“You mean to say the Wilben family was destroyed as well? How?”
Aksai couldn’t help but be surprised by the news Jainam had provided him. Various questions popped into Aksai’s head like wild mushrooms. However, he decided to rein them in and let Jainam explain the whole matter.
“That’s right, my lord,” Jainam’s tone was very polite as he looked at Aksai with reverence before adding further.
“Around nine months ago, the Wilben family attacked the Lakir family, and the two counties were sent into chaos, which can still be felt.
Lakir City was completely destroyed, and the Lakir estate was plundered. The robbers and rogue cultivators caused a lot of havoc inside the two counties because of this sudden attack.
Many Spirit cultivators got lucky and stole from the heart of Lakir City, where there were plenty of Spirit cultivation resources to loot from.
Many more died trying to get their hands on things they didn’t own during the chaos.
The killings and plundering didn’t stop for quite some time.
However, just before the Wilben family could extend its roots to Wuyum County and take over some of the businesses run by the Lakir family, the remnant forces of the Lakir family made a comeback,” Jainam’s expressions turned solemn as he seemed visibly shaken by some memory he might have witnessed personally.
“Well, this was expected. The Lakir family can’t go down that easily just because the Wilben family launched an attack using some borrowed might from the Purple River Sect,” Aksai commented as he resumed his feast.
Jainam nodded at him before adding further.
“That’s right, my lord. But most of us weren’t surprised by the Lakir family’s comeback so much as the way it made its comeback.
Do you know that the Wilben family had accused the Lakir family of having demonic origins as a way to initiate the attack on them? Turns out that claim was true.
Despite being besieged by the Wilben family’s patriarch, Mantoyi Wilben, the Lakir family’s patriarch, Loren Lakir, managed to get away.
He rescued some of his capable family members and retreated to Purple Poison Marshland. The Wilben family or the Purple River Sect elders couldn’t follow Patriarch Loren Lakir when he entered that treacherous territory.
Soon, all the remnant forces of the Lakir family were congregated there, and they created a resistance force to take revenge against the Wilben family.
Do you know how the Lakir family retaliated?
They… they unleashed the blood fiends and flesh fiends on both the counties, boasting proudly of their demonic heritage,” Jainam spoke in a tone as if he was really scared of the blood fiends.
“Blood fiends! So the Lakir family indeed used that trump card when it no longer had a face to lose or reason to keep up appearances,” Aksai thought to himself. He quickly got over his initial surprise after hearing Jainam’s explanation.
Of course, he knew about the blood fiends and flesh fiends arts practiced by the Blood Bakshis even before they were known to the masses a few months ago.
Since the Lakir family couldn’t act as a righteous family in the eyes of the masses anymore, it had revealed its Blood Bakshi force to the world and embraced its demonic heritage completely.
Some time ago, Aksai had heard that Loren Lakir had practiced demonic arts when he was a mere Spirit Refining cultivator. He and his family were legitimized by the Rokur kingdom only after he somehow managed to become a Foundation Building Expert.
After the Lakir family gained recognition by the Rokur kingdom’s decree, it kept its demonic heritage a secret. It fostered the Blood Bakshi Force in the shadows and never made any demonic practices public.
Aksai had heard that some of the Spirit farmers who had been conscripted by the Lakir family for the exploration into the inheritance ground had mysteriously vanished even before they were made to join the expedition force. He couldn’t help but make a connection that some of the Spirit farmers had been used as sacrifices by the Lakir family to nurture its Blood Bakshi force.
Aksai was more glad than ever that he had acted prudently, refusing to reveal his cultivation base even when Aunt Reta had practically forced him to do so many times.
If he had been forcefully conscripted into the Lakir family’s force, he might not be where he was at this point. He would have likely become an offering in a demonic ritual conducted by the Blood Bakshi force.
‘Cautious. I need to become even more cautious than before,’ Aksai thought to himself. ‘Prudence is my best friend. Arrogance is my worst enemy.’
As for how Aksai could know so much about the Blood Bakshi Force? He had the Blood Fiend Creation Manual in his possession thanks to killing Lian Lakir and the Blood Bakshi members who were with him at that time.
Aksai had only roughly looked at the Blood Fiend Creation Manual in the past. He had decided to combine the technique with his Scarecrow Puppet Creation art to come up with his own version of the puppet creation method.
However, after hearing Jainam’s explanation, Aksai decided to study the Blood Fiend Creation manual more carefully. He was sure that the manual would also cover some of the weaknesses of the blood fiends and flesh fiends that the general populace wasn’t aware of.
Aksai wasn’t planning on battling with the blood fiends for the sake of peace and justice. He had no reason to wear a black cape, speak hoarsely as if he had a sore throat, and become a certain Dark Knight. The kind that the two counties needed but didn’t deserve.
Aksai was neither a peacekeeper nor a peacemaker. He also didn’t like the idea of “seeing greater good.” He would rather turn blind than see something as useless as that in a cultivation world.
However, the Spirit farmer in him was someone who planned the yield of his crops even before he planted them in soil.
It meant that he liked to stay prepared in case some blood fiends crossed paths with him.
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AN: Blood Fiend Creation Manual was mentioned for the first time in chapter 59.