The transformation of the world was not fast. It could even be called slow — a silent, creeping stain.
Only when the evil cultivator gangs truly began their chaos, when the once-dormant monsters began baring fangs and devouring people did the truth settle in.
Only when all of this was becoming almost routine would people suddenly realize — this world had changed far too much.
When the curtain of disorder was lifted in a single stroke…
…chaos and lawlessness would take the stage once more.
Especially in places far from the core regions — the more remote and godforsaken the land, the worse it became.
Lawlessness bred chaos, and self-interest ran rampant.
In places like this, finding evil cultivator factions was as easy as picking fruit off a tree. Joining a heretical sect was as simple as shouting once.
Li Xingtian simply threw on a black cloak and wandered a desolate hillside for a while. He didn't even need to sweep with his divine sense. Before long, a youth in identical black robes approached to make contact.
The black-robed youth spoke in bandit slang, his tone especially rough:
"Brother, which door are you from?"
Li Xingtian heard that single sentence, gave the youth a once-over, and more or less had his measure.
Qi Refining, early stage. His aura was a tangled mess, erratic and shallow, with a stench of bloody qi clinging to him.
If this level of cultivation could be called a cultivator, it was an insult to every real cultivator's dignity.
Li Xingtian genuinely suspected that a burly man armed with a hoe could go toe-to-toe with this black-robed youth and might not even lose.
The youth had probably been a bandit before being taken in by an evil cultivator sect. The sect likely needed to expand its ranks, and this kid was a low-grade mixed-spirit-root — the sect was desperate enough not to be picky, so they taught him some bottom-tier blood-qi techniques.
A true evil cultivator would never saunter out and ask which door a brother was affiliated with.
It was so amateurish it hardly seemed worth the effort to speak to him.
Li Xingtian raised his gaze. Blood qi surged around his body like a rainbow, and he lowered his voice to speak a familiar heretical sect name:
"Evil Spirit Sect. Go report it."
Li Xingtian's heavily suppressed aura bore down on the black-robed youth like a small mountain. The sensation of having his heart gripped by that pressure forced the youth into deep, labored breaths.
His tone became exceedingly deferential, his voice tinged with panic:
"Understood… this humble one understands the Immortal Master's decree. Please wait a moment, Immortal Master."
Li Xingtian drew in his aura, his calm eyes sweeping over the youth.
It was merely a glance, yet the youth felt as though his entire body had been flayed by a blade — the pain was so vivid it made his scalp go numb.
The black-robed youth practically crawled and rolled his way out of sight.
Li Xingtian's gaze drifted faintly to the west. If the Eldest Senior Sister hadn't been pulling his leg, she should be over there to the west, watching his performance.
Sometimes Li Xingtian even wondered — did the Eldest Senior Sister particularly enjoy watching him play the evil cultivator? Was that why she always assigned him to execute this so-called brilliant plan?
Li Xingtian did not believe for a moment that with the Eldest Senior Sister's capabilities, this was the only trick up her sleeve.
But unfortunately, the Eldest Senior Sister not only had compromising material on him, she also had the authority of her position as Eldest Senior Sister.
Most importantly, Li Xingtian understood — don't take the Eldest Senior Sister too seriously, or you'll be the one who ends up losing out.
A brief wait.
The black-robed youth who had fled by crawling and rolling reappeared alone, walking up the hill.
Li Xingtian regarded him calmly, but his divine sense had already locked onto another aura — a Golden Core cultivator, early stage, also an evil cultivator.
In a godforsaken place like this, the presence of a Golden Core evil cultivator was decidedly abnormal.
The higher a cultivator's realm, the more they behaved like a proper cultivator. They wouldn't run off to some desolate backwater just to lord it over the locals for their own comfort.
Instead, they would stop at nothing, doing whatever benefited their cultivation advancement.
Some evil cultivators were driven by poor aptitude — they could see the ceiling of normal cultivation at a glance, so they sought unorthodox paths.
Others were driven by poverty so laughable that turning to evil was the only way to afford cultivation resources, or they had been led astray by evil cultivators from the very start.
But regardless of the type, once an evil cultivator reached the Golden Core stage, they were without question someone with drive, determination, and absolutely no bottom line.
"I… Immortal Master." The black-robed youth stammered, forcing an ingratiating smile onto his face. "My master wishes to ask the Immortal Master… have you… have you come to discuss something with my master?"
Li Xingtian did not answer. He simply raised a finger and pointed at the crimson light pillar standing in the sky nearby.
The youth nodded frantically, then froze for a moment as though recalling something. Only then did he continue, his voice trembling:
"I… Immortal Master… does this matter absolutely require my master? He has been rather busy lately, unable to get away."
Li Xingtian's eyes narrowed. Blood qi churned around him, and he spoke in a frigid tone:
"Tell your master that my business is bigger than his. Either we split the spoils together, or I devour your master as one of those spoils."
"Also, whether what your master and I are doing is the same thing doesn't matter. Tell him to come handle my affairs first!"
The youth stood rooted to the place, not daring to ask further but also not daring to leave. His expression turned ugly with transparent dread, and cold sweat began beading on his forehead before quickly drenching his entire face.
Li Xingtian's brow creased slightly: "What? You have something else to say?"
The youth stammered:
"Immortal Master… if I deliver that message back as-is… I fear… I might… I might die. Could you… could you let me exercise some discretion?"
"I can help you exercise a permanent kind of freedom."
"Don't… Immortal Master, don't!"
The youth seemed to catch the killing intent in Li Xingtian's words. His legs went soft and he blurted out: "Immortal Master, I'll go deliver the message right now!"
He finished the sentence in a rush and was about to limp down the mountain.
The Immortal Master saying he can't doesn't mean he really can't — the difference between dying now and dying later was something he could still distinguish clearly.
But just as he turned his head, his footsteps froze on the spot.
He had barely turned when he saw a strikingly young, handsome youth in lavish robes, a gentle smile on his face, strolling up from below the hill.
"Mas… Master." The black-robed youth dropped smoothly to his knees.
The youth didn't spare his "disciple" so much as a glance. His warm gaze instead fell on the figure the disciple had described as a peak-realm Immortal Master whose blood qi blotted out the sky — a single look that could strip a man of his skin.
The aura was deep and unfathomable, cultivation impossible to probe.
His realm was likely above his own. His appearance was fierce in the extreme, and the blood qi was unmistakably genuine.
At the very least, this was a real evil cultivator.
The young man walked up to Li Xingtian and offered a slight bow:
"Fellow Daoist, I'm not sure when you might need this humble one's services."
Li Xingtian studied him for a moment, then asked without ceremony:
"First, tell me what you're doing here."
The youth pointed at the crimson light pillar nearby: "Watching this pillar for my superiors. If it falls or gets destroyed, I'm to report the situation."
"What's in it for you?"
"Nothing special — spirit stones, blood offerings, cultivation techniques, that sort of thing."
"Golden Core stage… and they're paying you just to watch a pillar?"
The youth laughed, somewhat speechless: "As long as the pay is right, never mind Golden Core — even at Nascent Soul I'd show up. Good money, easy work. If this gig goes well, I'm hoping to line up the next one."
Li Xingtian's voice turned cold: "This job might cost you your life."
The youth sighed softly: "Cultivators like us — what job doesn't carry the risk of death?"
"Fellow Daoist, if you're asking who sent me here, I'm afraid I can't answer that."
"After all, I may think I've seen the vast ocean, but I'm merely a grain of sand floating in it."
"A cultivator like me — how could I ever truly see heaven's will?"
"So, Fellow Daoist, might I ask what you need from this humble one?"