Li Ling glanced at the golden sword hilt that was left behind by Jian Chen's death, reaching out to take it with his Blood Aura equipped for protection!

PSHW!

But as he expected, the Grade 4 Artifact exploded with power beyond what Li Ling could fathom, causing his entire forearm to explode into blood mist, making the young man grimace with annoyance. As he slowly burned precious magic power to restore his arm, he tsked at the floating artifact that did not have the energy to escape but also did not want to be picked up by a demonic sect disciple.

Because of this, he specifically activated the Blessed Augury technique once more, asking the Book of Heaven's Secrets how to carry the artifact away.

The answer was to utilize a sealing technique after 30 Slaughter Points were sacrificed to the Will of Heaven, causing Li Ling to ponder deeply. He did have a sealing technique, which was the second realm Spirit Isolation Mantra, but he was unsure if it would work on a fourth-grade artifact, even if the artifact was incomplete and had no source of energy, nor any controller.

Still, he couldn't rightly leave these spoils here for others to take, could he? Even if he had no use for swords or sword-related items, he could still sell it to the sect in exchange for merits to secure the next level of the Blood Asura Descent, no?

Li Ling silently cast the Spirit Isolation Mantra on the golden sword hilt, which immediately began to resist his sealing. Immediately, Li Ling spat out a mouthful of blood and seemed extremely strained, his temples throbbing and his veins all pressing against his skin.

It might seem amusing, but Li Ling literally felt like he was trying to wrestle down a large and enraged bull with his bare hands. The slightest mistake and he would be thrown off and trampled. Most importantly, his magic power, which was already nearing below half after the fight with Jian Chen's group along with his use of the Restoration Spell for healing, was being consumed like water from an opened tap.

In seconds, he was in danger of bottoming out and damaging his dantian as well as his foundation, so with bloodshot eyes, Li Ling made a request of the system.

'Externalize Slaughter Points to seal this artifact for me!' He roared internally, to which the Infinite Slaughter System responded immediately.

[You do not have enough Slaughter Points. Grade 4 and Fourth Realm related Slaughter Point rewards and costs start from 10,000 Slaughter Points minimum due to the severe watershed.]

Li Ling paled, because his magic power just ran out and his dantian was hollowed out to make up for the deficit. Enduring the pain, he could only make a new request.

'Externalize Slaughter Points to refill my magic power!'

｢System Prompt: You have sacrificed 150 Slaughter Points to refill magic power.｣

Li Ling sighed with relief as his dantian surged with magic power, but the damage done was not healed since he did not request for that. However, it did not matter as he could likely repair it later on by externalizing more Slaughter Points.

Unfortunately, the Restoration Spell could not heal such an injury to one's foundation, but then again, it was only at the entry stage.

He continued to apply pressure to the golden sword hilt and had to refill his dantian more than three times before he barely secured control, costing him a total of 600 Slaughter Points just to take down this item which was his own spoils in the first place!

The Grade 4 artifact unwillingly let out one sword chime before being silenced, its color dimming as its artifact spirit was sealed by Li Ling, along with its energy. If this item had been complete, in the hands of an owner—even a Qi Refinement owner—and had the ability to autonomously absorb spiritual energy, Li Ling would never have had this chance.

As it were, he forked over a finger with his Spirit Sense Control and brought the golden sword hilt into his palm, holding the cold sword with a victorious smile. Even if he did not need it, there were plenty of others in the sect who could make something of this, so Li Ling was looking forward to this second batch of merits because it would be able to help him net some of his long list of necessary daoist arts.

He casually pocketed it and continued onward to the Six Paths Hall's outpost near the edge of the Five Elements Sect's territory. As for the ladies who had been filled with hope before, they were all sobbing and weeping in the face of the death of their 'heroes,' something which made Kong Beiwu feel slightly annoyed.

However, this couldn't change their fate in the slightest as Li Ling slowly landed at the gathering point for Six Paths Hall disciples who wanted to group up before heading out. When they saw Li Ling return with such a 'full' haul, many cast him envious and respectful glances, while others wondered where the rest of his team was.

Li Ling paid them no mind and directly returned to his courtyard that was assigned to him by Pang Wen, pushing the door open to see Luo Roumei seated by a rookery, cultivating with a serious expression. When she saw Li Ling arrive after opening her eyes, she then saw the bevy of tragic beauties that came with him and frowned deeply.

Indeed, was it as she thought? Was it really that this demonic sect disciple was truly lustful? But given his actions and the feeling he gave her, that did not seem to be the case, which left Luo Roumei completely confused this past week.

"She is your new sister in bondage, so go greet her." Li Ling casually pointed to Luo Roumei with an amused expression.

Meanwhile, he forked a finger to Luo Roumei, who walked over with a slight frown, nodding to Kong Beiwu after seeing the familiar 'M' symbol on his forehead. That left her even more confused, as she wondered why he went for this young man… unless this demon swung both ways?!

"Settle these young ladies. Get them bathed and cleaned up, their owner will be coming over soon." Li Ling instructed, which made Luo Roumei's face change as she understood.

These ladies were not for Li Ling, but likely property to be sold!

This made her glance at these young ladies who were frightened by Li Ling's words with pity, but the 'M' symbol on her forehead was beginning to burn, making sure that she couldn't defy his orders. As such, she led the girls into the courtyard while Li Ling moved to sit himself at the main table, relaxing into the soft, cushioned chairs with a deep sigh.

Kong Beiwu dropped the plentiful storage bags he had been holding up until now onto the table and shook his tired and numb arms. He then glanced around the empty courtyard that had only himself and his master, wondering who best to be of service when there was a hurried knocking on the gate.

"Go and open it. A friend should be coming to pay a visit." Li Ling instructed with a lax smile, to which Kong Beiwu obeyed immediately.

When Kong Beiwu opened the gate, he saw a sweaty Pang Wen with shifty eyes, who glanced at him with a strange look.

"Where is Brother Li? Who are you?" he asked with puzzlement.

"I am my master's servant and he is within, awaiting your presence. Please follow me." Kong Beiwu answered in a manner he thought was befitting a servant, having interacted with some nobles in the Fire Heart Hall in that mortal city that Li Ling previously extinguished.

Pang Wen was confused until he saw the 'M' symbol on Kong Beiwu's forehead after he bowed, remembering that the Spirit Human girl Li Ling had the last time also bore this mark. Understanding but wondering why Li Ling would bother to enslave a male, Pang Wen muttered to himself about gay tendencies as he entered the courtyard with hasty steps.

When he saw the relaxed Li Ling, and then the pile of spirit bags and pouches on the table, his eyes lit up as his stubby legs propelled him into the seat opposite Li Ling, rubbing his palms together with rapacious intentions.

"Haha, Brother Li, you are truly the greatest talent our sect has seen in the last… err, three years? Not bad! Not bad!" Pang Wen praised insincerely, his eyes never leaving the goods on the table.

Li Ling, tired from all the shenanigans during his dispatch, waved a hand lazily. "Just take your share and go, fatty. I want to go and sleep for a few days to recover my weary spirit."

Pang Wen tsked. "What weary? You think I don't know that you cleared your dispatch alone? In fact, not just I, but everyone in the administration center is talking about you, a crazy madman who can drop Perfection-stage meteors and regenerate from any wound like an undead!"

Li Ling sighed internally, knowing that as long as that Asura Blood Token was in his body, his actions would not be hidden from certain parties in the sect, but to even have this level of privacy breached...

It seemed that he should also consider remodeling the sect and killing those who allowed non-administrative personnel to view his specific 'files.'

Oh, Pang Wen and the True Human Path fellows were all admin workers?

Fine then.

"Right now, you should be happy. You have caused a lot of trouble for your Hall Master, who is currently in a meeting with the other five Hall Masters about you." Pang Wen revealed as he began emptying storage bag after storage bag, meticulously arranging the goods around the table.

This information caught Li Ling's interest. "Oh? Why bother him? The penalty he put on me was justified, no? I broke the rules by killing a disciple in the hall and trying to extort the hall through trickery."

Pang Wen glanced at Li Ling with disdain. "Is that even a crime? That is basic demonic sect disciple operation. They'd be more worried if you did not do what you did, being a Blood Child and all."

Hmm?

Li Ling moved from his lax position and sat up with a serious face. "Fatty, what are you trying to say?"

Pang Wen continued to empty the bags and arrange the plentiful resources one by one, speaking casually. "Look, Brother Li. I call you brother not because we are fellow sect disciples, but because I like the way you handle things. Right now, you can lone wolf because you are strong and have potential, but at the higher levels, especially in the middle layer of the sect, you will need connections and your own force."

Pang Wen looked at Li Ling with a meaningful look. "This isn't just because of politics, it's because of the dao. We are the Six Paths Demon Sect, not the One Path Demon Sect. Each path must link with one of the other six to achieve consummation and exert power greater than what one could ever do alone."

"Since we can't practice all six methods concurrently, the best alternative is to find a partner from each branch and link your lifeforce together, granting exponential benefits to power and cultivation speed. This is why we are able to resist the Trinity of Righteousness who have Heaven's Will backing them in trying to exterminate us." Pang Wen concluded with a casual shrug.

Li Ling was silent for a bit, then shook his head and leaned back into his seat. "Thanks for giving me the heads up, fatty, but what does it have to do with my question? And the Hall Masters?"

Pang Wen rolled his eyes with frustration. "That's exactly the point. With such a display of power and potential, the Hall Masters of the other halls are eager to pair you up early with one of their people, so negotiations are basically underway with your Hall Master to make some initial agreements."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.