Chapter 379 - 374: The Trafficked Cultivators

Under the persuasion of this "shill," Du Youqian feigned reluctance and agreed to explore the cave dwelling.

He was actually a little disappointed; he had wanted to stay in Huailai City for a few more days to gain a deeper understanding of the place.

It wasn’t for any romantic dalliances, though Huailai City’s pleasure industry was highly developed. Many Kun Cultivators looking to make some quick money possessed unique skills; a clever tongue, nimble fingers, and passionate cries were all part of their basic repertoire.

But Du Youqian had little interest in such things.

He wanted to gain a deep understanding of Huailai City’s structure and operations, to learn how an Immortal City was managed.

It might prove useful someday.

But Ye Kai was too impatient, and Du Youqian had no choice but to play along.

Then, as expected, he was "lured" into the cave dwelling, where an expert from the trafficking ring—a Core Formation Early Stage Cultivator—revealed himself and "captured" him.

His Cultivation was sealed and he was restrained using a special concoction and a Secret Technique.

Of course, in reality, he retained the ability to strike back and kill at any moment, to seize the initiative. They hadn’t even confiscated his Storage Treasure Pouch.

This was the kind of perceptual dominance a Core Formation Master with a powerful Divine Sense held over a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Under the cover of his Divine Sense, everything these Foundation Establishment Cultivators—and even the Core Formation Early Stage Cultivator—saw and perceived was exactly what he wanted them to see and perceive.

Du Youqian wasn’t worried about the organization sending a Cultivator with a higher Cultivation to expose him. On the surface, his identity was just a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator. Dispatching a Core Formation Early Stage Cultivator was already overkill...

Afterward, Du Youqian was placed under house arrest in a manor outside the city, imprisoned along with the other Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Every day, they were served good food and drink, and every day, the Restrictions on them were reinforced.

Du Youqian feigned dejection, regret, and indignation, refusing to interact with the other captured Cultivators. In the eyes of the trafficking ring, this made him a piece of Top Grade merchandise.

After half a month, once they had gathered ten Foundation Establishment Cultivators, the trafficking ring initiated a transport. The ten of them were chained together with special shackles and loaded into a vehicle. It was of Spiritual Artifact Level but had clearly been modified, stripped of any external decorations or markings. The Spiritual Power-driven vehicle then headed northeast.

Once on the road, other vehicles merged into their convoy. Only then did Du Youqian realize that, in addition to the ten Foundation Establishment Cultivators, over a hundred Mortals were also being transported.

There were men and women, old and young, all of them sallow-faced and dressed in rags.

Some wept softly, while others seemed utterly devoid of hope.

An emaciated baby suckled at its mother’s withered breast, and a sick person coughed so violently it seemed they might cough up a lung.

Du Youqian’s expression didn’t change, but inwardly he was surprised.

The Qianshan Sect was part of the Demon Sect Camp. When refining Demon Artifacts, they generally required Cultivators as materials.

It wasn’t that Mortals couldn’t be used, but their quality as a material was far too low to meet the requirements.

Unless a change in quantity was used to induce a qualitative change.

It often took tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Mortals to refine a higher-grade Demon Artifact.

A mere hundred Mortals would be a drop in the bucket—completely useless.

They likely wouldn’t even bother procuring just one hundred Mortals at a time.

If they were buying Mortals to refine Demon Artifacts, they’d probably buy them by the city-full.

So Du Youqian couldn’t understand it. ’Why did this trafficking ring bring along a hundred Mortals?’

He couldn’t think of any purpose for them other than needlessly slowing down the convoy.

Amidst low sobs and coughing, the convoy pressed on swiftly, making no attempt to conceal its passage. A day later, they reached the edge of the Demon Race’s territory.

The escorts from the trafficking ring consisted of one Fake Pill Cultivator and three Foundation Establishment Cultivators; Ye Kai was not among them.

Normally, with all ten Foundation Establishment captives under the control of Restrictions, this number of guards would be more than enough to handle any sudden incidents and subdue them all.

But for a force of this size to so brazenly attempt to cross the Demon Race’s territory... if they were discovered, there wouldn’t even be intact corpses left.

And the two large clans of the Demon Race entrenched here, the Red-crowned Sand Storks and the Red-eyed Stone Dragons, both had numerous Tier Three Demon Kings and at least two Tier Four Demon Kings.

How could they possibly fail to notice members of the Human Race attempting to cross their territory?

Unless...

...this trafficking ring had already greased the wheels and struck a deal with the Demon Race.

This astonished Du Youqian.

All the intelligence he’d gathered, both before and within Huailai City, indicated that these two Demon Race clans were Wild Demons. They had no dealings with the Human Race and killed any they encountered on sight.

This human trafficking organization... ’They’re that resourceful?’

’They really can’t be underestimated.’

After entering the Demon Race’s territory, Du Youqian quietly extended his Divine Sense to observe.

His two goals were to memorize the route and to survey the surroundings.

Even though the sandy landscape looked the same everywhere, the strength of his Divine Sense allowed him to penetrate the gravel and memorize the subterranean terrain, which would help him navigate later.

He also spotted numerous Red-eyed Stone Dragons. The convoy had clearly been discovered, yet none of the demons came forward to tear everyone to shreds.

Apparently, the convoy was marked in some special way that allowed the Red-eyed Stone Dragons to identify it and hold back their attack.

This didn’t pose a challenge for Du Youqian. Observing carefully, he soon discovered that while the convoy’s vehicles bore no emblems or other markings and had unremarkable paint jobs, a small symbol was carved into the spokes of every wheel.

The symbol looked like a sun radiating light, except it was somewhat flattened into an oval.

It was because they noticed this tiny mark that the surrounding Red-eyed Stone Dragons did not attack.

One shouldn’t assume the Red-eyed Stone Dragons had poor eyesight just because their eyes were small and red.

In truth, not even a hawk or falcon would dare to compare its vision to theirs.

The convoy continued on its way. Because of the Restrictions placed upon them, the other trafficked Foundation Establishment Cultivators couldn’t extend their Divine Sense, unaware that they were already surrounded by demons.

But they all clearly understood this journey would not end well, and their faces were grim.

They only spoke amongst themselves, however, and none of them attempted to speak with Du Youqian.

After all, Du Youqian had been too aloof over the past half-month, never speaking to them and acting as if he disdained their company. They were naturally resentful, so even as they secretly plotted their escape, they kept him out of the loop.

Du Youqian listened with boredom to their unrealistic escape plans, which they discussed in hushed tones, assuming he couldn’t hear. He was left speechless.

The convoy advanced at a steady pace, arriving in the evening at a small Oasis, roughly the size of two soccer fields, where they stopped to rest.

All the trafficked slaves were allowed to get out and stretch their legs. The guards issued a stern warning: anyone who attempted to escape would not only be killed, but their very soul would be extracted for torture.

Du Youqian surveyed the Oasis. It had clearly been established by the slave-trafficking ring as a permanent waystation.

The Oasis had a well, traces of previous encampments, and two small wooden cabins filled with firewood, cookware, and food supplies.

The slaves began to light fires and cook. Even as captives, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators were still lofty Immortal Masters and would naturally not stoop to such drudgery.

There wasn’t enough food, so everyone ate just enough to quiet their rumbling stomachs before turning in early for the night.

In the middle of the night, a child’s wail startled everyone awake—everyone except Du Youqian, who hadn’t been sleeping and was keeping watch.

People scrambled awake to find that, at some point, a pack of ugly and dangerous Red-eyed Stone Dragons had surrounded them.

The child had wailed because one of the Red-eyed Stone Dragons couldn’t resist flicking its tongue across his tender face, startling him awake.

The crowd erupted into chaos, a mixture of terrified shrieks, angry shouts, and desperate sobs.

The captive Foundation Establishment Cultivators were awake as well, but with their Cultivation sealed and their bodies chained, they were powerless, able only to watch the scene with ashen faces.

Du Youqian finally understood.

’So this was the purpose of the Mortal slaves...’

He hadn’t known that Red-eyed Stone Dragons were man-eaters.

But from the impatient and eager way the pack of Red-eyed Stone Dragons was acting, it was clear they were anticipating this offering of Blood Food.

They slithered out from the darkness, creeping toward their prey, eager to begin their feast.

Du Youqian let out a sigh.

Then, he stood up.

The chains slid from his wrists.

WHOOSH! With a flash of metal in the night, the Fake Pill Cultivator’s head went tumbling to the ground.

Everyone froze, stunned.

Du Youqian didn’t press the attack. Instead, while everyone was still in a daze, he took out a small Array designed to block sound and aura, tossed it out, and activated it.

Then, a series of sharp CLICKS rang out as the chains on the hands and feet of the other captive Foundation Establishment Cultivators were all severed.

As freedom was restored to them, they felt their Cultivation flow back into their bodies. The previous Restriction had vanished without a trace.

"Leave none of them alive," Du Youqian said, his first words in days.

Without any need for his command, the freed Foundation Establishment Cultivators furiously charged the remaining guards.

Even without their Spiritual Artifacts, ten of them against three guards was an assured victory.

Meanwhile, Du Youqian released his Jinhuan Sword and, with incredible speed, slaughtered all the Red-eyed Stone Dragons that had come for their Taotie feast.

These Red-eyed Stone Dragons were mostly Tier Two and Tier One Demons; there were no Tier Three Demon Kings among them. Perhaps Tier Three Demon Kings no longer required Blood Food, or perhaps they partook of a higher-grade variety.

Du Youqian had no time to investigate further. He hurriedly began using his Divination Art to conceal their auras and obfuscate the workings of fate, lest the Red-eyed Stone Dragons’ Tier Four Demon King sense that something was amiss.

As he was now, he wouldn’t shy away from trading a few blows with a Nascent Soul Middle Stage Cultivator of the Human Race and was confident he could escape from a Nascent Soul Late Stage expert. If he were to face a Nascent Soul Early Stage opponent, he even felt he had a chance of killing them, though it would come at a grievous price.

But a Tier Four Demon King was another matter entirely. They possessed special Innate Divine Abilities and had incredibly tough hides, making them far more difficult to deal with than a Nascent Soul Master of the Human Race.

After a short wait, all the Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the trafficking ring’s escort detail were dead. Still, no Tier Four Demon King arrived. It seemed Du Youqian’s measures had worked.