SPIRITUAL SLAVES

At the twisted and colliding tops of the Nine Peaks was a blood pool, from which a nine-thousand-foot blood waterfall flowed down onto the ritual array, filling all the hollow patterns on it. At the center of the ritual array was a purplish-red palace.

It was extraordinarily grand and magnificent. At the base of the Nine Peaks, there were vast open spaces arranged with ancient buildings, almost none of which were constructed from ordinary bluestone and wood.

Golden bricks paved the ground, white walls were like snow, and there were carved Dragons and painted Phoenixes everywhere, all appearing exceptionally exquisite and elegant, completely different from the grim and terrifying image Wang Yu had imagined.

The Shi Lake City Lord's Mansion would be considered an ordinary building here.

Only the streaks of escaping light in the sky matched Wang Yu's stereotype; they were either rolling black mist or towering blood light.

The flying Magical Artifacts they controlled were varied: skull heads, spinal bone swords, yin corpse clouds, paper-man sedan chairs, coffin pillar of spiritual energys, and so on. A large number of Foundation Establishment cultivators traveled back and forth in the sky.

Qi Refining Cultivators were much simpler; they basically all used a piece of black cloth, which should be a standardized Magical Artifact uniformly issued by the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect.

Wang Yu's heart burned with fervor. As long as he could get access to Cultivation Techniques, what did it matter if he was a Demonic Cultivator? He had no discrimination or preference for power; as long as it was useful, there was no difference.

Since the Demonic Cultivators had bribed the Cultivators stationed at Black Mountain Pass, he felt they wouldn't let them die directly; at the very least, they would have to create their due value.

There was no stop.

The black-robed Demonic Cultivator led them to the foot of the third peak from the left. The environment here was distinctly different from the base of the Nine Peaks and was enclosed, with Cultivators guarding everywhere.

“Brother Xu, you’re finally back. This time, you only brought a hundred people?”

Upon hearing this, the leading black-robed man finally took off his hood, revealing an old face crisscrossed with wrinkles.

“There’s no choice; the Spiritual Vein in Shi Lake City is too poor, so naturally, it produces far fewer Cultivation seeds. If we went to Qianqiu City, there would be at least five hundred Ling Nus.”

“Count them and take them all down.”

Ling Nu?

Unable to hear any more of the conversation, Wang Yu's cart was pulled to a group of stone houses. After their shackles were removed, they were released.

A plump, chubby middle-aged fat man spoke in a sinister tone.

“My surname is Duan; you can call me Manager Duan.

“From today onwards, you are Ling Nus of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect. You cannot leave a single step until you have repaid your ‘purchase money.’

“If you perform well, it’s not impossible to shed your Ling Nu status and become an Outer Sect Disciple of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect. Work hard.”

Manager Duan spoke for a while, explaining nothing, then left. Wang Yu's group of Mortals, who had not yet stepped into the threshold of Cultivation, were naturally powerless to resist.

Following the order, he moved into Stone House number eighty-three.

Beds, tables, chairs, stools… all furniture was complete, and there was also a small partitioned toilet. The bedding and square pillows were made of good quality brocade, no worse than the Wang family's living standards.

Although the windows and doors could be opened, they were fitted with iron bars, allowing only hands to pass through, just like a prison.

Not long after.

A Reverse Spirit Blood Sect Disciple walked along the path, throwing a basketball-sized cloth bag into each stone house he passed. He soon reached Stone House number eighty-three, gave Wang Yu an identical item, and walked away without a word.

Opening the cloth bag.

The first things that caught his eye were food and a water skin. Twenty steamed buns were still warm. Having not eaten today, Wang Yu was already very hungry and ate five in one go.

The filling had both meat and vegetables, savory and palatable, with a rich flavor, and each was thin-skinned and generously filled, even better than those made by the pastry chefs in Shi Lake City.

This kind of treatment gave Wang Yu more expectations for the status of a Ling Nu. After all, they were Cultivators, even Demonic Cultivators were not the savage, blood-drinking monsters depicted in novels and biographies. Stereotypes must be avoided!

As long as there are people, there are desires. To put it more directly, Demonic Path Cultivators are actually a group of Cultivators who take extreme and shortcut paths. Their desires are stronger, and material enjoyment is more prominent than that of the Righteous Path, and they are not ashamed to express it.

Even the treatment of a Ling Nu was better than what most ordinary people experienced in their homes.

Besides today's food, there were also two books inside, one thin and one thick.

The thin one recorded a lot of common knowledge about the Cultivation world, explaining the rules here and what Ling Nus needed to do.

It also marked a “purchase money” target for everyone, upon achieving which, they could be transferred to become an Outer Sect Disciple of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect.

Wang Yu pondered each point carefully, committing them deeply to memory.

First written were the rules of the Shiwu Area.

【One: Daily from Mao Shi to Si Shi (5 AM to 9 AM), for two hours, twenty Qi Refining Cultivators will be responsible for answering questions.】

Whether it was questions about Cultivation or illiteracy, all could be answered. This was also the only time slot Ling Nus could leave the stone houses daily.

【Two: After breaking through to Qi Refining First Layer, Ling Nus must consume their own Cultivation to condense one liang of spiritual sand each month and hand it over to any Manager in the Shiwu Area.】

This clause was the true value of Wang Yu and others.

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Spirit Stone are the essence of heaven and earth formed by the natural sedimentation of Spiritual Qi gathering places between heaven and earth. The higher the grade of the Spiritual Vein, the more likely it is to produce associated Spirit Stone ore veins.

There are four grades: Low, Middle, High, and Supreme grade, which are also the most widely circulated currency in the Cultivation world. Due to high consumption, the output from ore veins alone is far from sufficient.

Thus, the role of Ling Nu came into existence.

If a Cultivator is willing to damage their own Cultivation, they can also manually create Spirit Stone, essentially printing their own money.

Early-stage Qi Refining Cultivators can only condense . Each liang of spiritual sand is equivalent in price to one Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

The Spiritual Qi, which is incredibly pure for Qi Refining Cultivators, appears impure and chaotic to Foundation Establishment cultivators. Therefore, the higher the level, the higher the price of the Spirit Stone.

【Three: Once a Ling Nu has repaid one hundred Spirit Stone of “purchase money,” they can apply at the Manager’s office to become an Outer Sect Disciple of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect.】

The Spirit Stone referred to here are naturally Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

Converting at the value of one liang of spiritual sand equaling one Spirit Stone, in the most ideal state, it would take 100 months to repay, over 8 years. If you add the time for learning and entering the Dao and Breakthrough, it would be at least 10 years.

“I won’t be able to pay it off until I’m 26…”

Closing the booklet containing a large amount of common knowledge about the Cultivation world, Wang Yu took a deep breath, exhaling it after a long time.

Although the living conditions were good, when it came to Spirit Stone and wealth, he didn't believe the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect would be so kind. Theoretically ten years, but in practice, it could take twenty years.

As for the other thick booklet, it was the Qi Refining Stage Cultivation Technique given by the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect. It generously provided nine layers, allowing one to Cultivate up to Qi Refining Great Perfection.

This gave all Ling Nus a psychological comfort, as if to say, “We have high hopes for you.”

With the most desired item right before him, Wang Yu abandoned all unrealistic fantasies. This was the main base of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, where their sect gate was located. Even though the Shiwu Area was remote, there were many Cultivators stationed there.

The probability of escape was negligible. The only way out was to comply with the Blood Sect's rules and become an Outer Sect Disciple; only then would there be a possibility of freedom.

Even if it was just a pie, he had to strive for it and move forward; there was no other way!

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