"Three Grandmaster Realm martial artists, thank you for coming to help this old man break through."
"Rest assured, once the White Lotus Blood Pill is refined and I successfully advance, you need only name whatever reward you desire. Whether martial arts manuals, heavenly treasures, or power and status, I can satisfy you."
Su Fei sneered inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged. He merely nodded slightly without saying more.
Zhang San and Li Si followed Su Fei's example and nodded.
Murong Chong did not mind their indifference. In his eyes, all that mattered was that these people could be of use to him. Their personalities and tempers were unimportant.
He slowly rose, raised his withered hand high, and spoke in a booming voice that resounded like a great bell throughout the Blood Pool Platform.
"The appointed hour has arrived. The pill-refining ceremony officially begins."
The instant his words fell, the cultists surrounding the platform shouted in unison.
"Gods Descend, Pure Land, Mother of Wusheng, the White Lotus Sect descends upon the world."
Their voices rose in perfect unison, filled with the fervor of zealous believers, echoing through the valley and mingling with the bubbling of the blood pool.
Murong Chong swept an icy gaze over the martial artists Gao Xuan and Zhang Manyu had brought.
"Begin slitting these ordinary martial artists' wrists and draining their blood."
No sooner had Murong Chong spoken than Gao Xuan and Zhang Manyu signaled their White Lotus cultists to step forward.
The black-robed cultists, their eyes fanatical and sharp daggers in hand, approached the martial artists held captive.
"Ah, no!"
"Let me go! I don't want to die!"
The martial artists' cries and pleas rose one after another, but did nothing to stop the cultists from laying hands on them.
Daggers sliced across wrists, opening bloody