In the land of the forsaken corpses, beneath a dense mist filled with eerie yin energy, three figures—two men and one woman—moved cautiously through the darkness. They were clad in the black night patrol robes of the Night Watch Division. One held a talisman to repel the bone-chilling yin energy surrounding them, another gripped an exorcism charm to ward off vengeful spirits, and the woman carried a black ghost head in her hand.

The black ghost head continuously released spectral energy, spreading downward like tendrils across the ground, searching for something unseen.

Before long, the woman halted abruptly. Under the dim moonlight, her cold and stern face lit up with a trace of excitement. The two men beside her immediately focused on her, unable to contain their anticipation.

"Did you find what the Tower Master wants?"

"No," the woman replied, causing brief disappointment to flicker across their faces. But her next words reignited their excitement. "Though I didn't find what the Tower Master is looking for, I did discover a newly formed ghoul. Its corpse energy is incredibly dense and thick—an extremely rare find. It seems the corpse breeder put in a great deal of effort. If we take it, we can sell it for at least fifty low-grade spirit stones. A huge profit!"

"Fifty spirit stones…" The two men exchanged glances.

They were tempted.

Even with their positions in the Night Watch Division and their additional tasks for the Tower Master, they only earned five low-grade spirit stones per month. After covering daily cultivation expenses and renting a cave dwelling, there was barely anything left—life was tight.

Seeing them hesitate, the woman quickly added, "I have a ghost technique—Spirit Banishment. It specifically counters corpse breeders and can sever their spiritual link with the ghoul. This one may have exceptionally dense corpse energy, but it's still just newly formed, barely equivalent to the first level of Qi Refining. As long as the corpse breeder isn't nearby, a few suppression talismans will be enough to handle it."

As she spoke, she pulled out three corpse suppression talismans.

The two men glanced at each other and immediately began digging.

"Dig it up, then we leave."

"Agreed."

Suddenly, an enraged roar erupted from beneath the ground.

The ghoul!

Just as the two men dug a foot deep and the corpse became visible, the ghoul surged out of the burial pit, unleashing a wave of violent corpse energy.

Its aura skyrocketed.

From newly formed to mid-tier—

In an instant!

"How did it suddenly reach mid-tier?!" The woman hastily threw out the three suppression talismans, but the ghoul's corpse energy shattered them instantly.

The other two men's expressions changed as they instinctively retreated.

"Don't run!" the woman snapped. "A mid-tier ghoul is worth at least a hundred spirit stones! We've struck gold! I still have a top-grade first-tier suppression talisman, but you'll have to compensate me for the cost later!"

Their eyes widened.

A hundred low-grade spirit stones!

This was a fortune!

—

At the same time, Wen Jiu could clearly sense that his spiritual connection with the ghoul was being blocked by a thick layer of spectral energy, like dark clouds obscuring the moon.

Fortunately, this was no ordinary ghoul—it was an aberrant ghoul, bound to his corpse-breeding interface. So, despite the interference, Wen Jiu could still feel its presence.

He could also sense those around it.

Three people.

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Two men, one woman.

All at the second level of Qi Refining.

Two were normal Qi Refining cultivators.

The other was a ghost cultivator.

"Three of them…" As soon as the ghoul was immobilized by a suppression talisman, Wen Jiu didn't hesitate—he crushed a signal talisman instantly and rushed toward the nearest Night Watch Division outpost.

Although the ghoul could escape using the Three Rivers Ghost Veil technique, Wen Jiu wouldn't let it resort to that unless absolutely necessary.

By the time he explained the situation, Wang Nian had already arrived in a hurry—his clothes disheveled, clearly having been roused from sleep by Wen Jiu's signal talisman.

Before Wang Nian could even ask, Wen Jiu quickly said, "Brother Wang, someone is searching for something in the land of forsaken corpses in the middle of the night."

"Mm!" Wang Nian was startled. Two words immediately popped into his mind—spy! He quickly asked, "How do you know?"

"My black ghoul, buried in the Land of Dismembered Corpses, discovered them," Wen Jiu rephrased the theft of his black ghoul. If his black ghoul was stolen and he sought the Night Patrol Division for help, he would owe them a favor. But if he personally discovered infiltrators with ulterior motives, then to the Night Patrol Division, this would be a great merit on his part.

Wang Nian's expression shifted slightly. "Could it be the spies that have been causing such a stir lately? Let's go check it out!"

A nearby Night Patrol disciple quickly added, "I'll send a transmission right away to call for reinforcements from the nearest patrol members."

Soon, Wang Nian took to the skies on his sword, bringing the two of them toward the Land of Dismembered Corpses.

As they neared their destination, seven or eight dark figures emerged from the night. Their auras were restrained yet profoundly strong.

They were disciples of the Night Patrol Division.

Among them was a steward at the third level of Qi Refining.

His name was unknown, but people called him Steward Liu.

His aura far surpassed Wang Nian's.

Wen Jiu recognized him—some days ago, he had come to the Land of Dismembered Corpses to question them. He was not on the same side as Li Ye.

"I've already been informed of the situation… Can you still sense them through your black ghoul?" Steward Liu's gaze landed on Wen Jiu.

He was slightly surprised when he saw Wen Jiu.

He had heard about Wen Jiu from some Night Patrol disciples recently.

A practitioner of unorthodox cultivation.

Yet within a month, he had reached the first level of Qi Refining.

But Steward Liu didn't find it particularly impressive. Practicing unorthodox techniques meant sacrificing lifespan, foundation, and future potential in exchange for cultivation progress.

Reaching the first level of Qi Refining in a month was nothing remarkable.

On the contrary, it was short-sighted.

His future prospects were bleak.

Still, he hadn't expected that the spy they had been unable to track down would end up being found by this kid, purely by chance.

Wen Jiu nodded. "I can!"

"Lead the way!" Steward Liu barely gave him an approving look, though he remained steadfast in his belief that unorthodox cultivation was shortsighted. But in the next moment, as he examined Wen Jiu more closely, his expression suddenly changed.

"Second level of Qi Refining!"

Wang Nian noticed Steward Liu's surprise and asked in confusion, "Daoist Liu, what do you mean by second level of Qi Refining?"

Seeing that Steward Liu was staring at Wen Jiu, Wang Nian also turned his gaze toward him and extended his spiritual sense.

Second level of Qi Refining!

Holy crap!

He was talking about Wen Jiu.

"Wen, when did this happen?" Damn, this kid had broken through to the second level of Qi Refining so fast.

This was a new record for Side Peak.

No wonder he had caught Wang Nian's eye!

Wen Jiu quickly replied, "I was lucky enough to break through tonight."

But he had no time to bask in their praise. He urgently pointed to the left. "Brother Wang, that way! They're trying to escape through Dead Man's Valley!"

"Beyond Dead Man's Valley lies a dense forest stretching a hundred miles. If they escape into it, finding them again will be nearly impossible."

Wang Nian had no time to dwell on his shock and excitement—he immediately took off on his sword in pursuit.

The Night Patrol disciples quickly followed.

But they couldn't help but glance at Wen Jiu.

Second level of Qi Refining.

Damn.

He hadn't even become a probationary disciple yet, and he was already at the second level of Qi Refining.

Even the steward of the Night Patrol Division was only at the third level of Qi Refining!

This was unprecedented for Side Peak.

Even though it was unorthodox cultivation, it was still shocking. After all, Side Peak had seen its share of unorthodox cultivators in the past.

Meanwhile, three figures were racing through the dense yin energy. They could already hear the sound of swords breaking through the night sky.

The pursuers were closing in.

"What's going on?"

"Their spiritual senses shouldn't be able to reach this far. They shouldn't be able to track us like this—why are they chasing us so persistently?"

The female cultivator was equally bewildered. She instinctively glanced at the black ghoul carried by the male cultivator, then shook her head.

Impossible.

He had already used ghostly techniques to sever the connection between the corpse-raiser and the black ghoul.

There shouldn't be any way to sense it anymore.

But if it wasn't the black ghoul—

Then what was it?

"Forget it, give me the black ghoul. We'll split up and run!" The female cultivator reached for the black ghoul on the male cultivator's back.

The two exchanged a glance before ultimately deciding to hand it over to her. After all, neither of them had cultivated techniques to suppress black ghouls.

If the black ghoul broke free from its corpse-sealing talisman, they would be doomed.

The female cultivator added, "Move fast—go through Dead Man's Valley and into the mountains!"

With that, she hoisted the black ghoul onto her shoulder and sprinted off in another direction.

Sensing this, Wen Jiu's expression tensed. Just as he was about to speak, a thought flashed through his mind.

Maybe tonight was an opportunity.

An opportunity to become a probationary disciple ahead of time!