Carrying Wine and Singing Long Songs

The materials he had requested were originally items that were almost impossible to be out of stock, as their primary use was as ingredients for pills that Demonic Cultivators used to boost their cultivation. In particular, the Imperial Advisor of the Shangxuan Kingdom had been using the name of the Azure Nether Sword Sect as a banner. Just then, Bai Qiuran's ears caught the sound of a conversation from a table downstairs. Another official complained, "If we want to find families willing to lend out their children, we have to go to remote areas, find those struggling families, and offer them some silver; they would lend them... but that's too much of a hassle. Sigh, are there any young boys or girls wandering the streets, orphans with no parents and no one to claim them?"

Unlike righteous Cultivators who emphasize building a solid foundation and taking things one step at a time, Demonic Cultivators advocate for freedom, spontaneity, and aggressive advancement, treating all things in heaven and earth as their own resources. Consequently, their cultivation techniques are more radical in every aspect, and alchemy is naturally no exception. This type of Blood Sacrifice requires at least the slaughter of an entire village to complete. Therefore, among the Demonic Sects, the Blood God Sect is the most despised by the righteous path. While other Demonic Cultivators might not be attacked by the righteous path depending on their daily behavior, every member of the Blood God Sect who has achieved success in their cultivation carries the lives of at least thousands of innocent people. For this reason, the major sects of the Righteous Path Alliance have an irreconcilable, life-or-death relationship with the Blood God Sect; once discovered, they must be completely exterminated.

Bai Qiuran was, of course, well aware of how unique his own situation was. For three thousand years, he had tried every possible method to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, whether it was the remnants of Immortals left behind in Immortal caves, ancient scrolls found in the ruins of sects that existed before the Dacang Calendar, or even the techniques of those Demonic Cultivators who were the sworn enemies of the Righteous Path Alliance—he had studied them all. That appearance reminded Bai Qiuran of his former self; before he met Daoist Qingming, he used to wander near battlefields, stripping the clothes and belongings off the dead to sell for money.

But after a thorough search, Bai Qiuran did not find anything strange in the city. He also focused his observation on the imperial palace of the Shangxuan Kingdom, but neither the Emperor, the Crown Prince, nor the Imperial Advisor and the First-Rank Venerable Sima Yingbo showed any abnormalities. During this process, Bai Qiuran also saw Tang Ruowei return to the palace; she was in the inner palace, presumably in her own quarters. When Bai Qiuran saw her, this princess, who held quite a grudge against Cultivators, had changed into women's clothing and looked quite delicate and charming. However, Bai Qiuran saw her standing in front of a tall bronze mirror, struggling to stuff something into her bodice, making her chest look all puffed up.

For now, there seemed to be no clues in the imperial palace; he had to find another breakthrough point. "Sigh, how would we, mere officials, know what His Majesty and the Imperial Advisor are thinking?" It seemed that Demonic Cultivators had indeed visited the Shangxuan Kingdom. Considering Tang Ruowei's attitude toward Cultivators and the rumors heard from various places that the Emperor of the Shangxuan Kingdom was now obsessed with the Imperial Advisor's immortal arts, Bai Qiuran had to shift his focus of suspicion toward the Imperial Advisor of the Shangxuan Kingdom.

Catching the sensitive keywords "young boys and girls" and "Heaven Worship Ceremony," Bai Qiuran immediately released his spiritual perception and Spiritual Sense, locking his full attention onto the source of the sound. The middle-aged official who spoke first quickly warned, "This is the capital of the Shangxuan Kingdom. If there were wandering orphans in the capital, wouldn't that be smearing the Emperor's face? Be careful, or you'll lose your head!" "Keep your voice down!" "The key is that in the current situation, not to mention other places, even the residents within the city are not willing to lend their children to follow His Majesty to the ceremony site for the Heaven Worship Ceremony." "Hmm?"

The ones talking were two middle-aged men downstairs; judging by their attire, they were two mid-level officials of the Shangxuan Kingdom. The other official quickly raised his wine cup. Thinking along the way, Bai Qiuran had arrived at a high-end restaurant in the capital of the Shangxuan Kingdom. After tossing out several dozen taels of silver, he found a private room with a window on the top floor. He then used his superhuman hearing to catch the conversations of the guests in the restaurant while simultaneously opening his Spiritual Sense, using his vast power to scan the entire capital of the Shangxuan Kingdom.

Occasionally, when he was lucky, he could find leftover dry rations on the bodies of soldiers, and at those times, he would stuff the food into his bodice, making it look all puffed up. However, considering that normal Cultivators also had uses for these materials, Bai Qiuran specifically tested them again. Besides those materials, he wrote down the remaining ingredients for a pill formula most commonly used by Demonic Cultivators, and these materials were also out of stock at the shop. "Come, come, let's drink, let's drink."

After scanning with his Spiritual Sense and confirming that no one was around, Bai Qiuran's body suddenly emitted a sound like popping beans. Then, his body shrank, his facial features gradually changed, and his hair turned from white to black. Finally, Bai Qiuran disappeared, and in his place appeared another young boy with black hair, a youthful face, and a cute, innocent appearance.

The medicinal properties of the materials frequently used by these Demonic Cultivators are extremely potent after refining, but they are accompanied by very strong side effects. Except for a freak like Bai Qiuran, even those Demonic Cultivators, whose bodies are generally more resilient than those of righteous Cultivators, cannot withstand them. Therefore, at such times, they use the demonic techniques they cultivate to help digest the medicinal properties. Seeing the two of them clinking glasses and starting to discuss other romantic matters, Bai Qiuran withdrew his Spiritual Sense and rubbed his chin. Could the Shangxuan Kingdom be so poor? That shouldn't be the case...

"Sigh, this Heaven Worship Ceremony is really troublesome. Weren't the previous ceremonies internal affairs of the royal family? Why are they suddenly encouraging every family to send their young boys and girls to participate in the Heaven Worship Ceremony this time?" A moment later, he smiled slightly, finished the dishes and fine wine on the table in a few quick bites, left some silver, and walked out of the restaurant to a deserted corner nearby.

For example, taking the major Demonic Sects as an example, when they cannot withstand the medicinal power, those from the Hehuan Sect will engage in dual cultivation to drain others, those from the Yin Ling Sect will go to mass graves or battlefields to absorb lingering souls, those from the Heavenly Demon Sect will go to seize the earth energy of a spiritual site, and the even more extreme Blood God Sect will choose to kill people for a Blood Sacrifice. "Oh, I misspoke." "Interesting, truly interesting." Walking out of the material shop, Bai Qiuran looked up at the bright sun in the sky and muttered to himself.

There was no demonic energy on the Imperial Advisor or Sima Yingbo that would appear on Demonic Cultivators; they should be normal Cultivators. One of the middle-aged men said, "Perhaps they want to borrow the luck of the young boys and girls to turn around the national fortune. I reckon they'll just have those little kids stand there to warm up the atmosphere. The current situation in the country is indeed not very optimistic."

Mocking his own completely impossible thought, Bai Qiuran withdrew his Spiritual Sense and stopped paying attention to the imperial palace. But he didn't understand what Tang Ruowei was stuffing. This was very suspicious.