Chapter 1388: 1020: Treating the Symptoms, Not the Root Cause

The senior disciple went to a banquet and, by coincidence, is about to break through the realm again. Upon hearing the news, Jiang Yuan remained calm, even thinking that from his extensive experience, if Wan Mingchuan were truly the chosen one, his cultivation speed would still be a bit slow.

He was still individually reviewing the detailed analyses of disciples from the nine major sects, while also handling the other party’s guest binding applications.

He didn’t even have time to go back to Conch Island, thinking that the Celestial River ships dispatched for retrieval must have returned, but unfortunately, there’s no courtyard communicator over there to control and inspect remotely.

Moreover, recruiting "strong men" is the top priority for restoring the Divine Mountain, and he must resolve this matter before doing anything else.

Indeed, going through them one by one may be time-consuming, but he did filter out some unfaithful and unscrupulous characters. Jiang Yuan didn’t make a fuss, just truthfully informed the corresponding person in charge.

How they arrange to deal with it is up to their sect’s own decision; the courtyard will not accept them anyway.

"Mr. Jiang is still busy?" Du Li teleported over, looking at the long queue of Human Race cultivators, feeling a mix of emotions.

Ling Di went to the Celestial Sword Sect on behalf of the courtyard to support the scene and attend the feast. Jiang Yuan took out the Demon-Subduing Pestle without any courtesy, "Alliance Leader Du should also be quite busy, right? Is that Heart Mirror useful?"

Speaking with his mouth, he felt quite pleased in his heart; could it possibly be more useful than the system’s great identification technique?

Just now, that body cultivator had psychological shadows from wetting the bed as a child, and since reaching the Fasting realm, he hadn’t drunk water—all marked clearly. Jiang Yuan didn’t believe the Heart Mirror could reveal these things.

It would be better if not mentioned, but once mentioned, Du Li felt deeply moved, wrinkles on his face started surfacing.

"The Celestial Realm’s divine artifact is naturally very useful, it’s just... sigh!" He sighed, not knowing where to begin.

When finally getting the Heart Mirror he’d been longing for, he was so confident and poised! Blindly believing that with the divine artifact’s help, he could reorganize the Demon Realm Alliance shrouded in dark clouds, sweep away the haze, and achieve the feat of collective ascension!

However, reality slapped him in the face.

Du Li had just brought the Heart Mirror to the Demon Realm Alliance headquarters when everything still in operation came to a halt—he was merely borrowing the divine artifact, not the owner of the Heart Mirror, and could not restrain the artifact’s aura.

Therefore, the instant they sensed the Celestial Realm’s divine artifact, those demons at headquarters immediately knew the vice alliance hierarch was cleaning house. Since they’d be discovered sooner or later, they might as well confess with a good attitude to secure a decent way out.

It was pitiful that Du Li had just wielded the Heart Mirror and was trying to control it, yet hadn’t had the chance to inspect things carefully. Those Demon Cultivators still temporarily on post at headquarters rushed to plead guilty, requesting leniency.

Some were involved in embezzlement; some arranged for their trusted people to draw a salary without doing work; some fraudulently claimed military achievements; others were secretly engaged in dirty work...

He wasn’t sure if all self-reported crimes were complete, but he no longer had the desire to inspect the Heart Mirror in detail.

After all, no matter how small the bribe amount, it’s still a virtue fault. If not prominent, fine, but how could there be living saints? Yet occupying dignified positions in headquarters and doing disgraceful deeds is surely mismatched in virtue!

Amid the disturbance, Du Li inevitably doubted within.

What kind of people are truly qualified to participate in the collective ascension plan?

The Heart Mirror revealed his own selfish desires, though intended for salvation, yet deeds over the years remained mediocre. Even planning to drain all life from the Wilderness World for collective ascension—if failed, wouldn’t it waste the entire world and countless lives?

While lost and unsure of what to do, Alliance Leader Lan returned from handling commerce association issues. Upon the Heart Mirror’s reflection, Du Li realized Lan Shanying’s intentions leaned more toward returning the Wilderness World to the Human Race! As for the ascension plan, he hadn’t even considered it!

Once assumed to be an ally who shared liver and gallbladder, their true hearts were vastly different.

To spare Alliance Leader Lan embarrassment, he could only quietly put away the Heart Mirror, falsely claiming it was a borrowed Celestial Realm artifact to prevent guilty parties at headquarters from escaping.

Lan Shanying trusted him greatly and believed this explanation, then mentioned the commerce association that had rotted to the core, looking worried.

"Is it power attracting these filthy things, or originally fine Demon Cultivators, getting polluted by power after entering the Demon Realm Alliance, turning into profit-seeking beings?" Du Li sat by the courtyard’s edge, gazing at sect disciples busy in the Divine Mountain, feeling Mr. Jiang’s courtyard had a special kind of magic power.

Everyone living there knows what they want to do, pursuing their goals steadfastly without shackles, living freely and unrestrained.

"Are you asking me?" Qu Luming pointed to his overly pale face, retorted: "How would I know? I wanted to ask you. Haven’t you noticed that the cultivators living in Mr. Jiang’s courtyard seem to have touched their own path?

I hadn’t thought about this key point before, but during a casual chat with Leng Yutang yesterday, a sudden realization hit me!

Leng Yutang said that before meeting Mr. Jiang, his only wish was to defeat the cold poison and stay alive. Later, after meeting Mr. Jiang, not only was he saved, but also by coincidence, he stayed at the courtyard and went to East Lake Port.

The brief life there made him faintly sense the Great Dao, thus recently his cultivation speed has been very fast!

I was instantly enlightened, is it possible that the so-called Great Dao is not as mysterious and complex as legends say? As long as one finds their inner most resolute belief and persists, that is their own path?"