Chapter 76: We Are Merchants

The Power of Karmic Virtue had countless miraculous uses: it could elevate one’s cultivation realm, ward off inner demons, grant insights into the Heavenly Dao, and even obscure the Heavenly Secrets. In ancient times, it was a force that countless cultivators sought after.

But after the Stairway to Immortality disappeared nine thousand years ago, the Power of Karmic Virtue had vanished from the Nine Provinces as well. No matter how many great deeds one performed for the benefit of the world, not a single trace of Karmic Virtue would appear. Over time, cultivators simply forgot it had ever existed.

The faction that had once accumulated the most Karmic Virtue was the Mengjiang Dynasty—so extravagant that they had even built a golden chamber for the Mortal World Celestial using bricks forged from Karmic Virtue.

However, this was a foolish act by Emperor Mengjiang. When he finally came to his senses, he immediately retrieved the golden bricks and stored them securely within the national treasury.

The ancestral edict had been clear: unless it was a matter of national survival, the golden bricks of Karmic Virtue must never be used.

Because Karmic Virtue had become so rare, very few cultivators in the present day could even recognize it. Even a Soul Formation cultivator like the elder had mistaken it for his own “Divine Repository Power”, rather than something that had descended from the Heavens.

The Dao Sect had always claimed that all Karmic Virtue was being blocked in the Celestial Realm, unable to descend.

But now it was clear—that was completely wrong.

It wasn’t that Karmic Virtue was blocked.

The conditions for its descent had changed!

Killing could now generate Karmic Virtue!

No—wait, that wasn’t right. Jiang Li had killed plenty of people before. He had just killed Long Sanshui, yet he hadn’t seen even a sliver of Karmic Virtue appear.

There had to be another condition.

“What is it? Do you have to join this Divine Repository Sect? Or go through some kind of ritual? Or maybe… you have to genuinely believe in this so-called Divine Repository Sovereign?” Jiang Li pondered as he questioned the elder.

The elder barely had time to open his mouth before his body suddenly swelled into a sphere, as if he was about to explode.

Jiang Li reacted instantly, locking him in place with a binding technique, preventing the explosion. However, he could only halt the detonation, not reverse the transformation.

Now, the elder was stuck in his spherical form—if Jiang Li removed the restriction, he would immediately explode.

“…A lost curse technique?”

Jiang Li had read about curse techniques before. Some ancient incantations would punish anyone who even thought about or spoke certain secrets, often leading to self-destruction, just like what had just happened.

Over the past nine thousand years, the Nine Provinces had continued to develop—new legacies emerged, while old ones faded away. Curse techniques were among the lost arts.

Some said that cultivators who practiced curses were themselves doomed by misfortune, bearing the Fated Star of Calamity, leading to their lineages dying out over time.

“You three must not speak of this to anyone, and you absolutely must not get involved!” Jiang Li sternly warned Qin Luan, Song Ying, and Yuan Wuxing.

He trusted their character enough to not spread rumors, but the stakes of this matter were simply too high.

With that, Jiang Li took the spherical elder and vanished into the sky.

Jiang Li arrived at the Dao Sect and immediately called out, “Bai Hongtu, come out and see if you can undo this curse.”

Bai Hongtu, who had been in the middle of cultivation, was dragged outside. Hearing Jiang Li’s voice, Immortal Changcun and Yin-Yang Heaven Seal also appeared, sensing that something serious was happening.

“Undo what? You mean the binding technique? If I remove it, he’ll just explode!” Bai Hongtu stared blankly at the ball-shaped elder, completely confused.

“…You don’t recognize curse techniques?” Jiang Li asked.

“Nope.” Bai Hongtu answered confidently. “I’ve only read descriptions of curses, but that’s not the same as actually knowing how to deal with them. This is called caution.”

“This is definitely a curse technique—an exceptionally strict one called the Sixfold Seated Refinement Curse,” Immortal Changcun interjected. His vast experience allowed him to recognize it at a glance.

“Curses have long been lost in the Nine Provinces. Where did you find this person?”

“Can you break it?”

Immortal Changcun shook his head. “Ordinary curses, yes. But the Sixfold Seated Refinement Curse requires extremely precise conditions to be placed. Only the person who cast it can remove it.”

“What conditions are required to cast the curse?”

“First, the recipient must be fully aware of what they are agreeing to and must willingly accept the curse—they cannot be forced through threats to their life, family, or material temptation. Second, the caster must be at least an entire major realm higher than the recipient.”

Bai Hongtu was incredulous. “You’re telling me this guy agreed to be cursed? Where did you find someone that stupid?”

Jiang Li didn’t answer. The fewer people who knew, the better.

“Tianyin, check his karma. See what people he’s been involved with.”

Yin-Yang Heaven Seal focused for a moment before frowning.

“…His karmic ties are being obscured by some force. I can only get a rough idea. This man has never left the Tianyuan Dynasty—but beyond that, I can’t see much.”

Yin-Yang Heaven Seal felt incredibly frustrated. Ever since gaining sentience, the only thing its karma-sensing abilities had successfully uncovered was Jiang Li’s own dead master.

Tianyin, you need to train harder! If you keep slacking off, Jiang Li might just throw you into a furnace for refinement one day!

Resolving itself, the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal made a silent vow—it needed to develop a method for spiritual treasures to cultivate. It had been self-refining before it even gained intelligence, so it had some ideas on where to start.

Jiang Li knew that the Power of Karmic Virtue had interfered, obscuring the elder’s karmic traces. The fact that Tianyin could still get a vague reading despite that meant its mastery over karma-based techniques was quite impressive.

“The Tianyuan Dynasty… Got it.”

Jiang Li flew a distance away, then removed the elder’s bindings—allowing him to explode into a mess of blood and flesh far away from the Dao Sect.

Jiang Li then arrived at the Great Zhou branch of the Tianji Tower.

The moment he entered, he was momentarily stunned by the sight of a book on display in the main hall—titled “The Human Sovereign in Tianji Tower.”

Jiang Li gave Zhou Youfu a firm pat on the shoulder, as if assigning him some important task. Zhou Youfu, ever the businessman, immediately put on an expression of determined confidence, as though he would see it through at all costs.

Jiang Li had always prided himself on his memory—especially as a Mahayana Stage cultivator, his recall should be flawless, particularly when it came to recent events.

But at this moment, he seriously began to doubt himself.

Zhou Youfu, realizing it was Jiang Renhuang, immediately rushed downstairs to greet him.

Seeing the fat on Zhou Youfu’s body jiggle as he ran, Jiang Li couldn’t help but feel like he was watching a mother pig trotting down a staircase.

This time, Jiang Li didn’t give him a chance to overthink things. He dragged Zhou Youfu into a private chamber and got straight to the point.

“I’m not here to inspect Tianji Tower. I want to buy all the information you have on the Divine Repository Sect.”

Zhou Youfu looked troubled.

“The Divine Repository Sect? You start off asking for something that even we barely know about, and you say you’re not here to inspect us?”