"Rob? This price is already quite generous."
The City Lord of Stone Lake City refuted.
"So what if they have Wasted Spiritual Roots? Just toss them a fast-track demonic cultivation method, squeeze them for twenty years, and the value they produce is at least a thousand spirit stones. If you can't afford it, then don't buy it. Plenty of demonic sects want them."
Upon hearing this, the man in the black robe suddenly showed a fawning smile.
"Don't be hasty, City Lord. It's the first transaction, we should at least feel out the bottom price."
"How about this, five spirit stones for Wasted Spiritual Roots, forty spirit stones for Mixed Spiritual Roots. However many Stone Lake City has, I’ll take them all. How about it?"
The City Lord of Stone Lake hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
"Fine, but your Blood Reversal Sect must sell me one Reverse Blood Pill."
"That's easy. If the City Lord can afford it, I’ll bring it next time."
"Five thousand spirit stones."
"We’ll trade after the next Spiritual Root Appraisal."
The City Lord of Stone Lake was a peak-stage Qi Refining cultivator. If the city hadn’t only possessed a low-grade first-tier spiritual vein, he wouldn’t have been the one to hold this position. Qi Refining cultivators typically live to one hundred and fifty years.
He was already over ninety years old. If he waited until past a hundred to try for Foundation Establishment, his chances would be nearly zero.
To break through to the Foundation Establishment stage from Qi Refining, a Foundation Establishment Pill is required. The highest-tier pills sell for over ten thousand spirit stones and are nearly impossible to obtain for people like him.
The Reverse Blood Pill was also a type of Foundation Establishment Pill, though of lower grade and offering less help. At most, it added a twenty percent success rate. If one failed, the result would be death and soul dissipation.
Still, he wanted to give it one last try.
Of course, cultivators without a Foundation Pill could still attempt to break through on their own, but the number of successful cases was minimal. Over time, anyone with the means would find a pill to assist them.
After the deal was sealed, over a dozen Qi Refining cultivators from the City Lord’s Mansion acted at once and captured all candidates from today’s Spiritual Root Test who met the trade criteria.
...
The wheels rolled over uneven muddy ground, causing the prison carts to shake violently. When rolling over stones, they nearly overturned. The iron bars were so tightly spaced that only fingers could fit through.
In the background, there were the sounds of cicadas, frogs, and the chirping of insects and birds.
Wang Yu woke from unconsciousness. He vaguely remembered that after leaving the Wang clan, he was stopped at the city gate. A black shadow blew a breath at him and he passed out.
"This..."
Wang Wu? No, that couldn’t be right. The Spiritual Root Test hadn’t even finished. How could he possibly command a cultivator from the Spirit Vulture Sect?
Looking around, Wang Yu saw under the moonlight that several people beside him were those who had participated in the assessment earlier in the day. Wasted Spiritual Roots, Mixed Spiritual Roots, all of them were here.
There were ten prison carts in total, more than a hundred people imprisoned, all limp and powerless as if drugged.
The scenery outside was familiar. It was the very lake from which Stone Lake City got its name—Stone Lake
It was a favorite leisure spot for noble families in the city.
The carts were linked together by iron chains. At the very front was a black-robed man, driving the carts with a demon beast that had scale-like horns.
When they reached the lakeside, a special whistle sounded, three long and one short. In an instant, more than a dozen black-robed men leapt from beneath the water and surrounded the prison carts.
Some of the people who had also awakened, their voices trembled with fear.
"Who are you? This is the territory of the Spirit Vulture Sect. Kidnapping cultivators-in-training is against the law."
"Hahaha. Idiot."
"You’ve fallen into the hands of our Blood Reversal Sect and still dare mention the Spirit Vulture Sect. How foolish can you be."
Wang Yu’s heart stirred. As far as he knew, the Spirit Vulture Sect was located within the Taihu Spiritual Domain. This domain was rich in water systems and fertile lands, with mortals numbering in the tens of billions.
The entire Taihu Spiritual Domain belonged to the righteous path, governed by sects who structured territories around spiritual veins.
The demonic path resided in the adjacent region, known as the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain. Though the name sounded eerie, in reality it was also a land of mountains and rivers with vast fertile soil.
Beyond that, it was beyond what he could learn from reading books.
Just from its name, the Blood Reversal Sect was clearly a demonic sect. They had captured this entire group of people. What they intended to do with them, only the ghosts knew. It definitely was not to recruit them as disciples.
Two words came to mind. Not worthy.
Even demonic sects would not cultivate cultivators with Wasted Spiritual Roots. Wang Yu understood this point very clearly.
No one spoke further. After gathering, this group of black-robed demonic cultivators released their flying artifacts. Large black cloths expanded rapidly under spiritual power, lifting all the prison carriages into the air.
The sudden change startled many into screaming. Each person shrank into a corner like frightened rabbits, trembling in fear.
This was the Taihu Spiritual Domain, filled with righteous cultivators. Flying so brazenly in the sky was like a drop of black ink falling on a sheet of white paper.
Between the two domains lay numerous border checkpoints and treacherous zones, forming a barrier that was difficult even for many cultivators to cross. Flying directly like this, it would never succeed.
The Spirit Vulture Sect was located on the eastern edge of the Taihu Domain, right next to the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain. The closest border checkpoint was called Black Mountain Pass.
To the left was a dangerous zone known as Withered Leaf Marsh.
To the right was a monster-infested region called Black Mountain Demon Forest.
The cultivators stationed at Black Mountain Pass came from various righteous sects in the eastern Taihu region. The Spirit Vulture Sect was among the least noteworthy of them.
There were also first-rate forces such as Thunderfire Temple, Green Cloud Sect, and Moon Gazing Palace, three formidable sects each with Nascent Soul stage experts.
The border pass itself was permanently guarded by Core Formation cultivators.
However, what the prisoners witnessed next shocked them deeply. The black-robed leader of the Blood Reversal Sect was merely at the ninth layer of Qi Refining.
When they were stopped by a Foundation Establishment stage guard at Black Mountain Pass, he simply smiled and presented a token, then handed over a pouch of spirit stones. The stationed guards all acted as if they saw nothing.
They let them through! Just like that!
No matter how much the prisoners cried or screamed, no one responded. Wang Yu felt a heavy gloom in his heart, as if the wind blew cold over the River before death.
The past sixteen years had not been perfectly smooth, but there had been times of joy. Now being dragged into the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain, he had no idea what fate awaited. He could only pray they were not destined to become blood food reserves for some evil being.
Since leaving Black Mountain Pass and entering the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain completely, everyone fell silent. The mood was heavy, with nothing left to say.
The demonic cultivators escorting them would hand out three large flatbreads and a bag of water each day, ensuring they would not starve. For bodily needs, they were watched and forced to relieve themselves whenever the convoy stopped to recover spiritual energy.
They were not allowed to leave the guards’ line of sight. A few tried to escape halfway through the journey. Their legs were broken and they were thrown back into the prison carriages, never allowed to get out again.
They had to relieve themselves inside the carriages. Seeing this, Wang Yu had no choice but to abandon his own small thoughts of escape. And so they flew for a whole month.
The Blood Reversal Sect. They had arrived.
Wang Yu had never heard of this sect before, but just from the size of its mountain gate, his heart turned cold. Nine giant peaks twisted upward like old tree roots, winding and rising into the clouds.
Large open spaces separated each mountain. They were connected by plank roads, iron chains, and cloud bridges. Pavilions, waterside gazebos, towers, and palaces were scattered intricately across the distorted mountain peaks.
At the center of the nine peaks was a hollow area, where a massive apparatus-like formation floated in midair.