Things moved quickly once Mei Xilan confronted Rén Xuě. The first thing they did was take the Four Pillars to the secret base where Rén Xuě was keeping the women locked away. They had been suitably appalled. Wu Jian had been worried that some of them might actually enjoy what they were seeing, but all of them had looked disgusted.
They also searched through Rén Xuě’s personal effects, looking for the scroll that had been used to teach the dual cultivation technique. It hadn’t been in his office. The man might have been caught redhanded, but that was only because Liang Wei had been careless. He had no idea that Youmei’s shadow walking skill let her follow him without being spotted. In either event, Rén Xuě wasn’t dumb. The scroll wasn’t located at the base where they were staying. They had tried interrogating him, but he refused to speak.
Because they needed to move things along quickly, Mei Xilan ordered her people to begin searching every base they had. They didn’t find anything. While it seemed as though fortune didn’t favor them, Wu Jian eventually learned of something while walking through the halls. He overheard a pair of soldiers talking about Rén Xuě and had asked them about the man. According to them, Rén Xuě would make frequent trips up north. Wu Jian had informed Mei Xilan of that and they sent people up there.
It had been the right call.
Up north was a dilapidated village. It was clear from how the buildings were little more than ruined husks that nobody had lived there for a long time. The only thing about this village that stood out was the single gravestone located on a hill. It had a name on it--Milan Hua, the name of Rén Xuě’s wife. While it was disrespectful, they had dug up the grave and discovered the technique scroll containing the dual cultivation method.
Soul Devouring Yin-Yang Cultivation Method was its name. This method forcibly merged the yin and yang energy of two individuals during sexual intercourse, but instead of fostering mutual growth as a proper dual cultivation method should, this one allowed the practitioner to absorb the life force and chi of their victim. It was the truest and vilest form of rape a person could possibly commit.
Once they discovered the dual cultivation method, figuring out the rest of what happened was easy.
Rén Xuě tasked Liang Wei with kidnapping young women. Most of the women he kidnapped were just regular civilians, but he had also kidnapped a few women from the Undying Sun Sect. Once they were captured, they would be administered drugs that broke their minds and made them unbearably horny. All these women could even think about was satisfying the craving burning inside of them. Because they desired to move fast, Mei Xilan shared their findings with the Four Pillars.
“This is unbelievable. I can’t believe such a vile cultivation method exists!” Zhang Ming sounded aghast.
Fang Heng leaned back in his chair and sighed. “I always thought it was odd how we’d suddenly gain a new cultivator. I never questioned it because we needed strength to accomplish our goals, but now I realize I should have.”
“A lot of Rén Xuě make sense now. I remember he would order his men to go out and gather herbs. I had always wondered what they were for, but now I understand,” Wang Jian said.
Zhou Lihua was also present. This was her first time sitting at this table. Mei Xilan had brought her in as a “special guest” because she was a talented alchemist. The woman had several sheets of parchment spread out before her.
“The herbs Rén Xuě had his men gather, when mixed, creates a powerful aphrodisiac. Of course, it’s only powerful to non-cultivators and people at a lower cultivation, which explains why he only kidnapped women at the Hunger Realm or below. I’ve run some tests on the concoction and it looks like it not only acts as an aphrodisiac, but it makes the women who take it susceptible to the dual cultivation method,” she explained.
“What’s done is done. There’s no use crying over it now. Let’s figure out what we need to do next. Sui Mei Gōngzhǔ, I’d like to ask about those women we found. What is to become of them? Is there a way to reverse what happened to them?”
The one who had spoken was Li Wei. He was the calmest among them, which surprised Wu Jian as he had assumed Zhang Ming would be the most composed during moments like this.
“There is nothing that can be done,” Zhou Lihua confessed. “Perhaps if we had gotten to them sooner… but the drug has already permeated their bodies and their minds are long gone. I suggest we keep them locked up somewhere until the matter with the Undying Sun Sect is resolved. We can figure out how to help them after that. Also…”
“Also?” asked Mei Xilan.
“We need to figure out what to do about the people who took part in the ritual,” Zhou Lihua gave Mei Xilan a hard look.
There were over a hundred people who had taken part in this ritual and become Hunger Realm cultivators. That was quite a lot. It disgusted Wu Jian to think that so many men had willingly taken part in something so vile. If it was up to him, he would have had them all publicly executed.
“We can’t afford to punish them right now. I hate to say it, but we do need all the strength we can get. Since they are here, we might as well use them,” Mei Xilan said.
But Zhou Lihua shook her head. “That isn’t what I’m talking about. I understand we can’t afford to weaken ourselves. However, did you think using a dual cultivation method like this would come without adverse side effects?”
The Four Pillars shook at her words. All of them seemed to have caught onto what she was saying.
“Do you mean… the people who took part in that ritual are at risk, too?” asked Zhang Ming.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Of course.” Zhou Lihua nodded. “Evil cultivation methods like this always come with adverse side effects to the user… but Hou Jingshu would be the better person to ask about that. She’s more knowledgeable about cultivation than I am these days.”
The way she confessed to being less knowledgeable than Hou Jingshu with such self-deprecation caused Wu Jian to frown, but he didn’t have time to address her concerns. Publicly addressing them would cause problems anyway. He turned to Hou Jingshu, who was also sitting at the table.
“What side effects does this cultivation method have?”
“There are several. The first is that it halts your cultivation entirely.” Nobody at the table seemed to know what that meant, so Hou Jingshu continued to explain. “This cultivation method is made specifically to forcibly activate a person’s dantian and meridians, thus allowing them to become cultivators. However, you can only use this method once, and if you do use it, you will never be able to actually cultivate. You will be stuck at the Hunger Realm for the rest of your life.”
The Four Pillars face’s were drained of blood. Zhang Ming looked the worst. He was the oldest among them and had been cultivating diligently for several decades.
Cultivators aspire to reach higher realms and increase their strength. Being confined to the Hunger Realm meant missing out on the potential for greater strength, knowledge, and master over one’s cultivation. There was no worse punishment for someone who aspired to become a cultivator.
“Of course, Rén Xuě and Liang Wei were exceptions to that rule. They were already cultivators when they started using this method. However, there are other side effects. The one I stated before isn’t the worst of them,” Hou Jingshu continued, and the Four Pillars looked at her in dismay, as though they couldn’t believe there was anything more horrifying than this. “The Soul Devouring Yin-Yang Cultivation Method not only prevents people from growing stronger but shortens their lifespans. Anyone who uses this method to cultivate will have half their life consumed by it.”
Her words had invoked similar reactions in everyone, but Hou Jingshu wasn’t finished because there were apparently more side effects. Those two were just the biggest ones. According to her, people who used the Soul Devouring Yin-Yang Cultivation Method had their minds and wills slowly eroded with every use. It corrupted them both physically and mentally.
Once all the explanations were done, decisions were made. The first thing Mei Xilan did was inform all the people in the rebellion about what Rén Xuě had done. She had all the soldiers gather in the assembly hall and told them about what she had found. Many didn’t believe her at first, and some even reacted with anger, saying she was a liar who had used her family name to oust Rén Xuě and usurp his position. Those people were the ones who had used the ritual themselves.
Mei Xilan could have called them out, but she did not, because they needed cultivators to accomplish their goals. She understood the bigger picture. While she did nothing to those people, she did present evidence in the form of the cultivation scroll. Most people could not read. However, the Four Pillars were more than capable of reading, and they vouched that everything she said was the truth. With their backing, many people who might have otherwise not believed Mei Xilan were forced to believe it. After all, why would the Four Pillars, who had supported Rén Xuě this entire time, suddenly betray him like this?
Many of the people who had used the dual cultivation method broke down upon hearing about what it did to them. The knowledge that they only had half as long to live as others was their punishment for using such a vile method to become cultivators.
“Due to their crimes, Rén Xuě and Liang Wei will be stripped of their cultivation and banished,” Mei Xilan informed everyone. Nobody had a single thing to say against her. “Bring them out now.”
The underground assembly hall was a cavernous space carved out of the rock and reinforced with sturdy construction material. Spacious and expansive, it possessed high ceilings and wide dimensions to accommodate a large number of people. The walls, floor, and ceiling were constructed with reinforced stone. The surfaces had been left unfinished. This base had been constructed hastily and nobody present had any skill for detail work. It meant the assembly hall looked rough.
“What are you people doing?! Let go of me! Let me go!!”
“I’m innocent! I swear! Rén Xuě made me do all that! He forced me!!”
“You!!! Liang Wei!!!!”
Two people were being dragged into the room by Hou Jingshu. Liang Wei and Rén Xuě had shackles around their arms, neck, and legs. They were scrambling against the floor to find purchase and flee, but there was no escaping from Hou Jingshu. She dragged them across the floor like they were toy dolls. They might as well have been ants trying to fight against a giant.
Everyone watched on silently as the screaming pair were dragged before Mei Xilan and forced to kneel. Zhang Ming and Wang Jian moved behind them, placed their hands on the pairs shoulders, and forced them down.
“Rén Xuě. Liang Wei. You two have committed a grave crime against our people. I have judged you, and I have decided on your punishment. You will be stripped of your cultivation and banished.”
“You fucking bitch! You damn cunt!! I made this army! This army belongs to me! You think you can just waltz in and claim it for yourself?! How dare you!! When I get out of this, I’ll see you fucking dead! I’ll murder you in your sleep!” Rén Xuě shouted, spittle flying from his mouth. He looked like a crazy person, and everyone in the hall leaned back as though suddenly afraid of him.
Meanwhile, Liang Wei was crying. “I didn’t want to do it, Sui Mei! Please, you have to believe me! I had no desire to kidnap those women! Rén Xuě made me do it! I only did it because he threatened me!!!”
Between the two, Wu Jian found Liang Wei more contemptible. Rén Xuě was disgusting, but at least he wasn’t trying to hide his actions behind lies. Dual Cultivation Methods like the Soul Devouring Yin-Yang Method did not work unless the person using them enjoyed it. If you didn’t like what you were doing, the method wouldn’t work. That Liang Wei grew strong was proof that he was beyond redemption.
Mei Xilan did not listen to their ramblings. She signaled to him and Hou Jingshu with her eyes. They walked up to the pair, pried their mouths open, and forced them to swallow a pill that Zhou Lihua had concocted just for this moment.
It was called Chi Disruption Pill. The small, spherical pill with a glossy surface and faint, iridescent glow was called the Chi Disruption Pill. When ingested, the pill released a powerful surge of energy that targeted the meridians and dantian. It first called the meridians to collapse. This collapse disrupted the flow of chi throughout the body and rendered the individual incapable of accessing it. Then it suppressed the dantian. It worked like a poison, slowly killing the dantian to effectively seal off a person’s ability to cultivate. Since it was a low tier pill, it only worked on people of a certain cultivation level. It didn’t work on people at the Deva Realm or higher.
The pills worked moments after Liang Wei and Rén Xuě had been forced to ingest them. Their bodies shivered and they soon started spasming in the grasp of their captors. They couldn’t scream, but their mouths were open as though ready to release fierce howls of agony. Seconds passed before the pair slumped forward. They would have fallen had Zhang Ming and Wang Jian not held them up.
Mei Xilan eyed the pair coldly. “Take them outside and dump them somewhere.”
The two men looked solemn as they nodded and began dragging the now insensate pair out of the assembly hall.