Chapter 420 - 401: The Guixi Sect Is Truly a Role Model for Our Demonic Path

Chapter 420: Chapter 401: The Guixi Sect Is Truly a Role Model for Our Demonic Path

As her words fell, someone among the new disciples finally succumbed to the terror masked by "glory" and the "Great Dao." His eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.

THUD. THUD.

One after another, they collapsed bonelessly to the ground. The beautiful dreams of cultivation and eternal life, the boundless yearning for the Guixi Sect’s "immortal heritage" that had just been ignited, were now utterly shattered by the bloody reality before them.

’What happened to the promised immortal fate? What happened to the Great Dao?! So... this so-called opportunity is just becoming a bone sword in someone else’s hands?!’

’Is this a fucking place for humans? Sparring between fellow disciples looks friendly on the surface, but when they really fight, it’s like mortal enemies meeting. And after the fight, under the guise of "treatment," you get traded like a package of materials! I regret this... I want to leave the mountain right now! The Wind Sword Sect might be small, but at least... at least the senior brothers there don’t use their junior brothers’ heads as Magical Artifacts!’

’This is horrifying... The Guixi Sect is a den of demonic heretics!’

However, Su Ling’er didn’t give them much time to wallow in their fear.

Looking at the fragile new disciples who had fainted on the ground, she decided to strike while the iron was hot and add fuel to the fire. She would make them completely recognize their own inadequacy on their already hopeless path of cultivation!

"What are you standing around for?" she commanded the few new disciples still trembling beside her. "Carry them."

"Ah?" one of the new disciples asked instinctively, his voice trembling. "Fai... Fairy, shouldn’t we wait for them to wake up? Also... where are we going now?"

"Wait for them to wake up?" Su Ling’er barked. "The path of cultivation is fraught with danger! Life and death are decided in an instant! If they can’t even handle a scene like this, what difference is there between them and a corpse?"

"Do you think cultivation is a dinner party? A child’s game?! Let me tell you, if you were the ones who collapsed today, no one would be carrying you! You don’t even have this much mental fortitude, yet you dream of defying heaven, changing your fate, and seeking eternal life? What a joke!"

’That’s right! I have to make them understand just how cruel this path is!’

’How treacherous is the Cultivation Realm? The major sects have long since divided up all the talented disciples. How many with good potential could possibly be left wandering around, only to be snatched up by the Guixi Sect’s senior brothers? Most of them are just dreamers with no hope of ever reaching Foundation Establishment in this life.’

’If it weren’t for Eldest Senior Brother’s protection and my own firm Dao heart, I... I would have been reduced to a pile of bones long ago. But what about them? Who can they possibly rely on?’

’Instead of letting them cling to such a vain and illusory dream of cultivation, only to die a miserable death in this demonic den and become materials in someone else’s hands... it’s better for me to be the one to personally shatter their dreams!’

’Wouldn’t it be better than anything to return to the mortal world, marry, have children, and live out their lives in peace?’

At this thought, and also to test the true extent of their devotion to the Dao, Su Ling’er’s gaze grew even more determined.

She looked at the hesitating new disciples and urged, "What are you still standing around for? Do you want to leave them here to become fertilizer for some other senior brother’s flowers? Pick them up and keep close!"

In the end, she decided to go to a place that could truly test a person’s heart—the Asking Dao Ladder.

’Physical gore might only frighten them for a moment. True despair comes from making them witness the fragility of their own Dao hearts with their own eyes!’

’The Asking Dao Ladder forces you to face your Heart Demon; it is exceedingly dangerous! Ordinary people can’t climb it, and those with weak wills might have a Heart Demon invade their bodies on the spot, only returning to normal after some time!’

’Even if the Asking Dao Ladder might offer them some benefits, most people, when forced to face their Heart Demon and see they cannot climb any higher, will surely recognize their own mortality under its magnificent heavenly might and choose to retreat in the face of such difficulty!’

’I’ll use the Cultivation Realm’s cruelest lesson—the theory of innate talent—to wake them up!’

On the way to the Asking Dao Ladder, they passed the Artifact Refining Pavilion.

This time, the Forging Platforms outside the pavilion were no longer deserted.

The incessant sound of CLANGING and BANGING filled the air as a muscular, shirtless artifact refining disciple, drenched in sweat, hammered away at a magnificent medicinal cauldron.

The owner of the cauldron, an alchemy disciple from the Artifact Refining Pavilion, was pacing anxiously to the side.

"Senior Brother, how’s it going? Is the upgrade for my Hundred Herbs Spirit Fusion Cauldron going smoothly?"

The artifact refining disciple stopped hammering, wiped away his sweat, and said, "Almost done! Just the final quenching step left! However... the material of your cauldron is a bit special. I added some ’Deep Sea Cold Iron’ to increase its toughness, but... there was a small accident."

To make it easier to secure the cauldron for engraving and hammering, this artifact refining disciple had a habit of sticking one of his legs into the gap between the black iron support struts under the Forging Platform, using it for balance and to fix his angle.

This was a perfectly normal work habit.

But just a moment ago, when he channeled the earth-fire furnace to quench the cauldron, the temperature of the entire Forging Platform shot up, and the black iron struts warped slightly under the intense heat.

When he tried to pull his leg out, his expression changed.

"Hiss... My leg... seems to be a little stuck."

His brawny calf was wedged squarely between two intersecting black iron beams beneath the Forging Platform.

Because it had been stuck for a while, combined with the searing heat, his calf had already become engorged and swollen, trapping it firmly in the gap. He couldn’t move it forward or backward.

The other disciple hurried over to take a look. After a moment of thought, he suggested, "How about... we just cut it off?"

He meant they should first cut off the cauldron leg trapping the man’s limb to get him out. The cauldron could be repaired later; at worst, he’d just pay less for the job! He was fine with that!

However, to the ears of the artifact refining disciple, those words took on a completely different meaning.

"Cut it off?" He looked down at his own leg, then back at the alchemy disciple, asking in a tone of confirmation, "Senior Brother, you mean... cut off my leg?"

The alchemy disciple was stunned. "Huh? No! That’s not what I meant! I meant cut the—"

Before he could finish, the artifact refining disciple was already flashing a gratified, "I understand" smile.

’Holy crap! He’s creating a revenue stream for me!’

The artifact refining disciple acted decisively. He grabbed a cutting-type Magical Artifact and, with a single CHOP, brought it down on his own trapped thigh!

SPLURT—! Blood flew everywhere!

"Agh! My... leg!" he shrieked, then looked at the alchemy disciple and said, "Isn’t it just... because I didn’t upgrade your cauldron properly?! Did it have... to come to this?! To the point... that you’d have me... sever a leg to atone?!"

"Sen... Senior Brother... your... your request... I... I’ve done it... I did what you said... I cut off my leg... This leg of mine... is ruined... But the cauldron... I... I saved it for you..."

"This leg of mine... along with my life, you can consider it bought and paid for! Remember, the Spirit Stones... send them to me!"

"I... I even... recorded it... you... you forced me to cut off my leg... the evidence is ironclad... no cheating... the young or the old... you... you better not even think... of skipping... out on the bill..."

With that, he actually activated his Qi Sea and severed his own heart-veins on the spot, collapsing limply to the ground.

The alchemy disciple: "..."

’Seriously... you’re that decisive? Wasn’t that a little too fast?! Is this some kind of forced transaction?! You’re the one who misunderstood, okay! Holy hell! The sacrificial-play style has produced another genius! Has it evolved into a proactive revenue-generation model?!’

And Su Ling’er, who was just passing by with the three hundred-plus people behind her, happened to witness this entire tragic scene.

Su Ling’er sighed in her heart.

’As expected! A demonic sect is a demonic sect! Just because he failed to repair a cauldron, they drove him to such humiliation that he cut off his own leg and killed himself! So cruel! So evil!’

The hearts of the new disciples skipped a beat, nearly stopping on the spot.

’An... Another one dead?!’

The light in their eyes dimmed.

If they could barely rationalize the bloody scene at the sparring grounds as a slip-up during a match, then this scene—being forced to sever a leg and ultimately driven to suicide by humiliation just because of a failed cauldron repair—shattered every last one of their beautiful fantasies about the Guixi Sect.

’Immortal fate... is this the immortal fate we’ve been desperately seeking? The place we yearned for... is one that treats human life as if it were worthless grass? Just because of such a trivial matter... a living, breathing person is gone...’

’What happened at the sparring grounds really wasn’t an isolated incident! In this sect, people really do... die for any reason! Will we... be next?’

The spies from the righteous path were now certain: this Guixi Sect was a demonic den through and through!

’Forcing someone to their death over something as trivial as a failed cauldron repair! The perversity of the sect’s culture, the cruelty of their methods—this is the purest form of the demonic path in action!’

’And that so-called Eldest Senior Brother... to not only survive but also cultivate to the Nascent Soul realm in such a treacherous environment where disciples slaughtering each other is commonplace... his power and his disposition are simply unfathomable! The waters of this demonic sect run too deep!’

The spies from the demonic path, however, wore looks of approval.

’To capitalize on a single "mistake" in someone’s words and drive them to their death... this is how a demonic sect should be! This is what we of the demonic path ought to be like!’

’Sigh, my own sect has too many rules! If you want to kill a fellow disciple, you still have to find a clumsy excuse like a "sparring match" or a "mission conflict." It’s nothing like this place—so direct, so pure!’

’I want to be like this too! In the future, if some blind junior brother dares to talk back to me or doesn’t get out of my way, I’ll find an excuse on the spot—say he had a "disrespectful gaze that tainted my Dao heart"—and then I can kill him justifiably, drain his vital essence, and refine his bones? How awesome would that be!’

’The Guixi Sect is truly a model for our generation of the demonic path!’

Su Ling’er didn’t linger. She led the group of terrified, shell-shocked disciples onward.

Finally, they passed through a sea of clouds and arrived at the summit of a mountain peak.

A ladder that reached to the heavens appeared before them all.

This was the Asking Dao Ladder!