Lin Feng
Lin Feng's new assignment is on a new world in the lower realm other Earthlings have yet to set foot on. The world name is Norozza and it is one of the few worlds not within the sphere of influence the orthodox sects. This world specifically is fully controlled by one of the three most powerful deviant sect in the immortal realm, the Heavenly Blood Sect.
Mortals' life on worlds controlled by the orthodox sects are tough, but it is still nothing compared to those mortals residing in worlds controlled by deviant sects. The evil cultivators see mortals under them no different from how a mortal sees livestock.
With the deviant sects blatantly operating out in the open, one would have ask why aren't any of the orthodox sect doing anything about it? Those orthodox sects should have made every possible effort to liberate all these worlds from the oppression of evil cultivators.
The answer from a humanitarian point of view is a rather depressing one. It all comes down to benefits. Majority of the worlds controlled by deviant sects are fringe worlds poor in cultivation resources. Cultivators from the orthodox sects are not saints. Embarking on such a money losing deal to rescue some insignificant mortals from their suffering are just plain folly in their perspective. If they have the money to burn, it would be much better for them to spend it on boosting their disciples' cultivation. As long as the deviant sects don't cross the bottom line of these orthodox sects, they are more than happy to leave the deviant sects to their own devices.
Similarly, the deviant sects don't have the aspiration to compete with the orthodox sects for worlds that are rich in cultivation resources. To these deviant sects, those resources are just a bonus. Who in the right mind will expect an evil cultivator to earn their money honestly? It will only be normal for them to rob and plunder the wealth of others. The job might be dangerous but it is without a doubt one of the fastest ways to get rich.
Deviant sects occupy such fringe worlds simply for the population. Where orthodox sects only see mortals as primitive manpower and a way for them to replenish their disciple pool, mortals are also a form of cultivation resources for evil cultivators. Depending on the evil pathway they cultivate, mortals are good for blood sacrifice, raising vengeful spirits, corpses refining, food for demonic beasts or insects, sinister rituals or whatever unspeakable evil one can ever imagine. There is no end to the number of creative ways an evil cultivator can come up with to empower themselves at the expense of others.
Lin Feng has once questioned the logic of choosing Norozza as the country's first clandestine base and was amazed by the rationale and intricacies behind the choice. At the top of the list, evil cultivators have a penchant of keeping their identity a secret, hiding behind masks, cloaks or other form of gadgets. This very habit of evil cultivators works in the favor of Lin Feng's team. With the ability to revive from the dead, it will be difficult for Lin Feng and his team to show up again if they got themselves killed on Norozza. As long as Lin Feng and his team never took of their mask in front of outsiders and wears a similar cloak design used by the sect to obfuscate their disciples' identity out on campaigns, he and his team can literally keep the illusion that his group have an inexhaustible supply of manpower.
As a matter of fact, Lin Feng and his team has been instructed that they should recklessly trade their own life in exchange for their enemies whenever a confrontation broke out. First impression matters. It is imperative that Lin Feng portrays the whole organization as a group of suicidal fanatics. No sane cultivators will willingly provoke a confrontation with a bunch of crazy ass cultivators that will happily sacrifice their own life in exchange for their enemies.
Second, it is all about sowing karma. Just like the sect, the country will need a large influx of manpower to run all the farms, mines and factories that are being built. Since the country needs to send out their own teams to other worlds to retrieve "refugees", the country might as well kill three birds with one stone. Slave trading is a huge part of the economy in worlds controlled by the deviant sects. Instead of going out of their way relocating the natives to expand their workforce, they might as well do a good deed by purchasing these slaves and liberate them from the ownership of an evil cultivator. These slaves will have a much better future toiling under the rule of their country in comparison to the horrible outcome that will inevitably follows living in a deviant sect controlled world. By doing such good deed, the scientist also aims to validate the obstruse effect of karma. Will prolong good deeds slowly elevates the country's fortune? Rescuing slaves and sowing karma are the first two birds. As for the last bird, it is to open up new market as dumping ground for alchemy pills and any other goods that will be mass produced in the future. Although the demand for alchemy pills far exceeds supply at this point in time, the invention of pill assembly line will soon saturate the market. Since such an event is inevitable, it is only smart planning to prepare a new sales channel in advance.
Third, the elite planners chose Norozza out of political consideration. Norozza is a safe bet in term of upholding the country's image of being peace loving and never be the first to start a conflict. Such operations can't be kept confidential and when it gets revealed in the future, the country will look good to its own citizens as well as globally in their effort to rescue group after group of innocents from a life of slavery or in the worst case, genocide while making the world a better place by taking out a bunch of scumbags in the process.
Lin Feng is in a lot pressure making sure his assignment on Norozza did not suffer a catastrophic failure. The country has invested hundreds of millions to get everything his team will need to quickly setup a defensible forward base of operation. He will be ashamed of himself if the whole assignment ended up in failure, wasting so much of the taxpayers' money. Team battle training, meetings to ensure they have contingencies for every foreseeable possibility, understanding the behavior and relationship between the local forces, memorizing the landscape of their forward base, the list of things he needs to accomplish before departing for Norozza never seems to end.
On the topic of the forward base location, the site is next to a rich deposit of ilmenite ore, the primary source of ore for titanium. For a mundane metal, titanium is valuable even in the cultivation world, being the primary material used in airship construction. Given the ores value, the site is currently occupied by Crimson Beast Sect, a small evil sect specializing in breeding demonic beasts. The evil cultivators in the sect are twisted beyond redemption. Not only do they abuse the slaves working in the mine, they are also sadistic enough to allow their contracted beast to feed on any slave their demonic beast took a fancy upon at any time. The slaves live a horrible life worked to the bone without sufficient food and rest while fearing when they will get eaten alive by a demonic beast. Lin Feng has no qualms slaughtering all the cultivators in this evil sect and replace them.
Additionally, evil cultivators come and go. With the majority of them having the habit of concealing their identity, deviant sects at the top of the food chain had stop bothering to investigate any new minor groups that sprung out of nowhere. Savage Corpse Cult, the hegemon of the area doesn't care which local power is in control of which area. As long as the tributes to the cult are paid on time, the cult wouldn't care about any power grab that takes place right under their nose. This works in Lin Feng favor since he wouldn't need to secure the local hegemon approval upfront before disposing of the Crimson Beast Sect. If approval is needed, it will just add another layer of complexity and risk exposing their intent prematurely to the Crimson Beast Sect.