Chapter 98: Gathering of Demonic Forces

"I apologize for keeping you waiting so long!" Entering the massive chamber that had once served as someone's residence, the walls were adorned with old, time-worn portraits. Cracked statues of faceless girls with only smiling mouths stood in the corners. The floor was made of stone mosaic, now covered in cracks from the passage of time.

Hearing the voice, the three cultivators standing in the center before a floating sphere turned toward him. Surprise appeared on all their faces; they hadn't expected to see this particular young man.

"Hmm, Dors Sern. I take it you're now leading the Blood Moon Sect's camp?" A bald girl with bulging muscles, wearing orange robes and holding a small wooden ball in her hand, asked with a malicious grin.

Deliberately ignoring her question, Dors Sern simply smiled and met her gaze defiantly.

"Hohoho! This monk wouldn't mind stretching her limbs!" Seeing his eyes and his challenge, the girl immediately began activating her Qi, squeezing the wooden ball in her hand with all her might, from which faint flute-like sounds emanated.

"First Sister Osho. Enough..." One of the three by the sphere, with black hair and tired red eyes, shot her a sharp look, already exhausted by this sister's constant outbursts.

She immediately froze, and her Qi dissipated. 'S-such thick killing intent... I nearly stepped into the dark abyss!' Struggling to turn her head, she tried to look at the cultivator staring at her with his piercing red eyes. 'Lu Shen... What happened over these past six months? When did he change so drastically?'

Not only First Sister Osho felt the killing intent, but Dors Sern as well, who immediately lost all spark in his eyes. With fear rising in his chest, he tried to look at Lu Shen, his mind echoing similar thoughts to First Sister Osho's. Looking at this man, he couldn't understand how a person could change so drastically in such a short time since their last meeting.

"The combined Heavenly Soul and Primordial Purity group has split. One group, the larger one, headed toward the central ring... According to our intelligence, they have just over a hundred and seventy people. The second group, numbering about a hundred, merged with the Five Sacred Lives and White Dragon Sect group just a few hours ago." Ignoring the turbulent atmosphere around her, a girl with black hair and ghostly white eyes waved her hand with long black nails beside the sphere, changing the images on it. From a bird's-eye view, slide-show-like images appeared, showing all the Righteous Path groups.

"Tender Rose. What do you say, have your dolls found anything unusual? Anything that could become a problem for us?" Looking at the pale-skinned girl with slightly unsettling white eyes, Lu Shen asked in his calm, steady voice.

"No, my dolls haven't found anything that would qualify as a problem. Just a few strange spots that were occasionally guarded. But I did find the location of their headquarters." Stopping her hand movements, she raised her gaze and looked at Lu Shen.

"Hmm, then we'll make the headquarters one of our main targets during the attack… We'll strike two places at once. While the main assault force distracts them with a frontal attack, we'll take a smaller, more discreet group and hit their headquarters. Once we've dealt with all the core disciples inside, their crowd, like a dragon without its tail, will quickly fall..." Looking around, Lu Shen met the eyes of all three, making it clear through his demeanor that he was in control.

Only nods of agreement followed; none dared voice any objections.

"First Sister Osho. Make sure your people are ready. Select ten to join us in the attack on their headquarters. Tender Rose and Dors Sern, same for you. Let's move, we don't have much time." Turning his back to them, he fixed his gaze on the sphere, specifically on the image showing a mountain ledge and a cave entrance, with several sleepy-looking disciples leaning against the wall to keep from collapsing.

'Hmph! Your arrogance will be your downfall! And I'll be watching, and if necessary, I'll help it along! Ha!' Grinning, a cold glint flashed in First Sister Osho's eyes as she stared at his broad back.

'Who gave you the right to command?! I am the true heir to the Blood Moon Sect's throne! You'd better not let your guard down, or this will be your last moment on this earth!' Twisting his face, Dors Sern turned and walked toward the exit, unable to endure the humiliation.

Tender Rose deactivated her technique, which had connected her to the dolls across a vast distance through the large sphere Lu Shen was watching. Suddenly, she began to visibly change. Her eyes turned red, her straight black hair turned snow-white, and her pale skin flushed with blood, giving her cheeks a charming rosy glow.

Seeing her transformation, Lu Shen lingered on her face for a few seconds before finally breaking his silence. "Sister Rose, you've worked hard. You should rest while you have the chance."

Ignoring the bald, muscular girl who felt like a third wheel, Lu Shen headed toward the dark corridor leading deeper in.

Raising her gaze and watching his back, Tender Rose smiled slightly, bit her lower lip, and with a light gait and swaying hips, followed him.

….

Stepping outside, First Sister Osho caught up with Dors Sern, who was walking slowly. They suddenly stopped and looked at the vast plain surrounded by mountains on all sides, only a narrow passage leading out of this mountain pocket.

Gazing at the hundreds of tents below on the plain, First Sister Osho took a deep breath. "Looks like we're next... Though it disgusts me, I have to admit, Tender Rose is clever. She quickly spread her legs for Lu Shen, securing their alliance. And as for our fate... Sigh. Once we've dealt with the righteous forces... they'll attack us immediately."

With an unchanged expression, expecting to hear this from her, Dors Sern nodded. "I'm certain he'll attack us inside the so-called headquarters, to finish everything and everyone as quickly as possible... Even if we unite, we can't withstand the onslaught of the Black Sun Sect's disciples, their countless dolls, creatures, zombies, and whatever else they have hidden up their filthy sleeves..."

Turning his head, he glanced at her. "We must attack together the moment Lu Shen, Tender Rose, and their people clash with the righteous elites inside the headquarters. We have to catch them in a pincer. Only if we catch them off guard will we have a chance to bury them there... And as for-"

"You think the righteous will let us leave if we succeed? We'd only help them get rid of us faster... Or do you think that because they belong to the so-called Righteous Path, they're not rotten inside, just waiting for the chance to stab their closest ally in the back?" Snorting, she shook her head with a cold glint in her eyes.

"One of the core disciples is an agent we planted in a righteous Sect during early childhood... Though it's a costly use of such a resource, he could be the key to our plan's success." Pulling a metal artifact shaped like a small, flat ingot from his robe and channeling Qi into it, the entire surface lit up with various runes.

"Aren't you afraid your signal could be intercepted, wasting a resource your sect spent time and effort on?" Crossing her arms over her chest, First Sister Osho stepped closer to Dors Sern, staring intently at the ingot.

Waiting a few seconds for all the runes to glow evenly, he began scratching its surface with his fingernail. The scratches transformed into letters, then into words.

After finishing, the words slowly dissolved, sinking into the ingot. He waited until the runes began to flicker weakly, and when they finally went dark, he tucked the artifact back into his robe.

Standing beside him, First Sister Osho watched the young man carefully, then turned to look at the mountain chamber they had exited. Turning back to Dors Sern, she said, "Listen, how about we solidify our alliance, to be absolutely certain? Besides, if you think about it, their method isn't so bad. Hehe!" With a glint in her eyes, she fixed her gaze on him, making it clear she wouldn't take no for an answer.

Taken aback, not expecting this from her, he raised his gaze and scanned the bald, muscular girl in orange robes, his attention lingering on her shaved head. "No... No, thank you. Besides, you're a monk. Aren’t you forbidden from indulging in such desires?" Quickly turning his head away, he began walking forward, down the mountain.

"Pfft! Look at your red face! I was just joking! And you actually thought about it! Haha! Did you think I was ready to sit on your little thing down there! Ahahaha!" Bursting into laughter, she pointed at his back, but then her expression changed.

"Wait! What do you mean 'no'?! And why did you stare at my head for so long? Is it because of my hairstyle? Hey!" She suddenly started chasing him, trying to figure out what his 'no' and his gaze meant.

Hearing her approaching, Dors Sern took a deep breath and quickened his pace slightly, not even having the strength to respond to the insults about his manhood.

….

Deep inside the mountain, in an artificially created cave that had once been a spirit plant garden, along one wall, water trickled down, forming a natural waterfall.

In the tall grass, not far from the babbling water, two lay under a thin red cloth.

Lying on Lu Shen's chest, Tender Rose looked into his eyes with a slightly tired gaze. "You know, they'll definitely betray us."

He nodded. "I am the greatest threat to them, and they know it perfectly well." Turning his head, he watched the water cascading down the cave wall. "If they still haven't realized that once I'm done with the righteous forces, I'll immediately attack them..." Chuckling slightly, he looked at Rose.

Pressing her chest against him and resting her chin on her hands, Tender Rose sighed. "Even if you're sure they can't do anything to you, you should still be careful... What if they have contacts with the righteous forces and make a deal? What if they try to warn them and trap you? In just a moment, more ideas came to mind than I have fingers on my hands..."

"Haha. All their plans and machinations... Even if they all attacked me at once, I could tear them to pieces! And all thanks to the artifact my master gave me." With a knowing grin, Lu Shen suddenly ran his hand along her cheek, his gaze drifting slightly lower on her face, his eyes lighting up. "So you don't need to worry about that... What you should worry about is whether you'll survive the third round?"

Feeling him wrap his arms around her body, Rose blushed slightly and whispered, "We'll see who lasts more rounds~"

….

'It's strange... Inside the text, there's an encrypted pattern that activates through constant repetition. At the same time, the body and mind must be in the right condition... That's why the Qi cultivation technique describes in such detail what you should do while reciting the text.' Simultaneously focusing on two different things, An repeated cultivation cycles over and over. Since he'd broken through to Foundation Establishment, the Evergreen technique, designed for Qi Condensation cultivators, placed almost no strain on his mind, allowing him to cycle endlessly. At the same time, he focused on what was happening to his body and surroundings.

'Sigh, I'm not noticing anything new here, same as before when I analyzed the technique... The only thing I can't access is that hidden pattern! I'm certain it serves as the catalyst between the process and the person, the core mechanism of cultivation itself, wrapped in several thick layers of encryption...'

Opening his eyes, he lowered his head and stared blankly at the cave floor. 'The only difference between the Qi you draw during cultivation in two different realms is the volume, the number of particles per cycle. But that deceptively simple “only”...'

'And if I understand correctly, the difference in Qi cultivation techniques across realms is just the ceiling, the upper limit that prevents you from drawing more particles than what's programmed inside that hidden pattern! This is infuriating! Ugh!!'

Finishing one cycle, he immediately began another, carefully watching his body, his dantian, and how the Qi was drawn in, traveled through his body, and settled in his dantian for assimilation.

'The moment the Qi enters my body, the pattern inside the technique completely loses control over it and hands it over to me, which is why I can manipulate it, for example during the energy assimilation process...'

'The pattern itself... It's like a trap I've fallen into and can't escape! When I recite the text, activating the pattern, my body begins drawing in Qi... thereby trapping and limiting my mind within the framework of that pattern... This trap was designed so children could start cultivating without difficulty. But by constantly repeating the process, rewriting it over and over in your head, you involuntarily drive yourself into this dead-end you've created each time!' Suddenly, An's eyes began to glow, and a smile spread across his face.

"All I need to do is break this trap, forget the constant rewriting of the same blind repetition, and destroy this accursed pattern! Then, from its fragments, build my own, one focused on me, not on the technique!"

'Though it's easy to say... I don't know how long it will take... Or where to even begin...'

"Right now... even though the Evergreen technique draws in a negligible number of particles during cultivation, it's still better than nothing!" Tilting his head back, he frowned slightly and, with a swift motion, pulled a bottle covered in a layer of ice from his ring.

Pop!

Uncorking it, he took a sip of the icy wine. "Ugh! Too sour! I knew I used too much Viaono fruit... Should have used a third less... Baa!" With a twisted face, he took a few more sips. "Although, you know... after a few sips, the taste becomes alright, even those sour notes start playing different flavors!"

'The effect transferred and preserved without issue: enhanced vision, hearing, smell, all senses, for a short period... Excellent wine!'

Holding the bottle in his hand, he suddenly glanced back toward the direction between the camp and the mountain where he sat. "They're coming..."