The intelligence from the Listening Wind Tower appeared to list every Core Formation and Foundation Establishment cultivator they knew of. It felt less like a registry of powerful individuals and more like a census of cultivators operating within the **Sky Demon Bone Forest** region.
The information on this 'Liu One-Slash' was rather detailed. The spiritual energy projection of his face was disguised, but those eyes—Wang Yu would remember them until his dying day.
Bone structure, height, time of arrival in Ten Thousand Poison Town, known techniques, cultivation level... every characteristic matched. This was the enemy from the weakest, earliest chapter of his life.
—Manager Liu.
Back then, that man had been Wei Zhong's trusted lieutenant, one of the three managers of the Frigid Blood Peak spirit slave district, and the one directly responsible for severing Wang Yu's arm.
Looking back now, he had been green and ignorant then.
But he had grasped the core of the problem. From everything he had learned about spirit slaves over the years, the so-called promotion to outer sect disciple was almost always a mirage, a reflection in water.
Aside from his own desperate gamble, which had caught Su Yulong's eye...
The last spirit slave promoted to the outer sect had been over six hundred years ago. Since Wang Yu, not a single spirit slave from any of the nine peaks had risen to the outer sect.
This wasn't a matter of probability; it was pure fate.
It depended entirely on whether a powerful patron decided to lift you up. His own success was also due to the unique circumstances of the time; otherwise... he would have died nameless among the spirit slaves.
He used to think spirit slaves lived for twenty years. Later, he learned the average lifespan was only three or four. They were driven to exhaust their life force frantically, misled by vitality-boosting tonics.
Their output far exceeded any reasonable calculation. The techniques available for redemption, the supplemental tonics... they were all layers of temptation.
Now, aside from feeling fortunate...
He would also ensure he never again fell into such a precarious, day-to-day existence!
Running into Manager Liu here in Ten Thousand Poison Town was its own kind of fortune.
The fact the other had broken through to Foundation Establishment meant he must have dealt with the inner sect disciple sent to hunt him. He'd probably gained some benefits from it, too.
After finishing the intelligence in the jade slip, Wang Yu decisively purchased more from the Listening Wind Tower.
"I want all information on this Liu One-Slash!"
"Please wait... five thousand spirit stones."
This batch of intelligence could be taken away. After reviewing it, Wang Yu's figure vanished without a trace.
......
......
Butcher's Fragrant Meat Stew and Wine.
The eatery was doing roaring business. Every table in the two-story building was packed, a testament to the owner's considerable skill.
At one table of four, a conversation unfolded within a minor soundproofing barrier.
"Mmm~ Nothing beats Butcher Wang's cooking. This demon hound meat is fantastic!"
"You scrawny stick, careful you don't overdo it and burn up with internal fire tonight."
"Hey, I don't like the sound of that, brother. I could scare you to death if I whipped out my big bird."
"Go scare some village girl. Why scare me? Your bird's no good for brewing wine."
"Hahaha—"
Three of the four hooded figures laughed heartily, much to the stick-thin man's irritation.
"Enough already, quit joking about that. Let's talk business. Brother Liu?"
The atmosphere chilled instantly at his words.
It was clear this 'Brother Liu' was their leader, with the highest cultivation at the second layer of Foundation Establishment.
The other three were all late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.
Such small groups were everywhere in Scarlet Kite. Rogue cultivators banded together to survive, but these alliances were also the most prone to betrayal when a rare opportunity arose.
"Two weeks ago," Brother Liu began, his voice low, "the young mistress of the Ruan family from Scorpion Venom City entered the Sky Demon Bone Forest with a team. They were searching for a second-grade spirit herb called 'Black Hemp White Fruit.'"
"It's supposedly a main ingredient for a poison-path cultivator's Foundation Establishment Pill. Judging by the timeline, they should be coming out soon. Big Dog?"
This was the 'business' they had scoped out. Regardless of whether the group found the herb, the Ruan family name itself meant a substantial haul of spirit stones.
As for the Ruan family's strength, they were a fading Foundation Establishment clan with only two Foundation Establishment elders left. One had to guard the ancestral home; the other had accompanied the young mistress into the forest.
Opportunities like this didn't come often. They might even make a bigger score inside Scorpion Venom City itself.
The cultivator called Big Dog performed a hand seal.
A palm-sized hummingbird zipped in through a window, its wings a blur. Big Dog closed his eyes in concentration. After a few breaths, he reported with a grin, "Brother Liu, they're out. They'll be clear of the forest in three hours, tops. And that early Foundation Establishment old-timer looks injured."
The eyes of the other three lit up. The decision was immediate.
"Move out!"
Tossing a little over a hundred spirit stones onto the table, the stick-thin man even picked up the entire stew pot, clearly unwilling to part with the meal.
Butcher Wang, who had been sharpening his cleaver, glanced at the spirit stones before the murderous glint in his eyes faded. The other patrons eyed the shiny, spirit-infused stones...
Then subtly turned their attention elsewhere. Just then, a stranger walked in, wearing a plain, dark mask, his eyes like deep pits that seemed to swallow light and spirit.
The newcomer was Wang Yu.
According to the intelligence, Liu One-Slash frequented this eatery. He had come to try his luck.
Seeing only one empty table, he sat down.
He idly toyed with the spirit stones left on the table, then beckoned to Butcher Wang.
The surrounding diners all flinched.
*What an arrogant fellow.*
Butcher Wang strode over, cleaver in hand, radiating a fierce, bloody aura. His bulky frame and the stench of old blood were quite overpowering.
Wang Yu expanded the soundproofing barrier with a pulse of true essence. "Did Liu One-Slash come here today?"
*CRASH—*
The cleaver came down, smashing the table to splinters. The butcher loomed over Wang Yu, his youthful vitality apparently the source of his boldness. "Where'd this little runt crawl from? Why should I tell you anything?!"
Sixth layer of Foundation Establishment.
The man's aura washed out unrestrained. In Ten Thousand Poison Town, he was indeed a somebody. But Wang Yu's temper had never been particularly patient.
"You refuse the easy way, so you get the hard way. Don't blame me for looking for myself."
Spiritual sense power, having already reached the peak of the early third rank (third layer), erupted violently. Wave after wave of Soul-Shattering Finger strikes nearly stunned the butcher where he stood.
Immediately following.
"—Soul-Gouging Evil Boat Curse!"
Black paper boats, each about two fingers long, drifted forth from the void behind Wang Yu—a veritable fleet of over six hundred vessels. They crashed one after another into the butcher's Niwan Palace.
They shattered his spiritual sense, then targeted the soul essence buried deep within his flesh. Every black boat that passed carved away a sliver of soul and memory.
Under the relentless assault of six hundred-plus boats, the butcher's soul was quickly torn to tatters. Piercing, wretched screams echoed in the spiritual void. This was true soul-gouging.
By the time the evil boats had finished harvesting memories, the butcher's eyes had rolled back. He slumped to the floor in a daze, drool spilling from the corner of his mouth.
The surrounding patrons stared, dumbstruck.
Every minor soundproofing barrier in the room dissolved.
"It's... it's a soul-searching secret art... only Core Formation cultivators can use those... Butcher Wang is finished!"
*Boom—*
Without a moment's hesitation or any desire to watch the spectacle, everyone fled. Some crashed through walls, others burrowed into the earth.
Within three breaths, not a single soul remained in sight.
Wang Yu watched, momentarily nonplussed.
After all, the endearing rogue cultivators of Guiding Spirit City loved nothing more than a good show. The customs here in Ten Thousand Poison Town were clearly different.
"Discipline..." he murmured to himself.
"Second Elder, just hold on a little longer. Once we're out of the Sky Demon Bone Forest, we can treat the poison in your system."
While Wang Yu was sifting through Butcher Wang's memories...
On the very fringes of the Sky Demon Bone Forest.
A bedraggled group of eight or nine, almost all wounded, their lips purplish-black, lacked even the strength to channel spiritual energy for flight. All their focus was on suppressing the toxins raging within them.
"Young Mistress, you must not enter Ten Thousand Poison Town. Go back to Scorpion Venom City..."
The early Foundation Establishment elder, being carried by a burly male cultivator, was fading in and out of consciousness, his words a constant, muddled warning.
The young woman keeping pace beside them was already weeping. "But your injuries can't wait any longer! It's all my fault. I shouldn't have pushed so hard. And the Detoxification Pills... their potency was off."
This team was made up of Ruan clansmen. No one had the energy for recriminations now. They had entered with over twenty; fewer than ten had staggered out.
"Young Mistress, it's not your fault. If the pills were bad, it's the fault of the clan's procurement officer. They might even be working with outsiders..."
"Cough, cough—Ruan Wenlang, what's the point of saying that now? Perhaps Fifth Elder was deceived too? Just... move faster."
The forest was deep, the mist thick, visibility poor.
But in the trees nearby, small birds watched the group's painfully slow progress, constantly relaying their position to those waiting outside.
Moments later.
Formation banners shot out from all directions. In the blink of an eye, a small-scale array sprang up, designed to muffle sound and activity—a essential tool for any serious rogue cultivator.
They deployed such simple formations for every job, to keep the noise of battle from drawing unwanted attention.
Four figures dropped from the canopy, surrounding the Ruan family team completely.
The Ruan young mistress's heart plummeted. She knew instantly they had been ambushed by robbers. Her eyes darted to the unconscious Second Elder.
*We're finished!*
She opened her mouth to parley, but the four brigands didn't utter a word. Magical artifacts gleamed in their hands as they attacked.
The leader, the swordsman in the hood, emanated the crushing pressure of Foundation Establishment cultivation. Despair filled her.
*Thud!*
*Thud!!*
There was barely any resistance. The Ruan cultivators lasted less than ten breaths. The young mistress included, they were all cut down.
The stick-thin man let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Brother Liu, only the Foundation Establishment old man is left. Do we save him?"
"Idiot. Feed him a Detoxification Pill. Use the Seven-Finger Meridian Sealing technique I taught you to lock down his Qi Sea and meridians. Do I need to explain how much a live Foundation Establishment cultivator is worth?"
"Right, right, right—"
The stick-thin man gave an embarrassed chuckle. Glancing at the young mistress's body, run through the heart, he sighed regretfully. "Such a shame. She was quite pretty. Big Dog! You're too brutal, man. Destroying a flower like that."
Big Dog was already rifling through the corpses, stripping them of valuables and even clothing.
He didn't bother looking up. "I'm fighting for my life here. How could I hold back? Even if she were a celestial maiden, I'd kill her first and ask questions later. You haven't learned a thing from Brother Liu, have you?"
"Hah... of course I have. Can I have this corpse, then?"
"Whatever."
A brief silence fell as the four began methodically looting the bodies.
Then.
A soft, almost musical voice floated from the depths of the woods.
"My, what interesting tastes you have~"
**(End of Chapter)**