Chapter 173: Breeding

"Yan Daoxiong, this business… the Jiushan Sect isn't taking it for now."

Zheng Fa rejected Yan Wushuang's sinister proposal.

The reason for refusal was simple:

The main reason was that Zheng Fa's goal was not to mass-produce spirit talismans, but to kill as many Demon Sect disciples as possible.

Capturing them alive for blood extraction yields more blood—but wouldn't that mean fewer dead Demon Sect disciples?

It didn't align with his purpose.

Besides, Demon Sect disciples are far too numerous to require artificial breeding…

According to Lin Bufan, the Great Freedom Demon Sect alone has over a hundred million people; if we apply the ratio of cultivators in the Xuanwei Realm, there must be at least several thousand to ten thousand cultivators.

Considering the Blood Ancestor's unique lineage, the number could be much higher.

Only if the Demon Sect dwindles to just a handful of individuals would Zheng Fa consider establishing a Demon Sect cultivator sanctuary…

Ultimately, the market for spirit talismans is far from limitless; even with the current bounties alone, Master Pang worries the talismans' price will drop.

The seal imprint hasn't solved the problems of spirit paper and spirit ink—no matter how much blood the Demon Sect disciples provide, it's useless.

Hearing Zheng Fa's refusal, Yan Wushuang's face showed disappointment; after a moment's thought, he said, "Sell it cheap."

"…"

This man is truly broke!

"Yan Daoxiong, it's truly impossible. If my Jiushan Sect had that many Demon Sect disciples, we'd have nothing else to do."

Zheng Fa sighed.

Breeding also requires cost.

Moreover, this is far more likely to incite the hatred of the Demon Sect than simply buying blood—Master Pang probably wouldn't dare raise them himself.

Yan Wushuang nodded, as if he understood.

He asked again: "What about the previous bounty—still valid?"

"Of course."

Watching Yan Wushuang depart, Zheng Fa turned to see Lin Bufan's expression was off.

"What's wrong?"

He asked.

"Young Master, I came to you of my own accord—I didn't ask for spirit stones," Lin Bufan suddenly said. "Could you ask Li Nuo to draw even more blood from me?"

"…"

Wait, now even this is getting competitive?

…

In the Five Dragon Heavenly Palace, Master Pang rarely set aside his games—but though his face showed nothing, his spiritual sense had been fixed on Zheng Fa's room.

These past days, Zheng Fa's spiritual energy fluctuations during cultivation had grown increasingly violent, showing signs of breakthrough.

He couldn't help but pay closer attention.

Now that the marketplace has issued that bounty, it might truly anger the Great Freedom Demon Sect; Zheng Fa's role isn't a complete secret, and he feared someone might ambush Zheng Fa.

In Zheng Fa's room, spiritual energy surged and receded like tides, finally forming a small vortex.

Master Pang's face broke into a faint smile: Zheng Fa's foundation was solid, his breakthrough fast yet stable—he was now advancing even faster than Zhang Shijie had at the same stage, far surpassing his own disciples.

Thinking of this, he swept his spiritual sense across the other disciples of the Five Dragon Heavenly Palace.

Several of his disciples happened to be passing near Zheng Fa's small pavilion, having noticed the breakthrough phenomenon.

One disciple said:

"Has Zheng Shidi broken through? Isn't he already at Qi Refining Ninth Layer?"

The other disciples nodded quietly, all silent, their faces tinged with gloom.

Master Pang watched, inwardly reassured: though his disciples couldn't match Zheng Fa, they still had some sense of shame—Zheng Fa's presence would surely spur them to try harder in cultivation.

"Too slow…"

He heard one disciple break the silence.

"?"

Master Pang's face showed confusion: Zheng Fa had advanced from entry to Qi Refining Ninth Layer at a pace among the fastest in Jiushan Sect; at this rate, he might even reach Foundation Establishment faster than Zhang Shijie.

Yet his own disciple claimed Zheng Fa cultivated too slowly?

To his surprise, the other disciples also nodded in agreement.

That disciple continued: "Why can't Zheng Shidi reach Foundation Establishment this year, Golden Core next year, and Nascent Soul the year after—then take over as Sect Master?"

"…"

Master Pang twitched his lips.

Wait, why is your dream protagonist someone else?

Yet at that moment, he saw several other disciples sighing as well.

"No need to wait for Nascent Soul—once he forms his Golden Core, he might already shoulder the Sect Master's duties; then the Discipline Court would be under his control!" one disciple mused softly. "Then, at least nominally, we could follow Zheng Shidi."

Discipline Court…

Isn't the Discipline Court under my control?

Once he understood what his disciples were truly hoping for, Master Pang's gaze turned toward Zheng Fa's courtyard—

Where's the Nascent Soul of the Great Freedom Demon Sect?

Are you all turtles?

So patient!

…

In the Lei Chi, most Great Freedom Demon Sect disciples had yet heard of the bounty.

A few of them huddled together, cautiously advancing through the Lei Chi.

"Senior Brother, how much longer must we patrol?"

A young disciple asked a middle-aged man beside him.

The middle-aged man, clearly their leader, shook his head: "Our secret realm has been exposed; our superiors ordered us to be careful—don't let anyone sneak in."

"Superiors… they're so powerful, still afraid of them?"

"No matter how powerful, haven't they cowered in this secret realm for tens of thousands of years? The Holy Ancestor hasn't appeared—our Holy Sect can't fight the Immortal Sects." The middle-aged man shook his head. "Without the Lei Chi, the Immortal Sects would've stormed our realm long ago—perhaps even great cultivators are watching nearby."

"Great experts… aren't they just sending us to die?"

The disciple muttered, clearly dissatisfied.

"What are we? Great experts don't even look at us…" the middle-aged man chuckled. "Besides, they dare not enter the Lei Chi."

"But what about the Immortal Sect disciples?"

Hearing this, the middle-aged man laughed silently, as if amused by the youth's naivety.

Seeing his expression, the disciple's face flushed with resentment.

But he dared not speak.

Perhaps bored with patrol, the middle-aged man answered his question again: "You think the outside world is like our secret realm."

"Outside, there's been peace for a thousand years; those Immortal Sect disciples, though they control an entire realm, have no ambition. Think of our secret realm—every day brings conflict; who among us didn't walk out of piles of corpses?"

"... enior Brother, you mean?" The disciple's eyes lit up.

"I'll tell you this: apart from cultivation levels, those Immortal Sect disciples outside are all cowards—none compare to our Holy Sect disciples in battle!" The middle-aged man's tone brimmed with pride. "Though our realm's emergence was unexpected, I see it as our great opportunity! If we stayed inside, fine—but now we've come out, we'll show them the might of our Holy Sect!"

"Especially here in the Lei Chi—those feeble Immortal Sect disciples won't even dare come here; if they do, and we encounter them, won't they just deliver spirit stones and treasures to us?"

"Immortal Sects—ha! The trials we've endured, how could they ever understand? I've heard from senior brothers outside that most Immortal Sect disciples are weak-willed, unfamiliar with combat—they're no match for us… Had the Holy Ancestor appeared, we'd have already swept the world."

The other Demon Sect disciples agreed, finding this reasonable.

Their faces all showed anticipation.

"Watch out!"

One disciple suddenly raised an alarm.

The middle-aged man tensed, tilting his head back just in time to dodge a silver flash.

"Who!"

Feeling the icy sting on his earlobe, he roared angrily.

"Who!"

To his surprise, someone in the shadows roared back.

"Wasn't it agreed we'd ambush together and split the spoils?"

He turned toward the voice—and dozens of eyes, like tigers and wolves, fixed on him.

The silver flash returned to the hand of an old man with a goat's beard; he smiled sheepishly and whispered, "With spirit stones at stake, I got excited… hand slipped."

The Demon Sect middle-aged man felt he understood, yet truly understood nothing.

Looking again, he realized they'd been surrounded.

Nearly twenty unknown cultivators encircled them from all sides.

Their gazes made the middle-aged man feel like prey among tigers and wolves.

Beside him, the disciple who had asked earlier spoke with trembling voice: "Senior Brother… you said the outside world had known peace for ages—how come these people look even fiercer than us?"

The middle-aged man felt the same…

"Remember! Don't rush to extract blood—someone's assigned to handle it; we'll split the spoils later!" one of the encircling cultivators shouted.

The next instant, a rain of attacks descended upon them.

……

The middle-aged member of the Great Freedom Demon Sect, covered in wounds, fled desperately toward the secret realm's entrance.

He felt a flicker of relief—though these outsiders were numerous, their cultivation bases were uneven and their battle experience lacking.

It had allowed him to escape the encirclement with his life.

But one thing puzzled him—these people showed little interest in killing, yet were intensely fascinated by their blood.

Some were even deliberately collecting the blood spilled from their wounds…

As he fled back, he noticed even stranger signs—

At some point, the area had become filled with many cultivators.

Whether alone or in groups, their goal was uniform:

The disciples of the Great Freedom Demon Sect!

He had already seen many fellow disciples killed.

This made him even more terrified.

Just as he neared the secret realm's entrance, a voice came from behind his side.

"Huh? Another one?"

A tall, imposing figure flew toward him.

What chilled him was that the man held in his hand another disciple of the Great Freedom Demon Sect.

The middle-aged man activated the Heavenly Demon's Absolute Shadow technique to escape.

Unexpectedly, the man vanished in a flash, transforming into lightning and blocking his path, then struck with a palm.

Lightning crackled in the man's palm, striking him and instantly paralyzing his entire body, leaving him utterly powerless to resist.

The middle-aged man collapsed into the man's grasp; before losing consciousness, he heard the man muttering.

"Zheng Daoxiong doesn't want to raise them—can't I?"

"Two should be enough. Draw blood every other day—they'll live a long time. If they starve to death, just capture more."

"Still fresh."

Hearing this, the middle-aged man's vision darkened—he finally understood why those other cultivators had acted that way.

He shut his eyes, lips and corners of his mouth trembling, desperate to scream:

Are outsiders really this cruel?

Who the hell is the real demon sect?