The Cultivation Tower!
Dozens of miles away, at the Chen Household's mine.
The Chen Household members stationed there still had no idea that their headquarters had been wiped out. They were still living it up, occasionally cursing at the miners and shouting at them to work.
"No slacking off, or you won't get any food today," a Chen Household guard at Body Refining Third Layer shouted, a whip in his hand. He was not a member of the Chen Household, but he was one of its guards and a lackey, with considerable authority here.
Soon, some Chen Household members and guards saw two figures approaching. They were none other than Ye Chen and the puppet at the peak of the Body Forging Realm.
"Attack together."
Ye Chen and the Devil Dao puppet struck together, charging at the people there.
Before long, he had killed the last of the Chen Household's martial artists and the guards.
They all deserved to die, Ye Chen reassured himself. He knew very well that if he did not kill them all, the miners who escaped would eventually be caught and brought back, and rescuing them would have been meaningless.
Soon, Ye Chen called all the miners out.
When the miners saw the slain members of the Chen Household, every one of them felt excited and thrilled.
"Thank you, benefactor," they said, dropping to their knees and kowtowing.
"Come over one at a time. I'll examine your bones."
The miners did not know what a bone examination was, but they did as they were told. Before long, Ye Chen had examined the bones of all hundred-odd miners. Whatever else might be said, more than a dozen of them really did have decent aptitude, though they had never cultivated and were still ordinary people.
"You fifteen come with me. As for the rest of you, I'll give you some money, and you can go wherever you want. The Chen Household has been wiped out, so you don't need to worry about them hunting you down."
Ye Chen took out all the money from the people he had killed, added some of his own, and gave it to the group to divide among themselves and take with them.
"Eat your fill first, then come with me."
Ye Chen spoke to the fifteen people.
"Yes!" They did not know what Ye Chen wanted, but they went to eat anyway. There was still plenty of food at the mine, and they had been hungry for a long time. Every one of them ate like mad. After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Ye Chen led them toward the Black-Yellow Sect.
Along the way, they asked where they were going, but Ye Chen did not tell them.
The Black-Yellow Sect.
Ye Chen had finally returned with the fifteen people, having sent word to his master, Lin Ye, ahead of time.
Thus, Lin Ye was already waiting when they entered the sect.
"Master, I've brought them back. They all have decent aptitude," Ye Chen said.
Lin Ye nodded in satisfaction, looked at the group, and announced, "From today onward, you are outer sect disciples of the Black-Yellow Sect."
"..."
The group was dumbfounded. How had they suddenly become outer sect disciples of the Black-Yellow Sect?
Just then, a young man stepped forward and said shakily, "Senior, I want to go home, I..."
"Going home isn't out of the question. It doesn't conflict with your becoming outer sect disciples of the Black-Yellow Sect. All right, Ye Chen, arrange lodgings for them halfway up the mountain. There are still a few houses there, and we can build a few more wooden houses for them over the next few days. Also, register everyone's names and information. Until they break through to Body Refining Third Layer, they are not permitted to leave the sect."
"Yes, Master."
Ye Chen immediately went to see to it.
The group did not resist. They had all been seized and forced to work in the mine before, and although some of them still had family, they were better off now than before. At the very least, they could become sect disciples and have a chance to learn a cultivation method. Even the young man who had just said he wanted to go home had thought it through and followed Ye Chen.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host, on completing the disciple-robbing mission. The Heaven and Earth Devil Sect's prestige has greatly increased. Rewards: one Cultivation Tower, 1,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones, one Devil Spring, one Illusory Devil Cave, the high-grade profound-rank martial art White Bone Claw, the mid-grade earth-rank martial art Demonic Shadow Clone Technique, the heaven-rank martial art Blood Demon True Body..."
As Lin Ye listened to the system list the rewards, his breathing quickened. This mission had been so worthwhile! How many times would he have had to check in to get rewards like these?
This Supreme Devil Dao System wants me to develop the Devil Dao before I can get better rewards. If an ordinary person couldn't resist and frantically developed a genuine Devil Dao, I'm afraid they'd be dead in no time. I have to keep a low profile. Once my Heaven and Earth Devil Sect-ptui, I mean the Black-Yellow Sect—is strong enough to fear nothing, who would dare say we're a devil sect?
Lin Ye calmed down, then claimed the rewards he could claim first.
The 1,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones were important. With them, there was no need to worry about the puppet running out of power. The high-grade profound-rank White Bone Claw, the mid-grade earth-rank Demonic Shadow Clone Technique, and the heaven-rank Blood Demon True Body all needed some changes before they could be placed in the Scripture Pavilion. His workload had grown considerably.
Overnight, Lin Ye changed White Bone Claw into Pure Yang Claw and Demonic Shadow Clone Technique into Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. In fact, it had nothing to do with the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique from a certain anime. It was merely a movement method used to confuse enemies, making them unable to tell where the user's real body was. The clones had no offensive effect and were nothing more than afterimages.
He changed Blood Demon True Body into Pure Yang True Body. Once mastered, it would produce Pure Yang Blood Flame. Only those in the True Qi Realm could cultivate it, so he revised it first and put it in the Scripture Pavilion.
White Bone Claw could be exchanged for just 50 points, while Demonic Shadow Clone Technique required 300 points and Blood Demon True Body required 3,000 points.
Early the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten and before anyone else had risen, Lin Ye came to an open space and claimed the Cultivation Tower.
Boom!!!!
The Cultivation Tower appeared there, joining with the earth.
The Cultivation Tower had thirteen floors in total, each with dozens of rooms, enough to accommodate several hundred disciples cultivating in the tower at the same time.
The Cultivation Tower aided cultivation by gathering Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and accelerating the disciples' cultivation. It was also soundproof, and its sturdy walls allowed disciples to practice all kinds of powerful martial arts inside the cultivation rooms without disturbing anyone else.
The appearance of the Cultivation Tower alarmed the others, and they all came out.
"Master, could this be another Law Treasure you retrieved?" Ye Chen asked, staring at the Cultivation Tower in shock.
"That's right."
Ye Chen could even answer ahead of him now, so Lin Ye had no need to explain. "This is a Cultivation Tower. Cultivating here is more effective. You can go take a look."
The disciples all went inside, including Lin Ye's junior sister Yu Yu. They quickly grew to love the Cultivation Tower and wished they could stay in it all the time.
"You may cultivate in the Cultivation Tower as long as you like, but it will cost one point a day."
Lin Ye made the announcement.
"Ah, points? I don't have any!" Yang Yang said, scratching his head.
"Later, I'll issue some missions. After completing them, you can collect points from the Scripture Pavilion's formation spirit."
As long as there were missions, they were not worried. After all, it was only one point, not much at all.
Soon, Lin Ye used his sect master's identity token to issue some missions, such as building houses, cleaning the sect, and purchasing supplies. The missions were simple, but the rewards were also low, none exceeding ten points.