Translator: Cinder Translations
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After leaving Zhou Siyi's cave dwelling, Song Wen returned to his own on the Tiancang Mountain.
Simultaneously, he sent a message summoning Yu Wen to meet him.
Before long, Yu Wen arrived at Song Wen's cave.
"Subordinate greets the Sect Master," Yu Wen said, bowing deeply.
"No need for such formalities, Chief Administrator Yu. Please, take a seat."
Song Wen gestured toward a stone stool inside the cave.
"Thank you, Sect Master," Yu Wen replied, sitting down next to the stone stool after expressing her gratitude.
"Have the emissaries from the other sects left?" Song Wen asked.
"Elder Fang from the Beast Master Sect has not yet departed, but the others have already left," Yu Wen replied.
"You've worked hard today," Song Wen remarked.
"It is my duty to serve," Yu Wen said.
"Chief Administrator Yu, I have seen all that you've done for the sect. Rest assured, I will not let your efforts go unrewarded. You may freely choose any cultivation technique from the sect's Treasure Pavilion. Additionally, you will receive resources equivalent to 300,000 lower-grade spirit stones each year."
The current collection of cultivation techniques in the Treasure Pavilion primarily came from the Si family, supplemented by contributions from rogue cultivators in the Yishi Ridge area.
Though these techniques held little value for Song Wen, they were immensely beneficial to Yu Wen, who was still in the Golden Core stage.
"Thank you, Sect Master," Yu Wen said, rising quickly to bow in gratitude.
Song Wen waved his hand, signaling her to sit down.
"Three days from now, remember to send someone to take over the Dongyuan Mountain," Song Wen instructed.
"Sect Master, I worry that the Ghost Soul Sect may not willingly relinquish Dongyuan Mountain," Yu Wen said.
"Don't worry about that. I will follow discreetly. All you need to do is select suitable personnel to station there," Song Wen assured her.
"Understood!" Yu Wen replied.
Song Wen raised his hand, and suddenly, a jade disk the size of a millstone and nine small silver flags appeared in front of Yu Wen.
"This is the Starry-Line Formation. It can be used to transmit messages over long distances. The matching formation disk and flags are in my possession. If I'm not in the sect and you encounter any troubles you can't resolve, use this to contact me."
Song Wen had already arranged for Zhou Siyi to withdraw from the Asura Sect, and he himself did not intend to stay long on Tiancang Mountain. His plan was to retreat to Qingluo Mountain for cultivation.
If the Nine Palaces Sect and the Myriad Temple attacked, their first target would undoubtedly be Tiancang Mountain. Staying there was far too risky.
As for Tai He's mark in Song Wen's sea of consciousness, he had transferred it onto a soul he had absorbed into his sea of consciousness. The soul was then forced out of his body and sealed within a mid-grade corpse puppet.
This corpse puppet was being nurtured in a specialized coffin and stored in Song Wen's cave on Tiancang Mountain.
With this arrangement, Tai He would no longer be able to track Song Wen's movements.
Three days later, the Ghost Soul Sect sensibly withdrew from Dongyuan Mountain, which was smoothly taken over by the Asura Sect.
With a stable source of spirit stones, the Asura Sect began functioning normally.
Under Yu Wen's management, various spiritual herbs were gradually acquired from major sects and different locations within Yishi Ridge. These included herbs for the Return to Heaven's new formula, the Dragon Strength Pill, and herbs necessary for Zhou Siyi's cultivation.
All these resources were discreetly funneled into Song Wen's hands.
Along with these herbs came a large number of souls belonging to cultivators and demonic beasts.
Three months later...
The new pill formula requires a variety of spiritual herbs, most of which have been collected, with 20 to 30 plants for each herb. However, Forget Me Not Mushrooms and Dead Man's Vine remain unavailable.
Zhou Siyi had already settled in Qingluo Mountain. Thanks to the Asura Sect's steady supply of spiritual herbs, she spent most of her time cultivating, occasionally refining Dragon Strength Pills to feed her Shadow Gu.
After bidding farewell to Zhou Siyi, Song Wen visited Tiancang Mountain to confirm that the Asura Sect was functioning as expected. Once reassured, he set off for the Corpse Demon Sect.
The largest market under the Corpse Demon Sect's jurisdiction was located at the base of Corpse Demon Mountain.
The market was almost integrated with the sect itself.
In contrast to righteous sects, the Corpse Demon Sect exercised looser control over cultivation resources. Even stolen goods could find buyers in the market's stores.
As such, the area around the Corpse Demon Sect had no independent ghost markets. Instead, a black market operated within an underground hall in the market, specializing in intelligence and facilitating trades between cultivators.
This underground black market was established by a Golden Core cultivator from the Corpse Demon Sect, and it even sold internal intelligence about the sect itself—truly exploiting every opportunity to earn spirit stones.
Years ago, when Song Wen's incomplete cultivation of Corpse King Blood Refining Technique caused him to lose control over his physical body and begin corpse transformation, it was at this black market that he acquired information about the Hollow Cicada Wood.
Now, Song Wen entered the underground black market and approached a circular counter at the center of the hall. Addressing one of the attendants inside, he asked directly:
"Do you have information on Dead Man's Vine and Forget Me Not Mushrooms?"
The attendant, an elderly woman at the Qi Refining stage, was surprised and awed when she heard him inquire about third and fourth-tier spiritual herbs.
"Senior, please wait a moment. I need to check," she said, clutching a jade slip and consulting the information inventory.
After about a dozen breaths, the elderly woman replied, "We have detailed information on Forget Me Not Mushrooms, but only limited information on Dead Man's Vine."
"I'll take both. How much for the information?" Song Wen asked.
"Three thousand spirit stones for the Forget Me Not Mushrooms information, and one hundred spirit stones for the Dead Man's Vine information," she replied.
Song Wen handed over a storage pouch.
The elderly woman carefully counted the contents and, after confirming the amount, handed Song Wen two jade slips.
After briefly examining the jade slips, Song Wen turned and left.
According to the information, Forget Me Not Mushrooms were cultivated in a place called the Deathly Still Abyss.
The Deathly Still Abyss was located 8,000 miles southeast of the Corpse Demon Sect. It was a gorge over 100 miles deep, naturally filled with corpse energy.
This pervasive corpse energy caused any bodies—human or beast—that fell into the gorge to undergo corpse transformation, turning them into zombies.
The Deathly Still Abyss was a critical site for the Corpse Demon Sect, used both to cultivate low-grade corpse puppets and grow corpse-path spiritual materials.
Due to its importance, the abyss was guarded by a Golden Core family affiliated with the Corpse Demon Sect, the Gong Sun family.
The intelligence detailed the number of cultivators within the Gong Sun family:
- Two Golden Core cultivators: one mid-stage and one peak-stage.
- Nineteen Foundation Establishment cultivators.
- Thousands of Qi Refining cultivators.
However, the peak-stage Golden Core cultivator, Gong Sun Cailu, was not strictly part of the Gong Sun family. She had formally joined the Corpse Demon Sect and was a direct disciple of the sect's patriarch, Gou Jun.
Song Wen found the 3,000 spirit stones spent on the mushroom information well worth the price. In contrast, the jade slip about Dead Man's Vine seemed hardly worth the 100 spirit stones he paid.
The slip only confirmed that Dead Man's Vine was a fourth-tier spiritual herb cultivated by the Corpse Demon Sect, without specifying the field or location where it was grown.
Apart from verifying its existence, the information was of no practical use to Song Wen.
(End of the Chapter)
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