The Devil Cultivator Uprising!

Breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage felt rather different from what Shi Jian had imagined.

No strange signs appeared in the heavens, no vortex of Spiritual Qi formed, and even the Spirit Vein didn't tremble any more than usual.

The dense mass of spiritual power inside him simply twisted into a single cord, and the faint sound of bones reshaping came from his meridians. From beginning to end, it took no more than three breaths.

It was as quiet as taking a nap.

Shi Jian stretched his limbs and extended his sharp claws from his paw pads. He casually scored the boulder beneath him, and its surface split open like tofu.

The clean cut went three inches deep, its edges smooth enough to reflect a person's image.

"Not bad."

He retracted his claws, knowing where he stood.

At the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, he was unquestionably among the strongest in Hongtian City. Even if Yunsong of the White Cloud Temple came again, he wouldn't fear him in the least.

But that was all.

He still couldn't afford to provoke a Golden Core cultivator. When it was time to lie low, he still had to lie low.

Just as he was about to resume his breathing exercises and consolidate his cultivation, Lord Rat darted out of the grass. He was running at full speed and looked badly shaken.

"Ancestor! Something terrible has happened!"

Shi Jian lifted an eyelid.

Lord Rat usually delivered his reports at a leisurely pace. Even when some family's wife had taken a lover, he would spend ages describing it in vivid detail. Yet this time, he was actually this flustered.

"A few people came to the east gate, covered in blood!"

Lord Rat crouched beside Shi Jian's paw, gesturing nonstop with his little paws. "They're members of the Fang Household from Crane Cry Township, in neighboring Qinghe County!"

"Only a few of them are left. They said their whole town was massacred!"

"Hm? Could it have been a blood sacrifice?"

Shi Jian frowned, seemingly lost in thought.

Lord Rat was taken aback. "You know about it, Ancestor?"

Shi Jian didn't answer. He didn't know, but he could guess.

In the cultivation world, there were only two kinds of people who would wipe out a whole town, root and branch. The first kind were those with a grudge, and they were easier to understand.

After all, heaven and earth were vast, but hatred was vaster still.

The other kind were Devil Cultivators. Some Devil Cultivators who practiced the blood or corpse paths needed the Essence Blood and souls of vast numbers of living people as cultivation materials. Slaughtering a town for a blood sacrifice was one of their most common methods.

"What was the highest cultivation in the Fang Household?"

"Qi Refining Ninth Layer. An old man. He's already lost an arm and is close to death."

"How much did they bring out with them?"

Lord Rat hesitated. "A few Storage Bags. They didn't look very full, so there's obviously not much to gain. How much could they have brought while fleeing for their lives?"

Shi Jian nodded in satisfaction.

He wasn't pleased that disaster had befallen the Fang Household, but with the speed of Lord Rat's intelligence gathering. People had only just entered the east gate, and word had already reached him on the back mountain.

"Keep watching. See how Sun Bo'an handles it."

Lord Rat departed to carry out his orders.

Sure enough, Sun Bo'an arrived in less than half an hour.

He was so out of breath from running that, despite being nearly fifty, he almost tripped on the mountain path.

"Ancestor!"

"Ancestor! Something terrible has happened!"

Sun Bo'an dropped to his knees, beads of sweat the size of beans covering his forehead. "The Fang Clan, a minor Qi Refining clan in Crane Cry Township, was wiped out in a blood sacrifice. Four people escaped, and they're at the city gate now..."

"I know."

"Ancestor, if these Devil Cultivators are coming for our Hongtian City..."

"What are you panicking for?"

Shi Jian didn't even change position, continuing to lie there lazily. "Devil Cultivators need the Essence Blood of living people for a blood sacrifice. One Crane Cry Township will be enough to feed them for a while. They won't make another move anytime soon."

"Besides..."

He yawned. "I've just broken through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, and I was wondering where I could test my skills."

Sun Bo'an shuddered and looked up sharply.

The Foundation Establishment Middle Stage!

The ancestor broke through?

He opened his mouth, but no words came out for a long while. Five years ago, Shi Jian had shattered Sun Hangchun's protective spiritual light with a single swipe, and now he had advanced another step...

"First, let those four from the Fang Household into the city. Give them some food and treat their injuries."

Sun Bo'an was taken aback.

"Ancestor, you intend to take them in?"

"Free labor, and you don't want it?" Shi Jian rolled over. "Four Qi Refining cultivators make four immortal slaves who can work."

"Besides, the Fang Clan has just been wiped out. These people have no homes and nowhere to turn. Give them a bowl of food now, and they'll be grateful to you for it. Can't you work that out?"

"What's more, the Sun Clan has only just recovered some of its strength these past few years. There are only eighteen cultivators in the whole clan, and eleven of them are children who only started cultivating in recent years."

"Do you expect those children to farm?"

Understanding dawned on Sun Bo'an, and he repeatedly nodded in agreement.

"And one more thing..."

Shi Jian narrowed his eyes. "Send people to investigate Crane Cry Township and see what's left in the town after the Fang Clan's destruction."

"Spiritual fields, mineral veins, stockpiles-whatever hasn't been ruined, dig up as much as you can. We can't pass up things that are free for the taking..."

Sun Bo'an hesitated. "But Crane Cry Town is in Qinghe County's territory. If our Sun Clan crosses county lines to take things, the White Cloud Temple..."

"Can the White Cloud Temple stop us?"

Shi Jian sneered. "Where was the White Cloud Temple when the Devil Cultivators came? Where was it when the Fang Household was slaughtered?"

"The people are dead, and their things have no owners. Whoever takes them gets to keep them."

"Besides, heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know."

"By the time the White Cloud Temple reacts and sends people down to clean up the mess or relocates another minor Qi Refining clan there, it'll be at least a month or two later."

"A month or two is enough for you to make several trips."

Sun Bo'an swallowed and gritted his teeth. "I understand!"

"Oh, right, Ancestor. The White Cloud Temple also sent an order today..."

"Speak."

"The White Cloud Temple has ordered the nine counties under its rule to strengthen their guard in the near future. The ruling clan of each county must report on security in its jurisdiction once a month. If there are any signs of Devil Cultivators, they must immediately notify the White Cloud Temple with a communication talisman."

Sun Bo'an took a talisman from his robes and presented it with both hands. "This is the communication talisman issued by the White Cloud Temple. We get one a month, and it cannot be used for private matters."

Shi Jian glanced at the talisman. The White Cloud Temple's spiritual rune seal was clearly visible on it.

"Keep it."

"Yes."

"Go take care of things. Be quick about it, and don't dawdle."

Sun Bo'an bowed and withdrew. Shi Jian lay alone on the boulder, his mind racing. A Devil Cultivator's blood sacrifice was a calamity for others, but for him, it might be a fortuitous opportunity...

The destruction of the surrounding minor clans meant large amounts of ownerless resources and territory. As long as he moved quickly enough and didn't make too unseemly a grab for them, he could gather a batch of resources in the short term to support his continued cultivation.

At the same time, however, the White Cloud Temple had tightened its control.

Reporting on security every month meant that someone would be watching Hongtian City's movements every month, and he was a Demon Beast holding down a human city.

That was conspicuous enough already. If he amassed wealth on a large scale, sooner or later he would draw the attention of a Golden Core cultivator.

"I still need to find a white glove..."

Shi Jian pondered for a while but couldn't come up with a good solution. He could only set the plan aside for now and find a way to pursue it in the future.

As for the Devil Cultivators, hehe~

As long as they dared to raid Hongtian City's territory, Shi Jian wouldn't mind treating himself to an extra meal.

Devil Cultivators sacrificed thousands, even tens of thousands, as cultivation fodder. Little did they know that, in Shi Jian's eyes, these so-called Devil Cultivators, especially those of the blood path, were likewise a delicious great medicine.

That was much faster than breathing in Spiritual Qi.