Three Sins Against Heaven

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"Go!" Jordan Shen raised his hand and cast a spell, sending one ice spike after another flying towards Mark Ye.

Mark Ye drew a silver longsword from his storage bag and with a gentle swing, sliced through the ice spikes. A sharp aura gradually enveloped him.

This was the result of his perfected Metal Spirit Root. Since ancient times, sword cultivators with exceptional Metal Spirit Roots have been prevalent because the Metal Spirit Root is suited for combat and the way of the sword.

Dylan Chen watched the duel between Mark Ye and Jordan Shen with envy.

This is what a true cultivator looks like!

Seeing that the ice spikes were ineffective against Mark Ye, Jordan Shen raised his hand and conjured a fierce flame, which quickly surged towards Mark Ye.

"Fool." Mark Ye sneered, forming a sword seal with one hand. The longsword in his hand flew out, surrounded by several flames.

Wherever the longsword passed, the ice spikes melted instantly. Without any resistance, it reached Jordan Shen's throat. Just an inch further, and Jordan Shen would be dead.

Jordan Shen's Fire Spirit Root was at ninety percent, but Mark Ye's was perfected. In terms of fire control, Jordan Shen was naturally no match for him.

"How could this happen?" Jordan Shen's face turned deathly pale, filled with disbelief.

Although he knew he wasn't Mark Ye's match, he never expected to lose so quickly.

Mark Ye said calmly, "Water and fire counter each other. With your current cultivation, you can't balance them. Using fire right after ice causes a conflict of spiritual energy within you. How could you not lose?"

"So that's it. I really am foolish." Jordan Shen laughed self-mockingly.

Mark Ye's voice turned cold, "You attacked my Spirit Slave. You need to give me an explanation."

Jordan Shen wanted to retort, but feeling the coldness from the sword tip, his momentum weakened instantly, "What do you want?"

"Ten Spirit Stones, and we'll call it even," Mark Ye said calmly.

"Why don't you just rob me? I don't have that many Spirit Stones!" Jordan Shen's face turned ugly.

"Hmm?" Mark Ye raised an eyebrow, his gaze growing sharper. The longsword slowly pierced forward, soon breaking Jordan Shen's skin.

"I'll give, I'll give!" Under the threat of death, Jordan Shen finally chose to submit, taking out ten Spirit Stones from his storage bag and throwing them in front of Mark Ye.

Mark Ye took the Spirit Stones, sheathed his sword, and left without looking back. Dylan Chen and the others quickly followed.

Jordan Shen stood there, furious. Not only had Mark Ye extorted him, but he had just been mocked by Dylan Chen for ten Spirit Stones, and now Mark Ye demanded the same amount, as if deliberately humiliating him.

"Mark Ye, and that lackey, just you wait!"

...

Back at the courtyard, Mark Ye separated the three and began questioning them, starting with Ralph Zhao.

Dylan Chen stood by the window, watching Ralph Zhao enter the building, his brows furrowed.

Although Ralph Zhao had previously expressed his loyalty, Dylan Chen couldn't easily trust him.

A quick look at " will leave you more fulfilled.

Mark Ye calling Ralph Zhao first—could Ralph Zhao really be the traitor?

But then he felt something was off. With Mark Ye's cunning, if Ralph Zhao were truly the traitor, wouldn't it be too obvious?

He pondered for a long time without an answer. Without evidence, he couldn't be sure.

If Mark Ye had thought of this and was doing the opposite, it wasn't impossible.

If Ralph Zhao was the traitor, then everything Dylan Chen had told him would be known to Mark Ye.

Whether or not, he'd know from Mark Ye's attitude when he questioned him.

"Dylan Chen."

Mark Ye's voice suddenly rang out, snapping Dylan Chen back to reality. Seeing Ryan Ji already out of the building, he quickly went out, exchanged a glance with Ryan Ji, and walked into the building.

On the top floor, just as he was about to speak, Mark Ye interrupted him with a wave.

"Their stories match. I won't ask you about today's events. I called you here to commend you. You didn't embarrass me in front of Jordan Shen today, and even dared to toy with him. I'm very pleased. You won't need to refine pills today. In a few days, I'll buy a large batch of ingredients, so prepare yourself."

"Yes." Dylan Chen respectfully saluted before slowly retreating.

In his room, Dylan Chen sat on the bed, stroking his chin, deep in thought.@@novelbin@@

Mark Ye didn't question him. Although he didn't know what Ryan Ji had said, Ryan Ji hadn't been punished, which meant Ralph Zhao hadn't told Mark Ye about their escape plan. So Ralph Zhao wasn't the traitor.

Ryan Ji and Carol Yan couldn't be the traitors either, leaving only Roy Li.

But Roy Li seemed too honest to be a traitor, and Dylan Chen hadn't noticed any slip-ups from him.

For now, he couldn't figure it out.

Rubbing his head, Dylan Chen decided to set aside the traitor issue.

Although he had been tormented by Jordan Shen today, he realized something important.

Cost.

The Demonic Extreme Sect had to consider the cost of cultivating Spirit Slaves. Even if they didn't profit, they wouldn't incur too much loss, right?

After refining pills for so long, although Mark Ye never mentioned the price of the pills, based on the cost of ingredients Mark Ye had inadvertently revealed during punishments, and Jordan Shen's response, Dylan Chen could guess that even the simplest Spirit Gathering Pill cost a few Spirit Stones.

According to Jordan Shen, a Spirit Slave was worth ten Spirit Stones. When Brian Qin trained them, he gave them pills daily. Over two months, each of them had consumed over a hundred pills.

Including the blood-red pills in their bodies, the Demonic Extreme Sect had invested over a hundred pills in each of them, just to cultivate a Spirit Slave worth ten Spirit Stones?

He didn't believe the Demonic Extreme Sect would do a losing business. The only reasonable explanation was that the so-called pills they consumed weren't worth much, probably around ten Spirit Stones in total.

On average, each pill's price was shockingly low.

Maybe they weren't even real pills, just a mix of herbal extracts, and the ingredients used weren't precious.

So the recipe for these pills shouldn't be too difficult.

Thinking of this, Dylan Chen became excited.

The detailed analysis of medicinal properties he had included dozens of basic ingredients, usable by mortals and barely usable by novice cultivators. These ingredients shouldn't be worth much, and the ingredients for the blood-red pills might be among them.

If he could deduce the recipe, he might find a way to break free!

Sitting in the dark, Dylan Chen's smile grew wider, though he didn't laugh out loud.

Jordan Shen's words had taught him something.

To that Gambler, he was worth two taels of silver. To Dennis Li, he was worth ten taels of silver. And to the Demonic Extreme Sect, he was worth ten Spirit Stones.

To others, Mark Ye was a genius, but to cultivators with higher cultivation, Mark Ye might just be a pile of Spirit Stones, only more valuable.

Everyone has a price!

With this realization, Mark Ye turned into a pile of Spirit Stones in Dylan Chen's mind.

We're all just Spirit Stones, so what's there to fear?

Let's do this!

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