Was It Born?

The fated protagonists in storytellers' tales could always lurk nearby while powerful cultivators fought, then quietly snatch up their opportunities.

Now it seemed that was nothing but a mortal's wishful fantasy.

When immortals fought, mortals suffered.

Fang Huai had never truly understood that before. Now, at last, he did.

The poisonous miasma from a mere Foundation Establishment Realm demon beast's venom had been enough to poison him, a half-baked cultivator with a Corpse Meteor Insect.

If he had been caught in a battle between even more powerful figures, low-level cultivators wouldn't just fail to steal any opportunities. They might be reduced to ashes simply for sneaking too close.

After Fang Huai was poisoned, his consciousness remained hazy. He only vaguely felt that some kind-hearted person had carried him to a cold place.

When he finally began to come around, he heard a terrible commotion. All around him swayed white and red ghostly figures, amid wails and mad babbling.

"Am I dead?" Fang Huai's throat tightened. "Is this hell?"

His vision finally cleared, but when he saw his surroundings, his heart clenched. This place was more terrifying than hell.

Oppressive and dim, it reeked of rot and blood.

Every five or six meters stood an ancient, unadorned Bronze Pillar carved with strange patterns. There were hundreds of them.

People were chained to every pillar, men and women alike. Besides being delirious, crying and howling as if possessed by madness, their condition was also too horrific to look at.

[Miasma Explosion], [Corpse Demon Possession], [Qi Deviation], [Vengeful Soul Devouring Body]...

Just seeing the labels on these people dealt Fang Huai a tremendous shock.

Those still covered by clothes were just barely bearable to look at. The ones with hardly anything on were truly indecent.

His stomach churned, and he couldn't help retching.

Even worse, his spiritual energy and Blood Qi had both been sealed tight!

His gaze fell on the strange patterns carved into the Bronze Pillar, and at last he understood what was wrong—

These Bronze Pillars had the [Spirit Locking Soul Sealing] label.

[Spirit Locking Soul Sealing: Seals the Qi Sea, suppresses Blood Qi, restrains soul power]

As cold sweat broke out on his forehead, two gray-robed attendant disciples strolled over, chatting.

Li San and Hu Jiu, both at the Third Layer of Qi Refining.

Fang Huai hurriedly called out, "Senior brothers!"

The two heard someone calling and turned toward Fang Huai, delighted. "We thought this one was going to be poisoned to death. Didn't expect him to pull through."

Then they hurried over to him.

"He looks to be in good shape. We can get a good price for him."

The two of them chatted back and forth, treating Fang Huai like livestock.

Cold sweat beaded on Fang Huai's forehead. From the way they were talking, it sounded as if he'd been sold.

"Senior brothers, where is this place?"

"Here? This is the Human Puppet Hall!"

Perhaps Fang Huai's recovery had put them in a good mood. The two explained his current situation.

This was the Human Puppet Hall, under Talent Peak, and it was watched over by the two Outer Disciples Li San and Hu Jiu.

The people bound to the Bronze Pillars were called human puppets. Most were mortals from territories under the Mystic Sword Sect, captured by the sect. They served as consumables for the disciples of the Corpse Sha Sect.

Put simply, if a Corpse Sha Sect disciple ran low on Blood Qi, they could use a human puppet to replenish it; if they couldn't purge poisonous miasma, they could use one to draw it out; if they lost an arm, they could borrow one from a human puppet...

The more Fang Huai heard, the more alarmed he became. "Senior brothers, I'm Fang Huai, a disciple of our Corpse Sha Sect. I don't know how I ended up here. Please show mercy and let me go."

The two attendant disciples looked as if they'd heard something hilarious. "Where's your Identity Token?"

Fang Huai was speechless. All he had left was a tattered set of clothes. How could he still have his Identity Token? He said, "I lost it, but you can check with the service quarters. I also have senior and junior fellow disciples who can vouch for me..."

"Enough, enough," Li San said impatiently. "Are you going to tell us you've already qualified to join the Outer Sect, too?"

"Yes!"

"Were you on your way to report to the Outer Sect Hall?" Hu Jiu added.

"Yes!"

"Were you poisoned unconscious by a Foundation Establishment Realm centipede demon beast?"

"Yes!"

"Before you passed out, were you walking southwest?"

"How do you know that?"

"Senior Brother Luo, who sold you to us, told us."

Li San wore an impatient expression. "If Senior Brother Luo Heng hadn't warned us in advance that you'd make up stories, you might really have fooled us."

He stepped forward and looked down at Fang Huai. "It's a pretty good story, but there's one flaw, enough to prove you aren't a disciple of our sect. You're an intruder.

"The Outer Sect Hall is due east. Why were you heading southwest, toward Talent Peak?"

Southwest... Talent Peak?

Senior Brother Luo, Luo Heng?

Wasn't that the friendly-looking senior brother who'd shown him the way?

He'd smiled so sincerely and even kindly warned him to avoid Skinning Peak, saying it was dangerous.

So it had all been a lie! That hadn't been a kind warning. He'd been steering Fang Huai toward an even deadlier route so he could sell him as merchandise!

Fang Huai felt his Blood Qi rush to his head. His eyes blazed with fury as he cursed, "Luo Heng! I'll fuck your whole family!"

"Smack!"

Li San pulled out a whip and lashed Fang Huai across the chest, snarling:

"Just as Junior Brother Luo said, you're a raving lunatic! I'm telling you, stop dreaming about Junior Brother Luo's family. He's an orphan. His whole family's been dead for ages!"

After taking a lash, Fang Huai wisely shut his mouth.

The two of them clearly weren't going to believe another word he said. Better to figure out how to turn the situation around than trade insults and get whipped.

After mulling it over, he saw two possible ways out.

First, exchange for a powerful label to help him break the seal and carve a bloody path to freedom.

But that was only wishful thinking.

Never mind whether the sect would still recognize him after he'd lost his Identity Token. He couldn't think of a single label powerful enough to let him, with his cultivation sealed, fight his way through two Third Layer of Qi Refining cultivators.

The second option was to repeat the desperate gambit he'd used to kill the Liu Brothers.

Hurt himself first, then kill the enemy, trap Li San and Hu Jiu with the same trick, and hope the next attendant disciples would believe his story.

But the difference in cultivation was still a problem. He feared he wouldn't manage to wound himself badly enough to give the other side a lethal opening before he gave out.

Over the next few days, Fang Huai racked his brains but couldn't find a way out. At the same time, something happened that drove him nearly mad.

Because he hadn't fed the Corpse Meteor Insect any poisonous substances, it grew increasingly agitated, constantly scratching at his heart. The pain, attacking him without pause, nearly broke him.

Just as Fang Huai was about to be driven insane, the Corpse Meteor Insect stopped stirring. When he looked inside himself, he was stunned.

Beside the Corpse Meteor Insect, a miniature copy had appeared at some point.

Was it born?

Was this Corpse Meteor Insect actually female? Or was it a hermaphrodite that could reproduce with itself?

As he racked his brains over the mystery, Li San and Hu Jiu led a gray-robed male cultivator over to him.

[Lu Ping]

[First Layer of Qi Refining]

[Blood Qi Deficiency (White)] [Blood Loss Curse (White)]

[Blood Loss Curse: A curse effect that causes Blood Qi to keep draining uncontrollably]

Lu Ping came from a Rogue Cultivator family. A few days after joining the sect, a supposedly kind senior fellow disciple from the same peak had taken him treasure hunting deep in Miasma Valley.

His senior brother really had gone there to hunt for treasure, and there really was treasure. It was just that Lu Ping hadn't gone as a partner, but as bait—

To draw the demon beasts' attacks and help his senior brother seize the treasure.

He'd managed to escape with his life, but he'd been cursed by a demon beast. His Blood Qi kept leaking uncontrollably, and he urgently needed the curse removed.

To dispel it, he needed to use someone else's Blood Qi to continually flush the cursed area.

His senior brothers were certainly no help. Those people couldn't wait for him to die.

With nowhere else to turn, Lu Ping could only bring his last Contribution Point and try his luck at the Human Puppet Hall.