For the next full three months.

  Xia Li did nothing else but kill. Of course, some people's hands were relatively clean and their hearts hadn't turned dark. These people Xia Li chose to spare.

  The families of those Daoist Sect Inspectors included village tyrants, city lords, martial arts sects, secular royalty, and also a cultivation family.

  Unfortunately, though their family patriarch possessed Nascent Soul cultivation and wasn't some insignificant minor family.

  Their combat power couldn't compare to sect geniuses. After Xia Li infiltrated and used telekinesis to crush them alive, he killed their patriarch, then proceeded with clan extermination.

  The family members and associates of those eight Daoist Sect Inspectors totaled over five thousand people. Xia Li eliminated over four thousand.

  The remaining nearly one-fifth still retained their conscience. Xia Li didn't touch them. This ratio was unexpected.

  Xia Li had thought it would be one-tenth at most.

  One could only say human nature's unpredictability was evident here too. Some said human nature was inherently good; others said inherently evil.

  But from what Xia Li had witnessed along the way, he concluded that good and evil's meaning lay in the world's conditions. This world generally rewarded evil and punished good.

  On the border of Xi Continent, within a small nation's imperial city.

  Imperial guards threw down their armor and fled in terror from the palace. Civil and military officials scrambled in panic, only to be ambushed and killed by martial artists who'd long been waiting outside.

  This nation's royal family exploited the people, levied heavy taxes. Now, facing famine, the royals indulged in pleasure, having long stirred heaven's wrath and human indignation.

  In great famine years, people ate people.

  Rebel armies had risen one after another, but the royal family had cultivators. Even if only at Qi Refining or Foundation Building, they were ten-thousand-man killers who could take generals' heads from armies. Mortals could do nothing.

  Now finally an Immortal had acted to bring down this brutal, lawless royal family. The entire small nation naturally celebrated.

  Deep in the palace...

  Xia Li finished off the last young prince and sat down in a small lakeside pavilion to catch his breath.

  Finally, he didn't need to kill anymore...

  By now, it wasn't really him making the decisions. The nameless fire was driving him to kill. Once the killing stopped, anxiety and endless rage would torment him until he couldn't sit still.

  The small lake had been dyed blood-red. Headless corpses floated on its surface.

  At this moment, someone approached the pavilion. Xia Li looked up—it was the woman from Drunken Flower Tower who'd provided him information.

  "Besides them, there are many similar creatures in this world. What do you plan to do next?"

  "Don't expect me to keep acting. I'm also just a hypocrite. Some people offended me, so naturally I'll view their families as enemies to be implicated."

  Xia Li stated he had no intention of continuing to do good. He didn't want to be morally bound.

  There were plenty of evildoers in the world. As long as they didn't obstruct him, he could ignore them.

  "We naturally noticed this too. You didn't touch those who still had conscience—otherwise word would've reached those sects long ago."

  "I didn't expect Drunken Flower Tower to have after-sales service."

  Xia Li had of course prepared for conflict with those sects. If they sent Nascent Soul cultivators, he'd find opportunities to pick them off one by one. If they sent Deity Transformation, he'd simply flee.

  But he hadn't encountered any sect cultivators along the way.

  It seemed Drunken Flower Tower had been manipulating things, blocking the transmission of news. What skillful dark hands!

  "Honored guest, you didn't drink your Drunken Flower Brew last time. I brought it specially for you."

  The woman produced a cup of wine from her sleeve, walked up to Xia Li, and handed him the cup.

  "Thanks."

  Xia Li took a sip. The wine had a rich fragrance. Just one taste seemed to transport him to a sea of flowers. His killing intent and hostility subsided in that moment.

  "Have you considered joining our Drunken Flower Tower? The Tower Master greatly admires you. Besides gathering intelligence, we also accept assassination contracts."

  "And we investigate whether the targets are good or evil. We never accept contracts to assassinate good people. We walk in darkness to cultivate light."

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  "Sometimes, even without anyone placing an order, we'll act for righteousness without charge."

  The woman introduced her organization. This Drunken Flower Tower was somewhat similar to the Hidden Wing that Xia Li had joined.

  But Xia Li only drank, releasing a long breath after finishing.

  "Is it useful? Even if I've killed until heads rolled along my path, as long as I haven't killed certain people, they continue their evil. I'm not a good person either."

  "Someone offended me. Unable to do anything to them directly, I went after their entire families. Even if I've draped myself in morality's fig leaf by only killing evildoers, I'm actually someone who bullies with strength."

  Xia Li still saw himself clearly. He really didn't consider himself some great hero punishing evil and promoting good.

  It was purely that he'd been thoroughly disgusted at Vajra Temple, then influenced by nameless rage, generating such intense hostility.

  In normal times, he might have considered more moderate approaches.

  "As long as your stance is good, then bullying with strength and ganging up on the weak is correct. Hypocrisy is still goodness. If you can maintain hypocrisy forever, dare I ask—is that still hypocrisy? A gentleman judges actions, not intentions."

  The woman affirmed Xia Li's actions.

  "That thinking easily goes extreme. You say I didn't touch those with remaining conscience—but what about infants?"

  Xia Li had indeed done it. This one point he admitted. He'd lowered his bottom line for the first time.

  "That's a special case. A dilemma where any choice is both right and wrong."

  Kill or spare—either was acceptable. It ultimately depended on the actor's own will. This was the one thing Drunken Flower Tower didn't judge as good or evil.

  "Yes, a dilemma. My purpose for this journey is accomplished. I'm leaving now. You don't need to suppress information anymore."

  Xia Li would return to Vajra Temple. He could faintly sense something would happen when he went back...

  That nameless fury still resided in him, only temporarily subsided.

  "Farewell, honored guest."

  The woman bowed to Xia Li. Xia Li nodded and flew away on the wind.

  【Heaven Chip, what's your view on good and evil?】

  Xia Li asked the AI along the way. Now that he was in contact with Buddhism, he couldn't avoid touching this eternally ineffable topic.

  Since ancient times, how many had fallen over debates of good and evil? After all, everyone's view of good and evil was different.

  【In my view, this is a logical trap. Good and evil are social concepts. Compared to individual views, the species' cognition matters more】

  【Good and evil possess reversibility and ambiguity, usually contradicting logic. As a philosophical concept, their value lies in being manifested by humans for interpretation】

  【They oppose each other, yet must prove their existence through each other. They present different results to different observers. This can be considered conceptual entanglement】

  【Conclusion: Good and evil are meaningless. Humans have no inherent good or evil】

  【The only value of good and evil is that someone believes they have value and assigns them value. Individual quality and quantity determine how much good and evil are worth】

  【You currently have a good-value inclination. You will instinctively increase your own value, expanding your quality and information. This is the universe's fundamental law—all things act upon gravity】

  【Conclusion Two: When good-gravity and good-mass are insufficient to grow the self, individual value inclination will undergo reversal】

  【Conclusion Three: The equilibrium state of good-evil opposition is civilization's true color】

  【Conclusion Four: You may choose one to oppose the other. This is information anchoring. Good and evil are both information fields proving existence—nothing more】

  The Heaven Chip's four major conclusions negated humanity's basic good-evil view, treating it as a choice between eating rice or eating noodles.

  Therefore, the only thing humans needed to consider was whether rice was cheaper or noodles were cheaper, whether rice tasted better or noodles tasted better—making absolutely rational choices based on comprehensive prices and personal conditions to maximize benefit.