Chapter 61: Examiner

Lu Yang regretfully shook his head after several attempts with Qin Yuanhao’s storage ring. "It's a pity. This storage ring can only be opened by Qin Yuanhao himself. It's useless to us. Forcibly opening it would scatter its contents, making them impossible to find again."

"Let's check his house; we might find something there," Lu Yang said, motioning for the other two to leave.

The servant ghost who had lured Qin Yuanhao here followed behind them. Mangu thought the servant ghost had done a good job and decided to reward it with two lamb skewers. Theoretically, if the skewers were burnt to a crisp, the servant ghost could eat them. Whether the servant ghost would get to eat properly grilled lamb skewers or burnt ones remained to be seen in practice.

Qin Yuanhao's residence was sparsely decorated. Living there alone, it felt empty, devoid of life.

The three entered the training room. Besides a single jade statue, there were only two rows of bookshelves, fully packed with cultivation techniques and secret manuals. The jade statue had indistinct facial features, wore a long robe, and its gender was indistinguishable.

"This must be the Immortal Deity, the object of the Immortal Cult's faith," Meng Jingzhou said, circling the statue twice. The statue's material was far superior to ordinary ones, but its likeness was very poor. What kind of statue wasn't meant to be lifelike?

"Water Avoidance Technique, Array Formation Fundamentals, Sword Moves and Counter-Moves... these are all relatively common techniques, found on the first floor of our Scripture Pavilion." Lu Yang ran his hand over the textured spines of the books, enjoying the feeling.

"Common Ways to Curry Favor with Superiors, Scheming and Infighting Among People... what a jumble of nonsense."

Lu Yang picked up a random book, which turned out to be "Common Ways to Curry Favor with Superiors." Its corners were dog-eared, showing Qin Yuanhao had flipped through it many times.

"Method One: Become a family member of your superior. Depending on your age and abilities, you can target the superior themselves or their children." Qin Yuanhao had noted beside it: "The Branch Leader never removes their mask, their identity is unknown, their gender is unknown, they are impossible to approach, and marriage is out of the question."

"Method Two: Offer treasures. Flashy treasures make the giver seem equally flashy and are generally disliked. It is recommended to give your superior understated yet expensive gifts." Qin Yuanhao's note read: "Took out a loan to buy a jade chair for the Branch Leader. Hope it works."

"Method Three: Develop interests. Pay attention to your superior's interests and cultivate shared interests." Qin Yuanhao's note read: "The Branch Leader's interest is fishing. I went fishing with the Branch Leader and caught more fish than they did. I hope the Branch Leader doesn't get jealous of my talent."

"Method Four...""Method Five..."

Qin Yuanhao had put a lot of effort into currying favor with the Branch Leader, but his efforts didn't yield much.

"It seems even getting by in the Demonic Cult is difficult," Lu Yang remarked with amusement.

However, thanks to Qin Yuanhao's notes, Lu Yang gained a basic understanding of the Branch Leader and the various deacons.

"Within the Yanjiang Branch, the hierarchy from lowest to highest is: ordinary members, deacons, and the Branch Leader. There are many ordinary members, ranging from Qi Condensation to Foundation Establishment stages, and they rarely come into contact with the Immortal Cult's secrets."

"Only by passing an assessment can a Foundation Establishment cultivator become a deacon. The entire Yanjiang Branch has twelve deacons. With Qin Yuanhao's death, eleven remain."

"The Branch Leader's identity is unknown, their cultivation is at the Golden Core stage, though their specific level is unknown, and they enjoy fishing."

Besides these, the trio also found scattered spirit stones and a few spell manuals that clearly weren't for orthodox cultivators, such as hypnotism and bedchamber arts, which were hardly worth mentioning.

"Let's go. Time to prepare for the Demonic Cult trial nine days from now."

***

At the border of Yanjiang County, countless taciturn cultivators moved through the dense forest. Dappled light patches fell on their expressionless faces, making them appear somewhat sinister. Each cultivator kept a considerable distance, wary of one another, secretly poised for action, ready to ambush at the first sign of weakness, hoping to reduce the number of competitors.

They were all demonic rogue cultivators who had learned about the trial location through various channels and had arrived early at the Yanjiang Branch. Under the suppression by the orthodox sects, their living space was continuously shrinking. To acquire more resources, they had to seek refuge with a large organization, and the Yanjiang Branch became their primary objective. Previously, one could only join the Demonic Cult through a deacon's recommendation, which required bribing the deacons. This time was different; everyone had a chance, making it a rare opportunity to join the Demonic Cult, unprecedented in thirty years.

An hour before the trial was set to begin, most of the demonic rogue cultivators had arrived.

"Look, isn't that Chi Xulong, who slaughtered entire families overnight, didn't even spare a mouse, and then casually drifted away in plain sight!" A brawny man held the leg bone of an unknown demonic beast, looking like a savage. His skin was bronze, his muscles bulged, his arms were covered in scars, and he grinned, revealing two fangs that resembled wolf teeth.

Chi Xulong was highly renowned among demonic rogue cultivators. He was arrogant and domineering in his actions, had survived multiple deadly encounters, and even gained breakthroughs during combat. He became fiercer with each battle and was unkillable even after a hundred fights!

"Chi Xulong, I didn't expect to see you here," said a pale scholar, fanning himself with a paper fan, teasing Chi Xulong.

Chi Xulong scoffed, "Heh, Shen Jinyi, what are you, a teacher, doing here instead of at your academy? Nobody here needs your lessons!"

"What? He's Shen Jinyi, who specifically opened academies to teach people how to kill?!" someone gasped upon hearing Chi Xulong call the pale scholar by his name, backing away a bit.

Shen Jinyi was indeed a teacher, but what he taught was not the classics of Confucian cultivators, but efficient and discreet methods of killing. He had cultivated countless assassins and was a ruthless individual whose name alone struck fear into the hearts of demonic rogue cultivators. Despite Shen Jinyi's smiling, seemingly frail appearance, if he were truly angered, one wouldn't even know how they died!

"Assassins? They're just a bunch of cowards who don't dare to show their faces." A cold smile played on the lips of a bladesman who carried a blade as tall and wide as a man, showing no regard for Shen Jinyi, the assassin.

Shen Jinyi was about to retort but swallowed his words when he saw the bladesman's true face, gritting out only a few words: "Yi Zhanghong!"

"Why are you calling for your grandpa?" Yi Zhanghong dismissed Shen Jinyi's murderous gaze with disdain and spat.

Some demonic rogue cultivators widened their eyes. These were truly famous figures in the demonic path who had gathered here. "It's Yi Zhanghong, who ensures blood within a 'zhang' (approx. 3.3 meters)! Rumor has it he's unmatched in close combat; even half-step Golden Core stage masters are unwilling to easily confront him!"

Besides these three, many other notorious villains were present. They were listed on official bounties with high rewards, but no one dared to cross them, fearing they would be counter-killed. As these villains gathered, others, considering their own cultivation insufficient, stood far away, not even daring to speak loudly.

Suddenly, the appearance of three individuals drew everyone's attention. One carried a sword on his back and walked in the middle; the one on his left seemed like a Confucian cultivator, holding a Sage's Discourse; and the one on his right had a brilliant smile on his face, like a madman. The trio remained silent, looking straight ahead, disregarding everyone else. They completely ignored the demonic rogue cultivators, exuding an extremely powerful aura.

"Who are they? Do you know them?""No, but they seem to have a significant background."

The three walked directly through the crowd to the very front, muttering something about "Immortal Deities" or similar phrases. They then opened a stone wall, pretending to take out tables, chairs, and benches from its other side, but actually retrieving them from a jade pendant.

Chi Xulong and the others pondered, "They can open the stone wall; they seem to be members of the Demonic Cult."

Once seated, the person with the sword on his back cleared his throat twice, drawing everyone's attention. He declared loudly, "I am Lu Yang, and these two are Meng Jingzhou and Mangu. We are the examiners for this selection. The Immortal Cult disciple selection officially begins now. Please line up and state your personal information."