Chapter 798: The Ruthless Sect's Initiation Test

The Emotionless Sect, whose members are said to be entirely without emotion, has extremely stringent recruitment conditions. As a result, they have the fewest disciples among the Four Demonic Sects.

Of course, regarding disciple numbers, they still can't compete with the Heavenly Court Sect, which was founded only two years ago but boasts a history of 400,000 years.

It's unclear whether the Emotionless Sect's philosophy truly holds some profound truth or if they simply possess other unique methods, but their disciples generally have higher cultivation levels.

"The Emotionless Sect's philosophy dictates that only those devoid of emotion and righteousness can attain the Great Dao and achieve supreme immortal status," Lu Yang explained, recalling information about the sect to his Patriarch. "To them, worldly relationships are shackles. Emotions like familial affection, love, and friendship are seen as poison; they are not to be touched. Even if such feelings exist, they must be severed as soon as possible." Patriarch Xiantian didn't know much about the Emotionless Sect, just as Lu Yang himself only knew the Immortal Sect by name when he first reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

Now, Lu Yang was different. Ostensibly, he maintained an excellent relationship with Dai Bufan, who managed intelligence. Covertly, by leveraging his identity as the Young Sect Master, he could gather a lot of information from both the Nine Nether Sect and the Blazing Sun Sect.

However, the Emotionless Sect was inherently exclusionary and treated the Nine Nether Sect and the Blazing Sun Sect with indifference. Thus, neither of those sects could provide a complete picture of the Emotionless Sect's affairs.

"That must be the Emotionless Sect's stronghold, right?"

Lu Yang and his companions were in a jungle. The two individuals they were tracking knocked on the bark of a large tree, were then absorbed by it, and vanished.

Through his divine sense, Lu Yang discovered that the tree was hollow inside, its roots serving as a passage that transported people to an underground cavern beneath them.

"This must be the fifth cultivator to enter underground," Meng Jingzhou transmitted to the other two. Unsure of the situation, they were observing. Besides the two cultivators who had just entered, three more had also entered the underground cavern individually.

"Then there's no mistake. Today is the Emotionless Sect's recruitment day," Patriarch Xiantian confirmed, certain he hadn't misheard. "I'll go down first."

"Wait, wait a moment!" Lu Yang quickly stopped Patriarch Xiantian. "My brother and I have some experience in this area. How about we accompany you down?"

Lu Yang was uneasy about Patriarch Xiantian going to the Emotionless Sect alone. Patriarch Xiantian thought for a moment and found Lu Yang's words reasonable; although his cultivation experience surpassed that of the two juniors, he couldn't compare to them when it to infiltration.

"Very well."

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou put on masks and altered their appearances. They suppressed their cultivation levels to that of early Foundation Establishment, ensuring that as long as there were no Soul Transformation stage cultivators in the Emotionless Sect below, their true cultivation would not be discernible.

The three companions, following the previously learned procedure, knocked on a specific piece of the giant tree's bark. A suction force drew them into the tree, and they slid down into the underground cavern.

"Oh, more people have arrived, and three of them?" The Emotionless Sect members, seeing Lu Yang and the two others, were somewhat puzzled. Normally, emotionless individuals rarely traveled together; two companions were rare, and three were even less common.

However, it wasn't unheard of, so they didn't harbor too much suspicion.

"Follow me," said the Emotionless Sect disciple guarding the entrance, his face expressionless.

Lu Yang observed the underground cavern with his peripheral vision. It looked as if a large restaurant had been buried underground. He wondered how long this stronghold had been established.

This area belonged to Ye City, so the stronghold's accurate name should be the Emotionless Sect's Ye City Branch. The Emotionless Sect disciple leading the way had a respectable cultivation level, on the verge of reaching the Golden Core stage.

Along the way, several other Emotionless Sect disciples were patrolling, all at the Golden Core stage. The disciple led Lu Yang and the two others to the deepest part of the underground cavern. By then, seven cultivators had already arrived, seeking to join the Emotionless Sect. Their cultivation levels varied, with some at the Golden Core stage and others as low as the third level of Qi Condensation.

However, judging by the Emotionless Sect's reaction, they didn't seem to place much importance on cultivation levels.

"'Three early Foundation Establishment cultivators, understood. You may leave,'" the cultivator responsible for selecting disciples said with a nod. His expression was cold, and his dead fish eyes made everyone he looked at seem like a corpse.

Lu Yang noticed he was the highest cultivated person there, at the Mid-Nascent Soul stage.

"How did you find this place?" the Mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivator asked.

Lu Yang replied in the same tone, "We followed some people here. The three of us have always wanted to join the Emotionless Sect, and now that we've finally found the opportunity, we came."

There was no need to lie about how they found the place; in fact, following others here was even more in line with the style of a demonic cultivator.

The Mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivator didn't respond to Lu Yang's answer, but the fact that he didn't drive Lu Yang away indicated he had no suspicions.

Or rather, he didn't need to suspect anyone at all; he only trusted the test results.

After Lu Yang, they waited another two hours. Seeing that no new cultivators wished to join the Emotionless Sect, the Mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivator coldly stated:

"Alright, no more waiting. Even if more people come, they are fated not to join our sect."

"My name is Niu Qianshan, and I am the master of this branch. Your purpose for coming here, it goes without saying, is to join our Emotionless Sect."

"Our sect does not care about your background or your cultivation. As long as you can be ruthless and emotionless, and follow the Path of Emotionlessness, you are all members of our sect."

Niu Qianshan took out a piece of yellow paper, on which was drawn a formation that Lu Yang couldn't understand. He motioned for his subordinates to distribute the yellow paper to all the cultivators.

"What a clever formation. The person who designed this set of formations is truly talented," Immortal Buxiu praised, a rare occurrence.

Niu Qianshan continued, "Our sect's initiation test is not as drawn-out and tedious as those of the Nine Nether Sect or the Blazing Sun Sect. Our test has only one item: to prove that you are ruthless and emotionless!"

"Next, what you need to do is sit in meditation on this yellow paper."

"After you enter meditation, the formation on the yellow paper will perceive your inner thoughts. It will identify the person closest to you in your heart – perhaps your parents, elders, or friends – and materialize them as an illusion."

"You will forget your current situation, forget that this is a test, and believe it to be reality. You must kill the person you see!"

As he spoke the last words, Niu Qianshan revealed a hint of madness and ferocity, his entire expression twisting.

To join the Emotionless Sect, he had personally killed his wife and children.

"Of course, considering that the illusion might have higher cultivation than you, making them difficult to kill, the person materialized by the formation will have a cultivation level equivalent to yours."

"The test begins!"

Niu Qianshan gave the order indifferently. Ten test-takers, including Lu Yang, sat in meditation on the formation. Being emotionless individuals with firm Dao hearts, they quickly entered a meditative state.

When Lu Yang awoke again, his mind felt chaotic, as if he had forgotten something. He quickly cleared his head with the help of Immortal Buxiu.

"I remember now," Lu Yang thought. "I'm participating in the Emotionless Sect's test, and I need to kill the person who appears in the illusion. Since I've already cleared my head, passing the test shouldn't be difficult."

Before Lu Yang could finish speaking, he saw two familiar figures walking towards him. One was Yunzhi, and the other was Huang Doudou.

"It would be a miracle if I could win this!"