Highway Robber Cultivators

Inner Sect Disciples could continue advancing to become True Disciples.

Those who were older and lacked the potential to progress further would become the sect's stewards.

This was also Soul Devouring Sect's method of cultivating its disciples.

Therefore, even within the sect, Inner Sect Disciples were considered part of the core and received focused training.

They could be said to have truly entered the sect's inner transmission. Their status within the sect was not low, and they enjoyed certain privileges. For example, the subsequent portions of the "Black Fiend Technique" could only be obtained with the status of an Inner Sect Disciple.

Zheng Yi acted steadily and decisively, striking with ruthless precision. This time, he had unhesitatingly thrown down nearly a thousand Spirit Stones to gamble on a future.

And he had successfully obtained the identity of an Inner Sect Disciple from Chen Jiu at the branch helm.

Spirit Stones were precious, but to Zheng Yi, they were not the most important thing.

With the Apocalyptic World at his back, Zheng Yi possessed a treasure trove inexhaustible to demonic cultivators.

Take Azure Ghosts, for instance. In the Demon Domain, they were often available at a price but unavailable on the market. The moment one appeared, someone would reserve it.

Yet such ghostly creatures were far from uncommon in the Apocalyptic World. The Blue Essence Soul formed after directly refining them could sell for several thousand Spirit Stones in the Da Yi Immortal Domain.

It was no exaggeration to say that Zheng Yi held immensely vast resources in his hands. His realm was simply too low and his strength too weak to convert them into power.

So at this stage, the most practical thing was to work hard at increasing his own strength.

Though he had only been in the Demon Domain for a short time, Zheng Yi had already deeply felt the cruelty of the demonic cultivation world.

He had no desire to one day become someone else's Cauldron resource, fish on the chopping block, left to be carved up at another's whim.

In cultivation, there was the saying: Wealth, Law, Partner, Land.

If he failed to obtain a place as an Inner Sect Disciple, then even upon reaching the sect's grounds, he would not be able to acquire the subsequent cultivation method of the "Black Fiend Technique," nor the advanced methods for upgrading the Soul Devouring Banner.

Thus, at this stage, obtaining the identity of an Inner Sect Disciple from a demonic cultivation force was extremely important to Zheng Yi.

It meant he had already solved two of the most difficult problems faced by Rogue Cultivators in the Cultivation World.

Law and Land!

Take the Black Fiend Technique Zheng Yi cultivated. Though its flaws were enormous, its upper limit was extremely high.

Out in the wider world, unless Zheng Yi happened upon some predecessor's hidden cave estate like those sung of in cultivation storybooks, he would never be able to obtain a cultivation method of such caliber.

As for great cultivation sects and major Demonic Sects, he need not even think about them.

With Zheng Yi's aptitude and bone age, he had no hope whatsoever. He would likely be rejected before he even got an interview.

Moreover, he had no way to explain many of the abnormalities surrounding him, which made it easy for his secrets to be exposed.

But a Foundation Establishment Realm sect like Soul Devouring Sect, whose strongest combatant was only at Foundation Establishment Late Stage, was the most suitable choice for Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi immediately set off. After packing his equipment, he left Blood Mist Abyss City. His goal had been achieved, and there was nothing here worth lingering over.

After leaving Blood Mist Abyss City, Zheng Yi followed the map Steward Chen Jiu had given him and traveled southwest.

Along the way, he had to admit that the Demon Domain was truly far too chaotic, nowhere near as orderly as the territories of the Righteous Path in the Immortal Domain.

However, Zheng Yi had once been a Rogue Cultivator, and he understood one truth very well: all crows under heaven were black. It might not show in ordinary times, but once enormous interests were involved, they could slaughter your entire family without room for negotiation.

The only difference was that those demonic forces could not be bothered to put on a pretense. They usually just came right at you.

Disciples of Righteous Sects, on the other hand, cared somewhat about their sect's reputation. They would first speak a few lofty, high-sounding words, label you as one of the wicked and demonic, and only then find it proper to make their move.

After all, that counted as eliminating demons and defending the Dao, rather than robbing you of your belongings. Morally speaking, they could stand on firm ground.

Or they would simply strike in secret, uproot the grass and eliminate the roots, then package the whole affair as the result of an attack by demonic cultivators.

In any case, demonic cultivators and wicked practitioners were black through and through, from their bodies to their hearts. They had far too many dirty deeds on their heads already, so they would not care about carrying one or two more.

Zheng Yi traveled with great care, yet he still could not avoid encountering danger several times.

Along the way, he saw crumbling walls and shattered ruins, scattered white bones, corpses being gnawed by vultures, and the brutal aftermath of cultivators fighting.

After traveling merely several hundred kilometers, Zheng Yi had witnessed the vicious ruthlessness of Demon Domain cultivators and their willingness to stop at nothing.

Zheng Yi had only just reached Qi Refining Stage Four. Though that barely qualified him for the identity of an Inner Sect Disciple within Soul Devouring Sect, among the forces of the entire Demon Domain, he was no different from a tiny ant.

A small figure like him, if he did not wish to draw attention and invite a pointless deadly disaster, was best off becoming utterly inconspicuous.

As he hurried along, he tried to remain as silent and unobtrusive as possible, avoiding trouble. Relying on a pair of iron legs was better than anything.

It was not that the Demon Domain lacked means of transport.

For example, Flying Swords, flying boats, flight secret treasures, and so on.

To ride a Flying Sword through the sky, one needed at least Qi Refining Late Stage, above the seventh layer, before one could barely fly for a short time.

As for treasures on the level of flying boats and flight secret treasures, they would never fall into Zheng Yi's hands. Even if he had one, his cultivation was insufficient to activate it.

Such items also rarely found their way into the hands of ordinary cultivators.

Moreover, Soul Devouring Sect was located in a remote place. No trade route or flying carrier had been established between it and Blood Mist Abyss City, so Zheng Yi had no chance to hitch a ride even if he wanted to.

Fortunately, Zheng Yi's foundation was solid. With Swift Steps beneath his feet, he moved extremely fast, covering seven or eight meters with each stride as he headed relentlessly toward the sect.

Yet though he remained cautious all along the way, he still could not avoid exposing his route. There were countless Rogue Cultivators in the Demon Domain, and not everyone honestly cultivated Qi Refining.

A man might have no intent to harm a tiger, but a tiger's heart might be set on harming a man.

On the great path of cultivation, where all fought for supremacy, such things were unavoidable.

At this moment, Zheng Yi watched the scene before him with a wary expression.

A group of five or six Qi Refining Stage Rogue Cultivators had blocked him inside a valley. There was no village ahead and no inn behind, while the moon was dark and the wind high—a perfect place for murder and plunder.

Their leader was a demonic cultivator at Qi Refining Stage Four. The other cultivators were poorly equipped. Using the Qi Observation Technique to examine them, Zheng Yi found them to be around Qi Refining Stage Two or Three.

Clearly, this was a group of amateur Highway Robber Cultivators.

Their true identities were nearby Rogue Cultivators who occasionally moonlighted as Highway Robber Cultivators.

"Kid, today you've run into rotten luck."

"Bind your hands and feet, seal all the Qi channels in your body, then throw over your Storage Bag and magical artifacts..."

"Only by not resisting can you preserve yourself. We brothers seek only wealth, not lives. But if you so much as entertain the thought of resistance, we'll make sure you don't leave this valley today."

Zheng Yi had not expected to run into Highway Robber Cultivators here.

Though the leader on the other side told him that if he bound his hands and feet and sealed his cultivation, they would spare his life—

He was not naïve enough to believe that string of ghostly lies.

Many Rogue Cultivators might dwell at the bottom rung, but they were no harmless little rabbits. They had committed no small number of murders and robberies themselves.

Once there was a first time, there would be a second. After doing it often enough, they only wanted to make quick money.

Many Rogue Cultivators normally had other identities—Spirit Herbalists, escorts, hunters, spirit vein miners. They looked honest and dutiful, but that did not stop them from changing identities the instant they found an opportunity, becoming bandits who murdered and plundered.

The two identities did not conflict.

Perhaps because they had been repressed for too long in their daily lives, many Rogue Cultivators erupted with a brutality and savagery even greater than that of ordinary demonic cultivators.

Not even ghosts would believe the words of people like that, much less Zheng Yi.

These people had not concealed their tracks, nor had they hidden their appearances. Once they finished robbing him, they would certainly kill him to silence him.

Still, Zheng Yi was not overly worried. This group of Highway Robber Cultivators appeared to have been having a rather hard time.

Aside from the leader, who held a somewhat decent Fine Iron Flying Sword, the weapons in the hands of the others could not even be considered magical artifacts. They were merely weapons.

In the mortal world, such weapons might count as divine armaments, but in magical combat within the Cultivation World, they were truly too shabby to look at.

The Demon Domain was chaotic to begin with, and all kinds of incomplete cultivation methods and spells circulated widely.

Some small sects even deliberately spread basic cultivation methods through mortal dynasties and kingdoms in order to select disciples.

Using these cultivation methods, a few people born with Spirit Roots occasionally managed to cultivate successfully and embark upon the path of cultivation.

But most of them possessed mediocre aptitude, or even abysmal aptitude. They could not enter a sect, nor did they have any resources. This formed the breeding ground for the wild cultivators of the Demon Domain.

Like locusts, these wild cultivators swarmed over the lands of the Demon Domain, killing and plundering, only to be slain by higher-level cultivators and turned into nourishment for others.

There was no right or wrong, no righteousness or evil. There were only naked interests and the road of fighting for the Dao.

The leading Highway Robber Cultivator wore armor forged from Jurassic Beast Hide and held a black longsword. It was the sort of mass-produced Flying Sword engraved with only the simplest flight formation patterns and activation formations, inferior even to the Fine Iron Flying Sword Zheng Yi had used when he was a Rogue Cultivator in Profound Sky City.

At this moment, the Highway Robber Cultivator leader wore a smiling face, but there was a blade hidden in his smile. His underlings silently surrounded Zheng Yi as he said,

"Since you dared to travel through the Demon Domain alone, you must have some background. But right now, both of us are at Qi Refining Stage Four."

"Your aura is still unstable, so you must have only recently broken through to Qi Refining Middle Stage. Meanwhile, I have already reached the middle of Qi Refining Stage Four, and I have so many brothers lending a hand. That is enough to kill even a Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivator."

"Kid, I advise you to think this through carefully. Think carefully. Do not let a momentary thought make you fall in this place and become a Lonely Ghost, when you have such a fine road of cultivation ahead of you."

In the Cultivation World, basic investigative methods such as observing and assessing Qi were essential skills every cultivator had to learn.

Highway Robber Cultivators were the sort who served their dishes according to the guest. They would never lightly attack prey they were not certain they could handle.

After all, the Da Yi Immortal Domain concealed crouching tigers and hidden dragons. No one knew whether they might provoke some great fiend.

If they happened to rob a High-Stage Qi Refining cultivator, would that not be like flinging yellow mud into one's own crotch—courting death, or rather, shit?

Naturally, the fat bandit leader had already used an investigative technique to inspect Zheng Yi's realm before daring to act with confidence.

The reason these wild cultivators, disguised as Highway Robber Cultivators, had moved to block Zheng Yi's path was entirely because they had discovered that he was weak and alone, and believed their group could swallow him whole.

But in the Cultivation World, one of the greatest taboos was judging people by appearances, because what one saw on the surface was not necessarily everything.

"Your underworld jargon is awfully fluent."

"Looks like you've done this sort of business plenty of times already."

"You say that if I surrender without resistance, you'll spare my life."

"But honestly, I don't dare place my life and everything I own in the hands of a pack calling themselves hyenas of the wilderness, all dependent on a single thought..."

Seeing the blood threads seeping across the Highway Robber Cultivator leader's Flying Sword, Zheng Yi gave him a meaningful look.

"After all, those who make a living off no-cost deals can never turn back."