"In the South River, many practice the blended arts of foreign houses, fond of integrating blood and Qi into elixirs—hence these traces and patterns; perhaps, indeed, these pills are forged from the essence of others…"

Wang Xun spoke ambiguously, but his eyes and intent made everything manifestly clear: this so-called 'essence pill'—to put it bluntly—was a Human Pill! Refined from the vital blood and Qi harvested from yearly slaughter!

He wandered dazed into the main hall, where Li Yuanping gazed anxiously at his elder brother, calling out repeatedly. Snapping from his trance as if waking from a dream, Li Yuanjiao hurriedly took the storage bag from his waist.

Li Yuanjiao's gaze grew grave, his complexion ugly. With a light pat to the storage bag, he withdrew several jade bottles, letting them clatter onto the table. Without care, he seized one, poured its contents onto his palm:

This elixir was the most common Qi Cultivation Jade Sprout Pill, mostly circulated out of Yundan Peak of the Green Pond Sect, famed for the superior quality of their elixirs—especially beloved by loose cultivators, and thus easily recognized.

The Jade Sprout Pill was a pale yellow, and appeared unremarkable at first glance. Li Yuanjiao swept his spiritual sense over it again and again, and at last found faint, coiling patterns upon it.

This alchemist's craft was exquisite, concealing those traces to near-undetectability. The lines themselves contained no color, rendering them all the more inconspicuous.

Li Yuanjiao's eyes reddened. Hurriedly, he poured out all the pills in his storage bag, rummaged for a spell, before finally finding the Serpent Origin Pill that Xiao Yuansi had refined for the Li Family last year. Hastily he let it fall into his palm:

This pill was a pale red, a size smaller than the previous one, but its surface was smooth and perfectly round. No matter how many times Li Yuanjiao examined it, he could not spot a single pattern upon it.

"As expected! As expected! No wonder the Green Pond Sect gathers blood Qi and resentment year after year. Most of that blood Qi must go into these things!"

"The Green Pond Sect distributes hundreds, thousands of elixirs yearly for its own nourishment. Half of Yue Country supplies their single house… and how many of these circulate throughout the markets?"

He slowly slumped into the chief seat, his brows shrouded in bewilderment, and muttered to himself:

"All have eaten them. All. How many Yue cultivators have never taken a pill…"

"For five hundred years, the Green Pond Sect—whether loose cultivator, sect cultivator, or clan cultivator—some knew, some did not, but generation after generation, all began to consume them. We ate them, our fathers ate them, our ancestors ate them."

Li Yuanjiao closed his eyes. Even among the Li Family, who has not taken these elixirs? Only a few from the Xiyue generation, just entering their path, remain untainted, not yet dosed… 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"You and I, too, are devourers of men—pupils and descendants of devourers."

Li Yuanping, staring at his brother's strange demeanor, could not conceal his anxiety. Li Yuanjiao, trembling, spoke low:

"Brother Ping, every elixir released by the Green Pond Sect is compounded with mortal blood Qi… Only, through sublime spellcraft, the resentment is drawn off, leaving only blood Qi and essence, rendered as a simple medicinal ingredient, impossible to detect…"

"That ancestor's pill of old was never a Sui Origin Pill; the Chi Family knew Patriarch Chi Jing would never personally ingest it, instead reserving it for us, specially concocted using another's Immortal Foundation—who can say, perhaps… from the 'Vast Sea'!"

Li Yuanping stood frozen, staring at his brother, unable to speak for several breaths. Long after, once the shocking news was digested, he spoke in a deep voice:

"In your opinion, Brother… do the Noble Families know?"

"I do not know."

Li Yuanjiao shook his head low, his expression intricate as he replied:

"The Yuan Family is hard to say, but Xiao Yuansi is a gentleman; he surely knows nothing of this affair. As for the Xiao Family reigning dominant all these years—if you tell me the patriarch does not know, I cannot believe it."

————

Lijing Mountain summit.

Li Qinghong's fair and slender hand slowly clenched; the bluish-grey mirror faintly reflected her fine features. Through the Dharma Mirror's magnified spiritual sense, she covered not just the whole of Lijing Town, but heard the two men's conversation clearly.

"So… this is the truth."

She recalled the pills she herself had consumed, not knowing how much blood Qi of men or women, of children or elders, they contained. Revulsion surged within her, and at her side, Lu Jiangxian was even more stunned, a chill thudding through his heart.

"Green Pond Sect… what foul art is this! Ha, now the entire Yue Country, even all of South River, have partaken of these drugs…"

He was unable, for a moment, to collect his thoughts. After all, Lu Jiangxian came from that lawful, orderly society, and instinctively drew a line for the Li Family:

"No massacres. No blood sacrifices… I simply cannot watch such deeds… If the Li Family is in league with them, I might as well blast them all to dust with a single Xuan Guang."

"But now—what is to be done!"

Lu Jiangxian, with his limited knowledge, only understood witchcraft and talismanic arts; in alchemy, all he knew were a few volumes of pill scripture—he could never have recognized this scandal in the elixirs.

Especially in those years, when Li Tongya took his pills, Lu Jiangxian had been nothing but a novice. Were it not for Wang Xun's revelation, he would never have sensed anything amiss.

"Enough, enough. To have unwittingly eaten another man's flesh-bun—could it really count as a crime…?"

He buried his head into the Mirror; the Xuan Guang flared, and those below the mountain instantly cleared their minds, awakening from heart-demons and nascent mental shackles.

Watching those people gradually come to clarity, Lu Jiangxian felt another pang of helplessness. For henceforth, even when the Li Family knew these elixirs were tempered with blood Qi—should they continue to take them, how could that be judged…

"In theory, the past need not matter; but from here onward, interfering would make the flaw too conspicuous. More than that, since these elixirs are made from pure blood Qi, the Talisman Seed won't give warning, and it's impossible to constantly watch over the Li Family."

Lu Jiangxian sighed low, shrinking into the Mirror's world, and murmured:

"Heaven and earth are tainted—who could climb upward, spotless? I'll take one step at a time. The Li Family at least has its own alchemist now, and an avenue to turn aside. Let's see how they handle things first."

————

The Li Family assemble struggled beneath the weight of these revelations. In the side yard, Wang Xun had already gently cupped his longsword, yet paused without action, his face clouded by contemplation.

"This Li Family, at least, treads the righteous path. Amid these South River lords, that's rare enough… but who knows how long they can endure in this sullied world…"

The young man's brows rose faintly, a hint of tragic pity crossing his face. Even the Wang Family must keep to seclusion—how much more, then, could a mere Foundation Establishment family hope to achieve?

The world's course is a flood; even that Perfected Lord at home can only ensure the clan's survival—what more can he manage?

"The Heavenly Dao is flawed, and we are powerless… If not for the Wang Family's doctrine of seclusion, we would have long since perished in that catastrophe."

Wang Xun joined his fingers and lightly caressed the bluish-green sword. In its limpid, bright sword-radiance, his own eyes were mirrored—pure, kind, yet overflowing with agony and guilt.

Though born in a powerful house, he wandered beneath the heavens, only unacquainted with southern customs. Knowing the Li Family dared not offend him, he had meant only to casually hand over a few elixirs, keeping his karma at bay.

But along the way, only beneath the Li Family's rule did he hear laughter and joy, only there existed strict laws. Seeing their affection, he could not help but give better gifts, thus offered them the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root in return.

"South River is exactly as the books say—a thousand forces, all pushing and pulling. None is truly free; only the Xiuyue Sect perhaps retains some orthodoxy."

At this thought, Wang Xun could not help but harbor suspicion, silently pondering:

"That Perfected Lord is by no means some gentle soul, but the Xiuyue Sect has kept to the rules for so many years, treading carefully, fearing the smallest misstep, ever guarding the statutes laid by the Immortal Monarch. There must be something strange here."

Try as he might, he could not fathom it. Wang Xun, born with a Sword Heart, was ill-suited to such intrigue. He shifted his thought, instead attuning to the Sword Spirit of the Green Ruler, in whose resonance was bitter rage and sorrow.

"That Li Family Sword Immortal was indeed wrongly killed."

Wang Xun let out a wry smile. He had wandered the Northern lands, and recalling them—there, Buddhism reigns and the world is mired in deathly silence. Year after year, decade after decade, always the same; Maha forever Maha, the base-born always base-born. Hopeless, unchanging.

But here in the South River, it was the extreme opposite—unceasing turmoil and unrest, betrayal and slaughter at every turn. Today one breaks through Qi Refinement to forge a Magic Artifact and annex another house; tomorrow that one falls slain, sect and clan annihilated together. In truth, how is it any better?

Laying the Green Pond Sword across his knees, Wang Xun formed a seal, refining stream after stream of pure white sword intent, murmuring:

"If it came to a choice… I would still rather be born in the South River. At least here, there is a road forward."