Translator: CinderTL
Believers!
Creatures who worship evil gods and are corrupted by the power of the Divine Race. Any human who spends a prolonged period with them will be eroded and infected, falling into a fanatical, irrational devotion.
They will go to great lengths to recruit all their relatives, friends, and acquaintances, converting them into believers as well.
Reason, thought, consciousness, cognition?
All of these are replaced by the presence of the evil god!
The deity is supreme! The deity is unparalleled!
At this moment, although these believers are still alive and appear no different from ordinary people, they are essentially puppets existing solely to spread the faith of the evil god.
Any words questioning their devotion to the evil god will instantly transform them from normal to monstrous, causing them to viciously attack the blasphemer.
Just like now, facing the disciples of the Taixu Sword Sect who are clearly trying to stop them from spreading their divine faith, they will hide and evade. But once they have nowhere to hide, they will launch a fearless attack, fighting until they shed their last drop of blood for their god!
"Kill! Kill them all! The great will shall not be suppressed!"
"The Taixu Sword Sect dares to prohibit us from proclaiming the greatness of the Purifying God? They must die!"
"The world shall be purified!"
Over a dozen believers roared and charged out of the cave.
Each of them had bloodshot eyes, ferocious expressions, and terrifying demeanors, resembling frenzied zombies!
Under the corruption of the evil god's power, their physical potential was fully unleashed, and their sprinting speed was no less than that of top-tier Body Refinement Cultivators.
The leading believer even had divine light flickering around him, clearly preparing a spell they referred to as divine magic.
Seeing this swarm of frenzied believers charging out, Li Chunjun didn't hesitate. He activated the Profound Phoenix Sword Qi within him!
The Scarlet Gold Sword slashed out, and the Profound Phoenix Sword Wheel spun rapidly, instantly striking the fastest-charging believer.
The sharp and scorching sword qi cut the believer in half in an instant!
After tearing through the believer's body, the sword wheel continued its momentum, slicing through another believer behind him, and then a third, before finally being shattered by a blade light unleashed by a believer further back.
But even as the Profound Phoenix Sword Wheel was destroyed, the dispersed sword qi caused a violent explosion in the narrow cave.
The explosion, accompanied by a wave of flames, blasted the surrounding believers, sending several of them tumbling, their bodies scorched.
The entire cave was filled with falling dust, creating a haze.
At this moment, two believers at the back who had mastered divine magic completed their spells, and two streams of light shot toward Li Chunjun.
Just as the two streams of light arrived, the Scarlet Gold Sword in Li Chunjun's hand seemed to come alive, shooting out to intercept them. In an instant, it collided with and shattered both streams of light!
Immediately after, the Scarlet Gold Sword soared past the crowd of believers, heading straight for the two top-tier believers at the very back.
As for Li Chunjun himself...
The Profound Phoenix Sword Qi flowed!
He charged directly at the beast-like believers, his sword qi crisscrossing the battlefield!
Although the believers charging at him were fearless, each one willing to sacrifice their life for the glory of their god, their crude equipment and disorganized attacks posed little threat in the face of the sharp and lethal Profound Phoenix Sword Qi.
Under the sword qi, one believer after another had their heads pierced!
No one could stop him!
By the time the Scarlet Gold Sword, guided by Li Chunjun's Divine Sense, killed the two top-tier believers skilled in divine magic, all thirteen believers in the cave had fallen.
Though no one remained standing, one believer, whose legs had been pierced by the sword qi, was still writhing and roaring, his face twisted in fury as he stumbled toward Li Chunjun.
Seeing this, Li Chunjun waved his hand.
The Scarlet Gold Sword, which had just killed the two top-tier believers, returned and pierced the head of this last believer before finally landing back in Li Chunjun's hand.
The Profound Phoenix Sword Qi burned, and the bloodstains on the Scarlet Gold Sword were quickly incinerated.
Li Chunjun glanced at the corpses on the ground, which still maintained their "human" appearance, and thought of their fearless, almost instinct-less state during the battle. He fell into a brief silence.
He finally understood why the Nine Great Immortal Sects used their utmost strength to suppress the spread of religion.
Then, as if realizing something...
...
"Killed Level 15 creature, gained +131 experience!"
"Killed Level 16 creature, gained +334 experience!"
"Killed Level 17 creature, gained +798 experience!"
"Killed Level 17 creature, gained +830 experience!"
"Killed Level 16 creature, gained +345 experience!"
...
[Life Level: 19 (5615/9000)]
...
"Wait," he muttered. "It's half."
He recalled the description of believers in the Taixu Sword Sect's records.
The souls of believers had already been corroded by the evil god and no longer belonged to themselves.
So...
"Half of their souls have been taken by the evil god," Li Chunjun thought.
The cost-effectiveness was low.
However, compared to beasts and demons, which yielded almost no "experience," believers at least provided half.
Then another question arose.
The evil god took half, and he, by killing the believers, took the other half.
So...
"Am I also an evil god?"
Or was the "Human Emperor" banner an evil god's artifact?
This thought lingered in his mind for a moment before he cast it aside.
Did it matter?
No!
"A bunch of NPCs, and they're going on about morality and righteousness? What saintly nonsense?"
The concepts of good and evil in the outside world were shaped by the environment.
He only needed to maintain his own standards.
Even if those standards were so low that they seemed cold and heartless to many.
As long as he could achieve immortality, none of it mattered.
...
"Fifteen believers! Two top-tier believers equivalent to Qi Refining Level 7, and the rest ranging from Qi Refining Level 5 to Level 6..."
This group, charging together with their fearless nature, could pose a significant threat to a Qi Refining Level 8 cultivator.
Even a Qi Refining Level 9 cultivator would face considerable pressure.
But for Li Chunjun...
They were weak!
Next, Li Chunjun continued searching for new believer strongholds.
In less than an hour, he entered another extremely well-hidden crevice.
When he emerged from the crevice, his body was stained with some blood.
Thanks to the nature of the Profound Phoenix Sword Qi, the amount of blood was minimal.
This time, he had also killed two top-tier believers and a dozen or so Level 5 and Level 6 believers.
It seemed...
All the believers gathered together had been arranged in a way that they posed a threat to a Qi Refining Level 9 cultivator, but the threat wasn't fatal.
As for the reason behind this situation...
Li Chunjun didn't need to guess.
He didn't express anything.
In fact, he thought it was fine.
It was just a bit of a waste of manpower and resources.
Glancing at his life level progress...
"Two Level 6 or one Level 7," he thought to himself.
By then, it would be almost time for the sword offering.
Additionally...
He'd have to pay attention to some aspects during the sword offering.
...
On the Silver Wing Boat.
Huan Ming and the various sect leaders watched as Li Chunjun effortlessly cleared the believer strongholds, their expressions showing some surprise.
"The difficulty seems a bit low?"
"The initial difficulty was set based on him having the combat power of a Qi Refining Level 9 cultivator, so it was just right. Any higher, and it might have been dangerous. But now... after two months, his strength has increased further, making it feel insufficient."
"I think the kid has realized something. This way, the training won't have the intended effect."
The peak masters discussed among themselves.
"Then... according to Plan Three, create an 'accident'?" You Long looked at Huan Ming.
Huan Ming glanced at Li Chunjun, whose clothes were barely dirtied, and nodded slightly. "Yes, let's create an 'accident.' A flower grown in a greenhouse can't be vibrant. We mustn't ruin his future by overprotecting him."
"Since we're not planning to raise him as a greenhouse flower, is Plan Three strong enough? Should we go with Plan Six?" someone suggested.
Huan Ming looked at the speaker—it was Lei Yuan.
"Plan Six? Fourteen Qi Refining Level 9 cultivators and nearly a hundred top-tier believers? Isn't that too dangerous?" Bai Lian interjected.
"What's the danger? We're watching, aren't we? Besides, that prodigy of ours has a fourth-tier protective treasure. Even a Core Formation cultivator wouldn't be able to harm him in a short time!"
Lei Yuan spoke directly, "If we hadn't captured enough believers, hundreds of top-tier believers would have been necessary to match the strength of these disciples. It's also a good opportunity to test their character and temperament when faced with danger."
He then added meaningfully, "Character and temperament are crucial for a cultivator. The example of a certain genius who collapsed after a single setback is the best proof."
These words made Jiang Yuqiu frown.
"Peak Master Lei!" Huan Ming's tone carried a hint of reprimand.
"I'm just stating the facts," Lei Yuan retorted without backing down. "Also, the mission has been going on for several hours. Shouldn't the leaderboard be displayed for us to see? Who has killed the most believers and is ranked first?"
Huan Ming didn't respond, instead turning his gaze to Jiang Yuqiu.
"Then let's go with Plan Six," Jiang Yuqiu replied.
She wasn't acting out of provocation, but because Li Chunjun's strength was indeed greater than they had anticipated.
The current arrangement couldn't produce the desired training effect, wasting an opportunity.
Moreover, she believed the protective measures they had given Li Chunjun would allow him to handle any crisis, including a Core Formation cultivator's sudden attack.
"Very well," Huan Ming said after Jiang Yuqiu agreed, and quickly relayed the order.
At that moment, in the direction of Yandang Mountain, a group of desperate cultists suddenly noticed a gap in the Taixu Sword Sect's search perimeter.
Without hesitation, hundreds of high-level and top-tier believers surged out through this gap, rapidly fleeing toward the nearby Heaven's Rift Mountain.
Heaven's Rift Mountain had numerous crevices, making it easier to hide.
Additionally, they had heard that there were also believers active in that area.
By joining forces, they could better expand and develop.
...
Just as the Taixu Sword Sect artificially intensified the situation by creating an "accident"...
The image projected by a Mirror Light Art suddenly disappeared.
It turned out that when Li Chunjun attacked another stronghold, the cave collapsed, disrupting the environment in that area.
However, the people on the Silver Wing Boat weren't too concerned.
Only Jiang Yuqiu glanced at the records.
When she saw that the stronghold had only one top-tier believer and six Level 5 or 6 high-level believers—a target point prepared to give Li Chunjun a sense of participation if his combat power fell short of Qi Refining Level 9—she finally relaxed.
(End of the Chapter)
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