"Qi Cultivation disciples like me have a lifespan of two hundred years at most. Even with a few life-extending tricks, three hundred years is the absolute limit.

Foundation Establishment Daoist Masters fare a bit better, but they only get five or six hundred years..."

At this, Nether Spring’s tone turned venomous. "Only those True Disciples can use Node Jade Talismans to come and go as they please, reaping all of this world’s fortunes like harvesting crops! I, on the other hand..."

He suddenly fell silent.

"Go on."

Xu Yunfan formed a thin needle of True Qi between his fingers and pricked the pill.

Nether Spring wailed as he confessed, "The Patrol Envoy forbade Hundred Desires Peak from accepting World Heaven missions for three years! I saved up Contribution Points for ten years just to get a spot for the Divine Martial Realm Heaven. I was hoping to secretly harvest the qi and blood of some Martial Artists to cover my deficits..."

Xu Yunfan suddenly cut in, "You said it’s a ’spot’?"

"Y-Yes, it is!"

Nether Spring began speaking faster. "Three thousand years ago, Profound Jade True Monarch of the Primordial Sect seized this world from the Boundary Sea and established the Martial Dao Cultivation System here, specifically to cultivate resources. It opens once every sixty years, and it costs fifteen hundred Contribution Points to exchange for a Passage Jade Talisman..."

He even sounded a little proud as he got to the key point. "Do you know, Sir? A Ninth Realm Martial Artist from this World Heaven can be exchanged for three Blood Marrow Pills in the Sect’s Merit Hall! And if one of them breaks past the shackles of the Ninth Realm to reach what you people call the Land Immortal Realm..."

The pill suddenly warped in Xu Yunfan’s grip. Nether Spring screamed and quickly changed his tune, "I deserve to die! But the World Heaven is just the Sect’s pasture! Look at all that Profound Yellow Qi..."

Xu Yunfan recalled the Dragon Vein Qi that had poured into his body. "Explain," he said in a low voice.

"The Profound Yellow Qi is actually a product of the Dragon Nurturing Skill!" Nether Spring shouted, throwing caution to the wind. "The Primordial Sect buries Dragon Vein seeds in all the World Heavens and lets them grow by devouring the native Destiny. Once they mature, disciples can harvest them... A mid-sized pasture like the Divine Martial Realm Heaven can refine at least ten Profound Yellow Dao Seeds... Huh?!"

Nether Spring cried out in alarm, "Why is this world’s Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm gone!?"

Ignoring Nether Spring, Xu Yunfan suddenly recalled the purple glint in the Empress’s eyes. "What is the Great Zhou Royal Family’s connection to you?"

A hint of disdain crept into Nether Spring’s voice. "You give them too much credit, Sir. What right do they have to collude with us? That girl was merely someone I chose. I bewitched her into refining my remains into a Purple Gold Pill, so..."

He suddenly lowered his voice. "If you’re willing to let me go, Sir, I can tell you about a loophole in this Divine Martial Realm Heaven! Before every harvest, the Primordial Sect releases ’Dirt Qi’ to pollute the Martial Dao. That’s what you know as Celestial Demons! This Dirt Qi specializes in corrupting a Martial Artist’s True Qi. After you absorb all this Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, the purity of your own True Qi becomes tainted, making it easy for the Sect to harvest you..."

At this, Nether Spring’s tone shifted, laced with complaint. "That Witch... her methods are surprisingly similar to us Demon Sect disciples. To think she’d blood-sacrifice the common folk to prematurely raise the Earth Veins and unleash the pure Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. It’s adulterated, sure, but at least it isn’t the pollution from my Primordial Sect..."

Nether Spring abruptly stopped talking and just mumbled, "Sir, please let me go. I can tell you about the Dao Foundation of this Divine Martial Realm."

Xu Yunfan didn’t take the bait, merely chuckling. "How would a so-called Outer Disciple like you know such secrets?"

The Purple Gold Pill trembled violently as if Nether Spring were struggling inside. "B-Because my master is a Punishment Hall Steward on Hundred Desires Peak! He let it slip when he was drunk..."

Suddenly, a wisp of pink mist erupted from the pill, and Nether Spring’s voice turned bewitching. "Sir, how about we make a deal?"

Within the mist, the phantom of a woman’s nude form rippled like water. Nether Spring’s voice was thick with a cloying seductiveness. "Hundred Desires Peak has the *Yin Yang Refining Form Scripture*. It can help you convert your Ten Extremes True Qi into True Essence..."

The phantom grew bolder, winding around Xu Yunfan’s body like a clinging lover. "With your talent, once you escape this world, forging a Dao Foundation will be as easy as turning over your hand..."

A cold glint flashed in Xu Yunfan’s eyes. Though his sleeves didn’t move, his Pure Yang True Qi flared like a scorching sun on snow, instantly evaporating the mist. Nether Spring let out a wretched scream; he truly hadn’t expected Xu Yunfan to be immune to even his seductive arts.

"How is this possible?!"

Xu Yunfan sneered. ’This Nether Spring is a Demon Sect disciple, so he’s naturally treacherous and cunning. I can only believe five percent of what he says at most, and that’s information I’ve gotten by torturing him.’

’This world is a cage. If I want to find a chance to transcend, I have to start with Nether Spring. Only by finding a way to leave this world and enter the so-called Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm will anything be possible.’

He took an object from his Mechanical Box.

It was the Primordial Token he had gotten from Jiaang Xu in the White Jade Palace, inside the Little Heaven and Earth Secret Realm.

Its surface was etched with strange Cloud Patterns, and at its core, the word "Primordial" pulsed with a faint, blood-red light.

"Do you recognize this?"

"Th-This is...?!"

Nether Spring’s Demon Qi trembled violently. A shriek like shattering porcelain echoed from within the pill. "The Primordial Order! How could you..." The voice cut off abruptly as countless cracks spiderwebbed across the surface of the Purple Gold Pill.

After three breaths of dead silence, just as Xu Yunfan was about to crush the Purple Gold Pill, Nether Spring finally shrieked, "He who holds this order... can enter the gates of the Primordial Sect and take one of the Thirty-Six Peak Masters as his master..."

Having said this, Nether Spring seemed to have an epiphany. The black mist inside the pill suddenly grew active, his voice turning obsequious. "Since Senior Brother has obtained the Token, you’re one of us now! Why don’t you help your Junior Brother complete this harvest? When we return to the Sect to turn in our gains, I’ll make sure you get top credit in the merit records!"

The Demon Qi within the pill condensed into the shape of a hand, which gestured in a bow. "The thirty thousand Furnace Cauldrons in the Hundred Desires Peak treasury—men and women both—and even the *Taiyi Qingming Record* in the Scripture Pavilion... your Junior Brother can pull some strings for you, Senior Brother..."

Before he could finish, Xu Yunfan’s five fingers tightened abruptly. The pill let out a groan, as if unable to bear the strain.

"Explain the harvesting mechanism."

A Pure Yang True Flame ignited on Xu Yunfan’s fingertip. "One false word... and I will have your soul scattered to the winds."

"I’ll talk!"

Nether Spring shrieked. Under the threat of death, he didn’t dare hide anything else. He could clearly sense Xu Yunfan’s undisguised killing intent; the man truly intended to obliterate him completely.

"During every sixty-year harvest season, disciples with the order can claim three ’Profound Yellow Seeds’! After planting them in a World Heaven, we are no longer rejected by that world’s Celestial Dao. That’s how we harvest the Ninth Realm Martial Artists of this world..."

Xu Yunfan understood, and a knot formed in his chest. ’The world I’ve found myself in is actually a breeding ground for a Demon Sect, its inhabitants raised only to be harvested as Cultivation resources.’

"What is your specialty?"

Seeing Xu Yunfan’s impassive, emotionless expression, Nether Spring hurriedly answered, "Plundering. I specialize in the art of plundering."

"The art of plundering?"

Xu Yunfan suddenly channeled his Pure Yang True Qi. A phantom screamed and dissipated.

Nether Spring’s true essence shrieked in terror, "Stop! I still have value! I’ve received word that the Primordial Sect will begin the ’harvest’ in three days! A True Disciple at the Great Perfection stage of Qi Cultivation will descend! I know their weaknesses..."

But Xu Yunfan simply tossed the Purple Gold Pill into the air, his Ten Extremes True Qi forming a Melting Furnace around it. "There’s no need."

(There should be more, I’m still writing...)