Cultivation Begins From The Desert Chapter 523 - 508: Cultivation Breakthrough! [One More Updat

Zhouyang had an epiphany.

He never intended to be a great benevolent person, nor did he ever want to be a pushover.

He just wanted to be an ordinary person with justice in his heart, believing in justice, even though he might not always be able to uphold it.

Killing and seizing treasures is evil, he admitted that he played the villain this ti.

Recognizing his wrongdoing and loathing such evil acts was precisely a reflection of his sense of justice.

Evil acts are not the most terrifying; what’s terrifying is committing evil without acknowledging it as wrong.

Those demonic cultivators carry out countless evil deeds yet can still refine pills and form infants, passing the "Heart Demon Tribulation." This is because they never think what they’re doing is wrong, and thus, their hearts feel no guilt nor remorse.

Zhouyang is not a demon cultivator and cannot take that path.

However, he also cannot let this experience of murder and treasure-snatching beco an obstacle in his future cultivation path.

Therefore, he chose another path to release his conscience.

"If I do evil once, I must do good a hundred tis; if I unjustly kill one person, I must save a hundred!"

"Though good and evil can’t cancel each other out, I seek peace of mind!"

To do evil once, and perform good a hundred tis; kill one person, and redeem a hundred.

This is undoubtedly self-deception.

For evil is evil, and good is good.

A person who does good a hundred tis but commits even one evil act cannot be called a good person.

A person who commits evil a hundred tis, even if they do good once, cannot be called a good person.

Yet, self-deceiving as it is, it is aid at oneself, to seek inner peace.

When the mind is unsettled, the spirit is uneasy; when the spirit is uneasy, the energy is not smooth; when the energy is not smooth, illness will arise.

If a cultivator cannot achieve peace of mind, spirit, and energy, how can they continue cultivating?

Zhouyang knew that once he committed an act of killing and treasure-snatching, there would inevitably be countless more in the future. As long as he wished to advance in cultivation and break through to a higher realm, it was impossible not to compete or vie for resources.

Yet he also did not want to beco a pure evil person, like a bandit or robber.

Human nature is this contradictory, yet it also reveals the brilliance of the human nature.

Humans are not beasts; besides survival instincts, there is also morality.

Those with moral constraints and those who keep morality in mind can beco true strong beings.

Zhouyang established the principle for himself of "doing good one hundred tis for each evil act, saving a hundred for every person wrongly killed," which reflects his moral conscience.

Even if the major tide of the cultivation realm is so, even if the great trend of the world is so, he still wishes to uphold a degree of conscience amidst the great waves.

With such clarity of mind, Zhouyang no longer had any doubts or hesitation, and his heart imdiately cald down.

In the following half-year, he acted as a guardian for Jiang Fengxian, who was in seclusion breaking through, while also refining the magical artifacts he had acquired.

After the old man’s death, the copper gong spiritual artifact he used was allotted to Zhouyang.

This copper gong and the short rod spiritual artifact ford a set, nad "Heaven-shaking Copper Gong," a rather rare Tier Five Middle-Grade Sound Attack Spiritual Artifact.

This artifact was not very effective against physically strong demon beasts, but for non-body refining cultivators, it was a formidable weapon.

The sound of the gong it emitted could not be easily isolated or resisted by ordinary ans. If no corresponding defenses were prepared in advance, or if one did not possess special divine techniques, upon hearing the sound, they would experience a heart-wrenching pain and greatly diminished power, much like Jiang Fengxian at that ti.

Refining the artifact took so ti, and for the rest of the ti, Zhouyang used his artifact refining skills to repair the injuries on that Tier Five Tiger Puppet Beast.

Though his artifact refining skills were not adequate to refine a Tier Five Puppet Beast, it was sufficient for repairs.

Thus, half a year passed, and Jiang Fengxian, with the aid of the "Enlightennt Profound Truth Fruit," successfully broke through to the fourth layer of the Golden Core, becoming a Mid-Stage Golden Core Cultivator.

After she erged from seclusion, Zhouyang congratulated her briefly, and then got down to business.

"It’s been more than a year since the Kunxu Realm opened. During this ti, we’ve had many gains, but it’s ti we head to the [Holy Infant Valley]."

"The journey from here to [Holy Infant Valley] is long, and we’ll have to pass through four or five treacherous locations along the way. We must be cautious and take care not to make mistakes!"

The "Holy Infant Fruit" is crucial for the future Nascent Soul Formation, and Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian had long planned to acquire it.

Since the "Holy Infant Valley" would appear two years after the Kunxu Realm opened, they certainly needed to arrive early.

Hence, hearing Zhouyang ntion this, Jiang Fengxian found it unsurprising.

After a brief consideration, she nodded slightly and said, "Brother Zhou is right, I have no objections."

Thus, the two left the temporary cave dwelling, referenced their map, and proceeded towards the location of "Holy Infant Valley."

The journey was relatively uneventful, as they remained cautious and careful, avoiding any significant dangers.

After traveling for more than half the journey, the two stopped before a giant canyon.

"Celestial Rift Canyon, spanning three thousand miles east-west, ten thousand miles north-south. Both the east and west sides of the canyon are absolute death zones. Only by traversing the canyon north to south can one reach the Cold Wind Plain on the other side. Due to the unstable spatial rifts scattered across the sky above the canyon, the safest way to pass through the canyon is on foot!"

In front of the giant canyon, Zhouyang looked at the long canyon that stretched ten thousand miles deep, muttering gravely as he recited the details about this canyon.

The information about the "Celestial Rift Canyon" was also specially marked on the map recording the "Holy Infant Fruit," indicating that while there are many rare wonders here, there is also great danger.

In this canyon, not only are there spatial rifts that can even swallow Nascent Soul stage cultivators, but many formidable demon beasts also lurk within. There are even so life-threatening places and dead ends that can harm Golden Core Stage cultivators.

If it weren’t for the rare spiritual object "Holy Infant Fruit" attracting him, Zhouyang would never have risked crossing this "Celestial Rift Canyon."

But now, he had no choice.

"The demon beasts are manageable, and there are ways to survive various perilous and deadly places, but the spatial rifts are sothing you and I absolutely cannot touch. So, unless we encounter life-threatening danger in the canyon, you and I must never fly upwards, or colliding with a spatial rift would be certain death!"

Before entering the canyon, Zhouyang solemnly emphasized the risks of this journey to Jiang Fengxian repeatedly.

The matter was serious and did not allow for any carelessness.

And Jiang Fengxian was not impatient; he also nodded solemnly in agreent.

So, the two proceeded with utmost caution, walking into the canyon.

The wide canyon featured various landscapes, with ancient towering forests, rugged stone mountains, dead water lakes, and various caves.

Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian, walking amidst these landscapes, were tense to the extre, ready for combat at the slightest disturbance.

And indeed, their precautions were justified.

In less than half a month entering the canyon, countless demon beasts fell at their hands, with over twenty being Tier Four demon beasts, and even two being Tier Five demon beasts.

The Kunxu Realm opens once every eight hundred years. Over such a long ti, the rich spiritual qi here can allow a potential little demon to evolve into a Tier Four or even Tier Five demon beast.

This is why the number of high-tier demon beasts here is no less and even more than that in places like the Broken Cloud Mountain Range where demon beasts run rampant!

Moreover, many barbaric exotic species, rare in the outside world, still live in abundance in this Kunxu Realm.

On the ninth day after entering the "Celestial Rift Canyon," Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian encountered a Tier Five high-grade demon beast, the "Three-headed Black Snake." It took a great effort for the two, with Zhouyang even getting injured, to finally repel this rare exotic beast.

Of course, danger always accompanies opportunity. By slaying the attacking demon beasts, Zhouyang not only acquired nurous demon pills and demon beast materials, but also harvested quite a few rare spirit elixirs.

He even obtained a large piece of rare Tier Five spiritual object "Thunder Crystal" after killing a Tier Five lower-grade demon beast, the "Tusked Thunderstorm Beast."

This "Thunder Crystal" is not an ordinary spiritual object. It is a special treasure ford when the essence of various spiritual objects devoured by the "Tusked Thunderstorm Beast" settles and mixes with its inherent power of thunder, unable to be digested.

In an ordinary wild pig’s body, there’s a chance to produce sothing called "Piggy," which has high dicinal value.

The "Thunder Crystal" from the body of the "Tusked Thunderstorm Beast," however, is a rare spiritual object that can be fused into a magical artifact, imbuing it with the power of thunder.

The "Thunder Crystal" Zhouyang obtained was as large as a human head, weighing over a hundred pounds, making its value considerable.

Apart from this "Thunder Crystal," the other demon pill harvests also brought Zhouyang great gains.

Jiang Fengxian, knowing Zhouyang had a clan to support, didn’t compete for the Tier Four demon pills and only took a few usable ones, gifting the rest and even those demon beast materials to him.

It is foreseeable that if Zhouyang manages to return to his clan alive, he could certainly use these gains to elevate the Zhou Family into a true Golden Core Family.

On the seventeenth day after entering the "Celestial Rift Canyon," Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian encountered an incredibly formidable Tier Five high-grade demon beast, the "Stone Demon."

Though called a demon beast, the "Stone Demon" is akin to a tree demon, a stone monster that gained spirit and form. Not only does it naturally master the earth escape technique, but it also wields petrification divine techniques and possesses the undying body.

Unlike the tree demon, the "Stone Demon" can move.

Encountering such a creature, despite their nurous abilities, Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian couldn’t do anything to deal with it.

Left with no choice, they could only fight while retreating, hoping the "Stone Demon" would give up pursuit once they left its territory.

The idea was good, but the reality was quite the opposite of what they hoped.

Even after retreating for over ten thousand miles, the "Stone Demon" continued to chase them relentlessly.

Seeing this, Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian were both exasperated and infuriated.

"If it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to fight that creature desperately; it’s better than continuing to flee embarrassingly like this!"

As they fled into a forest and still couldn’t shake off the "Stone Demon," Zhouyang, driven by desperation, couldn’t help but entertain the idea of a desperate fight.

However, just as he was about to convince Jiang Fengxian to stop and prepare for a life-and-death battle with the "Stone Demon," their persistent pursuer suddenly let out a sharp howl, as if frightened by sothing, and quickly vanished underground.

"Not good!"

Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian’s expressions changed. Without any joy, their tension heightened, and they released their divine sense to fully scout the forest they were in.

The "Stone Demon’s" sudden retreat was clearly not due to their readiness for a desperate fight, but rather because there was sothing within the forest that terrified it.

And if there was sothing even a fierce creature like the "Stone Demon" feared, how could they dare overlook it!