Chapter 65: Examiners

Lu Yang held Qin Yuanhao’s storage ring, tried a few times, and then shook his head in regret.

"What a pity. This storage ring can only be opened by Qin Yuanhao himself. It’s useless for us to have it. Forcing it open will only cause the space inside the ring to be exiled into the void, making it impossible to find again."

"Let’s go check his house; we might find something," Lu Yang said, signaling the other two to leave.

The vengeful spirit that had lured Qin Yuanhao over followed behind. Man Gu felt the vengeful spirit had done a good job and decided to reward it with two lamb skewers—theoretically, if the lamb skewers were burnt, the vengeful spirit could eat them.

As for whether the vengeful spirit would end up eating properly grilled lamb skewers or burnt ones, that would have to be proven through practice.

Qin Yuanhao’s residence had little decoration. Living here alone, it felt empty and lacked vitality.

The three of them arrived at the practice room. Aside from a jade statue, there were only two bookshelves, packed full of cultivation techniques and secret manuals.

The jade statue had a blurred face and wore long robes, making it impossible to distinguish its gender.

"This must be the object of the Immortal-Immortal Sect’s faith, the Immortal Immortal." Meng Jingzhou circled the statue twice. The material of this statue was far superior to ordinary ones, but the likeness was quite poor.

Who makes a statue that isn't lifelike?

"Water-Avoiding Technique, array formation basics, sword move dissection... these are all quite common techniques. You could find them on the first floor of our Scripture Pavilion." Lu Yang’s hand slid across the spines of the books; he quite liked the feeling of sliding his fingers over the uneven surfaces.

"Common Methods to Flatter Superiors, Human Hearts, Schemes and Intrigues—what a mess."

Lu Yang picked one up at random; it was indeed *Common Methods to Flatter Superiors*. Even the corners of the book were curled, showing that Qin Yuanhao had flipped through it many times.

"Method One: Become the superior’s family. Depending on your age and ability, you can set your target as the superior, or the superior’s children."

Qin Yuanhao had left a note on the side: The Branch Master never takes off the mask. Identity unknown, gender unknown. Cannot get close, cannot marry.

"Method Two: Offer treasures. High-profile treasures will make the giver seem high-profile as well, which is not pleasing. It is recommended to give the superior low-key and expensive gifts."

Qin Yuanhao had left a note on the side: Took out a loan to buy the Branch Master a jade chair. Hope it works.

"Method Three: Cultivate interests. Pay attention to the superior’s interests and cultivate the same interests as the superior."

Qin Yuanhao had left a note on the side: The Branch Master’s interest is fishing. I went fishing by the river with the Branch Master, and I caught more fish than the Branch Master. I hope the Branch Master isn't jealous of my talent.

"Method Four..."

"Method Five..."

Qin Yuanhao had put a lot of effort into flattering the Branch Master, but the results were not great.

"It seems it’s not easy to get by inside the Demonic Sect either," Lu Yang remarked with a chuckle.

However, it was precisely thanks to Qin Yuanhao’s notes that Lu Yang gained a simple understanding of the Branch Master and the various deacons.

"Inside the Yanjiang Branch, from low to high, they are: ordinary sect members, deacons, and the Branch Master. There are many ordinary sect members, ranging from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment. Ordinary members rarely get to touch the secrets of the Immortal-Immortal Sect."

"Only by passing an assessment can one become a deacon at the Foundation Establishment stage. The entire Yanjiang Branch has twelve deacons; now that Qin Yuanhao is dead, eleven remain."

"The Branch Master’s identity is unknown, cultivation is at the Core Formation stage, specific cultivation level unknown, likes fishing."

Besides this, the three of them also found scattered spirit stones and a few spells that didn't look like they were studied by righteous people, such as hypnosis and bedchamber arts—not worth mentioning.

"Let’s go. Time to prepare for the Demonic Sect trial in nine days."

At the border of Yanjiang Prefecture, countless taciturn cultivators moved through the depths of the dense forest. Mottled light spots shone on their expressionless faces, appearing somewhat eerie.

Each cultivator kept a great distance from the others, wary of one another, secretly gathering strength. Once they saw an opening, they would launch a sneak attack, aiming to reduce the number of competitors.

They were all demonic path practitioners who had learned of the trial location through various channels and had arrived at the Yanjiang Branch ahead of time.

Under the crackdown of the righteous path, their living space was constantly shrinking. To obtain more resources, they had to join a large organization, and the Yanjiang Branch became their primary target.

In the past, one could only join the Demonic Sect with a deacon’s recommendation, which required bribing the deacons.

This time was different; everyone had a chance. It was the best opportunity to join the Demonic Sect in thirty years.

One hour before the trial began, most of the demonic rogue cultivators had already arrived.

"Look, isn't that Chi Xulong, who slaughtered an entire family overnight, didn't even spare a mouse, and floated away in front of everyone's eyes!"

A burly man held the leg bone of an unknown demonic beast, looking like a savage. His skin was bronze-colored, muscles bulging, his arms covered in scars, and he grinned, revealing two teeth that looked like a wolf's.

Chi Xulong had a high reputation among demonic rogue cultivators. He acted arrogantly and domineeringly, had survived many killing tribulations, and even had the experience of leveling up during battle. He could be described as fighting harder the more he fought, never dying in a hundred battles!

"Chi Xulong, I didn't expect you to come here too." A pale-faced scholar fanned himself with a paper fan, teasing Chi Xulong.

Chi Xulong snorted coldly: "Heh, Shen Jinyi, you’re a schoolteacher. Why aren't you teaching in a school? What are you doing here? No one here needs your teaching!"

"What, he is Shen Jinyi, who specializes in opening schools to teach people how to kill?!" Someone heard Chi Xulong call the pale-faced scholar Shen Jinyi, whispered in shock, and moved further away.

Shen Jinyi was indeed a schoolteacher, but he didn't teach the classics of Confucianism; he taught efficient and secret methods of killing.

He didn't know how many assassins he had trained, and he was a ruthless person that even demonic rogue cultivators feared.

Don't look at Shen Jinyi’s smiling, frail appearance; if you really angered him, you wouldn't even know how you died!

"Assassin? Just a bunch of cowards who dare not show their faces." A swordsman carrying a broadsword as tall as a person curled his lips into a cold smile, not taking the assassin Shen Jinyi seriously.

Shen Jinyi was about to retort, but upon seeing the swordsman’s true face, he swallowed his words, only revealing a few words through his teeth: "Yizhang Hong!"

"Why are you calling your grandfather?" Yizhang Hong faced Shen Jinyi’s murderous gaze with disdain and even spat.

Some demonic rogue cultivators widened their eyes. The people coming today were all famous big shots in the underworld: "It’s actually Yizhang Hong, who draws blood within a yard! Rumor has it that his hand-to-hand combat is invincible, and even half-step Core Formation experts are unwilling to easily confront him!"

Besides these three, many other famous villains had come. They were on the government’s wanted list and had high bounties, but no one dared to provoke them, fearing they would be killed in return.

These villains gathered together, and others, feeling their cultivation wasn't enough, stood far away, not even daring to speak loudly.

Suddenly, the appearance of three people caught everyone’s attention. One carried a sword and walked in the middle; the one on the left looked like a Confucian scholar, holding the words of a sage; the one on the right had a bright smile on his face, like a madman.

The three were silent, looking straight ahead, ignoring everyone else, not taking these demonic rogue cultivators seriously at all. Their aura was extremely powerful.

"Who are they? Do you know them?"

"Don't know them. Looks like they have a big background."

The three walked straight through the crowd to the very front, finally muttering something about "Immortal Immortal" and the like, opened the stone wall, and pretended to take out tables and chairs from the other side of the wall, but in reality, they took them out from their jade pendants.

Chi Xulong and the others pondered: "Able to open the stone wall, looks like they are people from the Demonic Sect."

After sitting down, the person carrying the sword coughed twice, drawing everyone’s attention.

Only then did he say loudly: "My name is Lu Yang, and these two are Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu. The three of us are the examiners for this selection. The Immortal-Immortal Sect member selection starts now. Line up, and everyone report your personal information."