Mana Purification, Meeting the Law Enforcement Hall

When Jiang Li appeared, the four Heavenly Mystery Holy Land disciples on the scene were all dumbfounded.

Their minds buzzed.

They could not believe that the Foundation Establishment expert who had reached the realm of Sword Qi Transformation and slain an eighth-level Qi Refining demonic cultivator with a single strike was actually their fellow junior brother.

This was too absurd.

They would rather believe the man before them merely resembled Jiang Li than accept that this senior Sword Cultivator was Jiang Li.

"J-J-Junior Brother Jiang, why are you here? Could it be that Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivator senior was you?"

One disciple asked uncertainly.

The others all looked over as well.

They wanted to know why Jiang Li had appeared here, and how he possessed such astonishing strength.

Jiang Li put on a look of surprise.

He put on a performance of an undercover agent's professional self-cultivation.

The startled look in his eyes made it seem as though he had only just discovered there were Heavenly Mystery Holy Land disciples present.

"I was tracking down other spies hiding within Heavenly Mystery Holy Land. I never expected to follow them all the way to their den, so I killed them while I was at it. Slaying Demons and Defending the Dao is the duty of our generation."

"What about you?"

The man in green had a complicated expression.

"We were also here to investigate spies. We discovered that other Demonic Cult organizations had planted agents within the Holy Land's outer sect. We had intended to wait until the time was ripe before catching them all in one net, but we never expected you to beat us to it, Junior Brother."

Sure enough, the capital had set up the trap.

If not for the system, he would have been exposed just now.

It was not entirely bad for cultivation techniques to have minds of their own.

The only drawback was that he was going to become famous again.

As an undercover agent, he truly feared that one day, his fame would grow so great that word would reach the Ten Thousand Demons Sect.

That was what Jiang Li thought.

In an instant, showing off no longer seemed so appealing.

He even wanted to leave this place immediately and return to secluded cultivation for a year and a half before coming back out.

He sighed gloomily to himself.

On the surface, though, he maintained a surprised expression. "What a coincidence. I suspect we were tracking the same group of spies. Besides this eighth-level Qi Refining demonic cultivator, I also killed seven spies lurking within Heavenly Mystery Holy Land, clearing out a group of black sheep for the sect."

Upon hearing this.

The man in green could not hold back any longer and pressed, "Junior Brother Jiang, I see that your cultivation is only at Qi Refining Layer 4. How did you manage to kill all these people? And was that Sword Qi Transformation technique you used just now?"

Jiang Li did not conceal anything.

With modest courtesy, he said, "I mastered the Dragon Slaying Sword, and happened to achieve a little success with it."

"The Dragon Slaying Sword?" The man in green was visibly even more shocked. "That Foundation Establishment Realm spell with an extremely high cultivation difficulty?"

"Mhm."

Jiang Li nodded in confirmation.

"As for Sword Qi Transformation, I do not really understand it either. I just practiced casually, and it appeared. Is that rare?"

Jiang Li truly did not know about this.

Back then, he had lacked even cultivation resources. How could he possibly have had the time to pay attention to Sword Cultivators, those gold-devouring spendthrifts who only spent and never earned?

Yet from what the man in green said, Sword Qi Transformation seemed to be something very difficult.

Was it difficult?

He did not know.

It was an ability included with the system's reward for bringing a spell to minor mastery.

Hearing this.

All four of them sucked in a breath of cold air.

What the hell did he mean, he got it just by practicing casually?

Listen to that—were those even human words?

One had to know that many Sword Cultivators could never cross this threshold in their entire lives.

Even within the Heavenly Mystery Holy Land, where geniuses gathered like clouds, Qi Refining stage cultivators who could comprehend Sword Qi Transformation were absolutely as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

They were monsters among monsters.

Yet coming from Jiang Li's mouth, it sounded as though this were something anyone with hands could do.

Damn.

Comparing people really could make one furious enough to die.

For a time.

The four looked at Jiang Li as if he were some divine being.

After a lengthy exchange, Jiang Li rose to take his leave, leaving the task of clearing the battlefield and securing the evidence to the group of four.

Fooling these Holy Land disciples was only the first step.

He still had to get past Heavenly Mystery Holy Land's scrutiny.

The Ten Thousand Demons Sect was the same.

An error at any point could lead to suspicion falling upon him.

Jiang Li felt exhausted.

Being an undercover agent was hard.

Keeping a low profile was hard too.

After this matter, he absolutely had to lie low and cultivate.

He, Jiang Li, absolutely did not want to become famous.

And that old dog Yuan Li—this was all fucking his fault.

Jiang Li's killing intent toward Yuan Li rose by another notch.

Two hours later.

Jiang Li returned to Heavenly Mystery Holy Land aboard a Spirit Boat.

He plunged straight into his Cave Residence and examined the reward for this mission.

Option Mission completed. Completion reward: Mana Purification.

Jiang Li circulated his Mana.

At once.

A stream of jade-green Mana emerged.

Its surface was pristine as new, a rich green-jade color with faint traces of gold glimmering within it.

Jiang Li's face lit up with delight.

A cultivator's Mana was also divided into grades.

The quality of one's Mana depended on the strength of one's cultivation technique.

The most inferior Qi Refining Method could only allow a cultivator to cultivate murky gray Mana. It was turbid as fog and contained a great many impurities, which manifested as occasional sluggishness when circulating one's cultivation technique.

Next came moon-white Mana, which was also the most common Mana quality among sect disciples.

After that came jade-green Mana.

The Mana was purified further, impurities greatly reduced, and the efficiency of circulating one's cultivation technique increased. One could cast spells a step faster than others, and their power would also rise somewhat.

After that came brilliant gold Mana.

Its effects improved even further.

Finally came glass-like Mana.

The Mana shone with seven-colored flowing light, flawless and pure, with Dao rhythms arising naturally from within.

And now...

With the system reward's help, his Mana had leapt from the second grade to the third, its quality already approaching pale gold.

Before long, it would advance to the fourth grade.

Glass-like Mana was within sight.

At that moment.

The cold mechanical electronic voice rang out again.

Ding. The cultivation technique "Profound Yellow Heart Refining Art" has achieved clarity of thought and is in high spirits. Righteous Qi is increasing without end, and it urgently wishes to cultivate and raise its strength.

Jiang Li froze.

It seemed that the Profound Yellow Heart Refining Art was immensely satisfied with this incident of wiping out the demonic cultivators, which was why it had directly come out demanding overtime cultivation.

Then of course he would...

Satisfy it.

Opportunities for his cultivation technique to honestly cultivate under hosting like this were rare.

He did not want to miss one.

After all.

The system-hosted cultivation efficiency was far higher than his own.

Before the system, his cultivation speed was like that of a raw recruit, purely dragging his cultivation technique down.

"Activate the Cultivation Technique Growth Plan."

Jiang Li selected the hosting service.

Ding. The cultivation technique "Profound Yellow Heart Refining Art" has begun hosting service.

The next second.

Jiang Li lost control of his body.

He allowed the cultivation technique to arrange him into a cultivation posture.

He began breathing in and out Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy.

At once.

Spiritual Energy gathered like a vortex and poured into Jiang Li's body.

Jiang Li seemed to see a line of data appear above his head.

Cultivation +1, +1, +1...

Time passed.

Jiang Li immersed himself in the exhilaration of his cultivation rising at breakneck speed.

Until the morning of the third day.

A summons interrupted the system's hosting.

Ding. The cultivation technique "Profound Yellow Heart Refining Art" is somewhat reluctant to stop and regrets that it cannot continue cultivating.

As the hosting ended.

Jiang Li stood up.

He too felt somewhat reluctant.

He sensed the progress of his cultivation.

He was not far from advancing to the Qi Refining Fifth Level.

His progress had already reached 85%.

One more day, and he would be able to advance.

Of course.

That referred to Cultivation Technique Hosting mode.

After tidying up briefly, Jiang Li opened the formation around his Cave Residence.

Two members of the Law Enforcement Hall stood outside.

"Junior Brother Jiang, the Law Enforcement Hall would like to invite you over to clarify some matters."

Jiang Li understood.

This was within his expectations.

It had only come somewhat later than he had imagined.

He had thought they should have asked him over yesterday.

After all.

There truly were many suspicious points about him.

His presence at the spies' location could still be explained as coincidence, but his strength was far too astonishing, utterly beyond the range of an ordinary mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

The Law Enforcement Hall asking him to clarify matters was in keeping with standard procedure.

And he even knew what that procedure involved.

As an undercover agent, naturally he would be interested in every legal procedure for dealing with spies.

The part where one could least afford to lie was the Heart Questioning Mirror.

Unlike Heart Questioning Forest, the Heart Questioning Mirror had no trial that interrogated one's Dao Heart. It only reflected the cultivation techniques a cultivator practiced, determined whether they had lied, and checked whether they cultivated demonic arts or had been possessed or beguiled.

The moment a demonic cultivator stood before it, their true form would be exposed.

This was also the main reason Jiang Li did not want to draw attention.

It could be said that if it were any other undercover agent, they would already be drenched in sweat by now.

But Jiang Li was not flustered in the slightest.

What a joke.

His cultivation technique, the Profound Yellow Heart Refining Art, had been set up as Brother Righteousness.

If the Heart Questioning Mirror could reflect even a trace of selfishness or evil intent, he would join the Law Enforcement Hall on the spot and inherit the position of hall master.