Chapter 1: Preface

After the era of Taiyi, mystic cultivators frequently emerged across the land of Huaxia. These cultivators each comprehended their own paths and cultivated their own methods, yet all ultimately practiced the way of the sword. This exemplifies the principle of different roads leading to the same destination.

As centuries passed, some of these immortal sect cultivators established hereditary lineages, gradually forming numerous mystic clans. These clans passed down their unique sword arts and immortal techniques through generations, each occupying a territory where they constructed immortal manors as cultivation grounds. Originally, there were five great mystic clans across the vast Central Plains. After the Sunshot Campaign, only four remained: the Lanling Jin Clan, the Gusu Lan Clan, the Yunmeng Jiang Clan, and the Qinghe Nie Clan.

Beyond Mount Qi in the southwestern lands, there were also many mystic cultivators. Regions like Ba Commandery, Mount Min, Nanzhao, and Yelang all hosted numerous practitioners. Among these frontier mystic sects, three prominent clans emerged, collectively known as the Three Great Frontier Clans.

These three frontier mystic clans differed from their Central Plains counterparts. Though they also practiced sword arts, their primary focus lay in witchcraft and gu techniques. Consequently, Central Plains cultivators often labeled them as Heretical Devils.

The three frontier clans were: the Ye Clan of Nanzhao Kingdom, the Tuoba Clan of Silent Snow Pavilion on Mount Min, and the Weng Clan of Yelang. The Ye Clan served as the noble royal house of Nanzhao, specializing in secret medicines. Legend claims their medicines were the world’s most miraculous cure for peculiar diseases. The Ye Clan also excelled in crafting illusions so vivid that victims couldn’t distinguish fantasy from reality, with some reportedly choosing to remain trapped in these illusions willingly.

Atop the snow-capped peaks of Mount Min stood the Tuoba Clan’s Silent Snow Pavilion. Governing the vast Ba-Shu region, the Tuoba earned the title of Foremost Frontier Clan. Originating from the Xianbei dynasty, the Tuoba ancestors migrated thousands of miles to Mount Min to escape royal succession conflicts. Unexpectedly, their patriarch attained enlightenment after relocation, establishing the Tuoba as the premier mystic clan beyond the Central Plains. The Tuoba mastered ice manipulation arts, controlling frost like invisible blades to slay men and ghosts alike. Their signature technique involved ice silkworms – lethal as venomous agents yet capable of cooling blood to heal febrile illnesses. The clan’s wealth reportedly surpassed that of ten Lanling Jin Clans combined.

Finally, the Weng Clan of Yelang administered the kingdom’s Venom Gu Office, situated beneath the magnificent Thunder Mountain. With lush flora thriving year-round, Thunder Mountain provided rare herbs and medicinal ingredients exclusively for the Venom Gu Office’s use.

The Venom Gu Office served not only as the administrative body for cultivators in the Yelang Kingdom but also as the enforcement agency under the Yelang King. Anyone who violated Yelang’s laws was handed over to the Venom Gu Office for handling. The Venom Gu Office was divided into two branches: the Gu Department and the Medicine Pavilion. As the name implied, the Medicine Pavilion primarily researched various medicines, including those that healed and those that harmed. Gu medicine had always been Yelang’s greatest secret, with many formulas being strictly confidential. The art of incense extraction was one of the Medicine Pavilion’s most formidable techniques. The incense bait produced by the Medicine Pavilion could not only ward off miasma and repel mosquitoes, insects, snakes, and rodents but also kill imperceptibly. This incense bait could even soothe the emotions of malevolent spirits and guide the consciousness of Ferocious Corpses truly a marvel of endless possibilities.

The Gu Department, on the other hand, was the institution dedicated to cultivating Witchcraft and Gu techniques. It specialized in dealing with Ferocious Corpses and evil spirits. One might recall how the Yiling Patriarch once used musical rhythms to control Ferocious Corpses and resentful spirits, whereas this Witchcraft relied entirely on Talismans and incantations. Legend had it that a successor of Witchcraft would master thousands of incantations. These incantations could not only manipulate Ferocious Corpses and evil spirits but also control objects through the air.

The enforcement elder of the Venom Gu Office, Weng Mu, had two female disciples. One was the current female overseer of the Medicine Pavilion, Weng Tong, also known as Weng Wuwang. The other was the Witchcraft Saintess, Weng Li, also called Weng Nianying. The two sisters were the sole survivors of the Qishan Wen Clan’s Fengming branch from the Sunshot Campaign.

A battle within the mystical cultivation world back then had destroyed the sisters’ homeland, forcing them to leave their native place and travel far to Yelang. Now, with the passage of time, could the long river of years wash away the shadows of hatred? Could upholding kindness and cultivating oneself to aid others truly penetrate deeply into people’s hearts and be genuinely comprehended? And would Yelang’s Witchcraft distort those hateful souls? The enforcement elder of the Venom Gu Office, Weng Mu, taught his disciples that cultivation lay in the cultivator, not in the methods cultivated. As the saying goes, with a righteous heart, how could the path be evil? Yet, while cultivation could liberate fierce ghosts and malevolent spirits, no one knew how to redeem the human heart.