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Chapter 1155: Chapter 1046: Join_2
Although Li Zhirui is still considered among the lower echelons in the entire realm of Immortal Tao, as a cultivator of Immortal Tao, he still hopes that Immortal Tao would flourish and thrive.
After all, if Immortal Tao were to decline, being one of its members, he would inevitably be affected.
"The number has already diminished greatly, at the beginning of the spread of the news, one could see groups of cultivators, openly defecting to West Continent." Even though many years have passed since then, mentioning it still inevitably makes him sigh.
"Thank you for your efforts."
Li Zhirui didn’t know what else to say, so he left behind some Precious Pills that he no longer needed and then seemingly floated away.
"Senior..."
"These are all tokens of my heart, do not refuse them." The words came with the breeze, but the person was already nowhere to be seen.
Within an hour, Li Zhirui arrived in front of Taisui Immortal City, with the characters "Taisui" hanging above the city walls.
The process of entering the city was somewhat cumbersome, first, in front of everyone, he had to demonstrate an attack Divine Power and actively cancel it midway through its casting.
This is done to better scrutinize a cultivator’s Mana; the Mana of a Demon Cultivator usually carries an evil energy, and during the retraction and release, flaws are easily exposed.
Next, one must continuously feed a percentage of their Mana into a Compass, serving the same purpose.
Then, it involves walking through a Great Array specifically designed for testing Demon Cultivators; it’s a Formation that would not harm cultivators.
After passing through all these steps, an Identity Jade is made where one drops a drop of blood mixed with Mana into a specially made Jade Token.
Also, reporting one’s true identity, including place of origin, and heritage, which will be verified by a designated person, will remain confidential and not be displayed to outsiders.
The last step was paying the series of fees, costing Li Zhirui a total of fifty thousand Spirit Stones.
However, these fifty thousand Spirit Stones are only temporary; once you kill ten Demon Cultivators on the battlefield, it will be returned as Contribution Value.
If one survives until that time, the fifty thousand Spirit Stones paid will be considered a reward as it will return five thousand Contribution Value.
Although the official exchange rate between Contribution Value and Spirit Stones is one to ten, it only allows exchanging Contribution Value for Spirit Stones, not the other way around.
However, in the black market, this exchange rate expands to one to fifteen!
It means, without doing anything, you’ve earned twenty-five thousand Spirit Stones.
And this is only the standard rate; if the Hall of Merit which handles the exchange happens to feature some rare and unique Spiritual Objects, the rate can increase even further.
The entrance procedure alone took Li Zhirui almost half an hour.
Fortunately, in the future, regardless of which Immortal City he enters, he simply needs to use Mana to activate the Jade Token to verify his identity, no need for the complicated process.
Taisui Immortal City is not different from other Immortal Cities; one can still see the bustling streets, with cultivators coming and going without a sense of urgency as if not nearing a battlefield.
The reason they are so relaxed is also thanks to the Mountain River City walls; it is their presence that has blocked the large-scale invasion of the Demon Cultivators.
Li Zhirui rested for a few days in an inn in Immortal City, and while there, he inquired about some news, such as recent battlefield conditions, losses on both sides, and other easily obtainable intelligence.
The Immortal Demon Battlefield remains extremely cruel, with a large number of cultivators and Demon Cultivators dying daily; it’s like a massive meat grinder, even cultivators who achieved Integration are not completely confident in returning safely.
"Recently, the Demon Cultivators have been like madmen, growing much more ferocious, causing our casualties to considerably increase," one cultivator said worriedly, fearing that he might also perish on the battlefield.
"Isn’t it all caused by those traitors!" another person said indignantly.
"Alas! Among the Demon Cultivators, I saw a once-familiar Fellow Daoist; I never imagined he would choose the path of Demonic Tao."
"I also saw an old acquaintance."
...
This statement elicited a resonance among the crowd, and they all chimed in agreement.
"It’s really utmost stupidity; indeed, there are people who despise long lives, running to join the Demon Cultivators, now look where it got them? Shifting to Demonic Tao, yet they are not even considered worthy by the original Demon Cultivators, using them as cannon fodder for death."
A certain cultivator mocked: "Many people yelled regret on the battlefield, hoping to return to the Immortal Tao, ha! Immortal Tao is not something where you can come and go as you please, expecting to return whenever you wish."
Not to mention the uniqueness of the Demonic Tao cultivation technique, even if one abolishes their cultivation, upon re-cultivating, the Demonic Qi will reappear.
In recent years, many cultivators have wanted to defect to the Demonic Tao, but those on the front lines of the battlefield have never entertained such thoughts.
Because they have the most contact with Demon Cultivators, they know just how beastly Demon Cultivators can be and how many drawbacks the Demonic Tao has. How could they possibly abandon the light for the dark?
"Fellow Daoist, you look unfamiliar. Have you only recently arrived in Taisui Immortal City?"
Sitting quietly on the side and listening to the crowd, Li Zhirui did not expect anyone to approach him and nodded, saying, "Yes."
"Then may I ask if you have found any teammates? If not, how about joining our Senluo Squad? Our team has..."
Without waiting for Li Zhirui’s consent, he began to introduce.
"Fellow Daoist, hold on, I haven’t agreed yet." Li Zhirui found himself having to interrupt the other person.
"Do you have any concerns, Fellow Daoist?"
The cultivator was very puzzled by Li Zhirui’s refusal, saying, "Our Senluo Squad is one of the top strength teams in Taisui Immortal City, and it has an excellent reputation; there has never been any incident of harming a teammate."
Their conversation drew the attention of many cultivators.
Li Zhirui also noticed the envy flashing in their eyes when they heard about the Senluo Squad; it seemed that the other party wasn’t lying.
"I am curious why you would invite me? And you’ve said so much, yet till now, you have not introduced yourself."
"That’s my mistake!"
The man perked up, gracefully said, "I am Feng Santree, the vice-captain of the Senluo Squad." 𝖓𝔬𝖛𝔭𝔲𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
"As to why I invited you? Naturally, it’s because your strength is sufficient and you haven’t accrued much karmic force."
The former is very important; without strong power, being on the battlefield is not only dangerous but also burdensome to Fellow Daoists.
The latter is even more crucial; the Senluo Squad can stand in Taisui Immortal City and maintain such fame because the character of its members is key.
"Fellow Daoist, have you cultivated the Pupil Skill?" Although Li Zhirui did not hide his strength, the fact that the other could see karmic force was enough to show he was no ordinary person.
"Pupil Skill? Why bother cultivating that? This is an Innate Divine Ability." Feng Santree said indifferently.
Li Zhirui was slightly shocked; indeed, someone from the human race could possess Innate Divine Abilities, but it was very rare, with only Li Xianxun and Li Yunran from the Li family possessing it.
Thus, he guessed that perhaps only those with the Heavenly Spiritual Root might manifest Innate Divine Abilities.
"Since Fellow Daoist holds me in such high regard, I respectfully accept." After considering, Li Zhirui eventually nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, many curious cultivators had streamed into the tavern.
From their varied discussions, Li Zhirui learned even more about the Senluo Squad and their reputation, confirming that what Feng Santree said was true, which led to his agreement.
"Great!"
Feng Santree was very pleased, saying, "If Fellow Daoist has no other engagements, how about a visit to our base to meet the other members?"
"Thank you, Captain Feng." Li Zhirui promptly switched his address.
Feng Santree, hearing this title, clearly became even more delighted.
It wasn’t long before the two arrived in front of a large mansion; Feng Santree, holding a Jade Token, led Li Zhirui inside, saying, "Once you officially join the squad, a piece of Array Patterns will be added to your Identity Jade, allowing you free entry."
"Inside the Senluo Squad, many departments are divided up, you can think of it like a Sect, only there are no disciples, as there are fewer people, so everyone multitasks. Apart from going to the battlefield to fight Demon Cultivators, most of the downtime is spent crafting Spiritual Objects and such."
At this point, Feng Santree turned his head to Li Zhirui, asking, "May I know if you have any skills?"
"I have some insights into Alchemy."
"Is that so?"
Li Zhirui knew why Feng Santree felt puzzled; usually, Alchemists carry a scent of pills, but he did not have it.
And the reason for this could be because he cultivates the Purification Principle.
