"Liu-ge, you're joking."
Wen Jiu replied without a change in expression, his face calm and unflustered.
But inwardly, he was quite surprised. He hadn't completely concealed the aura of the black ghoul—doing so would be too conspicuous, like deliberately drawing attention to oneself. Instead, he had released a portion of its aura, just enough to present the level of a mid-tier black ghoul. Yet even with this careful control, Liu Xiao had still noticed something.
Of course, admitting it was out of the question.
But this also served as a reminder—he needed to avoid letting the black ghoul appear in public whenever possible. No matter how well he concealed it, there would always be experienced cultivators who could sense something off. Even if they couldn't be certain, suspicion alone was enough.
And once someone became suspicious, half the effort of concealing his aura would be wasted—because suspicion leads to vigilance.
Liu Xiao saw that Wen Jiu wasn't admitting anything, but he didn't press further. He trusted his instincts. After years of battling wits and strength with rogue cultivators and marauders in the Night Patrol Division, his keen intuition was the only reason he was still alive.
After scrutinizing the black ghoul a few more times, Liu Xiao couldn't help but sigh inwardly—why hadn't he noticed this before?
Still, he knew what to say and what not to say. So, he simply turned away and put the matter out of his mind.
As the last of the mana-devouring parasites was extracted from Liu Xiao's dantian, and his spiritual power finally stopped being consumed and drained away, he was overwhelmed with joy—so much so that he almost burst into tears. He silently celebrated his decision to befriend Wen Jiu back then.
If not for that, he would never have been "reborn" today.
"Liu-ge, take some time to recover. Although I've removed the mana-devouring parasites, your dantian won't fully heal for at least a month or two." After a few words of advice, Wen Jiu prepared to leave with the black ghoul.
"Thank you, Brother Wen." Liu Xiao carefully felt the restored flow of spiritual energy in his dantian, and the gloom of the past days instantly dissipated.
He wanted nothing more than to laugh out loud in celebration—but that would be too high-profile, so he held back.
Wen Jiu nodded and said nothing more, then took the black ghoul and returned to the Land of Dismembered Corpses.
He believed Liu Xiao was smart enough not to spread the news immediately, even without the restriction of a Silence Technique.
In the days that followed, Wen Jiu stuck to his usual cultivation routine, occasionally observing the mana-devouring parasites inside the black ghoul's body.
For the first two days, nothing changed.
But Wen Jiu was in no hurry—he was waiting.
Waiting for the daily system settlement to recognize the act of nourishing the mana-devouring parasites as an event, thus granting him experience points. If that happened, successful fusion would be inevitable.
And sure enough, on the third day, an unexpected surprise appeared.
The mana-devouring parasites didn't fuse with his dark arts as he had initially speculated. Instead, just as he had hoped, a new event was added to the daily settlement log.
[Fed the mana-devouring parasites with Yin-based techniques for twelve hours. Panel experience +1, Mana-devouring Parasite Mutation Experience +12.]
[Parasite: Mana-devouring Parasite (12/100) PS: Currently, these parasites can enter a host's body through open wounds, devour spiritual energy, and damage the dantian. Once mutation is complete, they will be strengthened and evolve.]
"They're actually starting to mutate."
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Wen Jiu was pleased.
In less than ten days, the experience points would reach their maximum, and by then, the mana-devouring parasites would be his to command—stronger and more powerful than ever.
Judging from the current situation, it seemed their level could be increased further. Otherwise, the daily system settlement wouldn't have started tracking it as an event. After all, when he first practiced the Silence Technique, he hadn't even gained proficiency experience.
But then, Wen Jiu suddenly had a realization.
"Maybe it's not that I didn't gain any experience back then... Perhaps, like the mana-devouring parasites, it simply wasn't immediately recognized as an event for settlement."
If he maxed out the proficiency of the Silence Technique—
What would happen?
As far as he knew, the Silence Technique was a one-time-use spell. Any Qi Condensation cultivator could learn it instantly, and even with continued practice, its effects wouldn't improve.
But what if the daily settlement panel could change that?
With that thought, Wen Jiu decided to test it out when he had time—to see if there was anything to gain.
…
While Wen Jiu was focused on cultivating the black ghoul and evolving the mana-devouring parasites, news finally arrived from the elders who had gone out on a support mission.
However, the message wasn't sent to Feixian Peak directly. Instead, it came from several side peaks, because the Inspector from the Hall of Supervision had urgently summoned cultivators from twenty or thirty side peaks—anyone at or above Qi Condensation Stage Three—to head to the Bloodfiend Abyss for reinforcement.
Since the Shayan Volcano had been activated by the remnants of the Blood-Clad Tower, it was now in a state of imminent eruption.
If left unchecked, although the eruption wouldn't spread beyond the Abyss of Blood Fiends, the demons and monsters escaping from it would wreak havoc, affecting at least half of the Dead Man's Peak territory. The consequences would be dire.
Upon learning this, Wen Jiu couldn't help but feel a jolt of shock. With such a massive disturbance, twenty to thirty side peaks had already been drawn away—did this mean the Blood-Clad Tower's remnants were about to strike Feixian Peak next?
With this in mind, when his elder sister, Wen Ya, visited again that day, Wen Jiu simply kept her from returning to the Xu family for the time being.
This would make it easier for him to take her away from Feixian Peak when necessary. The Blood Corpse Evasion technique allowed him to bring others along—it just consumed about ten percent more corpse energy, nothing too significant.
Afterward, he also made some inquiries about Mu Canglong's whereabouts, but there was no news. His fate remained unknown.
Chances were, he hadn't survived.
Mu Canglong had once bestowed upon him the grace of teaching, so Wen Jiu naturally hoped he would return alive, though he feared things might not go as he wished.
After all, the world was unpredictable.
What Wen Jiu hadn't expected was that, on this very day, Gong Chi suddenly sent someone to summon him to the Night Patrol Division.
The moment he received the order, Wen Jiu's expression changed dramatically.
Gong Chi hadn't gone to the Abyss of Blood Fiends!
And now, he was suddenly calling for him by name!
"This…"
Without hesitation, Wen Jiu rushed to the Land of Mangled Corpses to retrieve the Black Ghoul—just in case.
Upon arriving at the Night Patrol Division and seeing the "still not fully recovered" Gong Chi, Wen Jiu took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm.
With the Blood Corpse Evasion technique at his disposal…
Even if he couldn't win, he could at least escape, right?
"Elder Gong."
Wen Jiu bowed respectfully, keeping his head lowered like the other Night Patrol Division disciples, not daring to look directly at Gong Chi's face.
Gong Chi waved a hand, dismissing the other disciples, then coughed heavily twice before speaking bluntly: "I've heard that you've been making quite a name for yourself on Feixian Peak lately? Even being compared to Du Feng?"
"Elder Gong overpraises me—it's just an empty reputation." Wen Jiu responded while trying to guess Gong Chi's true intentions behind bringing this up.
To his surprise, Gong Chi actually praised him again, saying, "Though your cultivation method damages your foundation, among the apprentice disciples, you do stand out. You are indeed worthy of such recognition."
"Thank you for your praise, Elder."
But Wen Jiu's heart sank.
This praise felt off.
Something unusual was definitely going on!
Sure enough, Gong Chi let out a sigh and spoke again: "Unfortunately, your spiritual root is merely of inferior grade. The third level of Qi Refinement may very well be your limit. Even if you push yourself at the cost of your own foundation, you might only reach the fourth level at best. Going any further would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens."
With that, Gong Chi gazed at Wen Jiu with a look of regret.
Wen Jiu didn't lift his head, but he had already pieced together some clues.
This was both praise and criticism—something was definitely wrong.
Was he planning to keep him on Feixian Peak?
With that suspicion in mind, Wen Jiu quickly considered his response, choosing not to confront Gong Chi directly but instead probing for his true purpose. "I am slow-witted. Elder Gong, please enlighten me."
Gong Chi didn't bother hiding his intentions and spoke outright: "With your spiritual root and the Yinzhou Corpse Cultivation Method, you won't get far on the main peak. The main peak would never nurture someone on the demonic path and risk repeating past tragedies… So, why not stay on Feixian Peak as my disciple? With my elixirs to nourish your body, breaking into the fourth level of Qi Refinement should be no issue. And once you do, the position of First Deacon of the Night Patrol Division will be yours."
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