The Emotionless Cult was said to consist entirely of cold, unfeeling people. Their recruitment criteria were extraordinarily harsh, which was precisely why they had the smallest number of followers among the Four Great Demonic Cults.
Of course, when it came to membership numbers, they still couldn't compare to the Heavenly Court Cult, which had been founded only two years prior but boasted four hundred thousand years of history.
Whether the Emotionless Cult's philosophy genuinely had merit or they possessed other means, the cultivation levels of their members were generally rather high.
"The core belief of the Emotionless Cult is that only someone cold-blooded and devoid of affection can attain the Great Dao and achieve supreme immortality. Mundane ties are nothing but shackles to them. Familial love, romance, and friendship are lethal poisons they must never touch—and even if such feelings exist, they must sever those ties as early as possible," Lu Yang recounted to the Patriarch from his knowledge of the cult.
Daoist Xiantian didn't know much about the Emotionless Cult, just like how Lu Yang had known only the name of the Immortal Cult back when he had first reached Foundation Establishment.
Now, however, Lu Yang was different. On the surface, he was on excellent terms with Dai Bufan, who oversaw intelligence, while in secret, by virtue of his status as Young Cult Master, he could glean a vast amount of intelligence from the Nine Nether Cult and the Shining Sun Cult.
It was just that the Emotionless Cult was innately insular and aloof, treating both the Nine Nether Cult and the Shining Sun Cult with cold indifference. As a result, neither cult could give a full accounting of their circumstances either.
"That must be the Emotionless Cult's stronghold, right?"
Lu Yang and his companions were currently in a forest. The two men they had been tailing tapped the bark of a certain massive tree, whereupon the tree sucked them inside and they vanished.
Through his divine sense, Lu Yang discovered that the tree trunk was hollow. Using the root system as a passageway, it transported people to an underground cavern beneath the roots.
"That makes five cultivators entering the underground cavern already," Meng Jingzhou transmitted to the two of them. They weren't sure of the exact situation down there and were still observing. Aside from the two cultivators who had just entered, three others had previously slipped into the underground cavern one by one.
"Then there's no mistake—today is the Emotionless Cult's recruitment day." Daoist Xiantian was confident he hadn't misheard. "I'm going down first."
"Wait, wait!" Lu Yang hastily caught Daoist Xiantian. "My brother and I have a fair bit of experience in this line of work. How about the two of us accompany you down?"
Lu Yang wasn't comfortable letting Daoist Xiantian head into the Emotionless Cult on his own.
Daoist Xiantian thought it over and felt Lu Yang had a point. Although his own cultivation experience far exceeded that of these two juniors, when it came to undercover work, he was truly no match for them.
"All right, that works."
Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou donned masks, altered their appearances, and suppressed their cultivation to the early Foundation Establishment stage. As long as the Emotionless Cult below had no one at the Soul Formation stage, nobody would see through them.
The three of them stuck together. Following the procedure they had observed earlier, they tapped a specific section of the giant tree's bark. A pulling force drew them into the trunk, and they slid down into the underground cavern.
"Oh? More people? And three together?" The Emotionless Cult members at the entrance were somewhat puzzled upon seeing Lu Yang's group. Logically speaking, ruthless and unfeeling people rarely traveled in groups. Even traveling in pairs was rare, let alone a trio.
However, it wasn't entirely unheard of, so they didn't become overly suspicious.
"Follow me," the Emotionless Cult member guarding the entrance said expressionlessly.
Lu Yang observed the underground cavern out of the corner of his eye. It looked as though a massive tavern had been buried underground. Who knew how long this stronghold had been here?
This area fell under the jurisdiction of Ye City, so the precise name of this outpost ought to be the Emotionless Cult Ye City branch.
The cult member leading the way possessed no weak cultivation; he was on the verge of the Golden Core stage.
Along the way, several other Emotionless Cult members were on patrol, all of them at the Golden Core stage.
The guide led Lu Yang and the other two to the deepest part of the underground cavern. Seven cultivators had already gathered here seeking to join the cult, their cultivation bases varying widely—the highest was at the Golden Core stage, while the lowest was only at the third level of Qi Refinement.
Judging from the cult's reaction, however, they didn't seem to place much weight on cultivation bases.
"Three at early Foundation Establishment? Understood. You may step down." The cultivator in charge of the selection nodded. His expression was cold and aloof, his dead-fish eyes looking at everyone as if they were corpses.
Lu Yang noticed he was the strongest person here, at the mid Nascent Soul stage.
"How did you find this place?" the mid Nascent Soul cultivator asked.
Lu Yang replied in an identical tone of voice, "We followed some people here. The three of us have always wanted to join the Emotionless Cult, and having finally found an opportunity today, we came."
There was no need to lie about how they had found the place. In fact, trailing someone here fit the demeanor of demonic cultivators far better.
The mid Nascent Soul cultivator didn't comment on Lu Yang's answer, but from the fact that he didn't drive them away, he clearly harbored no suspicion.
Or rather, he didn't need to be suspicious at all—he only trusted the outcome of the test.
After Lu Yang and his companions arrived, they waited another two hours. Seeing that no more cultivators were coming to join the Emotionless Cult, the mid Nascent Soul cultivator said coldly:
"All right, we won't wait any longer. Even if someone else shows up, they simply have no affinity with our cult.
"My name is Niu Qianshan, and I am the Branch Master of this branch. Needless to say, you have all come here to join our Emotionless Cult.
"Our cult does not care about your origins or your cultivation. As long as you can be ruthless and devoid of affection, and adhere to the Path of Emotionlessness, you belong to our cult."
Niu Qianshan produced a piece of yellow paper inscribed with a formation that Lu Yang could not decipher. He signaled his subordinates to distribute the yellow sheets to all the cultivators.
"What an ingenious formation. Whoever designed this was quite a talent," the Immortal Fairy praised, a rare compliment from her.
Niu Qianshan continued, "Our cult's entrance test isn't wishy-washy like those of the Nine Nether Cult and the Shining Sun Cult. Our cult has only one test: prove that you are cold-blooded and ruthless!
"What you need to do next is sit cross-legged on this yellow paper and enter deep meditation.
"Once you do, the formation on the yellow paper will peer into your inner heart and identify the person closest to you deep inside—it could be your parents, your elders, or your friends—and manifest an illusion of them.
"You will forget your current circumstances, forget that this is a test, and believe it to be reality. You must kill whoever appears before you!"
By the end of his speech, Niu Qianshan revealed a frenzied, ferocious expression, his entire face contorted.
To join the Emotionless Cult, he had personally murdered his own wife and child.
"Of course, considering the possibility that the other party's cultivation might exceed your own and make them difficult to kill, the figures manifested by the formation will have cultivation bases equal to yours.
"Let the test begin!"
Niu Qianshan gave the cold order. The ten applicants, including Lu Yang, sat cross-legged atop their respective formation papers. As self-proclaimed emotionless individuals with resolute Dao hearts, they quickly entered deep meditation.
When Lu Yang regained consciousness, his mind felt entirely muddled, as if he had forgotten something. Soon, with the Immortal Fairy's help, he came to his senses.
*I remember now. I'm taking the Emotionless Cult's entrance test, and I need to kill whoever appears in the illusion. Since I'm already lucid, passing the test shouldn't be too hard—*
Before Lu Yang could even finish the thought, two familiar, graceful figures walked over.
One was named Yun Zhi. The other was named Huang Doudou.
*Like hell I could ever win this!*
Chapter 890