Evil Cultivator Stronghold, Probing the Truth

Inside the stronghold, a sinister nighttime dual cultivation ritual was underway.

Dozens of female cultivators from the Evil Union Sect sat cross-legged within an enormous circular formation.

More than a dozen huge iron cages had been placed around the formation.

Inside the cages were dozens of captured cultivators from various factions. Their hands and feet were fastened with peculiar "Meridian-Locking Rings," leaving them unable to move.

Their clothing had been torn into disarray. Their shoulders, necks, waists, and even the insides and outsides of their thighs were covered in finger marks and bite marks of varying depths.

Su Yan's gaze swept swiftly across the formation. Her throat bobbed involuntarily, and she immediately bit her lower lip, forcibly looking away.

Jiang Yuan seized the moment and flicked a pebble toward a distant corner of the wall.

"Who's there?"

A female evil cultivator guarding the entrance was immediately drawn to the sound. The instant she turned to investigate, Jiang Yuan appeared behind her like a ghost and struck the side of her neck with a precise chop.

The female cultivator did not even have time to groan before collapsing limply.

Su Yan quickly entered the cage area, crouched down, and used a specially made iron needle to pry open the Meridian-Locking Rings on the captives' hands and feet one by one.

Then, in the innermost iron cage, a girl curled up in the corner caught her attention.

The girl hugged her knees, her thin shoulder blades seeming almost ready to pierce through her skin.

Hearing the movement, she slowly raised her head and tentatively called out in a voice so hoarse it was nearly inaudible.

"...Senior Sister?"

Su Yan froze.

It was Yue Jian!

She was a new disciple who had only joined the Pure Cultivation Academy last year. Half a month ago, she had mysteriously disappeared while gathering herbs in the mountains. The Pure Cultivation Academy had organized several searches, all to no avail.

Who would have thought that she had been abducted here by the Evil Union Sect?

Yue Jian's collar had been brutally torn open for the most part, and a faint pink glow that had yet to fade still covered her flat chest.

The glow had gathered into a small cluster in the hollow of her sunken collarbones.

There were also shocking crimson marks on the insides of her pale thighs, traces left by being continuously restrained at a dual cultivation formation position for too many days.

Su Yan tore off her outer robe and wrapped it around Yue Jian's shoulders, carefully pulling her collar closed.

When her fingers touched a still-warm bite mark beneath Yue Jian's collarbone, her fingertips could not help but recoil.

Yet Yue Jian grabbed Su Yan's wrist and held on with all her strength.

"Senior Sister, I... I dreamed so many times that you came to save me... But every time I woke up, I was still in this cage."

"That Mr. Chu... whenever he came to choose people, he would make me turn around... He said those with smooth waistlines could serve as 'Yin Guides,' while those with straight legs were suited to become 'Yang Furnaces'..."

Her voice grew softer and softer. By the end, her entire body pitched forward uncontrollably, her forehead heavily pressing against Su Yan's shoulder.

Su Yan lowered her eyes and said nothing. She only held Yue Jian tightly in her arms. After a long while, she handed her over to the Pure Cultivation Academy disciples waiting behind them.

On the other side, Jiang Yuan was examining the construction of the Meridian-Locking Rings.

When his fingers slipped into the gap between one female captive's wrist and the cold iron bars, they accidentally brushed against the inside of her bare forearm.

A lingering warmth from the pink formation crept along his flesh to his knuckles, as though something slick were slowly gliding over his skin, carrying a faint tremor with it.

Jiang Yuan withdrew his hand expressionlessly. With a turn of his Nine Yang Inner Force, he dispelled the discomfort.

But his half-kneeling position beside the female captive caused the hem of his robe to press directly against her thigh.

Even through two thin layers of cloth, he could still clearly feel the warmth of her body.

The female captive instinctively drew back her legs, but Jiang Yuan had already risen and moved on to the next cage.

The rescued captives confirmed that Chu He had indeed personally visited this stronghold several days ago.

He had also brought a batch of supplies and several technicians, then held a secret discussion with the Evil Union Sect's Grand Elder—Elder Gu—for an entire night.

"He... he was very meticulous when choosing people," a terrified girl said, her voice trembling with shame.

"He would call us beneath the lamp and... touch us from head to toe. As he touched us, he would say things like, 'This one's meridians are loose, that one's blood and qi flow smoothly'..."

"He said he wanted to select the finest furnace vessels and transport them first to another place... It seemed... it seemed to be called a 'pool.'"

Jiang Yuan stopped moving.

He remembered that while searching the stronghold's supply warehouse earlier, he had found a secret letter that had not yet been sent, buried beneath a pile of pill bottles.

The envelope bore the distinctive triangular insignia of Celestial Pivot Industries.

The letter mentioned a place called the Yin-Yang Convergence Pool, located deep within a secret realm of the Harmonious Union Sect.

Within the pool was sealed the Yin-Yang Fusion Origin Power left behind by some ancient powerhouse.

The Evil Union Sect and Celestial Pivot Industries were fiercely fighting for control of that place.

At the end of the secret letter, one sentence had been written with perfect clarity.

"The effects of the pool water are several times greater than mere harvesting and replenishment, but it requires a pure Yang constitution as the catalyst before it can be safely opened."

"Once the 'Yang Furnace' is in place, arrange the transfer immediately."

Jiang Yuan refolded the secret letter and tucked it into his robes.

As he turned, he accidentally knocked over a row of pill bottles on the nearby shelf.

Clatter!

The crisp sound of porcelain bottles rolling across the floor was especially piercing in the silent stone chamber.

The evil cultivators stationed outside immediately stopped their dual cultivation. A rush of hurried footsteps rapidly approached from this direction!

"Over here!"

Su Yan reacted swiftly. She grabbed Jiang Yuan's wrist and yanked him into the narrow gap between a side shelf and the wall.

The two were instantly squeezed together.

Jiang Yuan gripped the hilt of the Thunderfire Broken Sword and looked toward the main peak.

The lights on the main peak formed an unbroken line. The Celestial Pivot resources brought by Chu He were being redistributed there, and an even greater transaction was continuing on that mountain.

Su Yan stared at the main peak marked on the map before finally speaking. "I also heard that Chu He has already reached an agreement with the Evil Union Sect's Grand Elder. Once the matter is done, he will support the Evil Union Sect in annexing the main branch of the Pure Cultivation Academy."