Chapter 544: Twisted Ideals

“How would I not know?” Jiang Zhuzhe asked.

He began laughing, then drew the second half of the Blood Codex into him. The moment its aura disappeared, the Blood Progenitor’s body, which had been instinctively charging toward it over and over, suddenly lost its target.

It came to a halt, not moving a muscle.

At this moment, the bloody ribbon of light wrapped around Xue Moyan’s body, immobilizing her. She could only glare at Jiang Zhuzhe hatefully.

Sen Ye had already left with the remaining eastern barbarians. It seemed as if they no longer cared about the Land of Buried Gods or the remains of the ancient elites that lay within it.

Jiang Zhuzhe’s words had perplexed Feng Yiyou into silence.

Yu Men never had anything to say to begin with.

The eight god heads had flown away in search of the ice spirit. The Demon Sealing Tombstone hovered high in the air, suppressing the Voodoo Progenitor with its divine might and preventing the blood demon, which Jiang Zhuzhe was currently in, from damaging the remains of ancient elites however it wanted.

The situation had suddenly stabilized. Only the occasional rumble or crack resounded from icy mountains beside the frozen lake.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Seven types of rich, worldly spirit energy continued to gush from the fissures in the ground.

“The only difference between my senior brother and I… is our ideals. We share the same goal, really.” Jiang Zhuzhe sighed softly, his face full of regret as he continued, “We both want to revive Blood Fiend Sect and return it to its former glory. We both want it to be the dominant sect in the Land of Chaos. In this regard, I, my senior brother, my junior sister, and even our master… we all have the same goal.”

Jiang Zhuzhe shook his head. “Unfortunately, the others are… behind the times. They don’t adapt. They, who can’t accept cultivating by absorbing human blood, are the ones that have been preventing Blood Fiend Sect’s rise to power all along.”

“How do you even have the nerve to say that?” Xue Moyan yelled, harshness filling her petite face. “Someone who sucks the blood of their own kind to cultivate is no better than an animal!”

“If we can cultivate using the blood, bones, and cores of spirit beasts, absorbing the power within them to facilitate our own cultivation and temper powerful spirit artifacts, why can’t we cultivate using human blood?” Jiang Zhuzhe retorted with a calm smile. “Many ancient elites are buried here in the Land of Buried Gods. There are bodies of members of the Nether Realm’s evil races, members of the Giant Spirit race, and members of other highly intelligent races as well. Even humans! Look at all of the people who’ve come here. Tell me, what did they come here for? Aren’t they here to obtain the remains of these powerful beings and use them to forge spirit artifacts? To increase their own strength?”

“All trial participants that have entered this land, heed me. Are your goals truly that noble? Are your actions more humane than using human blood to cultivate? Aren’t you just as despicable? Aren’t you ignoring all rules and conventions in the pursuit of higher realms and more strength?” Jiang Zhuzhe wore an expression of disbelief. “The people who ordered you to come here, the sect masters of the nine great Silver rank forces, were they not planning to use the remains of the dead as well?

“You… and the people behind you… won’t even leave the remains of your own kind in peace. How dare you self-righteously condemn my actions?”

Jiang Zhuzhe’s words made everyone subconsciously look at each other. They found themselves unable to say anything in response.

He wasn’t wrong.

Nearly everyone who entered the Land of Buried Gods sought to obtain the body of an ancient elite for their own use. The seniors that had sent them planned to do the same.

They were well aware of the fact that human ancestors had also been laid to rest here.

“After obtaining the remains of these ancient elites, bringing them out of the Graveyard of Gods and returning to your sects… what will you do with them?” Jiang Zhuzhe smiled again.

“Here’s what you would do. You would extract the remaining energy from them, use each body to forge spirit artifacts or refine a puppet body.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “I truly would like to know… how much of a difference is there between extracting the energy from a dead person’s body and me consuming the blood essence of a living person?”

“This…”

Jiang Zhuzhe’s twisted logic stunned everyone. They had to admit that he did make some sense.

Not only was he eloquent and rational, he also had his own set of ideals that wasn’t confined to the standards of society.

“See?” Jiang Zhuzhe asked, smiling. “You can’t think of anything to say in response, can you?”

“Senior brother, junior sister, and master couldn’t accept the idea of consuming human blood to cultivate. However, what they didn’t know was that this is actually the fastest way to strengthen Blood Fiend Sect and allow it to dominate the Land of Chaos.” Jiang Zhuzhe stopped speaking for a moment and sighed, an expression of helplessness on his face. “After I failed to persuade them over and over again, I had no choice but to commit murder. Everything I did… I did for the future of Blood Fiend Sect.”

“For the future of Blood Fiend Sect?” Xue Moyan gritted her teeth. “Blood Fiend Sect has already perished! Look at what has happened to me, my father, my mother, and my grandfather! Is this what your so-called future of Blood Fiend Sect looks like!?”

“A temporary setback will not shake my determination. Soon enough, Blood Fiend Sect will once again rise to power in the Land of Chaos and surpass all existing forces!” Eerie light glittered in Jiang Zhuzhe’s eyes as he thought to himself for a moment, then sighed. “If I truly did not care for bonds I shared with others, senior brother would not have survived our last encounter. You, Niece Xue, would not be alive right now.”

“Are you telling me to thank you?” Xue Moyan’s bright eyes looked as if they could shoot fire.

“Hehe… I know you still hate me. I can understand that,” Jiang Zhuzhe said calmly. “For the future of Blood Fiend Sect, and for the ideals I hold within my heart, I will continue walking this path no matter what happens… because I believe that the path I walk is the right one!”

“This guy’s insane!” Du Xiangyang exclaimed with a frown. “His deranged obsession has driven him insane!”

“He isn’t truly evil,” Song Tingyu said. She wore a strange expression. “But he’s a hundred times more dangerous than evil fanatics!”

The look on Qin Lie’s face was just as strange.

Before meeting Jiang Zhuzhe, Xue Li’s description of the man and the rumors of the Land of Chaos convinced him that Jiang Zhuzhe was just like You Hongzhi and Blood Shadow—an evil, demonic person that thirsted for blood and enslaved his own kind.

However, upon meeting him in person, Qin Lie saw Jiang Zhuzhe’s demeanor toward Xue Moyan, the eastern barbarians, and Feng Yiyou. He realized that this man was different than he originally thought.

With his strength, Jiang Zhuzhe could have easily killed Xue Moyan, Feng Yiyou, and all of the eastern barbarians if he wanted to.

Instead, he simply restrained Xue Moyan and kept his promise with the eastern barbarians, allowing Sen Ye to lead his tribesmen out of the Graveyard of Gods. He had even helped Di Fei and gave Feng Yiyou cryptic warnings.

With his absolute strength, he could have just killed everyone who opposed him.

This was the Graveyard of Gods.

Who could stop him?

If he did kill everyone, who would know about it?

Yet… he didn’t.

Instead, he went as far as explaining to Qin Lie and Xue Moyan that the only difference between him, Xue Li, and their master, Mo Yunwu… was their ideals.

To Jiang Zhuzhe, everything he had done wasn’t for himself, but for Blood Fiend Sect.

He did it all for the Blood Fiend Sect in his heart.

He believed that sucking human blood to cultivate was the right choice.

Since he believed that his ideals and means were right, Jiang Zhuzhe ultimately walked a path separate from Mo Yunwu and Xue Li.

He would use his own methods to strengthen Blood Fiend Sect and prove himself.

“My senior brother and my master no longer acknowledge me, and every force in the Land of Chaos treats me as an evildoer that strayed from the correct path,” Jiang Zhuzhe said calmly, shaking his head. “However, this supposed evildoer will one day become stronger than any force in existence! When Blood Fiend Sect has grown so strong that not even the combined strength of the nine great Silver rank forces can stop it, I’d very much like to see what everyone thinks about my methods!”

“The forces of the Land of Chaos hunted me down for so many years. My disciples became the objects of everyone’s hatred and are now afraid of showing their faces anywhere. I have to take revenge for this and make them pay their debt!” Jiang Zhuzhe took a deep breath and smiled. “They won’t allow me to consume the blood of a living person? Fine! I’ll just use a dead person’s blood to cultivate then! I’ll take all of the blood that remains in the bodies of these ancient elites and use it to facilitate my disciples’ cultivation of the Blood Spirit Art. It won’t take long for my Blood Fiend Sect to become a bloody tornado that envelops all of the Land of Chaos!”

The moment he finally made his true intentions known, a glint of bloody insanity shone in Jiang Zhuzhe’s eyes.

“That won’t be necessary.” Qin Lie interrupted Jiang Zhuzhe’s frenzied moment. “I’m going to take the Blood Progenitor’s body away from here and give it to Senior Xue Li so he can merge with it. With the Blood Codex and the Bloodthirsty Dragon, he’ll definitely become more powerful than ever before. In addition to that, Blood Fiend Sect already has a group of people that has received its inheritance. They will be the ones to ensure that Blood Fiend Sect rises in the Heavenly Calamity Continent once again.”

“Senior brother’s perspective is too rigid and his soul is greatly damaged. Even if he did obtain the progenitor’s body, he wouldn’t be able to dominate this world.” Jiang Zhuzhe snorted. “He couldn’t break free from his imprisonment for a thousand years and his realm hasn’t made any breakthroughs. Instead of improving, his strength has declined! He will no longer be able to catch up to this new era. His ideals will not forge a real future for Blood Fiend Sect.”

“I am the only hope for Blood Fiend Sect’s future! I am the only one who can lead Blood Fiend Sect to heights beyond its former glory!” Jiang Zhuzhe snorted, reaching out to grab hold of the Blood Progenitor’s body, which had lost its target and was now in a daze, unmoving.

“You are not worthy!”

Qin Lie finally chose to act.