Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 815: Three Generations Gathered in Prison

“After the Heartless Creed was thrown into chaos, the higher-ups killed many people to suppress the situation.

“Normally, slaughtering a chicken to scare the monkeys would suffice—killing a few to warn the others, but that wouldn’t work in the Heartless Creed. Heartless people have no fear; they only see profit. Killing a few doesn’t serve as a deterrent. The higher-ups must kill a large number of people and show their resolve to those below, forcing them to weigh the pros and cons. Only then would these people below understand the predicament they were in and back down.”

Recalling that scene from his youth, the Taciturn Daoist Priest clicked his tongue in wonder. It was his first time seeing killing carried out so cleanly and efficiently.

“However, the situation wasn’t quickly suppressed. The Heartless Creed’s higher-ups also had their own hierarchy. Influenced by those below, they began infighting too. I heard the creed leader suffered more than one assassination attempt.

“After the internal strife was quelled, the Heartless Creed started settling old scores. They traced the source to me and prepared to execute me. I suspect there was also dissatisfaction with my improved version of killing the wife to prove one’s Dao.

“Fortunately, I was at the Divine Transfiguration Stage then and had a life-preserving magical treasure from my shifu. That’s how I narrowly escaped from the Heartless Creed.

“What a pity. I was planning to remain undercover in the Heartless Creed, investigate their headquarters, and dig up their deepest secrets. Who would have thought the Heartless Creed would be so impatient, insisting on killing me? My every action clearly conformed to the tenets of their creed.”

The Taciturn Daoist Priest shook his head. Given my understanding of the Heartless Dao, the Heartless Creed should have made me their creed leader.

“Although I didn’t uncover their deepest secrets, I found out the Heartless Creed has two vice creed leaders and one creed leader. The creed leader’s cultivation is unknown. The two vice creed leaders are respectively at the Basic and Intermediate Transcendent Tribulation Stage.”

Lu Yang drew a sharp breath. The Radiant Sun Creed and the Nine-Netherworlds Creed weren’t even aware of this intelligence. Furthermore, the intelligence signified that the Heartless Creed had at least three Transcendent Tribulation cultivators, stronger than these two creeds.

“What happened afterward?” The Innate Daoist Priest had been listening intently and pressed eagerly.

“Afterward, I ran away.” The Taciturn Daoist Priest curled his lip. “I saw they couldn’t handle the game, so I stopped pretending. I directly contacted my sect and Great Xia and raided all the Heartless Creeds I knew about, killing those who deserved to be killed and saving those who deserved to be saved.

“First an internal strife, then eradication by the righteous path—under these two successive blows, the Heartless Creed was severely weakened, and they lay low for a few centuries.”

“Didn’t the Heartless Creed take revenge on you after that?” Lu Yang asked.

The Taciturn Daoist Priest pointed out the error in Lu Yang’s thinking. “They have no ‘hatred.’ Why would they take revenge on me?

“But you’re right, many did want to take revenge on me. Using hatred to prove one’s Dao is also a path of the Heartless Dao. Among them was someone called Su Moran, who harbored the most hatred toward me. He was the vice creed leader and at the Intermediate Transcendent Tribulation Stage. I reckon it’s because I sabotaged him pretty badly then.

“That said, Su Moran wasn’t too willing to let people know he wanted to take revenge on me.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because wanting to take revenge on me meant that he harbored hatred toward me, temporarily deviating from the Heartless Dao. And temporarily deviating from the Heartless Dao implied that his cultivation had hit a bottleneck. And hitting a bottleneck would suggest that his cultivation had stalled, lowering his standing and appraisal within the Heartless Creed.”

“The Heartless Creed is that dangerous?” The Innate Daoist Priest felt a wave of lingering fear. Thank goodness I got caught. If I’d entered the Heartless Creed, I’d probably have been exposed within days.

“Founding Ancestor, it’s fortunate that you didn’t join the Heartless Creed.” Chieftain Jin was worried on the Innate Daoist Priest’s behalf.

The Taciturn Daoist Priest shot Chieftain Jin a glance. “Shoo shoo. You’re not from our Dao-Seeking Sect. Who are you calling the Founding Ancestor?”

“Don’t say that, Big Brother. I think our Qiongqi Tribe and your Dao-Seeking Sect may have potential for cooperation. If our two families join forces in the future, wouldn’t contending for a position in the top ten during the Battle of the Great Era be a walk in the park?”

The Taciturn Daoist Priest thought of his excellent disciple, Yun Zhi. I don’t think our Dao-Seeking Sect needs to team up with your Qiongqi Tribe to rank among the top ten.

Originally, Lu Yang thought the Innate Daoist Priest would be quite safe in prison; he and Meng Jingzhou could just visit frequently. However, now that he discovered the Innate Daoist Priest was imprisoned with the Taciturn Daoist Priest, he grew uneasy.

Lu Yang discussed with Meng Jingzhou through an auditory message. “How about we go to prison to protect the Founding Ancestor?”

“Do we have to go that far? Although the Founding Ancestor looks young and inexperienced, he’s still a former Fusion expert who dispersed his cultivation to cultivate anew. Having tempered his Dao heart over a long period, he shouldn’t be so easily influenced by the Sect Leader.” Meng Jingzhou felt that Lu Yang might be overestimating the Taciturn Daoist Priest’s influence.

Before Lu Yang could speak, he heard the Taciturn Daoist Priest teaching the Innate Daoist Priest.

“Founding Ancestor, you may not be aware, but our Dao-Seeking Sect has a tradition of residing in prisons. Do you know that in the mortal world, there’s a profession where people go to inns daily to sleep, test the accommodation environment, and suggest improvements?

“Our Dao-Seeking Sect has a similar profession. Look at me, I wander the streets all year round and get imprisoned in various cities just so that I can investigate the prison conditions. This task isn’t suitable for the authorities. When the superiors come for inspection, the subordinates will temporarily improve prison conditions. What could be inspected then? This is why I’m needed.

“And it’s not just me. Two years ago, the Minister of Justice also got imprisoned with me to inspect the prison conditions. This isn’t something I made up. Go inquire in the imperial city; everyone knows about it. Even His Majesty often mentions it in court as a positive anecdote.”

“So that’s how it is.” Initially, when the Innate Daoist Priest heard Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou mention that Dao-Seeking Sect disciples often entered prison, he hadn’t quite believed it. After the Taciturn Daoist Priest’s explanation, realization dawned upon him, and his sense of guilt about being in prison somewhat lessened.

Meng Jingzhou felt that letting the Innate Daoist Priest stay with the Taciturn Daoist Priest was indeed dangerous.

“Let’s just move in together.”

“What crime should we commit?”

There was an art to getting imprisoned. The Innate Daoist Priest would only be locked up for half a month. If the two committed a minor offense, they might not be detained. If they committed a serious offense, getting locked up for two or three months would be costly.

“How about we steal something? That’s simplest,” Lu Yang proposed seriously.

~~~

At the City Lord Estate, the city lord looked at the two plaintiffs below with a conflicted expression.

“You are saying you’re Lu Yang, and that you stole two thousand nine hundred spirit stones from Meng Jingzhou, refusing to return them?”

The city lord then shifted his gaze to the other person.

“You are saying you’re Meng Jingzhou, and that you also stole two thousand nine hundred spirit stones from Lu Yang, refusing to return them?”

The two nodded earnestly.

They had done their homework. In this region, the criminal threshold for theft for Nascent Soul cultivators was three thousand spirit stones. If the sum was below that, it could only be handled as an administrative case, and the maximum penalty for administrative cases was fifteen days of detention.

They would steal from each other, refuse to return the items, and refuse reconciliation. The city lord could then only apply the maximum penalty, detaining them for fifteen days.

Treating it as if nothing happened by offsetting the two thefts also wouldn’t work because cases were independent and couldn’t be combined to be handled as a single case.

The city lord hissed. I’ve long heard that Dao-Seeking Sect disciples like to comprehend the Dao in prison. Could the rumor be true?