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Chapter 949: Chapter 943: Dark Filth_2
"Gather these corpses up; we’ll investigate the cause after we get out," one of the Integration Great Powers ordered.
Immediately, a Zhang Family Cultivator stepped forward and, with an unchanged expression, gathered each corpse into his Storage Bag.
"Elder Ancestor! This person has a Jade Slip in his hand," a Nascent Soul Cultivator strode forward, respectfully handing over the Jade Slip.
Under the strict rules of the Zhang Family, even if he was the first to discover the Jade Slip, he could not probe its contents with his Divine Sense.
Beside him, Li Zhirui, or rather most cultivators, focused their gaze on that Jade Slip, eager to know what was recorded inside.
"Damn it! How dare these Demon Cultivators commit such treacherous and world-threatening acts!" the Integration Great Power exploded with rage, roaring somewhat uncontrollably.
Li Zhirui’s brows furrowed, such a reaction unnerved him, but it also fueled his curiosity about the contents of the Jade Slip.
The other four powers also poured their Divine Sense into it. Although their reactions were not as overt, anyone could see the suppressed anger in them.
The involuntary release of their oppressive might was proof enough.
It was fleeting, but that intense oppressive force was definitely not an illusion.
Perhaps at the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stage, as they had just made a breakthrough, they might not be able to control their might well, but as their Cultivation grew higher, they would control their might the very moment they successfully broke through.
An Integration Great Power would definitely not lose control of their aura, unless some intense emotion caused a great disturbance in their mental state!
’What could it be that has enraged these five mighty beings to such an extent that even their mental state is out of balance?’ This was what all the cultivators present were curious about.
After exchanging looks, the powers decided to reveal the contents of the Jade Slip, as the matter was of great importance and could not be shouldered by the Zhang Family alone. It was imperative to make it known to others, and revealing it to everyone present now didn’t matter.
"The Demon Cultivators have been smuggling and relocating to different parts of the East Continent in secret for nearly a thousand years. Their ultimate goal is to pollute the Spirit Veins of the East Continent, cause the quality of its Spiritual Energy to decline, and thereby weaken the power of Immortal Tao and take over the East Continent!" one of the Integration Great Powers spoke gravely.
As soon as these words were uttered, a huge uproar filled the crowd. The expressions of shock and anger overflowed, as the severity of the situation far exceeded their imagination.
And it seemed that polluting the Spirit Veins would not be advantageous for the Demon Cultivators in their quest to take over the East Continent, as they would not be able to cultivate with the tainted Spiritual Energy.
But this was only temporary!
With enough time, they could slowly treat the Spirit Veins and return them to normal.
This process would start at tens of thousands of years.
Meanwhile, within this period of tainted energy, it would take less than a thousand years for the Immortal Dao of the East Continent to weaken due to the inability of the new generation of cultivators to grow normally.
With the ferocious attacks by the Demon Cultivators, the Devil Race, the Sea Clan, and other external forces, the Immortal Dao of the East Continent might be pushed to the brink of extinction in less than two thousand years.
That was not enough time to cleanse the Spirit Veins.
It was only because the Demon Cultivators in Shanyuan State, located at the northeast end of the East Continent, were being extra cautious with their actions that one, due to greed, was killed by Li Zhirui.
This sparked many more issues and even exposed the conspiracy the Demon Cultivators had been scheming for a thousand years.
In this respect, Li Zhirui could be considered a great hero, but he had no desire for fame.
It would not bring him or the Li family any substantial help; on the contrary, it would only bring huge trouble and danger.
Perhaps the Demon Cultivators could not handle the Zhang Family, but to target a family that had just advanced to Void Refinement wouldn’t take much effort to destroy!
Fortunately, Li Zhirui had concealed his identity back then. If he hadn’t, entangled in such a major incident, he might have escaped disaster, but the Li family, with tens of thousands of members, might not have even one percent that could survive.
"No, this isn’t right!"
Just as the crowd was reeling, a Great Power’s face suddenly changed, "This Jade Slip isn’t complete; the last sentence is telling us that Wanzhu State has probably already fallen prey to them!"
They had been so consumed by the earlier content of the Jade Slip that they hadn’t paid attention to what followed. Now, with a bit of calm, they recalled the content, and their expressions turned grave.
It seemed as if to validate their claims, at that very moment, the cultivators who had been dispatched to explore the caves were returning one after the other, with many reporting that they had seen numerous tunnels leading elsewhere.
However, because their numbers were too few and they feared potential dangers inside, they dared not probe too deeply.
"Let’s take a look!"
The crowd followed behind.
A small team was dispatched into one tunnel, while the other cultivators quietly waited in their original spots.
A few hours later, the team returned safely.
"Reporting to the Ancestor, the last part of this tunnel was collapsed by someone. After we dug it out, we soon saw a Spirit Vein that seemed no different from a normal one."
For this reason, they used a Memory Stone to completely record the entire Spirit Vein.
Through projection, the Spirit Vein indeed appeared as they described, with no issues, but those great powers weren’t quite reassured and decided to go personally.
When they returned, although they didn’t speak, their extremely ugly expressions were the best answer.
The Spirit Vein seemed to have no problems at all, but if it weren’t for the great powers of the Integration cultivators with their strong spiritual souls, who penetrated the inner part of the Spirit Vein and saw a thin, foul-smelling, black line, they wouldn’t have felt that something was amiss.
At the same time, they also tried to remove the black line from the Spirit Vein, but no matter what they tried, they were unable to succeed.
However, this was not the worst of it!
The Demon Cultivators knew well that the underground caves and those tunnels would be discovered, yet they still contaminated the Spirit Vein. If it wasn’t because they were fools, then it meant that the Demon Cultivators were prepared to act broadly and contaminate the Spirit Veins of each State Domain in the East Continent without any hesitation!
Thinking of this, the five great powers had expressions of anger and a trace of fear on their faces!
If the nest is overturned, not an egg remains intact!
If the entire Immortal Dao were to fall into peril, how could the Zhang Family meet a good fate? It would be quite impressive for them to be able to preserve their legacy.
After all, the Integrated Forces are the overlords in the remote Shanyuan State, where they have the final say. But if one widens their perspective even slightly, and not to mention too afar, just flying a few thousand miles south from Xiao Yuan Immortal City, there is an Immortal sect, the Cave Abyss Sect!
The only thing to be thankful for was that the Spirit Veins existed independently, and unless they were very close or manipulated by someone, they couldn’t be connected.
If that were the case, the Spirit Veins could transmit impurities through connection, such that contaminating one Spirit Vein could spread to others.
If that were really the case, the only option for the Immortal Dao was to find a way out!
Therefore, of those five great powers, three immediately left, presumably to pass the message to the Cave Abyss Sect, and through them, notify the Immortal Dao forces throughout the East Continent.
"Fellow juniors may attempt it. If anyone can solve the black filth in the Spirit Vein, I think the various families and sects of Wanzhu State will not be stingy with rewards," one of the Integration cultivators said.
From a distance, Li Zhirui and Li Chenghuo had a thought stirring in their hearts.
"Uncle Shiling, can you purify that peculiar impurity within the Spirit Vein?" Li Chenghuo tried his best to control the fluctuations of his divine sense, hoping it wouldn’t be overheard by the two great powers.
The secrecy of divine sense communication wasn’t very strong; if someone had mighty spiritual power, they could hear it.
However, under normal circumstances, no one would do this since it is too offensive and could easily bring disaster.
Li Zhirui hesitated for a moment but eventually shook his head slightly.
He was also not very sure whether he could resolve the black filth mentioned by the great power, so he couldn’t give a precise answer.
"Uncle Shiling, shall we give it a try?" Li Chenghuo whispered.
The surrounding cultivators were also eager to try; they weren’t foolish. From what they had seen and heard just now, they could easily determine that for a long time to come, cultivators who could remove the black filth would certainly be treated as honored guests by all the major forces!
