Holding Qin Yuanhao's storage ring, Lu Yang shook his head with regret after trying several times.
"What a pity. This storage ring can only be opened by Qin Yuanhao himself. It's useless even though we took it. Forcing it open would only banish its internal space into the void, making it impossible to find."
"Let's check out his house. Maybe we'll find something there," Lu Yang said, beckoning the other two to follow.
The chang ghost that had lured Qin Yuanhao over trailed behind them. Man Gu felt the chang ghost had done a fine job and decided to reward it with two skewers of mutton—theoretically, if mutton skewers were burnt to a crisp, a ghost would be able to eat them.
As for whether the chang ghost would taste properly grilled mutton skewers or charcoal, that remained to be proven through practice.
Qin Yuanhao's residence lacked much decoration. Living there alone made the place feel hollow and devoid of life.
The three arrived at the cultivation chamber. Aside from a jade statue, there were only two rows of bookshelves, tightly packed with secret manuals and cultivation methods.
The jade statue had blurred facial features and wore a long robe, making it impossible to tell whether it was male or female.
"This must be the object of the Immortal Cult's faith, the Immortal Celestial," Meng Jingzhou said, circling the statue twice. The material of this statue was far superior to ordinary stone, but the craftsmanship was lacking.
Whose statue didn't strive for lifelike detail?
"*Water Evasion Art*, *Introduction to Formations*, *Countering Sword Techniques*... They're all fairly common methods. You could find any of them on the first floor of our Scripture Pavilion." Lu Yang ran his fingers across the book spines, enjoying the textured ridges under his fingertips.
"*Common Methods to Please Your Superior*, *The Human Heart*, *Intrigue and Scheming*... What is all this nonsense?"
Lu Yang casually picked up one volume, which turned out to be *Common Methods to Please Your Superior*. The corners of the pages were dog-eared, showing that Qin Yuanhao had flipped through it countless times.
"Method One: Become part of your superior's family. Depending on your age and ability, you may target the superior themself, or the superior's son or daughter."
Qin Yuanhao had jotted a note in the margin: *The Branch Master never removes the mask. Identity unknown, gender unknown. Cannot get close, cannot marry.*
"Method Two: Offer treasures. A flashy treasure makes the gift-giver look flashy as well, which breeds dislike. It is advisable to give your superior a low-key yet expensive gift."
Qin Yuanhao's note in the margin read: *Took out a loan to buy a jade chair for the Branch Master. Hope it works.*
"Method Three: Cultivate common interests. Pay close attention to your superior's hobbies and develop the same ones."
Qin Yuanhao's note in the margin read: *The Branch Master's hobby is fishing. Went fishing by the river with the Branch Master and caught more fish than the Branch Master. I hope the Branch Master won't envy my talent.*
"Method Four..."
"Method Five..."
Qin Yuanhao had put immense effort into flattering the Branch Master, even if the results were underwhelming.
"Seems life in a demonic cult isn't easy either," Lu Yang remarked with an amused sigh.
Still, thanks to Qin Yuanhao's notes, Lu Yang gained a basic understanding of the Branch Master and the deacons.
"The hierarchy within the Yanjiang Branch goes from ordinary cultists at the bottom, up through deacons, to the Branch Master at the top. The ordinary cultists are numerous, ranging from Qi Refinement to the Foundation Establishment stage, and they rarely access the Immortal Cult's core secrets."
"Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage can only become deacons by passing an examination. The entire Yanjiang Branch has twelve deacons. With Qin Yuanhao dead, there are eleven left."
"The Branch Master's identity is unknown, with cultivation in the Golden Core stage—exact realm unknown. Enjoys fishing."
Beyond that, the trio turned up some scattered spirit stones along with a few spells that clearly were not meant for righteous cultivators, such as hypnosis and bedchamber arts, which weren't worth mentioning.
"Let's go. Time to prepare for the demonic cult's trial in nine days."
……
At the border of Yanjiang Commandery, countless taciturn cultivators moved through the depths of a dense forest. Dappled patches of light fell across their impassive faces, lending the scene a somber chill.
Every cultivator kept a wide berth from the others, mutually vigilant and quietly gathering their strength. The moment an opponent showed a lapse in focus, an ambush would strike, aiming to whittle down the competition.
All of them were demonic rogue cultivators who had learned the location of the trial through various channels and rushed to the Yanjiang Branch ahead of time.
Under pressure from the righteous sects, their living space had continually shrunk. To secure more resources, they had to attach themselves to a major organization, making the Yanjiang Branch their prime target.
In the past, joining the demonic cult required a recommendation from a deacon, which meant bribing one.
This time was different. Everyone had a chance—an opportunity to join the cult that hadn't appeared in thirty years.
An hour before the trial was set to begin, most of the demonic rogue cultivators had arrived.
"Look over there! Isn't that Chi Xulong, the one who slaughtered an entire clan overnight without sparing even a mouse, and then drifted away right in front of everyone's eyes?!"
A burly man held the leg bone of an unidentified demonic beast like a savage. His skin was bronzed, his muscles bulged, and his arms were laced with scars. He bared his teeth, revealing two canines like those of a wolf.
Chi Xulong was renowned among demonic rogue cultivators. Arrogant, domineering, and having survived countless fatal calamities, he had even advanced his cultivation in the midst of battle. He was a ruthless fighter who grew fiercer with every clash, unyielding and impossible to kill!
"Chi Xulong, to think you'd come here too," a fair-faced scholar said, waving a paper fan as he bantered.
Chi Xulong gave a cold sneer. "Hah, Shen Jinyi. You're a schoolteacher. Instead of teaching at an academy, what are you doing here? Nobody here needs your schooling!"
"What? He's Shen Jinyi, the one who opened an academy specifically to teach people how to murder?!" Hearing Chi Xulong address the fair-faced scholar as Shen Jinyi, someone gasped and backed away.
Shen Jinyi was indeed a teacher, but he taught neither the Confucian classics nor histories. He taught efficient, secretive methods of assassination.
No one knew how many killers he had trained. Even among demonic rogue cultivators, he was a sinister figure who made people blanch at the mention of his name.
Though Shen Jinyi looked smiling and frail, anyone who genuinely crossed him wouldn't even know how they died!
"Assassins? Nothing more than a pack of cowards afraid to show their faces." A saber practitioner carrying a broadsword as tall as a man curled his lip in a cold smile, holding assassin Shen Jinyi in no regard.
Shen Jinyi moved to retort, but the moment he saw the saber practitioner's face, he forced the words back down his throat, squeezing out just a few syllables through gritted teeth: "Yi Zhanghong!"
"What are you calling your grandpa for?" Faced with Shen Jinyi's murderous glare, Yi Zhanghong showed nothing but contempt, even spitting a mouthful of phlegm.
A demonic rogue cultivator's eyes widened. The ones gathering here were all notorious figures: "It really is Yi Zhanghong, within whose ten feet blood must be drawn! Rumor has it that he's invincible in close combat—even half-step Golden Core experts are reluctant to cross him!"
Beside these three, many other prominent villains had gathered. All of them had high bounties placed on them by the government, yet no one dared cross them for fear of being butchered in return.
With these notorious villains gathered together, the others knew their own cultivation fell short. They kept their distance, lacking even the nerve to speak aloud.
Suddenly, the arrival of three figures caught everyone's attention. One walked in the center with a sword slung across his back; the one on the left looked like a Confucian cultivator holding *Sayings of the Sage*; and the one on the right wore a brilliant smile, resembling a madman.
The three were silent, looking straight ahead as if no one else existed. They paid no heed to the demonic rogue cultivators around them, exuding an immense aura.
"Who are they? Do you recognize them?"
"Never seen them before. They seem like a big deal, though."
The trio cut straight through the crowd to the very front. Murmuring phrases like "Immortal Celestial" under their breath, they opened a stone wall and pretended to pull out tables and chairs from the other side, though they were actually retrieving them from their jade pendants.
Chi Xulong and the others pondered silently, *They can open the stone wall. Looks like they're members of the cult.*
Once seated, the youth with the sword coughed twice, drawing everyone's attention.
His voice rang out clear and resonant: "I am Lu Yang, and these two are Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu. The three of us are the examiners for this selection. The Immortal Cult recruitment trial begins now. Line up, and everyone state your personal information."
Chapter 65