Entering the Tiger’s Den

“Today, not a single one of you vile fiends is leaving this place alive!”

Qin Lin stood with his white robes billowing, like a divine being descending upon the mortal world.

The overwhelming spiritual pressure pouring from him shattered every bluestone slab across Qingshui Town’s square, splitting them apart like cracked tortoise shells.

The Blood River Sect elder on the platform felt as though a mountain had slammed into his chest.

He coughed up a mouthful of black blood, his legs trembling uncontrollably.

Staring fixedly at Qin Lin’s unfathomable face, his eyes filled with boundless terror.

“S-Such terrifying foundations… W-Who exactly are you?!”

Seeing that the elder’s Dao Heart was on the verge of collapse, the eldest disciple, Yu Ruyan, excitedly raised her rusty firewood cleaver.

The Sword Bone within her body hummed sharply as she prepared to charge forward and begin a massacre.

Just then, at that critical instant—

The world-destroying spiritual pressure surrounding Qin Lin suddenly vanished without a trace, retracting as swiftly as a whale drawing in the sea.

Calmly clasping his hands behind his back, he lifted his chin slightly.

He looked down at the elder with utter disdain, as though he were nothing more than an insignificant ant, before letting out a contemptuous sneer.

“A mere branch of the Blood River Sect in some backwater frontier, and you can’t even recognize an Inspector Envoy of the Netherworld Holy Hall from Central Province?”

“The Myriad Blood Formation you’ve laid here has an unstable formation core, scattered baleful energy, and countless flaws.”

“It is nothing short of a disgrace to the Holy Sect!”

Silence instantly swallowed the entire square.

Yu Ruyan froze with her cleaver still raised.

Luo Youmeng froze as well.

Even the Blood River Sect elder stood rooted to the spot.

“An… An Inspector Envoy from the Holy Hall of Central Province?”

The elder scrutinized Qin Lin uncertainly.

It was common in the cultivation world for superior sects to dispatch envoys to inspect their subordinate branches.

But this coincidence was simply too unbelievable.

Even so, the horrifying pressure Qin Lin had just displayed was undeniably real.

If not for one of the ancient demonic holy lands of Central Province with ten thousand years of heritage, who else could possibly cultivate such a monster?

Without the slightest hesitation, Qin Lin strode forward.

With absolute arrogance, he thrust both hands out.

“What are you all standing there for?”

“I concealed my identity precisely so I could investigate the state of your branch.”

“This formation is riddled with flaws, and your sect’s laws are little more than decorations.”

“Immediately bring your strongest Profound Iron chains, bind this seat, and escort me into your underground death prison.”

“I intend to personally witness just how rotten the internal affairs of your Blood River Sect have become!”

The elder was completely overwhelmed by Qin Lin’s domineering attitude.

In the cultivation world, the strong devoured the weak, and hierarchy was absolute.

Moreover, the mere tip of the iceberg Qin Lin had revealed was already enough to crush everyone present.

“T-Then… if you truly are a Holy Envoy from the superior sect… forgive this offense!”

“Men!”

“Escort the Holy Envoy… to the dungeon!”

The elder wiped the cold sweat from his brow.

Still half convinced and half suspicious, he decided to have Qin Lin and his two disciples bound with Profound Iron chains and imprisoned in the sect’s deepest secret dungeon until the Sect Master emerged from seclusion to make the final decision.

Half an hour later.

Nine hundred zhang beneath the Blood River Sect.

Profound Class Underground Palace Death Prison.

“Master!”

“You looked like the invincible ruler of heaven just now, so why did we suddenly volunteer to lock ourselves inside this pitch-black prison?”

Yu Ruyan stomped her feet angrily.

Looking at the heavy, icy Profound Iron chain around her wrist, she complained bitterly,

“This stupid chain hurts!”

“That old thief outside was already scared out of his wits.”

“Couldn’t you have just slapped him to death?”

“Why come all the way here just to suffer like this?”

“I haven’t even gotten to eat my Beggar’s Chicken yet!”

Luo Youmeng remained quiet, but confusion and disappointment filled her cold phoenix eyes.

“Master.”

“If we can’t win… we could’ve just run.”

“There’s no shame in that.”

Ignoring both of his disciples’ protests, Qin Lin sat cross-legged on the only Grand Master’s chair inside the cell.

It was covered with the hide of a spirit beast.

Using his identity as the Holy Envoy, he had forcibly ordered the jailers to move it into the prison earlier.

Outwardly, he remained as steady as a mountain.

Inside, however, he was on the verge of tears.

‘You think I didn’t want to slap him to death?’

‘The decades’ worth of pure spiritual power inside my sea of consciousness has never even been used to practice the most basic Fire Control Art.’

‘That burst of pressure alone already consumed thirty percent of my true essence.’

‘If we’d actually started fighting, my bluff would’ve fallen apart within three moves!’

Though inwardly panicked, Qin Lin’s expression only became even more inscrutable.

“A sparrow can never comprehend the ambitions of a swan.”

He let out a cold laugh, his eyes blazing.

“Ruyan.”

“Other than stuffing your face and picking fights, when will you ever grasp the true principles of the Great Dao?”

“The blood formation outside has already been activated, with hundreds of ordinary people trapped within it.”

“If I had forcefully destroyed the formation from outside, that elder would’ve detonated its core in desperation.”

“The entire town would’ve been reduced to ashes in an instant.”

Dusting off his white robes, he turned toward Luo Youmeng and spoke earnestly.

“Youmeng.”

“I’ve taught you before.”

“The greatest chess players never compete openly.”

“This is called entering the tiger’s den and pulling the firewood from beneath the cauldron.”

“The Blood River Sect has stood for centuries.”

“Their foundations run deep.”

“Since we’re already here, do you think we’re simply going to rescue the people and leave?”

“What we want…”

“…is to bring all of their cultivation techniques, pills, spirit stones, and treasures under the banner of the Wentian Sect.”

“We are not prisoners.”

“We are hunters who have lured the wolves into our own trap.”

“The two of you need only cultivate peacefully here.”

“Consider this a trial your master has arranged.”

“When the time comes, I will not only save the common people…”

“…I will uproot the Blood River Sect completely.”

The moment those words, brimming with far-reaching strategy, left his mouth, Yu Ruyan immediately understood.

“Ohhh!”

“So Master has his eyes on their treasury!”

“As expected, your methods are brilliant!”

Luo Youmeng furrowed her delicate brows thoughtfully.

She carefully traced Qin Lin’s line of thinking, attempting to comprehend the supreme mysteries hidden within his grand strategy.

Qin Lin secretly let out a sigh of relief.

His consciousness sank into his sea of consciousness, where the mysterious scroll remained faint and translucent.

[Accumulating Creation Energy…]

[Time remaining before comprehending Taiyi Infinite Sword Art (Fragment): Thirty-six hours.]

He only needed to endure three more days.

Once he had mastered the sword art, the deaths of these demonic cultivators would be at hand.

Deep into the night, the underground palace was deathly silent.

Only the soft drip… drip… of water seeping from the stone walls echoed through the darkness.

Yu Ruyan and Luo Youmeng had both entered meditation despite the miserable surroundings.

Qin Lin leaned against the stone wall with his eyes closed, resting quietly.

Suddenly, he sensed a frigid, sinister aura silently spreading through the cracks beneath the earth.

“Hehehe…”

A crazed young woman’s laughter suddenly drifted from behind the neighboring wall.

The several-foot-thick bluestone barrier was densely covered with intricate demon-suppressing talismans.

Qin Lin’s eyes snapped open.

Before entering the prison, he had overheard a terrified jailer mention that the neighboring death cell imprisoned the Blood River Sect’s true Holy Maiden.

She had been born with a Demonic Bone.

However, after cultivating a forbidden technique, she had suffered cultivation deviation, becoming bloodthirsty and completely insane.

She had nearly devoured even her own Sect Master alive.

She was an incomparably dangerous demoness.

“What wonderfully sweet spiritual energy…”

The sickeningly obsessed voice seemed pressed directly against the stone wall.

Qin Lin could even hear the shrill scraping of claws digging violently into the bluestone.

“Big Brother smells so good…”

“So much better than those filthy Blood River Sect trash outside…”

“A hundred times better…”

“A thousand times better…”

Qin Lin’s heart sank.

His immense spiritual power was perfectly pure, untouched by even the slightest worldly impurity.

To a demoness who had succumbed to cultivation deviation, it was the greatest heavenly medicine imaginable.

Scrrrrch… Scrrrrch…

The scraping grew louder and louder.

The demoness was actually digging through the wall with nothing but her fingernails.

“Don’t worry, Big Brother…”

“Once I cut open your chest…”

“I’ll see whether your Dao Heart is just as delicious as your true essence…”

Bang!

A fist-sized hole was suddenly punched straight through the stone wall of Qin Lin’s prison cell.

Beyond the pitch-black opening…

A single eye, bloodshot and consumed by utter madness, stared fixedly at Qin Lin.

Within that gaze surged an obsessive hunger, one that longed to devour him down to the marrow of his bones.