System-made products were bound to be top-notch.
The mid-grade weakening incense sold in the store could knock out even Golden Core cultivators, let alone these Foundation Establishment and Crystallization Realm disciples.
Because their cultivations were so low and the poisoning was too severe, they immediately collapsed from exhaustion and straight into unconsciousness. They wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon. Fortunately, even an overdose wasn’t life-threatening- otherwise, not only would Ye Yong have had to waste transcend points on antidotes, but he’d also be accused of slaughtering his own sect members. If they died, the credibility of Ye Yong’s unilateral claim og them being spies from demonic sects would be greatly reduced.
Otherwise, anyone could kill fellow disciples and just bring back their corpses, saying and claim they were from a demonic sect. That would cause chaos.
After weighing everything carefully, Ye Yong decided to teleport them out right here and stop looking for the other younger members of the Ye Family.
After all, there were more than ten people here- it wasn’t convenient to drag them around, and he couldn’t just leave them. If any nearby spirit beast wandered over for a snack, Ye Yong might return to find a few bones, some animal droppings, and a spirit beast passed out from eating poisoned meat.
As for setting up a formation to keep them protected: sure, that would stop spirit beasts, but what if some do-gooder happened to pass by, assumed they’d been kidnapped, and reported it to the managers? Then a manager might come in and release them- what then?
Anyway, years of reading cultivation novels had taught Ye Yong one thing: if something could be dealt with immediately, then don’t delay it. The longer it was dragged out, the more likely something would go wrong.
Breaking the seals on their storage pouches and rings, Ye Yong found the teleportation stones issued by the sect. As for the spirit stones, weapons, cultivation resources, etc., they all went into his pocket.
If he didn’t take them, someone else definitely would. Better he keep them for Ye Gou and the others later than let someone from the Enforcement Hall take them.
What Ye Yong saw as garbage might be treasure to someone else. And if he didn’t pay for it, he’d have no problem giving it away later.
He tucked a teleportation stone into each person’s clothing and left a trace of his spiritual power on them. Then he focused his mind to activate the stones.
Ye Yong’s divine soul power was stronger than many Crystallization Realm cultivators, and the activation went smoothly. One by one, the demon sect cultivators turned into light. Ye Yong followed shortly after, also teleporting out of the secret realm.
As soon as he stepped out, a crowd gathered around.
The teleportation point was the clearing where the airship had landed. Many cultivators who had exited the realm early were waiting there for the secret realm to officially close.
Over a dozen unconscious people, all bound up, drew plenty of attention.
Sure enough, a Nascent Soul Realm manager noticed and appeared right away.
“What’s going on here?” Since Ye Yong came out right after them, it was only natural that the elder thought he was involved.
Without mentioning the level four formation, Ye Yong simply said they were all demonic sect cultivators who had tried to kill sect disciples in the secret realm, but he subdued them in time.
As soon as he said that, the crowd erupted.
The spy was actually right next to me?!
The hindsight experts came out in full force, loudly proclaiming how they’d long suspected something but lacked the evidence to expose them. Their dramatic expressions of regret perfectly captured the image of people having the heart but not the strength.
If it had been another disciple making the claim, the manager would have asked multiple questions to make sure there wasn’t a mistake. But he was Prodigy Ye. The manager’s face changed, and he immediately summoned the other managers. After a short discussion, two of them took the unconscious demonic sect members to a secure chamber aboard the flying ship to prevent any other spies from silencing them.
“When we return to the sect, the Law Enforcement Hall elders will interrogate them. If their identities as Demon Sect members are confirmed, you’ll be credited with a great contribution,” said the manager. For him to say something like that meant he already agreed that Ye Yong had caught demonic sect spies. Otherwise, these old guys- most of whom had lived close to a thousand years- would hedge their words and follow up with, “If you’ve wronged them, there will be severe punishment.”
But no such disclaimer came. That meant he’d fully taken Ye Yong’s side and, in doing so, acknowledged Ye Yong’s authority and credibility.
If this were some typical protagonist, a dumb manager would have jumped out to question or distrust him. The crowd would have turned skeptical. When they returned to the sect, the protagonist and the spies would be interrogated together. Then, only after the spies confessed, the protagonist would earn the managers’ praise and pull off a glorious counterattack.
And even then, things wouldn’t stop there. Despite having done a great deed for the sect, at least one manager who had doubted him would develop a grudge, feeling humiliated, and that would lead to a string of idiotic retaliations, ultimately turning themselves from a manager into either a corpse or an exile.
But Ye Yong? None of that applied. He didn’t have the protagonist’s [Intelligence Reduction Halo] or [Mystical Taunt].
He was also the universally acknowledged prodigy, and the Ye Family was one of the top cultivation families in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, completely unrelated to the demonic sects. His background was spotless. You’d be hard-pressed to slap any false accusations on him even if you tried.
And why did catching such weak spies count as a great contribution? Because it’s precisely the weak ones that disgust people the most. Imagine training a promising disciple only for them to defect after getting stronger, not only wasting resources but handing that talent to the enemy. Wouldn’t that make your blood boil?
Ye Yong caught more than ten of them in one go, nipping things in the bud. It would send shockwaves to any remaining spies and may cause them to panic. In a panicked state, they were more likely to slip up, and maybe more spies would be caught.
If that wasn’t a great contribution, then what was?
Spies from the Demon Sect had always been a thorn in the side of righteous sects. After all, with so many new disciples, any spy sent would have clean backgrounds with no problems to be found. Soul-searching spells could reveal everything about someone, but those techniques severely damage the soul, and cultivators all have their own secrets and unique cultivation methods. No righteous sect could rely on that method to root out every spy. Anyone who tried would see their sect shut down within days.
As for what would happen to these captives later, Ye Yong didn’t really care. The Blood Flame Sect wasn’t anything special. As far as he remembered, their strongest elder was just a layer 1 Ascension Realm cultivator- an old fossil on the brink of death who’d never break through to the second layer. They weren’t capable of stirring up any real trouble.
And what about revenge against the Ye Family?
The Ye Family had so many Ascension Realm grandpas that they could casually send one out to flatten anyone. What, did people think they were known as the great cultivation family of the Great Zhou Dynasty for nothing?
Starting out as a rich, handsome elite was just better. No need to worry that his actions might bring disaster upon his family.
Ye Yong quietly sat in a corner and closed his eyes to rest.
He couldn’t leave just yet- he’d have to return via the sect’s flying ship for safety.
“You left the secret realm midway to capture spies. After discussing it with the other managers, we’ve decided to let you go back and continue seeking opportunities,” one of the managers approached and said.
“Isn’t that against the rules?” Normally, once you left a sect’s secret realm, you weren’t allowed back in.
“Even if the sect master was here, I believe he’d make the same call.”
“Then I thank you, seniors, for your kindness.” Ye Yong gave a polite bow.
Sure enough, rules were made to be broken- if you were worth it.
Ye Yong wasn’t particularly interested in the opportunities. He just wanted to check on Ye Gou and the others.
What if they’d managed to avoid dying to Long Tian and ended up getting ganged up on and killed by a bunch of spirit beasts instead?
Whether they lived or died, whether their fate had changed- it all made them valuable observation subjects.
Under the admiring and affectionate gazes of male and female disciples, Ye Yong stepped once more into the secret realm.