When the Cult Master saw Yun Zhi emerge from Lu Yang's body, his heart turned completely cold.
Originally, he had thought that the Immortal Celestial might have successfully seized Lu Yang's body, and that all his earlier behavior had merely been an act.
Now, looking at this, it seemed the Immortal Celestial was likely finished as well.
“So you, Meng Jingzhou, and Man Gu were from the Dao Seeking Sect all along!” The Cult Master was a sharp man and pieced everything together at once.
It had not been him sending the three of them to infiltrate the Dao Seeking Sect at all—the Dao Seeking Sect had sent them to infiltrate the Immortal Cult!
Despicable Dao Seeking Sect!
He glared fixedly at Lu Yang. As a member of an orthodox sect, this youth had actually disguised himself as a demonic cultivator without a single flaw in his speech or conduct.
What terrifying scheming!
Ming Ge waved his hand, having his subordinates lead the Cult Master away.
“This operation was all thanks to the intelligence Fellow Daoist Yun Zhi provided. Otherwise, who knows when this Immortal Cult would have finally been brought to justice. Once I return, I shall petition His Majesty to grant Fellow Daoist Yun Zhi a reward.”
“A trivial matter. The ones who labored hardest on this trip were you and your men. I contributed very little, so please drop the matter of a reward,” Yun Zhi said nonchalantly.
She then added, “There is no need to report to Emperor Xia either. I will be paying him a visit shortly.”
Seeing her resolute attitude, Ming Ge did not press further. He cupped his fists in farewell to everyone. “Currently, the headquarters has been completely apprehended, but we still need to race against the clock to locate the various branch halls and capture the entire Immortal Cult in one sweep. Time is precious; if the people in the branch halls react in time, it will cause trouble. I shall take my leave first!”
Having hurried through these words, Ming Ge left to continue handling the Immortal Cult's affairs. Yun Zhi said nothing more.
Yun Zhi hauled the Immortal Celestial out once again, making him rather nervous; he thought she was going back on her word.
“You are an important witness. Come with me to meet Emperor Xia and the masters of the other four great immortal sects.”
To explain the situation regarding the Immortal Cult, taking the Immortal Celestial along was the simplest solution.
The Immortal Celestial breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they were not refining him, anything was fine.
Just now in the spiritual space, he had heard Lu Yang mention that the Dao Seeking Sect had a tradition of refining powerful souls into Dharma treasures.
The more he heard about this, the less it sounded like an orthodox sect.
The Immortal Celestial wondered if his believers' memories were reliable. Had they not said the Five Great Immortal Sects joined hands to defend the righteous path?
“The three of you—you, Meng Jingzhou, and Man Gu—head back first. Dai Bufan is waiting for you outside.” Leaving behind these words, Yun Zhi carried the Immortal Celestial off like a little chick.
Lu Yang regrouped with Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu. Meng Jingzhou said with a grin, “We finally took care of the Immortal Cult. Another great achievement under our belts!”
Man Gu said hesitantly, “Did we move a little too fast? It's been less than two months since we joined the Immortal Cult, and it's already completely wiped out by us.”
The Immortal Cult had existed for fourteen thousand years as a scourge upon the world. How had it been uprooted the moment Brother Lu and Brother Meng joined?
Even for defending the righteous path, was this efficiency not absurdly high?
Lu Yang said solemnly, “Man Gu, you need to be clear about something. Did we destroy the Immortal Cult? No, of course not!”
“Everything that happened today is the retribution the Immortal Cult brought upon itself through its misdeeds. We merely made a negligible contribution.”
Meng Jingzhou nodded vigorously. The Immortal Cult had been blind enough to recruit the three of them—what did that have to do with them?
Man Gu had an epiphany. “I stand enlightened.”
Chatting and laughing, the three of them left the headquarters, and sure enough, Dai Bufan was waiting for them.
“You're out? You three did quite a job!” Dai Bufan chuckled, clapping each of them firmly on the shoulder. It was evident he was delighted.
With one less demonic cult, one of their persistent troubles was eliminated, which took a huge load off his shoulders.
Dai Bufan casually plucked a leaf from a tree and, by some unknown technique, made it expand to the size of a small boat.
“Hop on.”
Using the green leaf as a flying boat, Dai Bufan flew the three of them back to the Dao Seeking Sect.
Lu Yang looked down, trembling, feeling as though he might fall off at any second. Seeing this, Dai Bufan burst into laughter. “Lu Yang, so you’re afraid of heights! How are you going to be a sword cultivator later on?”
……
Returning to the Mission Hall, Dai Bufan calculated the rewards for their mission.
“Before Eldest Senior Sister left, she instructed me that although the maximum reward for a Foundation Establishment stage mission is one thousand contribution points, since you three rendered distinguished service in destroying the Immortal Cult, an exceptional reward must be granted to each of you.”
“Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu, two thousand contribution points each.”
“Lu Yang, you contributed the most during the Immortal Cult's competition: two thousand five hundred contribution points.”
They still had plenty of contribution points left from last time, and receiving so many more now left all three of them thrilled.
Among the Foundation Establishment stage disciples, the three of them had the most contribution points!
“Senior Brother Dai, could you see if this saber can be exchanged for contribution points?”
Lu Yang took out the demonic saber and presented it to Dai Bufan for appraisal.
Dai Bufan examined the demonic saber, flicked it lightly, and listened to its reverberation. “It truly is a rare, excellent saber. You don't want to keep it for yourself?”
“Oh, right. You have the Green Blade Sword from Eldest Senior Sister; you don't need a demonic saber.”
“The material of this saber is decent, but the forging method was far too poor. Furthermore, having slain far too many, the karmic sin and foul blood have damaged the inherent qualities of its materials. I'll credit you one thousand seven hundred contribution points for it.”
After their contribution points were settled, the matter finally drew to a close. The three of them yawned continuously. This operation had cost immense time and energy; both physically and mentally, they were utterly exhausted.
“Let's go back and get some sleep. We can talk about redeeming rewards tomorrow,” Meng Jingzhou said through a yawn, barely able to keep his eyes open.
Man Gu came close to tumbling straight down and falling asleep right on the floor.
Lu Yang was not much better off. All of his battles had taken place in his spiritual space, which had drained his mental energy the most.
However, he had another reason for being unable to focus right now.
“Why don't I get any contribution points?! That little girl Yun Zhi must be afraid I'll become Sect Master again!”
“Why don't I get any contribution points?! That little girl Yun Zhi must be afraid I'll become Sect Master again!”
The Immortal Fairy was raising a clamor inside his spiritual space.
“Fairy, could you please quiet down for a bit? I'm going to sleep,” Lu Yang muttered half-asleep upon returning to his cave dwelling.
The Immortal Fairy let out an “Oh” and obediently stayed quiet in the spiritual space, making no more fuss or noise.
……
After the three left, Dai Bufan examined the demonic saber, unsure of how to dispose of it.
“Forget it, I'll stash it in the warehouse for now and ask the Fifth Elder later.”
Dai Bufan casually picked up the demonic saber and tossed it into a corner of the warehouse.
The warehouse was pitch-black; one could only faintly make out Dharma treasures of various shapes and sizes. The demonic saber emanated an ominous aura, standing out conspicuously.
No matter where it was, the demonic saber was incomparably domineering. It flared with a dark red light, declaring that it was the boss of this warehouse, and that whoever refused to submit would be cut down!
A precious lamp floated into the air, radiating the aura of a superior Dharma treasure that engulfed the demonic saber.
A jade ruyi glowed with green light, enveloping the demonic saber.
A paper fan snapped open with a swish, fanning gently.
A scythe, a writing brush, a gourd, a Go board... Dharma treasures of all varieties seemed to come alive, crowding around the demonic saber.
The demonic saber shivered violently and proactively drew in its ominous aura, looking utterly harmless to man and beast.
What kind of place is this? Terrifying!
Chapter 202