What Place Is This

Lin Chang'an was the first, and Elder Lu directly and generously rewarded him with a Low-grade Magic Artifact. Such a generous reward made the other bewildered youths burn with envy.

Entering the Heavenly Sword Sect and becoming an outer disciple probably wouldn't be much better than this.

"I'm willing to join."

"I am too..."

One by one, the youths in the crowd finally couldn't resist the temptation. Lin Chang'an, seeing this, secretly sneered.

This so-called reward of a Pill Furnace was nothing more than a tool to squeeze him dry. He wouldn't take it seriously.

"Elder Lu is setting an example."

Lin Chang'an saw through it clearly. If he had any other choice, he wouldn't have stuck his neck out either. As for lying low? If you're too ordinary, you won't get your hands on any real resources.

Lying low depends on the situation. In this godforsaken place, lying low means you're worth the least, and the consequences are something you definitely don't want to imagine.

"Good, very good."

Sure enough, just as Lin Chang'an had thought, how could this chaotic land of Miaowa Kingdom be so generous? Those who came after only received verbal praise, not a single bit of real reward.

"Of course, our Great Sword Sect is no third-rate sect like Miaowa Kingdom. If your families are willing to pay a ransom, I have no objection and will let you leave."

Elder Lu wore a genial smile as he looked at the crowd. "You all know what kind of place Miaowa Kingdom is. Leaving the Great Sword Sect is easy, but leaving Miaowa Kingdom depends on your luck. You're all smart people, so I don't want to see anyone try to run."

The moment before, his face was full of kind smiles; the next, Elder Lu's smile was filled with chill.

"I... I can learn. Alchemy, talisman drawing, I can learn anything..."

"Wuwu, my parents will pay the ransom."

"Senior... Senior, I know the rules. I still have many friends in Great Jin. I can trick them into coming..."

Voices clamored from the crowd. Though Elder Lu's face was full of smiles, his indifferent eyes were somewhat intimidating.

"Good. If you follow the rules, our Great Sword Sect will follow the rules too. Take them down to get familiar with the place."

"Yes."

With a wave of his hand, the surrounding cultivators all revealed cruel smiles. "Let's go, fellow daoist geniuses."

Passing by the stone house encampment, screams and wails rang out endlessly. Everywhere were figures being tortured and brutally beaten. These were the lucky ones—at least after enduring it, they could struggle to live another day.

The cultivators hanging in iron cages outside were worse off. These were either those who tried to escape or those whose bodies had reached their limit. They would suffer even more brutal consequences.

Female cultivators could still be sold as breeding tools to cultivation families.

Male cultivators! Hah, naturally, they were also precious materials. A cultivator's flesh and blood could be used for talismans, artifact forging, feeding spirit beasts, and even making human puppets, among many other uses.

In short, once you came here, even your bone marrow would be squeezed dry for oil.

"Let me go, I was wrong..."

"I still have a cousin. I can definitely trick him into coming here... Stop hitting me... Ah..."

The blackened stone houses were stained by blood. As the group of youths passed by, they could hardly hide the fear in their hearts. They had only heard of such things before, but seeing it with their own eyes was truly terrifying.

"Brother Chang'an, can we still go back?"

Qi Feng, his face pale, forced a smile uglier than crying. His bloodless lips trembled as he spoke nervously.

Among the crowd, though the youths were all in the same boat, Lin Chang'an had clearly been singled out. As the first to lower his head, the remaining shred of pride in the other youths made many disdain to associate with him.

"Go back?"

Lin Chang'an gave Qi Feng a meaningful look. Sure enough, he was born into a noble family, and it was precisely his status as a concubine's son that gave him this kind of personality.

It seemed his thoughts had been seen through, but Qi Feng showed no embarrassment. Instead, he lowered his head and offered a humble smile.

"Brother Chang'an, from now on, this younger brother is at your command."

Qi Feng was clever, deliberately finding words to get close to him. Lin Chang'an wasn't put off by it. Instead, he sighed melancholically and revealed a bitter smile.

"In the days ahead, we should band together for warmth."

In a place like this, banding together for warmth was the only wise choice to survive. Of course, there would be no morality here.

"Brother Chang'an, what exactly is this Miaowa Kingdom?"

The girl following behind Qi Feng suddenly spoke. Before Lin Chang'an could say anything, Qi Feng quietly introduced her: "Brother Chang'an, this is Murong Yue..."

Murong Yue, fifteen years old, High-grade Spirit Root, Grade B, from a mortal martial arts aristocratic family.

Lin Chang'an naturally knew this from when they tested their spirit roots, but now he secretly sized up the girl.

At fifteen, Murong Yue was already graceful and elegant, with bright, spirited eyes and lips like cinnabar. She was clearly a beauty in the making.

Though from a martial arts family, Murong Yue exuded an air of a scholarly household. Only the heroic glint in her pitch-black eyes revealed that she was no simple person.

"The cultivation world of Miaowa Kingdom!"

Thinking of the description of this place, Lin Chang'an couldn't help but sigh deeply. "This is a paradise, and also a living hell."

Li Han, who had been silent and unnoticed all along, now wore a bitter smile. "What have I gotten myself into?"

He had racked his brains, spent all his savings to buy a spot, only to end up selling himself and counting the money for someone else.

Lin Chang'an sighed as well—fellow sufferers in a fallen world. He had been tricked into coming here by his own uncle and cousin.

Among the crowd, some had Low-grade Spirit Roots. Needless to say, selling one was the same as selling many. The old bastard who sold them had likely taken no small cut for himself before accepting this batch, then turned around and sold them off, double-dipping on both ends.

"If you want to survive, do everything in your power to show your worth."

When Lin Chang'an said this, he swept his gaze over the crowd without hiding it. Everyone's heart trembled after hearing him.

Among the youths participating in the sect assessment, very few came from the bottom of society. Most were born into powerful families who knew of the existence of cultivation, or were children of Rogue Cultivators, and some were even from established cultivation clans.

A pure Rogue Cultivator newcomer youth like Li Han was a rare existence.

Lin Chang'an narrowed his eyes. At sixteen or seventeen, people in the mortal world had already started families and built careers, let alone in the Cultivation World. Their minds were naturally mature.

It was just that everything had happened too suddenly, and many hadn't reacted yet. But with Lin Chang'an's reminder, quite a few had already come to their senses, their faces pale with despair for the future.

"We're here."

With a cold shout from the guiding cultivator, they were led into a magnificent tavern.

As the crowd filed into the tavern one after another, what greeted them was a dense sea of eyes—eyes filled with despair, with lifeless stillness.

"This... this place!"

A youth looked at the scene in terror, but the Great Sword Sect cultivator leading them only sneered. "It's getting late. Time to familiarize you with the sect's environment. After all, you'll be coming here often from now on."

The casual, teasing voice echoed in their ears, but the faces of these youths held only disbelief and shock.

Even Lin Chang'an, who had lived two lives and thought he had seen many grand spectacles, found his face turning pale as he stared at the scene before him.

"This is practically Miaowa Cultivation!"

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