14: Losing 800 of our own men but killing 1,000 of the enemy.

To Lu Ping's pleasant surprise, the vitality of the human puppet before him far exceeded that of a Mortal; perhaps it could dispel his curse in one go.

Seeing his satisfied expression, Li San and Hu Jiu spoke up, "Deduct three hundred contribution points, and this human puppet is yours to deal with."

Lu Ping was straightforward as well, immediately paying the contribution points. He then dismissed Li San and Hu Jiu, preparing to use Fang Huai to dispel the curse.

Just then, Fang Huai's voice reached his ears:

"Senior Brother, I am a Disciple of this Sect, mistakenly captured and brought here. If you help me leave this place, I have a way to help you completely break the Blood Loss Curse."

Lu Ping was startled and asked, "How do you know I've been struck by this curse?"

Fang Huai put on a mysterious air, looking like someone who should be trusted.

It's quite pleasant to read selected Taiwanese novels in one's spare time.

Seeing Fang Huai so confident, Lu Ping subconsciously believed his words.

He originally wanted to call Li San and Hu Jiu back to explain the situation, but greed made him abandon that thought.

A Disciple of this Sect?

A Disciple of this Sect is exactly who I'll drain!

Disciples of this Sect all practice the Body Tempering Art, so their vitality is vigorous. After using him to dispel the curse, there might even be surplus vitality to seize.

"Trying to trick me?" Lu Ping said sinisterly. He had to act quickly and drain Fang Huai dry.

His five fingers pierced into Fang Huai's skull as he chanted an incantation. Pure vitality entered Lu Ping's body, washing over the site of the curse.

Fang Huai stared straight into Lu Ping's eyes, his lips gradually turning pale.

Seeing the [Blood Loss Curse] tag on Lu Ping turn from white to gray, Fang Huai transferred that tag onto himself.

"Is it enough?" Fang Huai sneered.

"Not enough!" Lu Ping felt unnerved by Fang Huai's smile. He found that the curse had already vanished, but he did not stop.

Since he had already formed a grudge with this human puppet, he might as well pull it up by the roots. Even if the Sect investigated, he was just an uninformed buyer.

Fang Huai stopped speaking, merely looking at Lu Ping as if he were a dead man.

Finally, looking at the [Blood Loss Curse] and [Vitality Depleted] tags on himself, Fang Huai said:

"Lu Ping, I gave you a chance. You chose this dead end yourself."

Lu Ping felt even more unnerved. How did this human puppet know his name?

Suddenly, the world spun. His body could no longer support itself, and he collapsed to the ground.

What shocked him even more was that the curse at his wound had returned.

"He... help..."

Lu Ping's eyes were filled with despair. His vitality continuously drained away as he gradually sank into darkness.

Despite his efforts to call for help, the wailing of the other human puppets drowned out his voice.

Even in death, he didn't understand why the Blood Loss Curse had erupted again.

After Lu Ping died, Fang Huai gave a tragic laugh and fell unconscious... An hour later, seeing that Lu Ping still hadn't come out, Li San and Hu Jiu entered the hall to find him.

Seeing Lu Ping lying on the ground, Li San gave him a kick. "Junior Brother, if you want to rest, please go back to your own quarters."

Seeing no reaction from Lu Ping, he stepped forward to check his breathing, only to find he was already dead as a doornail.

Hu Jiu said regretfully, "What a pity. He was just a step away from dispelling the curse. He really had bad luck."

"Bad luck indeed."

Li San searched Lu Ping's Storage Pouch, split the valuables in two, and tossed a share to Hu Jiu. "Let's report this to the Sect."

————

A few days later, Li San and Hu Jiu led another Outer Sect Disciple to Fang Huai.

The two pointed at him and introduced, "Senior Brother Ma, you've come at the right time. This is the quality goods we've kept for you."

The man looked anxious. "Stop the nonsense. I'm in a hurry. Deduct the contribution points quickly!"

Fang Huai glanced at the man—

Ma Qiquan, third level of Qi Refining, [Resentful Soul Possession (Red)].

[Resentful Soul Possession: Qi Deviation, a large amount of resentment has been inhaled into the body]

The man's eyes were blood-red, his sockets were sunken, his skin was deathly pale, and his veins were twitching uncontrollably.

After the contribution points were deducted and the two Guardian Disciples were driven away, Ma Qiquan impatiently lunged at Fang Huai, his five fingers hooking like eagle claws onto Fang Huai's skull.

Simultaneously, a massive amount of resentment was transferred into Fang Huai's body.

Lu Ping's attack was a physical seizing, which Fang Huai could counter by trading injuries for the other's life. But now, Ma Qiquan was causing destruction to his Divine Sense, making it impossible to replicate the tactic used against Lu Ping.

What should he do?

Fang Huai gritted his teeth, racking his brain for a way to break the situation, only to find he had no measures to deal with his current predicament.

Just as he was in despair, the Small Corpse Meteor Worm sensed a threat and tunneled along his Meridians toward the top of Fang Huai's head.

Ma Qiquan was closing his eyes in enjoyment when a sudden sharp pain came from his palm.

He immediately withdrew his hand and stared at the bloody hole, feeling somewhat worried in his heart:

It couldn't be some kind of poisonous insect, could it?

The Corpse Fiend Sect had many poisonous insects; one careless move could lead to being struck, ranging from poisoning to death.

There were cases of Disciples in the middle and Late Stages of Qi Refining falling to poisonous insects, let alone an Early Stage Cultivator like him.

Focusing his inner vision, he saw a black beetle moving rapidly along his Meridians, seemingly heading for his heart.

Not good!

Ma Qiquan was also a ruthless character. Making a prompt decision, he drew a dagger and cut off his own arm.

But his actions were still too slow. The Corpse Meteor Worm had already left his arm, passed through his shoulder, and tunneled into his chest.

He stabbed the dagger into his ribs to block it, but who knew this Small Corpse Meteor Worm was exceptionally agile? Seeing the dagger in its way, it turned around, looped back, and quickly tunneled into his heart.

"He... help!"

His heart throbbed with intense pain. Ma Qiquan cried out in agony and soon collapsed, dead.

After killing Ma Qiquan, the Small Corpse Meteor Worm crawled out of his chest, scurried back to Fang Huai, bored a hole in the sole of Fang Huai's foot, and returned into his body.

This time, the duo of Li and Hu heard Ma Qiquan's cry for help and rushed over in a panic.

But when they arrived, they only saw Ma Qiquan's corpse, which was gradually losing its warmth.

"We're in trouble. We're going to be punished for this!"

After they dealt with Ma Qiquan's body, their legs felt weak, and they supported each other back to their quarters.

Consecutive derelictions of duty forced them to take a trip to the Law Enforcement Hall.

The Law Enforcement Hall used their splitting of Lu Ping's Storage Pouch as a pretext to suspect them of murdering a Sect Disciple.

After enduring many punishments and handing over more than half of their wealth, the Law Enforcement Hall finally allowed the two to return.

The two sat in their room, changing out of their blood-stained robes, remaining silent.

Li San was the first to break the silence. "Junior Brother Hu, that human puppet is a bit eerie. It's cursed two Senior Brothers, Lu Ping and Ma Qiquan, to death in a row!"

Hu Jiu spat. "It's just a coincidence. We'll sell it to other Senior Brothers in a few days."

"I'm afraid..."

"Afraid of what? If it stays this eerie, we'll just haul it to Alchemy Peak and refine it! Those bastards from the Law Enforcement Hall dare to bully us like this simply because our cultivation is too low!"

With that, Hu Jiu pulled a black box from a hidden spot. Inside the box lay several blood-red leaves.

Li San asked in confusion, "What is this?"

Hu Jiu didn't speak, but placed a leaf into the incense burner and lit it. He then said, "This is a treasure that can help our cultivation advance by leaps and bounds."

As the red mist swirled, the two sat cross-legged, their eyes becoming glazed.

If anyone passed by their room, they would find the two's expressions sometimes excited, sometimes furious, and sometimes high-spirited.

In a state between reality and illusion, the two had already achieved Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment and formed a first-grade Golden Core.

They had transformed into Sect Old Ancestors, riding pitch-black clouds of souls, enjoying the worship of thousands of Cultivators.

A quarter of an hour later, the smoke dissipated. The two were left wanting more, but they had already forgotten the unpleasant events of today.

"Junior Brother Hu, get some more blood jade leaves."

"Senior Brother Li, after today's events, we are both in the same boat. I'll tell you the truth: I've joined the Ascension Society."