The lighting here was dim, and they quickly descended into complete darkness. Coupled with the beast roars echoing from the depths of the surrounding forest, it sent chills down their spines.
After they were left in these stone houses, no one else came. However, they still felt many pairs of eyes watching them, so no one dared to run out and wander recklessly.
Gu Yao and Chi Changye continued their cultivation using spirit stones. The spiritual energy here was extremely poor. Gu Yao had sent the kitten into the spatial realm to prevent anyone from discovering its presence. They also didn't release it to investigate the situation throughout the night, as they had a feeling that something unusual would happen on the first night.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew into the stone house, overpowering the defensive formations. Just as the alert cultivators sensed that something was amiss, their spiritual energy became unresponsive, and they crumbled to the ground after struggling for a moment.
Before long, Gu Yan, whom Gu Yao had seen during the day, appeared outside the stone house again. He was accompanied by several others wearing black robes, creating a menacing presence in the pitch-black night, reminiscent of ghosts and malevolence.
Gu Yan waved his hand and said, "Take them all away. The storage bags on their bodies are all yours."
"Thank you, Gu Manager!"
The black-robed cultivators respectfully bowed and then entered different stone houses. They dragged out the people inside one by one, roughly tearing off their storage bags and thoroughly searching them for any concealed storage treasures.
"Let's go." Once the headcount was confirmed, Gu Yan waved his hand and released a flying artifact. The black-robed cultivators sent all the captured individuals onto the artifact and boarded it together, flying away from the area.
After daybreak, they arrived at the other side of this endless forest. Countless wild beasts and birds resided in the forest, but they didn't attack the flying artifact. The journey was smooth.
This area was more open but filled with a strong smell of blood. It seemed that even the surrounding forest had been tainted with blood, and there were rows of connected stone houses. Some of the stone houses emitted cries of agony and beast-like roars. Gu Yan ignored them and respectfully addressed a thin cultivator who walked out of one of the stone houses, saying, "Master Uncle, all the people are here. There are a total of thirteen Foundation Establishment cultivators, with strengths ranging from the later stages to the completion. They should be more durable compared to the previous group we sent."
"Very good, excellent. Send them to Group A first. Hehe, the more frightened they are, the better. To survive, they must kill other test subjects. We need higher-quality specimens, or else the survival rate will be too low," the thin cultivator's voice was sharp. "Yes, Master Uncle, I will immediately send them to Group A."
Gu Yan waved his hand, and the black-robed individuals each grabbed one or two people and followed him in a certain direction. They soon arrived at a location where Gu Yan took out a token, infused it with spiritual energy, and then tore open the ground, revealing a massive sinkhole.
The black-robed individuals stuffed a pill into the mouths of the captured people and threw them down the sinkhole.
After completing these actions, Gu Yan restored the sinkhole, retrieved the token, and waved his hand. The black-robed individuals left with him.
During their descent, two of the captured individuals suddenly opened their eyes, spat out the pill enveloped in spiritual energy, and quickly took an antidote pill. They were Gu Yao and Chi Changye.
The two of them had already prepared antidote pills to guard against the situation. Therefore, the smoke that suppressed the flow of spiritual energy had little effect on them. But in order to avoid rousing suspicion, they allowed themselves to be manipulated by the black-robed individuals.
Their personal storage bags only contained daily necessities, completely fitting their identities as wandering cultivators. Any items exceeding their identities were stored in Gu Yao's spatial realm, which meant that even the antidote pills had to be obtained from Gu Yao.
Before they even touched the ground, the figures of the two individuals flickered in mid-air and disappeared. A series of thumping sounds could be heard from behind, followed by cries of astonishment, questioning voices, and various other sounds. However, soon there were sounds of fists and kicks, and the angry interrogations grew weaker until everyone lost their ability to resist and was dragged away.
Li Changhui struggled to climb up from the ground. Not long ago, he had been envisioning himself becoming a disciple of the Changxian Sect. However, now he found himself in this situation, unable to channel his spiritual energy and beaten all over his body. What frightened him even more was that he had no idea where he was and what the purpose of the people who brought them here was.
He, along with the others, was now locked in an iron cage, with not a single person uninjured. Normally, injuries like these could easily be healed with a mediocre revival pill, but their belongings were all gone, leaving them with only their clothes.
"Ahem, where exactly are we? What does the Changxian Sect want to do?"
"Damn it! If I had known, I wouldn't have coveted becoming a menial disciple of the Changxian Sect. Now we've ended up in this damned place."
"It seems like two people are missing. Li Changhui, weren't the two brothers from the Lu family who always stayed with you? Did they not come with us?"
Li Changzhen quickly looked around, and indeed, he didn't see the two brothers from the Lu family. He cleared his throat and said, his voice hoarse, "I don't know. I'm so confused and disoriented myself that I couldn't pay attention to anything else."
"Could something have happened to them?"
Li Changhui leaned against the wall and said, "You think they're in cahoots with the Changxian Sect? That's impossible. They have no reason to deceive us like this. I actually hope that someone didn't end up in our situation, as that would give us a glimmer of hope."
The others fell silent as well. With their current inability to use their spiritual energy, would they really be able to escape from a place like this? And even if they managed to escape, they didn't even know where to run to. At this point, it seemed that unless someone came to rescue them, there was no way for them to leave.
After a while, someone finally spoke up, "Do you think anyone can hear what we're saying?"
Li Changhui struggled to get up and glanced outside the iron cage. He turned back and said, "It's unlikely. In our current situation, there's no need for them to keep a close eye on us. Besides, there are many other cages like this outside. I suspect that the people locked inside are cultivators who were caught just like us. I wonder what they intend to use us for."
Li Changhui looked up. They regained consciousness after falling, but now they couldn't see the sky above. So they were probably in an underground space. Even if they could use their spiritual energy, it might be impossible to escape from above.
At this moment, he placed even more hope on the Lu brothers not ending up here but instead realizing something was wrong and fleeing. He hoped they would expose the situation here and bring other cultivators from outside to rescue them. Otherwise, he had a gut feeling that they would never get out and would die here. Now that they had arrived here, the feeling of being watched by Gu Yao and Chi Changye finally dissipated. They also activated seventh-grade invisibility talismans on themselves. Only then did Gu Yao dare to release the little kitten and have it pay attention to the surroundings. After that, he communicated with Xu Chen in the spatial realm. Gu Yao had already spoken to Xu Chen before being transported here, and it was highly likely that they would need Xu Chen's help this time.
"Elder, have you discovered anything?"
Chi Changye remained vigilant, his senses suppressed in this place, which greatly reduced the range he could explore. However, it was still enough to see that the people inside the iron cages were not ordinary cultivators. They seemed neither human nor ghost, causing his pupils to contract.
"The activities conducted here..." Xu Chen hesitated, "Could it be, as you mentioned before, human experimentation?"
Before being thrown down here, neither Gu Yao nor Chi Changye dared to use their spiritual senses to survey the surroundings. However, they both heard the voices coming from the stone room, and naturally, Xu Chen also heard them. Combined with the words of the haggard old man and the situation here, Xu Chen's heart trembled involuntarily. What was considered righteous and what was considered demonic and evil were not always so clearly distinguishable. Those on the righteous path would resort to any means necessary when seeking power, sometimes even more wicked than those on the demonic path.
Gu Yao sighed, "I also think it's highly possible. Referring to what the Silver Wolf Clan Chief said earlier and considering the situation here, those cultivators with strange and formidable strength that the Silver Clan Chief mentioned might have come out from a place similar to this."
"Both of you be careful and don't get caught here. It's not worth it," Xu Chen reminded them. "If you need anything, just call me. I'll be watching."
"Yes, thank you, Elder."
"Thank you, Elder Xu," Chi Changye replied, then he sent Gu Yao a mental message. "We should find a way to change our identities."
"Yes, that would be good." It wouldn't be ideal to constantly hide in the shadows. Having a visible identity would allow them to gather more information. At that moment, the little kitten returned and led the way. The two of them, along with the feline, cautiously made their way through that part of the underground space.
The underground space was divided into two sections, both extremely vast, with a long corridor connecting them. They moved silently, not making a sound as they floated above the ground. As they neared the end of the corridor, they heard various sounds coming from the other side. It was like entering a completely different world compared to what they had encountered before. They didn't dare to extend their spiritual senses too far, but from close proximity, they could see individuals in a room engaging in explicit activities without any shame, indulging in their final moments of pleasure.
Xu Chen's voice echoed in their minds, "The highest cultivation level here is only at the early Golden Core stage. Maybe this place isn't the most important site. It's a good opportunity for you to infiltrate. Keep going forward. The room on the right side of the fifth intersection houses two separate cultivators."
Ignoring the provocative scenes they had witnessed, Gu Yao and Chi Changye followed Xu Chen's instructions and headed towards that room. As they saw what was happening inside, Gu Yao couldn't help but blush. He began to suspect that Xu Chen had done it intentionally, as they had previously seen scenes involving men and women, but now, they were confronted with two men entwined intimately, completely immersed in each other. One of them was a cultivator at the pinnacle of Foundation Establishment, while the other had a lower cultivation level but possessed delicate features.
But now, these details were not the most important thing. Gu Yao took a deep breath and decisively charged into the room alongside Chi Changye. Their spiritual senses surged forth, causing the two cultivators to faint before they could react.