As long as we make a detailed plan!

What a load of bullshit about being an upright, honorable sect.

What leader of the righteous path lived somewhere piled with fucking bones?

Even the stench of blood hadn't faded!

Ning Qianqian felt she had been deceived again! Not one of these cultivators was a decent person! Everything they said was a lie!

I'm done for! An evil cultivator is going to use me to cultivate!

Chu Xingchen had no attention to spare for the girl's deathly pale face beside him, because he was a little angry himself.

When he left, there had been green hills, clear waters, and fresh air. Now he had come home to a demon's den.

At the entrance to the Ruined Temple, Chu Xingchen set the silent Ning Qianqian down, then shouted:

"What are you two little brats doing?"

Li Yingling was the first to rush out of the Ruined Temple, throwing herself into her master's arms with excitement all over her face.

"Master, you're finally back!"

Before Chu Xingchen could question her, Li Xingtian also strode out of the Ruined Temple, covered in blood. His eyes were red, seemingly filled with boundless killing intent, and he carried a tiger's head in one hand.

His first words upon seeing Chu Xingchen were the same, though they sounded somewhat mournful:

"Master, you're finally back."

Pushing Li Yingling out of his arms, Chu Xingchen pointed at the display of animal heads beside them and demanded:

"What's going on here?"

Li Yingling swept her gaze over it, immediately understanding why her master was angry, then spoke first to shift the blame:

"This is all from junior brother's cultivation!"

Standing to one side, trembling and still clinging to a thread of hope, Ning Qianqian lost that hope the moment she heard those words.

She knew nothing about the cultivation world, but surely no reputable, righteous sect would have such a bloody method of cultivation?

Ning Qianqian turned to look at the display of heads. Now she felt that her own head might be hanging there at any moment.

Chu Xingchen turned his gaze toward Li Xingtian, who was still carrying the tiger's head, his eyes demanding a stern explanation.

Faced with his master's questioning gaze, Li Xingtian silently looked at his senior sister. He wanted to protest her attempt to shift the blame, but held his tongue.

His senior sister had caught most of the animals, and in theory, she bore more responsibility for the current situation.

After all, Li Xingtian had originally intended to find somewhere farther away, dig a pit, and bury the bones.

They really did look rather horrifying, and the smell was awful.

But his senior sister had thought that was too much trouble. It would be easier to wait until they had accumulated more and bury them all together.

Li Xingtian, however, felt she had only said that because her little hut was sheltered from the wind, so she couldn't smell the foul stench of blood at night.

Still, it was only a minor matter, so Li Xingtian had agreed. He had also gotten carried away with cultivating over the past two days and hadn't noticed how many remains had piled up outside.

Stepping outside and seeing this scene... he couldn't blame his master for being angry.

But the truth was also just as his senior sister had said: his cultivation really was the source of all this.

So Li Xingtian could only lower his head and admit his fault.

"I'm sorry, Master. I've gotten a little carried away with cultivating lately. I'll clean this up right now."

After glancing at Li Xingtian as he went to deal with the bones, Li Yingling turned her attention to the small, thin Ning Qianqian beside her master. The girl looked terribly scrawny, her face was deathly pale, and her two little hands kept trembling.

Why did she look even worse off than second junior brother?

"Master... is this a new disciple you've taken in?"

"No. This is the Clearwind Sect's handiwork." Chu Xingchen sighed, then raised a hand to gesture for Ning Qianqian to follow him into the Ruined Temple.

Faced with the invitation, Ning Qianqian didn't dare go inside. She could only say timidly, "...I... I'll just stand by the entrance."

Seeing Ning Qianqian's pale face, Chu Xingchen immediately understood that the bloody scene had frightened her, and hurried to explain:

"Don't worry. We really are a reputable, righteous sect, not evil cultivators. It's just that the technique my second disciple practices requires him to strengthen his foundation before Foundation Establishment. All he uses is the flesh and blood of wild beasts."

At those words, Ning Qianqian looked at the pile of heads again. There really weren't any human heads, and the tension in her heart eased a little.

She followed Chu Xingchen into the Ruined Temple.

The inside of the Ruined Temple was quite tidy, without any of the hellish sights Ning Qianqian had imagined.

There was an ordinary, clean floor, no piles of heads, and no bloody scenes. Just two small wooden plank beds, simple and clean.

There were two iron pots, one large and one small.

A little crimson blood churned inside the large iron pot.

The small iron pot, on the other hand, was perfectly clean.

Li Yingling followed closely behind them.

Ever since they had begun practicing that sinister technique, Li Yingling and Li Xingtian had hunted down almost every animal they could catch in the surrounding area.

After all, Ten-Mile Slope wasn't a place where spiritual veins converged. There were no mutant beasts or spirit beasts, so they could only cultivate using the most ordinary animals.

The yield wasn't very high, so they could only make up for it with quantity.

"Master, how did things go over there?" Li Yingling poured a cup of water from the kettle on a nearby table and handed it to him.

Chu Xingchen shook his head slightly. "Things went all right, but the Clearwind Sect has gone a little too far."

"What do you mean?" Li Yingling asked, puzzled.

Chu Xingchen briefly explained Ning Qianqian's situation, then recounted what he had seen and heard at the mine.

After hearing the whole story, Li Yingling nodded calmly.

As a young lady from an aristocratic clan, Li Yingling had heard plenty about such acts of devouring people without even spitting out their bones since she was little.

Her own family had probably even done such things.

But that didn't mean Li Yingling approved of them. Most of the time, she was simply powerless to do anything.

As a daughter born to a concubine, Li Yingling's status in her former home had only been a little better than a servant's.

Otherwise, her father wouldn't have made her marry an idiot.

She looked sympathetically at Ning Qianqian, who stood silently with her head lowered, then comforted her:

"We'll all do our best to help you. Put your mind at ease."

Ning Qianqian nodded silently, then looked at Li Yingling with gratitude:

"Thank you, big sister."

Chu Xingchen said nothing more, merely signaling with his eyes for Li Yingling to comfort Ning Qianqian. After all, another girl might find it easier to empathize with her in a situation like this.

Walking out of the Ruined Temple, Chu Xingchen saw Li Xingtian moving the wild beasts' remains. Without saying much, he went over to help.

There weren't actually that many remains. Most of the animals were simply large, making them look more numerous when spread out. Chu Xingchen raised his hand slightly and tossed out a ball of flame, burning all the bones to ash.

Then he waved his hand, sweeping all the ashes far away.

Once they were done, Chu Xingchen said little. He simply took out the rough map of the mine's terrain he had drawn and handed it to Li Xingtian.

"How difficult would it be to rescue people from the mine?"

Li Xingtian scanned the map and answered, "If you're at Spirit Transformation, Master, it won't be difficult at all."

Chu Xingchen remained silent.

Li Xingtian gave a light cough. "...At Nascent Soul, it would also be possible if we strike fast and finish quickly."

"Right now, I can only wield power at the level of a flawless golden core."

Rolling up the map in his hands, Li Xingtian neither asked further questions nor hesitated. Instead, he said earnestly, "As long as we make a proper, detailed plan, it shouldn't be particularly difficult."