The elderly man kneeling in the ancestral hall of the Jiang family was the oldest member and the clan leader of the Jiang family.
Seeing the arrival of the elder in the hemp robe, the Clan Leader of the Jiang family struggled to his feet, leaning on his cane, and greeted him with a smile, "Ancestor, you have emerged from your seclusion two days early, does this mean you have broken through the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage and entered the Divinity Transformation Stage?"
The elder in the hemp robe shook his head regretfully and said, "It's not that easy to enter the Divinity Transformation Stage. It's a shame that the blood sacrifices of those infants didn't provide me with much aid in my cultivation. It seems that if I want to break through to the Divinity Transformation Stage, I cannot solely rely on the blood sacrifices of infants, I need to find other methods."
A flicker of regret flashed across the face of the Clan Leader, saying, "Just now, a servant came with news that the parents of the lost children have been spreading the news everywhere in Qingcheng, even causing a disturbance at the City Lord's mansion. I'm afraid it will be hard to suppress this time. It might be a good idea for the ancestor to find another method. We have stolen too many infants over the years, people are beginning to suspect us."
"Who?"
"A Golden Core Stage Loose Cultivator called Yuan Wuxing. He has been trying to sneak into our ancestral ceremonies over the last few years."
The elder in the hemp robe chuckled dismissively, "It appears he has noticed the correlation between the frequency of the ancestral sacrifices and the frequency of the infant kidnappings. A lone cultivator like him will make an excellent blood sacrifice."
"By the way, since those bereft parents have been causing a commotion, why don't we just go ahead and catch them for a joint blood sacrifice. It would make for a nice reunion."
"Yes."
"How touching. Why don't you go down and reunite with your parents?"
"Who?" The elder in the hemp robe turned back in anger, wondering who made such a degrading comment, while simultaneously retreating rapidly. He didn't sense anyone approaching him.
Those who could escape his keen senses were either cultivators at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage who were proficient in stealth spells or those at the Divinity Transformation stage.
He consecutively cast numerous spells, all were slapped into oblivion by Jiang Li.
Without uttering a word, Jiang Li just slapped the elder in the hemp robe, sending him crashing into the table where the ancestral tablet lay. The tablet shattered and half of the elder's teeth were knocked out.
"You!"
The elder in the hemp robe was greatly surprised, he could feel that Jiang Li was at the same cultivation stage as him, at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, but Jiang Li's movements were too fast for him to react.
Jiang Li had experienced countless life and death battles, and he was extremely battle-hardened. Not to mention suppressing his cultivation to the Nascent Soul stage, even if it were reduced to the Golden Core stage, he could easily defeat the elder in the hemp robe.
Jiang Li remained emotionless, continuing the battle in silence, he pinned the elder in the hemp robe on the table and pounded him with one punch after another, each stronger than the last. Throughout this, he even heard the system's notification sound.
[Congratulations to the host for defeating Jiang Yixing. The novice task is completed]
Hearing the system's prompt, Jiang Li showed no joy, but continued to ruthlessly beat Jiang Yixing using the strength of the Nascent Soul stage.
He was afraid that using greater strength could kill Jiang Yixing instantly.
From the moment Jiang Li used his Divine Sense to scan the spatial node, he recognized that the elder in the hemp robe was Jiang Yixing.
However, with his changed appearance, Jiang Yixing did not recognize him as Jiang Li.
"Do you... know... who I... am...? I... I am Jiang... the Human Emperor... Jiang Li's... older brother..."
Jiang Yixing managed to stutter out, due to losing half his teeth, his words were somewhat slurred.
"Really!"
"Jiang Li's older brother!"
"Such prestige!"
"Even the Human Emperor is less prestigious than you!"
"Create your own ancestral tablet!"
"Do you know that you deserve to die!"
"Or are you just faking your death!"
Jiang Li felt an unbearable rage in his heart, his eyes were bloodshot. With every word he said, he landed a punch. He continued to punch Jiang Yixing until he was bleeding from all seven orifices and became semi-conscious, only then did he stop.
A few more punches would have killed him.
Jiang Li picked up the broken ancestral tablet with Jiang Yixing's name inscribed on it and snorted coldly.
"Using the power of faith accumulated from the ancestral sacrifices to dissipate the resentment of the infant souls in your body, sneaky."
Jiang Li dragged Jiang Yixing by his ankle and walked out. As he crossed the threshold, Jiang Yixing's head banged hard against the doorframe, causing a resounding noise. The Jiang family members heard the commotion in the ancestral hall and upon seeing Jiang Li, they prepared to kill him.
Except for a few, most of the Jiang family assumed Jiang Yixing was already dead. Not recognizing him, they attacked Jiang Li without avoiding Jiang Yixing. Several of the attacks landed on him but compared to Jiang Li's punches, these attacks were nothing. Jiang Yixing would not die from them.
Jiang Li easily blocked all moves with his free hand, defeating each attacker with ease.
"Senior, what are you..." Yuan Wuxing followed behind, shocked at Jiang Li's actions. Storming the Jiang family's residence, capturing the primary culprit, these were things he didn't even dare to think of.
"What am I doing? Zhou has set the nation by law, naturally, we need to report to the authorities. Killing Jiang Yixing now would disturb the nation's fortune." Jiang Li explained as if it were perfectly reasonable.
"But, but the City Lord is in cahoots with the Jiang family." Yuan Wuxing was puzzled about what Jiang Li was intending to do, all he could sense was that this Dao Sect traveler possessed profound mana and was unpredictable in his actions.
"Indeed, how else can we discover how many people dare to shield the Jiang family, whether it's only the City Lord, the entire mansion or perhaps even higher up..." Jiang Li said coldly.
If the Zhou Emperor wouldn't intervene, he, as the Human Emperor, would take it upon himself to intervene on behalf of the Zhou Emperor!
Yuan Wuxing listened with enthusiasm, this was like a movement to overturn the heavens!
"Go and bring the parents of the lost children here, tell them that the murderer has been found and is undergoing trial in the City Lord's Mansion."
"Yes!"
...
The city lord of Qingcheng, surnamed Zeng, regarded his political career highly successful. Starting from the position of a minor official, he had repeatedly been favored by powerful benefactors and continuously promoted. Now, he seated himself in the position of the city lord of Qingcheng, a seat coveted by many of his peers. Teaming up with the Jiang family virtually meant teaming up with the Human Emperor.
It should be noted that a few previous city lords of Qingcheng held high positions now, the highest-ranking one even became the Magistrate. This aroused much envy in Zeng.
As usual, Zeng, the City Lord, was preparing to rest early. During the evening, although it wasn't time to leave work yet, as the city lord, leaving half an hour earlier wouldn't raise many eyebrows.
However, just as he was about to rest, his subordinate reported that someone outside had a major case that required his judgment.
Zeng, the city lord, was unhappy. A major case meant it couldn't be resolved quickly, and his off-duty time would be delayed.
"Go tell the person outside that I have urgent matters to attend to and instruct him to come back tomorrow."
"Master, according to that man, he has caught the culprit who kidnapped the children. It's the presumably deceased elder of the Jiang family, Jiang Yixing, who is now severely beaten and unconscious. The commoners have gathered around our entrance upon hearing the news."
"Dammit, why didn't you say this earlier!" The city lord's face turned pale. Upsetting his careless subordinate, he promptly got dressed and sat in the main hall.
"Bring the noisy person outside here!" Sitting in the hall, Zeng exuded an aura of solemnity and authority.
Jiang Li strode into the main hall, dragging Jiang Yixing like a chicken. Beside him was an excited but apprehensive Yuan Wuxing, behind him were crying and cursing parents, followed by a group of onlookers.
The laws of Zhou clearly stipulate that local officials should try cases in public.
At this moment, Zeng, the City Lord, greatly hated this law. Under the public scrutiny, it would be very hard for him to shield the Jiang family.