I Can Add Points Infinitely - Chapter 64

Three days later.

At the central hall of the Dongshi Valley mine, Shen Lian sat at the head, with Yun Xiong and the others seated on either side.

In front of them stood a common inner disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect, looking somewhat terrified.

Shen Lian’s calm gaze fixed on him, and he remained silent. The atmosphere in the hall was heavy. The disciple stood trembling, feeling an invisible pressure weighing down on him. Sweat dripped from his forehead, but he didn’t dare wipe it away.

A few days earlier, after killing the Seven Fiends, Shen Lian had deliberately left the bodies unattended and made a trip to the capital. There, he learned that a large auction would be held in two months, with three True Condensation Pills up for sale.

Shen Lian then returned to the mine. His first task upon returning was to conduct a thorough investigation of all Azure Cloud Sect disciples at the mine to uncover hidden identities, finding out who placed these agents and for whom they were providing information.

Shen Lian’s investigation methods were extremely simple and direct, but they were also particularly effective.

After a long silence, sensing that the intimidation had reached its peak, Shen Lian finally spoke in a calm tone, “Speak up. Whose man are you?”

“Re…reporting to Senior Brother, I was sent here by the Sect Master,” the disciple stammered, his voice trembling.

“Oh, really?” Shen Lian replied nonchalantly, glancing at him before turning to Dong Yanyan. “Did we lose any ore yesterday?”

“Let me check,” Dong Yanyan replied with a sweet smile, pretending to look through a ledger.

Seeing her actions, the disciple was startled and immediately dropped to his knees with a loud “thump.” He pleaded urgently, “Senior Brother, Senior Brother, I’m not lying to you! I really was sent by the Sect Master…”

“I registered in the inner sect before I left, and the Sect Master granted me a special communication treasure to send messages to the inner sect weekly unless there are significant events.”

“These records can be verified and are not particularly secret… Senior Brother, please, have mercy. I truly am not a man of Fang Nan or Su Luo…”

The disciple quickly spilled out everything about his identity and his covert mission, almost giving an account of his entire family lineage.

Shen Lian observed his expressions and, after he finished speaking, smiled and said lightly, “Look at you, what are you afraid of? I never said that the theft of spirit ore had anything to do with you.”

“Yes, yes… Senior Brother, you see clearly,” the disciple nodded quickly, his clothes soaked in sweat.

At this moment, Dong Yanyan noticed Shen Lian’s expression, and with a loud “bang,” she closed the ledger and said crisply, “Senior Brother, there are no records of any missing spirit ore from yesterday.”

“Good,” Shen Lian nodded calmly.

Hearing this, the disciple finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

Shen Lian stood up, took a step forward, helped the disciple from the ground, and patted his shoulder with a kind expression.

He spoke softly, “It’s alright. I was just asking casually. I wasn’t going to do anything to you; no need to be afraid.”

“Yes, yes, thank you, Senior Brother,” the disciple respectfully saluted, while inwardly thinking, “Not going to do anything? Who would believe that?”

“If I hadn’t confessed so quickly, I’d probably have been accused of stealing spirit ore and executed on the spot by now.”

“Haven’t enough people been killed for that excuse in the past two days?”

“Go back, do what you should, and report to the sect as usual. You know what to report, right?” Shen Lian said calmly.

“Yes, I understand,” the disciple quickly nodded.

“Good, off you go,” Shen Lian waved his hand dismissively.

The disciple dared to leave only after this, wiping the sweat from his forehead as soon as he exited the hall, feeling like he had narrowly escaped death.

Once the doors closed and only Shen Lian and the others remained, Yun Xiong cleared his throat, frowned slightly, and said worriedly, “Junior Brother, won’t there be trouble from the sect if you handle things this way?”

“In just three days, you’ve killed six inner disciples under the same pretext—all of whom were spies placed by Fang Nan…”

“If the sect investigates and holds you accountable…”

“Don’t worry,” Shen Lian shook his head with a relaxed smile. “The sect won’t investigate. Senior Brother, do you think the Sect Master was unaware of the mine’s situation before I came?”

“The Sect Master knows everything. Sending me here was to see how I would handle it.”

“If I can’t even manage a small mine, how could I possibly qualify as a core disciple?”

“This…” Yun Xiong looked doubtful and pondered deeply.

After a long while, he finally understood the meaning behind Shen Lian’s words and couldn’t help but look surprised.

“So that’s it. The sect has always remained neutral in internal disputes among core disciples and never intervened…”

“Junior Brother, your understanding of the bigger picture far surpasses mine. I now understand why the Sect Master chose you as a core disciple,” Yun Xiong said with admiration.

“Heh, Senior Brother flatters me,” Shen Lian replied humbly.

“Tch, why overthink so much? You men are fussier than young girls,” Dong Yanyan chimed in suddenly, her delicate face filled with a mischievous, murderous aura.

“In my opinion, as long as we know who’s against us, we should eliminate them as soon as possible,” she continued.

“Take that Liu Zhiyong from before; Junior Brother handled it decisively, and the spies Fang Nan planted in the past few days? Killing them is no big deal.”

Yun Xiong glanced at her, too tired to explain to this one-track-minded girl.

Dong Yanyan, however, turned her head, her eyes bright as she stared at Shen Lian. “Junior Brother, tell me, who else is suspicious? I’ll help you catch them right away.”

“Whoever they serve, I’ll always stand by your side and follow you for the rest of my life.”

Upon hearing her last statement, Shen Lian didn’t react much, but Shan Qing, who had been silently standing by, suddenly tensed up.

She glanced at Dong Yanyan and then shifted her gaze to Shen Lian, her expression turning complicated. Her face changed several times, and she seemed to want to say something, but ultimately she hesitated and remained silent.

“If we kill any more, we won’t have anyone left to use,” Shen Lian chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t worry, I’ve almost completed the investigation. There should be no more hidden agents.”

He seemed very confident.

Over the past three days, Shen Lian had thoroughly investigated all the disciples in the mine, ensuring nothing was overlooked.

Many of them were under Su Luo, but Shen Lian had not killed them. Exposed agents were as good as useless, so keeping them around posed no harm.

As for eliminating Fang Nan’s men, it was both to deter others and to vent his anger.

Now that they were entirely opposed, Shen Lian would not show any mercy.

During this time, he had also uncovered many core disciples’ tasks, such as how the Senior Brother Fang Nan was responsible for liaising with the royal family of Yan Kingdom, collecting taxes, and forwarding them to the sect.

Meanwhile, Fourth Brother Su Luo managed a medium-sized business association with considerable power in Yan Kingdom, controlling many resources.

“Senior Brother, someone seeks an audience outside the valley,” a voice suddenly reported from outside, interrupting Shen Lian’s thoughts.