Chapter 5: The Struggling Wuji Sect

Before Yao Qian was taken away, she distinctly felt a gaze fixed upon her. She was certain that she had been discovered by someone inside the grand hall. Yet, that person seemed unconcerned by her overhearing their conversation—was it absolute confidence in their own strength?

Before being swept away again, Yao Qian opened her eyes and stole a glance at her surroundings. She found herself in an extraordinarily luxurious hall, though the bizarre, alien-shaped lanterns within gave her an eerie chill.

She barely had time to take it all in before being engulfed once more by a black mist. Could this sect be a demonic sect? Yao Qian’s heart tightened with unease. Why else would the sect’s cultivators’ magical tools be shrouded in black mist?

Her doubts quickly unraveled. The person who led them out of the hall soon abandoned them in another grand hall and left. Compared to the previous opulent yet terrifying hall, this one was much more austere: just an empty hall with a few tall chairs scattered about.

“Everyone, wake up!” A thunderous voice boomed beside her, causing Yao Qian to shiver instinctively. She was already awake and startled by the voice; the children still unconscious must have been even more frightened.

One by one, the children opened their eyes, dazed and looking around blankly, unable to gather their wits. Yet no one cried out. Children from the cultivation world are unlike those spoiled children in ordinary society—they grew up in a harsh, survival-of-the-fittest environment and were long accustomed to danger.

Even now, most of these children were treasured by their families for possessing spiritual roots and had been carefully raised by their elders. They all knew well that in such situations, maintaining composure was essential; crying or causing a scene would only bring death.

“You are quite lucky,” said a burly man in black robes who had roused them. He stood at least two meters tall, his arms nearly as thick as those of the people around him. He bared a full set of white teeth with a grin: “You have the honor to be accepted into our Wuji Sect, and upon entry, you can learn the inner sect’s heart cultivation method.”

His words drained the color from everyone’s faces in an instant. Wuji Sect? One of the ten demonic sects? Yao Qian’s mind raced: why would Wuji Sect send people out here to abduct disciples?

The orthodox cultivator sects in Yunzhou were powerful; the demonic sects kept to the Four Extremes and never stepped into the Central Plains. Occasionally, they would venture into the Southern Frontier, Northern Plains, Western Regions, or Eastern Barbarians to seize cultivators or mortals for forging. Wuji Sect had numerous Yangshen cultivators and even ascended immortals.

There were countless Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators under their banner, most disciples chosen from their demonic nations. Why would they resort to abducting people outside to become disciples?

Yao Qian could not fathom it. The demonic sects were not the same as the minor or heretical sects. In those, one had to beware of betrayal by elders or peers, but it was rare for elders to openly soul-devour disciples for forging. Wuji Sect was different. It was called a demonic sect because its disciples were ruthless, treating murder, arson, and wholesale clan extermination as routine. Infighting was common. Staying in such a sect could only lead to ruin.

The burly man waved his hand, and two gourds appeared before them, along with a smooth, supple golden page. “Here are fasting pills and pure spiritual spring water, enough for you to retreat in your cave for three months. If you still cannot guide qi into your body after three months—”

The black-robed man glanced around, satisfied by the many terrified looks, then slowly revealed a “kind” smile. “Our Wuji Sect is a legitimate sect; we do not kill casually. If you cannot guide qi into your body, you will become laborers.”

Yao Qian was speechless. She had heard from elders in her clan that Wuji Sect’s laborers were not ordinary servants but materials for disciples—everything from soul to flesh and bones was used.

This knowledge about demonic sect laborers was not obscure. Judging by the pale faces of most children around her, even if they did not know the details, they understood from the sect’s predatory behavior that these people were no good.

Though Wuji Sect was a major demonic sect, it would not typically stoop to abducting disciples from outside. After all, Yunzhou had legitimate sects with authentic transmission methods—besides the nine orthodox sects and six Buddhist sects, only the ten demonic sects had such legacies.

A legitimate transmission method was one that directly pointed to the Dao and had multiple generations of ascended practitioners. A single ascended immortal was not enough; it had to be revised and verified over generations to ensure cultivators could attain the Dao.

Yunzhou boasted countless sects, claiming hundreds of minor sects and thousands of heretical ones. Yet, apart from these few, none possessed such authentic heart cultivation methods. Many minor or heretical cultivators had ascended, but their cultivation methods were too unique to leave behind a legacy.

Under such circumstances, even though the ten demonic sects were notorious, countless sought to join them. However, the orthodox sects were strict in accepting disciples, and the demonic sects demanded high standards. Their numerous demonic nations supplied them with disciples annually, so there was no need to kidnap.

This incident was a rare accident: most outstanding Qi Refining period disciples had been devoured... leaving only those with extremely poor aptitude. The “devouring” was literal—swallowing and chewing up the souls and bodies.

An elder Nascent Soul cultivator had raised eight Foundation Establishment level demon cultivators who, in one go, devoured a hundred late-stage Qi Refining disciples! Their greed blinded them, even devouring a young disciple whose parents were sect disciples.

The parents’ failed revenge led them to report the matter to Pei Changqing, the chief disciple of Wuji Sect’s sect master. Though only three hundred years old, Pei Changqing was already a Nascent Soul cultivator. The sect master had been in seclusion for years, leaving sect affairs in Pei Changqing’s hands.

Upon hearing that these beasts had devoured a hundred disciples at once, Pei Changqing guessed they were not first-time offenders. He ordered an investigation and discovered that over the years, late-stage Qi Refining disciples had either ended up in the bellies of demon cultivators or as materials for other inner sect disciples.

This was a normal phenomenon among demonic cultivators. Selfish and ruthless, they had no patience to nurture disciples. Except for blood relatives, most disciples were raised as cultivation materials. Yet, while demonic cultivators could act this way, demonic sects could not—if all disciples were lost, how would the sect survive?

Pei Changqing was himself a demonic cultivator, but his position as acting sect master forced him to act differently. Especially after discovering so many missing disciples, he turned the main culprits into eternal lamps.

The inner sect disciples who used low-rank disciples for forging were melted in the blood pool. Even Nascent Soul cultivators who tried to defend the beasts were killed. While punishing the culprits, the sect still faced a severe shortage of disciples.

Meanwhile, the demonic nations had failed to provide children with spiritual roots in recent years. Such roots were innate; testing too early risked harming a child’s frail body. If only children with spiritual roots were sought, regardless of testing harm, roots could be detected at birth.

Two twin Golden Core elders of the inner sect, obsessed with forging demonic artifacts, had taken every child with spiritual roots from the demonic nations over the past decade for forging. Their audacity left Wuji Sect in an awkward position of disciple scarcity.

Pei Changqing fairly turned those two Golden Core elders into eternal lamps and ordered his juniors to recruit disciples. Once the quota was met, the matter would end. If not, he planned to sacrifice the remaining useless inner sect disciples to the sect’s mountain-sealing formation.

With so few disciples left, losing a few more was inconsequential; their souls and flesh could perfect the formation. Recently, Wuji Sect trembled under Pei Changqing’s ruthless measures—when he gave orders, everyone complied.

Resistance was not absent; Wuji Sect had noble families and Yangshen elders supporting them. But the sect master’s faction was the strongest. The sect master remained in seclusion, and Pei Changqing, with his strength and control over eighty percent of the sect master’s faction, was unassailable. The noble families could only hold grudges.

Besides, this time they were clearly at fault. The Yangshen elders kept silent in their nests, unwilling to stir trouble before the sect master’s return. This was the greatest difference between demonic sects and orthodox or Buddhist sects.

In orthodox and Buddhist sects, the sect masters or heads were usually not the most powerful cultivators—they closed themselves away to cultivate. But demonic sect masters were typically the strongest in the sect. Without overwhelming strength, they could not control the troublemakers. Only a greater villain could subdue the wicked.

Yao Qian did not yet know all these details. After receiving fasting pills, pure water, and the cultivation method, the black-robed man threw her into a sealed stone cave. Outside, his booming voice declared, “Once you guide qi into your body, you will be able to break the cave’s sealing formation.” Then silence fell. He would not return for three months.

Yao Qian examined the fasting pills and water, then the gourds, wary of possible tampering. Her gaze settled on the golden page—a whole sheet of soft, supple gold, like satin.

She marveled at Wuji Sect’s wealth—using a golden tome to transmit disciples’ cultivation methods! Since ancient times, many methods of transmission existed, the simplest being recording the method on paper scrolls.

Such transmission worked best with a master teaching a disciple personally, revealing the method’s subtle mysteries. Otherwise, merely reading a manual seldom imparted the true essence.

The golden tome was a legacy left by powerful cultivators for their successors. Typically, it could be used only once before vanishing but contained all the master’s insights, allowing the receiver to quickly grasp the method’s depths.

Yao Qian had heard from elders that such golden tomes were not only made from precious materials but also required Nascent Soul cultivators to forge, so only true successors of major sects had the chance to receive them.

To think Wuji Sect gave golden tomes even to ordinary initiates? Could the demonic sects be wealthier than the orthodox sects?