82: arrest

In the office, Manager Wang's face went from flushed red to liver-colored, then from liver-colored to pale.

He looked at the three young people in front of him: one clenched his fist, lightning crackling around him; another leaned against the doorframe, idly fiddling with a stack of yellow paper; and the last one, the guy who had just called him a 'dead fatty' and accused him of harassment, was leisurely dusting off his clothes.

How was this a university student team-building event?

This was clearly a professional hit squad here to cause trouble!

"Done."

Han Li said into the miniature communicator hidden in his sleeve, then flicked out several Talismans, accurately sticking them onto Manager Wang.

Manager Wang felt a jolt throughout his body; the mixed Spiritual Qi within him was instantly sealed, and his entire body went limp, collapsing into his boss's chair, unable to even Move a finger... Meanwhile, downstairs in the bar.

Music blared, and the crowd on the dance floor twisted wildly.

Xie Wangsheng led over a dozen students in. They wore casual clothes and blended into the crowd, yet there was an indescribable sense of incongruity.

The pure and powerful Spiritual Qi emanating from them was like a hundred suns lighting up the night for the evil Qi Refiners hidden in the shadows—blinding and full of temptation.

"So many... so many excellent ones!"

In a corner, several men and women with heavy makeup exchanged greedy expressions.

"All virgins, their vitality is practically overflowing!"

"If we pull this off, how many human elixirs can we refine?"

"Stop talking, go!"

Seven or eight evil cultivators couldn't hold back and surrounded them from different directions, wearing hypocritical smiles, ready to use their old tricks to separate these 'prey'.

However, they hadn't even taken three steps.

Xie Wangsheng didn't even turn his head, merely stating calmly.

"Move, thirty seconds."

The instant his words fell, the dozen students behind him moved.

There were no fancy Moves, no unnecessary chatter.

A student from the Sword Cultivation Department flicked his wrist, and three silent Sword Qi pierced through the Dantian of three evil cultivators.

A female student from the Talisman Department flicked out several Talismans from her fingertips, silently sticking them onto the backs of the other evil cultivators. Their bodies stiffened, and they fell straight down.

The entire process was extremely fast, extremely clean.

The reveling crowd around them didn't even notice what had happened, only assuming a few drunkards had fallen.

At the other end of the bar, a scantily clad woman was about to make a Move on a rich second-generation heir who looked quite wealthy, when she suddenly felt a chill on her neck.

Lu Miaomiao was holding her by the back of her collar with one hand, like she was holding a small chicken.

"You..."

The woman only managed to utter one word before Lu Miaomiao, with a backhand Spiritual Qi impact, directly knocked her unconscious.

The rich second-generation heir had originally wanted to play the hero saving the beauty, but when he met Lu Miaomiao's emotionless face, a chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Half his drunkenness instantly sobered, and he scrambled away.

Lu Miaomiao casually grabbed four more equally stunned evil cultivators, two in each hand, dragging them like dead dogs to Xie Wangsheng.

In less than thirty seconds.

All the hidden evil Qi Refiners in the entire bar, a total of fifty-three people, were laid out on the ground.

Lin Xiao walked last, holding a baseball bat he'd grabbed from the bar, giving each fallen evil cultivator an extra tap on the back of the neck to ensure they were thoroughly unconscious, then tied them up with special ropes.

In the office, Manager Wang watched everything happening downstairs through the monitor, the color completely draining from his face.

It's over.

It's completely over.

His proud stronghold, in their eyes, was as fragile as a paper lantern.

Xie Wangsheng picked up his phone and dialed Group Leader Li's number.

"Azure Bar, the people have been caught. Come clean up."

After hanging up, he glanced at Manager Wang, who was being escorted downstairs by Fang Yuan and Han Li, then swept his eyes over the string of evil cultivators tied on the ground, his expression neutral.

"That's it?"

Liu Lian walked out of the crowd, a look of unfulfilled desire on his face.

"I thought there would be a big battle. There was no challenge at all."

Han Li spoke coolly from the side.

"What, you've gotten addicted to being bait? Want to experience being seen as 'the easiest pervert to seduce' again?"

"Get lost!"

Liu Lian's face instantly darkened.

The students around couldn't help but laugh.

"But seriously," a student asked curiously, "these guys are too weak, right? That Manager Wang, he's at least a ninth-stage Qi Refiner, but he felt like he was made of paper?"

"Because you've misunderstood a concept."

Lin Xiao, who had been silent, spoke up to explain.

"The so-called 'ninth stage' of evil Qi Refiners is completely different from our Cultivators' 'ninth layer of Qi Refining Stage'."

He paused, then continued.

"Their Cultivation Technique is incomplete, garbage that has been degraded countless times by demons. They can only crudely absorb Spiritual Qi, their Foundation is unstable, and Impurities are rampant. Their so-called ninth stage merely reaches our ninth layer of Qi Refining in terms of Spiritual Qi quantity, but in terms of Spiritual Qi purity and combat power, they can't even beat our fifth layer of Qi Refining."

"We Cultivators are the true orthodox of heaven and earth. Against them, it's a dimensionality reduction strike."

These words instantly ignited the students' blood.

"Holy crap! So we're that amazing!"

"The Kunlun Cultivation Technique is just strong!"

"Guaranteed job placement after graduation with a proper position, and the Cultivation Technique is so good, I love this school to death!"

Everyone cheered, excited and proud of their own strength.

"Don't get too happy too soon."

A cold voice interrupted everyone's excitement.

It was Xie Wangsheng.

He scanned the crowd, his expression more serious than ever.

"Don't you find it strange?"

"Since this organization called 'The Company' can establish such a large stronghold in Gusu University Town and refine elixirs from living people, why did they only send one ninth-stage Qi Refiner and a bunch of useless people to guard the place?"

"This is illogical."

Everyone quieted down, the smiles slowly disappearing from their faces.

"The structure of this organization might be far more rigorous and vast than we imagine."

Xie Wangsheng continued to analyze.

"These low-level Qi Refiners are just tools they use to collect Materials. Above them, there must be stronger existences."

"I'm wondering about something," his words were slow, but each one struck everyone's heart, "Since the Qi Refiners' Cultivation Technique has a limit, reaching only the ninth stage at most, could it be that 'The Company's' high-ranking members have already found a way to Breakthrough this constraint?"

"They might no longer be 'Qi Refiners'."

The entire hall fell into a dead silence.

A chill quietly crept up everyone's back.

Even Lin Xiao, who had always been full of confidence, had a solemn expression on his face.

He agreed with Xie Wangsheng's judgment.

At the same time.

At the other end of the Earth, in South America, deep within the vast Amazon rainforest.

Li Heng stood alone before a magnificent yet dilapidated ancient ruin.

He looked at the huge stone gate in the center of the ruins, which had been eroded beyond recognition by time, his brows tightly furrowed.