201: sneak into

Lin Yue's blade was steady.

The blade was only three inches from Li Dong's throat, and the silver runes flowing along its edge emitted a sharpness capable of slicing through a Divine Soul.

The Cultivators from the Demon Suppression Division behind her were all injured, yet they still forcefully channeled their spiritual energy to form a battered encirclement.

Everyone's gaze was like that of someone looking at a prehistoric beast that had just revealed its true form.

Vigilance, fear, and a trace of incomprehensible bewilderment.

"Who are you?"

Lin Yue's voice was colder than her blade.

Li Dong did not look at the blade; his gaze passed over Lin Yue and landed on the corpse of the Cultivator being used as a trap and an anchor point.

As well as the carcass of the Yao Beast that had been drained of all its transcendent power.

He could even "see" wisps of black mist, invisible to the naked eye, slowly oozing from the two corpses and silently seeping into the damp humus beneath their feet.

Divinity contamination.

Like the most efficient cancer cells, once there was an outlet, it would madly erode everything around it.

Li Dong withdrew his gaze, and the "perfectly timed look of shock" on his face had vanished.

Replaced by a calm that bordered on indifference.

"Who I am is not important."

He raised his hand and pointed at the patch of ground soaked in blood and gore.

"What's important is that your 'trap' is turning into a new 'source of contamination.' In three hours at most, this forest will grow man-eating mushrooms. Your companion will also become a walking corpse that only knows how to spread 'divine grace'."

Lin Yue's pupils contracted imperceptibly.

The faces of the several Cultivators behind her instantly turned pale.

They had seen this kind of thing before.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I want to say that your methods are too crude."

Li Dong's words were like an awl, precisely piercing the most sensitive pain point of the Demon Suppression Division members.

"Kill one thousand enemies, lose eight hundred of your own. No, lose one thousand two hundred."

He took a step forward.

Lin Yue's blade did not retreat; instead, it advanced another inch.

The chill of the blade's tip was almost about to pierce Li Dong's skin.

Li Dong did not care at all; he simply extended two fingers and lightly pinched the cold blade.

There was no fluctuation of spiritual energy.

No massive force erupted.

It was just such an understated pinch.

Lin Yue's expression changed drastically; she felt as if her long blade had been locked by an invisible mountain, and no matter how she channeled her spiritual energy, she could not advance or retreat even a fraction.

An unprecedented terror gripped her heart.

The man before her hadn't used any cultivation at all!

This was pure Physical Body strength that she could not comprehend!

"I can help you clean this up."

Li Dong released his fingers, as if he had only done a trivial thing.

"Consider it... a small greeting gift."

He looked at Lin Yue's eyes, filled with vigilance and struggle, and added.

"Of course, you can also choose to kill me now, and then wait to collect the bodies of this forest and your dead companion."

...

The camp of the Demon Suppression Division was completely different from what Li Dong had imagined.

There were no high walls or fortifications, no heavily patrolled guards.

It was more like a... giant, open-air isolation ward.

The air was filled with a complex scent mixed with herbs, blood, and a strange, putrid odor.

Simple tents were scattered like stars, and suppressed groans and occasional outbursts of crazy roars came from different tents, only to be suppressed by some kind of invisible barrier.

Li Dong saw a Cultivator, half of whose body had already crystallized, tied to a wooden stake by several chains engraved with runes, staring blankly at the sky, unconsciously murmuring crazy words praising "divine grace."

He also saw a female Cultivator, black veins moving under her skin, who was expressionlessly cutting her arm with a dagger, stroke by stroke, as if wanting to dig out those "living" veins.

Despair.

Everything here was soaked in thick despair.

"Now, you can speak."

Lin Yue brought him to a relatively quiet medical tent and signaled him to stop.

"Your purpose."

"I'm lost."

Li Dong spread his hands, giving the most unbelievable answer.

Lin Yue sneered, clearly not believing him.

Just then, a suppressed roar came from inside the tent, followed by a violent and chaotic fluctuation of spiritual energy that exploded suddenly.

"Bad! Senior Brother Wang... he can't suppress it anymore!"

The tent curtain was ripped open, and a young Cultivator scrambled out, his face covered in blood.

"Elder, hurry! His divinity contamination has started to backfire!"

Lin Yue's expression sank instantly, and she rushed inside immediately.

Li Dong followed behind her, like a curious bystander.

Inside the tent, a Golden Core Cultivator sitting cross-legged was trembling violently. In the center of his forehead, a black crack was opening, and wisps of black Qi were oozing out from it.

Three Demon Suppression Division Cultivators were surrounding him in a triad formation, their hands pressed against his back and shoulders, forcefully pouring their own cultivated pure spiritual energy into him.

Their Cultivation Technique was very peculiar; their spiritual energy carried a righteous, pure-yang aura, which had a clear restraining effect on the black mist.

This was the "Demon Suppression Cultivation Technique."

But Li Dong only took one look and gave his assessment in his heart.

—Stupid.

This was not purification at all.

This was using two forces to fight inside the patient's body.

Using a hammer to perform surgery; even if the cancer cells were eventually smashed to death, the patient would have long since been smashed into pulp.

Sure enough.

As the Demon Suppression Division Cultivators' spiritual energy was poured in, the Golden Core Cultivator's pain not only didn't lessen but became even more intense.

The black crack on his forehead expanded even faster.

"It's no use... our 'Demon Suppression Seal' has been... has been devoured!" one of the Cultivators leading the treatment shouted hoarsely, blood already spilling from the corner of his mouth.

Their power of purification was becoming nourishment for the other's mutation.

The atmosphere inside the tent instantly dropped to freezing point.

Everyone knew that once that crack fully opened and the "divinity core" gestating inside was fully formed, everything would be over.

This tent, along with the surrounding hundred meters, would turn into a dead zone contaminated by divinity.

And their companion, Senior Brother Wang, would become a new, stronger mutated monster.

Lin Yue gripped her blade tightly, a flash of pain and determination in her eyes.

She was preparing to... end her companion's life with her own hands.

"Need help?"

A calm voice rang out in the deathly silent tent.

Everyone's gaze focused on Li Dong.

Lin Yue stared at him, her eyes complex.

Li Dong met her gaze and smiled slightly.

"I can cure him."

"But my consultation fee is very expensive."

Without waiting for Lin Yue to answer, Li Dong had already walked forward.

He ignored the three Cultivators who were on high alert and went directly to Senior Brother Wang, who was about to mutate.

"Watch closely, this is how surgery is done."

He extended a finger.

At his fingertip, a black dot, finer than a needle point, appeared silently.

[Void Vortex].

The next instant, Li Dong's finger precisely tapped on the continuously expanding black crack on Senior Brother Wang's forehead.

There was no earth-shattering energy collision.

No flashy special effects of spiritual light.

The tent fell into an eerie silence.

In the terrified gaze of everyone, that hideous black crack, as if throttled by an invisible hand, instantly stopped expanding.

Immediately after, wisps of black divinity power, thinner than a hair, were forcibly drawn out from the crack, like frightened snakes, scrambling to burrow into the small black dot at Li Dong's fingertip.

The whole process was terrifyingly quiet.

Senior Brother Wang's violent aura calmed down at a speed visible to the naked eye.

His painfully contorted facial features also gradually relaxed.

Less than ten breaths.

When the last wisp of black Qi was drawn out, Li Dong withdrew his finger.

The black dot on his fingertip had turned into a crystal the size of a fingernail, pitch-black, and emitting an ominous aura.

That was highly concentrated "divinity essence."

Li Dong didn't even look at it, flicked his finger, and tossed this thing, which was more terrifying than deadly poison in the eyes of the Demon Suppression Division members, into his mouth.

Crunch.

Like chewing up a candy bean.

He even smacked his lips, still wanting more.

"The taste is not bad, just the age is a bit lacking."

Silence.

Deathly silence.

Everyone in the tent, including Senior Brother Wang who had just returned from the gates of hell, was like they had been cast with a immobilization spell, their brains completely blank.

What had they seen?

Purification?

No!

This was not purification!

This was... predation!

This man treated the "divinity contamination" that they avoided at all costs and regarded as divine punishment, as food!

"Your Excellency... who exactly are you?"

A hoarse and weak voice came from outside the tent.

A Nascent Soul Elder with white hair and beard, wearing gray hemp clothes, walked in slowly, supported by two Cultivators.

His aura was strong, but he was like a deflated ball, strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

On his body, there was also intertwined, deep-seated divinity contamination that could not be eradicated.

The Elder's gaze locked tightly onto Li Dong, full of shock, hope, and a trace of deeply hidden fear.

Li Dong looked at him and finally revealed a sincere smile.

He knew the main player had arrived.

"Me?"

"I am a doctor."

The Elder looked at him deeply, then waved his hand, signaling everyone else in the tent to withdraw.

When only he and Li Dong were left in the tent, this Elder of the Demon Suppression Division actually bowed deeply to Li Dong.

"I beg Your Excellency... save the Demon Suppression Division, save this world."

He did not probe, did not question, but directly stated a shocking secret that even surprised Li Dong.

"The 'Demon Suppression Cultivation Technique' we Cultivate is itself a trap. It can suppress contamination at the Early Stage, but the higher the cultivation, the longer one fights against 'divine punishment,' the deeper one is contaminated, until finally, one becomes a part of the 'god'."

"The final outcome for all of us is mutation."

Li Dong understood in his heart.

This was like using a chronic poison to treat another acute, deadly poison.

Drinking poison to quench thirst.

"So, what is the situation with your higher-ups now?" Li Dong asked directly.

The Elder's face revealed endless bitterness and despair.

He pointed to the deepest part of the camp.

There, a huge black tower was bound by countless thick chains shimmering with silver runes.

"The leader of the Demon Suppression Division, the Demon Suppression Marshal. Thirty years ago, in a battle with a 'divine monstrosity,' he was contaminated by its core Origin. Now, he is no longer human in shape and can only rely on this 'Demon Suppression Tower' to perform self-sealing."

"He... has already become the greatest source of contamination in this world."

In Li Dong's Sea of Consciousness, that "hunting ground map" lit up with a bang.

All the light points dimmed.

Only one point, right at the location of that black tower, lit up with an unprecedented, scarlet light like a bloody sun.

Found it.

Not some agent, not some distributor.

It was this world's... divinity core!

"I need Your Excellency's power."

The Elder's voice carried a trace of pleading.

"As long as you can solve the Marshal's problem, everything in the Demon Suppression Division, including this flawed 'Demon Suppression Cultivation Technique,' can be handed over to you!"

Li Dong looked at the black tower emitting an ominous aura.

He smiled.

Like a gourmet preparing to enjoy a top-tier feast.

He turned his head, looked at the hopeful Elder, and nodded slowly.

"Fine."

"However, I will state this beforehand."

"My consultation fee is very expensive."