Chapter 172 The Source of Evil: The Past
All eyes in the room turned to Ji Mingran.
The person in question smiled obediently and looked up to speak to Jiang Xiaoyi.
By all accounts, she appeared to be just an ordinary disciple. Had they not witnessed her advance several ranks in such a short time and just now activate the Transcendental Array, they would never have believed that this slender, pale-faced, and slightly dark-skinned female cultivator was actually so incredibly powerful!
The alliance elder was filled with mixed feelings. How did Jiang Xiaoyi meet her? How could such a promising talent be picked up by the extremely impoverished Dingsheng Sect?
;
Where did Ji Mingran land when she arrived in the spiritual cultivation world? They clearly sent disciples to search for outstanding transcendent cultivators, so why didn't they find her?
"Grandma!" someone in the Dingsheng Sect shouted. Ji Mingran turned around and saw Wang Zhen, Shen Qingluo, and Zhu Shibai pushing and shoving each other as they squeezed out of the crowd and ran happily to her side.
"Mingran, you've advanced again!" Shen Qingluo took her hand, her eyes sparkling with joy. "You're amazing."
"Grandma, how come you advance as easily as drinking water?" Guan Wangzhen's face suddenly appeared in front of Ji Mingran, his red-haired head blocking Shen Qingluo's view: "For others, it gets harder to advance as they go on, but it's the opposite for you. Is that even possible?"
Zhu Shibai extended an index finger and poked Guan Wangzhen's forehead, pushing his head away, and said, "Grandma, what Wangzhen means is that a cultivator's advancement requires the spirit to be in sync with the frequency. Cultivators cultivate day and night, so their physical bones can grow stronger and stronger, which is not the problem. The difficulty lies in the primordial soul."
“Refining the primordial spirit and expanding the sea of consciousness are the foundation for a cultivator to stabilize their cultivation after advancing. If the spiritual body is not strong enough to bear the spiritual power of the corresponding realm, the cultivator will suffer a backlash with serious consequences. He is worried that your advancement speed is too fast and your spiritual body will have difficulty adapting, which will cause damage.”
This is why cultivators use Breakthrough Pills with caution. The Breakthrough Pill formula circulating in the spiritual cultivation world today originated from Yao Jingyao, but Nanmen Hong only inherited a half-finished formula, and its efficacy is far inferior to that made by Yao Jingyao himself.
The current Breakthrough Pills can force cultivators to break through to a higher realm, but they cannot improve the physical essence of their spiritual body. If a cultivator takes a pill to break through, their spiritual body will decay and deteriorate if it is not adapted to the corresponding cultivation level, until they fail and perish or successfully temper their body. The young disciples of the Zhu family, whose bodies are constantly cracking and broken, requiring bandages to conceal their condition, are living examples of this. Fortunately, the Breakthrough Pills circulating are only effective up to the Golden Core stage, and the major sects and families in the spiritual cultivation world can still bear the corresponding side effects.
Ji Mingran was completely confused by Zhu Shibai's long explanation. It was Boss Jiang who asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"
"No." Ji Mingran moved her arms and legs to confirm, "No." In fact, with each breakthrough, she felt her soul becoming more and more integrated with this body. At first, this body was too weak, and she felt very uncomfortable when she arrived, as if her soul was being forcibly stuffed into an ill-fitting, narrow device, making her uncomfortable. But as this body grew naturally, with her day and night training, and with each breakthrough, her soul had truly accepted this body, just as this body had initially chosen to accept her.
Shen Qingluo was radiant, but a hint of nervousness appeared after hearing Zhu Shibai's words, and he couldn't help but tighten his grip on Ji Mingran's hand. After observing Ji Mingran several times and mustering up the courage to greet Jiang Xiaoyi, whom he had just met, to confirm, he finally relaxed and smiled, saying, "I will work harder in my cultivation and I won't lose to you."
Guan Wangzhen: "And me too."
Zhu Shibai smiled: "Me too."
Jiang Xiaoyi said smugly to Li Xiaosen, "Look! The disciple I chose is just so likable."
Li Xiaosen smiled and nodded, helping Li Sanyang up: "You've always had a keen eye for talent."
Jiang Xiaoyi was satisfied. She glanced at the allied cultivators who hadn't left yet, especially Chong Jue, who was unwilling to leave and was simply channeling spiritual energy into Nanmen Hong on the spot. Then she asked Ji Mingran, "Who provoked whom this time? And why are they being chased down here again?"
Ji Mingran scratched his head: "This matter is complicated." The matter of Yu Tianxing and the parasitic mutant species cannot be explained in a few words. In fact, although Boss Jiang and Yu Tianxing have never met, they know of each other's existence in the small world through Ji Mingran, so they can be considered acquaintances.
Jiang Xiaoyi turned to Li Xiaosen, who said helplessly, "I just woke up too."
Jiang Xiaoyi then looked at Li Sanyang, who pleaded earnestly, "Master, Junior Sister is innocent!"
Jiang Xiaoyi's forehead twitched. None of his three disciples could explain the situation clearly.
Yuan Liu stepped forward to explain: "Grandmaster, after you went to the small world, a demon was born from the spiritual cultivation. After slaughtering across the five continents, he was suppressed in the Hongqi Sect. Recently, he broke out of the formation, and the ten cultivators of the Dao Sect called on all cultivators to hunt him down. However, the Hongqi Sect came and said that Uncle Ji colluded with the demon cultivator to release the demon."
Chongjue: "That's true."
Jiang Xiaoyi smiled but didn't quite smile: "Oh?"
Ji Mingran's eyes looked innocent.
Yuan Liu said calmly, "But there is more to this matter than meets the eye. According to Uncle Ji, the so-called demon is actually innocent. He killed the evil creatures that came with the Heavenly Rift back then. These evil creatures can erode a cultivator's soul and steal their body. Uncle Zhu has captured the evil creatures to investigate and verify, but the Hongqi Sect still wants Uncle Ji to give them an explanation."
“No wonder Zhu Huo wasn’t here, even though it’s such a big deal for me to come back.” Jiang Xiaoyi suddenly realized, “I’ll ask her when she’s coming back.”
As she spoke, she began to fiddle with her sect's jade tablet.
The allied cultivators remained silent.
Jiang Xiaoyi didn't ask any questions about what Ji Mingran had done, clearly showing that she didn't care at all.
She stood there in front of the Dingsheng Sect members. Even if Ji Mingran took the initiative to admit it, the allied cultivators could not take her away as easily as they had when they arrived.
Seeing that Ji Mingran had started chatting with Jiang Xiaoyi about "how to bring the coffin along," the allied cultivators could only stand awkwardly and watch, helpless.
The allied cultivators' toughness had vanished with the return of Jiang Xiaoyi and Li Xiaosen.
Only Chong Jue persisted. Setting aside Nanmen Hong, whose spiritual veins he had barely managed to protect and who had fallen into a coma, Chong Jue solemnly said, "Since young friend Ji is here, why not tell us where Yu Tianxing is now? Since you insist on his innocence, why not let him come out and clarify things with everyone?" This time, he no longer insisted on taking Ji Mingran away, but instead asked Ji Mingran to reveal Yu Tianxing's whereabouts.
Ji Mingran has someone to protect him, but Yu Tianxing doesn't.
Chongjue quickly changed his strategy and decided to start with Yu Tianxing.
Upon hearing the name "Yu Tianxing," Jiang Xiaoyi's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.
Meeting the questioning gazes of Jiang Xiaoyi and Li Xiaosen, Ji Mingran blinked and tacitly acknowledged that the Yu Tianxing Chongjue mentioned was the Yu Tianxing they knew in their small world.
“Since the ten cultivators of the Dao Sect are already investigating, why doesn’t Venerable Chongjue wait patiently until the truth comes out before making any further statements?” Yuan Liu said.
Chongjue: "If this matter is not as you say, young friend Ji, I'm afraid Yu Tianxing would have already fled during this time. Then how should we deal with young friend Ji for aiding and abetting evil?"
“If that’s the case,” Jiang Xiaoyi said with a smile, meeting Chong Jue’s gaze. “Even if my poor disciple has been deceived, as her master, I will definitely make her capture the wicked people and give her an explanation. Of course, I will also help her capture the demonic cultivators and give the spiritual cultivation world a price to pay.”
She said lazily, "Fellow Daoist, you don't need to worry about the affairs of my Dingsheng Sect."
Chong Jue frowned, but Jiang Xiaoyi didn't care and continued to fiddle with her sect jade token, muttering, "What's wrong with Zhu Huo? He hasn't replied to my message yet."
As soon as he finished speaking, the sect's jade tablet trembled, and Zhu Huo replied.
Ji Mingran looked up in surprise and met Jiang Xiaoyi's gaze.
The shock wasn't to Jiang Xiaoyi's sect jade token, but to hers.
It read, "Leave immediately!!!"
In an instant, an unprecedented pressure from the Mahayana realm surged forth, indiscriminately crushing all cultivators in the sect realm.
Jiang Xiaoyi's expression changed, and he raised his hand to form a hand seal. The Realm Array was instantly activated, enveloping everyone in the sect.
Even so, a large number of cultivators still knelt on the ground, struggling to breathe under the sudden pressure of the spiritual energy.
"Are you all putting on such airs to tell me that you're simply welcoming my return?" Jiang Xiaoyi lifted her eyelids, stood up from the top of the coffin, and looked down.
Blurry shadows appeared around Chongjue.
The Mahayana realm.
Apart from Jiang Xiaoyi and Li Xiaosen, who had just returned, all ten Mahayana cultivators in the current spiritual cultivation world were present.
The five peak masters of Dingsheng Sect and the sect master Yuan Liu sensed something was wrong and stepped in front of the disciples.
Apart from Chongjue and Li Sanyang, the other Mahayana cultivators were all clones. Even so, the fact that they could disturb a powerful figure who had been in seclusion for a long time must be extraordinary.
Chongjue held the sound transmission jade tablet in his hand, seemingly listening attentively.
After a long pause, he said in a deep voice, "So that's how it is."
Following Chongjue's movements, she identified Ji Mingran's location, and the eight Mahayana Realm figures standing beside him quietly turned towards her.
"On what grounds?" Jiang Xiaoyi kicked the coffin open, spun around, and landed, confronting the eight Mahayana cultivators.
The coffin she kicked moved precisely in front of Ji Mingran, completely blocking the view of the nine Mahayana cultivators, and the soul-capturing technique transmitted through their vision was simultaneously interrupted.
“Venerable Jiang.” A voice as cold as ice water rang out from behind the nine Mahayana cultivators.
A sharp sword shadow fell from the sky, and a talismanic voice leaped down from the blade: "The Dao Sect's Ten Cultivators have thoroughly investigated and determined that those killed by Yu Tianxing were all demons corrupted by cultivators. This matter is of great importance; now, countless demons may be lurking among us spiritual cultivators. As for how to distinguish which people are possessed by demons and which are not, the Dao Sect's Ten Cultivators are still researching. But we have already discovered the source that led to the demons infiltrating spiritual cultivators."
Fu Yin raised her hand, and a gleaming black sword appeared in her grasp.
At that moment, Ji Mingran quietly peeked out from the edge of the coffin, and in that single glance, she recognized the sword in Fu Yin's hand.
The Divination Sword was Jiang Chaoxing's life-saving sword back then.
And the sword, its tip was pointing directly at her.
Fu Yin stared at her intently: "All of this is because of you."
Ji Mingran's eyelashes twitched slightly.
"You destroyed my sect's Soul Devouring Array, causing my sect's spiritual power to become unstable and the mountains to collapse. But because of this, I discovered the Divination Sword buried under the treasures of the Hongqi Sect."
"The divination sword can foresee the future and also understand the past." The divination sword in Fu Yin's hand rose up with the Bagua pattern and spun rapidly. Gradually, a blurry image appeared before everyone's eyes.
"The demons come from another world. They followed one person, and that person is Ji Mingran."
The image before the cultivators became clear.
In the video, the sound of a broken gong, "ho, ho, ho," can be heard.
A scene I'd never seen before came into view: towering buildings reaching into the clouds, dilapidated streets...
The sounds of "ho, ho" echoed in their ears, and the cultivators trembled, realizing with shock that what they were seeing was actually the vision of a severely injured creature lying on the ground.
Something hit the ground, and the sound of steel striking the earth rang out.
The camera pans upwards as the monster's gaze moves, and amidst the thick smoke, a shadow slowly approaches...
The newcomer was dressed in strange armor that covered his entire body, with various lengths of implements around his waist, and a long, cannon-like magical weapon about half the size of a person attached to his left arm.
The armor looked thin and sturdy, but there were several signs of damage, including one on the face mask around the eyes.
A gash was cut open, revealing the dark, silent eyes hidden behind the armor and mask.
"By chance, I discovered this ultrasonic cannon." The speaker's voice was clear and hoarse, and he raised the long cannon on his left arm, the black nozzle pointing directly at the screen.
The trembling of the image stems from the fear that living beings feel when facing a stronger opponent.
"Try it." He pressed his finger against the switch.
A blinding blue light instantly gathered at the muzzle of the long cannon.
Boom! A deafening roar shook the heavens and the screen exploded in an instant. A wave of intense heat hit them, and the cultivators instinctively raised their arms and closed their eyes to avoid the shockwave that seemed to be bursting out of the screen.
They immediately remembered that they were not the creatures killed in the scene, and the cultivators opened their eyes.
Just then, the dying creature also struggled to open its eyes.
In the blurry vision that was now only a sliver, the person in the strange armor raised his hand, removed his mask, and revealed a face that they knew all too well.
Her face was fair, and her dark eyes were clear. But these eyes were not like those of the people they knew, which always curved with a warm, sunny smile. Instead, they were desolate and lifeless.
Just like this ruin.
Noticing the creature's gaze, Ji Mingran asked indifferently, "Not dead yet?"
The cannon was raised, and blue light once again gathered at its muzzle.
She pulled the trigger: "Then die."
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