Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

Not only had Mr. Huohua failed to receive a promotion, but he had been stripped of all real power and demoted to the rank of an ordinary elder. He spent his days in seclusion, and to this day, Lu Ping still couldn't figure out what had gone so wrong.

'Was the news brought back by that new junior brother not important enough? Or did the elder offend some big shot higher up?'

He racked his brain but couldn't make sense of it. All he knew was that his patron—his mountain of support—had crumbled.

He still remembered that new personal disciple.

That guy was always acting like he was on steroids, constantly spouting a bunch of crap about "success," "gratitude," and "struggle."

He'd say things like, "Every setback is a test from our master," "We must be grateful and treat hardship as a stepping stone in our Cultivation," and "As long as you work hard, anyone can achieve immortality..."

Lu Ping's ears were about to bleed from listening to it all. He just wanted to stay as far away from the guy as possible.

'So annoying. In his view, shouldn't Cultivation be as natural as eating and drinking? Something that just happens when the time is right?'

You spend your days gazing at the mountains, tending to flowers, sipping tea... and once your state of mind is right, your Cultivation level naturally rises. The kind of life where you lie down on a cloud at the mountain peak, take a nap, and—hey, presto!—you wake up in the Foundation Establishment realm! Now *that* was true freedom, the way Cultivation was meant to be!

Of course...

Lu Ping silently added in his head, '...though I don't have the kind of talent that lets me level up just by lying around. Why can't Cultivation be like that? T_T'

Someone with his average talent still had to meditate and cultivate honestly just to see his Cultivation increase bit by bit.

Ugh... what made him even more speechless was that to prevent him from slacking off and living passively, the sect and his master had placed a restriction in his soul. They called it the "Guardian Dao Divine Spell," claiming it was for his own good.

'Pah! How is that any different from the "Life-and-Death Talisman" that Demon Cultivators use to control their subordinates? And they call themselves a prestigious, righteous sect? What they do is shady as hell.'

'I was hoping you'd get a promotion, Master, but instead, you threw me into the tiger's den!'

But... Lu Ping sighed again.

'If it weren't for this thing, I'd probably be in some tavern down in a small town, drinking and carousing with women by now. Who the hell would willingly take on a life-or-death undercover job like this?'

For the sake of his own life, he'd better just get on with it and report in.

As Lu Ping tried to psych himself up, he mentally rehearsed all the terrifying scenarios that might unfold.

'As soon as I walk in, will two green-faced, tusked Demon Cultivators jump out, grab me, and toss me into a blood pool for a bath?'

'Or maybe the sky will be red, the ground black, and the air thick with the unending stench of blood. The ground would be paved with skeletons, and with every step—CRUNCH—I'd snap the rib of some unknown human or demon...'

'Ancestral Masters above, please let this disciple muddle through this time! At least let me see what the Evil Cultivators here look like and exchange a few words before I die!'

He even prepared himself for the worst-case scenario: 'No matter what I see in there, I have to keep my cool!'

'I absolutely can't overreact and piss off those demon lords. If I really piss my pants in fear right after walking in just because I've never seen anything like it, then it'll be "to die before the battle's won." My head will part ways with my neck on the spot.'

'Passing the Demon Sect's gate, life and death are uncertain. I only ask to leave my bones intact, to return home next year...'

Lu Ping shook his head in resignation, took a deep breath, and finally stepped through the sect's main gate, which looked both grand and foreboding amidst the scorched earth and ruins.

A shimmer of light washed over him, but the bloody glow, skeletons, and pungent, fishy stench he had anticipated never appeared.

Instead, he was greeted by a wave of Spiritual Qi so dense it was almost tangible, and the sight of an immortal paradise unfolded before him: cranes danced in the air, Spiritual Springs chimed, and pavilions and terraces were scattered in a picturesque arrangement.

Lu Ping: "..."

He froze on the spot and subconsciously rubbed his eyes.

'Wait... a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters, the songs of birds and the fragrance of flowers... this is a Demon Sect?! Did the... Celestial Furnace Sect give me the wrong address?'

Just as he was filled with doubt, thinking he'd walked onto the wrong set, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a bizarre scene not far from the main gate.

On a patch of empty ground, three or four plainly dressed Cultivators and one ordinary mortal were squatting in neat rows.

They all had their hands clasped behind their heads, faces frozen in a constipated expression as if they were trying to take a dump but couldn't. Their bodies were rigid, and they didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.

Lu Ping's brain crashed again.

'What... what is this now? Is this the Demon Sect's latest trending cultivation method? The Head-Clasping Squat-Defense Technique?'

He didn't dare to stare and prepared to walk around the strange area to continue inside. He cleared his throat and called out loudly to the empty mountain path before him, "This junior is a mere Loose Cultivator. Having heard of the Guixi Sect's great renown, I have come to pay my—"

Before the word "respects" could even leave his mouth, four elderly men holding wooden sticks shot out from a nearby grove—SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH—and completely surrounded him.

Lu Ping was so startled by the sudden ambush that his heart nearly stopped!

'What the—?! What's going on?! I just came to pay my respects! Are you planning to beat me to death with sticks?! This Demon Sect is way too unreasonable!'

After his initial shock wore off, he began to carefully examine the four "elders" before him.

It was fine when he didn't look closely, but once he did, Lu Ping's scalp went numb. These four old men—aside from one having a longer beard, one having thicker eyebrows, and one having an extra mole on his face... were, holy shit, practically identical!

'Are you quadruplets who joined this Demon Sect as a group to be door gods?!'

Though Lu Ping was roasting them like crazy in his mind, he managed to squeeze out a respectful smile on the surface. He cupped his fists at the four of them. "This junior, Lu Ping, has come to pay his respects. Might I ask, seniors—"

He was interrupted again.

The old man with the longest beard, standing directly in front of him, spoke with a blank expression and empty eyes, "New disciples entering the sect, please proceed to the designated area, clasp your hands behind your head, and squat. Wait for a sect guide to come receive you."

After speaking, he used the wooden stick in his hand to point at the spot where the other "constipated-looking" men were squatting.

Lu Ping's brow furrowed instantly. 'Seriously, can't you guys let me finish a sentence? What kind of rule is this? You have to go squat in a corner as punishment just to pay your respects? So does that mean those guys over there are all disciples who came to join this Demon Sect?'

Before he could figure it out, the old man with the thick eyebrows next to him repeated the exact same line with the same empty eyes and the same emotionless tone, "New disciples entering the sect, please proceed to the designated area, clasp your hands behind your head, and squat. Wait for a sect guide to come receive you."

Then, the third old man... and the fourth...

Hearing the same sentence four times in a row made goosebumps break out all over Lu Ping's body. 'What in the world is going on with this Demon Sect?!'