In the Jiang family ancestral hall, an elderly man knelt, the oldest mber of the Jiang family and also the clan leader.
Seeing the arrival of the elder in the hemp robe, Clan Leader Jiang trembled as he leaned on his cane, stood up, and respectfully greeted him with a junior's salute, his face showing delight, "Ancestor, you've erged from seclusion two days earlier than planned. Have you broken through the peak of the Elental Infant stage and entered the Divine Transformation stage?"
The elder in the hemp robe shook his head and said regretfully, "Entering the Divine Transformation stage is no easy feat. It's a pity about those dozen infants; the blood sacrifice didn't significantly aid my cultivation. It seems that to break through to the Divine Transformation stage, I can't rely solely on infant blood sacrifices. I need to find other thods."
A flash of regret crossed Clan Leader Jiang's face as he said, "A servant just reported that the parents of the missing children are spreading the news all over Qingcheng, even causing a scene in front of the city lord's mansion. It might be difficult to suppress this matter. Ancestor, perhaps it's ti to change thods. We've stolen too many infants over the years, and so have started to suspect us."
"Who?"
"A rogue cultivator nad Yuan Wuxing, who has been trying to infiltrate our ancestral rites in recent years."
The elder in the hemp robe sneered, unconcerned, "It seems he's noticed the correlation between the frequency of our ancestral rites and the missing children. A rogue cultivator, just perfect for a blood sacrifice."
"Indeed, since those foolish parents keep causing trouble, why not capture them for a blood sacrifice as well, let them reunite with their children."
"Yes."
"How touching. Why don't you go reunite with your parents below?"
"Who?" The elder in the hemp robe turned angrily, looking to see who dared speak so disrespectfully, while his body quickly retreated, having sensed no one's arrival.
To evade his senses, one would either have to be a fellow peak Elental Infant cultivator skilled in concealnt or a Divine Transformation cultivator.
He cast several spells in succession, all of which Jiang Li effortlessly dispelled.
Without a word, Jiang Li stepped forward and slapped the elder in the hemp robe, sending him crashing onto the table that held the ancestral tablets, scattering them and breaking half of the elder's teeth.
"You!"
The elder was shocked. He could sense that Jiang Li, like him, was at the peak of the Elental Infant stage, but Jiang Li's movents were too fast for him to react.
Jiang Li had experienced countless life-and-death battles, his combat experience was incredibly rich. Even if he suppressed his cultivation to the Elental Infant stage, or even the Golden Elixir stage, he could still easily defeat the elder in the hemp robe.
Jiang Li remained expressionless, silent as he fought, pinning the elder to the table and punching him repeatedly, each punch heavier than the last. During this process, he even heard the system's notification sound.
[Congratulations to the host for defeating Jiang Yixing, novice task completed.]
Jiang Li heard the system notification without a trace of joy, continuing to puml Jiang Yixing with Elental Infant strength.
He feared using stronger force would kill Jiang Yixing outright.
Jiang Li had identified the elder in the hemp robe as Jiang Yixing the mont he scanned the spatial node with his divine sense.
However, Jiang Yixing, having altered his appearance, did not recognize Jiang Li.
"Do you know... who I am... I'm Jiang Peoples Emperor... Jiang Li's... brother..."
Jiang Yixing spoke haltingly, his words slurred due to his missing teeth.
"Is that so!"
"The brother of Jiang Peoples Emperor!"
"What arrogance!"
"Even the People's Emperor isn't as arrogant as you!"
"Setting up a tablet for yourself!"
"Do you know you deserve to die!"
"Or are you just pretending to be dead to the world!"
Jiang Li's heart burned with anger. Jiang Yixing used his na to commit evil deeds, causing the deaths of countless children, making Jiang Li feel partly responsible for their deaths.
With each sentence, he delivered another punch, continuing until Jiang Yixing bled from all seven orifices and lost consciousness.
Jiang Li picked up the tablet with Jiang Yixing's na on it and snorted coldly.
"Using the faith power from ancestral rites to dissipate the infants' grievances, clever."
Jiang Li dragged Jiang Yixing by the ankle out the door, his head knocking loudly against the doorfra. The Jiang family had long heard the commotion in the ancestral hall, and upon seeing Jiang Li appear, they rushed to kill the intruder.
Except for a few, most of the Jiang family believed Jiang Yixing was already dead and did not recognize him, so they did not avoid hitting him when attacking Jiang Li. However, compared to Jiang Li's fists, these attacks were nothing, and Jiang Yixing wouldn't die from them.
Jiang Li easily blocked all the attacks with his free hand, knocking down those who struck at him effortlessly.
"Senior, what are you..." Yuan Wuxing followed behind, startled by Jiang Li's actions. Taking down the Jiang family and capturing the culprit was sothing he never dared to imagine.
"Of course, I'm going to make a big scene," Jiang Li said matter-of-factly.
"A big... scene?" Yuan Wuxing didn't understand what Jiang Li intended, only feeling that this Taoist sect emissary's magical powers were profound and his actions unpredictable.
"Otherwise, how will we see how many people are willing to shield the Jiang family, whether it's the city lord, the mansion lord, or soone higher up... I want to see what big fish we can catch this ti." Jiang Li smiled coldly.
If the Zhou Emperor was unaware, that would be fine, but if he knew of Jiang Yixing's actions and concealed them, then Jiang Li wouldn't recognize him as a friend...
Yuan Wuxing was stirred by what he heard, this was going to shake the heavens!
"Go and gather the parents of the missing children, tell them the culprit has been found and is being judged at the city lord's mansion."
"Yes!"
...
The Qingcheng city lord, surnad Zeng, believed his career was exceptionally smooth. Starting as a minor official, he was continuously favored by influential people, rising steadily, and now he sat in the coveted position of Qingcheng city lord, a position many colleagues would break their heads to obtain. By aligning with the Jiang family, he felt as if he had connected with the People's Emperor himself, even though he hadn't directly t His Highness.
It was known that several forr Qingcheng city lords now held high positions, the highest being a prefect, which made Zeng quite envious.
City Lord Zeng, as usual, prepared to rest early. It was nearing dusk, and although it wasn't yet ti to finish work, as city lord, leaving half an hour early wouldn't draw any criticism.
Just as he was about to rest, a subordinate inford him that soone outside had a major case for the city lord to judge.
City Lord Zeng was displeased; a major case ant it couldn't be resolved quickly, delaying his end of the day.
"Tell the person outside that I'm out on business, and they should return tomorrow."
"Sir, according to that person, they've caught the culprit who stole the children, none other than the supposedly deceased Jiang Yixing of the Jiang family. Jiang Yixing has been beaten senseless, and the public, upon hearing this, has gathered en masse, surrounding our entrance completely."
"You fool, why didn't you say so earlier!" City Lord Zeng was shocked, kicking his clueless subordinate over, hurriedly tidying his attire, and sitting solemnly in the main hall.
"Who is causing a ruckus outside, bring them in!" City Lord Zeng sat high in the main hall, his expression stern and imposing.
Jiang Li strolled into the hall, carrying Jiang Yixing like a chicken, with an excited yet apprehensive Yuan Wuxing beside him. Behind them were a dozen weeping parents, kicking and cursing Jiang Yixing, followed by a crowd of onlookers.
The laws of the Great Zhou clearly stipulated that local officials must adjudicate cases publicly.
At this mont, City Lord Zeng cursed this law, for under the watchful eyes of the public, it would be difficult to shield the Jiang family.
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