Chapter 167: Chapter 167: The Bizarre Hundred Refinement Sect
’Wouldn’t it be better if both states were mine?’
Besides, even if the Demon Dao kept their word for once.
Where would the expelled Righteous Cultivators go?
Would they swap with the Demonic Cultivators and go to Canglang State?
But what’s done is done; there was no point dwelling on it.
The Barbarian Race had already joined the Demon Dao to begin their invasion of Dinghai State.
And Dinghai State, faced with the invasion from Canglang State, had clearly failed to react in time.
Why was that?
Because at the time, a significant portion of Dinghai State’s top brass were inside the Purple Flower Palace.
They weren’t there for the usual banquets and matchmaking events.
Rather, they were waiting for a certain Demon Venerable to appear.
Finally, they got their wish.
Yan Demon Venerable suddenly appeared in the Palace Master’s hall within the Purple Flower Palace. Ignoring the Arrays as if they were nothing, he froze every Golden Core Cultivator in the hall.
This included the Sect Leaders of the Profound Origin Sect and the Celestial Blade Sect.
Then, just as casually, he inspected all the Female Cultivators present.
When he inspected the Palace Master of the Purple Flower Palace, a black energy selected her, and Yan Demon Venerable took her away just like that.
He then proceeded to inspect every other Female Cultivator in the Purple Flower Palace before leaving, taking no one else.
After this incident, the Sect Leaders of the Profound Origin Sect and Celestial Blade Sect frantically searched for Yan Demon Venerable, but to no avail. They left behind a single order—all-out war with the Demon Dao—and then both vanished. To this day, no one knows their whereabouts.
"As for the name change, that’s even easier to understand. The Marketplace was breached by a Demon. To rise from the ashes, it was renamed. It’s no longer called by its old name, but Demon Hunting City, to ensure this grudge is never forgotten."
Jiang Xu was filled with emotion after hearing the story.
’How should I put it?’ In any case, Jiang Xu felt he had done his best. It wasn’t easy for him to escape in the first place. Risking his life again to send a message to save them was going above and beyond.
’The Profound Origin Sect had its own considerations, too.’
’After all, they had an entire Sect to think about; they had to be cautious.’
’When all was said and done, it was simply fate.’
’The will of Heaven is difficult to defy.’
’Only when one’s Cultivation reaches the absolute peak, when all calamities between Heaven and Earth can no longer touch you, can one truly achieve a state where ’Heaven may fall, but I will not; the Dao may perish, but I will not.’’
"By the way, what is that thing the person at the city gate is holding?"
"Oh, that’s called a Demon-Revealing Mirror. It’s a replica Magical Artifact of the Magical Treasure ’Yingzhen.’ It can detect whether a Cultivator is a Demon Cultivator. It’s very effective."
’Demon-Revealing Mirror.’
Jiang Xu eyed the mirror, wondering.
’I wonder if that thing can see through my Stealth.’
Suddenly, Jiang Xu recalled the strange Female Cultivator he had encountered recently. A thought struck him, and he asked the man:
"Do you know of a Sect called the Hundred Refinement Sect?"
Hearing this name, the man froze for a moment. Then, the corner of his mouth twitched, his expression turning odd. To Jiang Xu, he seemed... disgusted?
"Didn’t I just mention the seven great Demon Sects that declared war on the Righteous Dao? They are the Biluo Demon Sect, the Blood Shadow Sect, the Yin Yang Annihilation Sect, the Netherworld Mansion, the Joyful Tower, the Black Flame Cave, and the last one... is the Hundred Refinement Sect."
"The Hundred Refinement Sect advocates for breakthroughs in power through extreme physical and mental suffering. They believe that only through a thousand trials and a hundred refinements can one attain immortality. As a result, the Sect has an endless supply of cruel tests and harsh methods. Using Forbidden Techniques to temper their bodies and challenging the boundaries of life and death is just another Tuesday for them."
"What they love most is provoking powerful experts—it doesn’t matter if they’re Demon Cultivators or Righteous Cultivators. The stronger, the better."
"They typically use the most vile language imaginable to get a rise out of these experts and start a fight."
"But calling it a ’fight’ is a stretch. It’s really just the Hundred Refinement Sect disciples getting completely thrashed, which is exactly what they want."
"The harder you hit them, the more they love it. Getting beaten up once is never enough; they’ll ask you to do it a few more times. If you stop, they’ll chase you down and beg you to keep hitting them."
"The Hundred Refinement Sect was originally one of the Righteous Sects. But because they were so damn masochistic, the other Righteous Sects teamed up, kicked them out, reclassified them as part of the Demon Dao, and drove them off to Canglang State."
"In fact, you could say the Hundred Refinement Sect went to Canglang State voluntarily. They got tired of being beaten up by the Righteous Dao and wanted a taste of being beaten by the Demon Dao and the Barbarian Race instead."
"So, as you can imagine, the Hundred Refinement Sect is now despised by the Demon Dao, too. And now they’ve gotten tired of fighting the Demon Dao and want a change of pace, so they’ve come back to Dinghai State."
At this, the man paused again, his face contorting as if he’d swallowed something foul.
"Sir, let me warn you. If you run into anyone from the Hundred Refinement Sect, you have to give them a thorough beating. If you leave them unsatisfied, they’ll come back next time with more of their people to corner you, and then you’ll be on the receiving end of a group assault!"
"On the other hand, if you’re overwhelmingly powerful, you absolutely cannot let them leave alive. Otherwise, they’ll just bring back even more disciples to beg you to beat them all up."
Jiang Xu was completely and utterly gobsmacked.
’That is just... bizarre...’
It suddenly dawned on him why those two from before had reacted that way when he said he was leaving.
’So that’s what that was all about.’
"I have one more question," Jiang Xu asked. "Do you know of a certain Duobao Female Cultivator who refers to herself as ’this young miss’ and has a Demon Cultivator from the Hundred Refinement Sect as a follower?"
The man thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"Can’t say I do."
After letting the man go, Jiang Xu felt the outside world was indeed a bit more dangerous than he’d thought. He began to wonder if it would be better to return to the Profound Origin Sect.
’It’s pretty dangerous out here. Wouldn’t it be safer to go back to the Profound Origin Sect?’
’Before, I was afraid to return because I couldn’t explain how I escaped the Marketplace.’
’But now that I know a large number of people survived, I can just make up a story and say I was one of them.’
’Most importantly, I have no idea where to get a Foundation Establishment Pill out here. If I could get back into the Sect, I could just trade for one. That would be much simpler.’
However, since he was already at the Marketplace, he figured he might as well go in and take a look.
’Maybe I can get my hands on one inside,’ he thought.
Besides, Jiang Xu wanted to check on the Talisman Shop and see if it had been attacked by Elder Demon Su.
He continued forward.
Jiang Xu got in line and approached the gates of Demon Hunting City.
A guard at the gate first scanned Jiang Xu with a Demon-Revealing Mirror. After confirming he wasn’t a Demon Cultivator, the guard began a series of questions.
They asked about everything from his household registry and age to his relatives and friends. They nearly asked for his birth chart and a professional resume.
Just as Jiang Xu was struggling to keep his story straight and the guard’s gaze grew increasingly dangerous, an idea struck him. He took the Profound Origin Sect Identity Token from his Storage Bag.
After verifying the authenticity of the Identity Token and confirming the information on it was indeed Jiang Xu’s, the guard finally let him into the city.
’Looks like the situation really is grim. The Righteous Cultivators must be having a tough fight.’
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