Filthy Cultivation: I Pierced the Heavens with the Merit System

Shenwu Square —

The sect leader frowned, looking at the group of elders gathered around the Blinding Heart Stone. While issuing orders to the Yanjian Sect disciples who had rushed to provide support, he anxiously urged them in a low voice:

"How is it? Still can't activate it?"

"Hurry up, hurry up, what's the rush! Can't you see we're all busy?"

An agitated Ye Wuxin looked up from beside the Blinding Heart Stone. His face was as black as the bottom of a pot as he fiercely poked at the stone, which was covered in dark cracks, and launched a scathing attack on the sect leader:

"Zhang Xuanhe! How could such an important treasure be tampered with by an inside man? How can you be the sect leader?"

"You got my two chosen disciples locked up and their fates are unknown, and I haven't even settled accounts with you yet. Now you're ordering me around without any courtesy?"

"If you can do it, then you do it; if you can't, then shut up!"

Zhang Xuanhe's awkward gaze darted around. Seeing that everyone was pretending not to hear and going about their own business, he quietly nudged Ye Wuxin's lower back with his elbow and whispered a plea for mercy:

"My dear senior brother, I know you're angry, but at least keep your voice down!"

"I'm supposed to be the sect leader, and you scolded me like a dog in front of so many people. How am I supposed to face anyone after this?"

Ye Wuxin glared at him angrily upon hearing this, but ultimately refrained from cursing.

As he turned around and bent over, busily working on the Heartless Stone, he used telepathy to ask Zhang Xuanhe:

"Has the mole been found?"

Zhang Xuanhe had initially seen Ye Wuxin shut up, stick out his buttocks, and turn away, a childlike smug smile already playing on his lips. But when Ye Wuxin asked him that question, his expression suddenly darkened, and when he spoke again, he had already adopted the demeanor of a grand sect leader:

"No, their attempts to rewrite it were useless. They even tried forbidden techniques like soul searching, but still couldn't get any information out of them."

"Where is that impure demon? Didn't the disciples of the Obsidian Division bring an impure demon out of the Bewitching Illusionary Realm?"

Ye Wuxin frowned slightly and pressed for more information:

"Did that vile demon confess anything?"

"Still no. The disciples say that the evil demon is like a madman, sometimes crying and sometimes laughing."

Zhang Xuanhe shrugged weakly and sighed:

"Perhaps because they were afraid that the most important person would die, the people in charge of the interrogation dared not use torture, so they still couldn't get anything out of him."

"According to the elders in charge of the interrogation, these demonic cultivators either refused to submit even at the cost of death, or they inexplicably set themselves on fire the moment they opened their mouths, their souls and bodies instantly burning away and their souls and bodies fading away. I suspect that someone used some secret technique to seal their mouths."

Upon hearing this, Ye Wuxin frowned even more deeply, and even stopped what he was doing.

He turned around and pulled Zhang Xuanhe to a secluded spot. He raised his hand to set up a soundproof barrier, his sharp eyes and furrowed brows conveying a deep voice:

"Such secret techniques are not only extremely vicious, but also require an extremely high degree of control over the caster's soul power. Such methods could never be mastered by ordinary demonic cultivators."

"Moreover, such incidents have been occurring frequently in Yuanshan Town recently, to an abnormal degree. In addition, the incident at the Ascension Conference was also orchestrated by the Filthy Demon. They are all involved with the Filthy Demon. I think these demonic cultivators must have bigger ambitions than just trying to sabotage the Ascension Conference."

As Ye Wuxin spoke, his usual gentle old man demeanor vanished from his face.

With a stern face, he raised his hand and patted Zhang Xuanhe's shoulder, speaking earnestly and in a deep voice:

“Xiao He, your senior brother is keeping an eye on things at Wangxin Stone, so nothing will go wrong. But there’s only so much I can do for you. As the sect leader, you have to take responsibility for many things in the sect yourself.”

"Leaving aside how to deal with the attitudes of the other three sects towards this matter, the fact that those filthy bastards could ruin one of the sect's most precious treasures, the Heart-Bewildering Stone, is enough to show that the problems within our Yanjian Sect are more serious than we imagined."

"When Master entrusted the sect to you, he valued your more meticulous and steady mind compared to mine. You must put in a lot of effort and never let him down!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xuanhe sighed and nodded helplessly under Ye Wuxin's earnest gaze.

He knew that although Ye Wuxin had an eccentric personality, he was never ambiguous when it came to important matters. What Ye Wuxin had just said to him was not unfounded worry. This crisis had indeed far exceeded their expectations.

"What you said makes sense, senior brother. I'm afraid I'll be quite busy from now on."

Zhang Xuanhe watched his senior brother nod and walk away, and despite his advanced age, he still made a pitiful face behind him.

Although he was as naive as a child in front of Ye Wuxin, Zhang Xuanhe was still a man capable of sitting in the position of a sect leader. He was not only very strong, but also quite intelligent.

He crossed his arms and pondered for a moment, then quickly made a decision and vanished from the spot in the next instant.

Outside the illusion, some were researching the Heartless Stone, while others were displaying their skills in treating the wounded. Everyone was extremely busy, and amidst the hurried comings and goings, the sounds of people cursing the demonic cultivators and the filth were endless.

But within the illusion, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The black, rod-like object remained motionless after piercing the altar, standing silently in the circular area like a dead object.

The pure, almost tangible power of filth was firmly imprisoned around it, not a single trace leaking out.

The elders all looked nervously at the stick-like object, each holding a glowing stick ready to strike. However, because they didn't know what kind of creature it was, none of them dared to make a move. They could only stand there in a tense standoff, their faces full of vigilance.

Zhao Xiuming was unlucky enough to be hit on the head by a fragment of an altar in the chaos. Although he was a soul, he was not much different from an ordinary physical body in this illusion.

He passed out without uttering a sound after being hit.

The elders stared intently at the black rod-shaped object, Zhao Xiuming lay on the ground, sound asleep, while Li Fuyao and Bai Suifeng were buried in the rubble of the altar, staring at each other in silence.

"It hurts a little~"

Turning her gaze away from the black rod-like object, Li Fuyao broke the silence first.

Her eyes seemed to be both angry and amused as she cried out in pain, but the hand protecting Bai Suifeng's head didn't move an inch.

"Brother, do you know that if your soul dies here, your physical body outside will become a useless shell, slowly dying and rotting away, leaving hardly any trace?"

She stared intently into Bai Suifeng's eyes, carefully searching through the lingering fear and worry within them, but found not a trace of regret.

Li Fuyao blinked in confusion, then asked softly and sincerely:

"If you die here, you'll never be able to return to the Immortal Realm to seek revenge. Why do you keep risking your life for me?"

"It was the same in your illusion before. We have a soul connection. It would have made you feel much better if I had helped you share the burden. Why did you have to endure the pain and let me go?"