RCW: Real Cultivation World Chapter 16

The hall fell silent for a mont, and the mood grew heavy. Everyone understood why Chen Qingng had gone into seclusion.

Without the aid of a Foundation Establishnt Pill, attempting to break through to the Foundation Establishnt stage was akin to gambling with one's life. There was a 90% chance that Chen Qingng would never erge alive.

After a while, Fifth Elder Chen Qingwan asked, "You just returned and called for a eting. Did sothing happen in Pingyang County?"

Elian collected his thoughts. The imdiate priority was to root out the hidden demonic cultivators in Pingyang County. Setting aside other matters, he quickly relayed the details of the recent events to everyone.

Fourth Elder Chen Qingyuan, known for his fiery temperant, slamd the table in anger.

"We cannot let this slide! If we do, the other cultivation clans and demonic cultivators will think we're weak and easy to bully!"

Third Elder, the seasoned and level-headed Chen Qinghao, who had been managing family affairs for years, took a more asured approach.

"If we commit to thorough investigations, ordinary demonic cultivators won't escape us. But this requires significant manpower, which we are currently short on. Nevertheless, this matter takes precedence. Any non-urgent tasks should be postponed."

"This issue is critical," he continued.

"All available family mbers, unless in seclusion for breakthroughs, must participate."

Elian nodded and added, "To guard against powerful demonic cultivators, we elders should also be present as much as possible."

"Agreed." Third Elder nodded in turn. "To be safe, the three of you will lead this operation, while I stay behind to oversee the family."

The eting concluded swiftly. The plan to root out the demonic cultivators was finalized.

That very night, Third Elder personally summoned family mbers one by one to assign this non-negotiable task. anwhile, Elian sat in his residence, holding a storage pouch.

The pouch was loot from the black-robed demonic cultivator. Elian had spent the past ten days thodically breaking the seals on it. Finally, he succeeded.

Opening the pouch, Elian examined its contents.

The demonic cultivator's possessions were sparse: the Seven Souls Demon Banner, the black spike, and a small cyan shield.

The two demonic artifacts were highly malevolent and had the potential to corrode one's mind if used too often. While Elian wasn't overly moralistic, he knew better than to rely on such tools except in life-or-death situations.

The cyan shield, however, was a pure and straightforward defensive treasure called the Cyan Spirit Shield, a top-grade tier-one artifact. Once activated, it could withstand attacks from late-stage Qi Refinent cultivators.

During the battle, the black-robed demonic cultivator had relied on this shield to endure Elian's relentless sword strikes. Without the powerful scarlet fla talisman left by his seventh granduncle, Elian might not have been able to defeat him.

After obtaining the shield, Elian imdiately began refining it, filling a crucial gap in his arsenal of defensive tools.

Apart from the artifacts, the pouch contained various odds and ends: two bottles of pills, 30 spirit stones, a fragnt of a map, and over 400 blood crystals.

The two bottles of pills were made from blood and other vile ingredients. Consuming them would likely lead to madness, so Elian destroyed them.

The map fragnt appeared to be part of an ancient ruin's location, but it was too incomplete to discern anything useful.

The 30 spirit stones were a decent haul, equivalent to Elian's yearly stipend. However, what truly made Elian's blood run cold were the over 400 blood crystals.

In this world, humans were unique beings blessed with a natural affinity for spiritual energy. Even ordinary people who never cultivated accumulated faint traces of spiritual energy over their lifetis.

Blood crystals were refined from the blood of humans. On average, the life essence of ten people was required to produce a single blood crystal.

To a demonic cultivator, each blood crystal contained spiritual energy roughly equivalent to a lower-grade spirit stone. However, because of its impurities and malevolent nature, it was unusable for righteous cultivators.

Seeing the mountain of blood crystals in the pouch, Elian realized that over 4,000 innocent lives had been drained to produce these.

"Demonic cultivators..." Elian clenched his fists, his eyes bloodshot. "Utterly depraved and beyond redemption!"

From a young age, he had heard countless stories about demonic cultivators—how they refrained from productive labor, thrived on chaos, and committed unspeakable atrocities. However, seeing the results of their depravity firsthand left him shaken.

"They all deserve death," Elian muttered, his voice cold and resolute.

But he quickly reined in his emotions.

"I'm still too weak."

"My priority must be to protect the Chen Clan—the family that birthed and raised —against the storms to co."

After a long pause, Elian systematically destroyed the blood crystals, demonic pills, and other vile items. He then closed his eyes and whispered to himself.

"I was born as a speck of dust in this vast, unforgiving world, a mayfly in the grand sche of existence. To strive against the tides of fate, one must cling to even the slimst hope."

"Cultivation... it is a long and arduous path."

The next morning, Elian set out for Pingyang County with Fourth and Fifth Elders, along with other Chen family cultivators.

This ti, almost all capable hands were mobilized. Aside from those stationed to guard the family's ancestral ho, every able-bodied mber joined the effort.

Even those in the middle of closed-door cultivation erged reluctantly. Others interrupted refining processes or paused routine tasks such as tending to spiritual fields.

Among them was Chen Changyan, a granduncle dedicated to educating younger generations. At 112 years old, he was nearing the Qi Refinent stage's natural lifespan of 120 years.

When Elian suggested he stay behind due to his frail health, the elder scolded him sharply:

"You little brat, just because you're a clan elder now doesn't an I won't lecture you!"

"Have you forgotten? I was the one who taught you how to cultivate!"

"Don't think you can look down on , old as I am. When the ti cos, this old bag of bones can still put up a fight."

Chastened, Elian fell silent.

He knew that cultivators like Granduncle Changyan, despite their age, often possessed a wealth of experience and deadly techniques. In a pinch, they could be formidable for a single battle—though it would likely cost them their remaining vitality.