The first rays of sunlight marked the beginning of the morning in the quiet village. At that moment, the village gates opened slightly, and seven men with serious expressions took steps inside, heading toward the center.
As they took the first steps into the central building, the entire place grew cold, and the air became heavy. Then, an elder appeared, descending the stairs, radiating a sense of impatience. The elder’s eyes met Anfi’s, and he spoke curtly.
"I sensed significant fluctuations during the night; you must have had quite the fun. But where are the women?"
The elder’s words caused the gazes of the seven men to subtly tremble, and the elder noticed; immediately, his aura shifted to anger.
Anfi then murmured, trying to stay calm, "Grandfather... there was a problem. It wasn’t our fault."
"What kind of problem!? They were completely controlled and would follow orders no matter what. What the hell did you guys do?!" The old man spoke with his voice full of Qi.
Anfi then spoke confidently, "They really seemed like that... but when we were having fun, I felt something wrong. And a strange power emerged in them; after that, they almost killed us."
"What?" The elder then focused all his senses on the seven, and his eyes contorted. Indeed, he felt that internally, all of them seemed injured, with their meridians almost drained of Qi. Soon, an extremely dense Yin was also sensed within these men.
"What kind of power was that?" The elder spoke sharply.
"It was pure Yin Energy. All of them... their true bodies were revealed; they had horns and wings, and everything about them was devilish and deadly!" Anfi responded in a serious tone. "They were demons, not human. Their intent was to kill us."
The elder furrowed his brows, incredulous. The sect’s treasure was being created with the union of sea beasts and demons, along with the ’good’ humans. Why would they do something like this? He thought quickly, trying to recall something that had slipped his mind. After a few seconds, he remembered that, four hundred years ago, when he was a newly appointed elder and came to this village for the first time, the power of the treasure was multiple times weaker. Nowadays, it seemed like every formation linked to the treasure was completely overwhelmed with its power.
’The treasure must be very close to completion. Are ’they’ planning to steal the treasure for themselves?’ The elder thought incredulously, and a cold sweat ran down his back. ’Right during my tenure... But why did ’they’ send fifteen women with such low cultivations? It seems like just a test; I need to verify.’
The elder looked at Anfi and spat harshly, "Where are they?"
"Um... about that... as I managed to perceive in time, we prevented the worst. So, since we had never seen a real demon, and they were still women... we decided to take the opportunity to broaden our horizons, with new experiences." Anfi replied carefully.
The elder looked like he was about to explode in rage, so Anfi quickly continued, "But, something happened in the end. In their bodies, the black blood dried up, and their souls seemed to light up... then an explosive power almost killed us."
The elder’s gaze seemed to petrify. ’Their souls? So, ’they’ sent them with the intention of them being sacrificed?’ the elder thought internally.
Anfi then took something from his spatial ring and continued. "They all exploded together, and we survived by luck. But, in the end, I managed to find this."
Floating in his hands was a fragment of a scarlet rune, and the elder immediately recognized the origin of this rune. ’Infernal laws! How is this possible?’ he thought in shock.
Ancient legends flashed through the elder’s mind. Obtaining important or ancient information in the Three Extremes Sect was very difficult, and the few things to which he had access were highly questionable. But, a legend about the existence of a place hidden by evil cultivators, very similar to the one found within his sect, came to his mind. This place in the Three Extremes Sect was completely hidden from everyone; only a few elders had access. And there was where the demonic allies in this scheme existed and lived hidden.
’So the evil cultivators somehow found out and are acting. They weren’t our allies, but the supposed demons who lived with them... that couldn’t be predicted. Demons have a lot of resistance to the power we use to control minds in this village. If we had used these women and followed their plan... these infernal laws could destroy centuries of work; or this could be a plan for them to steal from us in the future.’
The elder’s fury was replaced by extreme concern. How did he not realize that they were not human? This place was one of the most well-guarded and strict points in the sect. If his grandson hadn’t occasionally discovered this, and if the sect found out, his head would roll.
’This foolish grandson of mine humiliated the honor of those demons, and that led them to commit suicide? Something seems wrong...’
The elder asked in doubt, "When they transformed, didn’t you feel fear?"
Anfi recalled the moment, and an extreme ecstasy flashed in his eyes; the elder saw this clearly in a strange way. "Fear? I almost died afterward, but it was worth every second. You should experience it once in your life."
Another ancient legend permeated the old man’s mind, and he asked sharply, "Did these demons become even more beautiful than when they were humans?"
A confirming smile passed over Anfi. Then, an immediate shock ran through the incredulous elder’s mind and body; but he didn’t hesitate and immediately released all the Qi from his body, restraining all seven men.
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"Grandfather Anzo! What..." Anfi murmured, astonished.
"You were intentionally lured by Succubi. They are a race of demons specialized in seducing men," the old man murmured to all seven frozen men. Then, his two arms stretched out, grabbing the throats of two men, and he squeezed with a bloodthirsty intent.
’I almost fell for it; their target wasn’t to attack the formation. They sent the women already with the intention to seduce my grandson... maybe one of the elders leaked to the evil cultivators that we would be here and set this up to kill me.’ the elder thought without being surprised.
Among the ’cultivators of good,’ there were no major assassinations, massacres, or bloodshed; but they were all silent enemies of each other. The elders always competed for resources and influence, and he himself had killed one or two elders in the past without raising suspicions. Hidden schemes, complex plots, among other things, were commonly used; killing without taking risks was the norm and the safest way.
Anzo then forced his Qi into the bodies of these two men, and their eyes bulged, a howl of pain and agony escaping their lips. Then, on their foreheads, a rune appeared, seemingly confirming the elder’s suspicions.
’Those old bastards. One of them took a giant risk, betraying the three extremes sect and joining the evil cultivators. He almost got me by hitting my weak point, which is my stupid grandson. But he failed. He couldn’t imagine that I had diverse knowledge about demon races.’ a sinister smile crossed the elder’s lips as he thought.
Those runes were clearly a subtle mark on the soul, similar to a slave seal; whoever placed them could see, hear, and know everything the bearer of the rune experienced. Anzo calmly analyzed, thinking of a counterattack plan, until he felt something strange and subtle around the runes, and his eyebrows furrowed. He then turned to Anfi, alarmed; it was clearly a power almost equal to that of his grandson subtly mixed into the runes.
Anfi was a rare talent among all disciples; there was only him and another cultivator, an elder who was also Anfi’s master, who managed to learn an ancestral technique that used a mystical power called mental power. This power was incomprehensible and almost impossible to learn. Fortunately, Anzo was two realms above his grandson. It was impossible that Anfi could use this without him noticing.
’This must have been a plan from Anfi’s master,’ the elder thought, understanding. ’That’s why I didn’t identify that they weren’t human before! He must have used this power to manipulate my grandson’s memories, scheming everything.’
Then the elder chuckled satisfied, released the two men on the ground, and turned to Anfi, taking light steps. "Great. Now, I’ll have solid evidence to request your death from the sect. And I’ll still receive a great reward!"
All disciples had a mental seal that prevented any outsider from reading their memories and leaking information from the sect. The elders were responsible for the disciples and held the key to read their memories, preventing anything wrong from happening. The sect’s vice-leader had the key to open the minds of the elders, and the leader had the key to read that of the vice-leader. Thus, everyone monitored each other, and the patriarch monitored everyone.
At that moment, the elder placed his hands on Anfi’s forehead, who trembled violently. Then, the seal was opened, and memories flowed into the elder’s mind. Anzo smiled and began to read. However, in that second of distraction, a subtle violet seal invaded his body. Then, he heard six steps coming from behind him and a strange fluctuation.
BOOM!