From absorbing the essence of the sun and moon to achieving divine mastery in martial arts

Looking at the people in front of him, Cang Lian instantly concluded that they must be tainted by the great karma of the Blood God Sect!

If not handled properly, and the Blood God Cult tracks them down, then Elder Huang will surely suffer an undeserved calamity.

Master Huang was his mentor in martial arts. Back in the Cang Mansion, he not only took good care of him but also imparted all his martial arts knowledge to him.

Cang Lian always remembered this kindness and naturally did not want to see him suffer as a result.

He withdrew his hand from the girl's wrist, glanced at the crowd, and calmly asked, "Gentlemen, what is your relationship with the Blood God Cult?"

The moment the words "Blood God Cult" were uttered, the expressions on those people's faces changed drastically!

A look of tension crept onto his previously weak face, and his eyes became wary and sharp, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

In particular, the old man who had been resting with his eyes closed suddenly opened them, his eyes flashing like lightning, and locked onto Cang Lian!

"You...you actually know about the Blood God Cult?!"

"The Blood God Cult?"

When Old Huang heard this name, his expression changed.

Although he was just an ordinary person, he had heard of this cult that was feared in the underground world of martial arts.

Faced with the sudden heightened vigilance of the crowd, Cang Lian remained calm and composed. He shrugged and spoke in a nonchalant tone:

"Please don't look at me like that. I just want to understand the situation. After all, you're all staying at Old Master Huang's house now, and I have to consider his safety to avoid being implicated by you, don't I?"

His words were not harsh; they pointed out the stakes without being aggressive.

Upon hearing this, the tense atmosphere eased slightly, and their wary eyes became more thoughtful.

After all, they were now living under someone else's roof, and each of them was seriously injured and extremely weak.

If a fight really breaks out, even the four of them combined wouldn't be enough to kill the other side.

Finally, the middle-aged man sighed, his face revealing endless bitterness and helplessness:

"Since you know, we won't hide it from you anymore. We...we were all captured by the Blood God Cult! That damned cult is capturing martial artists like us everywhere, using our powerful blood and energy to refine their so-called 'Blood God Pills'!"

"About a year ago, their vice leader Yuan Ye went missing for a long time, creating a power vacuum within the sect. That's when we found an opportunity to escape at the cost of our lives."

Upon hearing this, Cang Lian frowned.

Capture martial artists to refine elixirs?

This is utterly heinous and a complete cult!

"You guys are really lucky to have escaped all this," Cang Lian exclaimed, then changed the subject, "However, now that you're in the concession, the Blood God Cult shouldn't dare to openly arrest you. The fact that you've been here for over half a year without incident is enough to prove that. Besides, I reckon the Blood God Cult is probably already overwhelmed with its own problems and in a complete mess right now."

Cang Lian, however, understood perfectly.

He knew perfectly well why Yuan Ye had not returned for so long.

Because he had already been killed by Chu Zhaoxue with a single sword strike!

"We came here because we had nowhere else to turn," the middle-aged man explained in a hoarse voice, noticing Cang Lian's extraordinary bearing. "We originally planned to leave after recovering from our injuries, but the 'bloodthirsty energy' within us is too difficult to remove. It has already merged with our blood and qi, penetrating deep into our bone marrow! Once it devours the last trace of blood and qi in our bodies, I'm afraid we... will ultimately not escape death!"

"This is indeed a difficult situation," Cang Lian said in a deep voice, his brows furrowed.

He could clearly feel a strong longing and throbbing emanating from the Blood Soul Needle inside his coat.

It trembled with excitement, like a shark that had smelled blood, as if the bloodthirsty energy emanating from these people, which had absorbed a great deal of vital energy, was a "great tonic" that it could feast on.

This gave him a thought: Could the Blood Soul Needle really devour the blood and evil energy on their bodies?

But the thought only flashed through his mind before he forcibly suppressed it.

The Blood Soul Needle is his greatest trump card, a divine weapon that must never be shown to others lightly!

Although he felt a little sympathy for these people, he would never expose his biggest secret just to save a few strangers.

Finally, after a few more casual words, Cang Lian solemnly instructed Elder Huang to take care of his health, left a sum of money, and then turned and left the courtyard, returning to the Sheng Hai Kingdom Martial Hall base.

……

Now, the money is ready and everything is prepared.

For the purpose of cultivating the techniques to come, Cang Lian came to the huge task posting board in the National Martial Hall for the first time.

Taking advantage of strength when you are weak is the norm.

Obtaining cultivation resources by attaching oneself to powerful forces is an irrefutable law of the world.

The National Martial Hall is the most prominent "power" in this chaotic world, providing countless low-level martial artists like him with a ladder to climb upwards.

Given Cang Lian's current predicament, the only thing she can rely on is the influence of the National Martial Hall.

The National Martial Hall is an organization that deals with matters that deviate from common sense.

Therefore, the tasks it issues are all bizarre and incomprehensible to ordinary people!

1. Huangcun reports that a newly buried corpse has broken out of its coffin and is disturbing the living. A small team is needed to go and determine whether it is a natural "white evil spirit" or a "corpse-raising" practiced by a cult, and to purify or destroy it.

(Note: During the warlord era, plague, famine, and war, a large number of corpses were improperly disposed of, leading to widespread rumors of "corpse transport" and "corpse resurrection.")

Cang Lian wasn't sure if zombies that were invulnerable to swords and spears really existed in this world.

Second, the Xi family is experiencing unrest, with livestock dying suddenly. An investigation revealed that the ancestral "fox spirit" is causing trouble due to the descendants' neglect of proper rituals. Negotiation or force is necessary to expel it.

(Note: In some places, the belief in "Hu, Huang, Bai, Liu, and Hui" is deep-rooted, but if animal spirits harbor resentment or make excessive demands, they will cause harm to the area.)

Cang Lian was also somewhat taken aback. These days, even "vixens" have become part of the National Martial Arts Hall's business scope?

Third, destroy a rural evil god temple, suppress the "emergence of the evil spirit" being worshipped, and capture the core leader.

(Note: Folk secret sects, such as Yiguandao and Tongshanshe, often worship evil gods, amass wealth, and disrupt public order.)

Cang Lian had heard of this before.

There were many tasks on the task list, some of them bizarre and varied, and he carefully read through them one by one.

These tasks were clearly marked with five levels: D, C, B, A, and S.

S-rank missions are undoubtedly the highest, and the merit points earned upon completion are extremely enviable.

But he discovered that the descriptions of every S-class mission exuded a chilling sense of danger.

Since this was Cang Lian's first mission, she naturally didn't dare to take too many risks.

Suddenly, his gaze was drawn to a task.

It's an S-class!

Mission objective: Locate the Blood God Cult's stronghold!

"S-rank? Just a mission to 'find' the Blood God Cult's lair is already S-rank?" Cang Lian murmured.

"What, you think it's simple?" A burly martial artist with a full beard overheard his mutterings and teased, "The Blood God Sect is a rat that hides extremely well! The National Martial Hall has been investigating for almost several years and hasn't even caught a glimpse of it. If you really find it, it'll be an incredible windfall for you. The merit points alone would be enough to exchange for a 'Nine-Turn Golden Pill'!"

Blood God Cult's stronghold...

Upon seeing this task, for some reason, Cang Lian's heart skipped a beat.

His first thought was of the four people who were temporarily staying at Old Huang's house.