Chapter 634: Evil to the Core
Killing people to obtain merit – this matter was all too familiar to the three of them, especially Jiang Li, who was the first person to encounter this matter.
Heavenly Dao incarnation, Divine Vault Sovereign, Shenzang Cult.
“Have you ever heard of the term ‘Divine Vault’?” Jiang Li stared into Transformation Star Lord’s eyes.
Transformation Star Lord shook his head blankly.
That made sense – if even Spirit Transformation stage cultivators knew about the Divine Vault Sovereign’s affairs, they would have long since started massacring freely.
Jiang Li guessed that probably only the Desolation Lords and immortals knew about this.
If that was the case, then what Qian Desolation Lord had said about immortal power storage rings was highly questionable.
Perhaps there were no immortal power storage rings at all – the Eight Desolations converted merit power into immortal power to achieve immortality.
How many worlds had these beasts crashed into, how many people had they killed?
Jiang Li felt killing intent rising within him.
He just didn’t know yet how many people were involved in the Eight Desolations’ destruction of other worlds.
Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin also silently gritted their teeth, unable to suppress their desire to kill.
They had only found Qian Desolation Lord strange, so they came to the Eight Desolations to investigate. They never expected the more they investigated, the more complicated things became, and the more they investigated, the more they wanted to kill.
“Where is your immortal ancestor?”
“I don’t know. The immortal ancestor’s traces are faint and elusive, not something a small figure like me could know.”
“After crashing into worlds, what did your Eight Desolations do?”
“The Domain Lords form groups of three to five people and go to various planets to investigate the situation. I heard they previously encountered a world with developed cultivation civilization where one Domain Lord descended to a cultivation planet and was counter-killed by the natives. To avoid this situation, the Domain Lords now operate in teams.”
“If they’re not very interested, they casually destroy it. If they become interested, they’ll play with it properly.”
“When there are too many planets and the Domain Lords can’t handle them all, it falls to us Star Lords and Nascent Soul, Golden Core, and Foundation Building cultivators.”
“We ride interstellar compasses across the universe, rush to other planets, and carry out invasions.”
Jiang Li asked with a fake smile, “Oh, is that so?”
Transformation Star Lord didn’t quite understand Jiang Li’s meaning. He felt there was nothing wrong with what he said, so he continued, “Yes, after we go to those planets, we encounter resistance. I must admit, mortal technology does have its clever aspects and can threaten us.”
“We’ve also lost quite a few people during our invasion process. Compared to the gains, these losses are within acceptable range.”
“After all, sometimes when we fight over resources and engage in internal planetary conflicts, the number of dead cultivators far exceeds this amount.”
“After we successfully conquer, we begin harvesting the results. Although we can’t kill people to obtain merit, we can perform blood sacrifices, refine mortals, consecrate weapons, and increase our levels. This process lasts from one month to one year depending on the mortals’ technology and population.”
“I heard when the Celestial Ascension Ladder was still around, the Eight Desolations’ mortal population was limited, so we couldn’t kill so fiercely – we had to leave some, otherwise they’d be gone once killed.”
“Now it’s great – we can crash into worlds randomly and kill however we want.”
“After weapons reach refinement saturation and cultivation hits bottlenecks, if there are still mortals remaining, we package them up and send them back to the Eight Desolations, either to become servants or blood slaves.”
“These mortals are all resources. Although one mortal isn’t valuable, mortals in large quantities can fetch a good price.”
“So every time we Star Lords lead people to other worlds, we have to compete for the opportunity. For example, ten years ago when we went to the Dawn World, I managed to get one chance and made a huge profit.”
“Actually, I have an unworthy suggestion that I boldly ask you three seniors to consider.”
“Speak.” Jiang Li said expressionlessly.
“The name of the Nine Provinces is known to all, famous throughout. With so many worlds in the myriad heavens and worlds, why don’t the Nine Provinces and Eight Desolations join forces to invade other worlds together and achieve a grand overlord enterprise?”
“When you kill mortals, do you feel no psychological burden?”
Transformation Star Lord thought this was Jiang Li testing his ruthlessness level. This required no consideration at all – he could answer directly.
Anyone who could cultivate to the Spirit Transformation stage had a firm Dao Heart set on immortality, with hands stained with blood.
If you’re not ruthless in cultivation, then what’s the point of cultivating?
“Replying to you, senior, since we cultivation practitioners stepped onto the cultivation path, bathed in spiritual energy, and underwent rebirth, we have already become a different species from mortals. Mortals are nothing but a group of ants to us. How could we feel psychological burden from stepping on a group of ants?”
Transformation Star Lord believed there was nothing wrong with these words. He was convinced these three seniors held the same philosophy, perhaps even more ruthless than him.
After all, the higher the cultivation level, the more people one must have killed.
The righteous path?
In his eyes, the concept of a righteous path didn’t exist at all.
“Does the Eight Desolations still have planets from other worlds?”
Transformation Star Lord felt delighted, thinking this senior was interested in his proposal and wanted to conduct an on-site inspection.
“Yes, yes!”
If this matter succeeded, he would become a great hero of the Eight Desolations.
Led by Transformation Star Lord, the three passed through dozens of planets, all originating from different worlds.
“How often does the Eight Desolations crash into worlds?”
“Ten to thirty years. Please look, this is a planet left over from a world crash eighty years ago – a gas giant where humans lived in the clouds, very interesting.”
“Now the people there have either been killed or sold throughout the Eight Desolations. This planet still retains the ingenious technology of those natives and the animals living in the clouds. Black Dragon Domain Lord found it interesting, so he kept it.”
“And this planet, left over from a crash one hundred sixty years ago. The people here lived in the mantle with extremely high body temperatures, making them perfect materials for cultivating fire attribute techniques. One Star Lord used one hundred thousand people to refine a soul-summoning banner. When the banner emerges, blazing flames rise, making it impossible to approach – both offensive and defensive, truly enviable to behold.”
“Dirty Fire Domain Lord kept this planet.”
“This was a continent with many cultivators, including one at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage with considerable strength. The immortal ancestor personally intervened, and this Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivator didn’t make much waves.”
“We plundered techniques, spiritual energy, and some good infants here, gaining substantial harvests.”
“The continent was called Hundred Flowers Continent. The immortal ancestor thought the name was nice, so he kept it in the Eight Desolations.”
Transformation Star Lord grew more and more excited as he spoke, not even noticing the three’s faces had darkened to the point where water could practically drip from them.
“That’s enough.”
Transformation Star Lord was startled, “But there are many more I haven’t introduced yet.”
“I said that’s enough!”
“Committing heinous crimes upon heinous crimes, yet still being smug and proud – it’s truly nauseating!” Jiang Li grabbed Transformation Star Lord by the neck, murderous intent blazing in his eyes.
He would die! Transformation Star Lord realized his death was imminent.
These three seniors were actually angry because he had killed too many people.
Wasn’t killing many people an honor?
“No, no, no! Those evil deeds have nothing to do with me! Even if I didn’t kill them, other Star Lords would have killed them! I just happened to be in that position!”
Jiang Li showed no expression as he extracted Transformation Star Lord’s sinews and bones, scraping off his scales piece by piece, causing Transformation Star Lord to wail incessantly from the pain.
Bai Hongtu drew his Rainfall Sword and began cutting Transformation Star Lord piece by piece starting from the tail.
Strong survival instincts made Transformation Star Lord repeatedly claim he was innocent. Now only a quarter of his body remained.
The corner of Jiang Li’s mouth lifted in a cold smile, “If you’re innocent, then let the Underworld deduct my hidden virtue.”
After saying this, he directly crushed his head.
After Transformation Star Lord died, a wisp of golden flame appeared on Jiang Li’s finger.
Yu Yin laughed coldly, “This time the merit power distribution is quite fitting.”