The Sacred Family's sprawling grounds were scarcely smaller than the Wind Snow Family's. It certainly lived up to its standing as one of the Three Great Peak Families.
Nie Li slipped into a corner, changed into the clothes of a young Sacred Family servant, and successfully climbed over the wall into the compound.
The people coming and going here wore lavish clothes and haughty expressions. They were clearly all descendants of the main line.
But Nie Li's targets were not here.
He made his way to the area occupied by the branch families.
Some of the people here dressed rather plainly compared with the descendants of the main line.
After all, the main line took the lion's share, leaving precious few resources for the branches.
The branch families mostly swallowed their anger without daring to speak up. There was no shortage of people eager to lick the boots of those above them.
Still, even the resources allotted to the branches exceeded those of twenty other families.
Nie Li's soul force was already sufficient to let him take in ten lines at a glance. After using the Vanish Combat Technique to conceal himself, he headed straight into a courtyard.
This courtyard must have cost a considerable sum, especially for one in the branch families' territory.
Clearly, it was a special privilege reserved for the branches' geniuses.
Two men, both at least in their early twenties, sat beside the pool within, quietly cultivating.
Nie Li smiled. These two were the targets of his visit.
Only a handful of Black Gold Rank warriors had been stationed to guard the branch families' grounds. There was not even a single Demon Spirit Master.
Just how little did they care about the branches?
After finishing their cultivation beside the pool, Shen Ning and Shen Xiao each took a small porcelain bottle from his Space Ring.
These were their allotted shares of the pills the Sacred Family had purchased in bulk that day.
One thousand Soul-Nourishing Pills, one hundred Soul-Congealing Pills, and fifty Soul-Tempering Pills.
That was each man's share.
"Now that the family has secured a sufficient pill allotment from the Alchemist Association, they really have become much more generous. We never used to get pills like these."
Shen Ning gazed at the pills, each worth a fortune, and sighed with feeling.
"Hmph, so what if they've loosened the allotment? Shen Fei of the main line gets two hundred Soul-Tempering Pills, five hundred Soul-Congealing Pills, and five thousand Soul-Nourishing Pills every two weeks! This is our share for an entire month. We don't even get as much as Shen Yue!"
Shen Xiao was far more dissatisfied than Shen Ning. Despite the branches' severely limited resources, they cultivated so diligently that they had even surpassed the young masters of the main line. Such a thing was rare anywhere.
Yet their treatment still fell far short of those main-line descendants who did nothing but eat, drink, and coast through life.
While Shen Xiao seethed over the injustice, Shen Ning could only smile bitterly.
What could they do? They were not from the main line.
"You work harder than the main-line descendants, yet those fellows still look down on you. Tell me, what good does staying in the Sacred Family do you? Why not come work for me instead?"
The voice that suddenly rang out in the courtyard made both men instinctively raise their guard.
"Haha, easy, easy."
Nie Li released his Vanish Combat Technique and returned to his original appearance.
He had already checked the surroundings. There were no Black Gold Rank experts nearby, which meant no one could detect him.
"You're... Nie Li?"
The two men realized that he was none other than Nie Li, who had constantly stolen the spotlight on the Sky Screen!
They knew all too well how much Nie Li hated their Sacred Family.
They had never imagined he would dare to appear so brazenly within the Sacred Family's grounds, right before them!
"Aren't you afraid we'll report you to the patriarch?"
Shen Xiao asked in a low voice.
"If I hadn't done my homework, I wouldn't have come here. My offer still stands. Well? Are you interested in working for me?"
Nie Li's goal was simple: he wanted to plant two undercover agents in the Sacred Family!
Surely not everyone in the Sacred Family was as beyond saving as Shen Hong and his ilk. There had to be one or two clearheaded people among them.
Naturally, Nie Li had set his sights on the branches, which had long suffered oppression at the hands of the main line.
Shen Ning and Shen Xiao were the branches' two most outstanding talents, yet even they were subjected to relentless mockery from Shen Fei, whose cultivation fell short of theirs.
The main line was the main line, and a branch was only a branch. They should not think their lousy cultivation entitled them to trample over the main line, and so on...
The higher their cultivation rose, the more resentful Shen Fei became, and the harsher his mockery and suppression grew. He had even withheld their resources on more than a few occasions.
After all, the more outstanding they became, the more useless he looked as a young master of the main line.
Shen Xiao and Shen Ning often had to swallow their anger in silence.
"Since you've both watched the Sky Screen, you know my target will be the entire Sacred Family. Given the abilities I've shown, do you really want to stay aboard this rotten ship and sink to the bottom with it?"
As Nie Li spoke, he let a little of his aura leak out.
Sensing that Nie Li had already reached one-star Silver Rank, Shen Ning and Shen Xiao exchanged a glance and could not help laughing bitterly.
Silver Rank at thirteen. At thirteen, they had still been scrambling their way through Bronze Rank.
"And if you work for me, I'll personally test your Soul Sea forms and talents, give you cultivation techniques suited to you, and provide powerful demon spirits and pills. Heh, that measly allotment Shen Fei gets? He isn't worth a damn!"
Shen Xiao and Shen Ning exchanged a glance, tempted by the offer.
After all, what sort of life did they have in the Sacred Family?
The main-line descendants had been picking fights with them for ages. Though their cultivation was stronger, they could only endure it. Even if a fight truly flared up, neither the Deacon Elders nor the patriarch would take their side.
Besides, if they compared the patriarch and Nie Li in the short term, Nie Li was certainly no match for him now. But in the long term, Nie Li would undoubtedly trample the patriarch into the mud.
After all, only the Legendary Demon Spirit Master of the past had probably managed to reach Silver Rank at thirteen.
And at Shen Ning and Shen Xiao's level, they were not yet privy to the higher-ups' dealings with the Dark Guild.
"All right."
"All right."
Seeing that both men had agreed, Nie Li smiled and shook hands with each of them. Outwardly, it was a handshake, but in truth, he secretly planted soul seals in the Soul Seas within their minds.
Was Nie Li supposed to trust them just because they had agreed? Sorry, he was not that foolish.
Before leaving, Nie Li personally gave them a few starting perks. He tested Shen Ning's and Shen Xiao's Soul Sea forms and attributes, found that both belonged to the sacred fire element, and provided suitable cultivation techniques. He also gave them two thousand Soul-Tempering Pills, ten thousand Soul-Congealing Pills, and twenty thousand Soul-Nourishing Pills, claiming that the pills were taking up space in his Space Ring.
He also warned them not to take any of the pills purchased by the Sacred Family. He had poisoned them.
Now Shen Ning and Shen Xiao felt nothing but profound relief. Everyone in the Sacred Family, from top to bottom, was taking pills produced by the Alchemist Association...
Fortunately, they had only received theirs today and had not taken any yet...
Nie Li told them to distinguish themselves as much as possible within the Sacred Family, make a strong impression on the patriarch and Deacon Elders, and then gather intelligence and pass it to him.
Before you continue