Chapter 258 Old Flame

The short man chuckled as soon as Chen Yang agreed so readily.

He had originally thought that he would have to use a lot of persuasion to get Chen Yang to agree.

He turned to Chen Yang and asked, "Brother, what is your specific strength level?"

Chen Yang casually replied, "I am at the second level of the Golden Organ Realm."

Upon hearing this, the man quickly nodded with a smile, "Good, excellent! Your strength is more than enough to join our Ascension Sect. Come with me!"

Chen Yang followed the man in front of him, winding through the alleys of the capital city and passing through seven or eight streets.

At the street corner, five other cultivators, also at the Golden Core Realm, were already waiting.

The short man waved to them and said, "All of you are here! I'll take you to where we're supposed to meet."

Chen Yang and five other people boarded a horse-drawn carriage.

The short man drove the carriage quickly toward the stone mountain on the far left of the capital.

Inside the carriage, Chen Yang glanced at the other five people, who were excitedly whispering among themselves.

"Do you think the Ascension Sect will really provide us with free elixirs for cultivation?" one of the bearded men asked.

The oldest of the three sighed softly and said, "You're still too young. Think about it, do you think there's such a thing as a free lunch? How could the Ascension Sect possibly provide us with pills for free?"

Upon hearing this, the bearded man quickly pressed on, "Uncle, if there's no such thing as a free lunch, why did you agree to join this Ascension Cult?"

The old man chuckled and said, "The Ascension Sect provides us with pills and invites us to join, all to get us to work, whether it's killing or doing other illegal things. But so what? When you reach my age, you'll understand that without resources or connections, it's incredibly difficult for people like us with low status to succeed in cultivation! We've already been incredibly lucky to reach the Golden Core Realm."

"Now that there's a sect that can provide us with elixirs to increase our strength, what's wrong with us doing some illegal things?"

Upon hearing this, the bearded man sighed deeply and said, "Yes, Uncle, your point is so insightful! Thinking back on my journey, I've faced countless near-death experiences just to reach the first level of the Golden Body Realm. Yet those young scions of powerful families, at such a young age, easily enter the Golden Body Realm thanks to superior techniques, elixirs, and guidance from their elders. This is simply too unfair!"

The old man nodded and said, "Yes, that's also our main purpose in joining the Ascension Cult."

The five people continued their discussion.

Chen Yang sat to the side listening to their discussion. Clearly, they were unaware that the recent deaths in the capital were related to the Ascension Sect.

In their view, the Ascension Cult was merely a place to attract people to join and to obtain elixirs for free.

Chen Yang thought for a moment, then said, "Everyone, have you heard that things have been unsettled in the capital lately? Many people have turned into corpses that look like plant vines?"

The five cultivators glanced at Chen Yang, and then the eldest one spoke up, "I've heard about this matter. One of my disciples reportedly turned into a monster, but I don't know the specific reason."

Chen Yang immediately moved closer and whispered, "I've heard that this matter is related to the Ascension Sect!"

All five people were startled when they heard Chen Yang's words.

Then the older man spoke up, "Brother, is your information accurate?"

Chen Yang shook his head and said, "I can't guarantee that."

The older man thought for a moment and said, "No matter what, we still need to be careful. When we join the cult later, we must stand together and unite!"

The others quickly added, "Yes! We all need to be careful and help each other!"

Before long, the carriage approached a huge stone wall.

On the cliff face, there is a cave entrance that is more than 5 meters high.

The carriage stopped, and the short man in front led Chen Yang and his group of six toward the cave entrance.

The cave entrance is over a hundred meters deep.

After passing through the cave, we arrived at a huge stone hall.

This stone hall is located deep in the mountains and was hollowed out by human hands. The entire hall is the size of seven or eight football fields.

At this moment, more than 400 cultivators at the Golden Body Realm were already standing in the hall waiting.

Before long, an old man at the Great Perfection of the Golden Body Realm leaped onto the platform in the middle of the stone hall.

He looked at the crowd and said, "Everyone, please be quiet! Let me introduce myself. I am the Grand Elder of the Ascension Sect! Today, I am very happy to congratulate you all on having the opportunity to join our Ascension Sect!"

"Perhaps none of you have heard of the Ascension Cult before, but I can tell you that we are a sect connected to the Central Plains region! We come from the Central Plains and are a branch of the Central Plains Extraordinary Cult!"

"We invited everyone here today because our Ascension Cult is establishing a new branch here and we're short-handed, which is why you've all joined!"

"I think everyone is well aware that in the entire Ming Dynasty, all cultivation resources are monopolized by those powerful families! Those top-tier forces, first-rate families, and second-rate families control 80% of the cultivation resources!"

"For you cultivators at the bottom, every tiny bit of improvement in strength is incredibly difficult! But the tenet of our Ascension Sect is—equality for all! Kings, generals, noble families, and royalty are nothing more than plants and trees!"

"Our Ascension Sect teaches without discrimination; all members are brothers and sisters, and everyone can fairly obtain cultivation resources! Now, I will distribute Spirit Gathering Pills and Dragon Ascension Pills to everyone!"

"For the next 12 hours, you will take the elixirs here. Soon you will know how generous our Ascension Sect is, and how fortunate you are to join!"

Then, a dozen or so masked cultivators distributed two pills to each of Chen Yang and his group.

Chen Yang also received two. He glanced at them and then smelled them.

These pills are very crude. They're called Spirit Gathering Pills and Dragon Ascension Pills, but they're really just made by grinding some better medicinal herbs into powder and sticking them together.

Using this pill for cultivation is practically useless. However, while it has little effect, it's also not very toxic.

Chen Yang was a little confused about the Ascension Sect's intentions.

After the pills were distributed, the Grand Elder said, "Alright, everyone, please begin taking the pills and meditating! I think it will soon be time for some of you to experience the power of our pills!"

The white-bearded old man and the other followers quickly left the cave hall.

Those who remained, having cultivated to the Golden Body Realm, were certainly not fools.

Moreover, Chen Yang also discovered that none of the people who came here were from powerful families; everyone was an ordinary cultivator. To have cultivated to this level, they had all experienced life and death, and deceit and treachery, so they were naturally extremely cautious.

The elderly man next to Chen Yang sniffed the pill in his hand, then said to Chen Yang and the bearded man, "This pill is likely poisonous. Let's not take it yet and observe the reactions of the others."

The bearded man nodded quickly: "Yes, let's see how the others are first! I also feel that this Ascension Sect seems a bit unreliable. They even claim to be from the Central Continent. If they really are a sect from the Central Continent, why would they look down on cultivators like us who come from humble backgrounds?"

A woman nearby was excited. She said, "I think what the Grand Elder said makes a lot of sense! Shouldn't we cultivators all be equal? ​​Why do the scions of those powerful families get so many cultivation resources and improve so quickly, while we're stuck at this level, unable to advance? I believe the Grand Elder! If you're too scared to eat, I'll go first!"

As the woman spoke, she put two pills directly into her mouth, chewed them, and swallowed them. Then she sat down cross-legged and began to cultivate.

The white-bearded old man and Chen Yang and the others all looked at the woman, waiting for her reaction.

However, the woman sat there calmly, showing no signs of poisoning.

Two hours later, the woman opened her eyes and said joyfully, "Look! I wasn't poisoned, and I can definitely feel that my strength has really improved!"

Although the woman said that, the others remained cautious, and everyone put the pills into their pockets without rushing to take them.

After all, now is the time to "sacrifice fellow Daoists to save myself," so let the many fellow Daoists test the poison first!

Chen Yang was even more puzzled, wondering what the Ascension Sect was up to.

Time passed little by little.

Just as Chen Yang was filled with doubt, suddenly, a man in the corner let out a painful cry.

Then, he clutched his stomach and rolled on the ground, yelling, "It hurts! It hurts so much! I feel like there's a worm in my stomach!"

As his words fell, more cultivators clutched their stomachs and rolled on the ground.

Chen Yang looked around in surprise and doubt.

At this moment, the bearded man next to him let out a scream, collapsed to the ground with a thud, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Within the blood he vomited, tiny black spores floated. Soon after the blood was spat onto the ground, the black spores rapidly grew and sprouted, transforming into thorny vines!

At this moment, the bearded man screamed in even greater terror. He could not breathe, and it seemed as if his internal organs were being tightly bound and pierced by vines!

Then, more people began to fall to the ground. Whether they had taken the pills or not, no one was spared; they all rolled around on the ground.

Chen Yang was slightly taken aback, then suddenly realized!

He suddenly realized that the problem wasn't the pills at all, but the air in the cave!

The air in the cave carried a faint fragrance. At first, Chen Yang thought it was incense, but now it seemed that strange spores were floating in the air.

When spores haven't mutated, they are essentially the same as pollen and have no toxicity whatsoever.

But now, suddenly, it's starting to take root and sprout!

While Chen Yang was still pondering, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his body, lungs, and blood.

Chen Yang frowned slightly, and then the lightning power within his body crackled and flashed, and in an instant, all the black spores in his internal organs, blood, and muscles vanished into thin air!

However, at this time, the other cultivators in the cave did not have Chen Yang's abilities.

They convulsed in pain on the ground. Before long, lush green vines pierced the skin of these monks and rapidly stretched outward and upward from their eyes, mouths, noses, and pores!

These vines grew very quickly; in the blink of an eye, more than four hundred tall, lush green vines sprouted throughout the cave.

Meanwhile, on some vines, blood-red, grape-like agate fruits began to form.

Chen Yang looked at everyone in the cave and sighed softly. He couldn't help but think: The Ascension Sect is indeed cunning enough to have even fooled him! No wonder the expert guards sent by Zhu Yuejian to investigate the Ascension Sect all died at the hands of the sect!

Now he has no way to save these ordinary cultivators.

While I was still reflecting on this, I heard footsteps outside.

Chen Yang leaped into the air and hid behind a rock. He used a concealment detection technique to completely hide his presence.

Outside, more than 20 people pushed open the cave entrance and entered the stone hall.

The person at the front was very short, only a little over 1.4 meters tall. She was dressed entirely in black, wearing a black cloak, and walked in quickly.

The woman couldn't help but burst into laughter as she looked at the green vines sprouting from the cultivator's body on the ground.

Behind her were more than 20 guards.

Among these guards was a sedan chair.

The woman in black turned to the sedan chair and said, "My great goddess, you have had a very fruitful day! If you eat another 100 fruits today, it should be enough to restore your memories!"

Chen Yang hid behind a rock, watching these people with a sneer in his heart. He was ready to take action directly and wipe out this damned Ascension Sect in one fell swoop!

Just then, the curtain of the black sedan chair in the middle was lifted, and a slender woman stepped out.

Chen Yang stared at the woman, his body stiffening in shock. The woman stepping down from the sedan chair was none other than his old flame, Li Yalan!