I Swear I’m Not a Demonic Cultivator - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: The Human Emperor Banner—Purple to the Point of Blackness

Just as Fang Zheng was about to be completely consumed by guilt, a glimmer of light appeared.

Where the Old Village Chief had vanished, a tiny, dust-like speck of white light ignited out of thin air.

Then came a second, and a third.

Tens of thousands of these luminous motes materialized from the void, swirling and dancing through the desolate village like fireflies on a summer night.

Fang Zheng raised his head, numbly watching the scene unfold.

The luminous motes began to coalesce.

Drawn to each other, they intertwined and coalesced, gradually forming the vague outline of a human figure.

It was the Old Village Chief.

Then came the woman who had shielded her child, the bare-chested butcher, the innocent child who had pointed at him and shouted, “Demon!”…

One by one, the outlines of all the villagers took shape, woven from strands of light.

The light grew brighter and brighter.

Their bodies were being remade in a way that defied all natural laws!

No longer mortal flesh and blood, but perfect, flawless Spirit Bodies composed of the purest energy!

After a moment, the light faded.

All the villagers gently floated back to the ground.

They opened their eyes.

Gone was the numbness, fear, and despair that had haunted their gazes.

Replaced by a pure, almost divine radiance.

The Old Village Chief lowered his head and slowly raised his hands.

His skin was as smooth as jade, without a single wrinkle or scar.

He could feel a power surging within him, a force both immensely strong and utterly pure, unlike anything he had ever imagined.

He clenched his fist sharply.

The air cracked with a faint pop.

He understood.

This wasn’t death.

This was… rebirth!

This great being had liberated them from the prison of their suffering flesh, granting them sacred bodies and eternal life!

The so-called “Blood Sacrifice” wasn’t about sacrificing lives.

It was about sacrificing their pain across lifetimes!

With immeasurable power, this being had shouldered all their sins and punishments, and then bestowed upon them rebirth!

What boundless compassion!

What immeasurable power!

He snapped his head up, his gaze locking onto the kneeling youth.

Thump!

Without hesitation, the Old Village Chief prostrated himself before Fang Zheng, his entire body pressed to the ground in deep reverence.

This time, his body didn’t tremble, and his voice carried no fear.

Only the most fervent, devout worship, emanating from the depths of his soul!

“Thank you, My Lord, for granting us rebirth!”

In unison, every villager behind him knelt to the ground.

Perfectly synchronized, they resembled the most devout believers paying homage to their sole god.

“Thank you, My Lord, for rescuing us from the sea of suffering and granting us eternal life!”

The thunderous chorus of worship reverberated through the heavens.

Fang Zheng was utterly dumbfounded.

He stared blankly at these “resurrected” villagers, now utterly transformed.

I… didn’t kill them?

So… this is the true effect of the Blood Sacrifice Floating Pagoda Great Prison-Suppressing Formation!

Destruction… is purification!

Sacrifice is redemption!

Those terrifying phenomena were merely the necessary process to purge the marks of suffering from their souls!

The guilt and anguish in Fang Zheng’s heart instantly vanished like smoke.

Replaced by an indescribable reverence and gratitude toward the Sect and the System!

The System is righteous!

The Ancient Sect Methods are compassionate!

It was only because his own Realm was too low that he had misunderstood such a divine miracle!

The cracks in Fang Zhengdao’s Dao Heart were instantly repaired by a far more resolute force, becoming stronger and more unyielding than ever before.

Congratulations, Host! You have earned the faith of the entire village and gained Faith Power! the System’s voice echoed in his mind.

Just then, a warm, boundless, and supremely sacred power surged forth from the kneeling villagers, coalescing into visible golden streams of light that instantly flooded Fang Zheng’s body.

The Spiritual Energy he had exhausted by forcibly activating the Formation was instantly replenished!

Fang Zheng’s physical body and Divine Soul were both tempered and strengthened by this surging power, becoming more resilient and powerful than ever before!

He could even clearly sense an unbreakable, mystical connection forming between himself and these villagers.

Their faith, their devotion, was ceaselessly transforming into a part of his power!

Fang Zheng’s body felt like a riverbed parched for millennia.

The pure, warm, and boundless power contributed by all the villagers was like a flood breaching the dam, instantly engulfing him.

His Spiritual Energy surged back to full.

His Divine Soul was nourished until it shone with crystalline clarity.

Even the newly forged Human Emperor’s Hell-Suppressing Body resonated with satisfaction under this surging force, the pitch-black armor on its surface glowing with demonic runes that grew denser and deeper.

He could feel it.

A sacred connection had been established between him and these reborn villagers.

He could share their joy.

He could receive their devotion.

Their power, guided by some profound cosmic law, was ceaselessly flowing into his body, becoming a part of his Dao Foundation.

Fang Zheng slowly rose to his feet.

He hadn’t killed them.

He had saved them.

In a way far beyond his imagination, imbued with supreme wisdom and compassion.

This was the true meaning of the Ancient Sect Methods!

This was the grand aspiration of the Ancient Righteous Dao!

Destruction paves the way for rebirth.

Sacrifice brings redemption.

My Realm is far too low, my vision far too narrow.

The Sect’s benevolence towards me is truly as vast as the mountains!

Fang Zheng’s Dao Heart, which had been riddled with cracks, was completely reforged by this profound realization.

All his guilt and pain transformed into fervent reverence and gratitude towards the Sect and the System!

His Dao Heart had never been so resolute!

“My Lord!”

The Old Village Chief led all the villagers in another deep bow.

Their voices converged into a thunderous roar that shook the very air.

“We beseech you, My Lord, to issue your Divine Decree! We pledge to be the sword in your hand, to eradicate all injustice in this world!”

They were no longer mere mortals.

They were now a legion of divine spirits, personally blessed by the gods themselves!

Fang Zheng gazed at them, his heart swelling with heroic fervor.

He recalled the System’s earlier notification:

Reward: Human Emperor Banner *1 (Can absorb souls to enhance the user; the more souls absorbed, the greater the enhancement)

This Human Emperor Banner was the perfect vessel to house the loyal souls he had saved!

It was not merely a magical artifact.

It was a mobile, sacred homeland!

Fang Zheng’s mind flickered.

“Come!”

He extended his hand.

An ancient, majestic banner materialized in his palm.

Its pole, as black as ink, was crafted from some divine wood, its touch both icy and strangely warm, as if connected by blood.

The banner itself was a profound, pitch-black expanse, upon which an awe-inspiring figure, towering between heaven and earth, was embroidered in unknown golden threads. This figure, with its face obscured, radiated a supreme imperial might in Fang Zheng’s perception—a power capable of sheltering all living beings and suppressing eternity itself.

So saturated was the Human Emperor Banner with Primordial Violet Qi that it had become almost blackish-purple.

The moment the banner unfurled, a desolate, ancient, and domineering aura swept across the entire battlefield.