Longevity Martial Arts: Grinding Experience in the Chaotic World

Gu Sheng suppressed his anger and asked.

The young girl nodded.

”All the girls over the age of ten in the city have been captured... I’ve... I’ve been here for three months!”

Three months!

This meant that the Nie family’s father and son’s evil deeds had been ongoing for quite some time.

”My sister, she’s only eight years old!”

A thin girl in the cage beside suddenly burst into tears.

”They said they would take her when she turns ten.”

The girl couldn’t continue and buried her head in her hands, sobbing.

Her sobs seemed to open the floodgate, and the dungeon was instantly filled with the sound of weeping.

Gu Sheng closed his eyes, his mind flashing the innocent and joyful smile of his sister.

If she were the one captured... if she were the one imprisoned in this sunless dungeon.

From the next cell came the repressed sobs of the girls.

Suddenly, a girl rushed to the iron bars and shouted at the guard.

”Animals! You’ll all die a miserable death!”

”Little slut!”

The guard sneered and drew out a long whip, lashing through the bars.

”Snap!”

The whip shadow flew out, leaving a bloody mark on the girl’s face.

She fell to the ground with a cry of pain but continued to glare defiantly at the guard.

”Shout again, and I’ll whip you to death.”

The guard threatened viciously.

”All of you, quiet down. You’ll suffer plenty tomorrow!”

Gu Sheng’s right hand unconsciously clenched.

Nearly unable to hold back, but reason told him now was not the time.

He still didn’t know the City Lord’s strength, acting rashly would only endanger these innocent people.

After the guard cursed and left, Gu Sheng squatted down beside an old man with white hair.

”Elder, are you all cultivators?”

The old man smiled bitterly and nodded.

”Otherwise, how would we end up here... the Nie family father and son specifically capture cultivators to practice their arts...”

”What is the City Lord’s cultivation level?”

Gu Sheng lowered his voice to ask.

The cell suddenly went silent, all the prisoners looked at Gu Sheng in terror, as if he had asked a forbidden question.

”Why are you asking this?”

The old man nervously looked around, only continuing when he confirmed the guard wasn’t nearby.

”No one knows the exact answer, those who have seen him in action are all dead!”

In the corner, a middle-aged man with a face full of scars suddenly spoke.

”At least Earth Palace Realm peak, possibly even Heavenly Palace Realm.”

Heavenly Palace Realm! Gu Sheng’s heart sank.

Though endowed with extraordinary talent, his time cultivating was still short, currently only at the early stage of the Earth Palace Realm.

If the City Lord truly was Heavenly Palace Realm, the odds in a direct confrontation were slim.

”When will they act?”

Gu Sheng continued to ask.

”Tomorrow,” the old man said with a trembling voice.

”Tomorrow at noon, when Yang Qi is at its peak... they need the souls of ninety-nine cultivators and the essence blood of nine hundred and ninety-nine maidens.”

Gu Sheng’s face turned grim.

He had heard of the Nine Yin Soul Devouring Technique, an extremely insidious cultivation technique within the Demon Path, requiring the devouring of numerous cultivator souls and maiden essence blood to achieve great success.

Once accomplished, Qingsheng City Lord’s strength would soar, making him even more formidable.

”I must find a way...”

Gu Sheng had just started to speak when the old man grabbed his wrist.

”Don’t even think about it!”

The old man’s eyes were filled with fear.

”No one can escape from here; that Qingsheng Demon has set up the Heaven and Earth Net in the City Lord Mansion... a few days ago, a fellow at the mid-stage of the Earth Palace Realm tried to resist and was directly drained to a husk.”

Gu Sheng gently patted the old man’s hand.

”Rest now and gather your strength.”

Late into the night, the sobbing in the dungeon gradually subsided, but Gu Sheng remained wide awake.

Sitting cross-legged in the corner, he circulated his spiritual power within and suppressed his breath to its lowest, while carefully perceiving everything around him.

There seemed to be something operating below the City Lord Mansion, faintly detectable was a cold energy fluctuation.

Gu Sheng attempted to extend his divine sense to investigate, only to have it rebounded by a sinister force upon contacting the cell wall.

”Restriction...”

Gu Sheng thought to himself.

”And it’s a restriction specifically targeting divine sense.”

This further confirmed the extraordinary nature of Qingsheng City Lord—being able to set up such a restriction required at least an Earth Palace Realm peak expert.

At the break of dawn, the clamor of footsteps came from outside the dungeon.

”Get up! All of you, get up!”

The guards roughly kicked at the prison doors.

”Today is a good day, let’s take them to meet King Yan!”

The cell doors were opened one by one, and the prisoners were dragged out roughly.

The girls cried and screamed as they were pulled from their cells, and those who resisted were whipped until their skin was torn.

”Be quiet!”

A guard grabbed an old man by his collar and dragged him outside.

”Being part of the City Lord’s Divine Skill is an honor for you all!”

Gu Sheng did not resist, allowing the guards to escort him out of the dungeon.

They arrived at a massive square, which should have been the Martial Arts Arena of the City Lord Mansion, but it had now become an evil altar.

Stone pillars were arranged in a special formation, with a girl tied to each one.

They shivered in the morning breeze, their faces streaked with tears.

”Sister!”

A little girl suddenly cried out.

”Sister, save me!”

Gu Sheng looked towards the voice and saw the brave girl from yesterday tied to a stone pillar not far away, her face still marked by whip scars.

She tried hard not to cry.

”Don’t be afraid! Sister is here.”

Gu Sheng’s fists clenched involuntarily.

The cultivators were brought to the center of the square, where there was an even larger stone pillar, stained with dark red blood, clearly having been used many times.

”Get up there!”

The guards shoved Gu Sheng and bound him to a stone pillar.

The moment the ropes touched his skin, Gu Sheng felt an eerie coldness trying to invade his body.

He immediately circulated his spiritual power to resist, while maintaining an appearance of weakness.

”Is everything checked?”

A familiar voice sounded.

Nie Shan swaggered into the square, excitement on his face.

”Are the numbers right?”

”Yes, young master, ninety-nine cultivators, nine hundred and ninety-nine girls, not one less!”

The head guard replied obsequiously.

”Good! Good!”

Nie Shan’s eyes were fervent.

”Father will be here soon, prepare to start the ceremony!”

As the sun rose higher, the girls’ cries turned into hopeless sobs, while most of the cultivators took on the pallor of death, closing their eyes to await the end.

At this moment, the ground trembled slightly.

”Here he comes!”

Nie Shan shouted excitedly.

”Father has emerged!”

At the end of the square, a massive stone door slowly opened, releasing a heavy scent of blood into the air.

Gu Sheng saw a blood-colored figure gracefully emerge from behind the stone door.

It was a tall middle-aged man, clad in a blood-red robe, with a sinister appearance.

Floating mid-air, his body was surrounded by a visible blood-red mist, with every slight movement causing faint cracking sounds in the air.

”Welcome, City Lord!”

All the guards knelt down in unison, their foreheads touching the ground.

Qingsheng City Lord ignored them, his gaze sweeping over every girl and cultivator.

When he saw Gu Sheng, he paused slightly and frowned.

Gu Sheng immediately suppressed his aura to the lowest point, slowing his heartbeat to almost a standstill.

He had read in the Holy Land’s ancient texts that high-level cultivators could assess an opponent’s power through their life aura, so he must completely conceal himself.

”Welcome, Father, to your Great Success of Divine Skill!”

Nie Shan prostrated himself on the stone slab, his forehead pressed tightly to the ground.

”The hour has come.”

Qingsheng City Lord’s voice was hoarse.

”Begin the ritual.”

Nie Shan’s face was overtaken with fervor.

”Light the fire! Bring the Pill Furnace!”

At his command, dozens of guards pushed a bronze pill furnace three feet high into the square.

The furnace’s surface was engraved with menacing ghost faces, and a ghostly green flame burned at its base. Even at a distance of several dozen feet, one could feel the piercing cold heat wave.

”No... don’t...”

A girl tied to a pillar suddenly cried out.

”Mother... save me...”

The cultivators managed to maintain some composure, but the girls were completely distraught.

Qingsheng City Lord turned a deaf ear.

The evil qi around him surged. Pitch-black mist poured from his seven orifices, shrouding half of the sky in a blink.

The sunlight was blocked, plunging the square into an eerie twilight, with only the green fire in the furnace offering some illumination.

In Gu Sheng’s body, spiritual power silently circulated.

He noticed that whenever Qingsheng City Lord absorbed a Blood Pearl, the evil qi around him would briefly fluctuate.