Chapter 71: Path Walker Li Ling
Li Ling, along with Bai Ruyi, was thrown down into a courtyard that was of rather average size and stature compared to the others surrounding it, clearly one of the lowest among the entire lot. The courtyard was a bit messy and unkempt, but it was whole and without any lacking features that Li Ling could tell from a cursory scan.
Tang Huo stood atop a cloud of roiling blood that had the visual viscosity of jelly but was actually rather firm, as Li Ling could attest himself. He looked down on Li Ling casually without any malice or favor, speaking with his arms behind his back.
"Your registration has been taken care of. As a mere Path Walker, you will have to fight for your own resources at all turns and the little allotted you by the Feeding Blood Wing. The rest of your details can be found in your token, and you can receive your first set of items and equipment from the Feeding Blood Wing on your own."
After saying this, he flicked a finger and sent over a bloody red token shaped like a drop of blood, looking incredibly vivid before flying away without another word. The moment Li Ling caught it, it immediately resonated with his Blood Qi and tunneled into his body, rushing to his heart and embedding itself deeply there.
Li Ling was not panicked or miffed by this. Naturally, everyone with room temperature IQ understood the need for secrecy and loyalty among an organization’s members, and honestly, the Asura Blood Hall using this method was actually rather kind.
A flood of information surged into his Sea of Consciousness from his heart area, which he easily received and sorted out. It contained the full background, history, and scope of the Six Paths Demon Sect, its enemies, the functions of the token itself, his role in the sect, and the details of the blood hall.
About 20% was information that Bai Ruyi had explained to him on the way here, but more detailed. For example, the Asura Blood Hall had three Hall Masters, the main and two deputies who were called the Right Hall Master and the Left Hall Master respectively.
The Main Hall Master was Tang Huo, who was just seen. The Right Hall Master was a woman called Feng Lin, who was also in charge of the Killing Blood Wing, and the Left Hall Master was a fellow called Cheng Shan, who was also the head of the Feeding Blood Wing.
Then there was also the matter of these ’wings.’ The various wings were essentially the arms of government of the Asura Blood Hall, its ’halls,’ and they numbered six in total.
The first wing in terms of internal ranking was the Seeking Blood Wing, which was the task and merit hall equivalent, handling the issuance of tasks for Path Walkers and Path Lords to compete for Blood Credits, the internal currency of the Asura Blood Hall that allowed one to purchase whatever they needed. The hard rule was that Blood Credits could be exchanged for spirit stones while the vice versa was not possible, and all things were only sold officially using Blood Credits.
The second wing was the Feeding Blood Wing, which was the treasury and resource hall equivalent, where one went to take their sect-allocated resources or to purchase resources using accumulated Blood Credits. They did not accept any other currency but Blood Credits, but they bought resources from disciples that were of suitable quality using Blood Credits.
The third wing was the Killing Blood Wing, which was the war hall equivalent. As a demonic sect, and specifically as the Asura Blood Hall that grew through killing, the sect’s wars were mostly handled by their hall and were eagerly anticipated by all Path Walkers and Path Lords. The Asura Blood Hall was always at war, sometimes even warring on multiple fronts at a time, and this was the fastest way to earn Blood Credits and resources outside of what the Feeding Blood Wing gave. The reason it was ranked lower was the higher risk of death compared to taking on tasks.
The fourth wing was the Whispering Blood Wing, which was the scripture pavilion equivalent. As a sect, no matter how grand, the Six Paths Demon Sect firmly upheld at all levels that the necessary cultivation methods, both body and qi, as well as all daoist arts, must be redeemed using internal currency. Li Ling would have to work to earn Blood Credits first before he could redeem the Body Foundation level of the Blood Asura Descent, but that was fine with him since he still had his qi cultivation to sort out.
The fifth wing was the Cleansing Blood Wing, which was the healing hall equivalent, but more specialized. The Cleansing Blood Wing mostly focused on providing a means for disciples to cleanse the accumulated negative effects and impurities from their Blood Qi at a hefty cost. They did one monthly free cleansing that was less effective and done as an AOE for all disciples who came to enjoy the effect, but that was it. The reason this was not ranked higher was because the Feeding Blood Wing had specialized pills that could achieve the same effect and were cheaper than coming to the Cleansing Blood Wing.
The sixth wing was the Binding Blood Wing, the punishment and disciplinary hall equivalent. As this one provided no visible benefit to the disciples and was even a thorn in their sides, it was the least popular and poorest wing in the hall, though as Ren Xue had stated previously, it had the unique authority to kill first and ask later within the hall.
Li Ling was also given information on the hall’s current roster, which had over a thousand Path Lords and nearly a million Path Walkers, but most were spread out all over the continent in different outposts and areas, usually waging war or completing various tasks for the hall.
Since they were not really ’official’ branches, one couldn’t register there, which was why Li Ling had to come all the way here. Also, as was typical of a cultivation world, they believed in things like ’fate,’ so the idea was that even if you learned their method outside, if you couldn’t claw your way to Tianmo Empire to be formally accepted, then you were not good enough.
On the flipside, they also did not want any ’unnatural’ obstacles to hinder these prospective disciples, hence the protections and various rules. It was a delicate balance to ensure that those who came over were not delicate flowers, but wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Otherwise, even if you joined the sect due to the Six Paths Demon Sect gently holding your hand and making it convenient for you all the way, you would just be cannibalized by your fellow disciples or by other demonic sects.
The information also contained the various Path Lords who managed the wings and some other important basic information like the prices of various resources and equipment.
The final thing Li Ling carefully noted was the function of the token itself. It had a diverse number of functions, but the most important ones were that it served as proof of identity that allowed him to access all Asura Blood Hall facilities and even functioned in the other Six Paths Halls to a lower degree.
It also recorded Blood Credits from trading with other disciples, from selling to the Feeding Blood Wing, or those rewarded from the Seeking Blood Wing. It also recorded any acquired merits from active engagement in war zones designated by the Killing Blood Wing.
It also had a simple virtual hub where one could access the task list and select them remotely, make payments for resources to be delivered, send messages to fellow disciples across the entire Six Paths Halls, trade Blood Credits remotely within the hall and into the other currencies of the other five halls, and also had a minor forum for posts.
Its features were wondrous, and Li Ling found them quite amazing. Indeed, even without electricity and the transistor, it was the nature of humanoid species with sentience to optimize their lives and actions with the available resources they had, forming differing branches of technology.
Bai Ruyi glanced around and tsked. "To think the mighty Asura War God, the Lord of Infinite Slaughter and the Demon Emperor of Firmament Heaven would be relegated to this... the heavens are truly unfair!"
Li Ling turned to face Bai Ruyi slowly, looking at her strangely. "I don’t think you realize the current situation?"
Bai Ruyi raised an eyebrow. "We overdid our act and it backfired, so now you’re being penalized. I understand our situation and I’m thinking of ways to solve it, don’t worry."
Li Ling chuckled and took a step forward, appearing before Bai Ruyi and kicking her in the gut, sending her crashing into the wall of the inner courtyard, where she slammed against it roughly with a pained grunt.
"Who cares about that nonsense? The situation I’m referring to is the one concerning you and I specifically." Li Ling said slowly as he walked over, blood leaking from the side of his mouth as the first actual backlash from the heavens came for partly breaking his oath.
Previously, he went scot-free because everything he did was with Bai Ruyi’s consent or permission, but this time he struck her on his own initiative, causing a slight punishment which dropped his cultivation one minor realm from level 3 to level 2.
Yet despite this, Bai Ruyi could only watch with an expression of slight fear and confusion as Li Ling stood over her, far more damaged than she was but perfectly calm and nonchalant. He stretched out a hand and dragged her to her feet by a tuft of her silky white hair, bringing her face near his.
"Bai Ruyi, I will say it once and for the very last time. Purge all your traitorous thoughts and stick to our agreement. You fulfill the tasks I have for you and oblige my four rules, and I will make sure you achieve your goal to ascend to immortality. Do you understand me?" Li Ling spoke very slowly and deliberately, staring her in the eye the entire time.
Bai Ruyi, who had been silent and fearful as if scared of Li Ling, became nonchalantly calm, then went silent before finally sighing deeply. "Fine."
Li Ling nodded and let go of her gently before turning to glance at the courtyard. He raised a hand to cast the Cleansing Spell, but Bai Ruyi was already on it, and her mastery was actually higher than his.
Immediately, the courtyard became pristine as new, the weeds cleared, the spring refreshed, the rockeries and decorations enlivened, and the polished wood housing looked as if freshly built.
"No need for such menial tasks in the future. All you need to do henceforth is cultivate in peace. I will handle your logistical problems and also start working on consolidating allies for you while weakening enemies." Bai Ruyi came to stand beside Li Ling and informed him calmly.
Li Ling nodded with a smile. "I leave it to you. Make sure to collect my first batch of resources and the initial loadout grant from the hall."
Bai Ruyi smiled charmingly and left, her cultivation completely unsealed after Li Ling released her neck when she agreed to adhere to their mutual terms. As for what her original thoughts and plans were, if you took anything she said previously at face value, then you did not grasp the meaning of dancing with a snake.
Li Ling did not care about anything else, having long become impatient to empower himself ever since the number 5 Joy Sect slaughter but forced to halt during the chase and subsequent capture until now. As such, he entered the cultivation room of the courtyard and scanned with his spirit sense for any surveillance.
But doing this was useless, as Li Ling was not knowledgeable enough about the kinds of methods one used for surveillance outside of first-grade arrays, but he did it for show. He did not care if he was surveilled by the higher-ups and even encouraged it, for he wanted them to bear witness to the nature of a true demonic talent, not to flex for petty reasons but to establish his value.
As such, he plopped down on the meditation cushion and immediately opened the Infinite Slaughter System panel, ready to spend all he had on strength!