Xuanjian: Jade True Sword Immortal, my Dao Wisdom keeps increasing.

Huyi Mountain.

At dawn, the sun, as red as a ripe persimmon, slowly rises from the horizon of the East China Sea.

The dazzling golden light bathed the small temple nestled in the mountains.

With a screech, the temple gate was pushed open, and Jiang Heqian turned around, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Lin Chensheng, and said goodbye with a regretful tone:

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Lin, for your explanation of witchcraft and the changes of the Jade True Dao these past few days. I have benefited greatly and will remember this kindness. However, I am going to travel around the counties of Yue Kingdom to cultivate my sword intent and cannot stay at your temple for long. I hope Fellow Daoist Lin will not blame me."

Lin Chengsheng, dressed in a gray Taoist robe behind the door, shook his hand upon hearing this and calmly said:

"Not at all. These are merely some rudimentary witchcraft and transformation techniques at the Foundation Establishment level. I dare not take credit for them. Fellow Daoist Jiang need not worry about them. I wish you success in your sword training this time. When we meet again in the future, we can discuss the Dao again."

Jiang Heqian nodded solemnly and said in a low voice, "Farewell!"

He turned around and soared into the air, riding the wind and disappearing into the morning sun.

......

The border of Simin County.

The deserted village appeared eerily strange under the bright moonlight.

A group of cultivators dressed in demonic attire were seen performing an evil ritual after slaughtering mortals.

In the open space in front of the village, a temporary altar was set up. In the center of the altar stood a stone tablet covered with unknown blood-red incantations. Around the stone tablet knelt a group of men, women, and children who had been dead for some time, all of whom had died by having their throats slit and bleeding to death.

At each of the four corners of the altar, there was a pile of bones. Upon closer inspection, none of them were whole corpses; they were all piles of rotten flesh and severed limbs.

A malevolent cultivator dressed in a black robe, whose face was completely hidden, was sitting cross-legged in the central position on the altar.

After an unknown amount of time, the bright moon in the sky moved to the top of the group of demonic cultivators.

The black-robed demonic cultivator stood up and let out a hoarse voice:

"When the moon is at its zenith, the yin energy is at its strongest, and the ceremony begins."

He flipped his hand and took out a blood-red gourd, casting a spell towards it.

The blood-red runes on the gourd suddenly brightened, then spun around and grew several times larger out of thin air, emitting a strange, eerie wind from its mouth towards the altar.

Black smoke billowed from the piles of corpses surrounding the altar.

Seeing the resentment and blood energy being continuously absorbed into the blood gourd, the black-robed cultivator excitedly uttered a grating sound:

"Haha, mission accomplished! This batch of blood resentment energy is of quite good quality."

In the time it takes to eat a meal, the blood and resentment had almost completely dissipated, and the piles of corpses around the altar were completely dry, as if they had been squeezed dry.

The black-robed cultivator was quite satisfied with this. He raised his hand and retrieved the gourd magic artifact from the air, placing it in his storage bag. He muttered to himself:

"The blood resentment energy refined by thousands of mortals, several Nascent Soul cultivators, and three miscellaneous Qi cultivators can finally be reported to the Qingchi Sect Master."

Then, with a flick of his sleeve, he wrote a line of large characters beside the altar.

"The murderer is Jiang Yan." The black-robed demonic cultivator looked at his masterpiece and then burst into wild laughter.

"Who can this despicable frame-up trick fool?" Jiang Heqian slowly walked out from the side of the village, his face ashen and his voice icy.

After leaving Lin'an County, Jiang Heqian did not continue south, but instead chose to pass through Simin County under the rule of Qingchi Zong and head north back to Wangyue Lake.

He flew non-stop, not even bothering to visit the markets of Simin County, wanting only to get away from Qingchi's jurisdiction. By sheer coincidence, he stumbled upon this demon practicing his evil magic and performing a wicked ritual on the border of Simin County.

The black-robed cultivator was startled and shouted in a panic:

"Who? Who's there?"

Jiang Heqian did not answer, but drew his sword and slashed at the black-robed demon. Three Jade Sword Essences shot towards the black-robed demon's brow, chest, and abdomen respectively.

The black-robed cultivator let out a strange cry, his body going limp like a snake as he dodged the deadly sword energy. His fury soared to the heavens and earth as he roared:

"We have no enmity between us, yet you resort to such a cruel move against me right from the start. Have you lost your mind or something? I am a cultivator from the Qingchi Sect. Do not make a mistake for yourself. Leave immediately, and I will pretend that nothing happened."

The middle-aged man who suddenly appeared possessed such profound swordsmanship that the man in the black robe was quite puzzled.

Perhaps they had encountered a disciple of some immortal sect, which is why the black-robed demonic cultivator spoke in a tone that was half warning and half admonishment.

Jiang Heqian understood that this demonic cultivator must have been acting on the orders of Chi Zhiyun of the Qingchi Sect to secretly kill mortals and perform evil rituals in order to collect blood and resentment, and then frame Jiang Yan for his evil deeds.

That black-robed demonic cultivator was only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment. Although he knew a little about witchcraft, it was only superficial.

Having considered this, Jiang Heqian deliberately spoke sarcastically:

"You arrogant fiend, aren't you afraid of your tongue slipping out? Qingchi Sect is a celestial sect of Yue Kingdom, how could it have such a filthy and despicable fiend as you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Heqian activated his magic power to the fullest extent, and his immortal foundation [Jade Court General] manifested. His whole body became as white as jade, and his eyes turned completely white.

Han Yu unleashed the full power of the Crescent Moon Sword Technique, causing the sword energy to surge and the sword qi to hum.

The black-robed demon was initially able to parry, but after a dozen or so moves, he was on the verge of death and quickly pleaded:

"Fellow Daoist, I was wrong, please spare me."

Wrong? You only know that you're going to die.

Jiang Heqian gave a cold laugh, his sword swirling even faster.

A few breaths later, the black-robed demonic cultivator could no longer withstand the attack and was cleaved into pieces by the Jade Sword Essence.

After killing the black-robed demonic cultivator, Jiang Heqian casually summoned a talisman and burned the pile of corpses around the altar, along with the demonic cultivator's body, to ashes.

This kind of evil cultivation method that involves killing people is everywhere in the Xuanjian world. When will it ever end?

With a sigh, Jiang Heqian untied the demonic cultivator's storage bag, took out the magical artifact containing the blood resentment energy, and prepared to destroy it.

"Wait a minute, since you don't need the Blood Resentment Qi, why not give it to me?" A dwarf old man suddenly appeared and said.

Jiang Heqian was so frightened by the sudden sound that his whole body went numb, and his mind raced.

Purple Mansion Divine Power?

In the Xuanjian world, I don't remember having any supernatural powers with this dwarf-like appearance.

A young man suddenly appeared behind the dwarf old man, looking at Jiang Heqian with a half-smile, and spoke to himself:

"Qingchi Zong Chi Zhiyun is really playing his cards right. He's been secretly plundering people's blood and resentment, and then he's trying to pin the blame on me, Jiang Yan."

Jiang Yan? Upon hearing this name, Jiang Heqian instantly realized that the dwarf old man was Jiang Boqing.

Having failed in his quest for the Dao, Jiang Boqing, a demon with only a trace of gold in his nature, remains.

He felt incredibly unlucky to encounter such an old monster in Simin County.

"Since you want it, senior, then take it." Jiang Heqian said nervously, his tone unnatural.

Jiang Boqing chuckled sinisterly a few times, raised his hand and took away the gourd magic artifact containing blood and resentment, then spoke to drive it away:

"This is none of your business, get out of here."

Jiang Heqian respectfully agreed, his tense nerves finally relaxing. He was really afraid that this old monster would suddenly go crazy and give him a beating.

He turned around and rode the wind away at lightning speed.

Jiang Yan watched herself fly away into the distance and asked Jiang Boqing:

"Why did Master let this person go? This is not like Master's usual style."

The dwarf old man glanced at Jiang Yan with annoyance and said calmly:

"Do you think your master is a murderous maniac? Besides, that kid is the only heir of the Jiang family of Wangyue Lake. His Jade True Cultivation is useless to me. There's no need to kill him."

Jiang Yan listened thoughtfully and fell silent for a while.

.