Starting with the consumables of the Demonic Sect, one can barely achieve immortality.

"This sinister thing, it's definitely doing this on purpose..."

Yan Cheng cursed inwardly, but only smiled slightly on his face:

"You flatter me, senior brother."

"How dare I, a junior scholar, compare myself to my esteemed predecessors?"

"Although I am willing to do my best for the sect, I am afraid that my cultivation is too shallow to shoulder such a great responsibility. I will have to rely on the seniors to take good care of me."

His words elicited varying reactions from the crowd.

Yu Caiying seemed quite surprised by his humble demeanor, while Pei Yi's eyes revealed amusement at having met someone like him.

Li Bai still wore his usual tense and uneasy expression, while Tian Tong, on the other hand, had long since put on his signature smile and stared at Yan Cheng noncommittally.

It's like saying: Keep pretending.

Yan Cheng stared back at him expressionlessly, and suddenly understood why this sinister thing always wanted to put her in the spotlight.

No matter how much praise and flattery he receives, it's all empty words. Tian Tong doesn't believe Yan Cheng can live long at all.

In this place, mediocrity is unacceptable; otherwise, one will be quickly consumed as a cheap consumable.

However, if one is too outstanding, one will also attract the attention of the higher-ups, and it will be difficult for one to live long enough to realize one's potential.

Did Tiantong, or Huang Tong behind him, wish to die in this exploration?

The two shrewd corpse cultivators were calmly gazing at each other when they were interrupted by a curt, indifferent voice:

"Since this person has only recently broken through, let alone opening up the eight extraordinary meridians, he probably hasn't even perfected the cultivation of the second dantian."

"This guy isn't holding us back!"

When everyone looked, it was Deng Jian.

This corpse cultivator with a long sword at his waist seemed to understand a principle better than anyone else: in this Hall of Longevity, the relationship between fellow disciples is not one of cooperation but competition.

In order to make full use of every asset, the Emperor strictly forbids private fights among fellow disciples.

Even though Deng Jian felt an uncontrollable sense of disgust every time he saw this good-for-nothing, he couldn't express it.

Now is the perfect time to make a move.

Although he was fierce, he was surprisingly insightful. He knew that Tian Tong was playing a role in the exploration and would be more tolerant of him.

After all, a mid-stage corpse cultivator who has already entered the stage of opening the extraordinary meridians is far superior to those who have not yet broken through in terms of physique and explosive power.

In addition, Deng Jian's strength lies in swordsmanship. Compared to Li Bai and Pei Yi, opening up his extraordinary meridians brings a greater boost to his combat power, making him implicitly complacent that he is the top mid-stage corpse cultivator in the palace.

Even Tian Tong wasn't taken seriously by him, let alone a kid who hadn't broken through recently and was only being valued by Huang Tong because of his face.

Yan Cheng glanced at him sideways without saying a word.

He could roughly guess what this guy was thinking. He had worked hard to reach the middle stage and had also mastered excellent swordsmanship, so naturally he was starting to consider how to compete with other cultivators of the same realm.

If you only know how to bury yourself in hard work and become a beast of burden, wouldn't that be a waste of time to break through?

To be fair, if Yan Cheng were in Deng Jian's situation, he would very likely have done the same thing.

To outsiders, this guy looks like a brainless villain from a storybook, but from the perspective of a brainless villain, everything he does is actually supported by logic.

Those in positions of power only know how to make the most of resources, without mentioning benevolence, righteousness, or friendship.

Those at the bottom naturally have nothing but thoughts of harming each other at the bottom, stepping over the bodies of hundreds of people in front of and behind them to climb to the top step by step.

Ironically, this approach actually proved beneficial in the Hall of Eternal Life.

Why was Deng Jian treated with such respect by Tian Tong? Wasn't it because Tian Tong valued the long sword in his hand?

If he could defeat Yan Cheng in public, the value of the longsword in his hand would naturally be even higher.

In the future, they will inevitably receive more resources, higher status, and may even become candidates who are supported to advance to the late stage of Qi Refining.

This plan was commendable, but unfortunately, his chosen opponent was Yan Cheng.

Yan Cheng felt no psychological pressure about beating up this clueless guy in front of him; he simply sighed softly.

"Choosing me to draw your sword is just bad luck for you!"

After saying this, he fell silent, his aura slowly spreading outwards, causing the cultivators who had been standing very close to him to tactfully step back.

He cultivates Yin Star Qi, and his spiritual power is inherently extremely Yin and cold.

Even without displaying its star-like flames, the sheer chill emanating from its aura was enough to make cultivators of the same cultivation level retreat.

After he studied the "Shangmiao Refining Body Mystery Chapter" and mastered the method of expanding his aura outwards.

Furthermore, it can slow down the reactions and movements of cultivators of the same realm simply by releasing this cold air!

Tian Tong's expression shifted slightly, and he thought to himself:

"As expected, it's [Cold Qi]... and the lineage is extraordinary."

"No wonder Senior Sister Huang is confident that as long as we use this person, even if cultivators from the three sects get involved in exploring the ruins, we can still escape unscathed."

When Huang Tong said he would escape unscathed, he was only referring to Tian Tong, and at most Yu Caiying as well.

As for the others, they were just low- to mid-level consumables that could be easily trained in the palace; their loss was no big deal.

The eyes of this corpse cultivator, who stood out among the mid-stage corpse cultivators, flickered.

In Huang Tong's plan, Yan Cheng's life or death was not important, as long as he did not die at the hands of Huang Tong's faction of cultivators.

If the people behind him want him to live, they will definitely find a way to protect him; Huang Tong doesn't need to worry about it.

Perhaps the value of this cold-qi corpse cultivator lies in dying in the ruins?

Tian Tong's eyes gleamed:

"But... it seems this guy won't die so easily."

"On the contrary... I need to start thinking about who should replace Deng Jian."

Yu Caiying's face had already changed color, as if she was trying to communicate with him telepathically, but Tiantong ignored her.

On the other hand, Li Bai and Pei Yi, whose cultivation and vision were inferior, could hardly hide the shock on their faces.

Li Bai frowned deeply:

"Even if Senior Sister Li used the Three Yin Water, a top-grade spiritual material, and spent forty-nine days to create a Cold Spirit Talisman, she might not be able to achieve this effect."

"This is beyond the capabilities of talismanic arts; only a cultivator who practices cold qi could accomplish it."

"But everyone here is a corpse cultivator, so why is he the only one who can cultivate cold qi, and even bestowed with a top-tier cultivation technique!"

Pei Yi's thoughts were much more straightforward than Li Bai's:

'This Yan Cheng must really be the kept man of one of the prince's disciples.'

"Otherwise, how can we explain the origin of his martial arts skills?"

"Traded back with Yin Corpse Fiends? Don't make me laugh."

"How could truly valuable cultivation techniques and spiritual treasures be obtained with just a few wisps of corpse energy!"

If even bystanders felt such pressure, Deng Jian, who was being stared at by Yan Cheng, naturally felt even more uneasy.

At this moment, he had no room to retreat, and his dignity as a swordsman did not allow him to back down.

A clear sword cry rang out, and the sword's edge, like a snake's tongue, flickered and pierced through the cold air, aiming straight for Yan Cheng's chest!