Chapter Twenty: Rescue

The prison within the Demonic Sect was built deep underground, resembling an ant colony with myriad cells connected by winding passages. The deeper one went, the more significant the prisoners, and at the very lowest level lay the poisonous pool used to forge the Sect’s guardian warriors.

At this moment, a lone figure surged upward, ascending from the lowest depths toward the upper levels.

Suddenly—blood extinguished the lantern flames.

“An intruder!”

The Demonic Sect guards rushed in, but Li Ju neither dodged nor retreated. He let their refined steel blades hack at his body, while his hands flashed outward, effortlessly swatting down the guards surrounding him. Like a heavy war machine, he pressed forward, crushing the wave of attackers that surged toward him.

“What a pity. I had hoped to move quietly, unseen in the shadows,” Li Ju mused, flicking the skull of a guard with a single gesture, while shaking his head in resignation as arrows from afar struck his face.

After dispatching those at the poisonous pool, he had intended to slip away, waiting for the right moment to act. Yet he had underestimated the size he’d gained after forging the Hundred Venoms Vajra Body. Though he tried to conceal himself with the Ghost Bat Technique, he was discovered after only a few steps.

So, his plan for stealth was forced into a massacre of unrivaled ferocity.

“I must be careful not to draw the elders who guard this place,” Li Ju muttered, hurling a man into the crowd of archers on the road behind him, scattering them like bowling pins.

According to Lian Tao, every practitioner of the Hundred Venoms Vajra Body possessed the strength of an inner force master at their peak. With the added speed from the second layer of the Ghost Bat Technique, Li Ju overcame the usual sluggishness of the Vajra Body, making him even more formidable.

Yet, before he truly faced an inner force master, doubt lingered in his heart. The deeper he understood the martial path, the more he recognized the might of those experts.

External force masters, though formidable, remained within human limits—overwhelmed by a swarm of armored soldiers. But inner force masters had begun to transcend those limits, their internal energy granting them a qualitative advantage. Each could withstand attacks from dozens of external force experts, or even face a thousand-strong military charge head-on.

“No matter, I cannot afford to waste time.”

This place was close to the heart of the Demonic Sect. Should the main sect send reinforcements, Li Ju knew he could not withstand their full might.

His eyes narrowed, muscles in his arms and thighs contracting suddenly.

Ghost Bat Assault!

Li Ju’s form blurred into several afterimages, crushing forward like a rampaging giant. Every guard in his path was shattered, the stone slabs beneath his feet sinking several inches with each stride. Severed limbs and blood filled the depressions, making the road whole once more.

This was a martial technique recorded in the Ghost Bat Technique, one only mastered upon reaching the third layer and developing internal energy—entering the realm of inner force. Though Li Ju had not achieved this stage, his powerful physique allowed him to forcefully execute the move!

“That’s the Ghost Bat Technique—how can this be?!”

From behind, a Demonic Sect external force master recognized the technique and cried out in shock. Such secret arts were reserved for the sect’s most outstanding disciples and elders, never meant for outsiders. Now, seeing it wielded by a stran