In the Demon's Den, the "Profound Yellow Heart Refining Art" Was About to Raise Hell

The next day.

Jiang Li left his Cave Residence as usual and headed to Spirit Plant Peak.

This was both where he earned Spirit Stones and the Ten Thousand Demons Sect's temporary stronghold within the Heavenly Mystery Holy Land.

The stronghold's contact person was naturally Yuan Li.

Every seven days, Jiang Li submitted intelligence once.

But today, he had come to remove himself from the Undercover Optimization List.

Having reached Qi Refining Layer 4, he had escaped the fate of being optimized and earned the right to remain undercover in the Heavenly Mystery Holy Land.

Compared to returning to the Ten Thousand Demons Sect, he would rather stay in Heavenly Mystery and bear the risk of his identity being exposed.

Soon.

Jiang Li arrived at Field No. 21.

This was the area under Yuan Li's responsibility.

A temporary thatched hut stood beside the field.

Yuan Li was standing by the roadside.

Jiang Li walked straight over.

"Hero Jiang, what wind blew you here? If you came to bow your head to me, then your attitude isn't nearly proper enough."

The corner of Yuan Li's mouth curled into a mocking sneer.

His voice was sinister, like sandpaper scraping together.

It carried a hint of grating sarcasm.

Jiang Li's expression remained unchanged.

From the moment his Dragon Slaying Sword reached minor mastery, he had already regarded Yuan Li as a dead man. He was merely waiting for an opportunity now.

So he could not even be bothered to put on a polite front.

That was how undercover agents were—practical.

When strength was lacking, they used schemes and tricks to deal with their superiors.

Once they grew powerful, they openly killed their superiors.

"I've reached Qi Refining Layer 4. Remove me from the Undercover Optimization List."

Jiang Li's voice was icy.

"What?" Yuan Li froze. A trace of shock and suspicion surfaced in his sinister gaze. "When did you reach Qi Refining Layer 4?"

"None of your business."

Upon hearing that.

Yuan Li's face darkened.

Yet inwardly, he was still greatly shocked.

If he remembered correctly, ten days ago, Jiang Li had still been at Qi Refining Layer 3. He had relied on flaunting some so-called righteousness to win the approval of a Golden Core Teaching Elder.

And now, only ten days had passed, yet Jiang Li had advanced again.

He recalled that three years ago, when the Ten Thousand Demons Sect sent a batch of undercover agents in, they had told him to pay special attention to Jiang Li and provide him with necessary assistance.

That was why he had relentlessly made things difficult for Jiang Li, privately withholding his undercover startup funds to prevent him from developing smoothly and replacing him.

Who would have thought that after being suppressed for merely three years, Jiang Li would erupt?

Once he gained momentum, he was already showing signs of soaring ninety thousand miles on the wind.

That was no good news for Yuan Li.

The position of Undercover Contact Person was enormously profitable.

He possessed only Three-Attribute Spiritual Roots, yet had reached the peak of Qi Refining Level 9 in just five short years. What he relied on was privately withholding the cultivation resources of undercover agents and taking a cut from their daily wages.

If he was replaced, Foundation Establishment would become difficult for him.

This Jiang Li had to die.

At that thought.

Yuan Li revealed an expression of helplessness.

"Then that truly is unfortunate. I already submitted the Undercover Optimization List, and it can't be changed now. Junior Brother, if you'd come a day earlier—or even an hour earlier—you might have been able to stop it."

"Oh, right. Let me formally notify you: the Ten Thousand Demons Sect's Undercover Summons Order has already been issued. You members on the Undercover Optimization List should remember to erase any traces you left in the Heavenly Mystery Holy Land, then head to Frostfeather City to gather. An envoy will take you away."

By the end.

The Undercover Contact Person's tone carried an unpleasant, arrogant cruelty.

He looked at Jiang Li as though he were looking at a corpse.

Jiang Li frowned slightly.

That damned old dog moved this quickly?

He had spent only twelve days rising from Qi Refining Layer 2 to his current Qi Refining Layer 4, yet he had still been too late.

This made things complicated.

But Jiang Li was not particularly nervous.

After all, his Qi Refining Layer 4 cultivation was genuine. As long as he displayed the corresponding realm to the Ten Thousand Demons Sect's envoy, he could likewise be removed from the optimization list.

It was merely more troublesome.

To someone who had always favored the Art of Cowardice, that was a serious annoyance.

Nothing more.

With that thought.

Jiang Li turned and left.

He did not spare Yuan Li another glance.

He feared that if he looked one more time, he would not be able to resist attacking.

Only after Jiang Li had departed did a sneer unconsciously tug at Yuan Li's lips.

Though he could not read minds, he could roughly guess Jiang Li's thoughts.

Jiang Li thought that since he had reached Qi Refining Layer 4, he no longer fell within the scope of the Undercover Optimization Plan, and that he could clear up the misunderstanding by explaining himself.

If this were a Righteous Sect, that would naturally have been feasible.

But they were the Demonic Cult. Demonic Cult members would not care whether someone had been registered by mistake. So long as an undercover agent was on the optimization list, they would take him away.

Because every undercover agent was a precious resource.

"No one can threaten my position. No one..."

Yuan Li thought to himself.

The time specified by the Undercover Summons Order.

Was the following evening.

Jiang Li boarded a Spirit Boat and once again headed for Frostfeather City.

Last time, he had only landed at a cold pool deep in the mountains ten kilometers outside Frostfeather City. This time, he was truly entering the city.

As the closest mortal city to the Heavenly Mystery Holy Land, Frostfeather City covered a vast area.

It was about the size of a modern urban district.

Its population numbered several hundred thousand.

Even at night, places of pleasure such as brothels remained brightly lit.

The city was bustling beyond measure.

There was no shortage of people listening to music in pleasure houses.

Jiang Li descended.

Without a sound, he appeared inside a bamboo building.

He pushed open the door and entered.

The room was already full of people.

There were seven in total.

Every one of them wore the robes of the Heavenly Mystery Holy Land.

All of their cultivation levels were below Qi Refining Layer 4.

No, more accurately, they all hovered below Qi Refining Layer 2.

They were about the same as Jiang Li had been twelve days ago.

Clearly.

This group's cultivation resources had also been skimmed by Yuan Li.

And he had skimmed them with perfect impartiality.

As a result, this batch of undercover agents all had roughly similar cultivation.

They had basically advanced through bitter cultivation alone.

They truly had it miserable.

Jiang Li felt somewhat rueful. If he had not come with a cheat of his own, his ending would probably have been the same as theirs.

On the other side.

When the seven undercover agents saw Jiang Li enter, they first froze, then were struck dumb with shock.

"Am I seeing things?"

"Isn't he Jiang Li, the one who exposed the Yin Puppet Sect's undercover agent?"

"Holy shit, he's actually an undercover agent of our Ten Thousand Demons Sect too?"

The seven people in the room erupted into an uproar.

All of them found it hard to believe.

After all.

They had also been in the Sermon Hall back then.

They had personally witnessed Jiang Li's upright, righteous image, brimming with Righteous Qi.

And now they were being told that Jiang Li was also an undercover agent for the Demonic Cult.

That was hard to take.

So the Heavenly Mystery Holy Land's most righteous Guardian of the Dao was actually on the same side as them.

Jiang Li said nothing.

He merely swept his gaze quietly across the people present.

At the same time.

Heavy footsteps sounded in the corridor outside.

A gaunt figure drifted into the room like a ghost.

His entire body was shrouded beneath a pitch-black cloak, revealing only a pair of faintly gleaming eyes, like a hungry wolf hunting for food at night.

With a voice that made goosebumps rise, he let out a sinister chuckle.

"Looks like you're all in rather good spirits."

Upon hearing the voice.

The seven people in the room shuddered violently.

Their bodies instinctively shrank back.

As though they had encountered some natural predator hunting them.

But seeing the black-robed man's joking tone, someone let out a breath of relief and said dreamily, "Of course we're in good spirits. We were Demonic Cult cultivators to begin with. When we went undercover in the Heavenly Mystery Holy Land, we had to cautiously conceal our identities. We even had to cultivate those stinking, long-winded, slow-burning techniques, leaving our cultivation stagnant all these years."

"Now that we can return to the Ten Thousand Demons Sect and reclaim our identities as demonic cultivators, we can cultivate using human blood. Our Cultivation Speed will be who knows how much faster."

Upon hearing this.

Several others also revealed sinister smiles.

"Who still cultivates immortality the orthodox way these days? Especially garbage like the Returning Heart Art. It's ridiculously useless—cultivating it actually depends on one's state of mind. What kind of bullshit technique is that?"

"That's right, that's right. Quick-fix techniques like the Bloodthirsty Demon Art, White Bone Heart-Crushing Palm, and Seven Kill Fist are the true techniques."

"Hehe, Frostfeather City has plenty of mortals. Kill them all, and we can quickly advance to Foundation Establishment too."

Jiang Li watched them.

His expression turned strange.

Did these people not know what undercover optimization meant, or had he misunderstood it?

Why did these people seem even more relaxed than he was?

Just as he was thinking.

The next moment.

A bad system notification rang in his mind.

Ding. The cultivation technique "Profound Yellow Heart Refining Art" was in a demon's den. Its Righteous Qi was running poorly, and the pent-up frustration in its heart had nowhere to vent. You triggered the following choices.

Option One: Hide behind the scenes and guide the City Lord's Mansion to eliminate the demonic cultivators. Completion reward: Cultivation Method Progress +10%.

Option Two: Join fellow disciples in eliminating the demonic cultivator spies. To slay demons and defend the Dao is the duty of our generation. Completion reward: Cultivation Method Progress +30%.

Option Three: Kill all the demonic cultivators present alone, thereby proving the Dao Heart. Completion reward: Mana purification.

Jiang Li: ??!

Wait a damn second.

System, calm the fuck down!