Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 1230 - 1226: Desire to Destroy

Lu Xiaolu exclaimed in surprise, "Junior Brother, what kind of Miracle Technique is this?"

"I just mastered it." Chu Zhiyuan replied with a smile, "I’ve been diligently practicing this recently. How is it?"

"Do it again!" Lu Xiaolu said.

Chu Zhiyuan put his hand on her fragrant shoulder, and with a flash, they were back in the valley.

Lu Xiaolu curiously surveyed the surroundings before looking at Chu Zhiyuan, "Junior Brother, is this the Earth Origin Technique?"

She turned to Qi Qingmei, "Senior Sister, this isn’t considered Qinggong, is it?"

Chu Zhiyuan laughed, "It’s kind of Qinggong, I suppose."

"Qinggong isn’t this fast!" Lu Xiaolu said.

Qi Qingmei nodded lightly, "It’s already beyond the realm of Qinggong. How long have you been practicing?"

Chu Zhiyuan replied, "I saw the Cultivation Technique below, kept practicing it, and finally mastered it here."

"So long... no wonder." Lu Xiaolu chuckled, "With your comprehension, Junior Brother, mastering it after such a long time, this Miracle Technique must be extraordinary."

She then curiously asked, "How far can you leap in one go?"

Chu Zhiyuan smiled, "A few miles should be no issue, as long as the route is familiar."

"Let’s return to the Imperial City!" Lu Xiaolu said, "Try how fast you can be."

Chu Zhiyuan nodded with a smile.

Qi Qingmei said, "Let’s not rush back to the city. Let’s take a look at this Evil Venerable first."

She scrutinized the young man in the white robe, "Junior Brother, is this Wanxiang Sect’s Evil Venerable?"

"Yes."

"Junior Brother, if you hand him over to the Court, you’re likely to receive a Lifespan Extension Pill."

The arrival of an Evil Venerable is rare, let alone one being killed.

Chu Zhiyuan might be the first to kill an Evil Venerable. Handing over this Evil Venerable’s corpse would be a major achievement, on par with killing hundreds of Evil Demons.

Such a great deed is something Huang Zhengyang cannot surpass.

This Lifespan Extension Pill is bound to end up in Chu Zhiyuan’s hands.

"Forget it, Senior Sister Qi," Chu Zhiyuan shook his head, "The Court might not even acknowledge him as Evil Venerable."

The arrival of Evil Venerable is a descent of the spirit and soul, which then guides the power to descend.

With this body dead, the soul of the Evil Venerable leaves the body, taking the power with it.

This body in a white robe shows no traces of Evil Venerable. How could the Court possibly believe this is Evil Venerable?

No point in making a fool of oneself.

"...That makes sense." Qi Qingmei lightly furrowed her brows, looked around, and shook her head, "Even capturing disciples from Wanxiang Sect would be of no use."

Chu Zhiyuan nodded.

Lu Xiaolu said, "Isn’t that terribly unfair?"

Chu Zhiyuan smiled, "The mere ability to kill an Evil Venerable is immensely beneficial, at least it allowed me to master the Earth Origin Technique."

Lu Xiaolu curiously asked, "Killing him helped you practice this Earth Origin Technique?... Junior Brother, isn’t your Earth Origin Technique too weird?"

Chu Zhiyuan replied, "Through encountering the Evil Venerable, I gained a tremendous boost in spirit, with countless benefits, including mastering the Earth Origin Technique."

"Fortunately, you prevailed," Lu Xiaolu scoffed, "Weren’t we waiting for Senior Sister to arrive before taking action?"

"He was about to leave, I had to act, observed him for a while, and then tried."

"And Junior Brother just did it quietly?"

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Wanxiang Sect can summon Evil Venerables; other Evil Sects might be able to as well, there might be more chances to kill Evil Venerables."

Lu Xiaolu curiously asked, "Then how do you actually kill an Evil Venerable?"

"Evil Venerables use Spirit Secret Techniques, needing exceptionally strong spirit to kill them." Chu Zhiyuan patted his long sword at his waist, "It’s best to have similar Treasures, like my Golden Sword."

"Spirit Secret Technique..." Lu Xiaolu asked, "Was the previous Spirit Secret Technique effective?"

"Very effective." Chu Zhiyuan smiled, "Fortunately, practicing it made my spirit more pure and stronger."

Lu Xiaolu laughed, "That’s the best... oh, someone’s coming."

She fluttered to a distant spot and quickly returned, "It’s those three guys from before."

"Capture them, interrogate thoroughly." Chu Zhiyuan said, "Having internal accomplices in the Imperial City is appalling."

Qi Qingmei lightly furrowed her brows, "Indeed, capture them... absolutely should not let them die; hand them over to the Court for interrogation, or the Court won’t believe it."

When Duan Zhongqi and the others returned to the valley, they didn’t notice anything strange about the young man in the white robe, hurriedly approached, right before speaking, they stopped abruptly.

Chu Zhiyuan and Lu Xiaolu appeared silently behind them, sealing their acupuncture points.

Then they took these three along with the white-robed youth’s corpse and returned to the Imperial City, handed them over to Ding Huanchun.

...

At dawn, Zhu Lingyun left the Imperial City through the South City Gate.

He kept heading south, performing Qinggong flying for about a hundred miles, then turned east, flew another dozen miles, appearing in a valley.

He had already changed his appearance to look like Zhong Lingyun.

He walked into the valley coldly and calmly.

The valley was silent and solemn.

Four statues stood separately at the four corners of the valley, leaning against the mountain wall, resembling overseers of everyone within.

At the center of the valley stood the tallest statue, about ten meters high.

There were over a dozen small courtyards scattered throughout the valley, each separated by a distance.

In front of the statues, several men were sitting cross-legged, some young, some middle-aged.

As Zhu Lingyun appeared, they all looked over, quickly stood up, and greeted with clasped hands.

"Divine Venerable!"

"Greetings, Divine Venerable!"

"Divine Venerable!"

...

Their eyes were dim, an oppressive atmosphere enveloping their bodies.

Zhu Lingyun did not stop, heading directly to the central hall.

A statue stood highest in front of the hall.

Standing before the statue, he coldly surveyed the Evil Demons: "Heavy losses, I presume?"

A middle-aged man stepped forward, cupping his fists: "Divine Venerable, we were incompetent and failed to attack the Imperial City."

Zhu Lingyun said: "This time it can’t be blamed on you, the Court was too cunning."

The middle-aged man smiled bitterly: "We were careless, thinking the City Guards were ineffectual, not worth mentioning, not expecting them to secretly mobilize so many experts!"

The Imperial City has always been guarded by a Divine Artifact, so the guards’ task was to patrol the city, intimidating the experts from Various Martial Arts Sects.

They believed these City Guards, after long peace, had lost their edge and become useless.

The City Guards’ recent performance was too lackluster, proving they were truly ineffective.

Thus, they confidently gathered experts for a fierce attack, hoping to invade the Imperial City.

But unexpectedly, the City Guard harbored so many experts, catching them off guard and suffering heavy blows.

"Alright, let bygones be bygones, the dead cannot be resurrected." Zhu Lingyun waved his hand: "Let’s think about what to do next."

"Next, we’ll have to retract our necks, endure repeatedly, and cultivate diligently," the middle-aged man said in a deep voice.

Zhu Lingyun scoffed: "Zheng Pingzhang, your words lack ambition!"

The middle-aged man Zheng Pingzhang smiled bitterly: "Divine Venerable, it’s all like this, ... when we’re strong, we bully others, when we’re weak, of course, they turn around and bully us, it’s just the way of things!"

The world is like that; in times of strength, one can be proud and arrogant, in times of weakness, to avoid sect annihilation, one must endure humiliation.

Wanxiang Sect’s Evil Skill is formidable; there will always be times of strength in the future, the key is to endure.

Zhu Lingyun scoffed: "Not many from above, why endure?"

"Divine Venerable..." the elder of Wanxiang Sect Zheng Pingzhang hesitated.

Zhu Lingyun said: "I will personally take action to raise the reputation of Wanxiang Sect!"

He coldly glanced at everyone: "Extinguish a few sects!"

"Thank you, Divine Venerable!" Zheng Pingzhang hurriedly cupped his fists.

Everyone was overjoyed.

The previous oppression and melancholy dissipated more than half, evoking excitement.

The Divine Venerable personally taking action, intending to extinguish several sects, Wanxiang Sect’s reputation was bound to rise, even potentially becoming the foremost sect.

Once Wanxiang Sect becomes the leading Evil Sect, countless disciples will want to join, with constant emergence of geniuses and heroes, making Wanxiang Sect increasingly powerful.

The mere thought felt wonderful.

Zhu Lingyun said indifferently: "In your current sorry state, rushing is out of the question, set off in two days!"

With that, he turned and entered the hall.

"Yes!"

The disciples of Wanxiang Sect eagerly cupped their fists responding loudly.

They then began discussing.

Each face was brimming with happiness, devoid of the prior oppression.

The deaths of fellow disciples caused them no sorrow; they were more concerned about their own futures.

Now seeing the Evil Venerable taking personal action, they suddenly felt a bright future, no longer worried, naturally becoming cheerful.

Zhu Lingyun entered the hall and sat down, followed by Zheng Pingzhang.

Zhu Lingyun took the main seat, speaking indifferently: "Know the locations of those Evil Sect main altars, correct?"

"Rest assured, Divine Venerable, we have at least twenty sects’ main altars under control!"

"Hmm, very good." Zhu Lingyun nodded, speaking indifferently: "You rest well too, take action postnatal!"

Zheng Pingzhang hesitated: "Exterminate them all?"

"Why keep them?" Zhu Lingyun snorted: "Best to wipe out all sects, so Wanxiang Sect stands alone!"

"... Yes." Zheng Pingzhang gritted his teeth, slowly nodded, and withdrew.