Zhao Chun channeled her True Qi and slowly stepped inside. Fortunately, a Cultivator did not need their eyes to see; even in the darkness, she could clearly perceive her surroundings. She did not know how long she had been walking.
It was like being submerged in an ocean of Spiritual Qi, except this was an ocean of blood, forcing Zhao Chun to seal her Dantian to prevent this strange and evil Spiritual Qi from polluting her Spiritual Foundation. The secret passage was incredibly narrow, only allowing one person to walk through.
And that was only because Zhao Chun was relatively slender; a taller, broader man would probably have to walk sideways. The path was calm and windless, yet the chill grew ever more intense. When she reached the end of the passage, a short stone door appeared before her.
Zhao Chun tried to push it, but to no avail. She discovered the door had long been sealed with layers upon layers of Formation Patterns. Zhao Chun coated her hand with True Qi and touched the stone door, but the Formation Patterns were incredibly sturdy.
Even her Crimson Gold True Qi could not break them. Moreover, the door only had Formation Patterns but no Formation Eye. Zhao Chun did not understand the way of Formations, but she knew that unless one started from the Formation Eye, the only other way was to use a profound Cultivation Base to break it by brute force.
For both of these methods, however, she was willing but lacked the power. Just as she felt disheartened, the flame in her Dantian leaped upon her Spiritual Foundation. Zhao Chun understood its intent and said softly, “You want to give it a try?”
After getting her permission, the flame instantly appeared at her fingertip. The moment it ignited, the surrounding sinister chill completely dissipated, and Zhao Chun could finally let out a sigh of relief. The flame drifted over to the stone door, where it suddenly split open a large mouth and devoured the layers of Formation Patterns.
The more it ate, the more brilliant the flame became. Only after the Formation Patterns had completely vanished did it fly back to her Dantian with a tremble and settle upon her Spiritual Foundation, like a child sitting limp and digesting after a full meal.
Zhao Chun only felt a warmth spreading through her body and sensed no harm, so she turned her attention back to the stone door. With the Formation Patterns broken, the stone door was no longer an obstacle. With just a light push, it fell inward.
She bent down and entered, and the view before her instantly opened up! Iron chains extended from four sides, connecting to a dark red stone platform in the middle. Below was a bottomless abyss, and the sky-filling bloody aura rose from it.
Zhao Chun walked across the iron chains to the high platform. On the platform was only a small table piled with five or six Jade Slips. Beside the Jade Slips were many small Life Gu orbs, already stiff and dead.
It was only upon stepping onto this platform that she realized the dark red color under her feet was entirely from being soaked in blood. The evil karma here was immensely profound! She took out the Jade Slips and examined them carefully.
“Yang Water Sect Disciples, three. Used one, the rest discarded.”
“Yang Water Sect Disciples, six. Used two, the rest discarded.”
“Yang Water Sect Disciples, eleven. Used five, the rest discarded.” ...
“Yang Water Sect Disciples, thirty-two. Used thirteen, the rest discarded. This sect values Life Gu, not Spiritual Roots. Discarding many and using few is not suitable.”
With that, she finished one Jade Slip. Zhao Chun’s expression was grave as she picked up another.
“Green Toad Sect Disciples, two. Used two.”
“Upper Province Sect Disciples, three. Used two, the rest discarded.” ...
“Spring Breeze Sect Disciple, one. Used one.”
Zhao Chun put down the third Jade Slip after reading them in succession. Only two remained. The first one read: “Outer Sect Disciples, seventeen.
Used twelve, the rest discarded.”
“Outer Sect Disciples, twenty-three. Used nineteen, the rest discarded.” ...
“Inner Sect Disciple Fan Haifeng, Water strong, Wood and Earth weak. Minor use.”
“Inner Sect Disciple Shang Fei, Water strong, Wood weak. Major use.” ...
“Inner Sect Disciple Shen Youzhen, Metal strong, Water weak. Minor use.”
Shen Youzhen!?
This was the person she had fought in the Dueling Assembly, who later went to the Hundred Sects Assembly. His was the first name Zhao Chun recognized. Reading further down, among several other unfamiliar names, were names she knew: Gan Yuan, Xia Shende…
Without exception, they were all Inner Sect Qi Refining, Dual Spirit Root Disciples! Further down, the last two names were, shockingly, Meng Han and Zheng Chenqing! A preposterous thought suddenly rose in Zhao Chun’s mind.
She immersed her consciousness into the last Jade Slip. It contained many complex Incantations and Heart Methods she had never seen before. However, a short note within sent a chill through her heart.
“With blood as the guide, steal and plunder the Spiritual Root, swap the sun and change the day, and the Great Dao is achieved.” — Sun-Swapping Spirit-Stealing Grand Art This was the very Evil Art that she and Meng Han had seized from the Everglow Sect’s Abandoned Disciple, Yue Zuan!
Zhao Chun recalled Jiang Yun once saying, "Recently, disciples have often perished outside the sect. Elder Qiu has been leading Foundation Establishment Cultivators to patrol a hundred-li radius, so she hasn't had much free time to duel with you." Sect Disciples disappearing one after another, and the patrol outside the sect was something Qiu Jianying volunteered for.
That's right.
Who in the sect could hunt disciples without anyone knowing? Who could set up such a place in the shadows? And who… lacked a sufficient Spiritual Root and needed this Secret Technique to supplement it!
It had only been a few years since she and Meng Han presented the Secret Technique. In these few years, who knows how many disciples had lost their lives at her hands!
“Is that you?”
Zhao Chun immediately turned around and saw a person with disheveled hair and a face covered in filth and blood, standing on a narrow stone ledge on the cliff wall of the abyss below.
“Benefactor!”
He pushed aside his messy hair, revealing a familiar, round face.
“You’re the Hong Family’s steward, Xiao Shuang?”
How tenacious a Cultivator's memory was. Zhao Chun recognized him in an instant. Xiao Shuang nodded and gestured for Zhao Chun to come over, revealing a hidden cave entrance behind him.
He was but a Mortal, posing little threat. Zhao Chun did not sense any malice from him, so she grabbed the Jade Slips and leaped towards the cave entrance. Xiao Shuang said softly, “She won’t find you here.
Benefactor can hide with peace of mind.” The moment Zhao Chun entered, she understood. It turned out to be a Spirit-Severing Land, a place devoid of Spiritual Qi, which naturally blocked a Cultivator’s senses.
When Xiao Shuang said ‘she’ wouldn’t find her, he must have meant that Qiu Jianying’s Divine Sense could not penetrate this place. The cave was dark and damp. Inside, a person was lying on their back in a pool of blood.
Zhao Chun looked and cried out in shock, “Senior Brother Meng!” This person was tall and stout, with a fierce, black-faced appearance. It was none other than Meng Han, whom she knew well.
“She captured you and brought you in?”
Meng Han’s face was deathly pale. Looking at him, she saw that his Dantian had been shattered, a grievous injury! Seeing Zhao Chun enter, he hurriedly asked.
But then he saw that Zhao Chun was unharmed and asked doubtfully, “Junior Sister, you’re not injured? Could it be… could it be that Qiu Jianying has been captured by the Sect Master?” Zhao Chun frowned, shook her head, and said sorrowfully, “The Sect Master has passed away.
Qiu Jianying received the Sect Master’s help to advance to the Profound Division, then she abandoned the sect and has already left the True Spirit Sect. The sect is now suffering at the hands of the Yang Water Sect and is in danger of Sect Annihilation…”
“That’s about right… something she would do.”
Meng Han’s life was hanging by a thread. He forced himself to sit up. Catching sight of the Jade Slips in Zhao Chun’s hand, he twisted the corner of his mouth into a smile and said, “You’ve read them?
To think that the two of us actually became her accomplices.” Zhao Chun was speechless for a moment. After a long while, she tried to console him, “Senior Brother, you shouldn't think that way.
When a person is determined to do evil, it is difficult to stop them…” They had offered the Evil Art to the sect to prevent more innocent people from being harmed by it. Now, however, the outcome was the complete opposite of their original intentions.
The chains of cause and effect in this world, in the face of good and evil, only served to add to the absurdity and ridicule. The cave fell into extreme silence. Xiao Shuang stood quietly to the side, an unconcealable look of struggle in his eyes.
He suddenly touched a blood-stained jade plaque on his chest and spoke, “It’s not the fault of you two benefactors. She knew that evil person long ago.”
(End of this chapter)