Taking these spies to start reclaiming barren land immediately was, of course, impossible. They didn't yet have a clear understanding of their situation and still harbored hopes that Wan Wan Tong might come to rescue them. How could they possibly bow their heads and work right now?
Naturally, they would need a period of coercion and enticement to adjust to their new reality.
This matter was entrusted by Lin Xiao to the experienced and resourceful Senior Liao Pantu.
Since these spies were prisoners, they obviously could not enjoy the same treatment as the residents and guests of Xiushui City. Their freedoms were heavily restricted.
A special area in the underground city of Xiushui City was designated as their living quarters. This area was not far from the surface trading center in terms of direct distance, but it was separated by barriers from facilities like the auction hall, ensuring they couldn't access them.
The section assigned to the spy cultivators was isolated from the rest of the underground city.
However, this didn't mean they were completely confined to the underground city. They could still go above ground, but the only routes open to them led to the hundred-acre farmland of the trading center and the vast, untamed wilderness behind Beishan.
Xiushui City had already separated this area from others using barriers before the prisoners' arrival.
As a result, these spies could only interact with disciples and personnel from Lingxian Sect assigned to manage them. They had no chance to encounter outsiders or secretly pass messages.
Their sole future lay in reclaiming barren land and farming.
Of course, they could also choose to resist and refuse to work.
But Liao Pantu had already prepared for this eventuality.
In their first few days in Xiushui City, the spies noticed that while the place didn't match the standards of the cultivation world, it was remarkably rich in spiritual energy for the mortal world. Moreover, no one abused or interrogated them harshly. Instead, each of them was confined to a private room in a series of towering buildings.
These rooms didn't resemble prison cells. Each contained a single bedroom and living area, complete with basic furniture such as beds, tables, and chairs.
The buildings, however, were incredibly dense. Each tower stood 25 stories tall, with 16 rooms per floor, and there were a total of 50 houses.
Even after all the prisoners were housed, 13 towers remained vacant.
The prisoners were assigned rooms based on their cultivation levels, from the lowest floors to the highest. This wasn't out of kindness but practicality. The buildings had no staircases or conventional means of access. All the doors were built into the walls of the towers.
Low-level cultivators, such as those in the Qi Refinement stage, couldn't be placed on higher floors for fear they might accidentally step out of their rooms and fall to their deaths.
After all, Qi Refinement cultivators couldn't fly or endure a fall from nearly 100 meters unscathed.
To avoid daily accidents, the lower floors were reserved for Qi Refinement cultivators.
For the first few days, Liao Pantu ignored the prisoners entirely, leaving them to their own devices. The spies initially thought the mortal-world cultivators were laughable for being so lax in their supervision. At the suggestion of Gui Jia Zun Zhe, the spies gathered in the open area before the 50 houses.
Gui Jia Zun Zhe believed that, regardless of their location, their sheer numbers would allow them to break through any restrictions and escape. Once free, he planned to return to headquarters and exaggerate the situation, claiming that the mortal-world cultivators had conspired with a mysterious Divine Transformation cultivator from the cultivation world. By shifting the blame, he hoped to not only escape punishment but even gain credit for gathering intelligence.
The other spies agreed. None believed that the barriers of the mortal world could contain so many of them.
They reasoned that their initial capture was due to being caught off guard and spread too thin.
Now, with over 10,000 cultivators gathered in one place—over 1,000 of whom were Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators—they felt confident. Even if the Divine Transformation cultivator reappeared, they believed they had the numbers to overwhelm him. Forming a united array, they thought they could exhaust him to death.
Unfortunately, their optimism was short-lived.
When they tried to breach the barrier by attacking in unison, they realized they couldn't even initiate their spells.
Every time they channeled spiritual energy to cast an attack, an unknown force nullified their spells at the moment of release.
Simultaneously, thick lightning bolts as wide as barrels descended from above, striking each of them and leaving them charred and smoking.
Though the lightning didn't look particularly fearsome, its power was immense. Even Nascent Soul cultivators weren't spared.
Some observant individuals noticed a disturbing pattern: the strength of the lightning bolts seemed to match the intensity of the spells they had attempted to cast.
"Could this be... a backlash formation?" one knowledgeable cultivator speculated.
This revelation crushed their hopes. The formation made any offensive attempts futile unless they were masochists.
Frustrated, the spies turned their attention to finding a way to dismantle the formation.
What they didn't realize was that the barrier was a core function of Xiushui City itself. Breaking through it was far beyond their capabilities. If it were so easily breached, Lin Xiao's system would have self-destructed from shame.
After several days of fruitless effort, the spies began to lose hope.
A few decided to embrace their circumstances, reasoning that the abundant spiritual energy in the area made it an excellent place to cultivate. Others followed suit, adopting a "wait and see" approach, hoping that Wan Wan Tong would eventually send someone to rescue them.
By the tenth day, they were pleasantly surprised to discover that their cultivation progress was significantly faster here.
Freed from the burdens of their spying missions, they found time to meditate and train without interruption. Since even Gui Jia Zun Zhe, the strongest among them, had been captured, they felt no pressure to perform. Any failures could easily be blamed on their superiors.
As the saying goes, "When the sky falls, the tallest shoulders bear the weight."
The spies began to view their confinement as a blessing in disguise. The spiritual energy in the area was richer than anywhere else they had been. It seemed like the perfect place to cultivate.
For a time, the atmosphere in the 50 houses resembled that of Lingxian Sect's training halls, with a strong focus on cultivation.
But good times never last.
Before two weeks had passed, the spies were horrified to discover that the spiritual energy in their surroundings had vanished.
It didn't gradually thin out—it disappeared entirely, as if it had been sucked away in an instant.