Chapter 93: Chapter 85: This Sect Seems Pretty Normal?
"Little Junior Brother, come over here."
Su Ling’er said to Wang Xiedi.
Wang Xiedi scurried over eagerly, but before he could even speak, Su Ling’er grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hooked his collar onto the pommel of her flying sword.
"S-Senior Sister?!"
Wang Xiedi looked completely stunned.
"Senior Sister is taking you to the Knowledge Hall to get registered."
The next instant, the Wooden Sword hummed and shot up from the ground!
"AHHHHH—!"
The sudden feeling of weightlessness made Wang Xiedi let out a bloodcurdling scream.
The fierce wind rushed into his mouth and nose.
He squeezed his eyes shut, his legs flailing in the air. He gripped his collar tightly, terrified that he would fall from this immense height and be splattered into paste.
After a good while, the fall he had anticipated never came.
He felt himself hanging securely. Aside from the howling wind and his collar digging in a bit, it seemed... surprisingly safe?
He peeked open one eye and was instantly stunned by the sight before him.
The endless celestial mountains and pavilions shrank rapidly in his vision.
The churning clouds and mist flowed right beneath his feet.
The visual impact of having the world beneath his feet made him forget his fear for a moment.
’So... this is what Sword Flight looks like from the Foundation Establishment perspective?’
Once the initial fear and novelty had faded slightly, a wave of dizziness washed over him.
He felt his Dao heart... no, his stomach, churning violently.
...
Su Ling’er soared through the sky on her sword, with her Eldest Senior Brother flying behind her, supervising his junior sister’s first orientation mission.
The sword beneath her feet was still the same unremarkable beginner’s Wooden Sword.
This sword had been with her through the Demon-Locking Tower and across the Asking Dao Ladder. It had even tasted the blood of demon beasts in countless sect combat missions.
Its blade was long since covered in fine scratches and nicks, yet it had only grown tougher.
Su Ling’er had no desire to replace this first Wooden Sword of hers.
She didn’t want to be like her Eldest Senior Brother or the others in the sect, who either wore ancient swords scavenged from sword graveyards or carried cool-looking greatswords and sabers.
Of course, there was also a very practical reason...
A better sword would cost far too many Spirit Stones.
Besides, this beginner’s Wooden Sword seemed to be able to grow with her.
Its body was plain and ordinary, just like her former self.
She also wanted to use this sword to prove to the world that even the most ordinary Wooden Sword could slay demons and eliminate evil.
Just as Su Ling’er was lost in thought, a telepathic message came from Wang Xiedi, who was hanging from the sword’s hilt behind her.
[Wang Xiedi: S-Senior Sister, fly a little slower. I... I’m dizzy!]
[Su Ling’er: Little Junior Brother, you can’t handle a speed like this? With so little courage and such an unsteady Dao heart, how can you ever hope to pursue the path of immortality?]
[Wang Xiedi: That’s not it, Senior Sister! I... I was just wondering... can I stand on the sword too? Hanging like this... it’s a bit... undignified. And I really am dizzy.]
Su Ling’er’s heart skipped a beat.
’I just reached Foundation Establishment, and I’m not proficient with Sword Control yet. Carrying one person is already a strain. If I let you stand up here and move around, we’ll both fall!’
’But there’s no way I can say that out loud. I’m a dignified Senior Sister now, especially with Eldest Senior Brother watching me!’
’I’m a senior undercover agent from Qingxu Temple!’
’How can I admit I’m not capable right now?’
[Su Ling’er: You have no Cultivation and an unsteady mind. If you stood on the sword, you’d just fall off. Hanging like this is safe for you, and it can also temper your character.]
When Wang Xiedi heard this, not only was he not disappointed, but he was actually moved.
’S-So that’s how it is! Senior Sister is looking out for my safety. I misjudged her!’
[Wang Xiedi: Xiedi accepts your teachings!]
Su Ling’er: "..."
’He actually believed me!’
Pushing her control to its limit, the flying sword finally wobbled its way to a landing in front of the Knowledge Hall.
In front of the Knowledge Hall, Wang Xiedi was finally back on solid ground. He received his sect Token and standard robes, completing his registration.
But Su Ling’er didn’t get a moment’s rest, because her Eldest Senior Brother’s next task was already upon her!
The sect familiarization tour!
With her Eldest Senior Brother still following close behind, Su Ling’er didn’t dare to slack off in the slightest.
And so, they visited the Dining Pavilion, saw the alchemy flames soaring from the Alchemy Pavilion, and passed by the Body Refining Hall, from which came waves of roaring.
Nothing too unusual was happening in these places at the moment.
’Aside from that bunch of identical-looking Mr. Qians, this sect seems... pretty normal so far?’
This made Wang Xiedi lower his guard around the sect a little.
Until they reached Hundred Herbs Valley.
Wang Xiedi was surprised to find that in the vast medicinal fields, the ones toiling away were not disciples, but spirit beasts.
[Wang Xiedi: Senior Sister, they’re actually using spirit beasts to farm! This... this level of resources is something ordinary sects could never manage!]
[Su Ling’er: What’s so special about that? You might end up working here alongside these spirit beasts yourself.]
[Wang Xiedi: ???]
Before he could figure out what she meant, Su Ling’er had already stopped. She couldn’t take another step forward.
They had arrived.
This was the place.
The Artifact Refining Pavilion.
The air, a mixture of the smell of seared flesh from a branding iron and the thick stench of blood, enveloped her once more.
Every breath reminded her of the endless agony of being tied to a Forging Platform and repeatedly beaten with a giant hammer.
She suppressed her body’s trembling and introduced the place with a calm exterior:
"Mr. Wang, this is our sect’s... place for Artifact Refining."
She followed this with all sorts of praise about how wonderful and perfect the place was.
But via Telepathy, she sent a different message.
[Su Ling’er: Be careful! This is the place I told you about, where they use living people for Artifact Refining and Body Tempering! Don’t look around, and don’t say a word!]
Wang Xiedi seemed to notice that something was wrong with her. He was about to send a telepathic question back, but it was too late.
He saw a sight he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Not far away, a disciple wore a smile of utter contentment.
Surrounded by his fellow disciples who were cheering him on, he spread his arms and, without a moment’s hesitation, jumped into a large cauldron filled with a strange, bubbling green concoction!
"SPLASH!"
"AHHHH—!"
Wang Xiedi’s pupils contracted instantly!
’He jumped! He really jumped!’
’Why?!’
’Why would someone laugh while jumping into a pot of boiling water?!’
He had been horrified when his Senior Sister told him about it, but it had still been shielded by a layer of imagination.
But when the reality was laid bare before his eyes, the impact was devastating!
He watched as the man’s skin blistered and festered at a visible rate, then dissolved inch by inch, melting into bloody water that mixed with the concoction, revealing the stark white bones beneath.
And those bones, too, began to dissolve in the bizarre concoction, shrinking away...
The bloodcurdling screams gradually faded into complete silence.
And yet the surrounding Guixi Sect disciples, including Shi Gandang who was next in line for the Body Tempering, acted as if they saw nothing!
Some were even clapping and cheering loudly!
Wang Xiedi felt his stomach churn violently.
’The people around him are still clapping and cheering?!’
’What are you all doing?!’
’Is this some evil ritual where you boil people alive?!’
’No, no, no, this is beyond all common sense!’
’Help! There really isn’t a single normal person here!’
The horrific scene before him began to twist and spin, the faces of the cheering fiends blurring together...
Finally, his world faded completely to black.
He had fainted.
...
[Reality]
[News Archives]
Ashen Heaven Group announced that it would spin off its internal incubation project, "Prometheus," into an independent subsidiary—"Prometheus Intelligence." The new company will begin providing AI-driven business solutions to global enterprises, with its business scope covering logistics, financial risk control, and urban management.
Speculation from the outside world suggests that the massive amount of data used to train its AI model originates from the anonymized behavioral information generated by hundreds of millions of users in *Ashen Heaven* and *Mortal Tribulation*.
