Lu Yang held Qin Yuanhao's storage ring and shook his head regretfully after trying a few times. "What a pity, this storage ring can only be opened by Qin Yuanhao himself. Even if we have it, it won't help us. Forcing it open will just make the contents lost forever."
"Let's go check his house. Maybe we can find something useful," Lu Yang suggested, leading the two of them out.
The ghost that had tricked Qin Yuanhao followed behind. Man Gu thought the ghost did a good job and decided to reward him with two skewers of lamb. In theory, if the lamb skewers got burnt, the ghost would still be able to eat them.
As for whether the ghost would get the well-cooked skewers or the burnt ones, that would have to be proven through practice.
Qin Yuanhao's house had little decoration. Living alone, it felt empty and lifeless. The three of them arrived at the training room, which contained only a jade statue and two rows of bookshelves filled with various cultivation manuals.
The jade statue had a blurry face and wore a long robe, making it hard to tell if it was male or female.
"This must be the belief of the Immortal Sect, the Immortal Master," Meng Jingzhou said as he walked around the statue. The statue was made of better material than ordinary statues, but its likeness was lacking.
Who wouldn’t want their statue to look lifelike?
"‘Water Avoidance Technique,’ ‘Introduction to Formations,’ ‘Sword Techniques Unraveled’… these are all pretty common cultivation techniques. You could find them in the first floor of our scripture repository," Lu Yang said, running his hand over the spines of the books. He really enjoyed the feeling of his fingers gliding over the uneven surfaces.
"‘Common Methods to Please Your Superior,’ ‘Human Nature,’ ‘Scheming,’ what a mess."
Lu Yang casually picked up a book titled "Common Methods to Please Your Superior." The corners were worn, showing that Qin Yuanhao had read it many times.
"Method One: Become a Family Member of Your Superior. Depending on your age and abilities, you can target your superior or their children."
Qin Yuanhao noted on the side: The leader never removes their mask, identity unknown, gender unknown, cannot approach, cannot marry.
"Method Two: Offer Treasures. Flashy gifts make the giver seem flashy and unlikable. It’s better to give your superior low-key but expensive gifts."
Qin Yuanhao noted: Loaned the leader money to buy a jade chair, hoping it works.
"Method Three: Cultivate Interests. Pay attention to your superior’s interests and develop the same ones."
Qin Yuanhao noted: The leader enjoys fishing. I went fishing by the river with the leader, and I caught more fish than they did. I hope the leader isn’t jealous of my talent.
"Method Four…"
"Method Five…"
Qin Yuanhao was very dedicated to pleasing the leader, but the results weren’t great.
"It seems that life in the Demon Sect isn’t easy either," Lu Yang remarked with a chuckle.
Thanks to Qin Yuanhao's notes, Lu Yang gained a simple understanding of the leader and the various stewards.
"In the Yanjiang Sect, the hierarchy from low to high is: ordinary members, stewards, and the leader. There are many ordinary members, ranging from the Qi Refining stage to the Foundation Building stage, and they rarely get access to the secrets of the Immortal Sect."
"Only through assessments can Foundation Building members become stewards. There are twelve stewards in total in the Yanjiang Sect. With Qin Yuanhao dead, there are now eleven left."
"The leader’s identity is unknown, has Golden Core stage cultivation, specific level unknown, and enjoys fishing."
Besides that, the three also found some scattered spirit stones and a few spell books that clearly didn’t belong to the orthodox path, like hypnosis and bedroom techniques, which weren’t worth mentioning.
"Let’s go. We need to prepare for the Demon Sect examination in nine days."
…
At the border of Yanjiang County, countless silent cultivators moved through the dense forest. Dappled sunlight fell on their expressionless faces, creating a somewhat eerie atmosphere.
Each cultivator kept their distance from one another, wary and ready to strike. The moment they sensed someone else relaxing, they would attempt a sneak attack to reduce the competition.
They all learned about the examination location through various channels and rushed to the Yanjiang Sect ahead of time.
Under the pressure from the orthodox sects, their space for survival kept shrinking. To gain more resources, they had to rely on large organizations, making the Yanjiang Sect their top target.
In the past, joining the Demon Sect required a recommendation from a steward, which meant bribing them.
This time was different; everyone had a chance. It was a rare opportunity to join the Demon Sect in thirty years.
An hour before the examination started, many rogue cultivators had gathered.
"Look! Isn’t that Chi Xulong, who wiped out a whole family overnight without sparing even a rat, leaving gracefully in front of everyone?"
A burly man held a leg bone of an unknown beast, looking like a wild man with bronze skin, bulging muscles, and arms covered in scars, grinning to reveal two wolf-like teeth.
Chi Xulong was very famous among rogue cultivators for his arrogance and boldness. He had survived multiple killings and even leveled up during battles, becoming braver with each fight.
"Chi Xulong, didn’t expect to see you here," a pale scholar waved a paper fan, teasing him.
Chi Xulong snorted coldly, "Hmph, Shen Jinyi, you’re a teacher. Why aren’t you in the classroom? What are you doing here? No one needs you to teach here!"
"What? He’s the Shen Jinyi who runs a school teaching people how to kill?!" Someone gasped when they heard Chi Xulong call the scholar by that name, backing away a bit.
Shen Jinyi was indeed a teacher, but he didn’t teach Confucian classics; he taught efficient and secretive killing methods.
He had trained countless assassins and was a feared figure among rogue cultivators.
Don’t be fooled by Shen Jinyi’s smiling and frail appearance; if you anger him, you wouldn’t even know how you died!
"Assassins? Just a bunch of cowards who don’t dare to show their faces," a swordsman with a blade as tall as a person smirked, looking down on Shen Jinyi.
Shen Jinyi was about to retort when he caught sight of the swordsman’s true appearance, forcing the words back down. He only managed to squeeze out a few words through clenched teeth: "Yizhanghong!"
"Why are you calling me grandpa?" Yizhanghong scoffed at Shen Jinyi’s murderous gaze, spitting on the ground.
Some rogue cultivators widened their eyes. The people coming here were all notorious figures: "Isn’t that Yizhanghong, who guarantees bloodshed within ten feet? It’s said he’s unbeatable in hand-to-hand combat, and even half-step Golden Core experts don’t want to face him lightly!"
Besides these three, many other notorious villains arrived. They were well-known in the government with high bounties on their heads, but no one dared to provoke them for fear of being killed in return.
These villains gathered together, and the others, feeling their own cultivation was lacking, stood far away, lacking even the courage to speak loudly.
Suddenly, three figures caught everyone’s attention. One walked in the middle with a sword on their back, while one on the left seemed like a scholar holding a book of sayings, and the one on the right wore a bright smile, looking a bit crazy.
The three remained silent, staring straight ahead, completely ignoring the rogue cultivators around them, exuding a powerful aura.
"Who are they? Do you know them?"
"I don’t know, but they seem to have a significant background."
The three walked straight through the crowd to the front. Finally, they murmured something about "Immortal Master" and opened a stone wall, pretending to take out tables and chairs from the other side, but in reality, they pulled them out from a jade pendant.
Chi Xulong and the others pondered, "They can open the stone wall, they must be from the Demon Sect."
After sitting down, the one with the sword coughed a couple of times, drawing everyone’s attention.
He then said loudly, "I’m Lu Yang. These two are Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu. We are the examiners for this selection. The selection for the Immortal Sect members begins now. Please line up and provide your personal information."
(End of Chapter)