Volume Two: Travels in the Kingdom of Qi, Chapter 100: Rules

When the system said his blood was sufficient, Zhang Heng immediately stopped. Then he sat down cross-legged on the ground. He had lost a tremendous amount of blood; if he did not replenish it at once, he might truly collapse and die just like that.

“Sir Immortal, what is wrong?”

Seeing Zhang Heng’s face go pale, the common folk hurried to ask.

In their eyes, immortals were never short of blood, so how could one possibly die from blood loss?

“Young man, are you all right?” Ling Tian flashed to Zhang Heng’s side, crouched down, and asked with concern.

“Senior, rest assured. I am fine.”

Zhang Heng gave a calm smile, took a large bottle of spirit liquid from his spatial ring, and drank it down right in front of Ling Tian.

Ling Tian’s expression changed drastically. He clenched his teeth in regret, yet there was nothing he could do. After all, it was Zhang Heng’s property.

That much spirit liquid would have lasted him a full year, and yet Zhang Heng had squandered it just like that.

Time passed little by little, and the medicinal decoction was nearly finished.

Brewing medicine was not the same as refining pills. Pill refinement demanded his full concentration and complete devotion. But for simmering medicine, he only needed to prepare the herbs and add water to boil them. Anyone could have done it.

Everyone watched the pot with tense expressions, waiting for the medicine to finish simmering. Yet Zhang Heng, at this moment, was the most relaxed of all.

Because he knew the system would not be wrong. This decoction, infused with his blood, would surely work on those infected by the black aura. Soon, Pleasure-Seeking City would be restored to normal, and his merit would be complete.

At last, after half an hour of simmering, the fragrance of the medicine began to spread.

Having consumed a large amount of spirit liquid, Zhang Heng had recovered quite a bit of energy as well. He slowly stood up and then said with excitement, “Fellow citizens of Pleasure-Seeking City, the medicine is ready. Very soon, your relatives and friends will return to normal.”

At those words, all the common folk knelt on the ground and thanked him over and over.

“Patriarch Han, the power of this decoction is too strong. These ordinary people may not be able to withstand it. Add the same amount of water to it and mix it well. Then distribute it to those who were infected,” Zhang Heng called Han Xuan over and instructed him.

Upon hearing this, Han Xuan immediately summoned the Han family guards and ordered them to handle the medicine.

At this moment, Zhang Heng had returned to the room. There was no need to look outside; he could already guess what was happening.

“Young man, what are you thinking about? Those common folk are all recovering now, and they are thanking you endlessly. Yet you have hidden yourself here instead.” Seeing Zhang Heng lost in thought, Ling Tian could not help but wonder. By rights, after saving so many lives, shouldn’t one be overjoyed?

“Senior, do you think I saved them in order to receive their gratitude?” Zhang Heng asked in return.

Ling Tian burst into laughter. “Good boy, I rather like your temperament.”

“Senior, take me to the imperial capital.” After thinking for a long time, Zhang Heng finally voiced his decision.

“Very well, young man. I looked into it. There are three roads leading to the imperial capital. The first goes through the Spirit Beast Mountains to the west. Though it is shorter, it is rather dangerous. The second is to take the Qi Kingdom’s main road. It takes more time, but you need not worry about encountering any danger. As for the third…” the old man continued without pause.

But Zhang Heng cut him off.

“Senior Ling Tian, I want to get to the imperial capital as quickly as possible. Use void travel to take me there.”

“Are you in such a hurry, young man?” Ling Tian was puzzled. If he truly wished to go to the imperial capital, it would only take a few seconds. But he did not want to use void travel, because if he did, his spirit liquid would be gone.

Zhang Heng did not speak. He merely gazed deeply at the sky outside.

“All right, young man. When do you want to leave? Do you want to go bid farewell to the Han family head?” Although Ling Tian greatly coveted the spirit liquid on Zhang Heng’s person, he could see that Zhang Heng seemed to be in a hurry and therefore did not ask further.

“Senior Ling Tian, is the Shadow God Sect very strong?” Zhang Heng suddenly asked.

“Hm?” Ling Tian was taken aback. He knew why Zhang Heng would ask such a thing. After a moment, he began to explain, “The strongest in the Shadow God Sect is their sect master, a sixth-stage Heavenly Origin cultivator. He is about equal to me. As for the overall strength of their sect, it is considered fairly strong within the Qi Kingdom. However, my Spirit Feather Palace is the number one sect of the Qi Kingdom and is still a little stronger than the Shadow God Sect.”

“Then, senior, why do you not join forces with others to deal with the Shadow God Sect? The Shadow God Sect has massacred more than one hundred thousand commoners. Has no one ever punished them?”

This was the doubt in Zhang Heng’s heart.

The world was vast, and under the broad heavens, how could a sinister cult openly appear in the capital of the Qi Kingdom? Zhang Heng could not understand it. Were all those righteous sects just for show?

“Young man, you are thinking too simply. Though the people of the Shadow God Sect act strangely, they have always kept a low profile and have never been caught with any evidence. Take this incident, for example. Even if they truly slaughtered more than one hundred thousand people, who besides you and me would know?”

“Even if everyone truly knew that the Shadow God Sect was a cult, and knew they had slaughtered a hundred thousand commoners, which sect would be willing to deal with them? The Shadow God Sect has existed for hundreds of years after all, and it has some foundation. If the other sects wanted to fight it, even if they could barely win, they would be gravely weakened. And there is one last point: those people after all…”

“These people are merely ordinary folk. Their lives are as insignificant as ants; they can be taken or left. Right? Those true experts would not care whether they live or die, would they?” Zhang Heng said expressionlessly.

Ling Tian sighed. He had no way to refute it.

What Ling Tian said was cruel, but it was also the truth. These more than one hundred thousand people were simply ordinary mortals incapable of cultivation. Even if they all died suddenly one day, very few high-level cultivators would care. This was the rule of this world.

“Young man, try to see it more openly,” Ling Tian advised. At first, he had thought the same way, but after seeing such things too often, he had long since grown numb.

“Senior, do the Four Sacred Lands not care?”

Aren’t the Four Sacred Lands hailed as the guardians of this world? Would they really stand by and watch while someone plunged the world into chaos?

“Young man, the Four Sacred Lands stand at the very peak of this world. They are all busy seeking the supreme path. How could they concern themselves with such trifles?” Even Ling Tian, speaking of the Four Sacred Lands, showed a face full of reverence.

To Zhang Heng, this was the most ridiculous joke he had ever heard. The lives of one hundred thousand people were only a trifle?

How lofty this so-called supremacy of strength was.

Zhang Heng fell into deep thought for a long time.

The world of cultivation was so vast and boundless. The sight of the strong bullying the weak was everywhere, so common that it had become the norm. Zhang Heng understood this. If cultivators wished to defy fate and change their lot, they had to endure suffering beyond what ordinary people could bear. Thus, strife among cultivators was only natural.

However, if cultivators fought one another, so be it. But the Shadow God Sect had actually extended its claws toward ordinary people, and that was something Zhang Heng could not tolerate.

“I, Zhang Heng, am only a lowly cultivator, but I still wish to meet this Shadow God Sect. Senior, take me to the imperial capital.”

The Shadow God Sect sought to harm more than one hundred thousand commoners, and it was linked to a murderous demon from a thousand years ago. So Zhang Heng would absolutely not let them off.

Since the Shadow God Sect had gone to the capital of the Qi Kingdom, things would be easier. They would go to the imperial capital, unite all the righteous sects, and destroy them there.