Chapter 1
Prolog
“Big news! Wei WuXian is dead!”
Less than a day had passed since the siege on LuanZang Hill, and news spread through the cultivation world as if it had grown wings, even exceeding the speed of war.
For a time, from the most prominent clans to the rouge cultivators , everyone was discussing the siege led by the Four Great Clans and followed by hundreds of smaller ones.
“The YiLing Patriarch has died? Who could have killed him?”
“Who else but his shidi, Jiang Cheng, ended his own kin for the greater good. Jiang Cheng led the Four Clans of YunmengJiang, LanlingJin, GusuLan, and QingheNie to destroy his “nest”—LuanZang Hill.”
“I have to say, great cleaning!”
“It was a great cleanup! We finally got rid of this scourge.”
“If it weren’t for the YunmengJiang clan adopting and teaching him, he would have been a vagrant living on the streets, let alone causing such a mess recently. The Jiang clan head raised him as his own son, yet he defected from them and became an enemy of the cultivation world, bringing shame upon the Jiang clan, even to the point of its annihilation. He is a prime example of someone biting the hand that feeds him!”
“Jiang Cheng let this guy live for too long. If I were him, at the time of defection, I wouldn’t just stab him. In fact, I would really check the clan’s disciples again, so that he doesn’t do the crazy things he did later on. Who cares about the so-called ‘consideration’ he gave to his childhood friend.”
“That’s just a rumor. Although Jiang Cheng was a top force, he didn’t deal the final blow to Wei WuXian. Because he cultivated the Demon Path, Wei WuXian’s power backfired, and he was shattered into pieces.”
“Hahahaha… that’s karma! The ghost army he created is like a dog unleashed, biting everyone they come across. It’s fitting for him to be chewed to death!”
“But, if it weren’t for Jiang Cheng’s plan targeting Wei WuXian’s weakness, the siege might not have succeeded. Should I remind you of the item Wei WuXian possessed? Have you forgotten the day when three thousand skilled cultivators were completely annihilated?”
“I heard it was more than three thousand, maybe five thousand.”
“He must be at his wits end.”
“Luckily he destroyed that evil weapon before he died. Otherwise, if he were left in this world to harm humans, his sins would have become worse.”
“Oh well … You know, back then, Wei WuXian was one of the most promising cultivators, coming from a highly respected clan and finding success at a young age. How did he get to where he is now?”
“This proves that one can only cultivate by following the righteous path. Using these dishonest practices will only seem profitable at first glance. Look, what happened in the end? Not even his entire corpse is left.”
“It wasn’t all because of his cultivation path. Wei WuXian’s personality was extremely unscrupulous. One’s actions will be repaid, one way or another; what goes around always comes around.”
###
After Wei WuXian’s death, the period picked up on the topic. The discussions from the people were mostly the same, with some unconventional opinions immediately being expressed.
However, the elephant in the room remained at the back of everyone’s mind.
No one could summon Wei WuXian’s soul, which meant his soul was gone.
It was probably torn apart by the millions of ghosts that devoured it.
Or, maybe it got away.
If it were the former, then all was well. Then again, no one doubted the fact that the YiLing Patriarch possessed the power to move mountains and open seas. If it were the latter, his soul would eventually return to revive his body. When that day came, the cultivation world, or even all of mortal land, would face the most insane punishment and revenge, sinking into nothing but chaos and despair.
The various clans erected one hundred and twenty beast stones on LuanZang Hill and frequently performed soul-summoning rituals, followed by heightened vigilance and searches throughout the world for strange occurrences.
For the first year, nothing happened.
In the second year, nothing happened.
In the third year, nothing happened.
###
In the thirteenth year, nothing happened either.
More and more people began to believe that, perhaps, the YiLing Patriarch had truly perished.
Even if he was able to turn the world upside down, it would eventually be his turn to be overthrown.
No one will stay at the top forever – legends are just legends.