The demonic cultivators in the great hall froze in unison, turning their heads in stunned silence toward the main entrance.
Their faces still bore traces of lust and brutality, now mixed with the shock and anger of being interrupted, and a hint of imperceptible fear.
That said, the Heaven Alliance's inspection envoys each had their own distinct style of operation.
With the exception of Chen Xingcai, who for reasons of his own, could smoothly employ the "King's Path" approach.
The others, in the interest of maximum efficiency, often chose a more direct method—the "Hegemon's Path."
And for a certain type of sect, even Chen Xingcai would choose the most domineering and ruthless method without a second thought.
That would be the Demonic Sects.
For those whose very essence was carved with the law of the strong devouring the weak and the commission of heinous crimes, any attempt at appeasement or probing was a waste of time and an unnecessary risk.
After years of practice, and especially after being summarized and perfected by individuals like Han Yu, the Heaven Alliance had developed a "perfect," standardized procedure for handling Demonic Sects.
Simple, brutal, efficient.
Step One: The Kick. To announce their arrival with an overwhelming display of force, shattering the sect's usual gloomy atmosphere and psychological advantage, seizing control from the very beginning.
Step Two: The Question. To directly present the choice: Will the sect as a whole join the Heaven Alliance and submit to a complete overhaul of their ideology and conduct?
Step Three: The Resolution.
Based on the target's response and subsequent actions, as well as intelligence already in the Heaven Alliance's possession, a final decision is made.
Those who resist stubbornly, are unrepentant, or are guilty of such heinous crimes that they are beyond salvation, are physically "transcended"—a clean and swift end with a single, decisive strike.
Those who are still redeemable, whose crimes are not worthy of death, have their cultivation partially crippled and are sent to the extremely strictly supervised spirit mines under the Heaven Alliance's jurisdiction for decades or even a century of labor reform, washing away their sins with sweat.
And a rare few, the phoenix feathers among a thousand, cultivators who can truly emerge unstained from the mire, whose minds have not been corrupted by demonic arts, are supported as the new sect leaders.
Under the supervision and support of the Heaven Alliance, they oversee the complete restructuring of the sect, from its cultivation methods to its moral principles.
After being "baptized" by this process, the only thing that still made a sect seem demonic was its historically sinister-sounding name. Internally, it would be far more "righteous" than many self-proclaimed orthodox sects.
After all, the Orthodox Alliance was bound to have its hidden filth and hypocrites. A "former Demonic Sect" reformed by the Heaven Alliance could never have such problems—its past stains had been cleansed completely.
All that remained was the trembling, hard-won rebirth of those striving toward "goodness" (goodness as defined by the Heaven Alliance's standards).
And at this very moment, the one carrying out the first step of this "perfect process"—the kick—was the Inspection Envoy, Jiang Jie.
He had only just managed to find this place.
Unlike most sects, which established their gates openly, Demonic Sects, having made countless enemies, invariably chose locations that were remote and difficult to find.
He had just dealt with the worst offender of a minor demonic sect nearby, following a trail of clues and an impenetrable miasma of demonic energy to this place.
Without a moment's hesitation, he chose the most efficient way to make his entrance.
The thunderous crash of the splintering door was still echoing in the hall. Jiang Jie's icy gaze, like a tangible blade, swept across the entire room.
His mind was simultaneously assessing the threat level and the depth of the karmic guilt of everyone present.
Then, his gaze fixed on the center of the great hall.
He saw the stunningly beautiful girl, fallen to the ground, her clothes slightly disheveled, strands of her hair dusted, looking exceptionally frail and helpless.
He saw the circle of demonic cultivators around her, their lecherous gazes and aggressive postures clearly indicating their ill intentions.
He saw the greed and savagery still lingering on those faces.
He saw the filthy hands, almost about to touch the girl.
What had just unfolded was a despicable scene of bullying a weak woman.
...
Jiang Jie was not the most hot-tempered among his fellow disciples, but his sense of justice was the purest and most intense of all.
If not for that, he would never have resolutely chosen to hold onto his principles and retain his humanity in that desperate situation in the Ten Thousand Ghosts Cave, facing the temptation of a blood feud, rather than succumbing to the more powerful but twisted power of the Ghost Path.
At this moment, the nearly tangible bloodthirst and resentment emanating from the demonic cultivators before him, combined with their despicable act of bullying a weak woman, instantly ignited the lamp of "justice" in his heart.
No words were needed!
"Clang—!"
A clear, ringing sword cry filled the great hall. A dazzling sword light, brilliant as a galaxy, suddenly burst forth, carrying an unstoppable, pure righteous aura and a sharp killing intent, striking directly at the group of demonic cultivators, who were still in a daze!
Resistance was futile. Where the sword light passed, blood blossomed, only to be instantly vaporized by the blazingly yang and firm sword energy.
The few demonic cultivators who had been the most vociferous and rushed forward did not even have time to let out a complete cry of agony before they were sliced into pieces, their souls scattered to the winds.
That included Elder Zhu, the one who had suggested "taking turns."
The remaining demonic cultivators were completely terrified by this sudden appearance of a slaughter god. Where was any of the arrogance they'd shown before?
They wailed and screamed, dropping their weapons and kneeling to beg for mercy, making a complete spectacle of themselves.
Even the withered old man, who had been sitting silently in the shadows and whose profound depth had made Xi Yan feel uneasy, was now as pale as a sheet, his entire body trembling.
He didn't dare make a single move—he could feel the vast, ocean-like cultivation and the pure, anti-demonic sword intent of this star of bad luck who had kicked down the door far more keenly than the lower disciples.
It was an absolutely unbeatable force.
Jiang Ce's movements were deft; spiritual energy flowed from his fingertips, transforming into golden ropes that bound the surrendered demonic cultivators tightly, like zongzi, and tossed them aside to ensure they had no means of resistance.
The entire process was as fast as a flash of lightning, from the kick on the door to subduing everyone, taking only a dozen or so breaths.
Only after all this did Jiang Ce's gaze return to the girl who had been sitting on the floor the entire time.
To his slight surprise, although the girl's face was smudged with dirt and looked somewhat disheveled, her clear eyes held none of the panic, fear, or ecstatic relief he had expected.
She just stared at him quietly, her gaze even holding a hint of... assessment and evaluation?
This reaction was too calm.
Calm to the point of being illogical.
Jiang sheathed his sword and walked to Xi Yan's side, slightly bending over as he spoke with a hint of inquiry, his voice still as cold as ever: "You don't seem very afraid?"
Of course, Xi Yan wouldn't say it was because of her blind faith in her Master, believing everything was within his calculations (or if not, she at least had a trump card for survival).
She composed herself, feeling that since she was going to "live according to her own heart's desire," there was no need to feign weakness. So, she nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world and even retorted, "Why should I be afraid?"
This reaction was completely unexpected by Jiang Ce.
He narrowed his eyes, a torrent of thoughts flashing through his mind.
Could it be... that he had misjudged the situation?
Was that scene not bullying, but... some kind of special, unspeakable game these demonic cultivators and this girl were playing? His righteous kick down the door and drawing his sword to kill had actually disturbed their "fun," and even become a part of their "play"?
Seeing the girl's matter-of-fact expression, completely devoid of the gratitude or lingering fear a rescued person should have, Jiang Ce frowned more deeply, his tone growing colder: "Then you're with them?"
Hearing this, Xi Yan looked as if she'd heard the most ridiculous joke in the world. She couldn't help but snort coldly.
Even while sitting on the floor, she straightened her back as much as she could, revealing an expression of utter disdain: "Do we look like we're in cahoots?"
She pointed at her own dust-covered, plain white robes, then at the group of demonic cultivators, bound and radiating a fierce aura.
Jiang Ce also felt his own guess was a bit far-fetched. This girl's spiritual energy was pure and righteous (though weak), completely different from the filthy aura of these demonic cultivators.
He rubbed his chin, shifting his gears in an attempt to make sense of this bizarre situation: "Then... how much spiritual stone did they pay you?"
He guessed perhaps this girl was some kind of practitioner of a special profession, here to conduct a transaction? Though the choice of location was a bit extreme, even for that.
It took Xi Yan a full three breaths to understand the implication of his words.
An indescribable surge of anger shot to the top of her head, making her fair cheeks flush red.
She came from a prestigious sect, and even though her cultivation had stagnated, how could she have endured such an insult!
But then, she took a deep breath and quickly forced herself to calm down.
Don't get angry. If you get angry, you lose.
Her Master had said she should live according to her own heart's desire... and right now, her heart's desire was not to owe a favor to this man whose thoughts were an utter mystery, and she had to give it right back to him!
So, she lifted her chin and said in a tone that was almost condescending: "You just want me to acknowledge this life-saving debt, right?"
I've heard that when mortal women encounter their saviors, they have two ways to repay the favor: either offer themselves in marriage, or promise to be born as a beast of burden in the next life, repaying the great grace with a ring of grass in their mouth.
Jiang Ce hadn't expected her to suddenly bring this up and was thrown off by her train of thought. He followed her lead, his voice tinged with genuine curiosity: "Oh? Is that so?"
He wasn't very familiar with the plots found in mortal plays and dramas.
"Of course," Xi Yan nodded with a straight face, as if expounding on some profound cosmic truth, "and the choice between the two mainly depends on the savior's looks."
Jiang Ce was amused by her logic and couldn't help but laugh: "And what about you? If I were truly your savior, how would you plan to repay me?"
He wanted to see what this clever girl would come up with.
Xi Yan looked at him, her gaze dead serious, and said word by word: "I... choose... to... commit... suicide."
The smile on Jiang Ce's face froze, then turned into a helpless sigh: "...It seems I really did overstep my bounds. Maybe you were actually enjoying yourself just now."
"You can't say that," Xi Yan pouted. Although she was annoyed by his assumption, the fact was he had indeed helped her resolve the trouble.
"While I could have saved myself without you, you did help me. It might not be a life-saving debt—I do have a backup plan—but this 'favor for helping' is still real."
She paused, as if making some great concession, and waved her hand magnanimously: "Name your price."
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