spiritual power within your body.

Three days later, you and Que Jinling successfully crossed the Flesh Mire.