Chapter 20: The Kunlun People

"Boom!"

A deafening roar erupted above the headquarters of the Demon Suppression Bureau in Jinnan Prefecture, sending a shockwave rippling rapidly outward. Even the trees outside the city gates shook violently in its wake.

Bai Ning held her fist toward the sky, her sleeve sliding down to her shoulder to reveal a fair, slender arm. Everyone was left speechless by the sheer force of that single strike. Cao Meng, who was also at the Minor Heavenly Cycle realm, knew he could never achieve such power with a casual punch. He became increasingly convinced that the rumors surrounding Bai Ning were true.

The Great Ning Empire comprised thirteen prefectures, seventy-two cities, and one hundred and sixty-five counties. Each prefecture housed a headquarters for the Demon Suppression Bureau, while the seventy-two cities had branch offices, with the counties managed by these branches. It was a massive organization. And as with any large group, there were like-minded cliques within the Bureau.

After Cao Meng broke through to the Minor Heavenly Cycle realm, he encountered Li Yu, a general from the Lingbei Prefecture, during a field mission. Li Yu, acting as a recruiter, pulled him into a mysterious organization. The minimum threshold for entry was the Minor Heavenly Cycle realm, and it was said that several members had already surpassed that stage. No one knew how long the organization had existed, nor who its leader was. It was merely speculated that the leader did not belong to the Great Ning Dynasty and held a status far above that of the imperial family.

The rewards for the missions issued by this organization were often things Cao Meng had never even heard of. They communicated via jade bamboo slips; by channeling spiritual energy into the slips to write, the content would appear to other members. These slips were categorized into three grades: White Jade, Ink Jade, and Blood Jade. The one in Cao Meng's possession was the lowest tier: a White Jade slip.

Having been in the organization for two years, this was the first time he had received a specific mission: to ensure Bai Ning was stripped of the Demon Suppression Bureau’s protection. The reward was the "Sky Abyss Sword."

Cao Meng had never heard of this blade, but from the tone of the other members, it was clearly a legendary weapon. When the words "Sky Abyss Sword" appeared on the jade slip, it triggered a frenzy among the usually silent members.

"I truly envy this brother; such a simple task to obtain the legendary Sky Abyss."

"I wonder what level of cultivation this brother has attained. If you have just entered the Minor Heavenly Cycle, I would be willing to trade you a copy of the *Ancient God King Technique*."

"Brother, I offer three tenth-tier artifacts in exchange for the Sky Abyss. What say you?"

"We are all brothers here—have some shame!"

"How can one trade such a divine weapon for mere mundane objects?"

"Brother, don't listen to their nonsense."

"Once you complete the mission and obtain the Sky Abyss, you will understand what this sword can bring you."

"I cannot reveal too much, but think carefully: what are the things that wealth cannot buy?"

"Once you grasp that, you will understand the true purpose of the Sky Abyss."

The contents of the jade slip were not solely focused on the sword. Some were curious about the name "Bai Ning."

"Who is Bai Ning? I’ve never heard of her."

"Brother, there are at least sixty of us with White Jade slips, spanning twenty or thirty empires. It’s perfectly normal that you haven't heard the name."

"Brother, you who received the exclusive mission, could you reveal who exactly Bai Ning is?"

Cao Meng condensed spiritual energy at his fingertips and wrote a line on the slip: "A female cultivator at the Minor Heavenly Cycle realm. Her strength is formidable; she can slay a tenth-tier demon beast in seconds."

The moment the message about Bai Ning was sent, there was an immediate response.

"Brother, if you say that, you don't treat us as your own."

"A Minor Heavenly Cycle cultivator is on par with a tenth-tier beast. How can she kill it in seconds?"

"I am not sure either. Every time Bai Ning fights a demon beast, those beasts seem to suddenly become weak."

Cao Meng offered this explanation, though he wasn't sure if the others would believe him.

"This Bai Ning... could she be a descendant of the Kunlun people?"

As soon as that sentence appeared, everyone vanished from the chat. No further messages appeared on the slip.

"Kunlun people"—it was another term Cao Meng had never heard. Yet, judging by the collective reaction, everyone feared those three words.

Cao Meng put away the slip and began gathering information on the Kunlun people. Strangely, the Great Ning Dynasty contained not a single record of them. He shifted his strategy and began investigating Bai Ning’s family line. That was easy to uncover: Bai Ning’s ancestral home was in Shuangjiang City, Shu Prefecture, in the southwest of Great Ning. It was a cultivation family with deep roots. However, two hundred years had passed, and Bai Ning was practically an ancestor-level figure within the Bai clan. Most of what could be found was already common knowledge: she began practicing Qi at seven, mastered the Spirit Refining stage at thirteen, and reached the God Transformation stage at twenty-seven. Such heaven-defying progress was unheard of in the Great Ning Dynasty.

The more Cao Meng couldn't uncover, the more he became obsessed with the matter. Since no one knew, he would ask the demons. A tenth-tier Great Demon could live for over a thousand years. As long as they weren't senile, they would remember the past. Cao Meng found a tenth-tier demon that had achieved human form. As a bargaining chip for the information, he tacitly allowed the demon to slaughter a remote mountain village.

Upon learning about the Kunlun people, Cao Meng wished he hadn't. The so-called Kunlun people were named after Mount Kunlun. Thousands of years ago, for reasons unknown, a group of high-level cultivators suddenly began living collectively with Great Demons on Mount Kunlun. They ceased all fighting, choosing instead to live a pastoral life amidst the mountains and rivers. The descendants of these high-level cultivators and Great Demons were collectively known as the Kunlun people.

This behavior incited the indignation of cultivators across the world. Led by major cultivation sects, an army of ten thousand cultivators above the Heavenly Cycle realm launched a massacre on Mount Kunlun. Men, women, children, and even infants in their swaddling clothes were all put to the sword. They even slaughtered the seven villages and three counties at the foot of the mountain. To this day, the area within a hundred miles of Mount Kunlun remains a forbidden zone on the Tianyuan Continent.

If Bai Ning truly were a surviving Kunlun person, she would possess one-half the bloodline of a Great Demon. This explained why, when she fought demons, they became vulnerable and weak—it was total bloodline suppression; they dared not even fight back.

After learning the truth, Cao Meng felt it best to feign ignorance. Completing the mission and obtaining the Sky Abyss was his only priority. What was it that wealth could not buy? He pondered the question. There were too many things: lost loved ones, choices one regretted, the youth that could never be reclaimed... none of these could be bought with wealth. If the Sky Abyss could restore even one of those things, Cao Meng would go through fire and water for this mission.

Getting Bai Ning to leave the Demon Suppression Bureau was simple enough. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't be so certain, but Bai Ning had a volatile temper. If he could find a way to provoke her into committing an irreversible act, she would naturally be expelled. For instance, if she attacked her own side or wiped out all the demons near Jinnan Prefecture, it would surely incite the demon clans to launch a retaliatory strike on the city. Either way, Bai Ning would be finished.

That was exactly what Cao Meng had been doing. His attempt to provoke her at the Mission Pavilion had failed, but it had given him an even better opportunity. After repeated verbal jabs, Bai Ning had become agitated. She couldn't help but lash out, punching the sky. If that punch had been aimed at the crowd, who knew how many members of the Demon Suppression Bureau would have died?

"General Bai Ning, what immense power! Are you feeling sorry for your disciple? Why not let all the demons, great and small, in Jinnan Prefecture be buried with her?"

As soon as Cao Meng finished speaking, Manager Xu roared:

"Silence!"