After watching the unfamiliar sect member with great interest for a moment, Luo Jinyu froze, his spirits sinking again. "Brother Zhang, you get to leave, but I still have to stay here for another year..."

Brother Zhang suddenly let out a "Huh?"

Luo Jinyu quickly looked over and saw that the unfamiliar cultivator had put away his Flying Boat and was walking straight into the Array.

"Isn’t that a bit too reckless? Why didn’t he show his token and have us let him in?" Luo Jinyu frowned.

The thought of having to spend a year in this place with such an unreliable person filled him with an unshakeable sense of irritation.

Since he was about to leave, Brother Zhang was in a good mood. He chuckled, "Maybe it’s not recklessness, but supreme confidence. Perhaps he thinks he can walk through this Tier Two Array completely unscathed. Heh, it’s good for young people to be confident. This junior is quite interesting. I’ll have to remember what he looks like and ask around about him when I get back to the Sect."

But as the young cultivator advanced step by step, the irritation on Luo Jinyu’s face and the derision on Brother Zhang’s both gradually vanished.

"No way..."

Brother Zhang’s forehead was beaded with sweat, just like a Mortal’s. "This... could this junior be a genius in the Array Dao? B-but this is a Tier Two Array!"

By the time Du Youqian stood before them and calmly presented his token, they both wore the exact same expression: so shocked their jaws hung wide open.

In this life, Du Youqian had no intention of revealing his skill in Alchemy or Artifact Refining.

He had no desire to survive in the treacherous Demon Sect as a "lifestyle player."

The powerful figures in the Zhongxuan Sect might, at worst, use rules and sentiment to keep him in line.

Some of the erratic Great Powers in the Demon Sect, however, would genuinely lock Alchemists and Artifact Refiners away in a dark room and force them to work day and night.

Revealing a hint of his prowess in the Array Dao, on the other hand, was a carefully considered move on Du Youqian’s part.

After all, the Array Dao was highly specialized. Not even a Great Power would dare to force someone to set up an Array for them.

’If I leave a backdoor, will you even be able to tell?’

With Elixirs and Spiritual Artifacts, however, it would be difficult to hide any tampering from the powerful Divine Sense of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator or a Core Formation Elder Monster.

In any case, Du Youqian had no intention of proactively revealing his true level in the Array Dao. It was enough to mix truth with falsehood and keep people guessing.

The moment a Demon Sect Disciple’s true capabilities were completely figured out was the moment they were as good as dead.

"I am here under orders from the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall to garrison the Evil Pool."

As he spoke, Du Youqian took the opportunity to size up the cabin.

From the outside, it looked like nothing more than a rickety, dilapidated cabin on the verge of collapse.

But upon entering, he found it was a whole different world inside. A Grotto Heaven.

While it couldn’t be called opulent, the space was quite large, likely expanded with some form of Space Magic.

It was tastefully decorated and fully furnished. Upon closer inspection, most of the items were made from Spiritual Materials of Fine Quality. A few pieces had even been casually forged into Magical Artifacts by some unknown person. Whether they were useful or not was another question, but they certainly looked impressive.

This was a classic case of understated luxury. The cost of building such a cabin would be more than enough to construct ten Imperial Cities for the Wu Kingdom.

Du Youqian was reasonably satisfied with what would be his residence for the coming year.

At least it was isolated from the seemingly ceaseless wind and sand outside.

"Let me see, Junior Yu." An ordinary-looking young man with sleepy eyes took the token, scanned it with his Divine Sense, and nodded. "Yu Fei? Nice name. I’m Zhang Zifan, the current garrison of this Evil Pool. Come with me, Junior Yu, and I’ll handle the handover."

Every word out of Zhang Zifan’s mouth conveyed his eagerness to complete the handover. It seemed he couldn’t stand to stay in this godforsaken place for a single day longer.

Another young man, whose face still held a trace of immaturity and who looked as exhausted as if he hadn’t slept in weeks, trotted over as well. He asked curiously, "Brother Yu, I’m Luo Jinyu. I was just wondering, how did you get in? Is your skill with the Array Dao so profound that a Tier Two Array is nothing to you?"

Du Youqian glanced at him, somewhat surprised.

’Both this Zhang Zifan and Luo Jinyu are a bit different from the other Cultivators I’ve met in the Holy Blood Sect.’

’They lack the ferocity and cunning typical of Demon Cultivators, as well as that constant, high state of alert against a sudden, deadly blow from anyone nearby.’

But then he reconsidered. ’People in harsh natural environments often find it easier to band together and fight against nature.’

’It’s like in Game of Thrones, for example. The Northern People are mostly straightforward, single-minded blockheads, like Ned or Robb. It’s as if their heads are filled with chunks of ice instead of brains, yet they’re completely united.’

’Meanwhile, in the richer regions to the west and south with their favorable environments—like the Lannisters of Kaiyan City, the Tirrells of High Court, and the Freys of Twin Rivers City—they’re all just a bunch of scheming old weasels who would rather squabble amongst themselves even with a great enemy at the gates.’

’The environment around this Evil Pool is incredibly harsh. If the people living here didn’t band together, they’d probably have trouble just surviving.’

’Besides, in a tiny place like this, there are only two people in total.’

’And they aren’t women.’

’What is there to even fight over?’

’I’m here to replace Zhang Zifan, but Luo Jinyu is staying.’

’It might be possible to win him over. I don’t need to be as guarded with him as I am with the other Cultivators in the Sect.’

He smiled. "Prowess in the Array Dao? I don’t know the first thing about Arrays. I used a Forbidden-Breaking Talisman. Didn’t you see it, Junior Luo?"

"A Forbidden-Breaking Talisman?" Zhang Zifan glanced back at him. "Junior Yu, now you’re just being difficult. I’m the one controlling the Array. You think I wouldn’t know if a Forbidden-Breaking Talisman was used?"

Du Youqian just smiled and said nothing.

’The whole point was to be deliberately mysterious.’

Zhang Zifan was very interested in Du Youqian’s background. He repeatedly tried to probe, beating around the bush to figure out which faction Du Youqian belonged to and which True Inheritor or Inner Disciple he followed.

Du Youqian had assumed he had malicious intentions, but to his surprise, Zhang Zifan actually began a recruitment pitch. He made a good offer on behalf of the Inner Disciple he himself followed. "If you’re willing to pledge your allegiance, Junior Yu, I can promise this on behalf of Brother Lin: three Five-Flower Qi Storage Pills and one Spiritual Jade per month. You should know full well, Junior Yu, that these terms are absolutely top-tier."

Such a "massive fortune"—it almost knocked Du Youqian out!

’Wow! Five-Flower Qi Storage Pills! The top-grade auxiliary Cultivation elixir for the Qi Cultivation Late Stage!’

’I only have about thirty-something of them in my own inventory.’

’And one Spiritual Jade a month!’

’At that rate, I’ll have saved up 500 Spiritual Jade in just over forty years!’

’With such great terms, he should really find someone else. I’m not worthy...’

Du Youqian asked with a smile, "It seems Brother Zhang is a trusted confidant of this Brother Lin. I’m just curious, why would you be sent to garrison this place?"

The expression on Zhang Zifan’s face changed in a flash, and he shot Du Youqian an angry glare.

’This young man has no tact at all.’

’Who talks like that?’

’Don’t you understand the principle of not hitting a man in the face, or kicking him when he’s down?’

However, he just snorted in anger and took no further action.

This surprised Du Youqian even more.

He had actually been ready for Magical Combat. Anywhere else in the Holy Blood Sect, a provocation like that would have certainly ended with one of them on the ground—the weaker party would either be beaten down or would prostrate themselves in complete submission.

Du Youqian glanced thoughtfully at the drowsy-eyed Zhang Zifan and the exhausted Luo Jinyu, wondering what had put them in such a state.

The handover went quickly.

It consisted of little more than showing Du Youqian around the cabin and reading off a list of instructions.

If Zhang Zifan had a 10x speed-up function for his speech, he would have been ten times faster.

Finally, he handed the control hub of the Grand Array to Du Youqian. "Junior Yu, if there’s anything else you don’t understand, just ask Junior Luo. He’ll be staying here for another year as your deputy."

Du Youqian made a show of being polite. "Brother Zhang, I brought some Spirit Fruit and Spirit Wine. You have to at least let me play host, don’t you?"

"GULP!" Zhang Zifan’s throat bobbed, and he shook his head with great difficulty. "Better not. I’m as eager to get back as an arrow shot from a bow. You should conserve your Spirit Fruit and Spirit Wine. There won’t be any resupplies for the next year."

Seeing that he was insistent on leaving immediately, Du Youqian and Luo Jinyu escorted him outside the cabin.

The wind and sand, which seemed to never cease, had grown even more violent.

If the three of them hadn’t had their own ways to protect themselves, their clothes would have been filled with sand in an instant.

Zhang Zifan had already summoned a narrow Flying Boat. Before boarding, he couldn’t resist asking again, "Junior Yu, are you sure you don’t want to pledge allegiance to Brother Lin?"

Du Youqian smiled. "I have other plans."

"Then I won’t force you. But can you tell me what that was all about just now? How exactly did you break through the Array?"

Du Youqian maintained his smile. "With a Forbidden-Breaking Talisman, of course."

"That’s impossible! Junior Yu, stop being coy. Are you a Tier Two Array Master or not?"

Du Youqian dodged the question. "The sandstorm looks like it’s getting worse. Brother Zhang, you should probably get going."

Not getting the answer he wanted, Zhang Zifan shook his head in disappointment, boarded the Flying Boat, and departed.

Luo Jinyu watched the Flying Boat shrink until it vanished over the horizon, a sudden, indescribable melancholy welling up in his heart.

Although he and Brother Zhang hadn’t been on the best of terms—they often went ten days or half a month without exchanging a single word—he still felt a pang of loss.

But in this desolate place that felt like the end of the world, he and Brother Zhang had been each other’s only support.

They had to face natural disasters together and deal with those Loose Cultivators who wanted to practice Condensing Evil into the Body but were unwilling to spend the Spiritual Jade.

There were even audacious Loose Cultivators who would try to trick or ambush them—two pitiful, weak, and helpless Outer Disciples of the Holy Blood Sect.

And then there was... that thing. The thought of it made Luo Jinyu shudder.

That thing was extremely rare, said to appear perhaps only once every twenty or thirty years. The weakest among them possessed Foundation Establishment Combat Power, while the strongest were rumored to be comparable to a Core Formation Great Power.

When one of those things appeared last year, he was sure he was a dead man. Unexpectedly, a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivator from the Sect happened to be nearby. He received their distress signal and arrived just in time, allowing them to escape with their lives.

So, statistically speaking, that thing shouldn’t appear again this year, right?

"Let’s go."

Hearing the new Brother Yu’s faint call, Luo Jinyu snapped back to his senses and followed him back into the cabin.

Without Zhang Zifan’s noisy commentary, Du Youqian took another proper tour of the cabin.