Be the Hardest Working Demon Cultivator!

Half a month had passed since the arrival of the ancestral masters of the three sects: Swordless Mountain, Supreme Purity Sect, and Western Tuo Mountain. During this half month, cultivators across the land were still immersed in thoughts they found hard to forget.

The figures that appeared like descending immortals were all slain by that Demon Lord, utterly wiped out.

However, cultivators of the Demonic Path did not take pride in this.

That was because this Demon Lord had neither re-established the banner of the Demon Sect nor demonstrated any interest in building up a force. Although there had been early reports of him slaying the Heartless Old Man and seizing the title of lord of Black Heart Mountain, he had subsequently dissolved Black Heart Mountain itself.

At present, aside from a new dragon lair of the Water Marsh Mountain Thunder Jiao, the cultivation site of this Demon Lord was still only an unassuming thatched hut amidst the mountains.

The only change from the past was that, where the area around the hut was once full of planted onions and garlic, creating the appearance of a kitchen helper's dwelling, it was now replaced by stretches of wild grass.

As nobody tended to them, the onions and garlic yielded their territory to the wild grass that overwhelmed them.

Having no reputation for fame or profit, one could only write a diary.

This was the unanimous opinion of the cultivators of the Jiawu Realm regarding the Demon Lord. If one were to refine this opinion further, it would be adherence to propriety and possessing literary grace.

The former needs no further discussion.

The latter was derived from the exaggerated tales of Tan Shuchang's past scholarly achievements.

There were few who knew the true story behind those achievements, and although many could see through the facade of these achievements, they knew that speaking out about this would only bring them unnecessary trouble.
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Besides, acknowledging the Demon Lord's literary talent did no harm, even if it offered no benefits either.

Thus, Tan Shuchang gained a reputation for his scholarly brilliance.

As more people talked about it, even more believed it, so much so that the casual verses Tan Shuchang uttered upon his arrival started to be regarded as standards of excellence.

Phrases like "Wandering alone with my sword, I first see the breadth of heaven and earth" were seen as the Demon Lord expressing his own Sword Dao cultivation.

And after the bold and grandiose lines "As the roc spreads its wings in the nine heavens," why would he follow with "Looking at the distant path to becoming an immortal, I sigh as time runs out, yet I will always have my moment of astonishment," if not understood as the Demon Lord lamenting the difficulties of cultivation, encouraging cultivators of the world to avoid arrogance and impatience while also not selling themselves short?

Despite the arduous path to immortality and the limited lifespan of humans, making catching up nearly impossible, we cultivators, as long as we persevere, will always have our day of extraordinary achievement!

For a time, the public's opinion of Tan Shuchang, the Demon Lord, reached an all-time high.

After all, with the power to cut down Ascendant Ancestral Masters effortlessly, other cultivators could only use overflowing praise to encourage this person to maintain the demeanor of a noble gentleman.

By judging the deed instead of the intent, and ignoring the matter of displacing one's master and ancestors, based solely on the actions of the past, this Demon Lord indeed deserved to be called a gentleman.

At this moment, Tan, the Demon Lord, bathed in excessive accolades, finally received responses from Luoja Mountain, Tai Su Immortal Sect, Jinglong Cave Heaven, and the Terrestrial Immortal Cave Mansion, announcing that their ancestral masters were preparing to descend to the Lower Realm.

"Finally..."

Tan Shuchang received the message and couldn't help but reveal a hint of joy in his eyes. To facilitate the descent of these ancestral masters, he had spared no expense.

After refining the corpse ghosts formed from the bodies of these ancestral masters, Tan Shuchang gradually pieced together an important piece of information about descending to the Lower Realm: one needed to offer a vast array of heavenly and earthly treasures to the Will of the Jiawu Realm.

Only then could one gain the qualification to enter the Jiawu Realm!

To arrive in the Jiawu Realm, it seemed that the ancestral masters from Supreme Purity Sect and Western Tuo Mountain had used the tribute from the commonfolk of lands they inhabited as collateral to exchange for the necessary heavenly and earthly treasures needed for descent from other forces in the Land of the Four Pillars.

The ancestral masters from sects such as Luoja Mountain had not shown intentions of descending, not because they did not wish to, but because they could not afford the necessary treasures.

Although Supreme Purity Sect and Western Tuo Mountain had to share the tribute of a small mortal nation, that was, after all, a nation!

In the Land of the Four Pillars, although there were mortals, these mortals differed from those in the Jiawu Realm. Given the rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the Land of the Four Pillars, even those who did not practice cultivation techniques would naturally form cultivation power within their bodies over time.

And once cultivating power appeared within, it signified the beginning of the path of cultivation. Among them, some extremely talented individuals could, without ever coming into contact with cultivation techniques, ingeniously create basic techniques out of nothing.

Moreover, some local rulers, to win over the hearts of the people or to create a good reputation for themselves, like that of a "Taoist," would proactively bestow lower-grade techniques that ultimately led nowhere.

Although cultivating those lower-grade techniques all their lives, would hardly achieve greatness, nor a long life, they still endowed one with the battle strength a cultivator should possess.

Therefore, within a nation full of cultivators, the number of heavenly and earthly treasures that could be gathered and cultivated within a year was staggering.

But the ancestral masters of Luoja Mountain, Tai Su Immortal Sect, Terrestrial Immortal Cave Mansion, and Jinglong Cave Heaven, who had no small mortal nation's tribute to offer, inevitably found themselves in a pinch in this regard.

To allow the ancestral masters of these four Immortal Sects to descend, Tan Shuchang did not hesitate to give up the various treasures he had gathered from corpse searching, placing them within these four sects, to let their disciples tell their ancestral masters that these heavenly and earthly treasures were the sect's treasured collections of three hundred years, willingly offered in tribute to their ancestors to express their filial devotion!