Chapter 379 - 377: The Moral Sect, Paragon of the Righteous Dao

Chapter 379: Chapter 377: The Moral Sect, Paragon of the Righteous Dao

"I wonder which Sects from the Central Domain will show up?"

Bai Zichen had rarely been anywhere outside of Liang Country, so he was intensely curious about the Central Domain.

"As far as I know, the Sitting Deer Arhat of the Dharma Aspect Sect is on good terms with a Nascent Soul True Monarch from the Moral Sect, so they will definitely pay a visit... The Moral Sect’s lineage has been unbroken since Ancient Times, with a history of over two hundred thousand years. They proclaim themselves paragons of the Righteous Dao and act with an iron fist. One of their ancestors even participated in the ancient war to seal the demons."

After reaching Core Formation, Ge Cang had once traveled through the Central Domain. At the time, the Qingfeng Sect was in a precarious state, relying entirely on Ancestor Yangg for support.

His travels hadn’t been long, but he still had a basic understanding of the super major sects in the Central Domain Three Countries.

"When it comes to dealing with the Ancient Demon Inheritance, the Moral Sect’s involvement is perfectly justified and backed by principle... It’s just that this Major Sect has countless rules. Any sect that doesn’t follow their code is denounced as heretical or an Outer Dao."

"If a sect doesn’t correct itself after being reprimanded and warned, the Moral Sect might even show up at their door to ’discipline’ them, forcibly correcting their ways, revoking their right to teach, and even reclaiming their fiefs."

Bai Zichen knew very little about the Central Domain, so he took this opportunity to learn more. "If the Moral Sect acts like that, don’t they invite the wrath of both heaven and man? Are there no sects that stand up to them?"

"The entire Great Zhou is the Moral Sect’s territory. The Sects and Cultivation Families that survive there all live at their mercy. They can only be granted a Spirit Vein after earning Merit Points for the Moral Sect, so of course they have to follow their rules... As for the other two countries, the Moral Sect’s reach isn’t quite that long. Among the other super major sects, there are surely those who are dissatisfied and criticize their methods, but they don’t have the power to do anything about it."

When Ge Cang had traveled the Central Domain, he killed a group of reckless Tribulation Cultivators and was targeted by Moral Sect Cultivators for it. He was nearly captured and taken back.

The Moral Sect insists that laws must have a basis and punishments must have a source.

All law decrees and punishments must come from the Moral Sect’s Celestial Punishment Peak. No one else has the authority to pass judgment.

It was permissible to counterattack and capture the Tribulation Cultivators, but killing them directly without a trial by a Celestial Punishment Peak Steward was forbidden.

Because of this incident, Ge Cang gained a deep understanding of the Moral Sect’s stubborn conservatism and domineering style. In the end, he had to flee the Great Zhou in a rather sorry state.

"The Moral Sect has the Five Treasures of Heaven, corresponding to their Five Peaks. Each main peak has produced a Divinity Transformation Great Power and has its own Grotto Heaven Blessed Land. There are also twelve branch peaks, each presided over by a Nascent Soul True Monarch, making them incredibly powerful... The most recent public display of power by a Divinity Transformation Great Power in the Cultivation Realm was five hundred years ago, when the Peak Master of Celestial Punishment Peak obliterated a Tier Four Peak Eight-Tailed Demon Fox with a single palm strike."

"That Demon Fox, in its attempt to refine a Tribulation Crossing Secret Treasure, had slaughtered over a dozen Cultivation Families with Demon Race bloodlines, resulting in the brutal deaths of nearly ten thousand Cultivators. The incident caused a huge uproar and shook the world. However, because the deceased Cultivators all had Fox Race blood and were unrelated to ordinary Cultivators, and because the attacker was a Demon Race expert from the Qingqiu Death Sea who was just one step away from Tier Five, the other super major sects only made a show of taking action. Anyone could see that a team composed of just a few ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivators wasn’t serious."

"No one was willing to confront such a powerful Demon Race expert for the sake of a few Cultivation Families with Demon Race blood... In the end, it was the Peak Master of Celestial Punishment Peak who stepped in and killed the demon. The Moral Sect then issued a public declaration: those of mixed human and demon blood who reside in human territory and abide by the rules are to be considered human Cultivators. If any Great Demon dared to commit such an act again, the Moral Sect would show no mercy and hunt them down, no matter how far they fled."

As Ge Cang recounted this event from five hundred years ago, he still applauded the actions of the Celestial Punishment Peak’s Peak Master.

"I have to admit, the Moral Sect’s day-to-day conduct is infuriating. They’re overbearing and domineering, and their control over cultivation resources is draconian to the extreme. But when a major crisis truly arises, they don’t hesitate to put themselves on the line. For a matter that other sects would consider a minor internal dispute within the Demon Race, the Peak Master of Celestial Punishment Peak was willing to leave his Grotto Heaven Secret Realm and expend his Primordial Qi to act."

"Understood. I’ll just have to be more careful if I run into Cultivators from this Sect in the future."

An image of the Moral Sect formed in Bai Zichen’s mind, and he nodded slightly.

"As for the other Central Domain Sects, Senior Brother, do you think any will take this opportunity to enter the Northern Domain?"

"Du Heng’s strength is already comparable to a Late-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator, and he has the Demon Dragon Awl. I’m afraid even two or three Great True Monarchs together couldn’t take him down... Besides, Zengguang Immortal City is the Du Family’s nest, which they’ve operated for ten thousand years. Ordinary sects wouldn’t be able to do anything to Du Heng if they came. Only a Super Major Sect is qualified to undertake the task of exterminating this demon."

Having not set foot in the Central Domain for a long time, Ge Cang’s knowledge was limited to those few super major sects, and his grasp of the current situation there was limited.

"Every Great True Monarch is a Sea-Spanning Purple Gold Beam to a Super Major Sect—an indispensable pillar. They can’t be deployed lightly. Whether they’ll wade into these muddy waters depends on their internal plans. Aside from the Moral Sect, it’s really hard to guess what the other major sects will do."

"Our Black Mountain is far enough from Zengguang Immortal City that it shouldn’t affect us. After we get back, we just need to have the Sect Disciples avoid going in the direction of the Immortal City. The only problem is that without Zengguang Immortal City, where will we find a stable supply of Thousand-Year-Old Golden Crown Lingzhi?"

Most of the Spiritual Materials for the Qingfeng Sect’s Foundation Establishment Pills came from the auction houses in Zengguang Immortal City.

With so many fewer Foundation Establishment Pills being produced, the competition among the already hard-pressed Sect Disciples would become even more intense.

The Sect Disciples would truly have to risk their lives and fortunes for a single Foundation Establishment Pill.

"There are still quite a few Tier Three Demon Beasts in Black Mountain. If you and I work a little harder, we can substitute their Demon Pills for the main ingredient in the Foundation Establishment Pills for the next twenty or thirty years... After that, I imagine some large merchant guilds will have replaced Zengguang Immortal City’s role. It’s impossible that they won’t have dealt with Du Heng after all that time."

Only Ge Cang and Bai Zichen in the Qingfeng Sect were capable of treating the Tier Three Demon Beasts deep within Black Mountain like a pasture, killing them at will to obtain their Demon Pills.

Wei Dao and Zhou Suqing, on the other hand, had to undergo long and meticulous planning just to deal with a single Tier Three Demon Beast. They would need to mobilize the sect’s forces to clear out large groups of Tier Two Demon Beasts just for a chance to kill the Demon King after a bitter fight.

During this process, there was still a significant chance that the Tier Three Demon Beast could escape or even turn the tables and kill them.

This was also why many Core Formation Level Sects couldn’t guarantee a stable output of Foundation Establishment Pills.

Only someone like Ge Cang could say such a thing so casually.

"And then there’s the Ten Thousand Immortals Ceremony. I was hoping to acquire a Tier Three Flying Sword and some Tribulation Crossing Secret Treasures at the auction. Now that’s all down the drain."

With this incident, the Ten Thousand Immortals Ceremony was naturally canceled, disrupting Bai Zichen’s plans.

"It’s a bit of a shame, but it’s also a good thing... Otherwise, if Du Heng had suddenly attacked you during a private trade at the Ten Thousand Immortals Ceremony, you would have had no way to resist. Now that I think about it, Zengguang Immortal City’s sudden decision to hold the Ten Thousand Immortals Ceremony was probably a ploy to lure Nascent Soul Cultivators into a trap, to serve as nourishment for Du Heng’s True Demon Avatar."

Ge Cang had also been looking forward to the Ten Thousand Immortals Ceremony. Whether it was for a follow-up Cultivation Technique or a Lifebound Magical Treasure suitable for a Nascent Soul True Monarch, he had a long list of items he needed to purchase.

But on second thought, it was actually a blessing that Du Heng had made his move early and hadn’t waited for the Ten Thousand Immortals Ceremony.

"I can only hope that’s the case. Hopefully, this matter will be resolved soon... Oh, right. The Blood God Son came to avenge his junior brother. He’ll definitely trace the cause of Blood God True Monarch’s death back to Fang Tiancheng. Doesn’t that mean the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect just escaped the tiger’s maw only to fall into another disaster?"

At this point, it became clear why Fang Tiancheng had been so confident that day that the Blood God True Monarch would not return, and why he dared to wipe out the entire Blood Demon Sect.

He must have secretly joined forces with Du Heng to lure the Blood God True Monarch into a trap. Then, Du Heng killed the Blood God True Monarch, allowing the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect to escape their enslavement.

But after dealing with the Blood God True Monarch, they had provoked the Blood God Son, an existence the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect had even less hope of resisting.

Judging by the Blood God Son’s control over the Abi Heavenly Prison Demon Sword, he could probably wipe out the entire Ten Thousand Beasts Sect with just a few swings.

"Sigh. We can only hope the Blood God Son doesn’t discover this. Otherwise, the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect is truly doomed."

Ge Cang sighed and said.

"Once the dust settles on this Zengguang Immortal City matter, I plan to travel to the Central Domain. I obtained a Relic Treasure Map back then but was in a hurry to return and never investigated it thoroughly... If I want to advance further, I first have to solve my Cultivation Technique problem."

"That’s a good thing. Only if you can advance further, Senior Brother, can the Sect be considered truly impregnable."

Bai Zichen, in any case, had no short-term plans to go to the Central Domain. The place he envisioned traveling to was the Endless Sea of Suffering, which was actually closer to the Sect.

"Ever since you brought back Ancestor Qingfeng’s remains, Junior Brother, I had a sudden thought. I went back to the Underground Palace in the Transmission Hall to carefully go through the records. I also questioned the Transmission Hall’s Hall Master and confirmed that Ancestor Qingfeng did mention to a few of his disciples that our sect possesses a Top-Tier Cultivation Technique. He just lamented that his own aptitude was insufficient to practice it, and none of his disciples met the requirements either."

Ge Cang changed the subject, bringing up the Sect’s heritage.

"Unfortunately, I’ve searched the entire Underground Palace and even looked into the secrets passed down orally through the line of Transmission Hall Masters, but I couldn’t find any clues related to a Cultivation Technique for the Nascent Soul realm or above. If we could find it, the two of us wouldn’t have to go through so much trouble to switch to other Cultivation Techniques."

The Top-Tier Cultivation Technique Ancestor Qingfeng spoke of must have come from another Cultivation Continent, from True Monarch Shao Yang’s Pure Brightness Sect lineage.

Judging by the level of the Daoist Classic Cantongqi and the Five Crystal Glaze Body, that Top-Tier Cultivation Technique should at least allow one to cultivate to Nascent Soul Perfection, and it’s even very likely that it goes all the way to Divinity Transformation.

One technique was for Refining Treasures and Enchanting Spirit, the other was for peerless Body Refining. No one would believe that the Cultivation Method Ancestor Qingfeng brought with him across the sea was only on the same level as the Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture.

From Ge Cang’s tone, it was clear he didn’t pay much mind to the fact that the Top-Tier Cultivation Technique mentioned by Ancestor Qingfeng had extremely high aptitude requirements—so high that even Ancestor Qingfeng and his disciples didn’t qualify.

He had complete confidence in his own aptitude, to say nothing of his Junior Brother Bai.

’If the two of us can’t cultivate it, I doubt there are many in the entire Cultivation Realm who would meet the requirements.’

Bai Zichen felt the same way. Possessing the Mysterious Holy Body, as long as he was willing to put in the time, there was no Cultivation Technique he couldn’t master.

Unless it was a technique with hard requirements, like being restricted to a certain Realm or a specific type of Spiritual Root, he had never been intimidated by soft requirements like aptitude and talent.

Likewise, his confidence in his Senior Brother Ge Cang was no less than his confidence in himself.

A Celestial Spiritual Root was just the most easily noticed label on Ge Cang. He had comprehended the dual Great Dao True Intent of Illusion and Reality on his own, pushed his Divine Thunder to the highest state, and achieved a sentient level with his Thunder Skill while still in the Core Formation Realm. How could his talent possibly be summed up by merely having a Celestial Spiritual Root?