Chapter 464 - 12: Scripture Pavilion
To what extent can a person become utterly depraved?
One need only look at Chang Wudao to know.
Several years ago, his heart filled with hatred, he resolved to cultivate the Celestial Demon Manual. He believed he could keep his mind’s Bright Platform secure and not be exploited by Evil Demons.
Little did he know, the moment the thought of practicing a Demon Technique entered his mind, a Heart Demon had already planted a seed within him, merely waiting for the right time to sprout.
In order to break through to the Purple Mansion, Chang Wudao exhausted nearly all of the Earth Fire Sect’s savings from the past few decades. From the highest to the lowest, everyone had to tighten their belts to get by.
But that wasn’t enough. He also secretly dispatched people to slaughter mortals. At first, he targeted the small families in the Liuyun Mountain Range, then the Li Clan and the Qiu Clan. After arousing suspicion, he turned his butcher’s blade upon the mortals living under the Earth Fire Sect’s own jurisdiction.
He did this to collect blood and Divine Souls for his cultivation. He built a massive Blood Pool in the center of Baiyun Peak, which had never run dry since he began his training.
Demonic Cultivation Techniques progressed rapidly, with nearly exponential growth in the early stages.
But soon, Chang Wudao gradually discovered that the blood and Divine Souls of mortals were no longer enough for his cultivation needs. He remained stuck at the final step, unable to advance even an inch.
In the years that followed, his sanity was gradually eroded by demonic thoughts, and he fell into the Demon Dao.
He began ordering his men to hunt Cultivators, but their numbers were too few, completely failing to meet his cultivation needs.
And so, he set his sights on the Li Clan and the Qiu Clan, who also resided in the Liuyun Mountain Range.
He had Du Huating use the pretext of uniting their forces to fight the Song Clan to annex them, just after they had suffered heavy losses. Together, they founded the Martial Spirit Sect.
Did Chang Wudao not know that a sect formed this way would be as disorganized as loose sand? He knew it all too well. In fact, it was precisely because of this that he saw his opportunity to strike.
In the following years, he expended great effort to build dozens of altars inside the body of Baiyun Peak, all according to the records in the Celestial Demon Manual.
But then another problem presented itself: he lacked the overwhelming power needed to complete this blood sacrifice.
The plan seemed to have reached a stalemate.
But when the news of Song Xianming’s breakthrough to the Purple Mansion arrived, he knew his time had come.
Because a force capable of breaking the stalemate had been born.
And so, he sought out Du Huating and instructed him to do everything in his power to keep all the sect members and disciples behind, to await the Song Clan’s slaughter. This way, he could obtain enough blood and Divine Souls to take that final step.
Du Huating was naturally unwilling to obey such a depraved command.
But Chang Wudao had leverage over him.
Du Huating had been the one to procure all the blood for Chang Wudao’s cultivation.
If this news were to get out, not only would Du Huating be torn to shreds by the combined forces of the Li Clan and the Qiu Clan, he would even have his flesh devoured and his blood drunk by the disciples of the Earth Fire Sect!
Furthermore, Du Huating understood deeply that if word of Chang Wudao’s fall into the Demon Dao got out, the Martial Spirit Sect would still be unable to escape its own destruction.
Because the Daqi Cultivation World had zero tolerance for the Demon Dao, they would become rats scurrying across the street, hunted by all.
He had been backed into a corner.
And when Chang Wudao promised that the Song Clan would be buried with them and revealed the existence of the Space Transmission Array in the back mountains, Du Huating’s last line of mental defense crumbled.
Thus, the two of them joined forces, using the Song Clan as a sharp blade to send the Earth Fire Sect, and by extension the entire Martial Spirit Sect, into the Abyss.
The blood and bones of over a thousand Cultivators from the Martial Spirit Sect paved Chang Wudao’s path to the Purple Mansion.
Among them were disciples who revered him, martial brothers who respected him, and junior members of the sect who idolized him.
But Chang Wudao’s conscience had been buried in a coffin along with Chang Tianhua on the day he died.
Destroying the Song Clan was his life’s obsession. For this, he would pay any price, even sacrificing his own humanity!
"Song Xianming, you can’t kill me!"
Chang Wudao stood in mid-air, shrouded in a bloody light, letting out a maniacal laugh as the dense wounds covering his body healed at a visible rate.
The Celestial Demon Manual contained a pure Blood Demon Technique, even purer than that of the Blood Demon Sect. Once cultivated to the Purple Mansion realm, one could refine the Blood Demon True Body, which legend says allows for rebirth from a single drop of blood.
While Chang Wudao’s version wasn’t quite that monstrous, his Life Force was extremely resilient. Song Xianming, relying on the Magical Treasure in his hand, Stabilize the Realm, and the support of the Quasi-Celestial Ship, could easily suppress him but found it difficult to kill him.
If he didn’t die, the future trouble for the Song Clan would be endless, something Song Xianming absolutely could not tolerate.
"Stabilize the Realm, Exorcism!"
With a soft cry, Song Xianming released the Cyan Blade from his hand. The Long Sword shot across the sky, Spiritual Light filled the air, and endless Sword Qi converged upon it.
"Exterminate!"
An utterly indifferent voice sounded from within Stabilize the Realm. A brilliant, dazzling beam of Sword Qi chopped down from the sky, seeming to tear the pitch-black night asunder with this single strike!
"Blood Sea Overturning Heaven, turn the world upside down!"
Sensing the boundless killing intent contained within the Sword Qi, Chang Wudao raised his arms high. His hair stood on end, and his crimson-soaked eyes erupted with a soul-stealing bloody light.
An ocean of piled-up white bones and fresh blood materialized behind him. Wails echoed from it, and an oppressive Evil Qi washed out, as if countless Fierce Ghosts were struggling within.
BOOM—
The white bolt of Sword Qi collided with the sea of corpses and blood, erupting in an instant. The sky was immediately filled with an endless expanse of crimson.
SCHLICK—
In the end, Song Xianming was a step above. The Sword Qi tore through the churning sea of blood and slashed toward Chang Wudao’s neck.
"Blood Escape Technique!"
Chang Wudao transformed into a puddle of murky blood, merging into the crimson that filled the sky.
The Sword Qi struck nothing but air, shearing off the top of a distant hill.