The sect's envoy, dressed in stark black and white robes, arrived without a sound—yet the pressure he carried was impossible to ignore.
Tall and imposing, with a cold, severe face, his robe embroidered with cloud patterns clearly marked him as someone far above the rank-and-file disciples of the sect.
He did not spare a glance at Liu Meng, who was kneeling on the floor. Instead, he walked straight toward the dais and gave a slight nod to Su Meier, who reclined upon her couch.
"Junior Sister Su, this trip into the secret realm yielded very little."
"Of the ten who entered, only eight returned. And all of them… are worthless."
"Oh?" Su Meier lazily lifted her eyelids, unsurprised. "Eight returned? That's more than I expected. And what did they gain?"
"One obtained a fragmented manual—missing the critical passages, useless for cultivation. Another brought back a single Qi-Nurturing Pill, the kind that can be bought by the handful at the Three Talents Market—of no value." The envoy's voice was flat and emotionless. "Because of this, the reward you receive in spirit stones will be greatly reduced."
"It matters not." Su Meier waved her hand indifferently.
Her interest was not in the reward, but in something else entirely.
"And what sort of manual was it, Senior Brother Wu?" she asked with feigned curiosity.
The envoy shook his head, face expressionless and businesslike.
"That has nothing to do with you. You only need to know that your task is complete. If you wish to cultivate new techniques, you may go to the Scripture Repository yourself. There are plenty suited to you."
Su Meier chuckled softly. Rising from her couch, her alluring phoenix eyes locked directly onto him.
"Wu-shixiong, you shouldn't say it like that. If the manual is so useless, why not let me—and this worthless disciple—take a look? Unless… there's some secret within that cannot be revealed?"
Her voice dripped with sultry charm, carrying a subtle provocation, as if she meant to shatter the envoy's icy shell with temptation.
But he remained unmoved.
"The sect's rules cannot be broken," he replied, eyes firm and unwavering.
Liu Meng's heart lurched violently.
She lowered her gaze quickly, hiding the storm within her.
The fragmented manual!
That must be the Foundation Establishment portion of the "Rites Poem Formula." And it was in the envoy's hands!
This might be the closest she had ever come to it.
If she asked Su Meier, with the fondness her master currently showed toward her, perhaps Su Meier really would try to obtain it for her.
But… she knew she could not.
Liu Qi's sudden appearance had already drawn suspicion from the sect. If she now revealed a desperate desire for this particular manual, she would instantly mark herself as suspicious.
At that point, not only this avatar of hers, but everyone within her cave-dwelling—perhaps even her true body—would face the sect's scrutiny and possible purge.
The thought extinguished the last ripple of longing in her heart.
She simply stood there quietly, head bowed, as though none of this mattered to her.
When Su Meier dropped the matter, the envoy finally took a heavy pouch from his storage bag and tossed it onto the table.
"Your reward."
Su Meier glanced inside with disinterest before tossing it aside. A few dozen spirit stones held no value in her eyes. Perhaps she had never accepted the mission for spirit stones at all—only to satisfy her peculiar tastes.
The envoy, long accustomed to her eccentricities, did not linger. With a flicker of movement, his figure vanished, as though he had never been there.
Only when that suffocating pressure completely dispersed did Liu Meng finally raise her head.
"Master," she asked softly, "that senior mentioned the Scripture Repository… Where is it? Would… would this disciple also be permitted inside?"
Su Meier did not answer immediately. Instead, she asked her own question:
"How many cultivators of your realm have you managed to control so far?"
Liu Meng hesitated, then answered honestly:
"Two, Master."
"Oh?"
That surprised Su Meier.
It had been barely two days since she had given Liu Meng the method to break through to mid-stage Qi Refining.
And already, Liu Meng had subdued two cultivators at the third level of Qi Refining?
Her efficiency was startling.
"Excellent," Su Meier said with a satisfied smile. "Then you will complete your breakthrough here. Among the people I've given you, not all are bonded servants. One of them is a Qi Refining third-level cultivator who has never touched the 'Xuanpin Formula.' Control him now, shatter your bottleneck, and step into mid-stage Qi Refining."
"Only then will you truly be recognized as a disciple of the Grand Dao Heavenly Demon Sect. Only then will you receive your disciple's token, your monthly stipend, and—only then—will you be qualified to enter the Scripture Repository and seek a technique suited to you."
Realization struck Liu Meng.
So that was why she had never heard of tokens or stipends before. It wasn't that they didn't exist—her cultivation had simply been too low to qualify.
At the early stage of Qi Refining, she had been far too weak.
If she wanted to survive in this sect of peril and shadows, she had no choice but to keep advancing, step by step, growing stronger.
Taking a deep breath, she steadied her resolve.
Her eyes swept across the bound men in the corner of the hall. Just then, the black cloth covering one man's head slipped free, drawing her attention.
She approached him slowly, placing her jade-like hand upon his head.
With a sweep of her divine sense, she confirmed: his soul bore no foreign marks, his cultivation untainted by the sect's core techniques.
This man… was the missing piece she needed.
Determination flashed in her eyes. Without hesitation, she poured the Sub-Technique of the "Xuanpin Formula" directly into his mind.
"Run the technique!" she commanded, her voice sharp and commanding.