My path to immortality was smooth sailing.

The Wind-Breaking Cone spun gently on Wei Jing's fingertips, the bloodstains on the cone were cleansed by the spiritual light, and the silvery-white cone gleamed with a cold luster in the darkness.

A demonic cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining died on the spot.

In the end, he couldn't even utter a complete sentence.

"Gurgle!"

Pan Rou swallowed hard, her eyes widening in shock.

"That's amazing!"

She didn't even see how Wei Jing made his move, instantly killing a demonic cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

Shen Xingyao looked at Wei Jing with some shock.

"You two, don't come out."

After saying that, Wei Jing vanished from the spot with a swift movement.

Before long, screams of agony rang out from outside.

Fifteen minutes later, the fighting and screams subsided.

"Is it over?" Shen Xingyao and Pan Rou exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with the joy of surviving a disaster.

……

"One hundred spirit stones, this one is sixty spirit stones."

"They're all poor bastards!" Wei Jing scoffed, but he didn't mind and went to touch each of the corpses.

With Wei Jing's strength at the eighth level of Qi Refining, coupled with the Xuan Tie Rod and the Wind-Breaking Shuttle, these mid-stage Qi Refining demonic cultivators couldn't even last three moves against him.

However, the demonic cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refining managed to hold out against Wei Jing for a while before being killed by Wei Jing with a single blow, his body being shattered in half.

"Is this a spiritual artifact or a demonic artifact?" Wei Jing frowned, holding a small flag about the size of a palm in his hand, with black mist swirling around it.

Wei Jing looked down and saw a demon suddenly fly out from above, its mouth wide open as it lunged at him.

"Interesting!" Wei Jing sneered, then flicked his finger, and a ball of flame directly incinerated the black demon into ashes.

Wei Jing found a storage ring on the body of the demonic cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refining. The storage ring contained more than 500 spirit stones, as well as some bottles and jars.

Wei Jing had no idea what was in those bottles and jars, but the smell alone made him feel nauseous.

"The Soul-Gathering Banner!" Wei Jing found the answer in the demonic cultivator's relics.

Wei Jing flipped through the booklet in his hand, which contained information about the function of the Soul-Gathering Banner.

It is possible to keep demons within the banner, allowing them to cultivate for the owner and become their furnace, which the owner can then harvest periodically.

The method of creating this demon is very elaborate, involving torturing a living person for several days, or subjecting them to great fright, grief, or a huge blow.

Taking advantage of this moment, by activating the Soul-Gathering Banner, one can completely separate the soul of a living person from their body and place it into the banner. After a series of rituals, the soul's consciousness will be completely obliterated, turning the person into a puppet of the master.

The demon puppet has no physical body, but it can still cultivate. It cultivates tirelessly day and night within the banner.

Waiting for its master to devour and harvest it.

"One, two, three, four, a total of seven demons." Wei Jing counted, his face grim.

Seven demons, seven unfortunate souls.

Wei Jing thought for a moment, then burned the magical artifact to ashes.

In addition to the Soul-Gathering Flag, each demonic cultivator also has a small cauldron specifically for absorbing the life essence of the living. Once the flesh and blood of the dead are drained, they will turn into a skeleton covered in skin and bones.

"This is truly disgusting!" Wei Jing frowned and immediately cast a fireball spell, burning the seven evil cauldrons and their corpses to ashes.

"Thank you so much for saving me!" Pan Rou's eyes shone brightly, her voice was gentle, and her gaze was full of gratitude and admiration.

He didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly, shifting his gaze from her to Shen Xingyao.

Xingyao's injuries were more serious than he had expected. Although the bleeding from the wound on his thigh had stopped, the demonic energy had not been completely dispelled, and the skin around the wound was black and purple, as if it had been burned.

"Can you still walk?" Wei Jing asked.

Shen Xingyao gritted her teeth and stood up, leaning against the stone wall. Her legs were trembling slightly, and her knees were weak, but she stood straight and did not fall.

Wei Jing took out several healing pills from his storage bag and handed them to her.

"Thanks!"

"I can still walk." Shen Xingyao was as pale as paper, her lips were purple, but she remained stubborn.

Wei Jing shook his head and said, "Let's go! I'm also going back to my sect anyway, so I'll take you with me to avoid running into demonic cultivators on the way."

"What do you mean?"

"You're also a disciple of the Qingfu Sect?" Pan Rou asked in surprise.

"Yes, Wei Jing, an inner disciple."

Upon hearing this, the two women immediately relaxed, as if they had breathed a sigh of relief. Shen Xingyao's legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground.

"Senior Brother Wei!" Pan Rou cried out in despair.

"Waaah, Senior Brother Wei, you have no idea how miserable this trip was!"

"During the day, Senior Brother Gu died. His death was so tragic..."

Wei Jing remained silent, listening to the two people's intermittent accounts, and he roughly understood the whole story.

"Sigh, let's go back to the sect first!"

"After you go back, the two of you will report the details of the incident to the Hall of Law Enforcement. As for Junior Brother Gu..." Wei Jing shook his head.

Wei Jing piloted the Cloud-Breaking Shuttle, carrying the two of them on a journey that lasted all night. By the time they returned to the sect, dawn had already broken.

After sending the two to the Hall of Law Enforcement, Wei Jing immediately went to the Hall of Skill Transmission to hand over the mission.

He has already passed the first hurdle.

……

Pass on the merits to the palace.

In stark contrast to the solemn black of the Enforcement Hall, this place is entirely white, with walls made of Lingshan white jade, smooth and lustrous, gleaming faintly in the sunlight.

The Transmission Hall is the foundation of the sect. Internally, it is in charge of the transmission and borrowing of all the sect's cultivation methods, spells, and secret techniques. Externally, it accepts donations of books from independent cultivators in exchange for cultivation resources.

The hall contains a seven-story scripture repository, each floor higher and more secluded than the last.

The collection of cultivation manuals ranges from the first to the third level, from beginner to advanced, from common to rare, encompassing everything imaginable and truly representing the essence of a sect.

Among the five halls of Qingfu Sect, the Hall of Transmission of Merit is the oldest and has the longest history.

The Hall of Transmission of Merit also held immense power.

On the high platform of the main hall, a middle-aged steward sat upright behind a desk, with a thick register spread out in front of him and a wolf-hair brush in his hand, carefully recording something stroke by stroke.

Several outer disciples were standing in front of the bookshelf, tiptoeing, trying hard to see the jade slips on the upper shelf.

Wei Jing walked into the main hall and whispered a few words in the ear of a steward, whose expression immediately changed.

He said politely to Wei Jing, "Nephew Wei, please come with me."

Then, he led Wei Jing to the main hall of the Transmission Hall, where Wei Jing met several elders of the Transmission Hall.

"Disciple Wei Jing has completed the first stage of the true disciple assessment."

After speaking, Wei Jing handed over the gall bladder of the snake that had fought the Black-striped Horned Python and the Flowing Shadow Stone.

Several elders from the Transmission Hall sat around the table, their hair white, their faces gaunt, and they wore dark blue Taoist robes. They were all senior members of the sect.

"Not bad, Wei Jing, you are the first to complete the first trial mission."

The elder in the lead was surnamed Meng, and his given name was Yan. He was the most senior elder in the Transmission Hall, having entered the sect ten years earlier than the hall master, Yang Qingxuan.

"A top-tier first-order black-striped horned python, its gall bladder intact, its spiritual energy undiminished, and of excellent quality." Elder Meng opened his eyes, placed the gall bladder back on the table, and nodded.

The elders examined the recording stone again, and no one questioned it.

"Good, very good. You've passed the first test of the true lineage."