Chapter Thirteen: Entering the Dungeon Once More

Having just barely escaped with his life from the hands of that inner master in Yangyuan County, Li Ju was in no mood for another round of speed and peril.

However, this group of horse bandits who had taken the initiative to appear before him offered a glimmer of hope for profit.

"After so many years of robbing travelers, there must be quite a fortune hidden in their stronghold."

By the time Li Ju led the horses back, dusk had already fallen. Traveling further in the dead of night was unwise, so he took Li Yan and Old Carpenter Li back to the woods to make do for the night.

The crackle of burning wood sent warmth and light into the darkness, driving away wild beasts and mosquitoes.

Li Ju held a wooden rack threaded with skewers of meat, turning them methodically over the flames. Beside him lay the remains of a tiger, its body still and imposing.

At this moment, Li Yan was curiously running her fingers over a tiger skin, her eyes full of wonder.

[Checkpoint cooldown: 0]

[Second stage of the Flying Sword Chronicles instance unlocked]

Li Ju’s hands, busy roasting tiger meat, paused for a fleeting moment before he resumed as if nothing had happened.

"Let’s eat," he said, dividing the roasted meat between Li Yan and Old Carpenter Li. Once they had eaten their fill, they spread the tiger skin on the ground and lay down, drifting into dreams.

After watching them fall asleep, Li Ju opened his own status panel.

[Second Stage: The Poison of the Demonic Sect (2/10)]

[Description: Gravely wounded and on the brink of death, you were unexpectedly discovered by members of the Demonic Sect, who recognized your unique talent. They brought you back to their cult to use your body for their schemes...]

[Objective: ??? (Check within the instance)]

[Reward: A random specialty or skill from one of the characters encountered in the stage]

[Enter Instance]

Li Ju gazed at the instance panel, his eyes flickering with thought.

He desperately needed to grow stronger—whether to face the malice of the inner master from Yangyuan County, to rob from the robbers at Liujia Stronghold to help the poor, or to carve out a place for himself in the prefectural city—strength was essential.

And as things stood, his power was insufficient.

"I only wish to live well in this world, and protect my family," Li Ju sighed softly. His pursuit of martial arts was never about reaching the pinnacle, or wielding power over the world, or indulging in worldly pleasures. His intentions were pure—simply to protect.

"According to the panel, no matter how long I spend in the instance, only a single second passes in the outside world."

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"So I don’t need to worry about anything happening to my sister or father while I’m gone."

"Enter instance."

[Entering instance...]

Li Ju’s consciousness faded into a blur.

"Ah!"

A searing pain tore through him, forcing a cry from his lips. He opened his eyes to find himself naked, submerged in a pool of murky purple-black water, where centipedes, venomous spiders, and snakes writhed all around him.

Black steam rose from the surface.

"This is—ah!"

Just as he tried to speak, another wave of agony crashed over him, and he fainted once more.

"Hadn’t we already drugged him? Why’s he awake so soon?"

"No idea—maybe he’s got a special constitution. Anyway, looks like he passed out again from the poison pool."

"Waking up in the poison pool—hope he doesn’t lose his mind from the shock."

"Doesn’t matter. Even if he does, that’s the higher-ups’ problem, not ours. We just handle the poison pool, nothing more."

"Fair enough."

As Li Ju lost consciousness, two voices conversed nearby.

...

Clanking chains echoed through the air.

Li Ju awoke to find himself no longer in the poison pool, but locked inside a cramped cell, his wrists and ankles shackled with heavy iron chains.

[Objective: Survive until the instance ends]

[Reward: A random specialty or skill from a character in this stage]

[Time until instance ends: Three days]

Seeing this objective, Li Ju couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath.

Though the requirement seemed simple, that very simplicity suggested a high level of difficulty. The panel now demanded only survival until the end, which surely meant the odds of living through to the finish were slim.

"If the first instance was easy as a way for me to adapt, then this must be the start of the real challenge."

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Li Ju felt a sudden clarity.

Thud, thud.

At that moment, the sound of a key turning in a lock came from outside the cell, followed by approaching footsteps, growing closer.

"Cell number one hundred and three, prisoner Li Ju."

Two men in black uniforms, each carrying a food box, stopped before his cell.

Li Ju looked up at them. Thanks to the information transmitted by the panel, he recognized the emblems of the Demonic Sect on their uniforms.

So I really have fallen into the hands of the Demonic Sect...

He was not surprised. The stages of the Flying Sword Chronicles instance seemed to be linked. In the previous stage, he had fallen outside the woods, surrounded only by members of the sect. Ending up their captive in this stage was only logical.

The two cultists set a food box outside the cell door and prepared to leave.

"Demonic fiends…"

Li Ju narrowed his eyes at the two men and suddenly spat out the words through gritted teeth, his voice filled with hate.

"Fiends?"

"Oh, still got some fight in you, huh?"

The two men had been about to leave, but Li Ju’s words made them turn back.

"Looks like you haven’t been broken yet. I wonder what the prison guards have been doing, letting you keep all your limbs this long."

One of them sneered.

"They won’t lay a finger on this one—he’s been marked for use as a poison-man test subject by the higher-ups."

"And he’s already survived one round of poison refining. The second’s about to start, and there won’t be any anesthetic this time."

"How many rounds do you think he’ll survive?"

The second man’s tone was equally mocking.

"Heh, without anesthetic, it’ll be a miracle if he survives the second round without dying from the pain."

"And even if he does survive all three rounds, what then? At best, he’ll become a mindless, soulless puppet."

"Kid, you’d best pray you die in the next poison refining. Otherwise, what awaits you will be a fate worse than death!"

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