The Central Courtyard was the highest point in the Heling Sect, the place where the essence of Heling Mountain converged. It housed Sect institutions such as the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, the Inheritance Hall, and the Mingfa Hall. The main peak of the Heling Mountain Range, Heling Peak, was the most heavily guarded location in the entire Sect. It was where the main Spirit Vein of Heling Mountain surfaced and where the cave mansions of the three Core Formation Ancestors were located. Disciples from Mingfa Hall’s Law Enforcement Team patrolled it day and night, and it was perennially covered by the Sect’s Grand Array.

The back mountain was a vast area, an extension of the Heling Mountain Range. Numerous Foundation Establishment Cave Mansions were scattered throughout, along with many large-scale Spirit Medicine Gardens and Spirit Plantations, as well as special places like the Purple Jade Forest.

Lost in thought as he walked, Lü Zhong arrived at the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.

The Miscellaneous Affairs Hall occupied an entire mountain peak and was the liveliest place in the Heling Sect. Disciples gathered in small groups on the vast plaza, either preparing to depart on missions or settling up after returning from them.

Occasionally, a streak of Escape Light would descend, signaling the arrival of a Foundation Establishment Master Uncle.

Following the edge of the plaza, Lü Zhong entered the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.

The hall was divided into several large areas, each serving one of the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall’s various functions. The place he was headed was in the northwest corner, where a separate area had been partitioned off and furnished with numerous chairs.

Many disciples were already there, conducting their business.

Lü Zhong waited for a while before presenting his Identity Token and receiving the mission information.

’It’s to kill a Mid-stage Qi Refining Demon Cultivator, and it’s not too far... Looks like it won’t delay my cultivation.’ After reading the details, Lü Zhong breathed a sigh of relief. What he feared most was being assigned a garrison mission.

Such missions often lasted three to five years at a minimum and would severely hinder his cultivation progress.

After a quick calculation, Lü Zhong figured the round trip would take no more than a day.

If he went to the Poultry Room and rented a Red-tailed Eagle, he could even cut that time down to half a day.

’Why not head over now?’ Once the thought took root, it was impossible to suppress. After confirming the mission details were correct, Lü Zhong strode quickly toward the Poultry Room.

At the Poultry Room, he repeated the same process as before.

A short while later, a Red-tailed Eagle soared into the sky.

...

Wind Trust Plateau, located about 150 miles north of the Heling Sect, was a densely populated part of the Yongling Region. Its mortal population far surpassed that of Yongling City, with at least ten million people gathered there.

When Lü Zhong arrived, his first impression of Wind Trust Plateau was that the air was unbearably foul.

This was to be expected. After all, the places where mortals dwelled were also low-spirit areas that cultivators looked down upon. The concentration of Spiritual Qi here was even lower than in the wilderness outside Qingliu Square. Theoretically, no cultivator would willingly stay here for long.

By staying in such a place, one’s cultivation would not just stagnate, but actually regress.

Shaking his head, Lü Zhong concealed his aura, changed into a set of simple clothes, and smeared some grease on his face. In an instant, he had transformed into an ordinary mortal to avoid alerting the Demon Cultivator to his arrival.

He was, in fact, quite skilled at disguising himself as a mortal.

According to the information from the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, the Demon Cultivator was hiding in Yizhou City up ahead. What Lü Zhong had to do now was simple: find this Demon Cultivator, who abducted people for their cultivation, and eliminate them.

Normally, the best option would be to visit the Yizhou City Government Office. By leveraging the power of the local authorities and the Cultivator Clan stationed there, he could get their assistance in searching for traces of the Demon Cultivator, follow the clues, and eventually achieve his goal.

However, since Lü Zhong possessed the Spirit Medium Tracing Technique, he didn’t need to go through all that trouble.

He just needed to find the Demon Cultivator’s pawn in the city, and he might be able to locate his target directly.

Soon after entering the city, he found a trace of the pawn.

It was a martial artist with a pale face and purplish lips. The Corpse Qi emanating from his body was as conspicuous as a torch in Lü Zhong’s eyes, allowing him to spot the man almost immediately upon entering the city.

’The method used to control this pawn is crude. Looks like the work of a novice. But I can’t be certain. Who knows if this Demon Cultivator has already gone mad.’

It was common for Demon Cultivators to go mad. The next step after madness was losing control completely.

Lü Zhong had already witnessed the consequences of a Demon Cultivator losing control.

The Heling Sect obviously didn’t want to see that happen, which was why they had specifically sent someone to clean up the mess. They needed to prevent the "fields" that produced Immortal Seedlings—the mortal population—from being destroyed, as that would affect the Sect’s future recruitment of new blood.

The Demon Cultivator’s pawn wandered through the city, seemingly looking for a target to strike.

Using his scene-reversal ability, Lü Zhong tracked the pawn’s every move.

He watched the entire process, from the pawn striking his victim to bringing the target back to a hideout.

After abducting his victim, the pawn simply waited.

From time to time, he would mutter to himself, spouting nonsense about achieving "great success in a divine art." It was clear that the erosion of Yin Qi had damaged his mind. His ultimate fate would likely be to be turned into a Refined Corpse by the Demon Cultivator.

Soon, it was the dead of night.

Lü Zhong, who had been lying in wait, suddenly noticed a cloud of black mist drifting in from outside.

’They’re here!’

So far, everything was going exactly as he had expected.

’It seems the Sect doesn’t assign missions randomly. They’re clearly designed to train disciples.’ 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Just as Lü Zhong was thinking this, the black mist slowly coalesced into a black-robed figure. The figure seemed inexplicably familiar, and it took him a moment to realize who it was.

’Huh? Isn’t that Hong Fu?’

Gazing at that familiar face in the dim light, Lü Zhong’s heart stirred.

"Well done!" a rasping voice emanated from the Demon Cultivator who looked just like Hong Fu.

Then, she took a red skull from her robes and pressed it against the abducted mortal. There was a wet, sucking sound, and in a moment, only a shriveled, blackened corpse remained.

Glancing at the kneeling pawn, the Demon Cultivator let out a vicious grin and pressed the skull against him as well.

"With so much Essence Blood collected, I can finally suppress this hidden ailment, hahaha... No, I can’t celebrate too early. Master’s technique has not yet been lifted, and I must first complete her venerable instructions... Lou Xiaoyue, for the suffering you inflicted upon me, Lin Fan, I will one day make you repay it a thousand times over!"

’He calls himself Lin Fan. It seems Hong Fu has been possessed,’ Lü Zhong thought.

The act of possession had always been a taboo in the Cultivation Realm.

Only the most audacious and reckless Demon Cultivators dared to perform it so unscrupulously.

Seeing the Demon Cultivator named Lin Fan transform into black mist and depart, Lü Zhong followed at once without hesitation. He planned to track his foe back to his lair and eliminate this demonic threat once and for all.

...

An hour later, Lü Zhong stood upon a patch of white ash.

The process of dealing with the Demon Cultivator had been surprisingly easy, even more so than he had anticipated. Before the Entropy Light Spear formed from his Yang Qi, the weak Refined Corpses were annihilated in a single clash.

The astonished Demon Cultivator didn’t even have time to change his expression before Lü Zhong’s sword took his head.

The spoils from this venture were negligible.

His only gain was a Secret Skill manual titled *Possession*.

This skill was created specifically for the act of possession. It came with a set of Secret Arrays for possession that, when used in conjunction with the skill, could increase the success rate.

"This..." Lü Zhong’s expression was conflicted as he looked at the Secret Skill manual.

After some thought, he ultimately decided to keep it.

’Life and death are unpredictable,’ he thought. ’Who knows if I might need this someday.’

"Was it you who killed my disciple?" Just then, a cold, sinister voice echoed from a corner of the room. A blood-red figure had materialized there at some point, and it was now staring daggers at Lü Zhong.

’The methods of Demon Cultivators are truly bizarre and unpredictable...’ Lü Zhong didn’t reply. Instead, he casually flicked out an Evil Exorcism Talisman.

In an instant, the figure was engulfed in golden flames and quickly dissipated into nothing.

Looking at the dense Corpse Qi in the area, Lü Zhong seemed to have an idea. He took a black bead out of his Storage Bag.

He had studied this strange bead quite a bit after obtaining it. His current guess was that it was a Spiritual Artifact with the ability to absorb various kinds of negative energy, such as Corpse Qi.

After it absorbed the Corpse Qi, a ring of patterns lit up on the bead’s surface.

The patterned area covered only one-fifth of the bead. Lü Zhong guessed that if he could get the pattern to cover the entire surface, the bead might undergo some sort of transformation. Perhaps he would even be able to control it to attack enemies, just like an Iron Armored Corpse.

Recalling the bead’s power, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.