Chapter 52: Demonic Blood Sect Outpost

Chapter 52: Demonic Blood Sect Outpost

Whatever technique was being used to track me, clearly wasnt working. The senior cultivators did their technique, but nothing happened. They repeated it again, but nothing happened a second time. No one whispered or commented.

I was in the back of the group and had to look between others. While I was quite small there were other smallish cultivators in the group. That was the thing about demonic cultivation, you could advance quickly in the lower stages by killing people and using them as resources.

Everyone using hooded dark robes didnt help either in terms of identifying people. The arrays and formations protecting the entry ways, gave the demonic cultivators a sense of over confidence.

The senior cultivators who tried to use the technique a second time got togeather in a group and began discussing quietly. All the lower ranked cultivators watching didnt talk, but there was a sense of unease in the air.

Infiltrating a sect wasnt as hard as one would think. I had often thought about how one would infiltrate the Cloudy Moon Sect when I had been sweeping the stairs. If someone had the right robe they could just walk in. The main thing was the sect token that was used for points.

For a Demonic Sect, having a badge on their person would be incredibly stupid. There would be ways to trace it back to the formations and arrays it was tied to, revealing the sect. The same issue applied to more detailed attire and knowing other cultivators.

Even the best non-demonic sects did not place a huge value on getting to know others and friendship. The yearly get togeather the Cloudy Moon Sect had was the most sects would do. In reality, someone could put on the Cloudy Moon Sect robe and walk about the sect without being discovered.

A Demonic Sect wasnt any better. This wasnt the military or even a very secure facility with constant ID checks. In regular sects people would be incentivized to work by giving them assignments and sect points. In a demonic sect, these people werent rule followers. They obeyed the mentality of the strongest person who made the rules.

So, while top level people could mobilize the lower ranks, they had to provide benefits, and even that would only work for so long. No one wanted guard duty. Everyone wanted to get stronger. And even if there was a guard, then they could shake down other cultivators of the same rank, leading to infighting.

All of this went through my head, but I still couldnt believe how much I was getting away with right now just standing around.

The target has used a counter technique or piece of equipment. We will try again in a day. For now, everyone rest and recover, one of the leaders said. Rewards will be distributed as planned once the assignment is complete. Everyone began to disperse.

A shame, at least the rewards promised are quite good, the demonic cultivator who I had been talking with before spoke up. I had no idea what kind of rewards would be offered so I didnt comment on that. Instead I focused on the issue I was much more concerned about.

I wonder what technique or piece of equipment they are using, I said, hoping to get information.

It has to be something powerful. But only an elder cultivator has a chance to counter the blood pool, he replied. Which room are you assigned to?

One of the ones up there, I gestured up towards the door I had been heading towards.

If you dont want to share that is fine. But us blood cultivators need to stick togeather you know. That line was a trap and clearly I couldnt avoid creating tension. Regular cultivators werent this friendly, and for a demonic cultivator to be this friendly was the biggest red flag out there.

I prefer not to, I said while my heart began to beat quickly as the tension increased. After a long moment the demonic cultivator I had been talking with shook his head and walked away. Someone might have been trying to make a friend or get some benefits for showing me around. I turned away as well and went to a nearby wall next to the staircase and leaned against it, looking back at the blood pool.

There were still small groups of cultivators hanging around. Most had left to go to their individual rooms including the elders. I took a minute to think about this entire group. I noted that no cultivator went near the blood pool. Also its elevation had dropped slightly. It was probably being used as some kind of external energy source or technique focus. Like a sword technique, requiring a sword. A scrying technique would require a pool or something similar that could show images.

I considered how I had gotten to this point. I had a lot of luck and could leave. But they planned to use the pool once more on another day. This place was obviously protected. Normally a searching technique would require a link to the individual in question, but Aoyin had me in his grasp. Whatever was being used would be held by a senior cultivator involved in the technique.

When they had attempted it, I hadnt been able to see what they had used to create a connection to me. But that didnt matter. Destroying this base would be the best option, but I didnt have any explosives. Even if I had any, setting anything up to activate after a period of time would set off the cultivators danger sense and reveal me.

As weird as it was, the best option was to rest by leaning against the wall in the shadows and waiting until they tried to find me again. There was no rush to leave and I had no idea about the procedures of this place. While I could have talked to the demonic cultivator a bit more, I was content with the conversation ending.

There was no way I could sabotage anything in this place and get away with anything. It was tempting to think I could get lucky twice, or I should make a run for it right now, but both options were likely to fail. While the blood pool and the roots dangling from high up looked unprotected, there was a reason it was the center of this facility and the doors all opened facing the blood pool.

I had no doubt the blood pool was useful for demonic cultivators, cultivation. They would know that too. While I couldnt spot any array or formation around the pool itself, it would be watched regardless. It was protected by the sheer number of cultivators hanging around in this place.

Even if things were quiet, I had no doubt there would always be two or more cultivators watching each other to make a move on the blood pool. As I waited against the wall, this appeared to be correct as I counted four other people standing around as well as we all glanced at each other.

Being a demonic cultivator did not create an atmosphere of trust. If a person thought they could steal resources and get away with them, they would do so. That was the problem with an evil organization, everyone was looking out for themselves. Tempering that greed while still motivating people was the real challenge.

Another guess I had, which seemed quite reasonable, was that there was a lot of strength gathered in this location. Most demonic cultivators would be out getting resources or doing missions to trade in for resources. It was clear that Aoyin really wanted me and was investing a considerable number of resources to ensure my capture.

By the time I reached the fourth floor, around a third of the cultivators were dead along with two of the elders. The idiots had died off, but now blows and techniques were being traded between cultivators. I noted a couple of other people had fled, which was good for me.

I saw one of the demonic cultivators reach one of the exits and tried to open the door. An array activated and their was a pulse of energy. I had seen a lot, including death and violence, but what came next made me feel ill. The cultivator was turned inside out. Organs, meat, and bones fell to the ground in a humanoid shape as the ill-fated cultivator let out a tortured scream.

Looking at the other exits across the chamber, I noted another cultivator run into a similar fate. The fight on the ground floor had slowed down, but still hadnt stopped. There were three elders left. While tempting to think I had a chance, I didnt have a chance if I tried to ambush them.

I might get one with my gun, but then I would be targeted by the rest as a major threat. I could handle a technique thrown at me, but multiple techniques would be impossible. The entire fight on the ground floor was just one group ambushing another group, that was ambushing a person, who had tried to ambush an elder. Just constant ambush attacks, and then retreats if they werent ambushed in turn.

The only people really holding their own were the elders. And I didnt want to tangle with them. If I killed one, I had no doubt the remaining two would kill me right away. I went to the exit door I had planned to go through before.

I could see the formation was active. I began to look it over, but I was not an expert. While I had some knowledge I had picked up on the Floating Island of Death, it was like saying I had familiarity with some letters. There were parts of the formation I had no clue on and how they interacted with each other. I kept near the exit door, but outside of the danger area while keeping an eye down below.

Over half the cultivators had been killed and things had mostly stopped. There was a long moment of silence. Well, that solved the issues of rewards quite nicely. Claim the corpses as you see fit. Kill all the cowards who ran away to the upper levels or to their rooms. I will open the doors, one of the elders said.

Why?! I didnt know this was some kind of sect event. Of course, a demonic sect would have a murder party. The weak would be culled, while the strong got stronger. More cultivators would be recruited in time. It felt like a waste of resources, but that didnt seem to matter to the elders running this place.

The active formation around the exit door deactivated. I double checked it and then opened it up. Hunting people down was probably another test. I quickly entered the long exit corridor, rushing up the sloped hallway.

I had to get out of this place as quickly as possible. It made me wonder about the back ground of all these demonic cultivators, but I could easily imagine criminals being recruited in various cities. And unlike regular sects that might pull from three to five cities, they could pull from hundreds of cities. They would get the crazy mortals, who didnt have the mental strength to cultivate normally.

Not for the first or last time, I was clad I had joined the Cloudy Moon Sect and didnt have to go through this headache of constantly fighting. I didnt like to fight or kill people. I preferred to use my wits and business acumen. Unfortunately, cultivation land, was incredibly bloody. Far bloodier than I had initially imagined. No wonder my first master had warned me ahead of time.

About halfway through the exit tunnel, I glanced behind me. There was no one following me. I thought about that, then realized, that the sect members probably had some way they were able to be traced and they were busy cleaning up the sect. A demonic sect wasnt a military organization. So, the orders to kill the cowards and hunt people down, were followed, but no one wanted to chase someone who had run out of the door at the first opportunity.

They would want to collect the corpses and items that had dropped in the conflict. The elders might have created some order, but they were exhausted as well having to fight. They wouldnt want to run off, but seize benefits for themselves, or at least make sure the other elders didnt get ahead of them in some way. There was no trust.

If the demonic sect was even slightly more organized, then I would have had no chance to infiltrate or escape. It was honestly quite hilarious, but this wasnt a military base, where everyone was checked for ID regardless of rank, and with set procedures. It was a demonic sect, which meant cultivators nominally working togeather in hopes of getting benefits from those stronger than them in exchange for completing tasks.

The elders couldnt reward people for failing, but the lesser cultivators hadnt seen it that way. They had seen it as a betrayal of the promises made to them. There might have been mind altering techniques in play or the elders might have started the fight themselves, since they didnt want to give up anything either. If their fellows died, that was less competition, and resources from their corpse, along with their corpse.

As I got closer to the exit, I checked behind me again, still no pursuit. I didnt plan to stop running for a while to get away from this place, but I felt the greatest danger had passed. All the surviving demonic cultivators were exhausted and wouldnt be chasing me. Instead, they would try to process all the benefits they had gotten.

I was happy to leave without a fight. While it would have been nice to get more spatial rings and other valuable items, the risk wasnt worth it. I let out a small sigh as I neared the end of the tunnel under the Blood Forest.

It had been an interesting experience, but one I didnt plan on repeating, anytime soon. There was just too much risk. I had to keep telling myself that over and over, since it felt like I was giving up a big opportunity. Just whipping out my gun and killing enemy cultivators.

That kind of mindset was the kind of mindset that made serial killers think they were invincible before dying. That their luck would keep going and going and they wouldnt be harmed no matter what odds they went up against. If I had a higher stage of cultivation and be able to ignore or dodge techniques used like the elders had to a certain extent, then it would have been possible to stick around. But if I was that strong, then there would have been no value to sticking around, since it would just draw the attention of a higher ranked cultivation for items with little value.

The ten times factorization of wealth per stage of cultivation didnt just cripple business in cultivation land, but it crippled looting and combat as well. It was frustrating, but also understandable. The low leveled demonic cultivators had trash on them. And unlike demonic cultivators I didnt plan to cook people in pots or process them in a coffin.

That just left me with me doing things my way. It hadnt been going so well, but I would be making it to the fourth stage of cultivation at the very least. After that things would get complicated and I would have to travel. When I sold my business, I needed to make sure I got more than the resources for the third stage of my cultivation, but also enough resources to have a fund to start me off with.

It just ate at me that all this had happened. Stupid Demonic Blood Sect attacking and chasing after me. I reached the exit to the base and checked the formation linked into the door. There would be an alert of some kind, but I wasnt worried about that. Even if people chased after me, I had a head start and could defeat a couple low level cultivators.

Opening the door, I left the base back into the forest. I sensed the Blood Forest off in the distance. I had maneuvered under the entire thing entirely. It didnt really save time since I was down there for a day, but getting to rest a bit was nice.

I saw someone approaching, their cultivation put them in the sixth stage. I hadnt seen them since the walls of the tunnel had blocked my sight. It wasnt human but a beast based on how their energy looked. I quickly got out my gun and loaded one of my remaining nine rank 5 bullets. I had a rank 6, but only a single one. I quickly moved off at an angle away from the entrance, since the beast was clearly headed in this direction.

The beast reached the entrance and then followed me. I frowned at this development. I wasnt going to get out of this without a fight. They werent that quick to pursue me, which was also concerning, but I had no complaints, since I wanted an open place to fight. I came to a grassy swamp. I would have preferred a mountain top, but this would do. Unlike a wet swamp, most of the terrain was soggy grass with only the occasional deeper area filled with water.

I chose my spot to make a stand as a large rock in the swamp, which gave me a commanding view around me. There was no one else that I could spot either beast or human, except the one beast pursuing me.

My gun was put away, so I wouldnt be immediately recognized either. I was ready to pull it out at a moments notice. I only hoped I could talk my way out of whatever this confrontation was.