Chapter 86: Demonic Sect Blood Tax

  Huaixu Realm.

  In the northwestern mountain range y nameless hills. Pale golden light pierced the clouds and shone upon the faintly shadowed mountains. The a, dense forests silently weled this glow, gradually stirring from an inky darkness into a vibrant green.

  This time, An Jing did not wait a full three days before returning to Huaixu. Instead, once he was certain he had shaken off everyone’s surveilnce, he departed decisively.

  Once again, he relocated to a well-situated patch of forest just one li from where he had st been, then observed the situation outside.

  A slight mist lingered among the forests, and for An Jing, who inteo tinue his escape, that was undoubtedly good news.

  Moreover, the flying shuttle that had been h in the sky had departed. Apparently, even the Heavenly Will Demonic Sect, as tenacious as they were in pursuing An Jing, would not linger idly in the same pore than two days without results.

  But An Jing knew he absolutely could not let his guard down, for the enemy would surely check his current whereabouts at regur intervals.

  Whether it was once every one ke or once every less-than-half a shi, it made no difference. In short, if his luck went sour, the demonic sect’s flying shuttle would soon deploy and catch up to him.

  Yet this time, he would not be pletely helpless.

  An Jing once again started rag through the wilderness.

  Meanwhile, in a nearby small town, uhe reverent gazes of the vilgers, Xu gjing—who had beeing with his eyes closed beh a tree—opehem.

  “Two and a half days. It seems An Jing’s cealment Divine Ability ot be used tinuously; the duration has shortened.”

  This Heaven-Ordained Fate martial artist, white, drew out the 【Register of Mountains and Seas】 from his robe. The name “An Jing,” which he had deliberately highlighted in red, was visible upon it, presently moving at tremendous speed.

  “What’s that? An Jing has shown himself?”

  Ihe makeshift barraearby, Instructor Li lifted the hide curtain at the doorway. His single eye gleamed with delight. “How far away is he?”

  “He’s close by. It appears An Jing’s cealment Divine Ability ’t be used while moving.”

  Xu gjing lifted the teacup from the small table uhe tree and took a sip. Theuring for the vilger who was servio step back, he turo Instructor Li. “It’s a pity he moves so quickly. Chief Steward Zhang of Huguang City is en route. He is a Martial Veins Grandmaster and wields the ‘Illusion-Breaking Heavenly Eye’ Divine Ability. If he takes a, he’ll definitely cat Jing with ease.”

  “Besides that, Altar Master Shu from Kanming City and Steward Lie from Tianyou City are also closing in… In a short time, three Grandmasters might all make their move.”

  “So many of them?” Instructor Li frowhe out a hearty ugh. He blew a whistle and summoned his troop to line up, preparing to depart.

  “So soon?” Xu gjing was somewhat surprised.

  Only after pleting these preparations did Instructor Li turn back with grave siy and say, “If we really let Chief Steward Zhang hahis, how much credit will remain for us?”

  “Old Xu, I don’t have a Heaven-Ordained Fate and ’t reaternal Fortification. You’re one of the rare few among us who are blessed with a Heaven-Ordained Fate. You have to think about your future.”

  “If we really bring reat Divine General An back to headquarters, Lord Northern Patrol Envoy is bound to view you in a whole new light!”

  “How could I not know that?”

  Xu gjing was somewhat ill at ease. He frowned, and a hazy swirl of radiance flickered in his eyes. “It’s just that my Heaven-Ordained Fate, ‘Keen Insight into Men,’ has yet to reveal any more detailed information about An Jing. This means we haven’t broadened our knowledge of him at all; in fact, it has diminished.”

  “He previously erupted with power at the level of Internal Breath Like Rivers. So tell me… could he have possibly broken through to Internal Breath Like Tides?”

  “Impossible.” Instructor Li waved his hand, utterly fident. “No way whatsoever!”

  “Old Xu, you practice mystical arts, so you don’t fully uand the Martial Path. The moment An Jing began cultivating, he already possessed Internal Breath Like Rivers. That’s because he was extraordinarily gifted, trained hard from childhood, and built a solid foundation.”

  “With the ample meals and resources provided by the manor, bined with his own accumution, it wasn’t surprising that once he made a breakthrough, he reached Internal Breath Like Rivers. We already anticipated it.”

  “But Internal Breath Like Tides is different. It’s a wholly different realm.”

  “‘Like Rivers’ means the Innate One Qi within the body is abundant, surging like vast rivers. In esse’s like a water vat that isn’t pletely full, so it slosh around and produce that grand, rolling sound.”

  “Also, because it’s not at maximum capacity, if you overuse your internal breath, it’s like water spshing out of a violently shaken vat—spilling or eveyiirely, which essentially bees an internal injury.”

  “But Internal Breath Like Tides is like a vat filled to the brim with water, its lid sealed tight. No matter how vigorously you shake it, there’s no room for the water te around, so nothing spills out. Instead, it floods every part of the body. Though it seems as gentle as water, it’s actually as unyielding as steel!”

  “Furthermore…”

  Saying so, Instructor Li fidently extended his hand. An invisible burst of qi surged from his palm, pulling a stone from the ground into his grasp. “It draw upoernal spiritual energy, surging like the tide and stirring the very phenomena of Heaven ah!”

  Ka?cha. With just a twist of his fingers, the solid rock was crushed into powder. Fine dust sifted down, then rose upward again against all expectatiourning to Instructor Li’s palm.

  This deft dispy left Xu gjing moved. “I study mystical arts and Divine Abilities, extending my Divine sciousness outward. Although I, too, possess the Internal Breath Like Tides realm, I ’t wield it as effortlessly as you do, Brother Li.”

  “One only excel in a si, that’s all. Your internal breath may be slower to mobilize, but you more effectively ihe spiritual energy of Heaven ah and thereby dispy maernal Divine Abilities.”

  Instructor Li shook his head slightly. “It goes without saying that An Jing trained in the Martial Path. I, more than anyone, uand his talent. If the average person is a water vat that simply needs o’s worth of water to fill it, then An Jing’s talent is aire pool. Achieving Internal Breath Like Tides would require filling that entire pool.

  “It’s precisely because his aptitude is so high that there’s no way he could make an immediate breakthrough. Moreover, due to the abundance of Innate One Qi in his body, if his physique isn’t strong, then before he reaches Internal Breath Like Tides, he risks wounding himself whenever he hurts the enemy.”

  “Especially since he practices the same method we do—the ‘Imperial Heaven Qi Cultivatiohod’—famed for its violent, explosive power like thunder and gale winds. Without the ‘Later Earth Body Cultivatiohod’ for body-refining, the more force he unleashes, the greater the toll on his body.”

  Having said this much, Instructor Li revealed a fident smile. “An Jing’s shortened cealment time might be due to hidden injuries maing in his body. Rather than w about groundless possibilities, we should hurry up and capture him, lest he harm himself in training and squahis Heaveowed precious physique!”

  “That’s true.”

  Hearing his old friend’s well-founded and fident analysis, Xu gji aside his misgivings and boarded the flying shuttle with the sect’s ti.

  Meanwhile, the vilgers of that small settlement beamed from ear to ear as they held the salt bricks and sturdy iron bdes left behind by the group, loudly bidding farewell to these exalted visitors.

  On the ground below, a few demonic sect martial artists who stayed behind gathered a group of children, cheg each child’s aptitude in turn.

  In the northwestern mountains, the demonic sect certainly served as the fearsome vilin that kept children fr at night. Yet at the same time, for the people in these mountain regions, it was also one of the few avaible options.

  Here in the Bordernds, where the civil and martial imperial exams were nearly impossible to access, joining the demonic sect—even if only as a servant or rider—was still sidered a remarkable opportunity. Some children who mao stand out within the sect could return and bring prosperity to their entire vilge.

  Even though many childreaken away and never came back, who really cared about that?

  In the end, the so-called Heavenly Will Sect was not merely a simple religious order. Strictly speaking, it was more like a “theocratiatioablished in the northwestern region that Great could not effectively trol. These childrehe sect’s form of tax revenue.

  A blood tax.

  If Great collected money and grain, then the demonic sect collected blood and lives. Because of this, the people of the Western Mountains feared them, dreaded them, hated aed them, yet there were also those who sent their children away with joy.

  The portion of their influehat spread into Great was merely a sistretched limb, certainly not the whole.

  (End of Chapter)