Six million Town Demon Alliance contribution points, all exchanged for Thousand-Year Snow Lotuses, could fetch twenty of them.

With his alchemy skills and sufficient other medicinal materials, the number of Golden Core Formation Pills he could produce per batch was increasing. Coupled with the Dragging Pill Technique, he was confident he could refine over two hundred pills.

Two hundred Golden Core Formation Pills would be enough to exchange for three hundred million Town Demon Alliance contribution points, enough to obtain Break Infant Pills, Nascent Soul Techniques, and Divine Skills—all of them.

Unfortunately, the exchange quantity for the Thousand-Year Snow Lotus was limited. Jia Ren didn't have such a vast reserve of spiritual medicines, and most importantly, this approach would attract not only Nascent Soul Cultivators.

Despite having an easy way to earn a large number of Town Demon Alliance contribution points, he was constrained by his own strength, as well as the greed of other cultivators, and thus unable to fully exert his abilities.

"Fellow Daoist is truly extraordinary. May I know what you wish to exchange for?" The Internal Affairs Director's gaze towards Jia Ren changed, acquiring a strange glow.

His willingness to part with four Golden Core Formation Pills for an exchange meant his request was substantial.

However, four Golden Core Formation Pills were not enough for a Break Infant Pill. It was curious what such a heavy investment was for.

"The crafting method for the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure."

The Internal Affairs Director was momentarily stunned, not expecting such a request.

For a sect to exchange for this item was not surprising—the Upper Nine Sects had all exchanged for the crafting method of the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure, a treasure passed down through generations.

A sect without a Demon-Sealing type treasure would struggle to endure in the face of increasingly dangerous Bizarre Demons.

Golden Core Sects hadn't made the exchange, simply because it was too expensive...

"Five million Town Demon Alliance contribution points."

Five million Town Demon Alliance contribution points vanished, and Jia Ren obtained the much-coveted crafting method for the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure.

The materials for crafting the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure included Profound Underworld Essence Stone, Blood-patterned Silver Essence, and Blood Jade Phoenix Marrow.

His eyes sparkled slightly. He possessed both the Profound Underworld Essence Stone and the Blood-patterned Silver Essence. The former came from the Xuanming Stone Mine, and the latter from a slain cultivator of the Seven Stars Palace—leftover material from crafting the Seven Star Sword.

The two materials were just barely enough for crafting the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure.

Blood Jade Phoenix Marrow was also one of the main materials for the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure, a rare Evil-Repelling Magical Treasure material, priced lower than the Profound Underworld Essence Stone.

Unfortunately, Blood Jade Phoenix Marrow wasn't on the exchange list, and it was not easy to find.

"Exchange for the Void Nether Source Stone."

To his surprise, Jia Ren found a Void Nether Source Stone on the exchange list. This was the core material for crafting High Capacity Storage Treasures and could be used to craft Cave-Heaven Magical Treasures.

The exchange price was one million three hundred thousand Town Demon Alliance contribution points.

He added a few other materials to meet the requirements.

In just a short period, he had spent all his Town Demon Alliance contribution points as if they were water.

The Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure was still missing Blood Jade Phoenix Marrow, but it wasn't irreplaceable. The magical treasure he was crafting wasn't a true Demon-Sealing Tower.

A Third Rank Phoenix Flame Tail might replace it to some extent, but if not, he would have to continue spending time collecting materials.

"Thank you, Director. This is where we part ways."

Jia Ren took the materials he had received, carefully confirming there were no problems and no tracking marks, before swiftly leaving.

Before departing, he impulsively glanced at the massive Demon-Sealing Tower.

Everything was normal; there were no disturbances.

He was unsure whether True Monarch Jade Bell hadn't noticed him or simply lacked the power to intervene.

After leaving the Bizarre-Suppressing Main Alliance headquarters, Jia Ren keenly felt watchful gazes sweep over him.

Without a moment's hesitation, he executed the Sword Control Technique and shot towards the sky.

"Fellow Daoist, please halt!"

The voice came from behind, seeming to carry a bewitching effect that made one involuntarily consider turning back and obeying the speaker's command.

In the sea of his Divine Soul, a tiny Star River flowed gently. Jia Ren's eyes showed a flicker of lucidity; he was unaffected by the voice.

This was a technique targeting the Divine Soul!

The Internal Affairs Director had indeed sold him out!

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been targeted by a Late Golden Core Stage Cultivator right after leaving the Bizarre-Suppressing Main Alliance headquarters.

Jia Ren, not understanding the enemy's situation, decisively rose on his sword, transforming into Sword Qi Thunder Sound as he flew away.

The person who had spoken saw Jia Ren using Sword Qi Thunder Sound and, realizing that chasing him was futile, watched as he disappeared into the distance.

No one pursued? What a false alarm!

He searched his body with the Soul Breaking Technique, found no tracking marks, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Indeed, the Cultivation World is no pure land!"

"Even as a Golden Core stage cultivator, he was targeted for exchanging four Golden Core Formation Pills for the crafting method of the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure..."

The Great Sects already possessed the crafting method for the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure, so it held no particular value for them to pursue from him.

The smaller sects lacked the capability to cooperate with the Internal Affairs Director for such a thing.

Unfortunately, he still couldn't avoid trouble.

Weakness is indeed the original sin.

"I'll go to the Xuan Shui Sect to resign from the position of Sect Master and leave a copy of the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure's crafting method."

No matter what, the Xuan Shui Sect had taken the blame for him, and who knew what troubles might come in the future.

The Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure's crafting method, obtained from the Town Demon Alliance, would be recorded and a copy left at the Xuan Shui Sect as recompense for the Water Emperor Law Manifestation Divine Ability he had acquired.

Jia Ren hurried towards Xingluo Market with astonishing speed.

Still, he kept a contingency plan, having left his Insect External Incarnation outside in advance, ready to come to his aid.

With such an arrangement, even if someone had laid a trap and an inescapable snare at the Xuan Shui Sect, he could leave unscathed.

Two days of continuous flight brought Xingluo Market ever closer.

Jia Ren had always planned before acting. Not in a rush to return, he used the Soul Breaking Technique to look towards Xingluo Market.

The market's crowd seemed sparser. Upon looking, he noticed many unfamiliar faces among the disciples patrolling in Xuan Shui robes.

New disciples?

Or had the Xuan Shui Sect already been a victim of a 'Substitute One Thing for Another' ploy?

His appearance slowly changed into that of Zhen Yi, and his Spiritual Power Fluctuation was also suppressed from the Golden Core stage to the Foundation Establishment stage.

After making sure there were no flaws, he casually walked into Xingluo Market.

Upon paying a Spirit Stone, he strode in.

The market was much quieter than before he left, with shops closed and not a single Loose Cultivator in sight.

The situation was abnormally odd, involuntarily causing one's brow to furrow.

Jia Ren discreetly headed towards the Xuan Shui Sect's residence. Moments later, his face turned extremely grim.

There were quite a few cultivators coming in and out of the Xuan Shui Sect, but not a single familiar face.

Despite his usual hands-off approach as Sect Master, he wouldn't fail to recognize his own disciples.

Inducting a batch of new disciples into the Xuan Shui Sect would be normal, but it was impossible for everyone to have been replaced.

Who were they?

He could sense none of the thousands of cultivators from the Xuan Shui Sect... not a single one.

Could they be Thousand Mountains Sect cultivators?

Did they discover his true identity and set this elaborate trap to lure him in?

Or was it the exchange of Golden Core Formation Pills for the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure that brought trouble to the Xuan Shui Sect?

To blackmail him, wasn't this an overly grand gesture? To stage such an affair?

The latter seemed unlikely. They couldn't have received the information more than five days ago. To mobilize a large number of cultivators, deal with the Xuan Shui Sect, and create this scene in such a short time—what kind of immense power would that require?

Could it be a Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre?!

No, that's not right. A Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre wouldn't need to go through such trouble—replacing people would only serve to startle the snake.

Just who could it be?

If the Xuan Shui Sect had become like this because of him, Jia Ren felt uneasy.

He decided to investigate the situation first and help if he could.

He arrived at a rented space and quietly released Spirit Insects into the surroundings.

Before long, the Spirit Insects in the northwest were all killed.

Under Jia Ren's control, tiny streams of water continuously extended underground towards the location of the Spirit Insects' deaths.

A Xuan Guang Water Mirror appeared before him, showing every detail.

He saw two Foundation Establishment Cultivators guarding the place, with scattered bug corpses nearby.

"Where did these bugs come from? They couldn't be from an Insect Tamer Master, could they?"

"Be careful, and guard the Formation well."

Before they could say more, the Formation flickered.

"Someone's trying to break in!"

Before they could react, the water transformed into two ropes, wrapping around their necks.

The next moment, the water coalesced into the form of Jia Ren, and two palms extended from nothingness, choking the two men.

One of them fainted on the spot, while the other turned purple in the face. Before he could resist, his Dantian was pierced by a golden fingertip.

"I ask, you answer! Nod or shake your head."

"Are you from the Thousand Mountains Sect?"

The man's eyes were fixed on Jia Ren, with no intention of responding.

Jia Ren, too lazy to ask further, knocked him unconscious with a palm strike.

The Great Sects all had methods like the Soul Lamp. If one didn't want to startle the snake, it wasn't wise to kill for now.

He looked up into the distance and smiled. "A Formation?"

The tips of his fingers flickered with dark light, and with several applications of the Ban-breaking Finger, the Formation briefly malfunctioned.

In front of him, a dark entrance to an underground chamber appeared. He hadn't entered yet, but a dense smell of blood rushed to meet him.

Jia Ren followed the winding stairs downward until he was completely engulfed by darkness.

"Where is the Profound Realm Key?"

"If the Xuan Shui Sect can offer four Golden Core Formation Pills, it must have discovered the secret treasury that the Xuan Shui Sect hid. But what about the Profound Realm Key?"

"When the Xuan Shui Sect was destroyed years ago, they didn't find the Profound Realm Key. I had thought it ended up with the Heavenly Feather Gate..."

Heavenly Feather Gate cultivators?

Wasn't the Heavenly Feather Gate said to have been wiped out by Bizarre Demons?

How could they still be alive?

"Later, after the Heavenly Feather Gate was wiped out, they still didn't find the Profound Realm Key. After going in circles, who would have thought the issue was with the Xuan Shui Sect."

"If you hadn't put forth four Golden Core Formation Pills, you might have really slipped past us."

The ground below seemed to be dyed red with blood, and charred, incomplete corpses were everywhere, numbering in the hundreds.

Further away, a female cultivator was bound with red ropes to an iron pillar. Her arms were severed, her features destroyed, and her body was covered with blackened wounds.

A red-haired young man held a ball of flame in his right hand, letting it burn on the woman's face.

Jia Ren still recognized the woman by a sense of familiarity. It was Zuo Siyan, the Grand Elder of the Xuan Shui Sect. He couldn't imagine what kind of torture she must have endured to be reduced to this state.

"To think that not only the Heavenly Feather Gate but also your True Fire Palace were involved in destroying the Xuan Shui Sect. Are you intending to eliminate the Xuan Shui Sect completely?"

"The Xuan Shui Sect is going to be ruined at my hands..."

"I regret allowing the Xuan Shui Sect to reappear..."

The intruders were not from the Thousand Mountains Sect, but the True Fire Palace?

The True Fire Palace was also one of the true culprits behind the Xuan Shui Sect's destruction?

What is the Profound Realm Key? Was the True Fire Palace staging such a grand play just to obtain it?

"Sigh, Junior Brother Green Fire's methods are getting worse. He let an Early Golden Core Stage Cultivator escape from his hands."

The True Fire Palace youth slowly turned his head, his eyes burning like two flickering flames, looking towards the darkness where Jia Ren was.

A teasing look, like a cat toying with a mouse, flashed across his face. "But now, everyone is here! Let me put an end to this farce!"

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