The cultivators, despite hearing Jiang Quzi and Bai Wuzi spewing lies, lost the courage to act under Ji Xiang's demonic might. No matter how much the two argued, their words like a vast ocean, none dared to cross the line.
Seeing this, the two gradually fell into despair.
Ji Xiang sneered, "They bully Wudang Mountain because Wudang Mountain does not kill."
"They dare not bully this seat, because this seat truly kills."
"And the people this seat has killed were all acting on behalf of heaven, all deserving of death and deserving to be killed."
Patting the head of one of them as if it were a pig or dog, Bai Wuzi was filled with shame and indignation. He looked at the Taiqing Palace official with grief and shouted, "Today, we are likely to die here, our blood staining this immortal mountain! Alas! Senior Brother, please report to the Palace Master that this person is a great demon of the world, and we must gather our allies to hunt him down!"
His eyes revealed sorrow and resentment, preparing for a final desperate struggle.
How could it have come to this!
He truly did not wish to suffer any longer!
Since you dare not attack, and I am likely to be tortured to death and unable to escape, why not self-destruct now and leave behind a clean reputation? With this act of murder, all the Daoist sects in the world would consider Ji Xiang a person who must be killed!
Even if luck is on his side, it could stir up the resentment of the cultivation world towards the imperial court, leading to a change of dynasty... it doesn't matter who it changes to!
You, Ji Xiang, dare to kill, but you are ultimately a residual immortal. Will the true immortal of the imperial court, that Celestial Master Zhang, stand by and watch you slaughter your peers indiscriminately?
The will of the people is what truly matters!
Bai Wuzi decided to use his death to drag Ji Xiang down with him. However, as a tremor ran through his body, he found himself unable to self-destruct.
Self-destruction was different from self-immolation. Self-immolation required intact magical power, a desperate final blow. But they had been placed under a magical curse, their powers sealed, leaving them only with a breath of innate energy to sustain their lives. Self-immolation, in this context, meant allowing this breath of innate energy to dissipate, thus ending their lives and their souls immediately, a dignified way to die in the final moments.
But now, although this vital energy vibrated frequently, it refused to perish on its own!
"You want to dissipate your energy and self-immolate? Unfortunately, you cannot. While the curse cannot seal the innate vital energy, this seat can."
Ji Xiang said indifferently. Bai Wuzi was astonished, "I have never heard of such a spell!"
"Well, now you have. I made it up."
After sacrificing the scriptures of the White Lotus Sect, upon returning to Ying Tian, he had concocted this spell on the spot to deal with such situations.
The true meaning of the Three Teachings is not bound by reason. If you say such a spell doesn't exist, I'll create one for you, and then it will exist.
As for the resulting worldly tribulations, the tribulations of such a minor spell were not great disasters. Moreover, he had already arrived at Wudang Mountain, where his Three Corporeal Deities and the little fox were.
Ji Xiang could even feel the aura of his Three Corporeal Deities, much weaker than when they were separated. It seemed they had dealt with many monsters on the way back.
Seeing Bai Wuzi's failed attempt at self-immolation, Jiang Quzi's heart turned to ash!
He couldn't even die, escape was difficult, and if he were taken into Fuli again, he would likely face another heavenly lightning tribulation!
They were different from those few prime offenders. They had served King Lu long ago, and their evil deeds, even if not directly carried out, were indirect actions. For example, they would go to some families and falsely claim that their children had spiritual roots and bones, and that they would take them to cultivate. This would lead to a separation of a hundred years, with the parents feeling grateful, unaware that these children had all become blood elixirs for King Lu's alchemy.
This was also an evil deed. Perhaps the heavens did not unleash lightning tribulations because they had not directly killed others, but within the Great Fuli Land, the Thunder City descended, and both principal and accessory sins were clearly recorded!
Therefore, their heavenly tribulations were much more severe than those of the prime cultivators. Another two rounds, and their lives would truly be in danger, leading to the scattering of their souls!
This kind of stifling death was truly unbearable!
"Scared?"
Ji Xiang captured the look of fear in Jiang Quzi's eyes and mocked him at the opportune moment:
"For the evil deeds you committed in the past, the earthly lightning tribulations did not strike you because you had also done good deeds before. Some people commit many evil deeds in this life without receiving retribution because their ancestors or previous lives accumulated too much merit. These merits are added to them, and each evil deed cancels out a portion.
"And once you reach the Spirit Refining realm, you will no longer have tribulations. Between heaven and earth, apart from the thirteen hundred good deeds required for ascension, there are no strict rules or requirements.
"Therefore, you can indulge yourselves as you please. If you do not enter the Pure Yang realm, or if you enter it and do not seek ascension, you can kill the homeless for pleasure, abduct children for joy, and deceive the lowly and disabled for amusement. You are free to do all these things.
"Because even if these people die, no one will pursue the matter. The world has billions of living beings, enough for you to kill and live."
Jiang Quzi's face turned ashen!
Ji Xiang laughed heartily, patting his head with quick, decisive movements, each strike like a knife shaving his scalp:
"What is there to be afraid of? Since you did these things in secret, it was done without anyone knowing, only known by heaven, earth, you, and me.
"Heaven and earth have no senses, they cannot see. Even if they know, they cannot speak; the words 'you' and 'I' are merely pronouns, referring to anyone while not referring to anyone.
"For example, you and I.
"Man and demon."
Ji Xiang's smile sent a chill of fear deep into Jiang Quzi's bones. As if possessed, he suddenly asked in a low, fearful voice, "Heavenly Demon, if you truly know what I have done, how do you know?"
Ji Xiang maintained that terrifying, false smile.
"I don't know, I'm just saying."
Jiang Quzi's hair stood on end, and his charred, charcoal-like body began to tremble!
Bai Wuzi, oblivious to this, continued to lecture the other cultivators on how hateful and deserving of death Ji Xiang was, unable to even make them commit suicide.
He failed to notice that Ji Xiang had opened a small spell with his finger.
At this moment, the faces of the cultivators turned extremely pale, and those who were accomplices of King Lu were even more terrified. What they feared was that Ji Xiang had spoken casually, and Jiang Quzi had confessed without being forced.
"You... you really did these things?"
"You did too?"
The Taiqing Palace official interrupted Bai Wuzi's long speech, questioning him almost with a roar, his eyes still fixed on Jiang Quzi.
Bai Wuzi, not understanding what had happened, saw Ji Xiang form a hand seal.
"It's nothing, just a small spell."
Ji Xiang smiled most falsely.
And Jiang Quzi's appearance seemed to have a cowardly, terrified demonic form superimposed on his spirit and body.
What is thought in the heart, why does this demon appear?
The third level of the chapter on subduing demons.
The Art of Reversing Inner Demons!