Senior sister, I'm going to control you.

Li Tianran stuffed the replicated jade slip into his robes and pushed open the secret door to the chamber.

A burnt smell mixed with sulfur hit me.

The spirit field was still the same spirit field, with blood spirit grass lying scattered all over the ground.

The soles of my boots crunched over the pile of pebbles.

Looking down, I saw it was half a sword blade, the broken edge gleaming with a dark blue hue from being scorched by high temperatures.

He moved his feet away and quickened his pace.

There were no corpses or even bloodstains along the way, only craters blasted out by spiritual energy and the lingering smell of sulfur in the air.

Dozens of corpses and the blood of hundreds of people were completely wiped out.

He had been in the Blood Spirit Sect for three years, and this was the first time he had ever seen such a clean death.

This isn't a massacre, it's a harvest!

First, try to avoid being seen by Old Demon Han on his way back from her cave.

Li Tianran had just turned the corner of the stone wall and was heading towards his cave.

Suddenly, a chill crept up the back of his neck without warning.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks, his breathing becoming erratic.

A figure in a gray robe was standing at the entrance of his cave!

Han Li's gray robe was stained with blood, which had formed dark, hard lumps.

She held the puppet's upper body with her left arm, and the puppet's head rested on her shoulder.

That terrifying face was facing Li Tianran.

His facial features were blurred, and his eye sockets were two empty holes, but something was slowly turning inside them.

It's probably because Elder Chen's soul hasn't fully embedded itself yet.

Han Laomo placed his right hand on the back of the puppet's head, his withered fingers slowly tracing the cracks, as if touching a child who had just fallen asleep.

She didn't look at him; her lips were almost touching the puppet's forehead, and her voice was as soft as if she were lulling it to sleep.

"Sweetie, just a few more days, just a few more days, and you'll be able to stand up again."

Li Tianran stood rooted to the spot, not daring to utter a sound.

That chilling spiritual energy was creeping over his skin inch by inch.

The blood remaining on Han Laomo's body will automatically attract the spiritual energy fluctuations of living people.

The spiritual energy paused for a moment when it swept across his dantian.

Li Tianran forcefully suppressed the urge to hold his breath and forced himself to maintain his normal breathing rhythm.

Old Demon Han slowly raised his head.

Those eyes turned from beneath his disheveled gray hair and landed on his face.

She still held the puppet in her arms, her hands never stopping, gently touching the puppet's face, which was now a mess.

"I've been waiting for you for ages." His voice was hoarse, but every word was enunciated clearly.

"Where did you go?"

Li Tianran bowed his head in greeting, his movements a beat slower than usual.

He was afraid that if he moved too quickly, she would notice something was wrong.

"Reporting to Master, I was just near the side gate."

"Side door?"

Old Demon Han changed the puppet's position and said in an icy tone, "When we attacked the mountain, you ran to the side gate. You're afraid of dying and want to escape."

She didn't use a question, as if she were stating something.

Li Tianran's Adam's apple bobbed.

The surrounding air suddenly felt heavy.

The chilling spiritual energy no longer swept around aimlessly; instead, it gathered together.

The spiritual power of the Foundation Establishment stage was like a spider web tightening around him, wrapping him right in the middle.

Li Tianran frankly admitted: "Yes, I am afraid of death and wanted to slip away through the side door."

But when I reached the side door, I saw my master fighting Elder Chen. Seeing that my master had suppressed the invading enemies, I stood there for a while and then I understood.

He tried to keep his voice calm and honest.

"These righteous cultivators shout about eliminating demons and protecting the righteous path, but they are more ruthless than anyone else when it comes to their actions."

The so-called righteous path and the demonic path, when put into words, are all about pursuing profit.

Since it's all about profit, it's the same no matter where you go, so you might as well stay in the sect and serve your master.

Han Laomo stared at him for a long time.

So much time passed that Li Tianran didn't dare to move, his body remaining tense the entire time.

He had already thought of countless ways he could escape and resist if Han Laomo suddenly attacked.

Can't escape!

At this moment, the puppet twitched in Han Laomo's arms, while Elder Chen's soul was still thrashing about.

Han Li hugged the puppet closer and whispered, "Don't be afraid."

Then she raised her eyelids and looked at Li Tianran again.

"Do you really think that I practice this evil art because I'm born with a love for killing?"

She turned around, holding the puppet, and faced the cleaned-up battlefield outside the mountain gate.

"From the day the Blood Spirit Sect was founded, it was classified as part of the demonic path. Those prestigious sects occupy the spiritual veins, control the pill formulas, and establish their own rules."

They don't need to risk their lives, cultivate deadly techniques, or risk their lives to improve their cultivation.

When it came time to divide the spoils, they casually remarked, "The Blood Spirit Sect is an evil sect and cannot join the Righteous Path Alliance. They didn't even leave us a drop of soup."

Han Li turned around, her face beneath her disheveled gray hair completely expressionless.

Who doesn't want to be a member of a prestigious and righteous sect? Who doesn't want to cultivate in a stable and orderly way?

But those chairs, those spiritual veins—when they're already there, they won't give you even one more.

It's normal to be hated and killed for taking the path of unorthodox cultivation; there will inevitably be storms ahead. The battle just now was merely a minor setback.

Now that you've embarked on this path, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, you can't simply stay out of it.

The world may be vast, but there is no place for heretical cultivators. Carrying this identity, they will be suppressed and hunted down wherever they flee.

The only solution is to fight our way out!

Han Li's tone was calm, yet it carried a fierce and resolute quality.

Her withered hand gently touched the puppet's forehead again: "The Blood Sect's internal and external troubles are only temporary."

You are talented, quick-witted, and ruthless. You will have a place in the sect in the future.

Don't worry, there are plenty of scapegoats out there. I won't kill you. What I need is someone who can walk the same path with me, someone who will stay with me until the end.

Upon hearing this, Li Tianran breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the first time he had ever heard Old Demon Han say so much.

Does this sound like empty promises?

Han Li: "We've obtained the soul of a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator. Next, we need to properly refine the Foundation Establishment puppet. You and Zhao Ling will assist your master."

Her tone suddenly softened: "Zhang Xuan ran away, he ran over a thousand miles away."

"The blood essence I left within him was activated remotely, shattering his dantian and severing his meridians."

She paused, then looked down at the puppet: "He was my most beloved disciple, what a pity."

Upon hearing this, Li Tianran felt a chill run down his spine.

Zhang Xuan is dead?!

Suddenly, Han Li took a step forward.

Li Tianran felt a withered hand pressing down on his shoulder, but the hand didn't use much force.

But the lingering spiritual energy in her palm was cold and seeped into her flesh through her clothes.

"You and Zhao Ling will come to the cave tonight."

Don't worry, as long as you obey me, I won't use you to fill the furnace.

"You already have a main soul at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. Even if you refine it, it won't be of much use to you, a pseudo-Qi Refining level eight cultivator."

She let go, pulled the puppet closer to her chest, and turned to walk towards the cave.

He took a few steps, then stopped without looking back.

"You don't need to hide your cultivation level or act secretively in front of your master."

She paused for a moment: "You must have faith in the sect."

Li Tianran: "Thank you for your teachings, Master. I will remember them forever. I respectfully bid you farewell."

He stood there until the thin, frail figure had completely disappeared from sight before his tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

Damn!

Li Tianran quickly entered the cave and closed the stone door.

That's too weird, too weird.

Old Han is elusive and she almost bumped into him.

Fortunately, she still had value to me, otherwise I wouldn't even know how I died.

The cave was very quiet.

Li Tianran picked up the jade slip containing the Blood Transformation Technique and stuck it to his forehead. He then recited the incantation in his mind and circulated it for the first time.

Something stirred the blood in his dantian, causing it to loosen slightly.

The cold, residual spiritual energy suddenly contracted!

He immediately stopped and removed the jade slip from his forehead.

No!

Han Laomo's blood was still circulating in his body, and every time he used the Blood Transformation Technique, he would be touched by that residual spiritual power.

If I refine the Blood Essence, I'll definitely be discovered. The distance is so short, I'll die as soon as she rushes over.

We need to escape far away first, and then refine the Blood Essence!

Until then, we can only wait.

He sat cross-legged on the stone bed, put the jade slip back into his bosom, took out the communication jade slip, and was about to send a message to Zhao Ling when...

I received a message first.

Ma Wencai's?

"Junior Brother Li, my aunt is coming to your cave to find you later, so don't wander off!"

……