99: Disguise and enter dangerous places

The night was as dark as ink, a perfect time for murder and arson—ah, no, for upholding justice.

Li Dong changed into a common Demon Suppression Guard uniform, wore a Thousand Illusion Mask on his face, and an Aura Concealing Jade Pendant at his waist. His entire aura became unremarkable, the kind that would be impossible to find if he were thrown into a crowd.

"With this disguise, no one should recognize me, right?" He looked into a basin of water; the blurry surface only reflected a rough outline. "I just hope I don't run into some fool who insists on asking for my token number. That would be a real mess."

His first chosen target was the abandoned pauper's graveyard in the west of the city. According to the information Old Zhang and his team brought back, and the System's subsequent analysis, it should be a small Soul-Devouring Demon Flower cultivation point.

"I'll start with you to test the waters," Li Dong muttered, his figure flickering as he disappeared into the night.

The abandoned pauper's graveyard was not too far from the city gate, but its location was remote, surrounded by overgrown weeds, exuding an eerie chill.

As Li Dong approached within a hundred zhang of the pauper's graveyard, he felt a faint Formation fluctuation.

"A blindfold Formation? Heh, trying to fool ghosts?"

This level of Formation, under his Spirituality perception, was almost as if it didn't exist. He easily bypassed several key nodes, drifting into the pauper's graveyard courtyard like a gust of wind.

In the courtyard, a faint, sickly sweet scent lingered at his nostrils.

"demon-attracting incense?" Li Dong frowned. "They're really professional."

The scent was somewhat similar to what he had smelled in He Tianzheng's secret base before, but fainter, clearly diluted and specifically used to attract certain "nutrients."

He did not rush in but first pressed against the wall, observing carefully.

Inside the pauper's graveyard, there wasn't a complete lack of light; a few side rooms faintly emitted a dim yellow glow. In the center of the courtyard, a simple shed seemed to have been erected, with shadowy figures beneath it, making it hard to see clearly.

"System, scan it and see what good stuff is inside."

"System: [Environmental Analysis] function activated. Scanning..."

A moment later, the System provided feedback.

"System: Thirty-seven 'Soul-Devouring Demon Flower' saplings found inside the shed, currently being nourished by a special Spiritual energy Formation. The Formation's energy comes from a small earth-attribute Spiritual Vein node three zhang underground. Additionally, five 'Modified Watchers' have been found, their strength approximately equivalent to the Peak Qi Refining Stage."

"Thirty-seven saplings? That's quite a lot. Modified Watchers? More of He Tianzheng's shady methods." Li Dong's eyes grew cold.

He silently crept to the window of a lit side room, dipped his finger in a little saliva, and gently poked a small hole in the window paper.

Inside the room, several shriveled corpses lay haphazardly on the ground, their skin like dried orange peels, tightly clinging to their bones, eye sockets sunken, their deaths tragic.

"System: Very low residual Spirituality fluctuations detected in the corpses, consistent with 'Soul-Devouring Demon Flower' consumption characteristics. All deceased were Cultivators during their lives, with cultivation levels ranging from the Middle to Late Qi Refining Stage."

"Beasts!" Li Dong squeezed out two words through gritted teeth.

These Cultivators were probably attracted by the "demon-attracting incense" or forcibly abducted here to become nourishment for the demon flowers.

He no longer hesitated and walked directly towards the shed in the center of the courtyard.

The five so-called "watchers" were less like humans and more like twisted monsters. Their figures were hunched, their skin an abnormal bluish-gray, their eyes vacant, their movements stiff, and they exuded a strong Death Qi and a faint Demonic Qi.

"It seems their consciousness has been completely erased, leaving only the Puppet's instinct for slaughter." Li Dong understood in his heart.

He did not startle these watchers but walked directly to the young Soul-Devouring Demon Flowers.

These demon flowers were only about a foot tall, their petals a bizarre dark red with fine serrations along the edges, and their pistils were a constantly writhing black substance, emitting a nauseating sweet fragrance.

"It's this thing that harmed so many people."

Li Dong stretched out his hand, and a barely perceptible golden light condensed at his fingertips—that was the power of the Spirit Transformation Demon Suppression Seal.

He cautiously touched this thread of power to a petal of a demon flower.

"Sizzle—"

A faint abnormal sound, and the demon flower's petal quickly curled and charred as if seared by a hot iron. Immediately after, the entire demon flower began to tremble violently, its dark red petals rapidly withered, and the black substance in the pistil twisted frantically as if encountering a nemesis, yet unable to stop the loss of vitality.

In just a few breaths, the demon flower, which had originally exuded a strange vitality, completely turned into a piece of charcoal.

"Effective!" Li Dong rejoiced in his heart. "Indeed, the power of the Demon Suppression Seal transformed by my Spirituality is the bane of these evil things!"

This was truly great news.

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

One of the "Modified Watchers" closest to him seemed to sense something. Its stiff head sharply turned towards Li Dong, and a strange red glow flashed in its empty eye sockets.

"Ho—ho—"

It let out an unintelligible roar, sharp and piercing, like a broken gong scraping.

"Discovered?" Li Dong raised an eyebrow. "Quite a quick reaction."

Following that watcher's roar, the other four watchers also turned around in unison, locking onto Li Dong. Not only that, but seven or eight wild dogs and cats, their bodies swollen and eyes gleaming fiercely from being stimulated by Demonic Qi, also rushed out from the pauper's graveyard's side rooms, clearly having become "accomplices" here.

"Hmph, a bunch of rabble!"

Li Dong did not retreat but advanced, a dark black short ruler—the Mystic Iron Demon Suppressing Ruler—appearing out of thin air in his hand.

"Just in time to test my skills on you!"

His figure flickered, and he charged into the enemy crowd like a ghost.

The Mystic Iron Demon Suppressing Ruler danced in his hand, leaving a trail of afterimages. On the ruler's body, the golden Spirit Transformation Demon Suppression Seal patterns appeared and disappeared.

"Bang!"

One watcher was struck in the chest by his ruler; its iron-hard chest instantly caved in, and the entire body flew backward, hitting the wall, and fell silent.

"Howl!"

A demonized wild dog pounced. Li Dong didn't even look, swinging his ruler backhand. The ruler's wind whistled, directly smashing the wild dog's head to a pulp.

His Late Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation, combined with the Spirit Transformation Demon Suppression Seal and the Mystic Iron Demon Suppressing Ruler, which specialize in countering evil, made dealing with these Qi Refining Stage modified bodies and Yao Beasts like slicing melons and dicing vegetables.

In just a moment, all the watchers and Yao Beasts in the courtyard were cleanly dealt with.

Li Dong flicked the non-existent blood from the Demon Suppression Ruler and walked to the patch of demon flowers.

"Time to send you on your way."

He formed hand seals, and the immense power of the Spirit Transformation Demon Suppression Seal surged from his body, transforming into a golden flame that instantly covered the entire flower patch.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—"

The young Soul-Devouring Demon Flowers, under the scorching golden flames, let out a series of shrill screams, as if countless wronged souls were wailing. But no matter how they struggled, they could not resist the purifying power of the Demon Suppression Seal.

Soon, all the demon flowers, along with the strange Formation that cultivated them, turned to ashes in the golden flames.

Li Dong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"First stronghold, done."

He did not leave immediately but searched the pauper's graveyard. Since these guys were cultivating demon flowers here, they should have left some clues.

In a relatively tidy room, he found a thin booklet with some things recorded in messy handwriting.

"Cultivation Log?" Li Dong opened it and took a look.

The log was sporadic, mostly recording the demon flowers' growth times, the amount of "nutrients" required, and some failed cases.

When he turned to the last page, his pupils slightly contracted.

It read: "Test Field No. 3 (City West Pauper's Graveyard). This batch of saplings is growing well and is expected to be screened and transplanted to the 'Mother Nest' in ten days. Additionally, the 'Cold Moon Palace' Mother Plant recently requires a large amount of high-grade Spirituality nourishment. Our Lord has ordered us to intensify the collection of 'sacrifices.'"

"Mother Nest? Cold Moon Palace?" Li Dong sneered. "As expected, the one in the Imperial City is the real big deal."

This log indirectly confirmed his previous suspicions.

He used the System to copy the contents of the log, then burned the original to ashes with a single flame.

"He Tianzheng, Shadow Council... your 'good days' are still ahead."

Li Dong took one last look at the pauper's graveyard, now a ruin, and his figure once again merged into the night, silently heading towards his next target—the warehouse at the City South Wharf.

Tonight was destined not to be peaceful.