Chapter Eighteen: Sunset Valley

"In the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons, there are always a few lucky souls every year who manage to step through the gates of the Heavenly Star Wolf Sect through one of two paths. The first is to be spotted by an inner-sect disciple of the Heavenly Star Wolf Sect and taken in as a servant disciple. The second is to head to Sunset Valley to accept missions, using the rewards to trade for medicinal pills to break through bottlenecks; once one’s cultivation reaches the fifth level of Qi Refining, the qualification to join the Heavenly Star Wolf Sect is naturally granted," Chen Mo explained, his tone revealing a deep familiarity with the sect's selection system.

"To be taken under the wing of an inner-sect disciple—could one truly escape the shackles of the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons this way? Is the authority of an inner-sect disciple of the Heavenly Star Wolf Sect really that immense?" Cao Yun asked, his face full of astonishment.

"The power of inner-sect disciples far exceeds what you or I could imagine. One could even say that many of the rules governing this Forest of Ten Thousand Demons were crafted by their own hands," Chen Mo said nonchalantly, as if stating a matter of routine.

"In that case, does the status of an inner-sect disciple not supersede even the elders of the Blood Slave Hall?" The confusion in Cao Yun’s heart surged like a tide.

"Exactly. Those elders who appear so high and mighty in the Blood Slave Hall are, in truth, merely outer-sect deacon disciples of the Heavenly Star Wolf Sect. Compared to the inner-sect disciples, the difference in their status is as vast as heaven and earth," Chen Mo answered patiently.

Cao Yun was shaken to his core. He had never imagined that those elders, usually so arrogant and unreachable, were merely outer-sect disciples of the Heavenly Star Wolf Sect.

"Then, this Sunset Valley you mentioned—what kind of place is it?" Cao Yun asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

"Sunset Valley is located more than forty miles north of Venomous Snake Valley. It is controlled by a group of outer-sect disciples who take missions from the Mission Hall, subcontract them at lower rates, and pass them down to blood slaves to complete, reaping huge profits in the process," Chen Mo explained slowly.

"Such a thing exists..." A glimmer of excitement flickered in Cao Yun’s eyes.

"The wonders of Sunset Valley go far beyond that. There, you can trade spirit herbs, monster materials, and monster blood for whatever you need. Apart from being unable to lift the restriction of your Heart-Crushing Technique, as long as you have enough items for trade—whether it be mortal women, medicinal pills, magical artifacts, spirit herbs, techniques, or spells—if you want it, you can have it," Chen Mo said, his words dripping with temptation.

"Wouldn't that create a conflict with the trade of the Blood Slave Hall? Would the elders of the Blood Slave Hall stand for it?" Cao Yun asked, worried.

"The Blood Slave Hall is merely a place for blood slaves to hand over missions. Those private transactions are actually the work of the elders themselves. Moreover, there must be support from inner-sect disciples behind the scenes. Perhaps the collusion between Sunset Valley and the Blood Slave Hall is orchestrated by those very inner-sect disciples. They are simply providing more options for the blood slaves through two different channels. Their ultimate goal remains the same: to make the blood slaves generate even greater profits for them." Chen Mo’s explanation brought sudden clarity to Cao Yun.

"Thank you, Brother Chen, for clearing this up. The hour is late, so let us part ways here." Cao Yun did not linger; having acquired such vital information, he needed to return and rethink his plans.

"Brother Cao, why not come to my cave dwelling for a gathering? I have two mortal concubines there. Since you have been so helpful, why not take one as a token of my appreciation?" Chen Mo winked at Cao Yun, the implication clear.

Cao Yun simply waved his hand, his figure turning into a streak of azure light that vanished into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

"His strength of will is truly rare," Chen Mo murmured, watching the direction in which Cao Yun had departed, sighing to himself in admiration.

Time slipped away, and two years passed in the blink of an eye.

Now, at seventeen, Cao Yun had already built a formidable reputation. His name was not only well-known among the blood slaves throughout the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons, but his exploits had even begun to circulate within the outer sect of the Heavenly Star Wolf Sect.

By this time, Cao Yun’s cultivation had reached the second level of Qi Refining.

Strangely enough, since he had killed a Red Giant-Mouthed monster a year ago, the eerie red light that used to appear between his brows had suddenly ceased to manifest. At first, Cao Yun thought it was a coincidence, but he soon realized that the red beam—which had previously plundered the souls of monsters—never appeared again. The light between his brows seemed like nothing more than a fleeting dream.

This puzzled Cao Yun for a long time, but he could never find an answer. Eventually, he had no choice but to give up his investigation and focus on hunting monsters to complete his missions in Sunset Valley.

Most of the monsters Cao Yun hunted were traded for Qi Refining Powder, which he needed to break through his bottlenecks. According to Wu Jiao, an outer-sect disciple of the Heavenly Star Wolf Sect, the amount of Qi Refining Powder Cao Yun had consumed should have been enough to propel a person with four-attribute spiritual roots to the third level of Qi Refining.

Yet, Cao Yun had only managed to reach the second level.

He knew his aptitude was poor, but he had never imagined it was this abysmal. This discovery was a heavy blow to him. Had his will not been as tempered as iron, he might have long since turned cold, abandoning this path of daily, life-or-death, blood-soaked struggle.

On this day, back in his cave dwelling, Cao Yun consumed two more portions of Qi Refining Powder and began to circulate his Energy-Enhancing Technique. However, he found that the effects of the powder were far less potent than before. Two packets, once consumed, barely had any effect at all.

Clearly, his body had developed what the outer-sect disciples called "drug resistance."

"It seems I must switch to Spirit Essence Pills for my next trade." Cao Yun sighed, filled with helplessness.

Although the Spirit Essence Pill was slightly more effective than the Qi Refining Powder, its price was more than double. As Wu Jiao liked to say, "A miss by a hair is a miss by a thousand miles." At the critical moment of breaking through a bottleneck, that tiny bit of extra spiritual energy was often all that was needed to cross the threshold and reach the next realm.

Cao Yun was skeptical of Wu Jiao’s rhetoric, but with the Qi Refining Powder now ineffective, he had no choice but to opt for the costlier Spirit Essence Pills.

This meant that Cao Yun would have to venture deeper into the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons to seek out more powerful monsters. While there were many monsters on the periphery of the forest, most were common, and their materials could not be traded for many spirit stones. To obtain precious materials, he had to venture deep into the forest to hunt rare beasts.

In fact, over these past two years, Cao Yun had thought many times about the two Hundred-Forge Flowers, but no matter how he plotted, he could not overcome the massive gap in strength. Trying to snatch spiritual herbs from a third-tier monster was nothing but throwing an egg against a rock—a path to certain death.

Fortunately, Cao Yun had accumulated quite a few spirit herbs over the last two years, enough to refine some Qi-Inducing Pills. However, he had yet to consume these, as they were primarily for breaking through bottlenecks, and he had not yet reached the peak of the second level of Qi Refining. He decided to store them away, intending to use them to surge through to the third level once he had perfected the second.