If James Carter could enter the Immortal Execution Platform, then he could justifiably kill immortals to cultivate demonic arts. The benefits gained from killing a single immortal would probably be far greater than killing ten thousand mortals. He wouldn’t have to bear the reputation of a demon, and he could also replenish his cultivation roots. Thinking about it now, it was as if the heavens had given him a second life, arranging for him to come and execute immortals.

James Carter adapted so quickly that on the very next day after handling these matters, a prisoner was scheduled for execution. This was James Carter’s first time killing someone at the execution ground, and also his first time testing the old demon’s cultivation method. Although it was what the old demon had told him before dying, there was no guarantee it was true, but James Carter had to try it no matter what. Being an executioner was the perfect, legitimate way to kill.

“Every grievance has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor. There is no past enmity or recent hatred between us. I am simply fulfilling my duty and following orders. Forgive me!” James Carter stood bare-chested, a blood-red silk scarf wrapped around his head. He reached out and yanked the death token from the kneeling prisoner, tossing it to the ground. With his right hand, he raised the ghost-headed broadsword he had been holding.

With this movement from James Carter, everyone inside and outside the execution ground widened their eyes and held their breath. The strong liquor, prepared in advance, sat to the side. James Carter picked up the wine bowl, took a big gulp, then held another mouthful and sprayed it with a “puff” onto the ghost-headed broadsword. After finishing all this, James Carter’s eyes suddenly brightened as he looked at the prisoner, and a murderous aura erupted from his body. In an instant, he seemed to become a completely different person. The ghost-headed broadsword was raised high and then slashed down fiercely.

The crowd only saw a flash of cold steel, and couldn’t even be sure if James Carter had actually made the move. But James Carter seemed to have reverted to his gentle, amiable self, already holding a fresh silk cloth and beginning to wipe the blade. The crowd was stunned. Looking closely, the prisoner’s head was still firmly attached to his neck, not moving at all. What was going on?

While everyone was still in shock, a thin line of blood suddenly appeared at the prisoner’s neck, growing longer and turning into a crimson line. Then, with a bang, the head fell cleanly from the neck, revealing a wound as wide as a bowl. Scalding blood gushed out like a spring, shooting skyward and hissing for a good five or six seconds before losing its force. Only then did the prisoner’s body, which had been kneeling, collapse to the ground.

A wave of commotion swept through the crowd, followed by thunderous cheers.

James Carter, however, took a deep breath. The cultivation technique he had reviewed countless times in his mind began to circulate. An invisible energy surged from the corpse straight into James Carter’s body, transforming into a warm current that spread to every part of his limbs and bones.

Chapter 5: Who Dares Not to Execute (Part 1)

While people were still discussing the new executioner’s impressive kill, James Carter was sensing the warm current inside his body. The old demon’s cultivation method was correct—at least, so far, nothing had gone wrong. The only thing left was to see how effective it would be.

Back in his small courtyard, James Carter dug out a multicolored stone from under the millstone. Even if someone saw it, they would never recognize what it was. Only James Carter knew that this multicolored stone was used by immortal sects in later generations to test disciples’ acquired spiritual roots. Innate spiritual roots were already set, but acquired ones could still change.

Placing both hands on it, the multicolored stone showed almost no change. But if one looked closely, there was a faint, nearly imperceptible red glow. This meant that his acquired spiritual root had indeed undergone a minuscule change. After all, he had only killed one person—it would be wishful thinking to expect a dramatic transformation in his spiritual root from that alone. Still, it proved that the cultivation method was effective.

With James Carter’s ten thousand years of cultivation experience, he hadn’t noticed any harm to his body while circulating the technique, nor had he found any hidden dangers. In other words, for now, the method truly had no problems. The most remarkable thing was that it neither increased spiritual power nor tempered the soul. Even after practicing it, he was still an ordinary person, so he wouldn’t attract the wrath of the heavens. He would still have enough opportunities to enter the Immortal Execution Platform.

From the second half of the year onward, banditry broke out everywhere, and no matter how many were caught, it was never enough. The imperial court, overwhelmed, issued strict orders to all regions: any bandits caught were to be executed immediately! Under this unprecedented severity, dozens of bandits were caught almost every day in every region. At first, it was just a few, then it became a dozen or twenty, and within days, they were catching forty or fifty at a time.

In the county, aside from the old executioner who was on sick leave, only James Carter remained. Every day, James Carter was responsible for chopping off dozens of heads. At first, people were interested in coming to watch the executions, but after a while, no one had the leisure for such things anymore.

“Every grievance has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor. I have no past enmity or recent hatred with any of you. I am simply fulfilling my duty and following orders. Forgive me!” Before every execution, James Carter would say these words. By making things clear, he would not be tainted by karma. After just a few days, James Carter had become extremely fluent in this speech.