Black Mountain Sect

"I don't understand military strategy, and I'm no good at politics," Qi Yuan offered his rather bizarre opinion. "In my view, when something like this happens, you just slaughter your way through until the whole world is turned upside down. "Let me see when I can tame a few underlings in the Robe and Crown Forbidden Ground to send over to help you." After chatting with Jin Li for a good while, Qi Yuan logged out of the game. The monsters in the Robe and Crown Forbidden Ground were tough to handle during the day. He would have to wait until nightfall to log back in and deal with them. Staying logged into the game for too long drained too much mental energy, so Qi Yuan chose not to linger indefinitely in the game world. "Time to adjust my schedule." Qi Yuan decided that for the time being, he would grind the game by night and sleep and rest by day. "I need to pick up the pace and beat this game. Maybe then I'll gather all the Heavenly Dao fragments. "According to the theory of Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, the Heavenly Dao is the finest Foundation Establishment spiritual item there is. "If I establish my foundation with the Heavenly Dao, I will stand undisputed at the head of the chief disciples of the five peaks!" So Qi Yuan mused. "It's still early. Time to walk my knife. "I need to walk it more diligently these days. Feels like it's about to grow a brain. "Will it awaken sentience in about a month? "Why so early ahead of schedule? "Could it have something to do with my comprehending Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment?" Qi Yuan walked his mundane iron kitchen knife, lost in thought. "I wonder, once it gains sentience, whether I could hack an Origin Core Zhenren to death with it." Qi Yuan looked forward to finding out. He had spent a long time modifying the Spirit Forging Art. A knife nurtured through it was bound to be extraordinary. He could not break through to the Foundation Establishment stage in the short term, meaning his personal strength could not undergo a qualitative leap, but the knife could grant him remarkable power. Qi Yuan strolled casually along the main thoroughfare of the Divine Light Sect. Just then, a group of disciples dressed in black martial attire rushed past. These disciples belonged to the Divine Light Sect's Golden Light Hall. Golden Light Hall was the sect's hall of enforcement, handling affairs both external and internal. These disciples were hurrying toward the mountain gate, clearly responding to some urgent crisis. Even so, when they spotted Qi Yuan, the Golden Light Hall disciples came to a halt. "Greetings, Eldest Senior Brother." Qi Yuan looked at the disciplinary disciples, particularly their leader, and nodded. "No need for formalities. Go on ahead." "Thank you, Senior Brother," replied Zheng Jianghe, the leader, before hurrying off with his group. Qi Yuan was fairly familiar with Zheng Jianghe. Because Qi Yuan was somewhat... eccentric, he had been hauled into Golden Light Hall several times, so he had grown well acquainted with Zheng Jianghe. Watching Zheng Jianghe's retreating back, a string of text surfaced in Qi Yuan's mind: [This is a cultivator brimming with a sense of justice. At this moment, he only wants to kill someone.] "I wonder what happened down the mountain." Qi Yuan simply sat down on a boulder, too lazy to keep walking, letting the knife soak in the sunlight. Around him, other disciples of the Divine Light Sect were buzzing with discussion, evidently talking about the disciplinary disciples' hurried departure. "So many disciples from Golden Light Hall just left. What happened?" "You haven't heard? A few murders took place recently within our Divine Light Sect's territory." "Murders?" "Last night, the son of Philanthropist Xu in Rong City took a bride. It should have been a joyous occasion, but alas, when dawn broke, someone discovered that Philanthropist Xu's entire household of eighteen was slaughtered. "The newlywed bride in particular was violated before being murdered. It was truly horrific!" "Despicable villainy!" "Three such incidents have already happened near Rong City. "In every case, a young bride was violated on her wedding night, and the groom's entire family was exterminated!" "What villain has the audacity to commit such atrocities under the rule of our Divine Light Sect!" Some were filled with righteous fury, some were stricken with grief, and others remained indifferent. "Who else could it be? It has to be those demonic scoundrels from the Black Mountain Sect!" At the mention of the Black Mountain Sect, the faces of everyone present shifted slightly. The state of Great Shang was home to three great sects, and the Divine Light Sect was one of them. The three great sects were the Divine Light Sect, Floating Mountain, and the Demonic Desire Sect. They were the three most powerful sects in Great Shang. Yet when it came to which sect was the most perilous to provoke, it was undeniably the Black Mountain Sect, which ranked just below the top three. The Black Mountain Sect had merely a few Origin Core Zhenren presiding over it. In raw strength, it naturally could not compare to the three great sects. However, the sect master of the Black Mountain Sect had taken an adoptive father known as Old Demon Black Chicken. This old demon was an eccentric loose cultivator and a paramount figure of the demonic path at the mid-Divine Infant stage—exceptionally petty, vindictive, and notoriously difficult to deal with. The Black Mountain Sect had always played the part of dutiful sons and filial grandsons to Old Demon Black Chicken. Relying on Old Demon Black Chicken's terrifying backing, the demonic scoundrels of the Black Mountain Sect grew increasingly arrogant, committing evil without restraint. The Black Mountain Sect's reputation throughout Great Shang was utterly putrid. Unfortunately, Old Demon Black Chicken was far too strong, and being an unaffiliated loose cultivator made him all the more troublesome. Unless a sect could guarantee his immediate and absolute destruction, they would inevitably suffer his relentless retaliation. It was precisely because of this that the Black Mountain Sect acted so brazenly. The Divine Light Sect disciples murmured among themselves, many feeling deeply frustrated. What could they do about the disciples of the Black Mountain Sect committing atrocities? They could only condemn them in secret. This time, the disciplinary disciples of Golden Light Hall setting out for Rong City would most likely return empty-handed as well. Nearby, hearing this, Qi Yuan muttered to himself, "An otherworld version of Chang Wei?" No, even more revolting than Chang Wei. As night approached, Qi Yuan slaughtered a chicken and simmered a pot of chicken broth to drink. He had expended too much energy in the game and felt somewhat depleted. He needed to replenish himself. Of course, he also shared a bowl of the broth with Jiang Lingsu. After all, the jade slip of cultivation techniques she had given him last time had been of great help. "Mmm, delicious!" Jiang Lingsu drank a full bowl of the chicken broth, a glistening trace still clinging to the corner of her lips. "Eldest Senior Brother, this black chicken broth is wonderfully brewed. If you ever find yourself unable to keep cultivating, becoming a chef and opening a restaurant wouldn't be half bad." "Then you'll have to endorse it for me." Qi Yuan glanced at her. Young as she was, Jiang Lingsu possessed both stunning looks and an exceptional temperament, far outshining the so-called post-98 and post-00 starlets from his past life. "Endorse it? Bring salt?" Jiang Lingsu was puzzled. However, the conversation went no further, as Qi Yuan needed to get back to grinding the game. When darkness fell, Qi Yuan entered the game. Silence reigned within the Robe and Crown Forbidden Ground. Suddenly, a ghastly pale arm reached out from the dirt. Qi Yuan had logged in. Holding his great sword, he continued sneaking forward. Before long, he arrived at a patch of woods. Suspended in the branches of the trees hung numerous garments. Without a careful look, one might have thought a multitude of human corpses were hanging there. Qi Yuan picked a spot where the garment demons were sparse. Holding up his great sword, he kept a vigilant watch on his surroundings. "Sure enough, at night their senses are dulled significantly, and the link between them weakens too. Just how much does it weaken, though?" If it were daytime, appearing so brazenly with his great sword would surely have drawn the garment demons' notice immediately. Yet now, nothing. This proved that their perception was indeed greatly diminished at night. Qi Yuan stepped forward and thrust his great sword straight into an undergarment. The undergarment instantly shattered into powder. He looked around; the remaining garment demons still hung quietly from the trees, displaying no reaction whatsoever. A smile spread across Qi Yuan's face. "Doesn't this mean I could quietly clear out all these garment monsters in a single night?" Thinking this, he stepped toward a second garment monster and followed the same routine. Experience +200. With great sword in hand, his kills were effortless and casual. However, upon slaying the thirtieth garment demon, the monsters hanging in the trees finally showed a reaction, rousing one after another. Yet unlike their uniform cohesion during the day, at night they appeared entirely disordered, flitting about like headless flies. "Hunting time!" Qi Yuan knew this was his moment.