Zhou Huangji sighed inwardly, knowing full well that the claims of slaughtering an entire city originated from a certain place.
At that time, in the aftermath of the defeat of the extraterrestrial demon, the demon unleashed a great disintegration technique, dividing itself into a hundred thousand avatars, enveloping the entire city. Those tainted by the demon, regardless of their cultivation level, would fall into a state of spiritual delusion, losing their rationality and becoming mindlessly aggressive, even biting others. Those who were bitten would become new sources of contamination, spreading the taint to others, even the joint cultivation stage cultivators were not spared.
If these people were not killed immediately, the entire continent would be contaminated.
However, the karmic forces involved were too significant, and it wouldn't be good for the reputation, so the potential candidates for the position of the Emperor of Men were unwilling to act. Only Jiang Li acted without hesitation, killing on sight, ultimately even slaying the infected joint cultivation stage cultivator to stop the spread of contamination.
At that time, Jiang Li claimed that a method to neutralize the contamination had not been found yet, and it would only incite panic if the truth were revealed, so he framed it as a mistake in battle with the demon.
Afterward, no one dared to position themselves as a candidate for the Emperor of Men in front of Jiang Li.
Jiang Li casually tossed the person aside and said to the kneeling leader of the Jiang clan, "Elder Jiang, I understand that you are trying to manipulate public sentiment, thinking that I value people's wishes and want to coerce me into allowing the Jiang family to join the palace of the Emperor of Men."
"The palace of the Emperor of Men is of a superior status with numerous privileges. Jiang Yixing's cultivation of the devil's way naturally falls under the jurisdiction of the palace of the Emperor of Men. You repeatedly emphasize Jiang Yixing's innocence and repentance, reminiscing about his childhood, solely to try to persuade me to pardon the Jiang family."
"Elder Jiang, do you really think I care about people's thoughts?"
Jiang Li no longer paid attention to the reaction of Elder Jiang and the thoughts of the crowd, turning to Zhou Huangji, saying, "Brother Ji, deal with the case of Jiang Yixing's cultivation of the devil's way as you see fit, without worrying about me."
"It's a pity that I was hoping you'd plead for mercy for the Jiang family so that I could take the opportunity to fight you!"
After they finished speaking, they looked at each other and burst into laughter.
Yuan Wuxing had a sudden realization, casting off his fears and unknowingly underwent a breakthrough, culminating in a supreme nascent soul.
...
With Zhou Huang and the Emperor of Men presiding, the case progressed quickly. Zhou Huang also used a recording orb in conjunction with time-tracing techniques to apprehend all the involved personnel.
Apart from a few who were unaware, the members of the Jiang family were imprisoned pending execution, to be executed after autumn. Among those who had served as city lord in Qingcheng, only two who were unaware of the Jiang family's affairs were spared, while the others were imprisoned pending execution after autumn. Jiang Yixing was imprisoned in the celestial prison and sentenced to obliteration of entity and divinity.
The two princes, due to their complicity and the severity of their crimes based on their special status, were also imprisoned in the celestial prison for a hundred years and were not eligible for reduction or parole. This led to a thorough investigation of corruption and collusion, causing a commotion in the government of Dazhou.
The celestial prison was gloomy and damp, permeated by a great formation, causing the spiritual energy to be scarce and the spiritual wisdom to be obscure, preventing the detainees from breaking through their cultivation. Spending their lives here would mean that they could not even absorb spiritual energy, let alone proceed to temper their spirits, establish their foundations, and form their nascent souls.
There were two types of people in the celestial prison: those with formidable cultivation status, who would first be immobilized by silver needles before being spiritually sealed, making it impossible for them to cultivate. The other type was those extremely heinous and wicked, whose lower cultivation did not diminish their fierce nature; they were kept away from other detainees to prevent their misconduct.
The bickering and cursing in the celestial prison never ceased.
However, on this day, these two types of people were not quarreling. Instead, they sat quietly, not daring to cause trouble.
"Jiang Emperor is truly formidable. His mere presence can restrain these inmates." Jiang Yixing looked at Jiang Li with a grin, but his elderly body caused him to cough incessantly when he laughed.
To the uninitiated observer, the two sitting face to face would seem like a grandfather and grandson, rather than two cousins who were only a year apart.
Jiang Yixing had killed hundreds of infants and cultivated the devil's way. Each of these offenses alone would have warranted imprisonment in the celestial prison, let alone both offenses together.
"You should consider yourself fortunate that this is Dazhou. In any other empire, I would have executed you at the Jiang household, disregarding their laws!" Jiang Li's face darkened.
Jiang Yixing sneered, "The Greater Vessel stage is truly splendid. Unlike me, with no extraordinary talent, without a boundless dao physique, I would have died in the Foundation Building stage without some clever maneuvering."
"Don't play dumb here. My spiritual roots were initially dormant, and my dao physique was obstructed. I appeared to have the lowest five elements waste body. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been bullied by you. Making it to the Greater Vessel stage, I faced an indeterminate number of life and death crises."
"I may not bully the weak like you, yet you choose to slaughter innocent infants. You truly lack humanity!"
Jiang Yixing coldly snorted and said no more, realizing that what he had said earlier was just hot air.
"I have only one question; you've been away for five centuries. Why did you decide to return a few days ago? If you hadn’t returned, no one would have discovered me!" Jiang Yixing said with resentment, and the folds on his face trembled. If Jiang Li hadn't returned, he would have quietly controlled the entire Qingcheng, abusing his power and enjoying his indulgences. When he found the opportunity to break through the nascent soul stage, living to a thousand years would have been gratifying enough.
You could have been the Emperor, and I could have been the Crownless King. It would have been better for everyone. Why did you have to come back?
"Feelings arose, and that's why I came to see you. It's hard to say," Jiang Li intended to explain to Jiang Yixing what a system was, but he found it challenging to explain the concept himself, so he decided to refrain and attributed it all to spiritual acumen.
"There is order in the heavens, perhaps even the heavens could not tolerate my actions, so they sent you to punish me." Jiang Yixing rambled on, not surprised by this response.
Jiang Yixing had anticipated this response, and when Jiang Li announced the answer, a heavy stone was lifted from his chest, as if he could finally breathe freely.
"Now that I've asked my questions, it's your turn."
"You know I have questions?" Jiang Li was somewhat surprised.
"Nothing happens without a reason. If you were just here to see me off, I would be glad to thank you," Jiang Li was direct. "Where did you learn the method of blood-sacrificing infants and how did you come to know that the power of faith could erode the resentment of infants?"
Jiang Yixing looked up at the damp ceiling of the cell, silent, as if lost in thought, organizing his thoughts.
"It was about three hundred and eighty years ago. A man in black came to me and, with a wave of his hand, raised me from the Foundation Building stage to the Golden Core stage. At the time, my lifespan was nearly exhausted, and I was struggling at the middle stage of the Foundation Building stage, awaiting death. But the man in black extended my life by a hundred years. Naturally, I was deeply grateful."
"He also told me about the blood-sacrifice method. Having been revived from death, I desired life more than anything else. The method greatly intrigued me and yet I was concerned that the resentment of the infants would reveal my cultivation of the devil's way."
"The man in black perceived my hesitation and informed me that the power of faith could eliminate the resentment. Then, he vanished, and I have not seen him since."
Jiang Li thought to himself. If he relied on the power of faith, the outbreak of Jiang Yixing's actions would have a massive impact on him. Was this a conspiracy against him, or was it simply the dissemination of the devil's way? Three hundred and eighty years ago, when he was just a candidate for the Emperor of Men, did the man in black leave a hidden hand with all the potential candidates?
江离 pondered, then vanished without a trace, drifting to an unknown destination.
Jiang Yixing gazed at the blue sky and the flying birds outside the small iron window, tears streaming down his face.
Even if I've come to terms with it, I'm still afraid of death...