Chapter 183: A Renowned Figure

"What do you want?" the Hu brothers stammered, trembling like sieves.

Deputy Cult Master Jin smirked. "Do you know who we are?"

"N-no, we don't," they stammered.

"You don't even know who we are? You deserve to die!"

"No, no, no, we do know who you are!" the Hu brothers quickly replied.

"Since you know who we are, then you can't be spared!"

The three brothers were on the verge of tears, wondering if they should have known their identities or not.

Deputy Cult Master Jin stopped toying with the Hu brothers and effortlessly crushed them to death.

The three brothers were merely a minor interlude on their journey back.

After the flying boat traveled for a while longer, several powerful auras enveloped it, ranging from Half-Step Soul Transformation to early Soul Transformation stages.

"The Hu brothers were supposed to contact us at a fixed point, but they didn't this time. Only you passed by during that period. Did you kill my subordinates?" The eldest brother of the Hu family sought revenge for the three.

Lu Yang mused, "Is this what they call 'beating the younger one brings out the elder'?"

Lu Yang had long heard of such legends: a young hero performs righteous deeds, defeats a bully, then the bully's father appears; defeats the father, then the bully's grandfather appears; defeats the grandfather, then the bully's great-grandfather appears—generation after generation, endlessly.

This 'Foolish Old Man Moving Mountains' spirit deeply moved Lu Yang.

Needless to say, the Hu brothers' eldest brother was also effortlessly crushed to death by Deputy Cult Master Jin.

After the flying boat traveled for some more time, even more powerful auras than before enveloped it.

"So it was you who killed..."

Deputy Cult Master Jin interrupted, "...Are you never going to stop?"

As a mighty cultivator of the Integration stage, he could not tolerate repeated provocations. He decided to finish it once and for all, directly raiding their stronghold and wiping out the bandits' lair completely.

When the flying boat returned to headquarters, Deputy Cult Master Jin was holding a brocade banner, looking utterly resigned.

The brocade banner was issued by the authorities, so no one suspected Deputy Cult Master Jin belonged to a demonic cult. After all, which demonic cult would eliminate scourges for the people?

When the cult members learned of this, they whispered amongst themselves, filled with admiration for Deputy Cult Master Jin.

"As expected of the Deputy Cult Master! To get a brocade banner from the righteous path, he truly plays both sides—his influence reaches everywhere!"

"Exactly! I heard that before joining the demonic cult, Deputy Cult Master Jin was a well-known figure on the righteous path!"

Lu Yang was quite surprised to hear this. "So Deputy Cult Master Jin was famous on the righteous path too?" he quickly asked. "He has such a background? What did the Deputy Cult Master do on the righteous path?"

"He was a night watchman."

"So, Deputy Cult Master Jin could control time when he was on the righteous path, right?" Lu Yang managed to utter this after a long pause.

The cult member Lu Yang was talking to looked at him in surprise. "That's an idea no one has ever thought of!"

This cult member ran to Deputy Cult Master Jin and told him Lu Yang's idea, which greatly pleased the Deputy Cult Master. He found Lu Yang and praised his expansive thinking.

"What a great idea! From now on, I'll tell people that I was once a renowned figure on the righteous path and that I could even control the time of an entire city's population!"

For those in the demonic path, the most important thing is to tell the truth while also describing themselves as impressively as possible.

Although Lu Yang had caused trouble during the initiation test he designed, that was all in the past. Now, Deputy Cult Master Jin found Lu Yang increasingly pleasing to the eye.

Because the flying boat had been delayed en route, most of the Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation geniuses from various regions had already arrived. Lu Yang and his two companions were among the last to arrive.

Lu Yang disregarded the Qi Condensation stage geniuses, as none of them posed a threat. He focused his attention on the Foundation Establishment stage geniuses.

From the introductions of passersby, he learned about several of the most renowned Foundation Establishment stage geniuses.

"Look at that monk in monastic robes, with a beard and hair, holding a golden alms bowl. He's called the Wine-and-Meat Monk. I heard he originally had the chance to enter the Hanging Temple, one of the Five Great Immortal Sects, but he resolutely gave up that opportunity and made a boundless vow to find the path to Buddhahood by himself!"

"And the one next to him with the saber, could that be Gu Zha, the rumored Saber Demon? Rumor has it his demonic saber is extremely strange. The moment the blacksmith finished forging it, the demonic saber floated in the air and killed the blacksmith. Several subsequent wielders of the demonic saber were backlashed by it, even Soul Transformation stage cultivators were no exception. Only Gu Zha has been able to use it until now!"

"The most formidable one is Yan Fei. Everyone says he's a genius personally trained by the Cult Master. He excels at drawing talismans. He even used talismans to trap several Golden Core stage cultivators, toying with them, tormenting them, and finally killing them with extremely cruel methods!"

Needless to say, all three of these individuals were at the late Foundation Establishment stage.

Lu Yang sent a telepathic message to his two companions: "Let's not get close for now, and pretend we don't know each other. We don't know the test content yet, so we'll decide whether to form a team depending on the situation."

Only the Cult Master and a few other high-ranking officials knew how deeply ingrained Lu Yang's group's demonic nature was. None of these Foundation Establishment stage geniuses had ever heard of Lu Yang and his companions.

The Cult Master appeared in the air, standing with his hands behind his back, his expression cold, and announced the rules of the competition.

Everyone noticed a mark appearing on their hand. The mark had a number '1' in the center, and they didn't know when it had appeared.

"For this test, you may kill each other freely. When you kill someone, you will gain the number on their mark."

"The one with the highest number on their mark will be the ultimate victor, and the ultimate victor will receive the blessing of the Immortal of Immortality."

Everyone present showed fervent expressions. Except for Lu Yang and his two fake followers, everyone else genuinely believed in the Immortal of Immortality. Receiving the Immortal of Immortality's blessing was the highest reward in the Immortal Cult.

"Foundation Establishment stage cultivators will form one group, and Qi Condensation stage cultivators will form another. Each group will have one winner, and the test period will be two days."

Lu Yang thought, "As expected of a demonic cult! The test is simply killing. Aren't they afraid of wiping everyone out and having no fresh blood?"

The Cult Master waved his sleeve. Without any room for resistance, everyone vanished from their spots and reappeared in a dense forest.

"This place is a forest from the Great Yu era. It contains various rare spiritual treasures. You may both fight each other and seek opportunities here to achieve breakthroughs."

"Remember, the Immortal of Immortality is watching you." The Cult Master stressed this point to everyone, though only Lu Yang understood the true meaning.

"The competition begins now."

After announcing the start of the competition, the Cult Master respectfully asked the Immortal of Immortality why he chose those to be possessed in this manner. "Wouldn't it be simpler to choose based on innate talent directly?"

The Immortal of Immortality smiled kindly. "My child, what do you think it takes to become a supreme powerhouse? Is it a single spiritual root? An immortal physique? None of that matters."

"Even if someone has a useless physique, as long as this immortal wills it, I can possess them and cultivate them to the Tribulation Transcending stage, or even to become an immortal."

"The most important thing is their compatibility with this immortal."

"In a trial of life and death, one's potential is best revealed. What this immortal needs is for them to display themselves as much as possible. Through observation, this immortal will choose the lucky individual with the highest compatibility."

The Cult Master asked again, "Does the one with the highest compatibility have any particular features?"

"Simply put, whoever this immortal finds pleasing to the eye."

"Then, do I please your eye?"

"This immortal finds you the most displeasing."

"But I am your most devout follower!" the Cult Master cried out in injustice.