Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

The undercover agents' curiosity grew wildly.

But as undercover agents who feared being exposed, they subconsciously tried to hide their intentions.

"Er..."

Wang Wu's normal complexion suddenly changed, flushing red as his Spiritual Power actively reversed its flow. He then clutched his chest and said:

"Everyone, it seems the Spiritual Qi I absorbed while hatching that egg is causing some backlash... Even just a wisp of it is this tyrannical!"

"This is bad. I need to find a place of Yin malevolence to suppress the turmoil in my body. I fear I might harm an innocent bystander, so I'll be taking my leave!"

Before his voice had even faded, the aura around him genuinely destabilized. He then blurred into an afterimage and vanished.

His desperate rush to go heal himself was so convincing that no one could have found fault with it.

"This..."

Another undercover agent frowned, his expression inscrutable. "Wait! The bottleneck I've been stuck at for so long is loosening! I can't let this opportunity slip by. I'm going over there to meditate and comprehend this. Everyone, farewell!"

After speaking, he formed a hand seal, looking for all the world as if he was afraid his inspiration would flee, and hastily sped off in another direction.

"I felt it too!"

"The feng shui here seems off. It might be a sign of an enemy attack. As a disciple of the sect, I'll go patrol over there, just in case!"

In an instant, the group of undercover agents scattered in all directions within just a few breaths' time.

But if you were to look down from high above, you would discover that although their routes were winding, they all ultimately led to...

The Artifact Refining Pavilion!

...

「A stick of incense later.」

Outside the Artifact Refining Pavilion of the Guixi Sect.

Half the night sky was dyed red by the towering flames bursting from within the pavilion.

Waves of heat beat outwards.

Wang Wu walked steadily toward the Artifact Refining Pavilion, his expression as solemn as a soldier heading to battle. A hint of obsession showed between his brows, as if he were comprehending the Great Dao.

He followed the sound of the blood-curdling screams, heading straight for the lattice window of a side hall.

However, just as he rounded the corridor and was about to approach the window glowing with firelight, he stopped short.

Because someone was already standing there.

The person was sitting cross-legged on the scorching bluestone slab beneath the window, hands in a seal, facing the window with their eyes closed in concentration.

Hearing footsteps, the person slowly opened their eyes, their gaze shooting out like a bolt of lightning.

Their eyes met.

The corner of Wang Wu's eye twitched slightly.

'This is one of the others from before. Is his Body Technique really that fast? I was clearly the first one to make an excuse and leave, yet he somehow managed to get here first.'

The atmosphere became exceptionally awkward.

For a moment, neither of them spoke, and neither of them moved.

Just then, the other person was the first to make a move.

"Mr. Wang, I recall you were flushed when you left, saying you were going to find a 'place of Yin malevolence' to suppress your backlash. The Artifact Refining Pavilion is filled with earth-fire and overwhelming heatwaves. It's the exact opposite. For you to come here looking for 'Yin malevolence'... could it be you've suffered a cultivation deviation and fried your brain?"

Wang Wu was startled but quickly covered it with a disdainful snort. He clasped his hands behind his back, tilted his head up at the fiery sky, and said leisurely, "Brother, your cultivation is still too superficial."

He held up a finger and wagged it gently. "You only know one part of the story, not the other."

"As they say, extremes beget their opposites, and from the peak of Yang, Yin is born. This place has the most abundant Yang energy, which often gives rise to Taiyin Qi. I intend to borrow the power of this worldly furnace to fight poison with poison and forcefully refine the turmoil in my body! This cultivation method of finding life in a place of death... is something you wouldn't understand."

The other person was slightly taken aback.

'That reason... is so damn logical! You have a real talent for being an Evil Cultivator!'

"I see. Your insight is profound, Mr. Wang. I've learned something today."

Just then, the sound of clothes rustling in the wind came from overhead.

Both of them looked up, their gazes sharp as knives.

They saw several dark figures leap down from the ancient pagoda tree, landing gracefully.

Their movements were elegant, their landings silent.

It was the other undercover agents.

Seeing that two people were already there, they each landed on a different branch or decorative rock, staking out a position.

"Well, what a coincidence this is!"

"Fellow disciples, you're all here?"

The corners of Wang Wu's and the other man's eyes twitched.

'These people...'

"Indeed," Wang Wu asked with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "What brings all of you here?"

One of them put on a compassionate expression. "You may not know this, Mr. Wang, but I was on my way to bring in my laundry when I realized that Miss Su's screams from this location must contain the rhythm of the Great Dao."

"Clothes can always be dried again, but an opportunity for enlightenment is fleeting. So, I came."

Another person next to him, who was sitting on a rock, immediately chimed in, "That's right! Same here!!! I just wanted to see how Miss Su is doing! Is there a problem with that?"

'Good grief.'

'So everyone wants to come have a look? Aren't they afraid something will happen?'

'Whatever. The Artifact Refining Pavilion isn't guarded anyway, and it's not like it's a vital location. We've all been here a few times. It should be fine. Might as well go together.'

"You are all truly role models for our generation. Upon hearing our Senior Sister suffering... oh, no, cultivating, you were not afraid. Instead, you all came to observe and learn. Such devotion to the Dao is truly moving."

"I agree, I agree."

"Since we're all here, why don't we go admire Miss Su's prowess together?"

"My thoughts exactly! Mr. Wang, after you!"

"Mr. Zhao, after you!"

The group deferentially gestured to one another, straightened their clothes, and then arrived beneath the window.

"Let me also witness this legendary Demonic Sect's Secret Technique."

However, the instant their eyes truly fell upon the scene inside the pavilion...

"HISS—"

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath. Though they inhaled quite forcefully, it did nothing to warm the Artifact Refining Pavilion in the slightest.

Inside the pavilion was a scene straight out of a living hell.

A massive black iron anvil was glowing red-hot. Su Ling'er was bound tightly to it, her limbs shackled by chains covered in runes.

The muscular man was swinging a giant Thunderfire Hammer the size of a millstone.

There were no fancy moves.

Just hammering.

DONG!!!

As that hammer fell, even the ground outside the window trembled slightly.

DONG!!!

The heavy, muffled thud was not the sound of metal striking metal, but of a heavy hammer striking flesh and blood. It was a sickening sound that made one's heart pound in panic.

The undercover agents outside the window watched, wide-eyed, as Su Ling'er's jade-white arm caved inward at a bizarre angle under the hammer's blow, deforming. The sound of her bones shattering was clearly audible.

The flesh and blood became a complete blur.

But what was even more horrifying was that with each strike, the dense, black-red baleful resentment was brutally pounded from the surface of her body deep into her flesh and bones!

That baleful energy was filled with savagery and venom. Just watching from a distance made the group of undercover agents shudder.

"Hiss..."

Someone couldn't help but swallow hard.

'Miss Su... this... just how many people has this Demonic Sect guide killed?!'

'This much resentment... it's impossible to accumulate this much without having refined the lives of several thousand people!'

'Could it be that our Senior Sister, who already looks like a demoness on a normal day, actually massacred a town, or even a city?'

"AHHHHH—!!!"

Just as they were gripped by terror, Su Ling'er's screams erupted once more.

The pain of being forged by the Sword Refining Skill was hundreds, even thousands of times greater than what they had experienced when hatching the eggs!

At the same time, the crowd outside the window saw countless tiny runes light up around the wound caused by the hammer, frantically pulling at and devouring the black-red baleful resentment that had been pounded into her.

Su Ling'er's body trembled violently on the anvil. Cold sweat and blood mixed together, instantly soaking her red dress.

And yet, a fanatical fire burned in her wide-open eyes.

She could feel that under the effects of the Sword Refining Skill Cultivation Technique and the forging of the giant hammer, the impure and violent baleful resentment was being refined, its essence integrated into her bone marrow, solidifying her unstable Dao Foundation!

The pain was real.

But the feeling of growing stronger was also incredibly real!

'To get stronger! To stop being a helpless bystander! To be able to help Senior Brother, I... I must become stronger!!!'

A metallic, sweet taste rose in her throat, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

"Again... AHHHH... BRING IT ON!!!"

DONG!

Shi Gandang grinned and brought the hammer down again.

"Good! You've got guts, Junior Sister! This is what it means to be one of us who cultivates the Sword Refining Skill!"

Outside the window, a dead silence fell.

The group of undercover agents stood frozen in place, the blood drained completely from their faces.

'This isn't cultivation!'

'This is clearly death by a thousand cuts! It's torture! It looks a hundred times more painful than hatching those xenomorphs!'

The hands Wang Wu held behind his back had unknowingly clenched into fists, but he didn't even notice.

'Madmen.'

'This sect, from top to bottom, is filled with nothing but bona fide madmen!'

"Does Miss Su... always cultivate like this?"

Wang Wu took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the churning in his stomach and the tremor in his heart.

'Can't show fear!'

'In a Demonic Sect, if you show fear, you might be the first one used as a pawn for sacrificial refining!'

So, he forced his facial muscles into a semblance of a smile, his voice trembling slightly.

"Good! What a fine... shattering of bones for reforging!"

"Is this the enlightenment of a sect guide?" someone else chimed in.

"To find life in a place of death! Watching Miss Su suffer like this... no, be tempered like this, I feel my blood boiling! I wish... I wish I could take that hammer blow for her!"

"Well said!" another person immediately added. "I used to think the 'egg-hatching' mission was a bit hard and complained a little in my heart. But now, after seeing Miss Su's prowess, I am simply ashamed! Utterly ashamed!"

As soon as he said this, a strange sense of resonance arose in everyone's hearts.

'That's right!'

They recalled how they had only had their chests burst open for a small monster to crawl out. Although it was painful, they were immediately given Spirit Pills to heal and restore their bodies, which even became stronger. Even their Cultivation had improved...

Compared to the scene before them of bones being smashed, one hammer blow at a time...

That bit of pain was nothing!

It was practically a tickle!

'It's all about perspective!'

'So... we were actually getting the preferential treatment?'

'The "egg-hatching" mission was actually a bonus for newcomers from the sect?'

'So this is the true cultivation method of the Guixi Sect! Using boundless pain as a ladder and blood and fire as a crucible to forge the supreme path of the Dao!'

'"Egg-hatching" is just an appetizer, a screening process.'

'Only by passing the test can one access core techniques like Miss Su's!'

Just then, Shi Gandang's rough voice came from inside the pavilion.

"By the way, Junior Sister, I heard you recently killed several hundred thousand people all by yourself and also slaughtered a few hundred Cultivators who didn't know their place. Is that true?"

Su Ling'er: "!!!"

The undercover agents: "!!!!!"