Chapter 102: Kick

"It's a secret technique of the Demon Sect, using a cultivator's heart blood to refine into a pill for rapid advancement," the late‑stage Foundation Establishment practitioner finished speaking, then felt a searing pain in his chest, "Ah… pain."

It was Jiang Yu who kicked his chest, then forcefully stepped on him, breaking several ribs and continuously crushing multiple joints.

Snap snap, the ever‑more rapid sound of bones cracking made the mid‑stage Foundation Establishment captive beside him feel his heart pound.

The child staying in the spatial cultivation chamber, watching the scene through a small window, clenched his fist so tightly that he wished he were the one doing the stepping.

"Where did you obtain this secret technique, and how many were involved?" He wasn't asking how many were captured or killed; he was worried the man wouldn't answer.

With such a demonic method to boost cultivation, no wonder this person couldn't even defeat himself; Jiang Yu sensed that their group was larger than the few she had seen.

"Pain, pain, pain…" the late‑stage Foundation Establishment practitioner screamed repeatedly; the mid‑stage Foundation Establishment captive beside him, fearing he might be next, hurriedly said, "It's her; she's a disciple of the Harmony Sect, ordered to teach us."

"Her?" Jiang Yu withdrew her foot and looked at the blood‑soaked female cultivator she had smashed; as she approached, the woman was barely breathing.

Thus, reluctantly, she fed her a Rejuvenation Pill.

Then she turned and pressed the mid‑stage Foundation Establishment captive, "Which sect are you from? Who do you answer to? How many of you are there?"

"I am just a lone cultivator. About nine years ago, our party of fifteen set out, and by accident we entered an ancient cultivator's ruin together with a group of Demon Sect and Dao Sect disciples.

Little did we know the place was riddled with traps; it was a demonic cultivator's ruin, and even Golden Core cultivators from the Harmony Sect and the Profound Heaven Sect were trapped inside.

Later, True Person Wen of the Profound Heaven Sect was… *splutter! *" the man choked off mid‑sentence, spitting blood.

Jiang Yu quickly pressed a pressure point to stop his vomiting and gave him a Rejuvenation Pill: "You were sealed? You can bypass this person."

The mid‑stage Foundation Establishment captive forced a wry smile: "Thanks, we had no choice either; we were sealed, fed poisonous pills, and could only obey orders."

"Most of the captured children were handed over to the Demon Sect to take back to the cultivation world, leaving only those with medium‑level spiritual roots."

"Both Golden Core cultivators are still alive, right?"

"Yes. At that time, the two Golden Core cultivators forcefully broke open the life gate, causing the mortal realm's river to burst its banks and collapse a corner of the ruin, allowing everyone to survive."

"Nine years ago? In Tang Kingdom, the ancient cultivator's cave was upstream of the Bichun River in Tang Kingdom?" Jiang Yu was startled, grabbed his collar; when she was searching for her parents, many had said they saw immortals flying in the sky.

"I—I…" the man, seeing Jiang Yu clench her teeth, suddenly became frightened.

Jiang Yu knew some cultivators didn't care about mortal lives: "You! What is the name of True Person Wen of the Profound Heaven Sect? And who is the one from the Harmony Sect?"

"Leaving aside demonic cultivators, as a Dao Sect Golden Core cultivator, why didn't True Person Wen cast a spell to block the breach?"

"Jiang Yu, Jiang Yu, you're about to strangle them to death!" Jiang Tu hurriedly pushed her aside.

As the mid‑stage Foundation Establishment captive coughed repeatedly, the late‑stage Foundation Establishment sneered, "What Dao Sect, what Demon Sect? From the ruin we return, the two Golden Core cultivations fell to Foundation Establishment; aren't we too scared to run, waiting to be silenced by those two?"

In the end we still couldn't escape their grasp; we were found and controlled again.

"The cultivation world is a law of the jungle; we can barely look after ourselves, let alone worry about mortal lives."

Smack, Jiang Yu swung her hand back, slapping him, fearing that killing them would cut off the trail, "Jiang Tu, you handle the interrogation."

"I'll check the temple's back mountain for any traces."

"Be careful."

"Okay."

Jiang Yu swiftly flew to the original cave and indeed saw no other people.

She quietly patrolled the temple again; aside from a few monks laughing and counting money, saying that the New Year business was best boosted by making more peace talismans to sell, there was nothing else unusual.

But just as she was about to leave, she heard a monk say, "What about those people living on the back mountain? I always feel they're not good people."

"Those children seem to be getting fewer and fewer."

Another older monk immediately scolded, "Shut up, stay out of affairs that aren't yours; the abbot's worldly matters and relatives are also bad, aren't they?"

Jiang Yu frowned at what she heard, turned to look for the abbot's location, but after wandering for a while realized she didn't know which courtyard it was.

She then sat under a large tree and first asked Jiang Tu how the interrogation was going.

"They aren't few; they're responsible for gathering attractive disciples for the Demon Sect to earn spiritual stones."

Then, with cultivation stagnating for a long time, that Harmony Sect female cultivator produced the ancient cultivator's cave secret technique, and their group went mad, refining so‑called human pills.

"Jiang Yu, compared to them, I think the Harmony Sect, which only kidnaps children to make them disciples, isn't that bad," Jiang Tu sighed.

"Did they really send them to the Harmony Sect? What are the names of the two Golden Core cultivators?"

"Are you still planning to kill these two to avenge the mortals?"

"We can't avenge now, but we must prevent them from obtaining the Fish Token."

"True Person Wen Lan of the Profound Heaven Sect, and the one from the Harmony Sect is True Person Nan Su."

"Listen, based on what the two Foundation Establishment practitioners said, True Person Wen Lan might already have had his body seized by an ancient demonic cultivator," Jiang Tu speculated.

Jiang Yu's brow twitched, "Stay within the formation; don't leave. I'll go find the master right away."

She just sent a message to the master; Sui Lv Zhenjun replied immediately: "Stay where you are, do not move, cease pursuit, and send reinforcements to meet you."

She glanced at the temple buildings, then turned and went back to find Jiang Tu.

In the abbot's meditation chamber, a cultivator just entering the mid‑stage of Qi Refinement trembled, "Grandfather, what should we do?"

The captain, before departing, said that if we didn't make contact within fifteen minutes, we should quickly gather the children we have and head to the capital.

"But I don't dare go. A senior brother was silently burned to ash, and I…"

"Amitabha, I instructed you that whenever you go out together, you must not commit crimes with him; have you obeyed?" The old abbot, a mortal, faced cultivators and had his grandchildren drawn into wrongdoing; he could only try to prevent them from killing.

His grandson kept nodding, "Every time I go to deceive people to recruit disciples, I feel guilty; they won't let me join."

"Then I taught those children to draw Qi into their bodies, and… also helped burn and bury corpses."

"Grandfather, what should we do now? The other three Qi Refiners have already carried out the orders; if I don't go, will I be killed?"

"The captain is ruthless; last time a senior brother wouldn't hand over a spirit stone he had obtained, the captain publicly pulled out his heart."

"Tomorrow, under the name of Cloud Wanderer, I will take you away."

"Even if they find us, as long as I don't see you, I won't kill the people in this temple."

"Alright, where are we going? If we encounter a murderer…"

"Fate." The old abbot silently chanted a sutra for redemption, offering his lodging to those people.

"Don't want to die?" Jiang Tu's voice suddenly rang in the ears of the grandfather and his grandson.

Just as Jiang Yu returned, she let it use its spiritual perception to look for people again—hey, it actually found someone.

"Who?" the young cultivator slapped his storage bag, pulled out an inferior magical sword and held it in front of the old abbot.

"You go down the mountain to the west yourselves, otherwise the monks in this temple will accompany you to meet the Buddha." Jiang Tu's voice hardened, and these two weren't exactly good people.

"Amitabha, benefactor, do not act; we'll descend the mountain at once." The old abbot seized his grandson and obeyed.

Jiang Tu then asked Jiang Yu: "What do you want them to come down for?"