Chapter 112: Demon Heart Sect's conspiracy

Seeing the twisted sneer on Long Shin's face, Qian Zhu felt a chill run down his spine. The figure before him appeared more like a demon of nightmares than an actual person. He whimpered, "I-I will say it! Please don't hurt me anymore!" 

Long Shin chuckled at the poor sight in front of him. He sneered, "See? This is why I tortured you first. Who knew if you would have just answered my questions honestly or even dared to lie to deceive me. But here you are, groveling and ready to tell the truth." 

Qian Zhu wanted to scream out loud in rage, but he could barely summon enough strength to speak. All he could do was silently try not to shed tears.

Long Shin glared at Qian Zhu, "First tell me your name, and why you meddled in Ye family's family matters," he demanded.

"My name is Qian Zhu, and I'm an outer court elder in the 'Demon Heart Sect'," Qian Zhu said slowly, a hint of nervousness behind his words. "The reason I had arrived today was that the 'Demon Heart Sect' had made some dealings with the eldest son of the Ye family, i just had to help him out with killing Ye Mo."

"Why kill Ye Mo?" Long Shin pressed. "Why help Ye Liang dominate the Ye family? What do you get out of this?" 

Qian Zhu smirked a little as though he had heard a joke. "Letting him dominate the Ye family, no after killing Ye Mo and others who were in the way, Ye Liang would just be a figure head, a puppet of the 'Demon Heart Sect' even though he would still remain as the family head," he explained. "The total control over the Ye family would be in the hands of the 'Demon Heart Sect'."

"Why control the Ye family? Even though they are considered giants here, in the eyes of your 'Demon Heart Sect', they are but slight bigger ants at most," he further asked.

Qian Zhu gave a sinister smile and replied, "That's what you think. A small Ye family is indeed worthless on its own to my 'Demon Heart Sect' but, what if we can control the Ye family and use them to gain control over another family of the same level? What if we further use both of them to increase our dominance over the whole city?"

He further continued, his voice deeper and lower. "The underworld is vast; the population of commoners can easily outnumber that of magisters. But in truth, the number of magisters in the underworld is immense, almost 50-60% are affiliated with a force, sect or family. From small forces to giant cultivation holy lands, they all need resources to continue existing. However, the amount and quality of resources pale in comparison to their considerable quota."

"For that reason," Qian Zhu concluded, "there are more often than not conflicts occurring between forces and magisters in order to lay their dominance over those resources.

Qian Zhu's words were indeed true. The resources one needs to cultivate was massive. As one surpasses boundaries and enters a higher realm, the required resources grow exponentially not only in quantity but also in quality. 

He paused for a moment and then continued. "A conflict between magisters, or even a fight or war between the sects, families weren't that uncommon in the underworld."

Long Shin didn't say a word as the man spoke.

"The competition in the Demonic sects is no less than the righteous sects," he began, "in fact because of the lawless nature of the demonic sect's death and other deeds aren't uncommon either." He sighed heavily. 

"Another thing is that even though my 'Demon Heart Sect' is a big force we still can't just roam openly," he said. 

Long Shin's eyes widened.

"So, to get around that," the man went on, "some demonic sects found a way which was to manipulate the smaller factions. We get control over these factions, and in the public's eye they are still normal, but we secretly control them from behind the scenes. These factions become like our lambs - we rear and butcher them, and they become a sort of passive income. Not only that, but we can also get any flesh or blood that we require from these factions or their territories - then we can roam and kill more freely." 

He paused for breath before continuing. "This is how we Demonic sects spread and expand our territory." 

Long Shin's eyes widened, "So you're telling me that the entire Demon Heart Sect is converging on River Town?" he thought 'That grand elder wasn't just working alone?' His confusion was understandable; he had used his Universal Eye technique to peer into Shu Ming's mind and found out that someone from the Demon Heart Sect was up to no good, but he had never imagined it was a whole sect after one innocent city. He continued thoughtfully, "But what could they possibly want with such a peaceful little town? There weren't many resources for them here, and it was difficult for most magisters to gain promotion to the tenth layer of black iron rank."

Qian Zhu looked at him and said solemnly, "If it was 'Righteous Sects' then indeed their gains would not be significant, but then again the 'Righteous Sects' also don't need to use such tactics." Long Shin's face darkened as Qian Zhu continued, "But for the 'Demonic Sects', the matter is different. A Demonic Magister doesn't just use heavenly and earthly resources like pills, medical herbs, and such- but they also use… blood and flesh." He paused and studied Long Shin's eyes penetratingly before he went on, "Flesh and blood of humans is also an important resource for the 'Demonic Sects'. Not just their flesh and blood– but also their organs, marrow, and even their virginity is a valuable resource."

Long Shin's face turned to a deep shade of red as he heard the insidious plans of the Demonic Sect. "So, they want to use the citizens living here for such vile activities just so they can increase their cultivation?" he seethed through gritted teeth. 

"Yes", Qian Zhu. "Most of them need some sort of sacrifice and in most cases, these sacrifices involve humans. For example, there are techniques that require the blood of babies, hearts of humans, or even the merciless slaughtering of hundreds, if not thousands. There are even certain cultivation techniques that require ravaging a virgin woman."

Long Shin furrowed his eyebrows in disgust at such vile activities. It wasn't out of mercy or compassion for others that he got angry though - there were still people close to him in this city who might get affected because of this sinister plot, and if anything were to happen to any of them then he would undoubtably be livid.

The air seemed to grow heavy as Long Shin spoke, his cold voice dripping with disdain and anger. "Tell me just how are you lot planning to accomplish these plans, is your sect planning to outright attack the major cultivation families with greater power to accomplish your ambitions?"

Qian Zhu shook his head slowly in response. "Attack them straight? No. While there is no doubt in my mind that this direct approach would be something that everyone in the sect wishes to take, things aren't really so easy..." He sighed heavily as he continued. "Indeed the 'Demon Heart Sect' undoubtedly has the power to level all the cultivation families in the city, but don't forget what I said at the start... we are not absolutes, we don't have power enough to roam unhindered and openly in the world. If word reaches those righteous bastards or those meddlesome martial suppressors of a city being controlled by a 'Demon Sect', they won't hesitate for a moment before sending out a large force to carpet search every inch of it. They would find out every demonic magister from the sect and the families that colluded with them, and then – without any hesitation – proceed to eradicate them all. Those damnable righteous bastards would even go as far as slaughtering the whole city in the name of justice if things escalated too much."

Qian Zhu spat; his face contorted with disgust. "The 'Righteous Sects' are nothing but a blight on this world," he muttered darkly. He knew, as did many magisters, that the Righteous Sects could not stand the presence of demonic magisters and vice versa. 

"Unfortunately, due to the need for secrecy, the 'Demon Heart Sect' cannot send any of their higher-ups here," Qian continued thoughtfully. "At most we can only manage BRONZE rank magisters; however, they should be enough for a city such as this." His lips twisted into an amused smirk as he said this, seemingly pleased at the prospect.

"Humph," Qian Zhu sneered, "Even if you kill me, it won't matter. My 'Demon Heart Sect' will soon know of your presence and the new Chief Martial Protector. They won't hesitate to send out a team of half-step BRONZE rank magisters leaded by several true BRONZE rank magisters. At that time, you will die! Everything you care for in this city will be destroyed - including that woman who was with you," he chuckled maliciously. "I have no doubt in my mind that someone of higher power will find her descent to become their plaything." 

Qian Zhu spat with contempt as he looked up defiantly at Long Shin. He knew that he wouldn't escape from his grasp, yet he had no idea how the young man had managed to transport him to this strange place in a single moment from the hotel they were in; however, one thing he was sure of was not wanting the secret behind it to leak out. Consequently, he chose to accept his fate and goad Long Shin into granting him an easier death.

Little did Qian Zhu know that Liu Minger was Long Shin's Achilles heel. Had he not mentioned her name earlier, he may have been granted his easy death. But now that all bets were off and Qian Zhu had gone too far, he felt a suffocating presence engulf him; accompanied with an immense killing intent being focused on himself yet restrained from harming him directly. His disfigured body trembled aggressively under its sheer pressure.

He intensely gazed upon the young man in front of him, his face expressionless yet his eyes gleamed with an unusual radiance. The gold was complemented by a hue of red, eyes not matching his indifferent visage one bit. As a magister, it was easy to sense the emotion of a mortal mostly through their temperament and mana aura, which would become difficult for a magister due to their ability to mask their emotions and control their mana.

Yet, this particular situation was different as the individual did not bother concealing his bubbling rage and killing intent. Long Shin's fists trembled and clenched tight, so tight that his nails dug deep into his skin allowing droplets of blood to trickle out onto the floor. Despite his best efforts, he found himself struggling to contain himself from murdering this old man before him; although barely able to restrain himself, the sheer intensity of his emotions shone brightly from within the depths of his golden hued eyes.

Long Shin's voice rumbled with rage as he spat out the words," You really don't have a clue when it's time to keep quiet, do you? You think I'm stupid or something? You want an easy way out, huh? Well, fat chance!" His face was red, and his hands were balled up into fists. He seemed ready to lunge forward at any moment. "Do you understand what happens if you cross my bottom line?" he added menacingly.

Qian Zhu was unable to utter any sound, his body shivering in the presence of the young man. His face had gone from a devilish smile to a frightening sneer, bearing sharp teeth and blazing eyes that seemed ready to rip him apart at any second. In a dry croak, Qian Zhu managed to ask "What do you want with me?" The young man only smiled, baring even sharper teeth in response as he slowly stepped closer.

Long Shin glared at Qian Zhu with a smirk that made Qian Zhu's stomach churn. "I don't want anything from you," Long Shin said, tapping his index finger against the side of his face. "The information you gave was enough, originally I had thought to kill you swiftly, but now I've changed my mind - killing you outright would be a waste." He paused for a moment before continuing. "You know, I've wanted to test something for quite some time and needed a guinea pig...but I keep forgetting about it." Long Shin grinned menacingly. Qian Zhu shivered as he watched the smug expression on Long Shin's face.

Qian Zhu was petrified. His eyes widened as he stammered, "Wh-what do you mean?".

Long Shin's voice boomed like a thunderclap as he made his decree, "It is simple; you will be my guinea pig! Come out!!!".

His shadow began to expand and there were innumerable pairs of blood-red eyes staring at Qian Zhu from within it. It was as though a lake was filled with countless monsters - all waiting to strike. A slight tremor wracked through the shadows, and scores of goblins emerged - their dark green skin adorned with black armory, each no less than two meters in height and armed with rusted wooden clubs. But these creatures were not alone; behind them marched more ferocious beasts; their dark black furs emitting both red and black smoke, which rose up from their bodies. Two to three meters in shoulder-height, these menacing wolves had sharp claws and sharp fangs that bespoke their might. Qian Zhu felt a chill run down his spine.

"No! Impossible!" Qian Zhu yelled in terror. His body felt cold as he struggled to free himself in horror "What the hell are these wracked creatures, get away from me" his struggled proved to be fruitless as the ropes held him tightly.

"You know, I had wanted to test what would happen if I let something else than my dark soldiers enter 'dark storage', would it survive or spell its doom instead. Now that you have graciously offered yourself to be our testing buddy, how can we deny your kindness?"

As Long Shin finished his words, the goblin champion in lead suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Qian Zhu. With a single tug, he snapped the rope that bound him with ease.

Frantically trying to free himself, Qian Zhu could only watch as yet another goblin champion strode in and mercilessly smashed his body with a giant wooden club. He felt his blood spilling onto the ground, and his mind was muffled by a wave of acute pain.

"Take him away," Long Shin commanded coldly, "If he survives even after going into the 'dark storage', then torture him until he dies." The goblin champion gave a brief nod of acknowledgement before gathering up Qian Zhu's broken body and taking him back inside the realm of Long Shin's shadow accompanied by others. 

...

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