She did not know how much longer she toiled.
When Su Ling'er completed her one-thousandth task, the task elder handed her a new task jade slip.
It had an additional task marked on it regarding Monster Locking Tower!
[Kill the evil ghosts on the thirteenth layer of Monster Locking Tower ten times]
Su Ling'er looked at the new jade slip in her hand, and that pair of eyes, which had grown slightly weary from repetitive labor, lit up once again!
Finally!
Finally, these were no longer chores that made her feel as though she were about to take root in the soil!
Although tending the medicine fields yielded spiritual grass, and the rewards truly tempted her heart.
Yet that endless repetition was also eating away at her inner self bit by bit.
She continuously persuaded herself with what she had gained, but she still inevitably grew weary.
And now, a brand-new task was placed before her!
Monster Locking Tower!
She could almost imagine the sound of spirit stones clinking together and smell the unique aura exuding from materials!
She could finally grind spirit stones and materials fair and square!
At the very least, regardless of what final rewards the task would grant, just conquering the tower itself would earn her spirit stones.
Last time her luck had been bad, and not a single material had dropped, but this time some might actually drop!
Su Ling'er sought out the transmission elder again, trading spiritual plants for a new spell—Explosive Flame Art.
This was an introductory-level offensive spell, though not as profound as those high-level arts, its advantage lay in being simple and direct with considerable might.
Although it was not the kind of decisive killing art she ideally wanted, she accepted it nonetheless.
Su Ling'er's mind raced with a myriad of thoughts.
She found this sect to be like a towering pavilion built upon the abyss of the Nine Nethers.
It not only concealed mesmerizing and boundless treasures, but also exuded a fatal miasma capable of devouring souls everywhere.
At this moment, a sudden realization dawned on her.
No wonder the Sect Master of Qing Xu Temple had sent her to go undercover here.
Likely, it was not merely because of the Heavenly Furnace Sect's "tithe."
For the righteous sects of the Xuanmen, a demonic sect with such deep foundations was indeed a sharp sword hanging over the heads of the righteous path.
Furthermore, their attitude of treating human life like grass was an even greater threat to all living beings under heaven.
It was only a pity...
She was merely a lonely boat; for every extra day she lingered in this demon den, the danger of capsizing grew by a fraction.
She could only find an opportunity herself, send back a portion of the intelligence, and use the remaining intelligence as a bargaining chip to beg for the Sect Master's protection, plotting a path of survival like a cicada shedding its shell!
Harboring such a nervous yet excited state of mind, she headed toward Monster Locking Tower.
Inside Monster Locking Tower, it remained just as it had been last time.
After asking Elder Qian for the token, she stepped through that immensely gloomy door.
This time, she was no longer the disciple who could only rely on mortal martial arts.
Since she had already cleared the first four layers last time, she directly chose to challenge the fifth layer.
The Rock Armor Scorpion appeared once again; that behemoth which had once inflicted heavy injuries on her with a single strike was no longer an insurmountable existence in her eyes at this moment.
Her figure flickered, executing the newly learned Star Treading Steps to easily dodge the Rock Armor Scorpion's fierce charge.
She no longer even needed to engage in close-quarters combat like last time, only needing to channel spiritual power into her wooden sword. With the sweep of sword light, she could complete the harvest of the Rock Armor Scorpion.
Could this plain-looking wooden sword truly be a treasure?
The Demonic Sect actually distributed such a treasure for free to newly initiated disciples!
Thinking further of the generous rewards after completing tasks, Su Ling'er's mind suddenly cleared.
No wonder! No wonder this Demonic Sect was so perilous, yet still retained so many disciples who even willingly worked for it!
She understood once more!
First, they used repetitive labor for inhumane psychological control, grinding down the sharpness and edges of all newcomers to make them realize their own insignificance and powerlessness.
Then, they cast out these lavish rewards that ordinary sects could never hope to reach.
Be it the treasured wooden sword possessed by everyone, or the spiritual plants and spells obtained with ease.
These were the carrots dangling in front of the donkey, making it willingly grind the mill!
After all, why would a major sect with such profound foundations recruit wastes with inferior spiritual roots and atrocious aptitude as disciples?
Where was the sect willing to bestow such precious treasures upon those with mediocre aptitude?
Even if your aptitude was passable, how could they distribute these resources to you so easily?
You were not a favored son of heaven or a personal disciple of the sect; what could they possibly want from you?
Regardless of what this Demonic Sect plotted, it indeed provided those who had no affinity for the immortal Dao in the righteous Xuanmen with a visible, tangible hope!
Even if the end of this hope was a boundless purgatory;
Even if it meant letting the sect completely drain them of their value before willingly going to their deaths, transforming into nourishment for others...
By that time, however, they would have been thoroughly brainwashed by these methods, and might even feel supreme glory in becoming "nourishment"!
First make you despair, then give you hope, making you completely lose yourself in this repeated tug-of-war!
Ultimately, they would enshrine the sect's will as their sole guiding beacon!
Su Ling'er shook her head, suppressing the deductions in her mind.
Though she was deep within the demonic path, her heart leaned toward the righteous path, and the most important thing right now was—to start grinding!
Just like that, she advanced all the way through like a hot knife through butter, successively clearing several layers.
Those fiendish entities of varying shapes all turned into blue smoke beneath her increasingly proficient spells and sword moves.
Soon, the surrounding scenery shifted once more.
When her vision cleared again, she found herself in a gloomy potter's field.
[Monster Locking Tower · Thirteenth Layer]
Suddenly!
An evil ghost with a green face and fangs appeared before her eyes!
It let out a roar, and three pale-green claw winds whistled toward her face!
She casually cast out Explosive Flame Art!
"Boom—!"
The flames erupted, the evil ghost's body stiffening from the blast before transforming into a patch of black smoke after a single slash of sword Qi, scattering without a trace.
When she had repeatedly farmed this layer for the eighth time.
Clang.
A crisp sound echoed.
Right where it stood, a section of soul bone lay quietly.
Su Ling'er hurried forward, pocketing the spoils of war.
After exiting the tower, Elder Qian distributed the spirit stone rewards for the thirteenth layer, and completing the sect task granted several dozen more spirit stones.
As a cultivator at the Qi Refining Great Perfection, being able to obtain such spirit stones simply from a single trip into the tower made her throw herself even more energetically into farming tower tasks.
Over these past few days, Su Ling'er's life fell into a fixed cycle.
She went to the medicine fields to labor, draining her spiritual power in exchange for spiritual grass.
She went to Monster Locking Tower to battle, exhausting her mind to acquire spirit stones and materials.
With the resources she had obtained, she went to Transmission Hall to draw more exquisite spells and to Artifact Refining Pavilion to forge sturdier magical tools.
Then, she returned to the medicine fields and continued to brave Monster Locking Tower. Although it remained tedious and dull, it was vastly better than endlessly sweeping floors and fetching water for only a few copper coins back then.
Her storage pouch grew unprecedentedly full.
Spiritual grass, spirit stones, materials...
Things that required risking one's life or spending massive amounts of time to acquire in Qing Xu Temple only required doing odd jobs and killing monsters here.
In her heart, she even felt a bit reluctant to leave this Demonic Sect.
Yet for the righteous path!
For all living beings under heaven!
For the Foundation Establishment Great Dao after marrow-cleansing!
She had to resist the temptation!
At the same time...
It was also time to send the portion of intelligence she had selected back to Qing Xu Temple...
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