After some tracking, you and Zhenpin arrived in front of a cave.
This Holy Fire Cult didn't have a proper sect gate; their headquarters was simply located inside this natural, massive cave.
It wasn't hard to understand why.
They worshipped fire.
They set fires during the day, set fires at night, and even when they slept, they had to light a bonfire beside them.
Doing this 365 days a year, a single mistake would easily set a house ablaze.
They didn't mind if they burned themselves. They would just think the Fire God had blessed them—the more it hurt, the more the Fire God loved them.
But a house couldn't withstand catching fire every few days.
Therefore, they could only live in caves. Stones weren't afraid of burning.
"Benefactor Chen, now that we have found their lair, let's strike directly. With the combined strength of you and me, the current Holy Fire Cult should be completely vulnerable. We can crush them in an instant."
"Who said I was going to wipe them out?"
"Didn't you just say during the day that you wanted to enforce justice on behalf of Heaven?"
"I don't think so. I actually want to join them. I like fire a lot too!"
Saying this, you circulated the Heart Flame Mystic Art and casually struck out with a palm, spewing forth a tongue of fire.
Zhenpin looked at you with a strange expression.
"Benefactor Chen, I find it increasingly hard to see through you."
"Old monk, thank you for helping me find the Holy Fire Cult. If fate allows, we will meet again in the future. For the sake of the Sword Master, please refrain from attacking the Holy Fire Cult."
"Amitabha. Since the benefactor insists on jumping into the fire pit, this is a tribulation you must face. This poor monk will not interfere. Look out for yourself."
Zhenpin left. His final expression seemed to show great disappointment in you.
You shrugged, not caring at all.
You were already quite old. Your only hope for continuing to live now was to break through your cultivation realm, so that your starting point in the next simulation would be higher.
You made a strong entrance into the cave and performed a set of the Crimson Heart Fist for a group of Holy Fire Cultists who were gathered around a bonfire, doing some unknown kneeling and bowing rituals.
Because of the characteristics of the Heart Flame Mystic Art, an external martial art, every punch you threw carried fire. You looked like a street performer doing a fire juggling act.
The Holy Fire Cultists were terrified at first, as an outsider had suddenly barged in.
Then, they were pleasantly surprised.
You could unleash flames from your body, and the damage the fire caused you was practically negligible. You were simply a natural-born Holy Body for the Holy Fire Cult!
"I want to join the Holy Fire Cult!"
"You are the Holy Son!"
"Huh? Is the promotion really this fast?"
You successfully joined the Holy Fire Cult.
You first tried to blend in with them for a few days, just to go through the motions.
But this group of people was too bizarre.
They never ate proper food on a daily basis. Instead, they tossed their food into the fire until it was carbonized, and then swallowed it down along with the sparks.
They didn't drink water. They hunted wild beasts and drank their blood.
Their cultivation method involved burning themselves with fire.
They all grimaced in pain, yet their mouths kept shouting things like "Praise the Fire God."
Unless they left the cave, as long as they were inside, everyone had to keep a bonfire burning without letting it go out, even while sleeping.
They would suddenly jolt awake in the middle of the night just to add firewood.
"A bunch of lunatics..."
You often found it impossible to fit in simply because you were too normal.
Within a few days, you revealed your true intentions.
"Lord Cult Master, my cultivation has been stuck at the peak of the Soul Tempering Realm for a long time. I heard our Holy Fire Cult has a way to break through realms, is that true?"
The Cult Master, whose beard was completely white, showed a look of pleasant surprise upon hearing this.
"We do, Holy Son, we do! You are at the peak of the Soul Tempering Realm?"
"What's wrong? Does our Holy Fire Cult not even have a Soul Tempering Realm cultivator right now?"
"Sigh. You just arrived, so you don't know enough about the history of our Holy Fire Cult. During the calamity over forty years ago, our cult not only lost all its higher-ups and elites, but our cultivation techniques were also lost. Without the key techniques to elevate our faith, it is very difficult to improve our cultivation base with our current training methods."
How could it not be difficult? Who could get stronger by self-mutilating every day?
You had no interest in the history of the Holy Fire Cult; you only hoped they could do you a favor and help you break through.
The group of cultists readily agreed, saying it was no problem.
Inside the Holy Fire Cult's cave.
An array formation pieced together with charcoal was activated.
Sixty Holy Fire Cultists sat cross-legged around the perimeter of the array.
Behind each of them was a fiercely burning ball of fire.
"Brothers and sisters, today we shall ignite our bodies and minds to help the Holy Son break through his cultivation, in hopes that our Holy Fire Cult will prosper once again!!"
You were a bit astonished.
"Wait, this Myriad Fire Heart Devouring... isn't devouring my heart?"
"Of course not! It is to use the flames to devour us, transforming us into the power for your breakthrough!!"
It was actually the legendary method of sacrifice!
Although you couldn't bear it in your heart.
But thinking that they were an evil cult and leaving them in the world would only be a menace, turning them into an aid for your breakthrough could be considered them doing a good deed for this world.
The secret art began.
The cultists raised their hands high, lay on their backs, and allowed the raging fire behind them to ignite their entire bodies.
"Burn my broken body! To save the people of the world! Ignite my ambition! To glorify the Fire God!!"
They repeated this general outline of their doctrine, struggling to hold on amidst the flames.
Suddenly.
You felt something was wrong.
You couldn't move.
The crude array made of charcoal beneath you transformed into a cage, trapping you in place.
It felt as if something was draining away from your body.
The frivolous voice of the Myriad Soul Banner rang out.
"Buddy, you fell for it. They are dividing and devouring your vital energy."
You suddenly realized the truth.
Sure enough, high-end hunters always appear as prey!
That middle-aged man you met in Wutuo City was a bait himself!
This was the true ritual of the Holy Fire Cult to improve their cultivation!
The one to be sacrificed wasn't them, it was you!
You instantly flew into a rage.
"How dare you scheme against me, you bunch of heretics!!"
Unfortunately, the Alien Race's Father trait couldn't take effect here.
But you still had the Myriad Soul Banner.
"Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts!!"
As soon as the immortal artifact was deployed, its extraordinary power was undeniable.
This group of evil cultists, whose highest cultivation was no more than the Soul Tempering Realm, were directly annihilated by a single killing move from the Myriad Soul Banner, which released thousands of demon souls in a single devastating charge.
These people turned into a pile of mush on the ground without even uttering a single groan.
Their bodies were still burning, resulting in an on-the-spot cremation.
However, you left one alive, and that was exactly the Cult Master.
Watching you stand up completely unharmed from the Myriad Fire Heart Devouring Array, holding the Myriad Soul Banner that was coolly emitting black smoke, with ferocious demon souls coiling behind you, this Cult Master felt that you were even more evil than he was.
"You... you actually possess such a treasure... You hid it deeply. Heh, a miscalculation..."
This Cult Master was actually quite calm.
They often tricked people into joining the Holy Fire Cult, then fooled them into sitting on the Myriad Fire Heart Devouring Array to divide and devour them.
Having done this kind of thing so many times, as the saying goes, if you walk along the river often enough, your shoes are bound to get wet.
"It's a pity... My Holy Fire Cult was once one of the top major cults in Xiliang, but now it has been wiped out by a stinking monk like you."
Only then did you remember that you had just shaved your head bald.
[This guy thought he had been wiped out by the Buddhists, which obviously made him even more resentful.]
["I'll ask you one more time. Do you actually have a way for someone to break through from the Soul Tempering Realm to the Golden Body Realm?"]
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
