Chapter 953 - Converted into Devotees

Liu Wuxie asked many questions, but the assassins knew too little to be of any real help.

"Do you know where the headquarters of the Black Plume Pavilion is?" Liu Wuxie asked.

"We don't. Our rank is too low," said Lu Liang, one of the assassins Liu Wuxie had questioned earlier.

The woman from the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy was named Ruan Ying. The remaining two were called He Hai'an and Jiang Nan.

Strangely, these four hadn't known each other before the mission. They had only come together after receiving their orders.

"Are there any other assassins besides the four of you?" Liu Wuxie asked.

He had already predicted they wouldn't know the location of the headquarters or the mastermind's identity.

"We don't know. The one who issued the mission never shares more than necessary. Like this time, they only gave each of us the other three's information and the location to rendezvous in the sacred ground to kill a specific target," Lu Liang replied.

When Lu Liang received the mission, it contained only basic information about Ruan Ying, He Hai'an, and Jiang Nan—just enough for them to locate one another and regroup quickly upon entering the sacred ground.

"All of you are quite talented. Why did you choose to become assassins for the Black Plume Pavilion?" Liu Wuxie asked. He was intrigued by the Black Plume Pavilion's operation and its ability to maintain control over its assassins.

Liu Wuxie couldn't understand why they would choose to become assassins for the Black Plume Pavilion just for treasures or resources. Take Ruan Ying, for example. She lacked nothing as a prestigious disciple of the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy. With enough contributions, she could exchange points for anything she desired.

Why would someone like her willingly become an assassin and allow others to dictate her fate? Failure meant only one thing—death.

According to his estimation, these four had taken over a dozen lives over the years. They had even been responsible for some of the mysterious deaths among the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy's disciples.

"We were recruited by the Black Plume Pavilion when we were five. Everything else—our public identities—was just a cover," Ruan Ying said.

It was just as Liu Wuxie had suspected. Many assassin organizations were fond of kidnapping children and training them from a young age. These children were molded into weapons, taught the art of assassination, and their skills honed to precision.

As they grew older, they were given new identities. Outwardly, they appeared to have promising futures as disciples of the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy or other major sects. But beneath the surface, nothing had changed. They remained assassins, tools forged by the Black Plume Pavilion.

They were compelled to obey every order, especially since the Black Plume Pavilion had too much information about them. Death would be the fate of anyone who dared to disobey.

Perhaps few took their lives when their conscience awakened, choosing death over having their lives dictated by the Black Plume Pavilion. However, the majority would gradually become emotionless husks, consumed by their role as assassins.

It was no wonder that little information was available on the Black Plume Pavilion. The Pavilion trained each assassin alone in secret. Once the training ended, they destroyed the site, and the trainers never revealed their faces.

This way, even if an assassin was captured and their soul scoured, they still couldn't reveal anything about the organization.

The Black Plume Pavilion is well hidden...

Liu Wuxie fell into deep thought, disappointed that they couldn't provide him with much information, even after converting them into devotees.

Then again, it hadn't been a complete waste of effort. At the very least, he had learned of an existence called Elder Black, and he could use these four to draw him out.

That had been his plan all along—to use them as bait.

Killing them would be too merciful. Since they were doomed to die, either way, he might as well make their deaths worth something.

"Master, you have to be careful. Since the founding of the Black Plume Pavilion, the Soaring Bloom Order has been issued ten times, and none of the targets survived," Lu Liang said with genuine concern in his tone.

They had been converted into Liu Wuxie's devotees, and they wouldn't hesitate even if Liu Wuxie ordered them to take their own lives. They were planted with absolute loyalty toward Liu Wuxie while their thoughts and intelligence remained unaffected.

Such was the marvel of Conversion Art; it didn't erase their identity or mind, only rewrote their loyalty toward its user.

The Soaring Bloom Order had been issued ten times throughout history, and there were even targets at the Heaven Profound Realm. Yet, all the targets were killed without exception. It was no wonder that the Soaring Bloom Order struck fear in anyone who heard of it.

Now, Liu Wuxie had to deal with both the Golden Cauldron Pavilion and the Black Plume Pavilion, the latter being just as dangerous as the former.

Liu Wuxie rubbed his temples. His thoughts were a tangled mess. He didn't know what to do next.

"Split up and spread the word that a mysterious person has killed everyone here," Liu Wuxie ordered, waving his hand. He would let them live for now, as he planned to follow them in secret and use them to uncover Elder Black's identity upon exiting.

Moreover, killing over a thousand people was too outrageous, and Liu Wuxie didn't want the true extent of his strength revealed for now. As for the few who had escaped, they had likely gone mad from the overwhelming fear. Even if they maintained their sanity, he believed they would race toward the exit, not wanting to stay for another moment.

"Yes, Master!" The four scattered in different directions. After all, they weren't acquainted before this mission.

Liu Wuxie also left as he sensed someone approaching.

The spoils of this killing spree were enormous, with over one thousand interspatial rings. It couldn't have come at a better time. He had depleted nearly all his spirit stones during his recent breakthrough.

"So many spirit stones..." Liu Wuxie muttered as he sorted through the interspatial rings, and to his surprise, he found over two hundred million spirit stones. But what shocked him even more was the discovery of a supreme-grade spirit stone in one of the rings.

The supreme-grade spirit stone appeared to have been recently excavated and likely originated from sacred ground. But it was a pity that this person was dead, and Liu Wuxie couldn't get more information on the supreme-grade spirit stone from him.

However, this confirmed that supreme-grade spirit stones were in the sacred ground.

For the time being, he didn't have to worry about the threat of the Black Plume Pavilion's assassins. As long as he concealed his aura well, even the divine race couldn't track him down.

The vast plains stretched endlessly before him, and he began slowing down.

Though Fiery's wounds had healed, it wouldn't be able to fight again anytime soon. After breaking through and evolving into a spiritual beast, it had to enter a dormant state for some time.

This meant that Liu Wuxie could only rely on his legs to travel. Though he occasionally encountered other cultivators, they merely exchanged glances and moved on, as none of them were acquainted with him.

However, everyone was puzzled that someone at the ninth-level True Profound Realm would travel alone. It had been more than a month since they had entered the sacred ground, and most people had formed groups.

Nearly eight days had passed since Liu Wuxie had entered this uncharted zone, and he had yet to find anything of value. After all, treasures like the four seasonal treasures were exceedingly rare.

Seated atop a large boulder, Liu Wuxie took out several pills and swallowed them in a single gulp. His gaze fell upon the distant mountain, resembling a giant dragon resting on the plains.

It was the only mountain within a ten-thousand-mile radius, making it stand out starkly.

The shape was like a dragon raising its head. The summit resembled a dragon's head, the base resembled the dragon's tail, and the entire mountain resembled a divine dragon lying on the ground.

Far off in the distance, several people were climbing the mountain, drawn by the rich vegetation.

Suddenly, the Heavenly Dragon Seal stirred and emerged from the desolate world without warning and hovered silently before Liu Wuxie.

"What's going on? Why did the Heavenly Dragon Seal come out on its own?" Liu Wuxie was baffled. This was the first time the Heavenly Dragon Seal had acted of its own accord.

Could there be a divine dragon beneath this mountain?

The thought struck Liu Wuxie like a bolt.

He knew the Heavenly Dragon Seal would react this way only if a divine dragon summoned it.

Even after he had repaired the missing corner, the Heavenly Dragon Seal was still far from its full strength. By his estimation, it was at least a heaven-spirit artifact, equivalent to the Heaven Profound Realm.

It was only slightly stronger than a dao artifact, and trying to upgrade it any further would be immensely difficult. But if it could be upgraded to the level of an earth-spirit artifact, it would be equivalent to the Earth Profound Realm.

Liu Wuxie knew the mountain merely resembled a divine dragon—after all, even the largest dragon species only grew to around a thousand meters in length.

This mountain stretched over ten thousand meters, and even an ancient dragon couldn't be this large.

Even so, a treasure of the dragon clan could have been nurtured there, shaping the mountain into a dragon's image.

Stowing the Heavenly Dragon Seal away, Liu Wuxie strode toward the mountain. There were still several months left, giving him enough time to consider this both a trial and a training ground, even if he found nothing of value.

But if he did find something that could help push him into the Spirit Profound Realm, it would change everything.

Based on Lu Liang's description, Elder Black's cultivation was at the second-level Earth Profound Realm. This meant he would have to reach the Spirit Profound Realm to survive.

He had to strike with absolute precision to ensure he wouldn't alarm his enemies. He couldn't allow Elder Black to escape, as there was no second chance.

After walking for roughly half a day, Liu Wuxie finally reached the mountain's base.

The mountain turned out to be far larger than he'd expected. Its cliff walls shimmered faintly, like giant mirrors.

These cliff faces...almost look like they were sliced with a sword.

This area reminded him of a dragon's abdomen.

"Quick, don't let him get away! That scepter in his hand must be a powerful treasure!" Shouts echoed from the other side, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps.

Liu Wuxie frowned and didn't want to get involved. In the sacred ground, robbery and murder were common. He had killed several people who had dared to come after him along the way.

Just as he turned to leave, a figure flashed into view—but vanished again, likely hidden by the rocks.

That silhouette... it's familiar.

Liu Wuxie squinted.

He could recognize someone as long as he had seen that person before. Then again, it was mainly because this person was too familiar to him, like a mark etched into his soul.

Gu Yu!

Liu Wuxie finally recalled who this person was. He hadn't expected to run into Gu Yu here.

Though Gu Yu had grown taller and broader than before, Liu Wuxie recognized him instantly.

Gu Yu had been fleeing in the opposite direction, missing the chance to cross paths with Liu Wuxie.

In the past few years, there were only a few people whom Liu Wuxie truly considered close. The members of the Heavenly Dao Society were his family. Gu Yu was one, Han Feizi was another, and his three senior brothers were among them. They were people he could trust to have his back.