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“Let’s hear it.”

“There are two reasons why Great Yu cultivators are not accepted by the Great Xia Dynasty.” Vice Sect Leader Petrified held up two fingers.

“The first is obvious: Great Yu cultivators refuse to acknowledge the existence of the Great Xia Dynasty, demanding the restoration of the Great Yu Dynasty’s rule. Naturally, the Great Xia would not tolerate that.”

“The second reason stems from the conflict between righteousness and evil.”

“According to historical records, blood sacrifice incidents were rampant during the Great Yu Dynasty. The imperial advisor and Emperor Yu would silently allow such practices to consolidate their power by attracting powerful individuals. Take the Calamity Sovereign, for instance. He brought disaster to the people, yet the Great Yu did nothing about it. The reason lies here.”

“Great Yu believed that sacrificing a few cities in exchange for securing a Tribulation Crossing Stage cultivator was a very profitable deal.”

Vice Sect Leader Petrified sneered at Great Yu’s actions. Though their demonic sect also killed people, it was with purpose—to promote the existence of the Nine Nether Realm. This was vastly different from someone like the Calamity Sovereign, who killed purely for pleasure.

“If the Great Yu had done this in ancient times, it would have been eradicated by the Heavenly Court long ago,” Lu Yang said coldly. Blood sacrifices by cultivators were rare even in ancient times.

Before The Five Ancient Immortals ascended, there was chaos in ancient times, so blood sacrifices weren’t entirely unheard of. However, after their ascension, anyone who continued such practices clearly didn’t respect The Five Ancient Immortals.

This much was evident from the attitude of the Everlasting Fairy.

The Everlasting Fairy was innocent, but not naive. She wouldn’t tolerate something like blood sacrifices.

From this, it could be inferred that the Four Ancient Immortals, who were close friends with her, wouldn’t have been mass murderers, as she wouldn’t have befriended them otherwise.

“The recently revived Great Yu cultivators are weak. The fastest way for them to recover is through blood sacrifices or blood feeding. Nowadays, with the Great Xia Dynasty’s tight control, it’s much harder for them to perform public blood sacrifices like they did ten thousand years ago.”

“However, by using certain ‘rules’ or other hidden methods, they could carry out secret blood sacrifices without the Great Xia Dynasty even knowing,” Vice Sect Leader Petrified explained with a smile. His Nine Nether Sect had informants spread across the continent. When it came to covert activities, they knew far more than the Great Xia Dynasty.

“A few days ago, I received some information about a suspected blood sacrifice. It doesn’t seem to be the work of the Solar Sect or the Heartless Sect, so it’s highly likely that it’s the ancient cultivators!”

“A suspected blood sacrifice?”

“Yes, suspected. We’re not entirely certain yet.”

“What are the specifics?”

“My subordinate reported that while passing through a small village called Huai’an Village in Liangzhou, he noticed something strange. From a distance, he saw that the village appeared completely deserted, with no signs of life whatsoever. His cultivation method makes him particularly sensitive to the scent of blood, and he detected a faint trace of it.”

“To be able to smell blood from such a distance means there must have been a large number of deaths in the village!”

“He feared there might be rules set by a Unity stage cultivator in the village, so he didn’t dare approach. As soon as he realized something was wrong, he reported it to me!”

Peach Blossom Leaf was startled, sensing the eerie nature of the situation.

Lu Yang frowned. “An entire village empty, and the authorities haven’t taken any action?”

“That’s the strangest part,” Vice Sect Leader Petrified replied. “The authorities have completely ignored the village, as if they don’t even know it exists! It’s also possible that the people only recently disappeared, and the government hasn’t caught wind of it yet.”

“My theory is that ancient cultivators performed a blood sacrifice in the village and used some means to block people’s perception or perhaps shield it from the awareness of Righteous Cultivators.”

Lu Yang tapped his finger rhythmically on the table. The situation was indeed bizarre, and while Vice Sect Leader Petrified’s explanation wasn’t entirely convincing, it was something that needed to be investigated.

He wasn’t worried about being tricked by Petrified Bone. The Heavenly Court Sect had already demonstrated some of its power, and he wouldn’t dare deceive the young Sect Leader, especially after the Fifth Elder’s flying shuttle had nearly struck him.

“Then let’s go take a look,” Lu Yang said as he stood up, preparing to head to Liangzhou.

Vice Sect Leader Petrified was surprised by Lu Yang’s decisiveness. He had expected the young Sect Leader to first return and gather the protection of a Celestial King before investigating Liangzhou.

Were these two Heavenly Court prodigies really heading to a place potentially involving ancient cultivators all on their own?

Either they had some extraordinary life-saving abilities, or there was a Celestial King already nearby, and he simply hadn’t noticed!

“Is Vice Sect Leader Petrified coming with us?” Lu Yang asked.

“Of course,” Vice Sect Leader Petrified answered readily. Since he had brought up the matter, there was no reason for him not to go.

His flying boat was docked just outside Yanjiang County, and the three of them boarded and set off.

Vice Sect Leader Petrified wanted to say more to Lu Yang, but seeing him close his eyes to rest as soon as they boarded, giving off an air of disinterest, he decided not to push his luck.

Peach Blossom Leaf didn’t say anything either; she knew that Senior Brother Lu closed his eyes because he had a fear of heights and didn’t want to see the outside.

Three days later, the flying boat arrived in Liangzhou.

Liangzhou, located on the western side of the Central Continent, was mostly grassland with few forests, influenced by the local climate. Further west lay the Golden Buddhist Kingdom, where vast deserts stretched endlessly, making greenery a rare sight.

“This is the place.”

Vice Sect Leader Petrified hovered the flying boat in the air, checking the location in the report. Confirming that the strange village was below them, he leapt down.

Lu Yang, still afraid of heights, didn’t dare jump down directly, but he had come prepared.

“Junior Sister Peach, cast an illusion so I think I’m stepping onto solid ground.”

Peach Blossom Leaf chuckled softly and cast an illusion around Lu Yang, and together they descended.

At the Golden Core Stage, cultivators could fly freely.

They landed about a mile from the village.

Worried about alerting anyone, Vice Sect Leader Petrified refrained from using his divine sense to scan the village.

“There doesn’t seem to be any signs of rule-based restrictions,” Vice Sect Leader Petrified said after circling the village. He was experienced and rarely wrong in such matters.

“That makes it even stranger. Where did all the villagers go?” Lu Yang and Peach Blossom Leaf were equally puzzled; it didn’t make sense.

The three cautiously walked into Huai’an Village, and to their surprise, there were no rule-based traps or barriers affecting them.

Vice Sect Leader Petrified sniffed the air, his expression growing more serious. “The scent of blood here is far stronger than I imagined!”

“Do you smell anything?” Peach Blossom Leaf also sniffed the air but detected nothing.

Vice Sect Leader Petrified explained, “You two are different from me. You practice the orthodox techniques of the Heavenly Court. Those of us who follow the demonic path often cultivate methods related to blood sacrifice. Only demonic cultivators like myself can sense the abnormalities here.”

Lu Yang asked, “Is the smell of blood that strong?”

“Very strong. Even if the entire population of this village was killed, there shouldn’t be this much blood.”

“This is very likely an ancient altar established by ancient cultivators where they gathered mortals and cultivators to perform large-scale blood sacrifices!”

(End of the chapter)