The Night Patrol Division.
Li Ye sheathed his sword and landed lightly on the ground, his mood elated.
As he walked, disciples of the Night Patrol Division passed by, greeting him one after another. He ignored them all and headed straight to where Sikong Bai was.
Upon seeing Sikong Bai, he immediately bowed with a flattering smile. "Subordinate greets Deacon Sikong. Congratulations, my lord, on finally achieving your long-cherished wish and taking full control of the Night Patrol Division!"
"Once you step out of this door, don't repeat such words," Sikong Bai warned, though his face was full of satisfaction.
Clearly, this flattery had hit the mark.
Li Ye simply smiled in response, a silent understanding passing between them.
Sikong Bai continued, "I've called you back today for something important. You must get to the bottom of it."
"I will give it my all!" Li Ye answered resolutely.
Sikong Bai got straight to the point. "Take your men and find the ghost cultivator who killed Fang Zheng and the other two that day. There aren't many ghost cultivators on Feixian Peak. Question each and every one of them—leave no stone unturned."
"My lord, didn't you forbid me from investigating this before?" Li Ye asked, puzzled. Why would Sikong Bai suddenly care about Fang Zheng and the other two?
In his eyes, those three should have been as insignificant as dust.
Forget about valuing them—if they had died right in front of him, he likely wouldn't have spared them a glance.
Sikong Bai's voice deepened. "I told you to investigate, so do it. No more useless questions. Remember, this is an order from the elders. You are to find the culprit at all costs. If you fail, think carefully about what consequences might follow."
"Understood!"
At the mention of the elders, Li Ye's expression hardened.
Curiosity rose in his heart, but no matter how he tried to piece things together, he couldn't figure it out. His thoughts quickly drifted back to Wen Jiu.
Sikong Bai seemed to notice Li Ye's distraction and immediately warned, "Finding the truth is your priority. If you use this as an excuse to settle personal grudges and waste time spying on Wen Jiu, then go find a tree on Feixian Peak and hang yourself."
"I understand," Li Ye hurriedly replied with an apologetic smile.
Even if he was unwilling, he had no choice but to obey.
Wen Jiu…
Looks like you got lucky this time!
—
At the same time, Wen Jiu had escorted his sister back to the Xu family.
This trip was intentional—he wanted to make an appearance and let the Xu family know that his sister wasn't without support.
But he didn't go inside.
Not yet.
He would wait until he could speak to the Xu family as an equal.
Before leaving, Wen Jiu handed his sister, Wen Ya, a Qi cultivation manual he had taken from the Chen family, along with ten low-grade spirit stones.
The Chen family's Qi cultivation manual was decent, and under normal circumstances, it was restricted by Feixian Peak's regulations—outsiders were not allowed to practice it. The reasons were many, but the main one was to protect the Chen family's interests. However, after their clan was wiped out, their cultivation techniques had become fair game. As long as they weren't traded to mortals, they could be given away or sold freely.
Like him, Wen Ya had an inferior spiritual root.
No—strictly speaking, every mortal who made it to Feixian Peak had at least an inferior spiritual root.
Those without spiritual roots weren't even qualified to be servants here.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
So at the very least, Wen Ya could practice basic cultivation, though her progress would be slow. Even with spirit stones to aid her, she would need at least two years. But if she could reach the first level of Qi refinement, she would have a chance to rise above her status as a mere servant.
Of course…
Technically speaking, servants were forbidden from cultivating.
Unless, like him, they had a direct relative who was a Feixian Peak disciple—or at least an apprentice. Otherwise, cultivating was a serious crime.
At the same time, Wen Jiu deliberately had his sister, Wen Ya, carry the clothes inside, with Wang Nian's identity token placed on top. It was essentially borrowing authority to intimidate others, but this tactic would be quite effective.
Just as Wen Jiu expected, Wen Ya quickly ran into members of the Xu family after entering their residence. The sight of Wang Nian's token immediately caught their attention. As a result, the Xu family members—who usually couldn't be bothered to acknowledge Wen Ya—suddenly went out of their way to assist her with the clothes, displaying an unusual level of enthusiasm.
…
A few more days passed in the blink of an eye.
After accumulating another forty to fifty introductory-level Soul-Seizing Talismans, Wen Jiu set off early in the morning for the Birch Mountain rogue cultivator market.
Fifty miles of mountain road—neither too far nor too close. If there were no dense forests or demonic beasts along the way, using a few Swift Movement Talismans would get him there in half an hour. However, since the forest was teeming with beasts and potentially even lurking demons, it took him a full hour to arrive.
Upon reaching the market, Wen Jiu changed into a different set of clothes and dressed his black ghoul in a black robe to conceal its presence.
As he had previously seen on the map, the Birch Mountain trading market was a chaotic yet structured place, with rogue cultivators, murderous bandits, and disciples from Fei Xian Peak and other sects all mingling together.
One notable difference from Fei Xian Peak was the sheer number of mortals present in the market. Though there were only about three to five thousand cultivators, the number of mortals was several times that—though all of them were without spiritual roots.
Some were ordinary people clinging to dreams of cultivation, while others, having once glimpsed the world of immortals, could no longer return to a mundane existence. Unwilling to accept their fates yet still holding onto a sliver of hope, they lingered in the market, willingly serving cultivators in the process.
Stepping into the market, Wen Jiu immediately sensed the stark contrast between sect cultivators and rogue cultivators.
Sect cultivators were too easy to recognize, even if they disguised themselves. Their eyes were too clear.
Even those with some level of cunning paled in comparison to the rogue cultivators and bandits, whose sharp, ruthless gazes hinted at countless hidden schemes. By contrast, sect cultivators seemed as pure as white lotuses. That said, their auras were generally much stronger than those of rogue cultivators.
After all, top-tier cultivation methods, spells, resources, spiritual veins, and mines were all controlled by the sects.
Rogue cultivators, on the other hand, struggled to survive beneath the sects, often possessing inferior spiritual roots. Many of them spent their entire lives just to reach the first or second layer of Qi Refining.
Before long, Wen Jiu spotted something familiar.
The Gathering Hall!
Among the most prestigious businesses in the Birch Mountain market, the Gathering Hall stood out, with a constant stream of rogue cultivators coming and going.
Unlike in the sects, where it was just another organization, the Gathering Hall here wielded immense influence, resembling a major power in its own right. The rogue cultivators passing through its doors treated it with utmost respect.
Wen Jiu casually approached a mortal to gather information about the market before deciding to sell all his Soul-Seizing Talismans at a merchant house that opposed the Gathering Hall.
With Blood Corpse Escape and Three Rivers Ghost Concealment, Wen Jiu wasn't afraid of being targeted. He entered the shop and sold all his talismans.
In total, he had amassed over 130 introductory-level Soul-Seizing Talismans, which fetched him 283 lower-grade spirit stones—an impressive sum.
With this, Wen Jiu had finally secured a means of livelihood in the cultivation world. From now on, he no longer needed to borrow spirit stones from others.
Before leaving, the merchant house owner repeatedly tried to recruit him—after all, yin talisman masters capable of drawing Soul-Seizing Talismans were extremely rare.
And a rogue cultivator who could do it? That was practically unheard of.
To Wen Jiu's surprise, the manager of the merchant house even offered him an astonishing monthly salary of 30 lower-grade spirit stones—fifteen times the pay of a Night Patrol Division officer!
On top of that, they promised him ten concubines—each possessing spiritual roots and exceptional beauty.
To be honest, it was tempting.
But Wen Jiu knew all too well—if a merchant house was willing to offer so much, they must expect to profit ten or even a hundred times over.
If he couldn't generate enough value, today's flattery would turn into cold, ruthless exploitation.
So, he refused without hesitation.
Immediately after, Wen Jiu made his way to the Gathering Hall, where he sold the three lower-tier first-grade magical artifacts he had obtained earlier, along with some basic Qi Refining techniques and spells. Altogether, he earned 376 lower-grade spirit stones.
With that, the spirit stones in Wen Jiu's storage bag officially surpassed a thousand, totaling more than 1,100.
Not only was this enough to craft a mid-tier first-grade corpse-nurturing coffin, but he could also afford to purchase demonic materials and Three Calamity items to begin cultivating a Three Calamities Corpse.
After wandering around the Birch Mountain market for a bit longer, Wen Jiu inquired about Blood Fiend Crystals and Heavenly Fiend Water, but upon learning that neither was available, he decided to check out Tianyin City instead.
Tianyin City was just a hundred miles from the Birch Mountain market—not too far.
As expected, Wen Jiu's recent transactions had drawn a lot of unwanted attention.
The moment he left the market, over a dozen bandit cultivators started tailing him.
Wen Jiu couldn't be bothered to deal with them. Activating Blood Corpse Escape, he vanished instantly, then used a Swift Movement Talisman to rush toward Tianyin City.
According to the records of the Three Calamities Corpse-Nurturing Method, today was the second day that the trading site was open. It would close at midnight tomorrow.