Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

A terrifying wave of spiritual pressure, unique to the Foundation Establishment Stage, erupted from the Evil Cultivator and crashed down upon them!

In that instant, the very air seemed to freeze.

The fleeing players didn’t even have a chance to scream before they were slammed flat against the ground.

"CRACK... CRACK..."

It was the sound of their skeletons groaning under the immense pressure.

OneSwordToRule’s face was pressed into the dirt, his eyes bulging. He desperately tried to lift a finger but found he couldn’t move even a millimeter.

’Holy shit! Is this a Foundation Establishment expert? This is a fucking gravity field, isn’t it?! Terrifying!’

Not far away, BiquGo4, who was at the fifth level of the Qi Refining Stage, only managed to last half a second longer than the others before his knees gave out and he was slowly forced down into the mud.

This was the Foundation Establishment Stage.

In the Cultivation Realm, the Qi Refining Stage was merely the point where one could sense qi entering the body. To put it bluntly, they were still just powerful mortals who knew a bit of Magic.

But Foundation Establishment was the forging of the Great Dao’s foundation, the first true metamorphosis of the physical body and Spiritual Power. It was the watershed between mortal and immortal.

Before a true Cultivator, the number of mortals no longer seemed to matter...

The Foundation Establishment Stage Evil Cultivator, Gu Li, slowly landed, descending on his white bone Magical Artifact as his black robes billowed.

"Annoying."

He beckoned with one hand.

"SWOOSH—"

Not far away, the three or four corpses of his Qi Refining Stage junior brothers—who had just been whittled to death by the players—flew through the air and hovered neatly before him.

Gu Li looked at the bodies of his fellow disciples, a gentle, almost pleased smile gracing his lips. "Brothers, since your skills were so poor that you died at the hands of these mortals, it must have been your fate."

"However, as followers of the demonic path, even your deaths must have value... As for your flesh, blood, and Cultivation, it would be rude of me not to accept!"

Directly absorbing mortals often led to a backlash of resentful energy, a bloodlust induced by the demonic arts, and various other side effects. But absorbing fellow disciples who had just been on a killing spree was like using a filter. The side effects would still be present, but greatly diminished.

"Rise!"

Gu Li activated his demonic art and took a sharp, expectant breath!

The corpses instantly shriveled as their essence transformed into several crimson threads of blood and flowed into his nostrils.

However, after just one breath, Gu Li’s ecstatic expression froze.

His brows knitted together, his face a mask of shock and suspicion.

"...Hmm??"

’Weak? Why is it so weak?!’

In disbelief, Gu Li took two more breaths, his face growing darker with each one.

’How strange... truly strange!’

’These brothers had been killing so frenziedly their eyes were bloodshot. They had clearly entered a berserk state. Logically, their baleful, bloody aura should have been incredibly rich...’

’So how could their essence... be missing half of its potency?!’

"What rotten luck!" The more Gu Li thought about it, the angrier he became.

’This bunch of trash! They must have been slacking off in their training! Their demonic arts are completely half-baked! They can’t even squeeze any essence out of their kills. They deserved to be beaten to death by a bunch of mortals!’

He casually grabbed the dried corpse of the disciple who had been at Qi Refining Perfection.

’The flesh is useless, but the bones should still be good for something, right?’

"CRACK—!"

With a sudden exertion of force and a practiced motion, he ripped the entire spine, skull still attached, straight from the corpse!

This was the raw material for a natural Human Bone Whip Magical Artifact. However, as he hopefully examined the bone whip, he started to lose his composure.

"...This?!"

’The spine in his hand showed none of the spiritual essence that should have saturated its marrow. It was as if half of it had vanished into thin air!’

’This... How is this possible?!’

Gu Li’s eyes widened in utter confusion. He raised the "disciple bone whip" high, his first instinct to smash it on the ground and crush it underfoot to vent his frustration.

But he forced himself to stop, his hand hovering in mid-air.

’Even though this thing has lost most of its spiritual quality... making it defective... it’s still the bone of a Qi Refining Perfection Cultivator! Throwing it away... would be a terrible waste...’

"...Fine."

With a look of utter disgust, Gu Li silently put away the contemptible bone whip.

’I’ll make do with it for now. I can kill more people to refine it later. Maybe it can still be salvaged.’

Gu Li hovered in mid-air, gazing down at the ants pinned to the mud below.

Playing cat and mouse was his favorite part.

As a superior Foundation Establishment Cultivator, simply killing them was far too dull. He savored the thrill of holding life and death in his hands. He loved watching these hard-headed fools slowly crumble in agony, until they were finally on their knees, begging for mercy with tears and snot streaming down their faces. Then, just as they thought they were saved, he would deliver the fatal blow and refine them in an instant.

The resentful energy born from that plunge from hope to despair was the most delicious of all.

"You were all pretty feisty when you were killing my brothers, weren’t you?"

Gu Li deliberately eased his spiritual pressure slightly, giving the mortals a chance to open their mouths and beg.

"You should know what’s coming... However, if any of you are willing to get on your knees, kowtow three times, and shout ’Grandpa, spare me!’ three times, I might just..."

However, before the words had even left his mouth...

The player RighteousLight, still pinned to the ground, struggled to lift his head. His face was caked with mud, but his eyes held the kind of pity one might reserve for an imbecile. "Are you a fucking idiot?"

Gu Li: "...?"

The sadistic smile on his face froze.

Seeing no reaction, RighteousLight assumed his voice had been too quiet. He took a deep breath, centered his qi in his Dantian, and shouted, "I said! Do you have a hole in your head?! If you’re going to kill us, then kill us! Cut the crap!!"

"You’re courting death!" Gu Li exploded with rage.

He made a grasping motion, and his Spiritual Power formed an invisible hand that snatched RighteousLight into the air, pulling the player before him. "Tough guy, are you? Got a real smart mouth, don’t you?"

Gu Li’s eyes were malevolent. He gripped RighteousLight’s left arm and suddenly twisted with all his might!

"CRACK—!!"

With a sickening snap, the arm was bent backward a full 180 degrees, a white shard of bone piercing through the flesh.

Gu Li tilted his head back slightly, his ears perked in eager anticipation.

’Come on! Scream! Cry out! Let me hear the world’s most beautiful symphony!’

And yet...

...

’Why aren’t you screaming? Are you really that tough?’

The heart-wrenching scream he expected never came.

The mortal before him merely frowned, glanced at his own mangled arm, and then looked up. "Seriously, what’s wrong with you? Why break that? It doesn’t stop me from talking."

"Can you just get it over with, you prick?"

Gu Li: "???"

He stared at the mortal, who not only looked completely calm but was even rolling his eyes at him. A feeling of absurd bewilderment washed over him.

’Don’t you feel pain?! Are your nerves just for show?! I twisted your arm into a goddamn pretzel! Can we please have a little respect for basic skeletal structure here?!’

"Let’s see how long you can keep this act up!"

Gu Li still refused to believe anyone could have such guts. He struck again, grabbing RighteousLight’s other arm and yanking it violently!