Chapter 152: Chapter 131: I View Mortals as Livestock, Ruling as a Foundation Establishment Dao Race

Joy filled Hanyang Prefecture!

Red silk banners stretched for ten li. A running feast extended from Duke’s Mansion all the way to Mud Bottle Street. The festive sounds of pipes, strings, and singing had not ceased since morning.

Huang Yulang had long since been dressed by his attentive servants. He wore a magnificent brocade robe embroidered with gold thread, a white jade crown on his head, and a Tiger Pattern Belt at his waist.

In his entire life, aside from his wedding day and the day he took over the Huang Family from his father, he had never been dressed so grandly.

Huang Yulang gazed at his reflection, elated and full of ambition. He murmured to himself:

’They will ask, "Who is this new True Master?" And the answer will be... Huang. If this succeeds, the Lujiang Huang Clan will no longer be some subservient Fifth-Grade Clan. We will be an Upper-Class Dao Race, producing Foundation Establishment cultivators for generations and ruling over a nation!’

At this thought, the great master of the Huang Family, who had always been calm and never showed his emotions, couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

The servants and maids in the room were all stunned, frozen in place.

’Isn’t today the Wang Family’s Old Master’s birthday celebration?’

’Why is our own master so overjoyed and invested in it?’

Huang Yulang laughed for a while, then turned to a maid. He straightened his back and asked proudly:

"Does your master look imposing today?"

The maid quickly curtsied, her voice as gentle as a warbler’s song, filled with sincere flattery:

"Master, you are always wise and powerful. Today, you possess an even greater bearing. Truly, your heroic spirit soars to the heavens!"

This praise seemed to fill Huang Yulang with immense confidence.

A flicker of worry that had inexplicably crossed his mind earlier vanished like smoke, leaving only infinite hope for the future.

’If I achieve Foundation Establishment, the Lujiang Huang Clan will become a Dao Race. Even the emperor of the Zhao Country will have to bow to me, and the Dharma Lineage of the Qianji Sect will have to acknowledge my superiority.’

’When that time comes, who in Beimang Ridge will not show me respect!’

Filled with satisfaction, Huang Yulang strode out of the room, summoned his steward, and ordered:

"The birthday banquet begins at noon. Tell Brother Wang to find me at Lengsong Hall. After we pay respects to the ancestors, we will proceed with the great matter."

With that said, he had a carriage prepared and headed straight for Lengsong Hall.

「...」

’A candle flame hangs behind this man’s head. It’s as if his Divine Thought has been illuminated by Ding Fire, trapping him in an inescapable delusion.’

Inside the ancestral hall of Gao Village, Jiang Yi’s expression was grave.

Using the Jiang Shang formed from Majestic Spirit Essence Qi, he could already get a general sense of the situation at the Huang Mansion.

With Fang Han acting as his "mole," he had just caught a glimpse of Huang Yulang getting into the carriage from Fang Han’s perspective. The sight made the corner of his eye twitch.

A faint, indistinct glimmer of a candle flame hovered behind the man’s head.

If Jiang Yi hadn’t cultivated Bing Fire, whose brilliant glow leaped forth and revealed a trace of it, he probably wouldn’t have noticed it either.

’A Foundation Establishment Level technique! The Ding Fire of the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer can, at most, evoke melancholy thoughts and fuel the seven emotions and six desires. For someone like Huang Yulang to be so completely deluded without even realizing it... this must be the work of a Foundation Establishment True Master.’

As his thoughts turned, he instantly thought of the "Zhao You Sect."

’It seems the mastermind behind this whole scheme, the one brewing this calamity in Hanyang Prefecture, must be a Foundation Establishment True Master from the Zhao You Sect.’

’The Wang Family, the Huang Family, and the ancient Dharma Lineage of the Youquan Sect that have surfaced so far are all just bait set by this person to lure out [Fengdu].’

’The scope of an Upper Cultivator’s plan is astonishing.’

The more Jiang Yi speculated, the more alarmed he became.

The live sacrifices sent to Goose Mountain from Hanyang Prefecture over the years, the great ceremony of ten thousand sacrifices organized by the Wang and Huang families, plus the commoners who disappeared during past natural disasters and man-made calamities—the total number definitely exceeded a million.

If an Ancient Demon Cultivator used a million living beings for Sacrificial Refining a Magical Artifact, they would certainly earn the reputation of being "demented" and "vicious."

It might even provoke the Celestial Lord to send down a tribulation, leaving them entangled in karmic evil.

But the Foundation Establishment True Master from the Zhao You Sect only needed to cast their line and wait for the Lower Cultivators to scheme and plot for their own Opportunities.

The heavy blood debt of a million people would not stain their hands in the slightest.

’Born without knowing why, dying without knowing why... such are the common folk of the Yanfu Vast Land. They truly are no different from weeds!’

Jiang Yi shook his head lightly, a mix of complex emotions stirring in his heart.

When he had just descended the mountain with his senior brother Han Li, he saw the bustling Prefecture Cities and towns, which seemed so harmonious. He had thought that commoners under the rule of the Daoist Lineage could find some peace, that they were at least better off than the Qi Cultivation Lower Cultivators in Sanhe District who sold their blood to raise worms and became Magic Slaves.

’Looking at it now, those were the thoughts of a mere Lower Cultivator. How laughable.’

’No matter how bitter Cultivation is, at least one can serve as "consumable material" for a Dharma Lineage. But to be a commoner is to be a weed on the roadside, a stalk in the field—burned to ash by a single fire, with no one to even ask what happened.’

Jiang Yi’s gaze gradually hardened, and all hesitation about the path ahead vanished.

’The Immortal Dao Emperor, the difficulty of attaining [Yin and Yang], the karmic connections—I’ll cast them all to the back of my mind.’

’Even if I were to be obliterated by the majestic light of the [Tai Yang] in the future; even if I had to spend my entire life rushing about to complete the Five Elements and balance Yin and Yang, wasting away my lifespan; even if I were to be entangled in the great net of karma, no longer in control of my own fate...’

’At least, this is the path I have chosen for myself.’

Jiang Yi let out a long breath. His desire for the Opportunity hidden within [Fengdu] had also grown more intense.

"Xiao Jiang has finally had a thorough awakening."

True Master Xuanmiao stroked its whiskers, a satisfied look in its eyes:

"The Yanfu Vast Land is so vast. Until you become a True Monarch, you are ultimately just a pawn to be manipulated. And yet, what the Lower Cultivators compete for and seek is precisely the path to becoming such a pawn."

It curled up comfortably on Jiang Yi’s lap. The Dao Heart was a most mysterious thing. It was never eternally unchanging; rather, it cycled unpredictably like the Great Dao itself.

One has a certain state of mind during Qi Cultivation, and a completely different one after Foundation Establishment. Upon truly ascending to the station of a True Monarch, one’s state of mind would be turned upside down.

This calico cat had followed its former master and seen too many True Inheritance disciples who were initially resolute Dao Materials, viewing tribulations as nothing.

Among them were ruthless individuals who, to clarify their will, went so far as to kill their own wives and children. Yet, the more decisive such people were, the harder it became for them to maintain their Dao Heart later on.

It was like balancing on a thin steel wire with a massive bronze ball hanging overhead. Day after day, year after year, there would eventually come a day when they could no longer bear it, their hearts growing weary.

’The erosion and wavering of the Dao Heart—that is the most terrifying tribulation on the path of Cultivation. Not even a True Monarch is immune.’

It thought quietly, an image of a snow-white robe appearing before its eyes.

Accompanied by silent thunder, that person sat enthroned in the azure expanse of the sky, a brilliant sun of Primordial Truth hanging high above.

’Three thousand years without a single defeat. The more the [Tai Yang] displays its might, the more glorious it becomes.’

’But if it were to be defeated just once, all would be lost. Its Dao Heart would be shattered.’

「...」

"Master, we’ve arrived at Lengsong Hall."

Fang Han put away his horsewhip, brought the carriage to a steady stop, and spoke respectfully to Wang Yang inside.

Seeing this, the young servant sitting next to him was the first to jump down. He knelt on the ground, acting as a human footstool so that Wang Yang could step down steadily as he lifted the curtain and slowly emerged.

"All of you wait here. Do not move without orders."

Wang Yang gave a cool command and strode purposefully into Lengsong Hall.

This place was originally a private garden. The feng shui was bad, and it was said to be haunted, with several people having died here one after another.

Later, it was bought by the Huang Family, who kept several troupes of singers, dancers, and actors. Every day at midnight, the decadent sounds of string and bamboo instruments would drift out.

However, in all of Hanyang Prefecture, no one had ever seen the master who lived in this garden, nor had anyone caught a glimpse of the rumored celestial beauties who lived there.

Only the masters of the Huang and Wang Families would come here together once a month, their movements secretive, never allowing outsiders to spy on them.

"Brother Yulang, everything is ready!"

Wang Yang stepped into the main hall and took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"What about that Dharma Lineage disciple from the Qianji Sect?"

Huang Yulang said calmly:

"He’s still locked in the Buddhist hall, suppressed by the Old Master. With his Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer, he can’t possibly break the ’Nine Nether Mother-Child Soul Unification Array’."

Seeing that Huang Yulang was still composed, as if everything was under control, Wang Yang felt a little more settled and said in a low voice:

"The ’Blood Ointment’ refined from the ritual sacrifice has been added to all the food and wine at the running feast. This way, we just need to wait for the two ’Elder Ancestors’ of our clans to ascend, bring down the lightning punishment, and trigger the fate of the [Ghost Dao]."

Huang Yulang took a treasured clan heirloom from his robes—an Immortal Register. This was the complete plan to unveil [Fengdu], which a previous family head who had received an Opportunity had painstakingly commissioned a master from beyond the secular world to divine.

"Our collusion with the Youquan Sect, sending them live sacrifices year after year, was all for this day!"

Huang Yulang spread open the "Immortal Register." It detailed how to use the [Ghost Dao] Secret Technique of the Ancient Demon Cultivators to transform oneself into a Fierce Fiend or Evil Spirit, how to evade the lightning punishment, and how to buy time to pry open [Fengdu] and escape through its gate.

As Wang Yang followed Huang Yulang to the Buddhist hall, he couldn’t help but ask:

"If you ask me, we’re still not ruthless enough. Brother Yulang, what if we put all the Blood Ointment from the ritual sacrifice into the hundreds of wells in Hanyang Prefecture and let the entire city’s population share the burden of the lightning punishment for the Old Master? Wouldn’t that be safer?"

Huang Yulang shook his head.

"Ten thousand people is enough. If the entire city consumes the Blood Ointment, the power of the lightning punishment will surge accordingly. It would be counterproductive."

As they spoke, the two arrived outside the Buddhist hall deep within Lengsong Hall.

The door panels were covered with densely packed vermillion talisman paper. The moment they pushed it open, a terrifyingly sinister Qi Mechanism rushed out like a waterfall, washing over them!

Huang Yulang remained perfectly calm. He had already taken out a palm-sized Blood Banner, infused it with True Qi, and held it in front of him to block the assault.

"Sigh... This is truly hard on the Huang family’s Old Master!"

Wang Yang sighed softly. The yin energy in the Buddhist hall was so thick it was almost tangible, drifting through the pitch-black room like gauze curtains.

It was just like a mass grave where tens of thousands of corpses were buried; no daylight from outside could penetrate.

Countless bizarre scenes unfolded as demons and monsters spawned, giving rise to layer upon layer of ferocious and fiendish images.

Bloated, pale-green infants; long-tongued maids with bloody pits for eyes; pot-bellied dwarves devouring huge chunks of raw flesh...

"Great-grandfather, your grandson is here!"

Huang Yulang paid them no mind. He had entered this Buddhist hall when he was seventeen and had nearly wet his pants in fear, but now he was used to it.

On the offering table deep inside the Buddhist hall stood an ancestral tablet inscribed with the words: "Tablet of the late Master Huang, named Yangde."

Huang Yangde was, in fact, Huang Yulang’s great-grandfather.

"You’ve come... you’ve come... Is it time?"

Following Huang Yulang’s call, a mournful, sinister wind howled, pouring out from behind the tablet and coalescing into an emaciated, skeletal old man with a ferocious face.

"Yes, Great-grandfather. You have suffered all these years."

Huang Yulang dropped to his knees and kowtowed respectfully.

"It’s nothing... it’s nothing... So hungry... so thirsty! Let me be free... Good grandson! Is our Huang Family about to produce a Foundation Establishment cultivator!?"

The vile-looking, skeletal old man spoke incoherently, his Primordial Spirit clearly clouded. He only asked again and again:

"Is the Huang Family about to produce a Foundation Establishment cultivator?"

With his forehead pressed to the floor, Huang Yulang replied repeatedly:

"After today! The Huang Family will have a Foundation Establishment cultivator and will become a ruling Dao Race!"