Who Let Him Cultivate？

Chapter 62: The Location of the Stronghold

Ten minutes later, Qin Yuanhao and the tall, thin man left the brothel with expressionless faces, completely lacking the excitement they had before entering.

Lu Yang scratched his temple. They came out so quickly?

At the entrance, the madam handed Qin Yuanhao and the tall, thin man each a slip of paper. The two opened them, glanced, and immediately destroyed them.

“Brother Qin, the Branch Leader has summoned me to the branch. I must take my leave.”

“Yes, the Branch Leader has also assigned me a task. Let us part here. Do not forget to spread the word about my visit to the brothel.”

“No problem.”

The two separated in front of the brothel. Lu Yang’s heart stirred, and he chose to follow the tall, thin man.

The tall, thin man’s cultivation was similar to Qin Yuanhao’s, and he did not detect Lu Yang underground.

The surrounding pedestrians and houses gradually thinned out. Eventually, it became a desolate wilderness with no one in sight.

The tall, thin man seemed very familiar with the area, walking the mountain path with ease. The path twisted and turned. After about fifteen minutes, he stopped before a stone wall.

This place was located at the border between Yanjiang County and another county. Theoretically, it belonged to Yanjiang County, but historically, both sides had reasons to claim jurisdiction.

Precisely because both had reasons, neither side bothered to govern it.

After all, there was nothing valuable here, so there was no need to fight over it.

He knocked on the wall—three long taps and one short one—while muttering an incantation. The wall then became like water.

Qin Yuanhao stepped into the wall and disappeared.

Lu Yang heard him chant: “Indestructible Immortal, death and rebirth, dispelling clouds to see the sun, enduring forever.”

“Is this a grotto-heaven?” Lu Yang’s eyes narrowed, revealing a look of surprise.

Grotto-heavens are spaces created by Cultivation experts proficient in spatial techniques. The higher the cultivation level, the more complete the space.

Generally, Soul Formation stage cultivators can open their own spaces.

Some cultivators like to use grotto-heavens as residences, living in seclusion. Others prefer to use them as tombs, also living in seclusion.

Throughout history, there have been countless Soul Formation stage cultivators, not to mention the three higher realms above: Void Refinement, Body Integration, and Tribulation Transcendence.

Cultivators die, but grotto-heavens remain. This has resulted in many relic grotto-heavens across the Central Continent. Since most cultivators do not reveal the location or method to open their grotto-heavens before death, people can only rely on luck to find these ancient spaces.

No one knows how many grotto-heavens remain unopened today.

Senior Sister said that with the arrival of a great era, more and more grotto-heavens are being discovered, allowing many to obtain Fated Chances and soar to new heights.

The grotto-heaven before him likely belonged to an ancient predecessor, discovered and repurposed by the demonic cult.

Lu Yang did not rashly follow. He chose to stay quietly in the soil, waiting for the tall, thin man to come out.

Lu Yang felt this was unsafe. After all, this was the Yanjiang Branch, a demonic cult stronghold with unknown numbers of experts. Simply hiding in the soil was not concealment enough.

Thinking this, Lu Yang retreated to a distance where he could just see the entrance. He used a shrinking technique to reduce his body size and employed the barbarian concealment art provided by Man Gu to hide.

After about an hour, a masked man emerged from the stone wall, with the tall, thin man following behind.

It seemed the masked man held a higher status than the tall, thin man.

“Hmm?” The masked man sensed something amiss. He released his Divine Sense to scan the surroundings, not even sparing the underground.

“Come out. I’ve found you. Don’t think you’re hidden well. Show yourself now, and I might spare your life!” the masked man said calmly.

“Still not coming out? Don’t think I’m a merciful person. I’ll count to three. If you don’t emerge, don’t blame me for not giving you a chance!”

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

“Die!”

The Branch Leader gathered a force in his palm and struck in a direction, causing a rumbling sound.

“Branch Leader, what happened?” the tall, thin man asked respectfully.

The Branch Leader shook his head. “I felt someone watching me. I tried to bluff, but there was no response. Perhaps it was an illusion.”

Lu Yang broke out in a cold sweat. He had just considered jumping out of the soil to fight the Branch Leader, thinking it might offer a slim chance of survival.

Fortunately, his willpower was strong, and he suppressed the impulse. He believed the barbarian concealment art would not expose him.

Lu Yang felt the Branch Leader’s Divine Sense scan over him, but he thought the Branch Leader only took him for a rock and paid no mind.

If the Branch Leader had truly discovered him, why would he count down? Direct action would be the logical course.

“Fortunately, the barbarian concealment art is advanced. As long as I don’t move, I won’t be discovered,” Lu Yang thought to himself. “This Branch Leader likely has Golden Core stage cultivation.”

“How are the preparations for the selection in ten days?”

“Everything is ready. We’re just waiting for fellow practitioners to come here in ten days to pass the selection and join us.”

“Very good. I hope we can recruit more demonic path geniuses this time. That way, headquarters will pay more attention to the Yanjiang Branch.”

The two spoke as they walked, quickly disappearing from Lu Yang’s line of sight. Lu Yang remained motionless, fearing exposure.

“Golden Core stage is indeed not simple.”

Lu Yang waited another half hour, worried the Branch Leader might be too suspicious and suddenly return.

After half an hour, the Branch Leader did not appear.

“He’s gone.”

Lu Yang left via earth escape.

This trip was quite fruitful. He not only learned the location of the Yanjiang Branch but also confirmed the selection would take place here.

…

“Tell me, Ghostly Sorrow, what’s with your hair? I heard you pluck one hair for every person you kill?” Constable Wei asked, crossing his legs. The thieves sat in a row opposite him, trembling.

“N-no, nothing like that. It’s just hard being the boss, leading a team is tough, my subordinates cause trouble everywhere, the stress made my hair fall out.”

“What about you, Desperate Second Brother? I heard you fought a Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivator, you blinded both his eyes, and he blinded one of yours?”

“M-my eyes are fine. Wearing an eyepatch looks more imposing. In the jianghu, you need something to boast about.”

“And you, Grasshopper Fly? I heard you stole from the imperial palace. Conservatively, you’d be imprisoned for life, or severely, executed by a thousand cuts.”

Thief Third Brother cried injustice: “Misunderstanding, sir! I owed money and didn’t repay, so my creditor broke one of my legs to cancel the debt.”

Constable Wei yawned. He thought each had major cases, but it was just this?

“Constable, I confess, I confess everything. I’ve stolen from sixteen families…”

Constable Wei waved his hand. “No rush. First, tell me, why did all of you come to Yanjiang County in one go?”

“This…” The thief leader hesitated, weighing the pros and cons of speaking.

Constable Wei pointed to the torture chamber behind him. “See those instruments back there? If you don’t talk, we’ll use them to help you speak.”

The instruments had remnants of black blood, looking particularly eerie. The thieves swallowed hard and rushed to confess.

“I’ll say…”

The thieves had just uttered two words when they abruptly stopped.

If someone stood behind them, they would see fine needles, thin as ox hair, embedded in their necks, coated with potent poison!

“Assassin!”

Constable Wei, being the most experienced constable, reacted immediately. He rushed outside to search for the assassin.

But there was no one outside.

In the interrogation room, shadows seemed to flow as if alive, as if chuckling softly, then vanished.