"Sect Master! We now have roughly one hundred and twenty followers under our command! Looking at the surrounding area, the evil cultivators who hadn't yet been dealt with have already scattered and fled!"
"Our divine sect is now flourishing. Unifying this territory is only a matter of time."
It was still the same evil cultivator hideout, the same room as before.
Only the skull throne had been ordered buried, and in its place sat an utterly ordinary chair.
Wen Zuo slightly cupped his hands, looking at Li Xingtian, who was still frowning at a map while sitting in the plain chair, and offered his congratulations.
"At this rate of progress, our mission will soon be within reach."
Li Xingtian looked up.
"Those evil cultivators were simply unprepared. We caught them off guard. Now they've scattered into hiding, and finding them is harder than destroying them."
"Save the congratulations for when the job is done. Have the spoils from the evil cultivator strongholds we wiped out been sorted out clearly?"
Wen Zuo nodded gently. "It has all been handled according to the Sect Master's instructions. Spirit stones and sellable weapons and pills have all been reclaimed."
"Only items those evil cultivators could use were distributed to our followers."
Li Xingtian nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this.
Even a mosquito's leg was still meat, and besides, giving proper spirit stones to that bunch of evil cultivators to spend would be an absolute waste.
Better to keep them to pay his Master's room and board.
"Do those followers have any complaints about this?" A barely perceptible cold glint flashed through Li Xingtian's eyes.
Yu Jing answered this question. "Naturally not. Those who did have complaints never got the chance to join us in the first place."
Li Xingtian nodded with what seemed like slight regret.
"Have you scouted out the next evil cultivator stronghold?"
"We have. However, the larger evil cultivator gangs are hiding the most cautiously and are the hardest to find. Only one group with a Golden Core cultivator as their strongest has somewhat exposed themselves."
Yu Jing spoke up to answer, simultaneously pointing at the map and using spiritual energy to circle the location of that evil cultivator group.
Li Xingtian's gaze followed. "Small gains add up. Having something to do is better than waiting idly."
"We'll open operations against this group later today."
"Also, don't let that batch we've been recently training sit idle. Let them get some hands-on experience today. Over a hundred cultivators is too many—they're expensive to maintain."
Yu Jing quickly responded, "As you command, Sect Master."
Over this period of time, the two of them had come to understand this Sect Master's style of action—swift and decisive.
If he said you'd be eliminated today, he wouldn't wait until tomorrow.
Every day was spent finding targets, and every day was spent eliminating targets.
But this Sect Master's style was also extremely distinctive—when it came to evil cultivators, he truly brought down the hammer, the physical kind.
When it came to ordinary mortals who had been abducted by evil cultivators, the Sect Master showed considerably more patience.
After verifying they had no issues, he would have them escorted to the rear for Tai Dao Sect to handle.
If you ignored the color of his spiritual energy, Li Xingtian's conduct could genuinely be described as—a righteous leader.
No wonder this person had been directly assigned to such an important location.
One could only say—evil cultivators aren't necessarily incapable of producing heroes!
——————
Inside a concealed mountain cave.
The graceful woman who had been in the meeting at the dilapidated house swept her gaze across the cave.
Over a dozen evil cultivators stood in place, their eyes vacant and glassy.
Even the Golden Core evil cultivator sitting in the main seat wore a terrifying smile, his posture twisted in an eerie manner.
The woman's gaze shifted back to the young girl kneeling before her.
The girl's face was smudged with dust, yet it couldn't hide her lively, endearing eyes and beautiful features.
Her clothes were torn in all the right places—what should be covered was covered, and what could be revealed was revealed cleanly.
The woman glanced over the young girl's pitiful, heart-tugging face and asked softly:
"Do you remember clearly what the person looks like?"
The girl's voice was gentle yet timid. "I remember, Master."
The woman nodded lightly. "Go wait in the cell. The mission target is already gathering forces and preparing to head this way."
"Remember your task—use whatever methods you have at your disposal."
Blood Qi evil cultivators were notorious even among evil cultivators.
Most of those who cultivated Blood Qi probably had their brain circuits clogged by the very same Blood Qi.
In the eyes of that bunch of Blood Qi evil cultivators, most situations boiled down to—kill them! I want to refine them!
But there was also one area where even clogged brain circuits didn't stop the blood from flowing.
Though somewhat crude and despicable, the more despicable the method, the more effective it often was.
Blood Qi evil cultivators had abundant qi and blood, which naturally meant they had more desires than ordinary cultivators.
One could call it treating the illness with the right medicine.
Compared to so many convoluted schemes that would still require earning Li Xingtian's approval to enter the management ranks, nothing worked better than the ear beside the pillow and the whispers in the night.
Once someone had a person they couldn't bear to lose, they'd naturally be willing to bow their head.
At the very least, it provided a means for negotiation, or at minimum, a way to uncover Li Xingtian's background.
As for the Central Plains Evil Spirit Sect banner that Li Xingtian was operating under, the woman had naturally investigated it thoroughly and discovered it was merely a borrowed name.
After all, the woman had her own people inside the Evil Spirit Sect as well.
Unfortunately, after observing for quite some time, she had only found that this evil cultivator seemed to only know how to find people and kill people.
Otherwise, she could have arranged more suitable measures.
This approach, after all, seemed somewhat abrupt.
But at this point, there was no room to be picky. Test the waters first and go from there.
"Yes, your subordinate will certainly complete the mission."
After responding, the young girl slowly rose to her feet, verified the magic crystal embedded in her arm, and then walked toward the depths of the cave.
As the girl departed, the woman also headed toward the cave's exit.
Before leaving, she lightly snapped her fingers.
The evil cultivators in the cave seemed to awaken from a deep dream, feeling something was strange, but quickly began calling out to each other again.
The Golden Core evil cultivator sitting in the main seat felt his heart racing inexplicably, as though he had somehow walked through the gates of death for no apparent reason.
He swept his gaze over the followers below, taking deep breaths to calm the inexplicable palpitations in his heart.
Only... as a Golden Core cultivator, this shouldn't have...
Before the Golden Core evil cultivator could make sense of it, a loud shout infused with spiritual energy came from outside the entrance:
"The Central Plains Evil Spirit Sect comes to take in believers! Those who don't believe shall die!"
The Golden Core evil cultivator's eyes widened.
Li Xingtian's reputation had been soaring lately, and he naturally recognized the phrase that struck terror into the hearts of all evil cultivators.
Sure enough—how could he, a dignified Golden Core realm cultivator, experience heart palpitations for no reason?
It was clearly his Golden Core path warning him that something was wrong, sending palpitations as an omen.
How did this bunch of killers find their way to his lair?!
The Golden Core evil cultivator's mind raced, weighing whether his chances of survival were higher if he ran, or if he instantly dropped to his knees in surrender.
Before he could deliberate for long, an overwhelmingly terrifying Blood Qi surged into the cave from outside at breakneck speed.
The Golden Core evil cultivator's eyes went wide as he instantly read the situation.
His legs gave out as he shouted loudly:
"I... I believe..."
BOOM!
A sudden crimson fist was extremely eye-catching, drowning out the sound the Golden Core evil cultivator had made, and conveniently smashing his skull to pieces with a single punch.
Li Xingtian's figure suddenly appeared within the main hall, his crimson gaze sweeping across the remaining evil cultivators who hadn't yet processed the situation, and he issued his command:
"Kill a batch first."
Li Xingtian wasn't genuinely trying to build a massive evil cultivator army. It was just a mission.
Keeping a Golden Core cultivator alive would always be a hidden threat if brought back.
He only needed ordinary, easily controllable evil cultivators to bolster the appearance of strength.
It was just that... even among evil cultivators, cultivating such a worthless Golden Core was truly a disgrace to the Golden Core itself.
The Senior Sister at Foundation Establishment could probably have slain this person.
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