Starting with the creation of the Immortal Clan through the compilation of the family genealogy.

Chapter 46 The Secret of the Yin Sha Sect

Midnight has passed. Dawn is breaking.

Meng Xihong temporarily placed Zhao Tieshan in a secluded spot in the mountain god temple, set up a simple warning array, and left behind several bottles of his own healing medicine and water. Only then did he carry the still unconscious Yin Sha Sect prisoner back to his home in Yunni Township, stepping through the morning dew.

Inside the quiet room, Meng Xihong's face was ashen, his fingertips unconsciously tapping the table, producing a rhythmic sound that was particularly clear in the silence.

"Yin Sha Sect"

He uttered those three words in a low voice, his eyes showing no wavering, but rather a cold, sharp glint.

"The path of cultivation is like rowing against the current; if you don't advance, you retreat. If you take a step back today, you'll have nowhere to stand tomorrow," he muttered to himself.

A memory flashed through my mind: three years ago in Wufeng County, the Meng family was bullied by Lin Lang and forced to abandon their ancestral home and hastily relocate. At that time, they had no choice but to endure it.

Now that he is the head of the clan and the clan is taking shape, he must not allow the clan to repeat the mistakes of the past and be bullied by others.

Any potential threat must be thoroughly investigated and plans made in advance.

His gaze then fell on the storage bag that had been taken from the Yin Sha Sect disciple.

With a flick of his fingertips, he exhaled spiritual energy, easily erasing the original owner's remaining spiritual imprint and emptying out all the items inside.

With a clanging sound, several ordinary low-grade magic artifacts, dozens of low-grade spirit stones, several bottles and jars, a tattered jade slip recording the first three levels of the "Yin Sha Technique"... Finally, a jade slip gleaming with a deep black light caught his attention.

The Netherworld Soul Extraction Technique

"This is..." Meng Xihong probed with his spiritual sense, his heart skipping a beat, "It's actually the Soul Searching Technique!"

The jade slip contained the soul-searching method commonly used by evil sects.

This method is domineering and cruel, and violates the laws of nature, but it can forcibly seize spiritual consciousness and memories, making it the most direct and effective way to obtain information.

A hint of doubt flashed in Meng Xihong's eyes: "Since they have mastered this technique, why doesn't the Yin Sha Sect just use it on Zhao Tieshan directly? Wouldn't that be more convenient?"

He pondered for a moment, then made his decision. Evil cultivators are cunning and their words are hard to discern as truth or falsehood. Rather than believing their confessions, he would rather personally use this soul-searching technique to verify their authenticity.

Moreover, using the techniques of this person's sect to fight back is precisely using their own methods against them, which is perfectly appropriate.

For the next three days, Meng Xihong stayed indoors, devoting himself entirely to studying the key points of the "Netherworld Soul Extraction Technique" recorded in the jade slip.

Only after he was certain that he had mastered the basic techniques did he get up and head towards the hidden underground chamber in the backyard.

Inside the secret room, when the Yin Sha Sect disciple saw Meng Xihong enter, a strong sense of panic welled up in his eyes, and he spoke rapidly.

"Fellow Daoist, spare my life! I am merely an inner disciple, acting under orders! I have elderly parents to care for, young children to raise, and a litter of newly born demon beasts to feed. Whatever you wish to know, I will answer without reservation... Give me a chance!" He stared intently at Meng Xihong's hand, fearing that the familiar blue-green stone brick would reappear.

Meng Xihong remained expressionless, his voice cold and clear: "If your sect acts with integrity, why would you need to use soul-searching techniques to verify authenticity?"

Having chosen this evil path of harming others for personal gain, one should be prepared to suffer the consequences of such evil deeds.

Without saying another word, he formed hand seals, circulated his spiritual power according to the method recorded on the jade slip, and with a flash of dark light in his eyes, pointed a finger at the other person's brow.

"Uh ah ah!"

The disciple immediately let out a bloodcurdling scream that was not human, and his whole body convulsed violently, as if countless invisible hands were tearing at his soul.

Meng Xihong felt a burning sensation at his fingertips, and a flood of chaotic memory fragments poured into his mind like a burst dam.
Scattered and distorted images flashed by one after another.

In the darkness of the night, the village burned fiercely, and the terrified villagers were entangled by wisps of black energy, which instantly drained their life essence.

Several young cultivators were imprisoned in a damp dungeon, watching in despair as their cultivation was slowly drained away by the evil array.

Deep in the desolate mountains, the entrance to a dark cave is heavily guarded, and chilling screams occasionally echo from within...

Meng Xihong abruptly withdrew his finger, severing the connection, his brows furrowing slightly. The victim lay limp on the ground, still convulsing unconsciously, foaming at the corners of his mouth, his eyes unfocused. Clearly, his soul had been severely damaged; even if he survived, he would most likely be mentally impaired.

"I see..." He understood.

This soul-searching technique is powerful, but what it yields are mostly fragmented memories filled with strong emotions and sensory stimulation. They are fragmented and difficult to piece together to form a complete cause and effect. Moreover, it causes great damage to the victim, often leading to mental breakdown and mental insanity.

No wonder the Yin Sha Sect would rather go to great lengths to ambush and interrogate Zhao Tieshan than dare to use this technique on him easily.

If searching the soul yields no clear clues about the buyer and instead completely cuts off the path of investigation, it would undoubtedly be like alerting the enemy.

However, despite the fragmented memories, they were enough for Meng Xihong to glimpse the extent of the man's atrocities and the cruelty of his methods.

What shocked him even more was that these horrific atrocities seemed to be a common practice in the Yin Sha Sect's daily cultivation routine.

"Plundering souls to strengthen their own bodies, extracting the foundations of cultivators to replenish their cultivation... What use is such a heinous and immoral evil sect that disregards human ethics!" Meng Xihong's eyes blazed with cold light, and the last bit of resentment he had felt due to the use of evil magic completely vanished at this moment.

This scoundrel deserved to die, and the Yin Sha Sect is a malignant tumor, deserving of ten thousand deaths!

He suppressed his murderous intent and carefully checked the other items in the storage bag.

A cursory glance at the jade slip recording the cultivation techniques revealed that it was full of evil arts; the "Yin Sha Inner Sect" talisman might be proof of identity, so I'll put it away for now.

Finally, his gaze fell on the few "waste pills" that shone with a strange gray light and had uneven surfaces.

He keenly sensed that the Yin energy contained within was extremely special, pure and ancient, completely different from the waste pills produced by ordinary failed alchemy.

“This is no ordinary waste pill,” Meng Xihong said thoughtfully, his fingers brushing across the pill as he sensed its restrained yet powerful aura. “The Yin energy within it… is pure and ancient, quite similar to the special aura that can only be nurtured in certain ancient secret realms or extremely Yin forbidden lands described in the classics!”

Combining the fragments of memory obtained from the soul search with images of the secluded cave in the back mountain, Meng Xihong gradually pieced together the truth.

The Yin Sha Sect was not some hidden evil sect, but merely a small sect entrenched deep in the desolate mountains of a neighboring county. They accidentally discovered the entrance to a secret realm left behind by an ancient cultivator, but due to their weak strength, they were neither able to monopolize it nor feared that the news would leak and bring about their annihilation.

These leaked "waste pills" were obtained during their first exploration of the outer perimeter of the secret realm.

Because the special Yin energy in the pill was accidentally leaked out, the higher-ups of the Yin Sha Sect panicked and went so far as to send people to investigate and even silence witnesses, all in an effort to cover up the existence of the secret realm.

"So that's how it is... They're just a bunch of blustering but cowardly, all bark and no bite!" A cold glint flashed in Meng Xihong's eyes.

"Moreover, judging from my memory, although their sect leader is at the Foundation Establishment stage, he seems to have some hidden injuries. He is currently leading two elders to explore the secret realm again... Now, the sect only has cultivators at the highest level of Qi Refining at the seventh level to oversee things."

Previously, when Lin Lang bullied them, they had no choice but to swallow their anger because the Lin family was the number one cultivation family in Yunzhou, with immense power.

Now that the Yin Sha Sect has suffered a great loss of strength and has a shallow foundation, it acts viciously and dares to bully my Meng family.
What enraged him even more was that the memory fragments obtained from the soul search showed that the Yin Sha Sect was ruthless and often used the souls of living people to cultivate evil arts. It was only because of its remote location and secretive operations that it had not been wiped out by the major righteous sects.

"Do you really think my Meng family is a pushover?" Meng Xihong sneered, an imposing aura rising from him.

"Since you've messed with me, I'll settle all old and new scores with you." Meng Xihong snorted coldly, and an imposing aura rose from him, making the air in the quiet room seem to freeze.

"This action is also to rid the people of a scourge."

He looked at the Yin Sha Sect disciple on the ground, who was convulsing due to being forcibly "read" by the 'Netherworld Soul Extraction Technique', with no pity in his eyes.

A flash of emerald green light appeared at the fingertip, and the fingertip precisely touched the center of his brow.

The convulsions stopped abruptly.

Silence returned to the secret room.

　Thank you to Qiongbiantianxia and Xiaoxiaoxi for the two precious monthly tickets. Thank you to Xiaoxiaoxi for the 10810 Qidian coins, and to Tiankongdelan and Linlinxiaogaodan for the 100 Qidian coins each. A thousand thanks to all the readers for your continued support! Love you all! Tonight at 9 PM, the latest chapter will be released with 200 recommendation tickets. Please remember to save a recommendation ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)