Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

He saw that Su Ling’er had finally regained some color and nodded in satisfaction, that inscrutable smile appearing on his face once more.

"Junior Sister, how do you feel?"

"I... Senior Brother, I..."

Su Ling’er was at a loss for words.

But Lin Qingfeng didn’t wait for her to finish and continued on his own.

"Very good, little Junior Sister. You must remember, for us Cultivators, our mortal body is the raft that carries us across the world, the foundation that bears the Great Dao.

If the foundation is unstable, how can one even speak of Cultivation?

I had you rest well today so that your raft could be repaired, to consolidate your foundation and nurture your essence. Because..."

He clasped his hands behind his back, turned, and tilted his head to gaze at the moonlight from a perfect angle, adopting the air of a transcendent master.

"Your great opportunity is about to arrive."

Su Ling’er’s heart tightened. "Opportunity?"

Lin Qingfeng then turned his head to look at her, his expression a mixture of three parts coldness, three parts mockery, and four parts indifference.

"You will know when the time comes. So, little Junior Sister, what you need to do now is to seize this time to rest well. Bring your essence, qi, and spirit to their absolute peak."

"Oh, right!"

Lin Qingfeng suddenly thought of something.

’Red-named mobs can appear randomly anywhere in the sect.’

’After all, even though Junior Sister is at the peak of Qi Refining, he wasn’t sure which skills she had recently drawn from the Skill Transmission Elder, whether she had any long-range attacks, or how accurate they were.’

’It would be better to give her a long-range homing technique.’

"Junior Sister, your brother will grant you another opportunity."

He took a faint blue jade slip from his sleeve.

"This technique is called the Thousand Threads Seeking Karma Spell. It is one of the Thousand Threads series of techniques I created myself."

"Its profoundness lies in its ability to automatically lock onto living targets at a distance, without you needing to expend any mental energy!"

"With your Cultivation at the peak of the Qi Refining realm, its lethality should be considerable when facing a small number of enemies.

Against larger numbers, the damage will be more dispersed."

Su Ling’er was shocked to her core.

’No need to lock on,’

’automatic enemy-seeking?’

’But it sounds... very convenient to use.’

"Your foundation is still shallow. I’m afraid you would find it difficult to comprehend on your own."

"Relax your mind. Your brother will help you achieve initial mastery!"

Before she could react, Lin Qingfeng tapped the jade slip directly onto his little junior sister’s head.

Instantly, a flash of dark light shone.

A massive stream of information instantly poured into Su Ling’er’s sea of consciousness!

She felt a sharp pain in her head, and a complete and profound technique had already appeared in her mind.

’It’s just...’

’Senior Brother, is there something wrong with your initiation method?!’

’Do you perform an initiation by tapping someone on the head with a jade slip?!’

Senior Brother looked at Su Ling’er.

"There."

"You just need to remember to release the projectile in the general direction of potential enemies.

The Great Dao will take care of the rest."

"And you... can prepare to start making continuous contributions to the sect after midnight!"

"Of course, perhaps you’ll even get to experience fighting a Core Formation Cultivator as a Qi Refining-er alongside your brother."

The trace of confusion and emotion on Su Ling’er’s face instantly froze.

’Is this the so-called "opportunity" after midnight?’

’So that’s it, so that’s how it is!’

’Which righteous Core Formation Cultivator have you targeted for a fight?’

’A Qi Refining cultivator fighting a Core Formation cultivator?’

’Are you trying to send me to my death as cannon fodder?’

’I can’t even be sure I could beat someone at Foundation Establishment, and you want me to fight a Core Formation Cultivator?’

’You’ve got to be kidding me, right?’

’Wait...’

’Thousand Threads Seeking Karma Spell...’

’Could it be that when you’re fighting the Core Formation Cultivator, you want me to fire at them from eight hundred li away? Is that what you mean by "a Qi Refining cultivator fighting a Core Formation cultivator"?’

’That seems...’

’No, no, no!’

’That still sounds incredibly dangerous!’

’And why should I join you in ambushing righteous cultivators!’

’And what’s this about being concerned?’

’What goodwill?’

’What "raft of Dao" and "foundation"?!’

’Those three pills weren’t medicine, they were Fattening Medicine for fattening up livestock before the slaughter!’

’And giving me some profound technique was just so I would join you in treating the lives of righteous Cultivators like grass!’

’This wasn’t a kind gift or a life-saving medicine at all! It’s just fodder to make the livestock work the grindstone better!’

’He wasn’t worried about my body breaking down at all! He was just worried that this head of livestock wouldn’t be in good condition, which would delay my contributions to the sect!’

’He healed me and fed me pills just so I would have a more vigorous spirit and a stronger body to slave away for him and this demonic sect!’

’No!’

’No! No! No!’

Su Ling’er refuted her own thoughts once again.

’There seemed to be a flaw in her previous line of thinking, because all the tasks this sect undertook were constantly being undone and reset by some invisible hand.’

’In fact, the sect never seemed to gain any tangible benefits from these tasks.’

’And now he’s even given me a profound technique!’

’Could it be...’

’Yes, that must be it!’

’This is a way to further tighten his mental control over me!’

’Using endless, repetitive labor, using a carrot-and-stick approach to tame me, he wants me to obey this devil more quickly and willingly!’

’And he wants me to personally use this so-called Thousand Threads Seeking Karma Spell to commit evil alongside them, to slaughter the righteous!’

’This is ten thousand times more vicious than just killing me outright!’

’He’s not just killing the body; he’s attacking the heart!’

’He’s not satisfied with just killing, he has to crush my spirit too!’

’Give me back that shred of gratitude I just felt!’

But Su Ling’er had no choice but to force a smile.

"Senior Brother... this junior sister understands."

"It’s good that you understand."

Lin Qingfeng patted her shoulder, gratified.

"As expected of the future of the sect I’m most optimistic about. Your comprehension is excellent.

Alright, you continue resting. I’ll be going.

At midnight, remember to start work on time."

...

With that, he turned and left.

His black robes cut a dashing arc through the night before disappearing from sight.

Leaving Su Ling’er standing there, stunned.

She looked up in the direction Lin Qingfeng had left and silently made a new gesture she had learned from the other disciples in the sect.

A gesture that would absolutely never be taught at Qingxu Temple.

’Lin Qingfeng!’

’You devil who devours people without even spitting out the bones!’

’You bastard who works his junior sister like a donkey!’

’You demonic fiend who only wants to enslave others and make them treat human lives like grass alongside you!’

’I curse you to suffer cultivation deviation!’

’I curse your Alchemy Furnace to explode into the wind!’

’I curse you to be chased by dogs when you go down the mountain and struck by lightning when you climb a tree!’

’And you want me to work like a maniac to contribute to the sect?’

’Contribute my ass! AAAAAH!!!’

...

Inside the thatched hut, Su Ling’er lay on a pile of straw, thinking of a way to escape.

The warm current from the medicinal pills still flowed through her limbs and bones, repairing the hidden injuries she had sustained.

Her body felt better than ever, but the fire of anger in her heart burned hotter and hotter.

She looked at her fair palms, and two words spun endlessly in her mind:

Fattening Medicine!

’That bastard Lin Qingfeng, that skinflint!’

’Does he think giving me three pills means he can work me like a donkey?!’

’Fine! You want me to work? I’ll show you work!’

’Not only will I work, I’ll work with such a fiery passion that even the few people still active in the middle of the night will come to watch this beast of burden toil away!’

’By then, their eyes will all be on me. Who will notice a few inconspicuous insects crawling out of a corner?’

’Yes, just like that!’

’Besides, from her observations, the disciples who were still active in the middle of the night mostly had extremely vacant eyes. Some went out, but not many.’

’I just need to attract the attention of the few senior brothers and sisters who are still conscious and out and about!’

’The only slight drawback was that the little insects could not be controlled by her personally. They could only awaken and act according to a preset time and route.’

’When the appointed time comes, they will awaken on their own and flee the sect following the preset plan and route.’

’Meanwhile, I’ll be outside, drawing everyone’s attention.’

’This will also clear me of suspicion as an undercover agent to the greatest extent possible.’

’Probably.’

Su Ling’er hesitated no longer. With a thought, a Gu-vessel appeared in her palm.

Without the slightest hesitation, she once again forced out a drop of bright red essence blood.

A Contracted Spirit Insect emerged, wings beating, and established a faint, tenuous connection with her.

She closed her eyes, sensed the insect’s location, and then sent it to the edge of the wilderness to burrow into the soil and lie in wait.

She forced out her essence blood again.

The second, the third, the fourth, the fifth...

The eighteenth...

The twentieth...

Afterward, she immediately sat cross-legged with her palms and feet facing the heavens, and began to circulate the True Understanding of Ten Thousand Transformations Returning to the Origin to recover her recent losses, before continuing to feed the remaining insects.

This time, she went all in, betting the remaining hundred-plus flying insects!

Over a hundred flying insects now waited in various corners at the edge of the wilderness, awaiting the moment of their awakening.

And that time would be after midnight tonight!

’Out of more than a hundred, one of them has to be able to escape, right?’

After doing all this, Su Ling’er’s cheeks once again grew somewhat pale.

She hurriedly circulated the True Understanding of Ten Thousand Transformations Returning to the Origin again to recover her strength, while also beginning to study the new technique she had received, the Thousand Threads Seeking Karma Spell.

...

「Much later, the night had deepened.」

It should have been a time of profound silence.

But a steady "KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK" sounded punctually at the door.

Su Ling’er opened her eyes, her gaze perfectly clear.

She stood up, brushed the straw from her red clothes, and opened the door.

Outside, a figure in black stood before her.

It was Senior Brother.

"Junior Sister, the time has come."