"I'm telling the truth," Nightcrypt gushed. "The Blood Stream Sect has a big secret. They possess an Eternal Relic! No one knows about it except me. Not even the Clan Leader of the Blood Stream Sect is aware that such a heavenly object is hidden within their sect!"

"According to legend, whoever obtains that relic and unlocks it can grasp the secret of eternal indestructibility!!

"I'm not deceiving you. I'm taking this matter very, very seriously!" From Nightcrypt, one could see that Yan Xiaobao was a very moody person, the most terrifying kind.

Glaring in anger, Yan Xiaobao prepared to throw the mask back into the river. "What rubbish. The Clan Leader of the sect doesn't know, but you do?"

On the verge of tears, Nightcrypt finally blurted out, "I-I'm not really a disciple of the Blood Flow Sect. I'm an impersonator..."

As the impersonator, Nightcrypt continued explaining in detail, and Yan Xiaobao's eyes widened. It turned out that the real Nightcrypt didn't even realize he was being impersonated!

At the beginning of the third level of Qi Condensation, he was a rogue cultivator with relatively excellent potential. Chased by enemies, he was on the brink of being killed when a mysterious Savior from the Mysterious Sect appeared. His Savior, being in a bit of a hurry, gave him a mask after some thought and told him to find an Outer Sect Disciple named Nightcrypt in the Blood Stream Sect. His mission was to replace him and carry out a task. The Savior even obliterated the soul of the impersonated.

The real Nightcrypt was now dead. However, he held a relatively stable position in the Blood Stream. His ancestor rendered excellent services to the Blood Stream Sect, guaranteeing Nightcrypt a place in the Inner Sect.

The mysterious Savior of the impersonator visited him a second time to explain the mission's details, which was to secretly acquire the Eternal Undestructible Relic. His Savior described its appearance and even revealed its location. Apparently, a gigantic door guarded the path, and the key to it was a unique pill.

The pill wasn't hard to make; even an ordinary Pharmacist could do it. Unfortunately, no matter who concocted it, the success rate was fifty-five percent. Furthermore, the ingredients were extremely rare. Collecting all of them would be an arduous task. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Fortunately, his mysterious Savior Sect was quite wealthy and had already gathered most of the ingredients. The only thing lacking was some bloody blood.

After replacing Nightcrypt and becoming a Blood Stream Sect disciple, things were going smoothly. He quickly became an Inner Sect disciple, but soon realized it was hard to cultivate the techniques of the Blood Stream Sect. Although he had great potential, he was unsuited for blood cultivation. The problem grew until he got stuck at the eighth level of Qi Condensation.

Gradually, the sect lost interest in him, and even his mysterious Savior offered no help. For several tragic months, he continued to toil...

His mysterious Savior Sect was very, very far away from the Blood Stream Sect, and there were other factors making it difficult to travel between them. Moreover, he couldn't directly seize the Eternal Undestructible Relic. Therefore, he only appeared three times, and all three times were through projection, a process that clearly came at great cost.

The first was when he arranged for Nightcrypt's soul replacement. The second was when the imposter Nightcrypt became an Inner Sect disciple. The publicity surrounding this event seemed not to please his mysterious Savior, but it didn't stop him from explaining the details of the Eternal Undestructible Relic. That was also when he gave the imposter the formulation to make the pill, explaining that his mysterious sect would continue searching for the final ingredients.

He appeared for the third time before the imposter as Nightcrypt entered the Fallen Sword World. He explained that if he couldn't reach the Foundation, he would have to abandon the mask and give up his spying mission.

The imposter Nightcrypt had no choice but to rely on his divination skills to illuminate the correct path ahead. Everything that followed is history...

"Isn't this sect full of idiots?" Yan Xiaobao blurted. "Why might they choose you to be their spy? Furthermore, how could the Blood Stream Sect have never suspected you?!" To him, either Nightcrypt was lying, or the Mysterious Sect was full of fools. Of course, perhaps there were other factors Yan Xiaobao wasn't aware of, which left the Mysterious Sect no choice but to rely on Nightcrypt's soul replacement plan. There's also the possibility that, as Nightcrypt said, the Mysterious Sect was too far from the Blood Stream Sect, making even projection difficult so far. This could explain their lack of confidence and choices, leading them to imperfect decisions.

Suspicious, Yan Xiaobao continued probing Nightcrypt with questions until Nightcrypt himself seemed confused. Finally, Yan Xiaobao frowned, then once again threatened to dunk him in the Heavenspan River. He then asked more questions, including the details of the pill formula needed to open the door. Gradually, he began to believe Nightcrypt was telling the truth. Although his answers sometimes conflicted, they were generally consistent.

There even appeared to be things Nightcrypt himself didn't understand. All he knew was that he was a spy, his soul bound by a restrictive spell. If he didn't follow orders, he would die. Even if he managed to obtain it, he wasn't sure how to handle the Eternal Undestructible Relic.

To Yan Xiaobao, it made little sense for the Mysterious Sect to simply hand over the pill ingredients to a stranger. The most likely explanation was that Nightcrypt's mysterious Savior truly acknowledged his soul, though another possibility was that the sect was really too remote, leaving them no choice but to hand over the ingredients when they could.

Either way, it seemed illogical. After Nightcrypt obtained the Eternal Undestructible Relic, it seemed the Mysterious Sect hadn't considered what to do. Perhaps they didn't care about the relic at all, merely wanting him to open the door. Or they didn't believe Nightcrypt could actually acquire the relic after opening the door?

But if it were the latter, why not choose another spy...?

"What a strange sect. Why do I feel like they're just going through the motions? It's almost as if they want someone to think they're striving for a goal, but in reality, they don't care." The more Yan Xiaobao thought about it, the stranger the whole scenario appeared.

Another strange thing was that the Blood Stream Sect never suspected Nightcrypt. Although, according to Nightcrypt's explanation, that was a question that could be answered.

"It's all thanks to this mask, heh heh..." he thought. He examined the mask more closely and was astonished to realize he didn't know what it was made of. However, its aura was shocking, and no matter how he looked at it, it seemed to be a valuable treasure.

According to Nightcrypt, wearing the mask would not only change your appearance. It would actually alter your flesh and blood. Upon removing the mask, this transformation would reverse, but as long as you wore it, no one could find any clue you were someone else. Your cultivation base fluctuations would be hidden, and according to the Mysterious Sect's representative, no one below the Mahayana Realm could see them. Unfortunately, Nightcrypt didn't know what the Mahayana Realm was...

Of course, Yan Xiaobao also didn't know what the Mahayana Realm was, though it sounded incredible. Looking down at the impostor wearing the mask, he suddenly said, "Soul Grass, pond lily, Cloud Dragon Leaf, natural root. What are the medicinal values of these four herbs?"

Imposter Nightcrypt was stunned for a moment, then began to babble on about medicinal properties without thinking. Yan Xiaobao listened, his frown deepening.

His response was incomplete, but not wrong. Generally, his descriptions were accurate. The four medicinal herbs Yan Xiaobao asked about were not randomly chosen. According to the answers Nightcrypt provided, Yan Xiaobao could confirm that he could indeed concoct medicine....

"So, he actually has the ability to concoct the pill. He's only got a rough foundation in the Dao of medicine, but it's enough to produce a Door-opening Pill."

Yan Xiaobao wasn't quite sure what to think. However, his desire to obtain the Eternal Undestructible Relic continued to grow.

"If it were called anything else, I could ignore it. Why must it be eternally indestructible!?" He glared down at the soul of the adventurer Nightcrypt within the mask, who immediately began trembling and pleading for his life.

"I'm speaking the truth. I swear! I've told you everything. I haven't left anything out!" he truly spoke the truth.

"Alright, alright," Yan Xiaobao said. "Get out of that mask quickly. I want to study it!"

...