Using Girls To Lure In Sect Applicant (Xianxia) - Chapter 16: Facing the wall, but not reflecting on one's mistakes

Verdant Mountain Sect’s Main Hall was opulent, in stark contrast to Divine Vision Sect’s dilapidated and desolate buildings.

The elaborate carvings on the pillars that supported the hall were enough to stun many visitors. This magnificent hall was befitting of a cultivator sect, and the Sect who are more powerful than the Verdant Mountain Sect had Main Halls even more awe-inspiring than this.

Lin Qingxue had been stunned the first time she entered the hall, but after becoming a frequent visitor to it, she grew used to it.

Upon arriving, she removed the ribbon holding up her hair, then slowly knelt before the altar, facing the wall to reflect upon her mistakes.

The altar, formally known as the Ancestral Worship Altar, was a platform piled high with statues of deities and gods. These statues were arranged in layers, with three hundred and sixty-five in total—each meticulously sculpted by master craftsmen, lifelike in both appearance and posture.

There were statues of furious-looking generals, as well as those of amiable-looking deities of fortune. From the creators of the world, the Three Purities, to the underworld deities, all existed within this altar.

These deities were believed to be the ultimate goal of cultivation; if one could not achieve immortal ascension, then one could not progress beyond the rank of cultivator.

Those truly powerful beings strove for breakthroughs after the Great Ascension Stage, seeking to ascend to deityhood.

Of course, the common folk also made offerings to these deities, praying for divine intervention. For example, a good harvest was often prayed for.

In the same way that every home had an altar, it was commonplace for them to have a statue of a deity. However, unlike the altars in the Main Halls of the Verdant Mountain sect, which contained statues of all the deities, these altars usually only held a statue of the Kitchen God.

No one knew if praying to these deities would yield any results, but people figured it couldn’t hurt to pay their respects. After all, cultivators claimed deities existed, so naturally, commoners wanted to plead for help from these omnipotent beings.

What if… What if their prayers were heard and the deities lent them a helping hand?

Lin Qingxue gazed at the statues of the deities on the wall and murmured, “This humble woman only wishes to right wrongs and uphold justice. May these deities lend me their strength. I do not ask for more.”

She cultivated not for the purpose of achieving immortal ascension, but solely to acquire enough strength to right wrongs and uphold justice. Lin Qingxue silently closed her eyes, intending to practice cultivation while she was at it. Though she couldn’t meditate, circulating her spiritual energy would still be beneficial; she could also take the opportunity to review the finer points of her techniques.

Yet as soon as she closed her eyes, Zhi Shi’s delicate features appeared unbidden in her mind.

That beautiful yet icy expression was carved deeply into her heart, impossible to forget. Lin Qingxue considered her a demoness, and one even more dangerous than Yu Lan.

Moreover, she was so powerful, so powerful that Lin Qingxue hadn’t even thought to resist her.

She was stronger than her Senior Brother, at least; when she looked at him, she didn’t feel this kind of helplessness.

As Lin Qingxue considered this, her face flushed, her body feeling slightly warm. “Strange…?” She only thought that Zhi Shi was incredibly strong, so why did her heart suddenly begin to race?

If she could be as strong as Zhi Shi, then none of those wicked scoundrels would be able to escape retribution, and perhaps she wouldn’t have experienced such a painful past.

In her travels throughout the martial world, she had already encountered more than one tragedy that she was powerless to stop.

“Wait, am I losing my mind?” Feeling that something was not quite right, she opened her eyes wide, startled.

Upon opening her eyes and seeing the statues of the deities plastered all over the walls, she felt a chill run down her spine.

“This disciple Lin Qingxue has no intention of disrespecting the divine! Please forgive me!” Realizing that her thoughts were highly impertinent, she hastily lowered her voice in a prayer.

Just now, she had found these statues frightening? How could she be so disrespectful toward these deities?

Lin Qingxue closed her eyes, settling her mind until she gradually returned to her cultivation state. She couldn’t afford to think about any more nonsense—if she continued down this path, she really might trigger a qi deviation.

Wan Ruicai sat upon a rattan chair, his expression sinister, the complete opposite of his demeanor in front of Lin Qingxue. His white robes were stained with specks of blood, lending him an even more terrifying appearance.

“That woman is still alive! She’s actually still alive?!” Wan Ruicai’s tone brimmed with murderous intent, as if he wished to hack someone to pieces.

If Yu Lan were to stand before him, she would immediately recognize Wan Ruicai as the white-robed young master who had captured her and thrown her into the blood pool.

Wan Ruicai’s innate cultivation talent was mediocre, so he could not break through to the Core Formation stage in his forties.

Even if he had enough resources, he would still need to be over sixty years old to make it through the Core Formation stage.

But Wan Ruicai didn’t want to cultivate at such a slow pace. If he were only able to reach the Core Formation Stage in his sixties, how old would he have to be to reach the Nascent Soul Stage? And how old would he have to be to reach the Divine Transformation Stage?

And so, he turned to a method of cultivation used by a few cultivators in secret: the Blood Essence Pill.

Every person contained within them spiritual energy drawn from the heavens and earth. If the rate at which one absorbed this energy through meditation and cultivation was too slow, then extracting it directly from other people’s bodies would significantly speed up the process.

Much like other medicinal pills, the Blood Essence Pill required a refining process, but that did not hinder its simultaneous use with other regularly refined cultivation pills.

By taking two types of pills at once, Wan Ruicai could cultivate at twice the speed of others.

The sensation of his cultivation escalating so rapidly initially intoxicated Wan Ruicai.

However, the side effects of the Blood Essence Pill soon manifested. Wan Ruicai began to crave blood, to desire to consume the flesh of others.

Fortunately, he had seized from others the means to remedy this ailment.

The method was simple: through a blood pool and spell formation, the so-called Bloodthirst Syndrome could be transferred onto another person.

The sacrificed person had to have a Pure Yin Body and a virgin, and Yu Lan met these requirements. Thus, she became the sacrifice.

If the person had been a cultivator, Wan Ruicai might have been wary, but all Yu Lan was a normal person, so capturing her posed no difficulty.

At first, he had thought that after the Bloodthirst Syndrome was transferred, Yu Lan would drown in the blood pool, so he paid her no heed.

He never would have imagined that Yu Lan would struggle free of the chains and break through the walls of the underground prison.

Wan Ruicai grabbed a cup, downing its contents of blood without hesitation. He was indeed no longer afflicted with bloodthirst, but this action had become habitual for him. “She must be killed; if she exposes us, our reputations will be ruined beyond repair.”

A peculiar intuition told him that Yu Lan wouldn’t implicate him, so he still had a chance.

“You have two days to come with me to Divine Vision Sect; we must find her,” Wan Ruicai said grimly to the group of Verdant Mountain Sect disciples before him.

Wan Ruicai wasn’t the only one who succumbed to the temptation of the Blood Essence Pill.