Chapter 296

Just then—

Footsteps sounded from outside the blood pool, drawing nearer.

The five exchanged a glance, realizing something was wrong.

"Ying Wuji, you leave the blood pool first!" Cang Li said decisively on the spot.

No further words were needed; they already shared an understanding.

Xiao Lingwei, Cang Li, Xue Jin and Yao Linglong shielded Ying Wuji from the blood‑colored roots, enabling him to exit the blood pool.

At the instant Ying Wuji successfully escaped the blood pool, Xiao Lingwei and the others were all ensnared by the blood‑colored roots, their limbs bound, and they were submerged in the blood pool.

At the same time, a faint yet clearly audible footstep sound approached from afar.

Thump, thump, thump.

Each step felt as if it were stepping on a person's heart.

Ying Wuji turned, glanced at them in haste, paused not a moment, and instantly slipped behind the shabby cage in the corner.

Several figures stepped into the blood‑scented secret chamber.

Leading them was a gaunt‑faced, sharp‑chin, sunken‑eyebrow, dark‑skinned middle‑aged man, whose stature was slightly shorter than the guards behind him.

The middle‑aged man's sharp gaze swept over the "new blood slave" in the blood pool.

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

He stepped to the edge of the blood pool, looked down at Xiao Lingwei and the others, noted their skin was strikingly beautiful, and with a mocking curl of his lip said, "It's a pity to be a blood slave."

"Which faction are you from?" the middle‑aged man asked.

Cang Li shouted, "If we tell you, will you release us?"

The middle‑aged man replied, "I might consider it, reluctantly."

Cang Li snorted coldly, soaked in the blood pool, strained his neck outward, and arrogantly declared, "We are disciples of the Carefree Sect! My master is the Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord; if he finds out you dare treat us like this, he will skin you, break your bones, and send you to hell."

Upon hearing the title "Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord," the middle‑aged man's smile vanished instantly.

Immediately, he looked at Cang Li with a contemptuous stare.

"From the beginning of this year until now, how many people like you have claimed to be disciples of the Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord?" the middle‑aged man sneered, "You are the sixty‑sixth. The number of those trying to escape under his name is countless, and your lie is full of holes."

Cang Li: "…"

He frowned and said, "They are false, but we are real!"

The middle‑aged man mocked, "How could the Six Sons of the Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord be as foolish as you?"

At that, Xiao Lingwei and Xue Jin's faces darkened.

Cang Li was startled, "They're not as clever as you think, are they?"

The middle‑aged man thought they were merely faking identities and had no interest in further idle chatter, so he raised his hand in a gesture.

Quickly, the burly guards leapt into the blood pool, rushed straight toward them, and forcibly snatched the storage rings from their hands.

When the storage rings landed in the middle‑aged man's hand, he sneered instantly, his tone thick with contempt.

"Wearing such low‑level storage rings and still daring to pose as a disciple of the Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord? I even say I'm the father of the Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord!"

"If you're dissatisfied, give it back to us!" Cang Li said indignant, "And you think you can be the father of the Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord—what a dream. You want to lick his shoe soles, but the Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord wouldn't even allow it."

As soon as those words were spoken, Xiao Lingwei and Xue Jin fixed a death‑like stare on Cang Li.

"Don't tarnish the master's reputation," Xiao Lingwei said coldly.

Xue Jin said, "And moreover, we'll pull out your tongue."

Knowing he was at a loss, Cang Li forced a dry laugh and said, "Pull his then."

Hearing their exchange, the middle‑aged man squinted slightly, uncertain, his attention drawn to Xue Jin's pink‑white hair; he seemed to recall that the fourth of the Six Sons of the Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord, Xue Jin, possessed such hair.

Throughout the Ninth Province, there was only this one person.

His heart leapt suddenly.

Could their identities actually be genuine?

"Why are you here? Also to find the true culprit behind the Water Mirror Immortal Academy's massacre?" he asked cautiously, intending to probe them.

Seeing his attitude had softened, Cang Li said, "Actually, we…"

Before he could finish, a Guard rushed in, whispered a few words into the middle‑aged man's ear, causing the Third Hall Officer's expression to change slightly.

The Third Hall Officer, unable to concern himself with whether Cang Li's group's identities were genuine, hurried out.

Before exiting the chamber, he told the Guard, "Do not move the newly arrived blood slaves; keep a close watch on them."

If those individuals truly are disciples of the Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord, they must not be killed.

And they absolutely cannot be kept!

They are from a renowned orthodox sect, yet they are demonic cultivators.

Orthodoxy and evil stand opposed.

These individuals came here, presumably for the Water Mirror Immortal Academy affair.

Tomorrow night's auction is extremely important and cannot be compromised because of these people, so they will be detained for a few days; after the auction ends, he will interrogate them thoroughly about their identities.

"Did Jia Jinggen really die?" the Third Hall Officer's expression shifted, and he asked in a deep voice.

"It's true."

"Then Jiang Xiao truly became lawless!" the Third Hall Officer's face darkened; he had some acquaintance with Jia Jinggen, but did not expect him to die at the hands of that kid Jiang Xiao.

Jiang Xiao is the adopted son of Jiang Gaohan, the ruler of the Two Provinces.

In these Two Provinces, there are not only demonic and devil cultivators, but also spirit cultivators who had committed crimes abroad and were not accepted, and these spirit cultivators all pledged allegiance to Jiang Gaohan.

As for most demonic and devil cultivators, they also serve under the Blood Slave Field Master Huyan Cheng.

It can be said that the Two Provinces are overseen by Jiang Gaohan and Huyan Cheng.

The Third Hall Officer pondered whether to first inform the Field Master about the suspicion that those in the blood pool might be disciples of the Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord.

If those few people aren't the ones, wouldn't they be punished?!

Three years ago, a brat dared to impersonate the disciple of the Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord; they didn't examine carefully and just brought that brat before the Field Master.

The Field Master stared at the brat's eyes, like a deep pool, complex and profound.

This was not because of the brat himself, but because of the identity he was impersonating.

The Field Master then snorted coldly: "He even accepts this kind of trash?"

Under the Field Master's near-terrifying intimidation, the brat still revealed a flaw, and in the end the brat was dismembered to death.

And these hall officers, too, suffered severe punishment because of this.

After receiving punishment, he once heard the Senior Hall Officer say: Field Master Hu Yan Cheng and the Thousand Mountain Immortal Lord were outstanding among their peers; at that time Hu Yan Cheng had not yet fallen into the demonic path, and he had originally obtained the Heavenly Pride Token, but on the night before entering Tian Jiaocheng, the token was snatched away by another Heavenly Pride, causing him to lose the chance to enter Tian Jiaocheng……

The Third Hall Officer's thoughts reached this point; he secretly reflected, feeling that his actions must be more cautious and careful.

Otherwise, if the Field Master loses reason due to fury, the first person he would slap to death would be him.