The legend begins with becoming a white deer.

Wanzhen Cangdi, Qingliao Dike Section.

A giant dam, hundreds of meters high, stretches across the south bank of the "Yunqi Daze" (Cloud Swimming Great Lake), resembling a gray-blue dragon lying between heaven and earth.

The dam is constructed layer by layer of bluestone and rammed earth, and it remains majestic and imposing despite more than 500 years of wind and waves.

In the middle section of the dike, the entire dike is tightly integrated with a continuous stretch of natural rock.

When the dam was built, the craftsmen used this geological vein as a foundation, hollowing out the mountain rock to reinforce the dam body, so that the two were half-fused and half-embedded, forming a seamless whole.

No one knows that a vast natural cave system is hidden inside this rocky mountain.

This is the core stronghold of the human trafficking organization, which has been operating for decades – the Xuanyin Grottoes.

Decades of management have completely altered the appearance of this natural cave.

The cave walls are carved into layers of corridors, and the stone chambers, with their varying shades of light and shadow, are scattered throughout. Traps such as flying arrows, falling rocks, and poisonous swamps are hidden in the crevices of the rock walls and the corners of the stone steps. A slight mistake could result in certain death.

Squads of black-clad guards, armed with sharp blades, patrolled back and forth along a fixed route, their footsteps echoing repeatedly in the empty cave.

For ordinary people, let alone breaking in, even finding the entrance would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.

The deepest part of the grotto is the core area adjacent to the dam.

A bald manager bowed deeply, not daring to utter a sound.

On the prayer mat in front of him sat a monk dressed in a scarlet robe, sitting cross-legged.

The monk had a kind face and gentle features, and held a string of black prayer beads in his hand, looking like a serene and venerable monk.

"Report to Lord Xuanye"

The bald manager's voice trembled: "Five people from the Blackstone Fortress branch have arrived. They say... that Blackstone Fortress has been captured."

Upon hearing this, Xuan Ye slowly opened his eyes.

A faint red light flashed past deep within his pupils.

"Buzz~~"

An invisible aura slowly spread, gentle yet carrying a chilling sense of oppression.

The bald manager lowered his head even further, his forehead almost touching the ground.

"Has Blackrock Fortress fallen? Let them in."

Xuan Ye's voice was gentle, like a spring breeze caressing the surface of water.

Soon after, five henchmen from Blackstone Fortress trembled as they entered the alchemy chamber.

The moment they saw Xuan Ye, they felt an overwhelming sense of oppression, and their legs immediately trembled, causing them to kneel down in unison with a thud.

"Don't panic."

Xuan Ye looked at the five people and smiled kindly: "This is headquarters, no one can hurt you. Speak slowly and tell me what you saw, word by word."

"Yes, yes, Lord Xuanye, the matter is like this..."

The five people nodded quickly, and then each of them gave a brief account of what had happened.

He was on leave and went out, but when he returned, he found that Black Stone Fortress had collapsed most of the way. He also found a large number of people gathered on the ruins, but he had no idea which faction they belonged to or how many people they had.

Xuan Ye listened without showing any emotion, neither angry nor distressed, as if he had only broken a teacup, not a branch.

"Do you know which force was behind this?"

The five people looked at each other, then shook their heads awkwardly.

They were too scared and didn't dare to go any closer. Afterwards, they were only concerned with escaping and had no chance of finding out anything.

"The men... didn't dare to get close. They just saw that those people were dressed in all sorts of different ways, so they didn't seem to be from the same group."

"snort."

A cold snort came from the shadows behind Xuan Ye.

Upon hearing this, the five people looked in the direction of the voice and discovered that there was a monk wearing a black robe standing in the shadows behind them.

He was burly and his eyes were sharp as knives. The moment he swept over, the five of them felt as if their blood had frozen.

"I remember the person in charge of Blackstone Fortress is Duan Chi. Where is he? Haven't you seen him?" The black monk's voice was hoarse, like two rough stones rubbing against each other.

The five men trembled with fear, and the one in the middle hurriedly kowtowed: "Reporting to...Reporting to Lord Jiluo, we dared not approach, we did not...we did not see Lord Duan Chi, it seems he is likely in grave danger."

Ji Luo looked at the five people and took a step forward.

He raised his palm, and gray true energy far exceeding the strength of top experts surged in his palm, making the temperature in the cave seem to drop a few degrees.

Ji Luo's voice was filled with undisguised coldness and anger: "So, all you five did when you came back was say, 'The branch is gone,' and then you didn't give me a single useful piece of information. You're a bunch of useless trash!"

The five men were terrified, covered in cold sweat, and could only keep kowtowing.

Although they were just low-level thugs in the branch, they had heard of Lord Jiluo's fearsome reputation.

In the early years, a top martial arts master once ventured alone into the Xuan Yin Grottoes, vowing to raze the demon cave to the ground.

As a result, Lord Jiluo personally took action and killed the man in no time. His body was then thrown into the medicine-quenching pool to extract its essence.

Over the years, Lord Jiluo has broken through his cultivation realm with the help of divine pills, and his cultivation level has skyrocketed, but his temper has also become more and more violent.

"Junior brother, calm down."

Xuan Ye spoke slowly, his voice still gentle.

"Although these five men were indeed a bit useless, their investigation was unsuccessful and they found nothing, at least they came back to report the news, so they can be considered to have made a contribution."

The five men's lips twitched when they heard the word "trash".

But before they could even breathe a sigh of relief, they heard Xuan Ye continue, "However, while the death penalty may be waived, punishment is inevitable."

He wore a compassionate smile, but his words sent chills down the spines of the five men.

"You are all mortal beings with impure and mixed essences, far less pure than those children, but better than nothing. So send you into the auxiliary alchemy pool to squeeze out your remaining essences and use them as the base ingredient for the Pure Karma Bodhi Pill. If you can survive for a full day, we will spare your lives so you can continue to serve the organization."

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, the five men were horrified, their faces instantly drained of color.

They didn't understand what a supplementary alchemy pool was, but they understood what "extracting all remaining essence" meant.

They risked their lives to run back and deliver the news, hoping to receive a reward and a promotion, but in the end they were to be used as a medicinal ingredient.

The five of them immediately regretted it.

"No, no!"

"Lord Xuanye, spare my life!"

"Lord Xuanye, please spare our lives, for the sake of our return to report!"

The five men pleaded for mercy, but their bodies moved uncontrollably as they got up and tried to run away.

Xuan Ye sighed softly and murmured "Amitabha."

He raised his hand and waved, and five streams of milky white true energy condensed into long ropes, shooting out as fast as lightning. They instantly wrapped around the waists of the five people, suspending them in mid-air, and then slowly pulled them back.

"All things are born with a destiny, and this is your destiny."

He still smiled kindly, his tone carrying a strange sense of pity: "Don't be afraid, don't complain, just accept it calmly."

As soon as he finished speaking, he flicked his wrist lightly.

The five people screamed as they were thrown into a dark cave not far away.

Below the cave entrance is the auxiliary refining pool, which is filled with dark green foam.

Several splashes followed by heart-wrenching screams.

Xuan Ye remained seated on the prayer mat, his eyes closed as he twirled the prayer beads and softly chanted scriptures.

Hearing the screams that rose and fell, his face showed not the slightest bit of pity, but rather an extremely comfortable and satisfied expression.

Ji Luo frowned and said in a deep voice, "Senior brother, it seems that some blind fools have their eyes on this place."

"Jiluo, don't be anxious or panicked."

Xuan Ye slowly opened his eyes, his tone calm: "The path of cultivation is inherently full of hardships. It is common for people to come and disturb us, but no matter how great the obstacles are, our pursuit of the supreme path will never stop."

Ji Luo nodded, deeply agreeing.

Just then, a weak yet remarkably clear voice came from the direction of the stone pillar not far away.

"Mysterious Business".

The voice carried both mockery and heart-wrenching pain.

"How can you be so hypocritical and cruel, disregarding human life and concocting evil pills? Do you live up to the teachings of Wanfo Temple?"

The two looked in the direction of the sound.

Not far away, a gaunt monk was chained to a stone pillar with heavy iron chains.

He was covered in blood, his monk's robe was tattered, and he was so weak that he seemed to be on the verge of death, but his eyes were still clear, filled with undisguised contempt and anger.

"Huaicheng!"

Ji Luo's face darkened, and he shouted sternly, "How dare you reprimand your senior brother! You have quite the nerve!"

He raised his hand, ready to gather his inner energy and step forward to teach the man a lesson.

"Junior brother."

Xuan Ye raised his hand to stop him, stood up, looked at Huai Cheng on the stone pillar, still with that kind and gentle expression, and smiled warmly.

"Junior Brother Huaicheng, so much time has passed, and you still haven't figured it out? Are you unwilling to abandon your outdated ideas and join us?"