Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask.

"Oh no, an enem—"

In the silent valley, a cry of sheer terror was cut short halfway.

Swoosh—

A flash of bright sword light streaked across. The Golden Core Realm demonic Cultivator's eyes widened instantly as a massive amount of blood sprayed from his throat. He fell backward onto the ground, turning into a cold, stiff corpse.

"Kill!"

After cleanly and efficiently dealing with the outer patrol, the female Cultivators of the Linglong Holy Land, their beautiful faces filled with Evil Qi, sped toward the heart of the mining valley like bolts of lightning.

Rumble!

Dozens of powerful offensive spells struck the defensive Formation outside the mine like raindrops, triggering a series of deafening roars.

Instantly, the entire mine began to vibrate violently. Countless rocks tumbled down, kicking up a cloud of dust that filled the sky.

Crack!

After several rounds of attacks, the once-solid defensive Formation finally began to give way. Dense cracks spread across the pure white light shield before it shattered with a loud bang.

Seeing the Formation shatter, the female Cultivators' morale soared, and they charged in menacingly.

"Except for Situ Yun and the laborers inside, kill everyone else without mercy!"

Due to the suddenness of the event, the demonic Cultivators guarding the mine were dazed from the start. By the time they reacted, the situation was beyond salvation.

Facing a group of well-trained Holy Land Disciples, the enemies within the outpost couldn't even organize a decent resistance and could only flee in panic in all directions.

Soon, the battle lost all suspense and turned into a one-sided slaughter... "What's going on... Has the False Dao attacked?!"

Hearing the thunderous commotion outside, Situ Yun stood up from his seat in the steward's room with a start, looking out the door with a pale face.

From the moment he was exiled to this remote mine, he had worried this day would come. He hadn't expected misfortune to arrive so quickly.

At this moment, he didn't have the slightest thought of going out to fight. Instead, he quickly pushed aside a row of cabinets, revealing a dark secret passage entrance.

"Demonic brat, I found you!"

Just as Situ Yun was about to dive into the secret passage to escape, a sharp female voice came from behind him, scaring him out of his wits as he scrambled forward desperately.

Before he could take two steps, a powerful force struck from behind, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood and fall heavily to the ground... Meanwhile.

While the entire mine was in chaos, Qi Yuan unhurriedly broke free from the shackles on his hands and feet and walked out of the mine shaft where he had been held.

In just a short while, the battle had already ended.

The ground was littered with the corpses of Demonic Sect Disciples. Judging by the condition of the bodies, most had been killed with a single, clean strike.

This was because the Linglong Holy Land, as a righteous sect, did not have the habit of torturing their enemies. Had it been the Demonic Sect's way of doing things, one would likely struggle to find even a complete limb.

Outside the mine, over a thousand rescued laborers gathered, kneeling and kowtowing to the group of Linglong Holy Land female Cultivators with tears of gratitude. Their words were filled with endless respect and piety:

"Thank you, Fairies, for saving us!"

"This mine is like a Hell on earth. If not for your kindness, Fairies, our lives would have been lost inside!"

"We cannot repay this life-saving grace. Please accept this humble one's bow."

"Indeed, the Fairies are truly living Bodhisattvas..."

...Facing the stream of compliments, the leading female Cultivator nodded slightly and said in an indifferent tone:

"There is no need for this. We are merely following orders and do not deserve such thanks."

"This place is still Demonic Sect territory. You should flee quickly. Be more cautious in the future so you don't get captured again."

Hearing this, the crowd finally snapped out of it and fled in panic. In a short while, they had all disappeared.

Having finally been rescued, it would be too tragic if they were caught by the Demonic Sect again.

"I still have one more thing to do."

After dismissing the grateful laborers, the leading female Cultivator's expression turned stern as she instructed the female Disciples behind her, "Stay here and guard this place. Do not let Situ Yun escape."

With that, she threw the deeply unconscious Situ Yun onto the ground and flew away without looking back.

A short while later.

In a dense forest outside the valley.

"Who exactly are you?"

The female Cultivator from before sized up the strange man in front of her with curiosity, asking in confusion, "Why did the Sect Head tell us to follow your instructions?"

Qi Yuan blinked calmly and said with a smile:

"Senior Sister, I advise you not to pry into things you shouldn't. My identity involves the highest secrets of the Righteous Path. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"What?"

Upon hearing this, the female Cultivator couldn't help but feel a surge of respect. She quickly composed herself and said respectfully, "This humble woman was impulsive. I hope the Young Master will forgive me."

Although she was an Outer Hall Elder of the Linglong Holy Land, she was far from being part of the Holy Land's high-level management and was not qualified to know true secrets.

Moreover, regarding such a major matter concerning the struggle between the Righteous and Demonic paths, she feared she would face dire consequences if she continued to probe... Qi Yuan, unaware of her inner monologue, said directly:

"You all did very well this time, but you don't need to appear in the next part of the play, otherwise it will look too fake."

"When night falls, have your Subordinates find an opportunity to release Situ Yun."

"Of course, not blatantly. You must make him feel as though he escaped after going through immense hardships..."

He then explained his plan in detail. Fearing that the female Disciples of the Linglong Holy Land might not have great acting skills, he even coached them on several details.

After hearing all this, the female Cultivator was stunned for a moment before nodding in agreement without hesitation:

"Alright, we will do as you say."

...Night.

Situ Yun slowly woke up to find himself tied up tightly in a camp, with two female Disciples of the Linglong Holy Land guarding him nearby.

He tried to struggle a few times, only to find that he couldn't even muster a trace of spiritual Qi.

It's over!

Realizing his situation, his face turned ashen, and a sense of despair spread through his heart.

Falling into the hands of the False Dao, even death might become a luxury.

Situ Yun also knew why these people had spared his life.

As a True Disciple of the Yin Sha Sect, although he didn't rank high among them, he still possessed many secrets.

Therefore, True Disciples of the Yin Sha Sect all cultivated secret techniques to prevent soul searching.

These female Cultivators of the Linglong Holy Land had chosen to take him back to the Holy Land because they weren't confident in searching his soul and wanted to ensure they got complete information.

At that time, a higher-level Cultivator would perform the soul search to ensure nothing went wrong.

At the thought of the consequences of a forced soul search, he trembled with fear, feeling as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

"Senior Sister Meng, he seems to be awake."

Hearing the sound, one of the female Disciples on guard asked softly, "Should we start the interrogation now?"

The other female Cultivator, surnamed Meng, shook her head and said after a moment's thought:

"No rush. Elder Liang is out on business. It won't be too late to interrogate him when she returns."

That Soul Transformation Cultivator isn't here!

This news lifted Situ Yun's spirits, and the hope of survival was rekindled in his heart.

After thinking for a moment, he pretended to squirm and shouted:

"Fairies, could you please untie me? I need to use the latrine."

"Shut up! You're a Nascent Soul Cultivator. How could you possibly not be able to hold such a small thing?"

The Cultivator surnamed Meng snorted coldly, "I'm warning you, don't try any tricks."

Situ Yun said with a bitter smile:

"I don't have a shred of magic power on me right now; I'm no different from a Mortal. I drank a lot of tea before I was caught, so of course I can't hold it now. Why don't you two come over and help me?"

"You lecher!"

Hearing this, Senior Sister Meng's eyebrows shot up as she said coldly, "In your dreams!"

"Let me tell you, even if you wet your pants on the spot, don't think we'll untie you..."

Before she could finish, she saw a puddle of water seeping from beneath his pants, faintly accompanied by a peculiar smell.

"You... you actually did it..."

The two female Cultivators were stunned.

Realizing what had happened, their faces instantly flushed red, and they scolded:

"Demonic brat, you—you actually dared to pee in your pants!"

They wanted to step forward to teach him a lesson, but they were too disgusted to touch him. If they weren't careful, wouldn't they get splashed?

"Fairies, wait."

At this moment, Situ Yun's expression changed, and he said in a muffled voice, "It seems there was something wrong with the tea I just drank. Now I have diarrhea. If you don't untie me, I can only..."

"Ah?"

The two women looked at each other, feeling that they truly couldn't endure the scene that was about to follow. One of them said, "Senior Sister Meng, anyway, this person's entire magic power is sealed. Even without the Demon-Binding Lock, he can't cause any trouble."

"How about we untie him first and escort him to the latrine?"

After some hesitation, Senior Sister Meng nodded:

"Fine. If we really let him go in the tent, we'll probably both be disgusted to death. Let's do as you say, but we must keep a very close eye on him..."