376: Chapter 376 The Devious Sect Reverses the Trend by Devouring Spiritual Veins, and Extraterrestrial Evil Techniques Steal Creation

The prosperity and bustle of Luoxing Bay were gradually left behind, accompanied by the rushing waters of the river as it flowed away.

Zhou Wannian, with Shitou in tow, abandoned that small flat-bottomed boat and headed upstream along a tributary of the Yun River, setting foot on the land route leading to the Central Region of the Qingping Realm.

The further they traveled toward the Central Region, the more obvious the signs of the recovery of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi became. On both sides of the official road, which had originally been overgrown with withered yellow weeds, strange flowers and plants half a human's height had now sprouted. Their petals shimmered with a faint fluorescence, emitting a rich, pungent, exotic fragrance in the night breeze. The soil beneath their feet felt damp and sticky, as if the land had gorged itself on the spiritual liquid gushing from the depths of the Spiritual Vein.

The two walked one after the other.

Shitou had changed into a newly bought pair of cloth shoes with multi-layered soles, making a soft rustling sound as he stepped on the moss-covered gravel path. From time to time, the youth would raise his head to look at the green-robed back walking in front of him—a back that was always straight and always exuding a hint of laziness.

Ever since that night at Luoxing Bay, when the Big Brother had shattered the river's expanse with a broken folding fan and forced back a mutated Dragon with a cup of leftover tea, the awe in Shitou's heart had deepened to his very bones. He no longer asked questions, just tightly clutching the oilcloth package that had once held the scrap metal of truth, following wherever the Big Brother pointed.

"Stop."

Zhou Wannian's calm voice rang out in the quiet mountain forest.

He stopped in his tracks, his deep gaze piercing through the dense canopy ahead to look at the layered mountain ranges in the distance.

A mountain breeze mixed with a thick stench of blood and a burnt smell suddenly blew over from the canyon ahead. The wind carried a complex aura that made one's chest feel stifled and one's internal organs uncomfortable.

Shitou sniffed, his brows knitting tightly together. Having fused with the Origin of Heaven-Opening, he was most sensitive to Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. At this moment, he only felt that the wind blowing toward him was like it had been mixed with a handful of rusty iron filings, scraping painfully as he inhaled them into his lungs.

"Big Brother, the smell of blood is so heavy; it makes one feel sick." Shitou covered his nose and mouth, speaking in a muffled voice.

Zhou Wannian did not turn back, his pristine green cloth shoes stepping casually onto a moss-covered bluestone.

"This is the smell of Spiritual Qi going rancid."

He raised his hand and pointed to the massive mountain peak ahead, which towered into the clouds, its waist shrouded in a strange red mist.

"We are reaching the border of the Central Region. Beneath this mountain range lies a top-grade Spiritual Vein. According to the old rules of the Qingping Realm, such a good place would always be occupied by Cultivators who styled themselves as upright Sects."

Zhou Wannian took a step and continued walking forward.

"But it seems that the reputation of these upright Sects has been smashed to pieces by someone."

The two passed through a dense pine forest, and the view ahead suddenly opened up, but the scene that presented itself was like a purgatory of carnage.

A massive mountain gate, ten zhang high and carved entirely from a single block of white jade, had been forcibly split in two and lay collapsed on the weed-choked mountain path. A broken half of a plaque was slanted in the soil, with the three gold-painted characters "Qingyun Valley" vaguely visible on it.

This had originally been a fairly well-known second-rate Sect on the edge of the Central Region, said to have a Great Cultivator at the Late Stage of the Core Formation stage sitting in command. In ordinary times, they were high and mighty, receiving worship from the surrounding Mortal nations.

But now, the ground in front of the Qingyun Valley mountain gate was paved with severed limbs and arms.

Fresh blood had stained the white jade steps a jarring dark red. The blood had already congealed and turned black, attracting flocks of carrion crows. The crows perched on broken Flying Swords and fragments of shattered Magic Treasures, emitting shrill, unpleasant caws.

The air was filled with the burnt smell of flesh scorched by fire, as well as an indescribable, manic aura.

Shitou followed behind Zhou Wannian, looking at the corpses covering the ground, his stomach churning violently, and he nearly vomited. He bit his lip hard, suppressing his discomfort, his gaze sweeping over those Cultivators who had died in such miserable ways.

These corpses had one thing in common. Their Dantian areas had all been brutally gouged open by a Sharp Weapon, and the Golden Core or Foundation Establishment basis within them had all vanished.

Just then, a faint rustling sound came from the grass nearby.

A hand, stained with mud and blood, suddenly reached out from the waist-high weeds and grabbed Shitou's ankle tightly.

"Ah!"

Shitou was startled and instinctively wanted to retreat, but the hand held him with astonishing strength, gripping him like an iron shackle.

Zhou Wannian stopped, turned around, and looked with a flat expression at the half-corpse of a man struggling to crawl out of the grass.

This was a young Cultivator wearing the attire of Qingyun Valley. His lower body had already been neatly severed by some Sharp Weapon, his intestines dragging on the ground, and fresh blood was still bubbling from the wound.

His blood-stained face was covered in twisted veins, his eyes bulging, the whites filled with red bloodshot lines, revealing a near-manic despair.

"Save... save me..."

The young Cultivator opened his mouth, spitting out a large mouthful of black blood mixed with pieces of internal organs, his voice raspy like a pulling bellows.

Seeing his miserable state, Shitou felt pity and wanted to bend down to help him, but was pressed on the shoulder by Zhou Wannian.

"Don't touch him. His Dantian is broken, but there is a chaotic and complex Spiritual Qi rampaging inside him. If you touch him, this Qi will explode, and it will tear a layer of skin off your new flesh."

Zhou Wannian's tone was steady, his gaze sweeping over the young Cultivator's violently heaving chest.

The young Cultivator gripped Shitou's ankle tightly, tears mixed with blood flowing into the soil. He was not begging for life, because he knew he could not survive. He just stared fixedly at Zhou Wannian, using the last of his strength to issue a shrill curse and wail.

"They're crazy... they're all fucking crazy..."

"They are not human... they are monsters..."

The young Cultivator gasped violently; every word he spoke made him cough up a mouthful of blood.

"A few days ago... a group of Mortal beggars and butchers who hadn't even reached the Qi Refinement Stage... rushed into our Qingyun Valley..."

"Our Revered Master... a dignified Great Cultivator at the Late Stage of the Core Formation stage... was actually punched through the chest by a butcher who was still slaughtering pigs three days ago... and his Golden Core was dug out alive..."

The young Cultivator's eyes flashed with incomprehensible fear. In the common knowledge of the Cultivation world, cultivation was gained step by step through hard work. Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation—which Realm did not require decades or even centuries of time?

Yet, those who rushed into Qingyun Valley had broken all common sense.

"Three days to Foundation Establishment... seven days to Core Formation... hahahaha..."

The young Cultivator suddenly let out a frantic, miserable laugh.

"What hard work... what comprehension of the Dao... it's all bullshit!"

"They call themselves the 'Dengxian Pavilion'... saying they received empowerment from an Immortal Venerable of the Upper Realm... as long as you kill and seize treasures... as long as you devour... you can ascend on the spot..."

"Run... run quickly... leave the Central Region... this place has become a slaughterhouse for monsters..."

As the last word fell, the young Cultivator's eyes rolled back sharply, and the violent, chaotic Spiritual Qi within his body lost all suppression.

With a dull "bang" sound.

His chest cavity exploded directly, flesh and bone fragments splattering everywhere.

Zhou Wannian stood in place, not even blinking an eyelid. The invisible barrier endowed by the Great Perfection Five Elements Law easily blocked the splattering flesh and filth three feet away, turning it into nothingness.

Shitou was startled by the sudden explosion and shivered, looking at the shocking pool of blood by his feet, unable to recover for a long time.

Three days to Foundation Establishment, seven days to Core Formation?

Even a pig-slaughtering butcher could punch a Core Formation stage Great Cultivator to death?

Although Shitou had only entered the Cultivation world a few days ago, he knew this was simply an Arabian Nights tale. If Cultivation were this easy, wouldn't the Qingping Realm be full of immortals?

"Big Brother, is what he said true?" Shitou looked up, his eyes filled with confusion and shock.

Zhou Wannian stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the strange red mist high above the mountain peak.

"Whether it's true or not doesn't matter. The words of the dead always carry a bit of exaggerated despair."

He dusted off his sleeves and stepped over the pool of blood on the ground.

"Go and see, and you'll know. There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world; the only fate for a pig that grows too fast is to be served on the dinner table early for the New Year's feast."

Zhou Wannian did not follow the corpse-strewn mountain path upward.

He turned and set his sights on a nameless, lonely peak several miles away from the main peak of Qingyun Valley, where the terrain was even more precipitous. This lonely peak stood like a sharp sword thrust upside down into the world, piercing directly into the clouds.

"Let's go, let's go up there to catch some wind; the view is good."

He did not ride a Flying Sword, nor did he use the Divine Ability of Shrinking the Earth to an Inch. Zhou Wannian walked like the most ordinary mountaineer, stepping on steep rocks and overgrown vines, walking step by step toward the summit of the lonely peak.

Shitou followed closely behind. Although the mountain was steep, the youth had great stamina, and he did not feel it was difficult to climb.

About an hour later.

The two finally stood at the highest point of this nameless lonely peak.

[part:gemini-3.0-flash]

The mountain peak was a flat expanse, save for a few massive cyan boulders. The wind at this height was fierce, whistling as it cut against the face like a blade. Cold clouds and mist tumbled past beneath their feet, carrying a bone-chilling frost.

Zhou Wannian walked to the edge of the cliff, found a relatively smooth cyan stone, and sat down without any regard for his image.

He let his legs dangle over the void, swinging them casually. His green robes flapped loudly in the gale, looking as if he might ride the wind away at any moment, yet he remained as steady as Mount Tai, pinned to the summit.

Shitou stood beside Zhou Wannian, looking down the cliff.

From this angle, he could clearly overlook the entire panorama of Qingyun Valley; even the surrounding peaks that had been occupied were fully visible.

The sight before him caused Shitou to gasp.

The Sect grounds that were once shrouded in Spiritual Qi and possessed an immortal air had now been transformed beyond recognition.

Elegant ancient pavilions and towers had been crudely razed to the ground. In their place stood massive altars constructed from giant stones and black metal. These altars possessed no aesthetic value whatsoever, exuding the vulgarity and blood-scent of a Mortal nouveau riche.

Around the altars, glaring crimson banners were planted everywhere, embroidered with three aggressive golden characters—'Dengxian Pavilion'.

The entire valley was packed densely with people.

At a rough glance, there were tens of thousands of them.

Among these people were beggars in rags, mountain bandits with coarse features, and even renegade Cultivators from other Sects whose eyes gleamed with madness.

They were not like orthodox Cultivators, sitting in quiet rooms to meditate and breathe, contemplating the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

At this moment.

Around these massive altars, the disciples of the Dengxian Pavilion were lined up in dense, eerie phalanxes.

Shitou strained his vision, trying to see clearly what they were doing.

But the moment he focused his mind, a nauseating stench of blood rushed toward him, making his head spin. The Origin of Heaven-Opening within his body emitted a strong sense of repulsion.

“Focus. Don't look with your naked eyes.”

Zhou Wannian sat on the cyan stone, his voice sounding somewhat idle as it was carried by the wind.

“Use the logic of that residue inside you to analyze the movements of those pieces of trash below.”

Hearing this, Shitou hurriedly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened them again, the green lotus mark in his left eye faded, and gray data code began to flow frantically in his right eye.

His vision transformed instantly.

The frenzied crowds he had seen with his naked eyes became heat sources emitting chaotic energy fluctuations under the gray data filter.

Shitou saw clearly what they were doing.

This wasn't Cultivating at all.

In the center of every altar lay piles of hundreds or thousands of corpses. They were the bodies of Cultivators from the surrounding righteous Sects. The corpses were being crushed by an evil Formation, turning into a sky full of blood mist and scattered spiritual power.

The disciples of the Dengxian Pavilion stood below the altars.

They tilted their heads back and spread their arms, their expressions twisted and fanatical, like wild dogs that hadn't eaten in weeks seeing rotting meat.

They didn't use Meridians to guide it, nor their Dantian to refine it.

Instead, they directly and crudely opened every pore on their bodies, even gaping their mouths, to forcefully suck that mixed spiritual power—laden with blood-soaked baleful Qi—into their bodies.

Shitou saw a fat man who originally only had the fluctuations of the Qi Refining Stage. After inhaling a large gulp of blood mist, his body swelled up like a balloon. His skin cracked inch by inch, oozing black blood, and his eyes bulged out from being bloodshot.

But the fat man didn't stop; instead, he let out an excited, mad roar.

Under his near-suicidal absorption, the energy fluctuations within him rose at an utterly illogical speed. In just the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, he actually forced his way through the barrier to the Foundation Establishment Stage!

However, this Foundation Establishment aura was extremely hollow and violent, as if it would explode at any moment. The fat man was like a broken lantern filled with gunpowder, completely unable to control the rampaging power within him.

“Big Brother... they are eating people...”

Shitou's face was pale, and his voice trembled. This method of Cultivation completely overturned all the rumors of immortal Cultivation he had heard in Chunyu City. This was even more primitive and savage than wild beasts in the mountains.

“Eating people?”

Zhou Wannian sat at the edge of the cliff and let out a light laugh, his tone carrying deep mockery.

“What does eating people matter? In this mud pit, big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp; that is simply the natural order.”

He extended a long, fair finger, pointing at the Dengxian Pavilion base below that was boiling like a vat of oil.

“You only see them eating people, but you don't see that they themselves are being stuffed into someone else's stomach as fodder.”

Zhou Wannian withdrew his smile.

His eyes, deep as ancient wells, looked past those fanatical Dengxian Pavilion disciples and past those bloody altars.

His gaze pierced through layers of red mist, pointing directly at the highest point of the firmament.

“Lift your head and look up.”

Zhou Wannian commanded in a steady voice.

Shitou followed the direction of Zhou Wannian's finger and looked up. The gray data in his right eye flowed to its limit, and a drop of bloody water even leaked from the corner of his eye.

Finally.

He saw it clearly.

In that gray vision, the sky was no longer the sky, but a distorted void filled with cracks.

At the highest point of that void floated a massive, blurry, unspeakable thing.

And between this unspeakable thing and the Dengxian Pavilion base below...

Were tens of thousands of connected lines.

Transparent, slender lines that neither the naked eyes of Mortals nor the Divine Sense of Cultivators could capture!

These lines were dense, like a transparent rainstorm flowing backward, descending from the Nine Heavens.

The end of every line was precisely and deathly plunged into the crown of the head of every Dengxian Pavilion disciple below!

The fat man who had just broken through to Foundation Establishment had one stuck in his head.

Those mountain bandits and butchers who were still frantically absorbing blood mist also had one stuck in their heads.

These lines were not extracting their Souls.

On the contrary.

In Shitou's gray vision, those transparent threads were emitting a cold, logical glow, like massive IV tubes.

Continuously and without any regard for the host's endurance, they were forcibly injecting a substance—a mixture of high-dimensional rigid code and violent energy—into these people's brains.

Hum—

The reason these Dengxian Pavilion disciples were Cultivating at a speed that defied logic...

Was not because they were exceptionally talented, nor because the blood mist on the altars was miraculous.

It was because these lines above their heads were performing the most barbaric 'force-feeding' on them.

High-dimensional power surged through the threads into their fragile shells, forcibly raising their Realms. Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and even Core Formation.

Under the control of those threads, the Meridians in their bodies were crudely torn and reorganized, and their Dantians were forcibly expanded.

They felt no pain, only the extreme frenzy brought by the explosion of power.

This wasn't immortal Cultivation at all.

This was manufacturing flesh-and-blood bombs on an assembly line.

“Do you see it now?”

Zhou Wannian sat on the cyan stone, the wind brushing against his green robes.

He looked at those Dengxian Pavilion Cultivators with threads in their heads, dancing wildly; in his eyes, there was no pity, only disdain for such crude methods.

“In this world, there has never been an immortal method that achieves Core Formation in a few days.”

“Have you ever seen a farmer raise ducks?”

Zhou Wannian withdrew his hand, resting his hands casually on his knees.

“To make the ducks gain weight quickly, the farmer will shove a tube directly down the duck's throat. Regardless of whether the duck is willing, he'll force-feed it fodder mixed with oil every day.”

“The ducks grow very fast, becoming plump in just a few days. The ducks themselves think it's a blessing from heaven and eat happily.”

He pointed at the tens of thousands of Dengxian Pavilion disciples below.

“They are those ducks with tubes shoved down their throats.”

“The fellow up in the sky thinks the Qingping Realm is growing too slowly after the spiritual recovery and can't wait to harvest.”

“So he created such an eerie Sect to pour down his high-dimensional energy as fodder.”

“When this group of fat pigs reaches the Nascent Soul Stage or the Soul Transformation Stage...”

“When the tubes in the sky are retracted, what will be sucked out is not just their essence of flesh and blood, but also the Origin Luck of the entire Qingping Realm's earth veins.”

Zhou Wannian stood up.

The hem of his green robes fluttered fiercely in the wind.

He looked down at the slaughterhouse that resembled a living hell.

“Destroying people's Dao foundations, severing the Realm's Origin.”

“This fishing technique is not only clumsy, but it's also disgusting to the extreme.”

Zhou Wannian brushed the dust off his hands.

He turned and walked toward the stone steps overgrown with wild grass leading down the mountain.

“Let's go, Little Shitou.”

Zhou Wannian's voice drifted with the cold wind of the cliff, carrying a bone-chilling laziness.

“Since we've seen clearly where the tubes are inserted.”

“We'll go down and take this bunch of overstuffed fat pigs, along with that fellow in the sky who's shoving the tubes...”

“And slaughter them all together.”