"Ying Mingchao, I know you hold deep prejudice toward my Infant Soul Sect, but there truly is no need for us to draw swords against one another," the Infant Soul Sect's Sect Master said to Ying Mingchao.
In stark contrast to Ying Mingchao's murderous aura, his expression was remarkably mild.
As though the person standing before him was not a mortal enemy at all, but an old friend.
"Prejudice? Is what you've done merely a matter of prejudice?"
"Are you saying that the massacre of so many innocent infants counts as prejudice too?"
"Those were children who had barely even caught their first glimpse of this world! How could you bring yourselves to do it?!" Ying Mingchao's furious voice reverberated across heaven and earth.
Resonant. Forceful.
"Infant Soul Sect, death is too lenient for you. You should be torn limb from limb and cast into eternal damnation!"
Following his outcry, everyone present joined in condemning the Infant Soul Sect. After all, what the sect had done was truly something the world could never accept.
"I admit that what my Infant Soul Sect did was wrong," the Sect Master said. "But if I told you that we did it all for the benefit of all living beings in the Hundred Refinements Ordinary Realm, would you be willing to understand?"
"What? For the living beings of the Hundred Refinements Ordinary Realm? How laughable."
Before Ying Mingchao could even respond, the onlookers burst into mocking jeers.
This was quite simply the most absurd thing they had ever heard.
It was an insult to their intelligence — they were being treated like fools.
"I know that you may not believe me after I say this, but the truth is exactly as I've described," the Sect Master said.
"Utterly absurd." Ying Mingchao burned with rage, too impatient for further words. He drew his ancestral weapon, ready to strike.
"Wait." But at that moment, the Sect Master of the Immortal Sword Sect stepped in to stop Ying Mingchao, saying, "They wouldn't have lured us here without reason. We might as well hear them out and see what other tricks they have up their sleeve, and what their true purpose is."
"Fine," Ying Mingchao said coldly, clearly displeased. In his view, an existence like the Infant Soul Sect did not deserve a single word of debate — they should simply be slaughtered down to the last. Clean and decisive.
But regardless, this was an allied army, and the Sect Master of the Immortal Sword Sect was a Second Level True Immortal. He had to give some consideration to the man's suggestion. After all, they were allies.
"Hun Poyuan, don't blame me for giving you a chance. Since you want to speak, then today I'll let you have your fill of talking."
"I'd very much like to see what other little tricks you can pull," the Immortal Sword Sect's Sect Master said to the Infant Soul Sect's Sect Master.
"The boundless heavens above are home to countless worlds. We cannot compare ourselves to the Upper Realms, but among the many ordinary realms, our Hundred Refinements is among the weakest."
"For this reason, the founding ancestor of my Infant Soul Sect was deeply troubled. He spent his entire life agonizing over how to raise the overall strength of all living beings in the Hundred Refinements Ordinary Realm."
"But the martial cultivation path places tremendous importance on individual comprehension. To elevate the overall strength of the Hundred Refinements Ordinary Realm is an extraordinarily difficult task — one that is virtually impossible."
"Heaven does not forsake those with true resolve. Our Infant Soul Sect's founding ancestor stumbled upon a wondrous encounter, and within it he discovered a method that could forcibly bestow the martial cultivation path upon others — even help them raise their cultivation."
"However, realizing this method required a lengthy process and demanded a tremendous price."
"That price was the constant refinement of the method using the lives of newborn infants. Only through continuous refinement and experimentation could the method finally be perfected."
"And the founding ancestor of our Infant Soul Sect knew full well that once this method was put into practice, he would inevitably be hated and reviled by the world."
"After all, before the results were achieved, no one would believe that what we were doing was truly for the benefit of every generation to come in the Hundred Refinements Ordinary Realm."
"But for the future of the Hundred Refinements Ordinary Realm, for the generations that would come after, certain sacrifices were necessary. It was for this that the Infant Soul Sect was formally established."
"All these years, our Infant Soul Sect has been like rats scurrying across the street, constantly hunted and persecuted by those so-called righteous sects. Our brothers have suffered countless deaths and injuries. And yet we have persisted — enduring your hatred all the while, continuing to do things that benefit you and your descendants," the Sect Master said.
"Silence!" At that moment, Zi Xunyi suddenly roared.
She was trembling with fury. Pointing at the Infant Soul Sect's Sect Master, she shouted with boundless anger: "You harmed so many innocent children, and now you've cooked up such a high-sounding justification for it! You are an abomination before both gods and men — worse than beasts!"
Having said this, she turned to Ying Mingchao. "Mingchao, stop wasting breath on them! Stop listening to their rubbish! Wipe them all out! We cannot allow these animals to go on living! We cannot let them continue to prey on innocent lives!"
"That's right — kill them!"