67: The disaster was brought to the East China Sea.

Black Mountain, Yin Wind Gully.

[Two] lurked in the shadow of a weathered rock pillar, his gaze coldly scanning the valley below.

There were over a dozen temporary grayish-black tents there. Figures could be seen moving faintly, their auras cold and chaotic, originating from the same source as the Blood Fiend Sect Cultivators wiped out at the Charitable Undertakers.

In the center of the camp, a simple altar built from blood and strange bones was operating in a faint light, emitting a nauseating, sickly sweet scent.

"Target confirmed: residual Blood Fiend Sect stronghold. Suspected to be performing some kind of blood sacrifice ritual, energy fluctuations equivalent to Late Stage Qi Refinement." [Two]'s voice entered Lin Mo's consciousness directly through the "voice network."

"Numbers and combat assessment," Lin Mo's response was concise.

"Twenty-eight visible. Five have auras between Early Stage and Middle Stage Qi Refinement, while the rest are Bone Forging or Muscle Realm Martial Artists or apprentices."

"No existence above Foundation Establishment discovered. Three hidden sentries on the camp's periphery have been marked."

"Execute the plan."

"Groups One and Two, eliminate the sentries, create chaos, and launch a feint attack towards the altar."

"Group Three, led by you personally, slip into the largest tent on the east side of the camp amidst the chaos. Obtain any written or physical intelligence, then set it on fire."

"Note, your mission is exposure and harassment, not annihilation."

"If intercepted by Cultivators at Middle Stage Qi Refinement or above, immediately retreat to the designated route."

"Understood."

The orders were issued silently.

A total of twelve Death Warriors from the three groups, like cheetahs in the shadows, moved simultaneously.

The three peripheral Blood Fiend Sect Disciples at the sentry posts didn't even have time to sound the alarm before their throats were slit.

Immediately after, explosions and battle cries rang out from the west and north sides of the camp!

Several Death Warriors charged fearlessly toward the altar, their blade light sharp, instantly throwing the camp into chaos!

"Enemy attack! It's those people in black!" The camp fell into total chaos. The Blood-robed Cultivators were both shocked and enraged as they lunged toward the attackers.

Amidst the confusion, [Two] and two Death Warriors slipped through the edge of the camp like ghosts and entered the large eastern tent.

The interior of the tent was simply furnished, with only a rough wooden table scattered with several animal skin maps, ledgers, and a sealed black wooden box.

[Two]'s gaze swept across the room. He quickly tucked the maps and ledgers into a specially made leather pouch on his person and then picked up the wooden box.

Lin Mo activated vision sharing.

[Resource Scanning]

[Item]: Spirit-Sealing Black Wood Box

[Material]: Century-old Yin Locust Wood, mixed with trace amounts of Spirit-Restricting Stone powder.

[Internal Energy]: Medium concentration of cold Yin blood Qi, mixed with faint chaotic thoughts.

[Risk]: Opening may trigger a mental shock or blood Qi backlash.

[Value Assessment]: Medium. May contain important items or intelligence of an evil Cultivator.]

"Take it." [Two] didn't hesitate.

Just as they were about to exit the tent, a Blood-robed minor leader at the fourth level of Qi Refinement rushed in, shouting, "How dare you, thieves!"

A Blood Fiend Palm strike, carrying a fishy wind, slammed toward [Two]'s back.

[Two] neither dodged nor avoided it, swinging his blade back toward the opponent's neck in a suicidal maneuver!

The Blood-robed leader was startled and instinctively dodged.

In that instant, [Two] and his companions had already rushed out of the tent, smashing a fire oil jar against the tent's support pillar and igniting it!

Flames surged!

"Chase them! Kill them!" The Blood-robed leader was exasperated.

The camp fell into even greater chaos.

Most of the Blood Fiend Sect Cultivators were drawn away by the feinting Death Warriors on the west and north sides; only a few pursued [Two]'s group.

[Two] and the other two sped toward the dense forest outside the gully along their predetermined route. The pursuers behind them grew closer, with arrows and blood light constantly attacking.

One Death Warrior was struck in the back by an arrow and fell. He was immediately hacked to pieces by the Blood Fiend Sect Martial Artists who caught up.

To cover [Two], another Death Warrior turned back to face two Blood-robed Cultivators at Early Stage Qi Refinement and boldly self-detonated the remaining miniature gunpowder jars in his possession!

Boom!

The pursuers were momentarily halted.

[Two] took the opportunity to rush out of the forest and leap onto a steep slope. He stuffed the leather pouch and the black wooden box into a pre-selected rock crevice and made an inconspicuous mark.

Then, he turned around and stood with his blade held horizontally, facing the pursuing Blood-robed leader and three other Martial Artists.

"Where are the items? Hand them over!" The Blood-robed leader's eyes were fierce.

[Two] remained silent and raised his blade.

The battle was without suspense. A fourth-level Qi Refinement against a Great Accomplishment of Muscle; [Two] relied on his bravery and exquisite blade techniques to hold out for ten moves before finally being pierced through the chest by a beam of blood light, falling dead.

Before he died, he transmitted one last word through the "voice network": "Hidden."

...The secret room in the "Nest."

Lin Mo slowly opened his eyes.

The sensory extension disconnected. In the voice network, the links representing [Two] and the two sacrificed Death Warriors temporarily dimmed, but the other nine Death Warriors who participated in the operation had safely retreated to their preset hidden points.

The operation was a success.

The residual Blood Fiend Sect stronghold was exposed and struck, and intelligence had been obtained.

More importantly, according to the plan, one of the feinting Death Warriors had intentionally dropped a forged, tattered leather scroll before dying, which was picked up by a Blood Fiend Sect Cultivator.

The seed for redirecting the disaster to the east had been planted.

"[Three], the coordinates for the black wood box's hiding spot have been synchronized to you.

Send reliable personnel to retrieve it. Do not touch the box directly; use a specially made lead case for storage and transport," Lin Mo ordered.

"Yes."

"[Four], how is the progress on the deduction for the Fusion of simplified Cultivation Techniques and the Aperture Condensation Method?"

"22% completed. Five new summoned Death Warriors with [Basic Resilient Physique] or [Basic Spiritual Qi Affinity] have been screened, and we are prepared to conduct the first low-risk Fusion test.

At the Island Experimental Site, the data analysis for the third experiment on demonic taint adaptability induction is finished. It's confirmed that the similarity between the dark-gold mutation and the host's True Essence characteristics has reached 31%, but it is extremely unstable.

I suggest postponing high-risk experiments and shifting focus to consolidating basic Cultivation Techniques and Physique screening."

"Agreed. Suspend high-risk demonic taint experiments and focus on Cultivation Technique optimization and the establishment of a Physique database." Lin Mo followed the advice readily.

After the System upgrade, Death Warriors could be resurrected for extreme testing, but resources could not be wasted blindly.

He pulled up the simple System interface in his mind. In an inconspicuous corner, there was a numerical indicator: Current living/Summonable Death Warriors total: 117/120.

This meant that besides the three who had just died and were awaiting resurrection, and the dozen or so who were lost for various reasons before the System upgrade and could not be resurrected,

He currently had 117 absolutely loyal Death Warriors under his command, each with basic skills, who could be commanded in real-time through the network.

Lin Mo's finger lightly tapped the edge of the bed.

The fire on Black Mountain had been lit. The remnants of the Blood Fiend Sect would surely be alerted and might also make a connection with the clues in the East Sea.

On the Heavenly Supervision Department's side, the missing fishermen case and the movements on Black Mountain would be enough to keep them exhausted.

Regarding the Sect, after Green Feather brought back a more Advanced kong yun stone, it was impossible for Elder Zhou to remain indifferent.

The gazes of the three major forces were all redirected outward to varying degrees.

"[Six], prioritize the deciphering and analysis of the maps and ledgers seized from Black Mountain.

Focus on marking their personnel and material transfer routes, as well as any location markers that may be related to demonic taint or the ancient seal."

"[One Three Six], prepare an absolutely isolated analysis environment. Once the black wood box is delivered, attempt to open it using remote-controlled tools under multiple layers of protection.

The resource scanning function will monitor energy changes throughout the process."

Orders were issued silently one by one through the "voice network."

Lin Mo himself once again picked up that kong yun stone, which was nearly half-consumed, absorbing the pure and gentle spatial Spiritual Qi within it to continue stabilizing and enhancing that unique True Essence.

He could feel that his cultivation was steadily approaching a certain critical point.

It wasn't a martial Realm, nor was it a traditional Qi Refinement stage; it was the first qualitative change of the "True Essence" System that fused multiple characteristics.