I Swear I’m Not a Demonic Cultivator - Chapter 39
Chapter 39: All I Do Is Justice
Buzz—!
The precious vase, radiating a holy glow in Fang Zheng’s eyes, erupted with a blinding surge of “Sacred Light.” A gentle beam instantly enveloped the disciple.
But to the disciple, the fleshy, writhing Evil Bottle’s mouth suddenly opened into a gaping maw filled with razor-sharp teeth!
An irresistible, pitch-black suction force erupted with savage intensity!
“Aaaaaah—!”
A piercing, inhuman shriek echoed through the valley.
In Fang Zheng’s heart, that emotion called “compassion” overflowed once more.
“The mortal world is a sea of suffering; turn back, and you reach the shore,” he murmured softly, his voice filled with pity and holiness.
“Your sins, your suffering—I will end them all.
“In my kingdom, you will find ultimate, eternal redemption.”
Fang Zheng raised the “Sacred Grail” high.
Buzz—!
He poured every last drop of the Great Righteous Qi, which had surged within him after his “execution of justice,” into the Grail without reservation.
In an instant, crimson light flooded the heavens!
The Flesh Evil Bottle swelled violently. The anguished face of the False God etched into its surface snapped its eyes open, unleashing twin crimson beams!
An invisible, unreasonable devouring force rippled outward, instantly engulfing the entire Hundred Herbs Valley!
The fleeing disciples of Hundred Herbs Valley froze in their tracks.
A look of sheer terror spread across their faces.
Their flesh, vitality, mana, souls… everything was forcibly extracted by that domineering power, transforming into thick, crimson torrents that surged greedily toward the Flesh Evil Bottle hanging in mid-air!
Ding!
Congratulations, Host! You have completely purified the source of evil—Hundred Herbs Valley!
Mission, Phase 2: Eradicate the Malignant Tumor. Thoroughly eliminate the root of all evil, ‘Hundred Herbs Valley,’ wiping it from the Profound Heaven Continent without leaving a trace of dust.
Mission completed.
Distributing mission rewards…
Congratulations, Host! You have obtained the divine ability: Demonic Minister’s Covenant!
Annotation: The Demonic Minister’s Covenant, derived from the authority of the Ancient Human Emperor, can be bestowed upon followers with unwavering Dao Hearts and selfless devotion.
Upon signing the covenant, followers will become your ‘Guardians of the Dao,’ sharing the burden of safeguarding Sentient Beings and receiving a portion of the Human Emperor’s Imperial Authority as blessings.
Blessing Effect: Covenant signatories will directly gain eighty percent of the Host’s current strength!
80% of my power!
The System’s notification rang in Fang Zheng’s mind like the most glorious hymn.
Closing his eyes, Fang Zheng basked in the serenity and harmony that followed his “purification of the world.”
But at that very moment…
Hundreds of dazzling streams of light, each a different color, suddenly illuminated the distant horizon!
Powerful auras, sharp as swords, tore through the sky, hurtling toward this place at breakneck speed.
Each stream of light represented a powerhouse at the Golden Core Stage or higher!
The leading auras radiated the might of Late-Stage Nascent Soul cultivators, some even reaching the Perfection Realm!
It was… the Righteous Dao Alliance’s punitive expedition!
They had finally arrived.
Moments later, the streams of light dispersed.
Hundreds of Righteous Dao cultivators, clad in Dao Robes of various colors and wielding an array of Magic Treasures, appeared above Hundred Herbs Valley.
Leading them were Azure Cloud Sect Leader Yun Lan and the Sect Masters of several other top-tier Sects, including Heavenly Sword Sect and Myriad Methods Sect.
Alerted by the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s warning and a Jade Slip shared by Hundred Herbs Valley’s Great Elder Sun Qing, they had mustered every available force nearby, converging here under the banners of “exterminating the Demon Lord and rescuing Hundred Herbs Valley.”
But what greeted them upon arrival was a hellish tableau that would forever haunt their memories.
The once-celestial Hundred Herbs Valley had been transformed into a desolate wasteland.
Mountains had collapsed, the earth was scorched black.
The air hung thick with the stench of blood and seethed with resentment, suffocatingly dense.
Not a single living soul remained.
And at the heart of this deathscape stood the man the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had crowned as its number one threat: Fang Zheng. He clutched the Flesh Evil Bottle, bathed in its crimson light that filled the heavens.
The aura emanating from his body continued to surge upward at a terrifying pace, stage by stage:
Golden Core Perfection… Half-Step Nascent Soul…
“Too late…”
Beside Yun Lan, a white-haired elder from the Myriad Methods Sect watched the scene unfold, the compass in his hand cracking with a snap. His voice trembled as he said, “We’re too late… Hundred Herbs Valley… is gone…”
Everyone saw it.
Everyone understood.
They hadn’t come to rescue anyone.
They had come… to collect corpses.
No, not even corpses remained.
“Fang Zheng—!”
The Sect Master of the Heavenly Sword Sect, a fiery-tempered sword cultivator, pointed at Fang Zheng below, his eyes bloodshot with rage. The flying sword in his hand hummed with fury.
“You beast! You demon!”
“How dare you slaughter the entire Hundred Herbs Valley?!”
“Your sins are beyond measure! Heaven and earth will not tolerate you!”
His furious roar transformed into a thunderous sonic wave that reverberated across the heavens and earth.
The overwhelming sonic wave, like ten thousand thunderbolts, exploded violently over the deathly silent Hundred Herbs Valley.
Fang Zheng slowly opened his eyes.
Within him, the torrent of thousands of portions of Water of Grace had just subsided. Immense power coursed through every inch of his meridians, firmly pushing his Cultivation Base to the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm.
His Dao Foundation was solid, his mana abundant.
This was the reward the Heavenly Dao bestowed upon those who uphold justice.
He raised his head and gazed at the hundreds of imposing cultivators in the sky.
Pure spiritual light radiated from their bodies, and the light from their Magic Treasures blazed brightly.
Fellow practitioners of the Righteous Dao.
They had arrived.
They must have received news of his eradication of the Hundred Herbs Valley, that malignant tumor, and come specifically to congratulate him.
A relieved smile spread across Fang Zheng’s face.
Yet their expressions seemed… a little too intense?
In the sky,
Sect Leader Yun Lan of the Azure Cloud Sect stepped forward from the ranks.
He stared intently at the familiar yet alien figure below, his heart clenched as if gripped by an invisible hand, stealing his breath.
It was him.
The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s rankings had spread across the world, and Image Jade Slips were in nearly every hand.
As the “Demon Lord’s birthplace,” the Azure Cloud Sect had been thrust into the eye of the storm.
Today, before the eyes of all fellow Daoists, this matter must be resolved once and for all.
“Fang Zheng!”
Yun Lan’s voice, infused with mana, was icy cold, utterly devoid of warmth.
“From this day forth, you are no longer a disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect! Your name will be forever stricken from our Sect’s records!”
He spoke each word slowly and deliberately, each syllable like a blade severing Fang Zheng’s ties to the Azure Cloud Sect forever.
“Why did you fall to the Demonic Path?! Why commit such slaughter?! Look beneath your feet—thousands of lives from Hundred Herbs Valley have been reduced to nothing by your actions!”
Fallen to the Demonic Path? Slaughter?
Fang Zheng’s brow twitched.
He understood.
It was a misunderstanding.
After all, he had just eradicated Hundred Herbs Valley, a demonic lair that had plagued the region for generations—a deed of immeasurable merit.
Their limited realms prevented them from grasping the truth. Deceived by appearances, their confusion was understandable.
As a paragon of the Righteous Dao, it was his duty to clarify the truth for these fellow Daoists and set things right.
“Fellow Daoists,” Fang Zheng declared in a clear voice, intending only to calmly state the facts.
But his voice, amplified by the vast demonic energy of his Half-Step Nascent Soul cultivation, emerged as a deep, raspy, and imperious demonic voice, filled with the weight of judgment.
Buzz—!
The air vibrated violently!
Within the Righteous Dao Allied Army, dozens of Golden Core Initial Stage cultivators with weaker cultivation bases were struck mercilessly in their Divine Souls by an invisible, heavy hammer. Their vision went black, and they groaned as they plummeted from their flying swords.
“Careful! This Demon Lord’s sonic attacks are vicious!” an Elder cried out in alarm, hastily activating a defensive Formation. Chaos erupted across the battlefield.
Fang Zheng paid little attention to this minor disturbance.
It seems my Righteous Dao Mantra inherently possesses the power to dispel evil.
These cultivators’ Dao Hearts are impure, making them vulnerable.
He gazed at the crowd and continued to speak in that voice that sounded to others like a Demon Monarch’s proclamation:
“You have all been deceived by the facade of Hundred Herbs Valley!”
“This place, called Hundred Herbs Valley, is in truth—”
Fang Zheng emphasized his words, preparing to reveal this earth-shattering truth.
“A festering den of filth and depravity!”
The moment his words rang out, the Human Emperor Banner, which had been hanging motionless behind him, suddenly stirred without wind!
Whoosh—!
Black Qi surged across the banner’s surface, and countless anguished, twisted faces flashed past in a blur!
“Aaaargh—!”
A bloodcurdling wail, striking directly into the Divine Souls of everyone present, erupted from the banner!
Pfft!
The white-haired Elder of the Myriad Methods Sect staggered back in horror, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
The ancient compass in his hand, constantly spinning as it attempted divination, whirled frantically before shattering with a sharp crack.
“The Ten Thousand Souls Banner! It’s the legendary forbidden artifact, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner!”
“He’s not explaining! He’s boasting! He’s flaunting his slaughter of countless souls from Hundred Herbs Valley!”
A wave of uproar swept through the air as everyone instinctively retreated several zhang, staring in terror at the sinister banner.
Fang Zheng observed their reactions, understanding dawning in his heart.
See? Facts speak louder than words.
The rescued souls within the banner were the ultimate proof.
He continued his “sermon,” his voice now even louder, filled with righteous indignation as if he were acting on behalf of Heaven:
“Hundred Herbs Valley harbored a False God, enslaving thirty-six surrounding villages—thirty-six thousand mortals!”
“They treated human lives like blades of grass, harvesting their flesh, blood, and souls as medicinal ingredients!”
“Such atrocities cry out for divine retribution!”
Every word Fang Zheng spoke came from the depths of his heart, radiating righteous and awe-inspiring Great Righteous Qi.
Yet the Righteous Dao cultivators present felt a chilling dread creeping up their spines, from the soles of their feet to the crowns of their heads.
For as his impassioned words grew more intense, the purified, scorched earth beneath his feet began to hiss and crackle, uncontrollably emitting wisps of pure, pitch-black Qi.
Wherever the Black Qi passed, even stone was corroded, dissolving into wisps of blue smoke.
The “Eternal Grace Holy Grail” in Fang Zheng’s hand, which he regarded as utterly sacred, began to pulse rhythmically, like a recently sated heart. It emanated a palpable hunger, making everyone feel their life force being drawn away.
“Demon! Utter nonsense!”
The Heavenly Sword Sect Master, a man of violent temper, could no longer endure the words.
With a sharp clang, his Lifebound Flying Sword emitted a piercing, ear-splitting sword cry.
Fang Zheng glanced at him, a hint of pity in his eyes.
Another poor, deluded soul.
He decided to give them one last chance, to show them the fruits of his compassion.
“What I do is not slaughter, but—”
“—Redemption!”
Fang Zheng’s voice, like the resounding clang of a twilight drum and morning bell, carried boundless mercy.
“With my supreme mana, I have liberated thirty-six thousand suffering souls from their mortal shackles, granting them eternal rebirth in my kingdom!”
“Behold!”
Fang Zheng raised the “Sacred Grail.”
Hum!
The grotesque Flesh Evil Bottle, with the tormented face of the False God etched upon its surface, snapped its eyes open, unleashing two crimson pillars of light!
Streams of blood-red “Water of Grace” churned within the bottle, its depths teeming with tens of thousands of liberated yet twisted smiling faces, bobbing in the blood-red liquid and chanting a silent hymn!
A wave of “rebirth” joy and “eternal” serenity, mixed with the most extreme malice and deathly aura, transformed into a spiritual storm that swept across the battlefield!
“Ah!”
“My Dao Heart!”
Dozens more cultivators screamed as their Dao Hearts, struck by this bizarre force, cracked instantly, blood gushing from their mouths and noses.
“Silence!”
The Heavenly Sword Sect’s Sect Master roared, his eyes bloodshot, his expression like that of a madman.
“Liberation? Rebirth? You call this salvation?!”
“You Demon Lord! You’ve not only slaughtered them but now imprison their souls within your cursed artifact for eternal torment!”
“You… you deserve a thousand deaths!”
Fang Zheng listened calmly, shaking his head.
You can’t discuss ice with summer insects.
How could ordinary mortals comprehend the profound ambition of the “Merciful Exchange”?
It seemed reasoning was futile.
He stowed the Sacred Grail, his gaze sweeping over the assembled “Righteous Dao comrades.” His voice returned to its usual calm, yet it carried an undeniable authority.
“Hundred Herbs Valley has been eradicated.”
“All my actions serve righteousness.”
“Believe it or not, as you will.”
“If any dare to defy me, let them step forward.”