Meng Fan relayed all the information he had gathered about the Soul Refining Sect during his trip down the mountain to Elder Lin.
"Soul Refining Sect?" Elder Lin frowned.
It was indeed the first time he had heard of this sect.
Because he had always secluded himself within the Sword Sect, rarely even leaving the Sword Pavilion, he naturally knew very little about the outside world.
After all, not everyone could be like Senior Disciple Jin, who seemed to know everything about the world without ever stepping outside.
"I will inform the Enforcement Hall about this and have them focus on targeting the demonic cultivators within the Soul Refining Sect.
As for your idea of having the Shu Mountain Sword Sect wipe out the entire Soul Refining Sect, that's unrealistic.
Destroying a demonic sect would be a provocation to the entire demonic path, which could easily lead to a war between the righteous and the demonic paths.
Such a conflict would bring untold suffering to the common people, making their lives even more miserable!"
Elder Lin's perspective was clearly more far-reaching than Meng Fan's.
Even a battle between two small countries could cause widespread devastation among the populace.
If a war between the righteous and demonic paths were to break out, the consequences would be unimaginable!
In his anger, Meng Fan had hoped that the Shu Mountain Sword Sect could take action and eradicate the Soul Refining Sect, a sect known for its heinous deeds.
But he hadn't considered that a sect was not just a single person, and the cost of destroying a sect was enormous.
Especially for a top-tier righteous sect like the Shu Mountain Sword Sect, every action was under scrutiny and couldn't be reckless!
"Alright," Meng Fan said helplessly after hearing Elder Lin's words.
From Elder Lin's words, he could sense many underlying truths.
Indeed, he had been too naive!
Even if a demonic sect committed countless atrocities, it was difficult to wipe it out directly because it represented the entire demonic path.
He was still too naive.
If things were as simple as he thought, Elder Wang wouldn't have been hunted down by the Enforcement Hall of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect.
Meng Fan left the second floor of the Sword Pavilion and returned to his room.
His originally good mood was now slightly overshadowed.
A sect is a sect, and an individual is an individual.
A sect had many concerns, which Meng Fan could understand.
But it was still frustrating and a bit helpless!
Or rather, it was a sense of unresolved frustration.
"A sect has many rules and restrictions, but an individual doesn't have as many. However, an individual isn't as strong as a sect!" Meng Fan muttered to himself.
"So there's no need to waste emotions on these matters. Becoming stronger is the true path!
If I were strong enough, with Elder Wang's level of power, I could also flatten a sect single-handedly, turning clouds with a flip of my hand!"
Meng Fan had an epiphany and no longer dwelled on whether the Shu Mountain Sword Sect's rules were right or wrong.
As long as he became strong enough, he could break free from these restrictions.
At that time, he wouldn't need the Shu Mountain Sword Sect to take action; he could destroy any sect he found displeasing by himself!
What the Shu Mountain Sword Sect couldn't kill, Meng Fan could kill.
What the Shu Mountain Sword Sect couldn't destroy, Meng Fan could destroy.
Just thinking about it was exhilarating!
"Cultivate, become stronger." Meng Fan turned his frustration into motivation, instantly filled with energy.
During this period, he had been primarily focusing on practicing Fu Xi's visualization techniques to strengthen his divine sense.
The effects were quite noticeable, and his progress was indeed rapid because Fu Xi's visualization techniques were much stronger than ordinary ones.
However, there was still a significant gap before he could fully cultivate his divine soul.
"Tomorrow, I'll go find Ye Qingyu and ask her to help refine some pills for strengthening the soul and divine sense," Meng Fan muttered to himself.
Then he took out a Vajra Pill, consumed it, and began cultivating the Orient Loong God Body.
The Orient Loong God Body had been stuck at the peak of the second level, but with the help of the Vajra Pill, it wouldn't be long before he broke through to the third level!
Divine sense, physical body, and next would be cultivation level.
Previously, Meng Fan had been slapped by the Azure Fish Sword, which helped him break through to the third level of the Heavenly Origin Realm.
Unfortunately, when he later wanted the Azure Fish Sword to slap him again, it refused and hid inside the Sword Pellet, no matter how much he called it.
Meng Fan could control all the spiritual swords within the Sword Pellet, except for the Azure Fish Sword, which he had no way to handle.
"As for improving my cultivation level, although the Thousand Catty Fall formation arranged by my master is indeed effective, the progress is still too slow!" Meng Fan muttered to himself.
"Tomorrow, when I go to see Ye Qingyu, I'll ask her to refine some Elixirs as well."
Meng Fan was really treating Ye Qingyu like a workhorse, without any courtesy!
Elixirs could help condense true qi into true essence.
For cultivators at the Heavenly Origin Realm, it was the best cultivation pill.
Previously, Meng Fan had been reluctant to buy such pills to aid his cultivation because they were indeed expensive and not very cost-effective!
With those spirit stones wasted, it was better to spend more time in the Thousand Catty Fall formation.
But now it was different; asking Ye Qingyu to refine pills only required the cost of the raw materials.
The cost-effectiveness had suddenly improved.
Using the Thousand Catty Fall formation in conjunction with the Elixirs, wouldn't his cultivation progress skyrocket?
***
The next day, before going to the Alchemy Hall to find Ye Qingyu, Meng Fan first went to the Scripture Pavilion to find Senior Disciple Jin.
He inquired about Elder Wang, but Senior Disciple Jin still shook his head and said he didn't know, keeping his lips tightly sealed.
Meng Fan seriously suspected that Senior Disciple Jin knew about Elder Wang but was deliberately not telling him.
However, as long as he knew Elder Wang was safe, Meng Fan was relieved.
Even if Senior Disciple Jin told Meng Fan where Elder Wang was, to be honest, Meng Fan wouldn't bother to find him.
What would be the point?
To reminisce?
Meng Fan didn't like doing that.
"Senior Disciple Jin, have you heard of the Soul Refining Sect?" Meng Fan shifted the topic and asked Senior Disciple Jin.
"Soul Refining Sect? A demonic sect that has emerged in recent years. The disciples within are extremely vicious, and their cultivation techniques are mostly heinous. Why are you asking about this?" Senior Disciple Jin glanced at Meng Fan, frowning as he spoke.
Clearly, he had no good impression of the Soul Refining Sect.
The three branches of the Soul Refining Sect—soul refining, corpse refining, and infant refining—were something he had heard of.
Meng Fan shook his head and said, "A few days ago, I encountered a demonic cultivator from the Soul Refining Sect while descending the mountain and almost died at his hands. Fortunately, I was with Senior Sister Ye Qingyu from the Alchemy Hall, and I narrowly escaped!"
He didn't mention that he had killed the demonic cultivator, instead subtly giving the credit to Ye Qingyu.
He had no choice; he was used to keeping a low profile in the Shu Mountain Sword Sect.
Senior Disciple Jin, however, sneered and said, "Ye Qingyu from the Alchemy Hall, although she is a cultivator at the ninth level of the Heavenly Origin Realm, in terms of strength, she might not even be as strong as you! What's the point of hiding your abilities from me?"
Meng Fan pursed his lips at Senior Disciple Jin, increasingly suspecting that Senior Disciple Jin was part of some intelligence organization.
"Senior Disciple Jin, does the Shu Mountain Sword Sect have a special intelligence organization? Are you part of it?"
Senior Disciple Jin looked at Meng Fan as if he were an idiot.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan