"I understand—many of you have only recently come into contact with cultivation. You still don't fully grasp the reality of the irreconcilable divide between righteous and demonic paths.
"Some of you may even think you pursue demon-slaying only because the rules of Mount Shu demand it.
"You do not yet know why Mount Shu has always been unyielding in its suppression of demonic cultivators."
Jiang Yan let his gaze sweep across the group. Seeing their faint confusion, he sighed inwardly. He had not had much chance before, but now…
While he was still free, he could at least give them a lesson in cultivation common sense.
"Tell me—between spirit beasts, ferocious beasts, and demonic cultivators, which do you think has brought the greatest disaster to the cultivation world?"
Ningguang pursed her lips, and tentatively guessed:
"Spirit beasts?"
After all, after what they had seen of the Nine Nether Kings, and with six great beast emperors still locked in the Demon-Sealing Tower, it was obvious how much damage they could wreak.
"No way!"
The little qilin, Qingluan, lifted her head from her food, cheeks still oily, and said with surprising seriousness:
"It's the demonic cultivators!"
"This…"
Ningguang felt a little awkward. But Jiang Yan only smiled and rubbed Qingluan's head.
"Qingluan is right. It is the demonic cultivators.
"You're thinking of the Nine Nether Kings' destructive power, or the beast emperors sealed in the tower.
"But have you ever wondered—if the tower can imprison even Union of Void and Dao–level beast emperors, why are there no demonic cultivators of that level imprisoned?
"Why can Mount Shu ally with great fox clans like Qingqiu and Tushan, but has never once cooperated with the demonic path?"
The crowd fell silent. Jiang Yan's voice rang like iron:
"Let me tell you why.
"Because every demonic cultivator that falls into Mount Shu's hands… is put to death.
"For spirit beasts, unless they are irredeemably wicked, capture always takes precedence over killing. That is why the Demon-Sealing Tower holds six beast emperors.
"But for demonic cultivators—aside from rare exceptions like Lisa and Tartaglia, whose roots are known and whose deeds are clean—
"For the rest, once confirmed as having fallen into the demonic path, the order is the same everywhere in the righteous world: hunt them down and kill them, to the ends of the earth if need be.
"Every cultivator knows: the harm wrought by demonic cultivators upon the world far exceeds that of beasts."
His tone carried a killing intent none of them had ever heard from him before. It raised their perception of the threat of demonic cultivators to a new height.
Jiang Yan stopped explaining in dry words. He touched his brow, and from it drew forth a sphere of light.
At first, it glowed pure white. But soon, a streak of blood seeped through it, until crimson swallowed all. Within it, faint, indistinct images began to form.
With a gesture, Jiang Yan magnified one scene. A young man appeared—handsome, gentle-looking, with a fan in hand and a smiling crescent gaze. He seemed the very image of refined grace, the sort to easily charm women.
But to the people gathered here, his looks paled compared to Jiang Yan himself.
"Yu Mian Fox Lord," Jiang Yan introduced. "He was once the chief disciple of Mount Fuyuan, recognized as its next heir.
"Outwardly, courteous and elegant. Talented, beloved by elders, gentle to his peers, filial to his teachers.
"He was hailed as the perfect senior brother, admired by countless women.
"But…"
The vision twisted. Bloodflames rose behind the youth, his smile turning eerie and crazed.
"This man practiced the so-called Eternal Spring of Bliss technique.
"When his crimes came to light, the sect master and grand elder of Mount Fuyuan personally executed him.
"In his cave dwelling, they found 1,782 women drained to death through dual cultivation. Among them were missing female disciples of his own sect.
"They also found 744 infant skeletons—his own offspring, whose essence and blood he personally refined for his cultivation."
As the ghastly images played overhead, faces turned pale.
The shriveled remains of young girls, eyes still hollow with despair.
The scattered bones of infants…
"Beast!"
Zhongli slammed the table with fury.
"Don't insult beasts that way," Venti said coldly, his usual levity gone, his eyes brimming with killing intent. "Even a beast doesn't devour its own young."
Ningguang and the others looked ashen, nearly collapsing where they sat.
Only now did they glimpse the blood-soaked truth beneath cultivation's shining surface.
"These children were innocent… his own children! How could anyone commit such evil?" the Cryo Archon whispered, eyes red with grief at the vision of bones.
"Compared to him, even the Doctor looks merciful," Rosalyne spat, glaring upward.
Jiang Yan dismissed the image with a tap. Another appeared: a shriveled elder in a hood, his skeletal hands protruding.
"Kumu Daoist," Jiang Yan said solemnly. The memories of this frail-looking man's deeds made his own eyes harden.
"He cultivated the Ninefold Devouring Origin Art.
"To break through, he slaughtered ninety-nine minor worlds—men, women, children, humans, animals, even insects.
"All wiped out. Ninety-nine worlds reduced to lifeless wastelands.
"Later, he blood-refined ten mortal cities, forty million souls, before the disciples of Putuo Sect finally cut him down.
"On him were found the coordinates of those ninety-nine worlds. When the sect pursued them…"
Jiang Yan's voice darkened.
"The entire cultivation world trembled that day.
"Ninety-nine worlds—every ocean turned red, every land soaked in blood.
"Mountains of corpses rose to pierce the heavens.
"By his hands, the dead were beyond count.
"After his death, the Ninefold Devouring Origin Art was utterly destroyed."
He waved his hand again. The little ones—Klee and the rest—fell into gentle slumber, spared the sight.
But the projection shifted, revealing endless fields of blood and ruin.
Retching filled the hall. Even veterans of death like Sara and Rosalyne collapsed to their knees, gagging.
Neuvillette and others trembled with naked terror.
The images showed oceans dyed red, skies darkened, lands carpeted in severed limbs. No beast scavenged, for all life was gone.
In every world, a mountain of corpses rose skyward, staining even the heavens crimson.
This was what "mountains of corpses, seas of blood" truly meant.
Qin slammed her fist through the table, food scattering to the floor. Her usual calm was replaced by burning rage.
"Damn it! Can demonic cultivators truly be so deranged? That is entire worlds of lives!"
Jiang Yan sighed. He did not show them the other cases—if these two alone broke them, the worse ones might have driven them mad on the spot.
"Demonic cultivators are lawless. They have no humanity, no moral bottom line.
"They are slaves to power. For power, they will do anything.
"Kill parents and kin. Slaughter friends and sectmates. Abduct women for forced dual cultivation.
"All these are common."
He looked over the shaken crowd and sighed again.
In countless mortal novels, the so-called righteous are painted as hypocrites, while demonic sects are depicted as more straightforward, even "refreshing."
Jiang Yan did not deny that hypocrisy existed in the righteous path. In such a vast world, of course there were corrupt ones.
But the idea that the demonic path was somehow better? Pure nonsense.
Among a million demonic cultivators, perhaps one might be a "good" person.
Among a million righteous cultivators, thousands might be hypocrites.
It sounded dirty either way.
But consider the destruction one demonic cultivator could cause—far beyond what thousands of hypocrites ever could.
That was why the cultivation world's stance on the demonic path was so uncompromising: upon discovery, kill without hesitation.
No one dared gamble otherwise.
"A group of power-hungry monsters, without conscience or restraint," Jiang Yan said, his gaze sharp.
"Imagine the destruction they can unleash.
"Now you should understand—demonic cultivators are a far greater blight than any beast.
"Beasts cannot disguise themselves. Demonic cultivators can. They infiltrate sects, posing as righteous disciples.
"It has happened more than once.
"A pack of demons wearing human skin.
"Zhongli—if you found such a thing in Liyue Harbor, what would you do?"
"Root them out. Destroy them," Zhongli answered without hesitation.
"Well said."
Jiang Yan smiled approvingly, then pressed further:
"But what if their disguise was flawless, impossible to detect until they used demonic arts? What then?"
This time, Zhongli fell silent. At length, his voice turned cold:
"Better to kill by mistake than to let them slip by.
"If I kill an innocent, my conscience will suffer.
"But if I let a demonic cultivator go, Liyue itself may drown in blood."
Jiang Yan nodded in satisfaction.
"That is why the righteous world bears so much hatred toward the demonic path—why we fight them with all our strength, and why we endure accusations of cruelty.
"For demonic cultivators strike not only at flesh, but at the heart."
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