97: Burning Heaven Sect

"Name?"

"Identity?"

"Any other accomplices?"

"Where is your Immortal Cave?"

"..."

Zhang Daobai skillfully interrogated the five Robber Cultivators. If he encountered any who were uncooperative, he would directly give them a crotch-cutting warning.

Of course, this trick didn't work on one of the female Robber Cultivators, so Zhang Daobai brought her into the Small World and caught a wild boar.

Ultimately, under Zhang Daobai's severe interrogation, the five of them honestly confessed all their information.

These five were all Loose Cultivators, and they were somewhat well-known among their peers.

The reason they teamed up to act as Robber Cultivators was to obtain contribution points to exchange for core formation pills and Breakthrough to the Golden Core Stage.

Loose Cultivators were like this: though free and without attachments, they had to fight for all their cultivation resources themselves.

Basically, all Loose Cultivators hated Robber Cultivators, but basically all Robber Cultivators were Loose Cultivators.

After clarifying their situation and ensuring there would be no future trouble, Zhang Daobai buried them next to Huo Qianqiu's grave.

Looking at the dozens of acres of spirit fields around him, Zhang Daobai felt he needed to work even harder.

However, it had to be said that spirit fertilizer made from Golden Core Stage Cultivators was indeed excellent; the spirit plants and Spirit Medicine planted in that patch grew much better than in other places.

After leaving the Small World, Zhang Daobai continued to pilot the spirit boat back to Thousand Star Lake.

For the remainder of the journey, Zhang Daobai did not encounter any more Robber Cultivators blocking the way.

But he wasn't disappointed, because he had already scavenged 154,600 contribution points from those five Robber Cultivators.

Added all together, Zhang Daobai now had nearly 350,000 contribution points.

If he added the contribution points from this Ten Thousand Corpse Cave mission and those evil Cultivator corpses, he could directly reach over 500,000.

These contribution points were enough for Zhang Daobai and Lin Luoxue to exchange for many things.

With a heart full of anticipation, Zhang Daobai even increased the speed of the spirit boat.

After returning to Thousand Star Lake, Zhang Daobai went straight to Thousand Star Island.

On that giant light screen, there were still a large number of unfinished tasks, but the difficulty of these tasks was relatively high, and most required teamwork to complete.

After checking the tasks on the light screen, Zhang Daobai and Lin Luoxue went to hand in their mission.

Lin Luoxue was responsible for playing the footage on the shadow retention token as proof, while Zhang Daobai handed the storage ring full of Corpse Puppets to the staff.

Seeing that just two people, and only Purple Mansion Stage Cultivators at that, had completed the mission to clear the Ten Thousand Corpse Cave,

everyone present couldn't help but look at Zhang Daobai and Lin Luoxue in surprise.

However, they didn't pry or ask questions, because anyone with a brain knew that this surely involved someone's secrets.

A major taboo among Loose Cultivators was to never probe into the secrets or trump cards of others, as it could easily provoke killing intent.

With the Ghost Shadow retention and the Corpse Puppet remains as evidence, the people from the Rogue Cultivator Alliance quickly confirmed the mission's completion.

Subsequently, Zhang Daobai took out the evil Cultivator corpses from his storage ring.

After appraisal by the Rogue Cultivator Alliance staff, more than half of these evil Cultivators were found to have active bounties on the demon slaying ranking list.

Thus, they directly settled the contribution points as completed missions.

In the end, all the settled contribution points added up to a staggering 168,000, which truly gave Zhang Daobai a pleasant shock.

Adding his previous points, Zhang Daobai now had a total of 517,000 contribution points.

When Zhang Daobai's contribution points finished settling, everyone present couldn't help but cast envious looks at him and Lin Luoxue.

"Let's go! Time to exchange for items."

Zhang Daobai turned and eagerly waved to Lin Luoxue.

Seeing this, Lin Luoxue couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation in her heart as well.

The place to exchange contribution points wasn't far, and soon Zhang Daobai and Lin Luoxue arrived in an empty room.

To ensure the privacy of Loose Cultivators, the Rogue Cultivator Alliance had set up the exchange locations inside private rooms.

There were no staff in the room, only a light screen projected from a jade wall and a row of chairs for resting.

After selecting the desired items on the light screen, the Rogue Cultivator Alliance staff would deliver the items and complete the transfer of contribution points.

The entire process was hidden from outsiders, providing excellent privacy protection.

Coming before the jade wall, the first thing Zhang Daobai selected was the Geng Jin Sword Art suitable for Lin Luoxue.

This sword scripture cost 200,000 contribution points, and Zhang Daobai selected 'confirm' without a second thought.

Next, Zhang Daobai found the Shocking Void Fist, a Cultivation Technique suitable for himself. This technique was also Earth-Grade Low Grade.

However, because there were so few people with space-attribute spiritual power, its price was lower than normal Earth-Grade Low Grade techniques, costing only 180,000 contribution points.

Once Zhang Daobai found the Shocking Void Fist technique, he bought it without hesitation.

Besides the Shocking Void Fist, Zhang Daobai saw other space-attribute techniques, but they were all Earth-Grade High Grade or above; Zhang Daobai could only look at them with envy.

After buying the techniques, Zhang Daobai decided to use the remaining contribution points to exchange for growth resources that could help White Moon and Ghost Shadow.

However, Zhang Daobai soon discovered that there were very few resources useful for Ghost Shadow, and every single one was extremely precious.

With the remaining contribution points he had on hand, he couldn't even afford a single one of them.

"Forget it, I'll just make more spirit meals to reward it."

After looking at the numbers behind those resources, Zhang Daobai could only helplessly choose to give up.

Compared to Ghost Shadow, the resources White Moon needed were much cheaper.

One Blood Source Spirit Fruit to enhance Bloodline potential!

Some Medicinal Pills to increase Spirit Beast cultivation!

One portion of deadly poison that can corrode the Soul!

One portion of toxin with extremely strong hallucinogenic abilities!

...Since White Moon had played a significant role in these missions, Zhang Daobai was not stingy with its rewards.

Zhang Daobai estimated that after White Moon finished digesting these resources, it could at least break through to the third rank, and the toxicity of its Source of Ten Thousand Poisons would also increase significantly.

After picking out White Moon's resources, Zhang Daobai only had over 50,000 contribution points left.

He thought about it and didn't buy anything else, because he needed to continue accumulating contribution points to exchange for a core formation pill.

Zhang Daobai had just checked; a single core formation pill required a full 350,000 contribution points.

With so many points needed, Zhang Daobai estimated he would need the contributions from at least three more waves of Robber Cultivators to gather enough.

Should I just pilot the spirit boat and circle around Thousand Star Lake?

An idea suddenly popped into Zhang Daobai's mind.

But he quickly abandoned the thought. Setting aside whether there were any big shots among those hidden Robber Cultivators, what if he ended up being the one who got sunk?

If people found out he was intentionally fishing, it would likely provoke the hostility of most Robber Cultivators and might even bring unnecessary disasters.

With Ghost Shadow's current strength, it could at most deal with Late Stage Golden Core Stage Cultivators.

And as a gathering place for Loose Cultivators, no one knew how many hidden old schemers and monsters were in Thousand Star Lake.

So after thinking it over carefully, Zhang Daobai gave up on this risky plan.

Before long, a female Cultivator walked in carrying a wooden tray with a Storage Pouch on it.

Zhang Daobai took the Storage Pouch and checked the contents with his Divine Sense. After confirming everything was correct, he nodded to her.

Seeing that Zhang Daobai confirmed everything was fine, the female Cultivator left the room.

"Let's head back first."

Zhang Daobai thought about it and felt that home was still safer.

Thus, Zhang Daobai and Lin Luoxue left Thousand Star Island and returned to their Immortal Cave on Moonlight Island.

Upon returning to the cave, Zhang Daobai took out the Geng Jin Sword Art and handed it to Lin Luoxue.

"Take a look and see if it's suitable for you."

Lin Luoxue eagerly took the Geng Jin Sword Art and immediately entered the spirit taming space.

The courtyard was indeed large, but it wasn't suitable for practicing Sword Techniques; the spirit taming space was more appropriate.

After Lin Luoxue left, Zhang Daobai let White Moon out and gave it its resources.

"Take these back and refine them as soon as possible."

Hearing this and seeing the pile of cultivation resources before it, White Moon was immediately thrilled.

"Thank you, Master!"

Soon, White Moon also returned to the spirit taming space with its resources. With the accelerated growth effect of the spirit taming space, it could refine these resources very quickly.

"Now it's my turn!"

Zhang Daobai also impatiently took out the Shocking Void Fist technique and began to study it.

The effect of the Shocking Void Fist was clear from its name: it could cause damage through spatial vibrations.

This technique had two methods of attack: first, vibrating the space from a distance to deliver an unexpected blow to the enemy.

Second, directly causing spatial vibrations within a specific area to perform an area-of-effect attack.

If practiced to a deep level, the Shocking Void Fist could even achieve the effect of shattering space.

Shattering space would draw out spatial fissures; once touched by a spatial fissure, even a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator would have a hard time.

However, to reach the level of shattering space, Zhang Daobai's current cultivation was far from enough.

In the following period, Zhang Daobai began practicing the Shocking Void Fist.

Benefiting from the help of his Void Sacred Body, Zhang Daobai's speed in comprehending the Shocking Void Fist was extremely fast,

even faster than Lin Luoxue's speed in comprehending Sword Techniques.

A few hours later, Zhang Daobai went to the backyard, took out a three-meter-high boulder, and stood a hundred meters away from it.

"Void Shock!"

A silver glow lit up on Zhang Daobai's right hand, and then he threw a forceful punch toward the boulder a hundred meters away.

In the next second, the space where the boulder was located vibrated at a high frequency.

The boulder exploded like a bomb, instantly turning into countless small stone fragments that flew in all directions.

However, these small stones didn't fly far before being blocked by a golden barrier.

To avoid making a mess of the backyard, Zhang Daobai had set up a Formation around the boulder beforehand.

"Not bad."

Zhang Daobai picked up a thumb-sized stone fragment and nodded in satisfaction.

His Shocking Void Fist had only barely reached the entry level. While he couldn't yet unleash its true power, it was enough to face enemies of the same stage.

Next, Zhang Daobai continued to take out boulders and began practicing incessantly.

Actually, Zhang Daobai didn't want to go through so much trouble, but the space within the Small World of the void realm suppressing pagoda was reinforced by spatial Laws.

With Zhang Daobai's current strength, it was difficult to shake the space within the Small World; even Ghost Shadow could not do it.

As he continued to practice, the sky gradually darkened.

When the cold moonlight spilled down from the sky, Zhang Daobai finally stopped his cultivation.

“It is about time.”

Zhang Daobai looked up at the night sky and murmured softly to himself.

Then, Zhang Daobai cleared away the stones on the ground, changed his clothes, and put on a silver-white mask.

Following that, Zhang Daobai took out several Mist Concealing Worms from his spirit taming space. White Moon was still refining those resources, so Zhang Daobai did not disturb it.

As for these Mist Concealing Worms, White Moon had long since given them orders to obey Zhang Daobai's commands. Therefore, even if White Moon was not here, Zhang Daobai could still control them.

At Zhang Daobai's command, the Mist Concealing Worms quickly spat out a large amount of Spirit Concealing Mist, enveloping him.

After making all the preparations, Zhang Daobai flew toward the Immortal Caves of those Robber Cultivators from before.

With the Spirit Concealing Mist and the darkness of night as cover, no one discovered Zhang Daobai's movements.

Traveling without any obstacles, Zhang Daobai soon arrived outside Huo Qianqiu's Immortal Cave.

After taking out Huo Qianqiu's cave access token from his storage ring, Zhang Daobai opened the main gate of the Immortal Cave.

Upon entering the gate, what greeted Zhang Daobai's eyes was an empty martial arts field.

This martial arts field was covered with blade marks of all sizes, which looked very messy yet carried a sharp aura.

The entire courtyard was very desolate. Clearly, just as Huo Qianqiu had said before he died, there were no friends or Dao Companions here.

After entering the courtyard, Zhang Daobai began searching through the various rooms.

Since Loose Cultivators generally preferred to keep most of their wealth on them at all times, Zhang Daobai's harvest from the search was not very large.

As for the spirit fields outside the Immortal Cave, they were empty, with nothing planted in them.

“Forget it, on to the next one.”

Zhang Daobai hadn't actually held much hope to begin with, so he wasn't particularly disappointed.

In the remaining few houses, Zhang Daobai did find some gains. Overall, the trip was not in vain.

Early the next morning, Zhang Daobai and Lin Luoxue left the Immortal Cave.

Although they had just obtained suitable Cultivation Techniques and both wanted to go into secluded cultivation, there was a time limit on the Demon Slaying operation.

Zhang Daobai and Lin Luoxue had to earn more contribution points within the limited time.

After arriving at Thousand Star Island, Zhang Daobai and Lin Luoxue began looking for suitable missions on the ranking list.

However, at first glance at the ranking list, Zhang Daobai was attracted by a certain mission.

This mission was placed at the very top of the ranking list and was specially highlighted in red to attract attention.

“Find the hidden team of evil Cultivators; only the confirmed location is required?”

Looking at this mission, Zhang Daobai immediately remembered what Mu Yuruo had mentioned before.

A team of evil Cultivators led by a Nascent Soul Stage Evil Cultivator had infiltrated the territories of various families and Sects, intending to tie down the people of the Demon Slaying Alliance.

“Wait! One million contribution points!?”

When Zhang Daobai saw the contribution points this mission was worth, his eyes instantly widened.

Just by finding the location, one could get one million contribution points!

For a moment, Zhang Daobai's heart was filled with heat and excitement, but he quickly calmed down.

One must know that the contribution points each mission was worth were linked to its difficulty.

Therefore, since this mission could be worth one million contribution points, it meant that it was definitely not simple.

Thinking of this, Zhang Daobai went to the staff member nearby and obtained a detailed file regarding this mission.

After reading the detailed information of the mission, Zhang Daobai thought to himself that it was indeed as he suspected.

Just as Mu Yuruo had said, a group of evil Cultivators had indeed infiltrated the spheres of influence of various families and Sects.

During this period, they had actively shown their traces in the territories of many families and Sects, but they would quickly disappear again.

Seeing this, the families and Sects sent out a large number of people to search for the traces of these evil Cultivators, preparing to wipe them out in one fell swoop.

But when the personnel from the families and Sects formed a large net to surround these evil Cultivators,

They were shocked to find that these evil Cultivators had disappeared without a trace, and not a single sign of them could be found.

Just when the people from the families and Sects thought that these evil Cultivators had all fled back to the Yinyue Mountain Range,

That group of evil Cultivators strangely reappeared in the areas they had searched several times.

And when they immediately moved to surround them, they were shocked to find that these evil Cultivators had mysteriously vanished again.

Finally, by chance, the Demon Slaying Alliance captured one of the people from this group of evil Cultivators.

After a round of soul searching, the Demon Slaying Alliance finally knew the reason.

It turned out that this group of evil Cultivators carried a damaged Low Grade Spirit Treasure, the sky mirror, which could temporarily open a stable space in the Void Realm.

Although this space could only be maintained for three days, it was enough for this group of evil Cultivators to evade the Demon Slaying Alliance's searches several times.

After learning about this Spirit Treasure, the Demon Slaying Alliance immediately formulated a plan and began a new round of capture.

But unfortunately, the sky mirror could open a space anytime and anywhere, so they simply could not find or catch those evil Cultivators.

Once they discovered they were surrounded, those evil Cultivators would hide in the Void Realm, and even Soul Transformation Stage Cultivators could not find any trace of them.

Furthermore, the battle situation at the Yinyue Mountain Range was becoming increasingly fierce, so the Demon Slaying Alliance could not spare a large number of people to stay and search for these individuals.

Thus, the Demon Slaying Alliance released this matter in the form of a mission.

Considering that finding the hiding place of these evil Cultivators would require a lot of time and enough luck,

And having to guard against the risk of being discovered by a Nascent Soul stage evil cultivator and several Nascent Soul stage evil cultivators,

This mission was marked at one million contribution points.

According to the latest intelligence, the last location where that group of evil Cultivators appeared was outside a city under the Fentian Sect.

Therefore, to find these evil Cultivators, one could search in all directions starting from that city as the center.

Many people had taken this mission, but most did not hold much hope.

After all, the area was simply too vast, and with them hiding in the Void Realm, they couldn't find any traces at all and could only rely on luck, betting that they would appear.

But if they really did encounter this group of evil Cultivators, the most likely outcome would be being killed to keep them silent, so there was considerable risk.

However, for Zhang Daobai, this was an opportunity because both he and Ghost Shadow could sense spatial fluctuations.

A temporary space that could only exist for three days would definitely produce very obvious spatial fluctuations; even from far away, he and Ghost Shadow would be able to sense it.

The only problem was that the search area was simply too large.

Even if the range of spatial fluctuations he and Ghost Shadow could perceive was large, it would still be difficult to search such a vast area in a short time.

“Forget it, I'll go try my luck first; if it really doesn't work, then we'll see.”

After thinking it over, Zhang Daobai was still unwilling to give up this excellent opportunity.

One million contribution points were enough to exchange for a core formation pill, and even some rare resources helpful to Ghost Shadow. This was much faster than robbing Robber Cultivators.

Having made up his mind, Zhang Daobai told Lin Luoxue his thoughts.

“But... I can't help you much with this mission.”

After hearing Zhang Daobai's words, Lin Luoxue said with some hesitation.

Although she hadn't been of much help in the previous missions, at least she had some sense of participation.

But for this mission, Lin Luoxue really couldn't think of how she could help Zhang Daobai.

“Uh...”

After frowning in deep thought for a moment, Zhang Daobai soon thought of a way.

Besides him and Ghost Shadow, Long Li could actually perceive spatial fluctuations as well.

The void realm suppressing pagoda inherently contained the Law of Space, so as the artifact spirit, Long Li was naturally able to perceive spatial fluctuations.

So, if he temporarily handed the void realm suppressing pagoda to Lin Luoxue, then together with Ghost Shadow, they could split into three paths to search.

In this way, the probability of finding the target's hiding place could be greatly increased.

Thinking of this, Zhang Daobai told Lin Luoxue his method.

And after hearing this method, Lin Luoxue also agreed without hesitation.

“If you encounter any danger, don't hesitate! Hide directly in the void realm suppressing pagoda.”

Thinking of the terrifying strength of those evil Cultivators, Zhang Daobai reminded her with some concern.

Hearing this, Lin Luoxue said softly, “Mm, I understand.”

Soon, Zhang Daobai took on the mission and then took out his spirit boat to leave Thousand Star Island.

After leaving Thousand Star Lake, Zhang Daobai kept standing on the deck, looking left and right in anticipation of Robber Cultivators taking the bait.

But to his disappointment, he did not encounter any Robber Cultivators who actively came to deliver contribution points along the way.

The Fentian Sect was very far from Thousand Star Lake; at the speed of Zhang Daobai's spirit boat, it would take at least three or four days to arrive.

Along the way, Lin Luoxue had been cultivating the Geng Jin Sword Art within the spirit taming space.

Due to the addition of her talent and Geng Metal Sword Intent, in just a few days, Lin Luoxue had comprehended the Geng Jin Sword Art to the level of Major Achievement.

If this talent were to be known, it would surely make many Sword Cultivators envious and jealous.

When they were about to enter the sphere of influence of the Fentian Sect, Zhang Daobai saw many Cultivators quickly shuttling back and forth within the Fentian Sect's territory.

These people actually didn't have any good search methods; they could only rely entirely on luck to see if they could run into those evil Cultivators.

After entering the Fentian Sect's sphere of influence, Zhang Daobai did not stop there.

Instead, he continued to fly toward the city mentioned in the intelligence.

Since that was the last place those evil Cultivators had appeared, expanding the search from that city as the center was the most appropriate method.