Is My Hardship Finally Over?!

If someone moved, they should at least give me some sign!

Then at least let me see some trace of what you guys did here!

This is terrifying!

It made her feel like she might have encountered a ghost, that she hadn't arrived at a Demonic Sect, but a Ghost Sect!

She pondered the fellow disciples she had met along the way.

They were also doing the most basic menial labor like her, but not a single one of them had any expression on their faces.

Their eyes were vacant, their movements stiff, as they repetitively performed the tasks in their hands without fatigue.

Recalling carefully, even that Foundation Establishment Realm senior seemed to be the same.

Why was this?

Just as Su Ling'er's thoughts deepened, she looked up and saw a sword light hovering not far away.

The light faded, revealing the Foundation Establishment cultivator.

He seemed to be in the courtyard she had cleaned for the sixty-fourth time, pointing towards the mountain stream below.

Splash!

Nine water dragons roared and soared into the sky, arcing down below.

Because Su Ling'er was still cleaning the courtyard, she couldn't see where the water dragons ultimately landed, but she could roughly guess.

They must have gone into the nine bronze vats she had personally filled before.

He was using profound water control techniques to repeat her previous labor, and that courtyard was also one she had cleaned before.

It took no more than two or three breaths of time.

Then, the Foundation Establishment expert drew his sword and turned into a stream of light, disappearing from Su Ling'er's sight.

Even Foundation Establishment experts had to do this work, and they did it even faster!

Before she could recover, another extremely fast golden stream of light suddenly appeared in the sky.

Though it flashed by, it constantly weaved back and forth in the air, its speed so great that only afterimages remained.

Those afterimages drew countless straight golden lines in the sky with their light.

And the endpoints of those golden lines were precisely the several courtyards she had painstakingly cleaned before!

Could it be... a False Core Realm expert?

Or perhaps a powerful Core Formation Realm expert like the Sect Master?!

But... but even experts of this level were trapped in this endless cycle of cleaning labor?!

After pondering for a while, she understood!

This must be the real higher-ups of the sect, hidden behind Elder Qian's puppet, using this method to mentally control their disciples in a brutal manner!

They deliberately messed up the courtyards the disciples had cleaned, deliberately emptied all the filled vats, just to test the disciples' obedience and endurance!

Then they would grind down your will, crush your spirit, until you could only become a qualified "tool" serving the sect.

Those fellow disciples with numb eyes.

That disciple who sacrificed himself by jumping into the medicinal soup and turning into blood to help forge a sword.

And that senior disciple who chose to be pierced through by the Senior Disciple Brother's sword, just to help the Senior Disciple Brother complete the act of persuading him to practice the Sword Refining Art...

All of this, all of this made sense now!

So that's how it was, so that's how it was!

Those were all warnings for her!

The future that every newly admitted disciple of Gui Xi Sect might face!

No wonder they would sacrifice their lives to forge magic treasures and pills for others!

No wonder they would willingly be pierced through to complete the Senior Disciple Brother's mission, even reciting such an awkward line before dying.

Even disciples with Foundation Establishment cultivation, or even far higher realms than hers, were still bound by menial tasks like cleaning courtyards.

This was the sect's art of "exploitation"!

They were truly not cultivating disciples, but systematically draining the spirit and value of every newcomer through this high-intensity, meaningless labor!

Once your mind is worn out and your path to cultivation can no longer advance, you will completely resign yourself and willingly become "nourishment" for the sect's operations!

At that point, whether you jump into the alchemy furnace or lie on the forging platform, you will consider it a reward and salvation from the sect!

These repetitive tasks were a meticulously designed assembly line.

They processed living cultivators into "raw materials" that they could use at any time!

Too terrifying!

This Demonic Dao Evil Sect truly deserves to be punished by everyone!

The two hundred and seventy-fourth time.

Sweat soaked through her clothes, the sticky feeling clinging to her skin, making Su Ling'er feel nauseous and irritable.

More than half of the Spiritual Power in her dantian was already depleted, but what weighed on her more was mental exhaustion.

She repeated the tasks of carrying water and sweeping fallen leaves over and over, her mind now filled with nothing but water tank, fallen leaves, water tank, fallen leaves, water tank, fallen leaves.

She felt like she was about to break...

No wonder the other disciples who were also cleaning had such vacant eyes.

They must have been exhausted mentally by this repetitive labor, and through these sect missions, their sharpness was gradually worn down, turning them into thoughtless tools of the sect.

Everything made sense now.

But she was also close to her breaking point...

She leaned against an old tree, gasping for breath. Her ink-black hair stuck to her pale cheeks, and sweat dripped from her temples into the dust.

I can't, I really can't anymore.

If this continues, I'll be completely drained!

I won't even need the Senior Disciple Brother to act; I'll turn into a mere puppet who only knows how to work!

Just then, the sound of footsteps approached from outside the courtyard.

She looked up and saw a familiar figure appear at the end of the path.

It was Senior Disciple Brother Lin Qingfeng?

Wasn't he monitoring her from the shadows earlier?

She had missed an opportunity to slack off!!!

However, this time, Senior Disciple Brother finally didn't jump out at her from behind.

But he wasn't alone.

Behind him followed more than a dozen disciples, both male and female, each with a steady aura.

They lined up in two rows, silent.

This display...

What were they doing?

Lin Qingfeng looked at his junior disciple sister's pitiful state and couldn't help but shake his head.

Junior disciple sister, oh junior disciple sister, where is your willpower!

You're already slacking off!!

So lazy!!!

Did I only leave for a moment, and your hands already stopped!

This is nothing yet, just some repetitive labor, and it's already crushing you?

Sigh, I, the Senior Disciple Brother, still have to save you.

What a pity, though. I can't give her any pills, nor can I let her use spirit servants. If she uses them, she won't get contribution points, which would be like doing all this for nothing, right?

I don't even know what's in this game designer's head. Not only can't they get help, but they can't even pay to solve it.

Although I can't help her materially, I can offer her the greatest spiritual support!

He turned his head and gave a look to the group behind him, whom he had temporarily roped in as "atmosphere builders":

Are you ready? Let's begin!

Su Ling'er watched as the group stopped not far from her, her heart tightening.

She looked at Senior Disciple Brother. His eyes were still gentle, even carrying a hint of encouragement.

Could it be...

Senior Disciple Brother finally found his conscience and asked these senior brothers and sisters to help me?

Is my difficult time finally coming to an end?!

There are still people with a conscience left in this Demon Den?

After hundreds of repetitions of labor, Su Ling'er looked at these Evil Cultivators, harboring a sliver of delusion she shouldn't have had