Chapter 383: Smell of Blood

"I happen to know of some intelligence that seems connected to the cultivators of Dayu." Seeing Lu Yang agree, Vice Cult Leader Shi felt their chances of success against the Dayu cultivators had increased by several notches, making him eager to pursue further cooperation.

Lu Yang gave a soft murmur of assent, his posture relaxing as he leaned back against the chair.

"Let's hear it."

"There are two reasons why the Dayu cultivators cannot be tolerated by Great Xia." Vice Cult Leader Shi held up two fingers.

"The first requires no explanation; the Dayu cultivators refuse to acknowledge Great Xia's existence and demand the restoration of the Dayu Dynasty's rule. Naturally, Great Xia cannot permit this."

"The second reason stems from the conflict between the righteous and demonic paths."

"According to historical records, blood sacrifice incidents were a frequent occurrence during the Dayu Dynasty. To consolidate their rule and win over top-tier experts, the State Preceptor and the Emperor of Yu constantly turned a blind eye to such atrocities. Take Venerable Heavenly Calamity, for instance—why was he named after catastrophe, bringing nothing but misery to the common folk while Dayu did nothing to stop him? This is precisely why."

"Dayu believed that sacrificing a few cities to win over a cultivator of the Tribulation Transmutation Stage was an incredibly lucrative bargain."

Vice Cult Leader Shi sneered at Dayu's methods. Although their Demonic Cult also killed, they possessed a grand faith, seeking to spread the word of the Nine Nether's existence. They were worlds apart from a wretch like Venerable Heavenly Calamity, who slaughtered merely for sport.

"Had Dayu behaved like this in antiquity, my Heavenly Court would have annihilated them long ago," Lu Yang said coldly. Blood sacrifices by cultivators were rare even during the ancient era.

Before the Five Ancient Immortals achieved immortality, the ancient order had been chaotic, so blood sacrifices were not surprising. But for such things to happen after they achieved immortality would mean utterly disregarding the Five Ancient Immortals.

This much could be deduced from the Immortal Fairy's attitude.

The Immortal Fairy was innocent, not foolish; she would never tolerate blood sacrifices.

From this, one could infer that if the Four Ancient Immortals with whom she was close had been murderous monsters, she would never have befriended them.

"The newly awakened Dayu cultivators are in a weakened state. What is the fastest way for them to recover? It is blood sacrifices and blood feeding. Today, Great Xia's rule is tight and absolute; it is difficult for them to openly conduct blood sacrifices as they did over a hundred thousand years ago."

"By exploiting loopholes in the rules, or through other clandestine methods, they conduct sacrifices in secret, making it highly difficult for Great Xia to find out."

Lu Yang recalled the incident at Buyi Town, which had been precisely the kind of method used by Dayu cultivators to restore their strength.

"My Nine Nether Cult has eyes and ears spread across the entire continent. While we cannot compete with Great Xia on the surface, they know far less than we do when it comes to the shadows!" Vice Cult Leader Shi smiled. Their Nine Nether Cult had existed for tens of thousands of years; without effective intelligence networks, they would have been wiped out ages ago.

"Just a few days ago, I happened to receive a piece of intelligence regarding a suspected blood sacrifice. It does not seem to be the work of the Blazing Sun Cult or the Heartless Cult. It is highly likely to be the work of an ancient cultivator!"

"A suspected blood sacrifice?"

"Yes, suspected. It is not yet certain."

"What are the specific details?"

"My subordinate reported to me that while passing by a small village named Huai'an in Liangzhou, he looked out from a distance and found it completely deserted. There was not a single sign of a living soul. The cultivation technique he practices is rather unique and highly sensitive to the scent of blood. He caught the faint whiff of it."

"To be able to smell blood from such a great distance indicates that a massive number of people have died in that village!"

"He feared there might be restrictions laid down by a Body Integration Stage cultivator within the village, so he did not dare approach. Upon discovering the anomaly of the small village, he immediately reported it to me."

Tao Tianye felt a slight tremor of unease in her heart; this matter carried an aura of bizarre mystery.

Lu Yang frowned. "The village is completely empty, yet the local government has taken no action?"

"That is the strangest part. The government has completely ignored this village, acting as though they are entirely unaware of its existence! It is also possible that the villagers only vanished recently, and the authorities simply do not know yet."

"According to my deduction, it is highly probable that an ancient cultivator conducted a blood sacrifice in the village and used certain methods to shield it from people's perception—or perhaps specifically from the perception of righteous path cultivators!"

Lu Yang tapped his index finger rhythmically against the table. The matter was profoundly bizarre, and Vice Cult Leader Shi's explanation was not without merit.

But regardless of the truth, they ultimately had to investigate this small village.

Lu Yang was not worried that Vice Cult Leader Shi was luring him into a trap. A portion of the Heavenly Court Cult's might had already been displayed, and after having his head struck by the Fifth Elder's flying shuttle, the man would never dare play tricks on the Young Cult Leader.

"Then let us go and take a look." Lu Yang rose, preparing to depart for Liangzhou.

Vice Cult Leader Shi was surprised, not expecting Lu Yang to be so decisive. He had assumed this Young Leader Lu would first return to find the Heavenly King Protectors before investigating Liangzhou.

To dare venture into Liangzhou—where ancient cultivators were suspected to be active—relying solely on two young geniuses?

They either possessed absolute life-saving capabilities, or a Heavenly King Protector was already tailing Lu Yang closely, completely undetected by his own senses.

"Will Cult Leader Shi be joining us?"

"Naturally, I will go." Vice Cult Leader Shi readily agreed. Since he was the one who raised the matter, there was no reason for him to stay behind.

His flying boat was moored outside Yanjiang County, and the three of them boarded the vessel to depart.

Vice Cult Leader Shi wanted to converse further with Lu Yang, but seeing him close his eyes to rest his spirit immediately upon boarding, looking entirely disinclined to speak, he chose not to make a fool of himself.

Tao Tianye did not speak either; she knew Senior Brother Lu only closed his eyes because of his fear of heights, terrified of looking at the scenery outside.

Three days passed, and the flying boat arrived in Liangzhou.

Liangzhou was located on the western side of the Central Continent. Influenced by the climate, it consisted mostly of grasslands with few forests. Traveling further west would lead to the Golden Buddhist Kingdom, a land of endless yellow sands where greenery was scarce.

"We are here."

Vice Cult Leader Shi halted the flying boat in mid-air, cross-referenced the coordinates from the report, and confirmed that the bizarre little village lay directly below before leaping down.

Lu Yang was afraid of heights and did not dare leap just like that, but he had come prepared.

"Junior Sister Tao, cast an illusion on me to make me believe my feet are on solid ground."

Tao Tianye covered her mouth with a light laugh, raising her hand to envelop Lu Yang in an illusion, and the two of them leapt down.

Those at the Golden Core Stage could fly freely.

The trio landed roughly half a mile away from the small village.

Fearing they might alert the enemy, Vice Cult Leader Shi did not use his divine sense to scan the village.

"There do not seem to be any traces of restrictions being deployed." Vice Cult Leader Shi walked a circle around the village and made his judgment. He was highly experienced, and his instincts in these matters rarely erred.

"Then it is even stranger. Where did all the people from the village go?" Lu Yang and Tao Tianye were also perplexed; it made no sense.

The three of them attempted to walk into Huai'an Village. Even after stepping inside, they were not affected by any restrictions.

Vice Cult Leader Shi's nose twitched slightly, his expression turning grave. "The scent of blood here is even thicker than I imagined!"

"Is there a smell?" Tao Tianye also sniffed, but detected absolutely nothing.

Vice Cult Leader Shi explained, "The two of you are different from me; you cultivate the orthodox techniques of the Heavenly Court. The techniques we of the demonic path practice are more or less connected to blood sacrifices. Only someone like me who cultivates the demonic path can sense the anomaly here."

Lu Yang asked, "Is the scent of blood very strong?"

"Very strong. Even if every soul in this village had been slaughtered, it likely wouldn't be this potent!"

"This place is highly likely an altar established by an ancient cultivator, where captured mortals and cultivators were gathered for a mass blood sacrifice!"