The Dark Shaman Cult Headquarters, buried deep underground in The Hundred Thousand Mountains.

  In a secret chamber at the lowest level of the subterranean palace, a massive blood pool dozens of feet wide boiled violently, bursting with sickly sweet, nauseating bubbles. Sitting cross-legged in the center of the pool was an emaciated, middle-aged rogue cultivator covered in cryptic, dark green totems. This was the Cult Master of the Dark Shaman Cult, Wu Li.

  Wu Li’s eyes were closed, his shriveled chest heaving like a bellows. With every breath, a thread of pure blood-qi from the pool was drawn into his orifices.

  "This Core Formation of mine... the realm is still unstable!"

  Wu Li's eyes snapped open, a ghostly green fire erupting in his pupils. Thinking back, he had merely been a no-name rogue cultivator in Miaojiang. By pure luck, he had stumbled upon a torn, ancient parchment named "The Heavenly Divination" on the edge of a primordial ruin.

  He couldn't understand the world-shaking divination arrays recorded on the fragment, but relying on the vicious nature of a Miaojiang rogue cultivator, he twisted the text, misinterpreting it into a supreme, sinister method of "Blood Sacrifice Spirit Extraction."

  Using this dark art, he founded the Dark Shaman Cult single-handedly. But he knew that relying solely on hunting cultivators would eventually draw the righteous sects of The Central Continent down on his head. So, he turned his sights to the isolated, peaceful mortal villages on the outskirts of The Hundred Thousand Mountains.

  Using the most malicious methods imaginable, he planted the "Mother Gu" inside his own heart and scattered countless "Child Gu," silently infecting the mortal bodies of the Miaojiang natives who had lived there for generations. These locals became his captive "human medicinal gardens," providing a ceaseless flow of raw life force.

  As the villagers worked from sunrise to sunset, fighting off the miasma, the meager vitality generated within their bodies was siphoned away by the Linked Mother-Child Gu, flowing directly into this underground blood pool. The mortals simply believed the harsh environment of the mountains shortened their lifespans. They had no idea that, for generations, they were nothing more than flesh-and-blood cauldrons fueling this old demon's cultivation!

  "But that force during the day... the one that forcibly extracted the evil qi from the Child Gu... what was it?" Wu Li frowned slightly. A moment later, a greedy, sinister sneer twisted his face. "Whatever it is, once I throw that chubby kid carrying the Child Gu's scent into the blood pool, the secrets in his body, along with his essence blood, will all become fertilizer for my Golden Core!"

  ...

  Meanwhile.

  The dungeon of the Dark Shaman Cult was carved deep into the earth. Rusted iron cages hung from the stone walls.

  Xu Nan, Su Wan, and Yan Zheng were locked inside, surrounded by over a dozen emaciated rogue cultivators in neighboring cages. They were all "human livestock," waiting to be refined into medicine once the Cult Master emerged from seclusion.

  They had been locked up for a full day.

  The dungeon saw no sunlight. Her spiritual energy sealed, Su Wan huddled in a corner, her usually arrogant face now masked in despair.

  Until the dead of night on the second day.

  BOOM!

  The heavy stone doors of the dungeon were violently smashed to pieces from the outside by a tyrannical artifact!

  Through the billowing dust, a young aristocrat dressed in a luxurious, Ice Silkworm silk robe and holding a jade-bone folding fan stormed in, radiating murderous intent and flanked by four Foundation Establishment shadow guards.

  "Which blind southern barbarian dared to touch Xie Changyuan's woman?!"

  Hearing this, Su Wan's cheeks flushed red. She snapped her head up, her eyes wide with disbelief.

  Looking at this notorious Central Continent degenerate, her mind uncontrollably flashed back to their first meeting at the "Immortal Gazing Tower." Back then, Xie Changyuan had been fanning himself, staring at her like a dazed idiot. His peach-blossom eyes had locked onto her until she blushed, and there had even been a shameless, disgusting trail of drool hanging from his mouth!

  Everyone in the aristocratic circles of The Central Continent knew the eldest Xie son's rotten reputation. The private rumors were filthy—whispers that he had built a water dungeon beneath his estate. Rumor had it his favorite pastime was using artifacts woven from millennial Ice Silkworm silk to bind and suspend female cultivators, whipping and abusing them day and night with salt-soaked leather. A complete, psychotic sadist.

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  Whether the rumors were true or not, Su Wan had once wanted to gouge this degenerate's eyes out. But now, seeing the frantic anxiety on Xie Changyuan's face, seeing that he actually dared to force his way into this deadly demon's den just for her... Su Wan felt that maybe the gossip was just gossip. Besides staring at her, Xie Changyuan had never actually done anything out of line; he had always been polite. For the first time, a soft ripple broke through the ice in her heart.

  This perverted degenerate covered in rumors, she concluded silently, actually has some guts.

  However, he only looked cool for about three seconds.

  A massive, defensive poison array erupted from the depths of the dungeon. Over a dozen black-robed Enforcers swarmed out. The four Xie Family shadow guards were instantly bogged down by the poison array, barely able to defend themselves.

  Half an hour later. Covered in bruises, his priceless Ice Silkworm robe torn into rags, Xie Changyuan was kicked in the ass by an Enforcer and humiliatingly tossed into the same iron cage as Xu Nan.

  "Aiyo, Young Master Xie, that robe took quite a beating. You must have lost at least three thousand Mid-grade Spirit Stones in depreciation right there," Xu Nan sighed, looking at the cash cow he had "summoned." The abacus in his head was clattering wildly.

  Xie Changyuan spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, wincing in pain. He turned and glared at Xu Nan. "You fat bastard! I gave you a three-hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stone retainer before you left! I told you to protect Wan-er even if it killed you! Is this how you protect her?! By squatting in an iron cage?!"

  "Young Master Xie, even blood brothers keep transparent accounts." Xu Nan shifted his weight, found a comfortable position, and shot back with absolute self-righteousness. "You get what you pay for! Those three hundred spirit stones were a deposit for 'ensuring Senior Sister Su is still breathing when you arrive.' The contract did not include the premium service of 'over-leveled combat against a near-Core Formation evil sect'! Besides, you dropped in from the sky with Foundation Establishment guards, and now you're squatting in the cage with us! You want a refund? The word doesn't exist in Xu Nan's ledger!"

  "You money-grubbing animal!" Xie Changyuan trembled with rage, pointing his broken fan at Xu Nan. "If I die here, my ghost will haunt you every night and tear up your ledger!"

  Right as they were bickering, two black-robed Enforcers stepped out from the shadows outside the cage. Their eyes locked precisely onto Xu Nan's round face.

  "The Cult Master is about to emerge. Drag this fatty with the Child Gu scent out. Gut him, drain his blood, and prep him as the medicinal primer!"

  The mercenary smirk froze instantly on Xu Nan's face. Before he could even yell for mercy, a Spirit-Locking Chain was slapped around his neck, and he was dragged out of the dungeon like a dead dog.

  Yan Zheng's eyes turned bloodshot. He fought back desperately, ignoring everything else, but an Enforcer slammed a palm into the back of his head, knocking him unconscious on the floor. Xie Changyuan, cursing furiously in a panic, was also kicked into unconsciousness.

  ...

  Inside the torture chamber, the stench of blood was suffocating.

  Xu Nan was pinned hard against the altar. A cold, bone-cleaving knife was raised high into the air.

  Just as the blade was about to fall...

  Thwip! Thwip!

  Two bloody holes appeared perfectly in the centers of the two Foundation Establishment Enforcers' foreheads. They collapsed softly to the ground without even a scream.

  A mysterious figure wearing a wooden mask appeared out of thin air. With one hand, he snapped the Spirit-Locking Chain around Xu Nan's neck. With the other, he casually tossed out a small, black-awning skiff patterned with flowing silver runes.

  "The Streamlight Shadow-Escaping Skiff." The mysterious man's voice was deep and resonant, carrying a strange familiarity that set Xu Nan at ease. "The Cult Master has formed his Golden Core and will emerge immediately. Take this and leave. Now."

  With that, the mysterious man dissipated into the torture chamber like a wisp of smoke, as if he had never been there.

  Xu Nan gripped the Shadow-Escaping Skiff, standing behind the door of the torture chamber.

  Ahead was the path to life. Behind was a dead end.

  He rubbed his temples in frustration, the iron abacus in his head spinning out of control.

  If I run now, I net a premium flight artifact for free. This is a guaranteed win. I recover my principal and make a massive profit...

  But the moment he closed his eyes, he saw A'Jiao's broad back—mangled by machetes but standing firmly in front of him. He saw Yan Zheng, silent as an iron tower, throwing his life away to protect him. He even saw that unlucky bastard Xie Changyuan, terrified of death but still charging in headfirst to save a girl.

  "Dammit!"

  Xu Nan violently spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his face settling into a hard resolve.

  "That foolish Miaojiang girl took a blade for me for nothing. I despise owing a debt of flesh and blood! Even if I bankrupt this entire venture and lose my underwear, I'm pulling them out of there today!"

  Relying on his monstrous memory and flawless logical deduction, he drugged the patrolling guards outside, stripped off a black robe, and threw it over himself. Blending naturally into a patrol squad, he bypassed the underground traps and miraculously snuck his way back into the dungeon.

  He repeated the process, drugging the dungeon guards, swiping the keys, and unlocking the iron cage.

  "The boss who sold me this knockout powder is an honest merchant. I have to leave him a five-star review and bring him some traffic," Xu Nan muttered to himself as he pulled antidote pills from his robes, forcefully waking the unconscious group.

  "Xu Nan?!" Su Wan opened her eyes, staring in shock at the fatty who had returned.

  "Save the chatter! Everyone follow me! The debt collector is here to collect!" Xu Nan hissed, hauling Xie Changyuan and Yan Zheng to their feet.

  Hidden in the shadows, the female assassin Jiang Yue watched the fatty—who hadn't run away, but had actually dived back into a death trap. For the first time, her cold, emotionless eyes swelled with profound shock.

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