Chapter 198 - 191: "I am a devout follower of the great Master of the Black Eye!
"The person controlling the black crows from behind the scenes can’t be too far away. They must be nearby. Let’s go find them!"
Yan Bocheng grew anxious the moment he heard Jiang Zuo had been teleported away.
"There’s no need to go. People from the Celestial Eye Black Pupil can escape directly through a Secret Realm even if they’re right in front of you, let alone at such a distance."
But Xu Hongyuan shook his head.
The upper echelons of the Black Tortoise Dao Sect were well-acquainted with the Celestial Eye Black Pupil’s escape methods. They knew that giving chase now would be nothing but a waste of time.
"Hmph! The Celestial Eye Black Pupil doesn’t have that many Black Eye Orders, do they? To sacrifice one just to abduct a disciple from our Black Tortoise Dao Sect... they were certainly willing to pay the price!"
Yan Bocheng knew the others were right and didn’t insist on pursuing them, letting out only a cold snort.
"I’m afraid this is my fault. My disciple, Yu Ying, and I previously destroyed one of the Celestial Eye Black Pupil’s hidden dens. This must be them coming for revenge."
Luo Taidong said coldly.
He didn’t believe it could be such a coincidence. The only explanation was that the Celestial Eye Black Pupil was retaliating against him.
After learning of Zhou Yong’s talent, they chose him as their target, abducting him to be brainwashed into one of their own disciples.
"First, let’s see what the maximum Cultivation level for entering this Black Eye Order is. Elder Jing Lun, we’ll have to trouble you."
Zhou Fengtai said calmly, handing the Black Eye Order to the child-like Artifact Spirit.
The Ten Thousand Dao Scripture Tower was a Pocket World Spirit Treasure, making it the most sensitive for assessing space-related artifacts like this.
If they were to do it themselves, they would have to open the gate to the Secret Realm just to make an assessment.
However, most Secret Realm keys can’t be used consecutively; they require a cooldown period before they can be used again.
"This Secret Realm can only be entered by Cultivators at the Dao Foundation level or below."
The child-like Artifact Spirit took it, glanced at it, and spoke.
Hearing that only Cultivators at the Dao Foundation level could enter, all the elders fell silent.
There was no telling how long the Celestial Eye Black Pupil had been managing this Secret Realm. The entry limit was Dao Foundation, but that didn’t mean the Celestial Eye Black Pupil’s Cultivators inside were at the Dao Foundation level.
The highest Cultivation level inside was likely Divine Body Realm at the very least; it was even more probable that there were experts at the Three Flowers Realm.
"There probably aren’t many Three Flowers Realm Cultivators, but that’s not the real problem. If we send in Dao Foundation Cultivators, no matter how many we send, it’ll be like throwing meat buns at a dog—a complete loss."
One of the elders sighed softly.
For a Secret Realm limited to Dao Foundation Cultivators, any attempt by someone with a higher Cultivation to enter would cause the gate to collapse.
Forcing one’s way in was basically a suicide mission.
And leaving the Secret Realm was much the same.
If one’s Cultivation inside the Secret Realm became too high, leaving would become difficult.
In a Secret Realm that restricted entry to the Dao Foundation Realm, one could cultivate to the Divine Body Realm and leave without issue. But if they reached the Three Flowers Realm, the passage would likely become unstable upon their exit. With a bit of bad luck, they could perish completely.
Therefore, it was impossible for there to be a large number of Three Flowers Realm Cultivators in this Secret Realm.
One or two at the most.
After all, Three Flowers Realm Cultivators were a pillar of strength no matter where they were.
So this elder wasn’t worried about encountering a large number of Three Flowers Realm Cultivators.
However, the Celestial Eye Black Pupil had probably already laid a trap. Any Dao Foundation Cultivator who entered would be captured.
Sending disciples in would be tantamount to delivering fresh recruits right into the hands of the Celestial Eye Black Pupil.
"This matter... can only be addressed with a long-term plan."
"In the future, if Zhou Yong ever returns to the sect, we’ll have to be careful."
Xu Hongyuan sighed.
Since they couldn’t rescue Zhou Yong immediately, he probably wouldn’t be killed, but he would most likely be brainwashed.
Of all the disciples from the major sects captured by the Celestial Eye Black Pupil in the past, not one had ever been heard to escape that fate.
Zhou Yong was only at the Qi Cultivation level; he would be no exception.
The child-like Artifact Spirit was about to point out that Zhou Yong had already opened his Sea of Consciousness and possessed Divine Sense, making him difficult to brainwash.
But he reconsidered and kept silent.
’What if one of these elders is a member of the Celestial Eye Black Pupil?’
’Wouldn’t that just be putting Zhou Yong in danger?’
Thinking this, the child-like Artifact Spirit couldn’t help but praise himself for his cleverness.
’Looks like I’ve made a lot of progress lately. I’ve gotten so much smarter!’
The elders had no intention of letting this matter become public.
But just half a day later, news that Zhou Yong had been forcibly abducted from within the Black Tortoise Dao Sect by the Celestial Eye Black Pupil spread like wildfire throughout the entire sect.
It didn’t just stop at the Black Tortoise Dao Sect; the other major sects also learned of the news very quickly.
When Luo Taidong heard this, his face turned ashen.
He knew this was undoubtedly the work of the Celestial Eye Black Pupil.
Their goal was to get revenge on him and the Black Tortoise Dao Sect.
...
Once he knew the forced teleportation was unavoidable, Jiang Zuo stopped struggling. Instead, he braced himself as if facing a formidable enemy, ready to unleash his full power the moment he arrived, depending on the situation.
However, after the scenery around him changed, Jiang Zuo found himself in a massive, greyish-white hall.
The hall was dozens of meters high, and every ten or so meters, a large stone pillar reached toward the ceiling.
Painted on these pillars were giant black eyes.
Jiang Zuo scanned his surroundings and saw that he wasn’t alone. There were at least a hundred other people there.
These people were generally young.
However, there was something abnormal about their expressions and the look in their eyes.
Many of them had vacant eyes and dull expressions, wandering around the stone pillars like the walking dead.
From time to time, someone would stare at the giant black eyes on the pillars and mutter to themselves, though it was impossible to tell what they were saying.
Just then, a low, strange sound began to emanate from an unknown source. The moment Jiang Zuo heard it, he knew there was something wrong with it.
The deep sound made him feel agitated and irritable, and the things he saw began to distort slightly.
However, with a mere thought, Jiang Zuo returned to normal.
’Brainwashing!’
’I’ve been targeted by the Celestial Eye Black Pupil... just like those geniuses from the various sects Luo Taidong mentioned, abducted and brought to this Secret Realm.’
’My Spiritual Power is completely sealed! They must have set up a Spirit-Banning Array here!’
Jiang Zuo tried to use his Spiritual Power, only to find that the vast wellspring of it within his body seemed completely unresponsive.
Huh?
’Wait, that’s not right. It seems my Spiritual Power is too immense, so the Spirit-Banning Array can’t suppress it completely.’
’Most of my Spiritual Power is sealed, but I can still access a small portion.’
’But even this small portion is a considerable amount.’
Even if he truly couldn’t use his Spiritual Power at all, Jiang Zuo wasn’t afraid.
His physical body was already comparable to a third-rank Exotic Beast. If an enemy was caught off guard, he was confident he could even injure a Three Flowers Realm Cultivator.
Still, being able to use Spiritual Power was, of course, for the best.
The black bug he had just obtained from the Ten Thousand Dao Scripture Tower required Spiritual Power to be released.
Without Spiritual Power, he couldn’t open the jade box.
Knowing this was a Secret Realm and that he had the black bug on hand gave Jiang Zuo a bit more confidence.
’If worse comes to worst, I’ll just release that fat black bug and let it wreak havoc on this Secret Realm.’
’I refuse to believe the people from the Celestial Eye Black Pupil will just wait to die inside the Secret Realm instead of trying to escape.’
As long as they tried to flee, Jiang Zuo could follow them out amidst the chaos.
Unsure if anyone was watching him from the shadows, Jiang Zuo didn’t do anything out of the ordinary.
First, he feigned a highly vigilant expression. Then, slowly, under the influence of the low-pitched sounds, his expression began to change.
Like everyone else around him, he began to wander aimlessly through the great hall, stopping occasionally to stare at the Black Eye murals on the pillars.
In reality, as he walked, Jiang Zuo was observing the changes in the people around him.
’I have to copy them, or they might see that something’s wrong.’
’It seems this brainwashing method of the Celestial Eye Black Pupil takes a long time to complete.’
On Jiang Zuo’s first day there, openings appeared in the ceiling, and someone threw down large quantities of food.
Many of the people around him were already like puppets, but they still went to pick up and eat the food when they got hungry.
Jiang Zuo went over as well, pretending to eat.
But worried the food might contain drugs he couldn’t resist, Jiang Zuo didn’t actually eat any of it.
He possessed the Jingtun ability, so he always ate extra during his meals to store the energy.
Even if he didn’t eat for a few days, it wouldn’t be a problem.
Besides, he had Fasting Pills in his storage bag. If he got truly hungry, he could secretly eat a few.
In the blink of an eye, Jiang Zuo had already spent over three months in the brainwashing hall.
During this time, new people would occasionally be brought in, and those whose brainwashing was complete would be led away.
Jiang Zuo had basically figured out the situation.
The entire brainwashing process lasted for about half a year.
There were two possible outcomes for the people being brainwashed.
One was to become a mindless, walking corpse.
These were the failures of the brainwashing process. Jiang Zuo didn’t know what happened to them.
He only knew that they were guided through a door on the left.
The other outcome was successful brainwashing.
Those who were successfully brainwashed would first turn into something like a walking corpse, then gradually return to normal, their eyes becoming clear and lucid.
By then, however, they had become devout followers of the Celestial Eye Black Pupil.
Jiang Zuo followed their example. Over the next three months, the light gradually returned to his eyes.
After he appeared to have fully recovered, Jiang Zuo followed the guidance and walked through a large door on the right.
After passing through a long stone corridor, Jiang Zuo arrived in another hall, though this one looked much more ordinary.
Several people were watching as he walked out.
Jiang Zuo ignored their gazes and simply surveyed his new surroundings.
"Identity: Black Tortoise Dao Sect Direct Disciple, Zhou—"
A middle-aged man up ahead was flipping through Jiang Zuo’s file.
Half a year had passed since Jiang Zuo was forcibly teleported here, so his information had, of course, long since been sent into the Secret Realm.
"I am a devout follower of the great Master of the Black Eye!"
Jiang Zuo interrupted him coldly the moment he heard the man’s words.
"Haha, it seems you’re quite enlightened!"
"That’s right! We are all devout followers of the great Master of the Black Eye!"
The middle-aged man laughed heartily upon hearing this.
People who had completed the brainwashing process exhibited all sorts of behaviors. It wasn’t uncommon to see someone like this, who would immediately correct anyone mentioning their former identity.
The loyalty of such people to the Master of the Black Eye was beyond question.
But there was one drawback: they were very difficult to send back as spies.
Even after targeted training, it was hard for them to act like their old selves.
However, this person had been forcibly abducted from the Black Tortoise Dao Sect in front of numerous elders, so there was no need to send him back anyway.