"Law-Avoiding... Soul Capture..."

Wen Jiu was stunned.

As expected of a mystic ability.

It allowed a mid-tier Three-Fiend Ghoul to tear apart a Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivator with its bare hands.

Take the Law-Avoiding Corpse Body, for example—any attack involving five-element spells, yin arts, or corpse-countering techniques would be inherently weakened by thirty percent.

That meant every opponent would essentially be afflicted with a debuff, reducing their overall strength by thirty percent.

And the skill panel didn't mention any diminishing returns on this effect.

In other words—

No matter how powerful the enemy was, they would still be weakened by thirty percent.

Wen Jiu had only two words for this:

Tyrannical!

It was truly worthy of being a mystic ability.

Of course, if the enemy was overwhelmingly strong, then whether they were weakened or not wouldn't matter much—if they could one-shot him before, they still could.

But against a Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivator?

That thirty percent reduction was a massive advantage.

And then there was the Soul-Capturing Eyes.

Consuming ten percent corpse energy to seize souls within a hundred meters—this was far more domineering than a Soul-Grabbing Talisman. Its effect was similar to a Soul-Searching Art, except that technique could only search a single soul at a time.

What surprised Wen Jiu the most wasn't even the range, but rather—the ability to read memories.

This essentially meant that as long as he wanted, he could extract someone's soul and instantly obtain everything they had ever learned in their lifetime.

"This..."

The more Wen Jiu thought about it, the more shocked he became.

This was leagues above a mere Soul-Grabbing technique.

"I just don't know what the current limits of the Soul-Capturing Eyes are..."

"Can they affect a Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivator's soul?"

Honestly—

He really wanted to kill Gong Chi.

That kind of deep-seated hatred that kept him up at night.

But no matter how badly he wanted it, he wouldn't act recklessly. His Blood Refining Body hadn't yet reached the fourth stage.

Once he attained the fourth stage, combined with Law-Avoiding Soul Capture and his Soul-Devouring Insect, then he'd have a solid, triple-layered assault.

And he still needed to wait for the right opportunity.

"Just a few more days," Wen Jiu muttered to himself.

He suppressed his thoughts, had the Three-Fiend Ghoul retract its aura, and then returned to the vicinity of Fei Xian Peak. Using a Blood Corpse Escape technique, he slipped back home unnoticed.

After staying inside for a while and confirming that there were no unusual movements outside, Wen Jiu finally relaxed.

…

The next morning.

News of Wen Jiu becoming Gong Chi's disciple spread.

Overnight, it had become common knowledge throughout Fei Xian Peak.

Wen Jiu wasn't surprised. It would have been strange if no one had deliberately spread the news.

Upon hearing this, Chen Daoqing immediately rushed over, looking anxious. "Wen Daoist, are you out of your mind?"

With the assessment coming up—

Wen Jiu had chosen to become Elder Gong's disciple?

Wasn't this cutting off his own path to advancement?

Wen Jiu simply smiled as if unconcerned. "Daoist Chen, being personally accepted by Elder Gong is a great fortune for me. Besides, someone like me, a left-path cultivator, might not even be welcomed on the main peak."

"Foolish! Absolutely foolish!"

Chen Daoqing looked exasperated, like iron that refused to become steel.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Though Wen Jiu didn't know why Chen Daoqing was so agitated, he maintained his calm smile, revealing nothing.

Whether Chen Daoqing was genuinely concerned or had ulterior motives, Wen Jiu chose to play along.

The assessment had already been postponed.

He still had time.

Now, he just had to wait—for Blood Robe Tower to make a move on Fei Xian Peak.

After all—

He didn't believe that Blood Robe Tower had stirred up such chaos in the Blood Fiend Abyss just to irritate Dead Man Peak.

After Chen Daoqing left, Wen Jiu headed straight for the Wretched Corpse Wasteland—not just to get away from Fei Xian Peak, but also to distance himself from Gong Chi.

That very night—

While lazily drawing talismans in the Wretched Corpse Wasteland, Wen Jiu suddenly noticed the Three-Fiend Ghoul staring into the darkness.

Yet when he scanned the area with his divine sense, he detected nothing.

But the ghoul continued staring intently.

Through its developing sentience, Wen Jiu received a message—someone was searching for something in the wasteland.

A Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivator!

"They're here."

"Finally!"

Though Wen Jiu didn't know why these people were so certain that Fei Xian Peak or the Wretched Corpse Wasteland contained Blood Ink Three Thousand's corpse—

He did know one thing.

His chance had come.

This was likely the enemy's vanguard—scouts probing the way ahead.

However, after carefully sensing through the Three-Fiend Walking Corpse, Wen Jiu couldn't help but grow cautious.

Because under the perception of the Three-Fiend Walking Corpse, while the other party had the vitality of a living person, their presence was as erratic as a ghost—flickering in and out, appearing here one moment and somewhere else the next, unnervingly strange.

In their hand, they also held a Yin Talisman—an extremely high-quality one, no less. Its grade was no lower than the one found on the Blood-Ink Three Thousand Corpses.

Although Wen Jiu had become a Yin Talisman Master, he still couldn't determine the exact quality of such a high-grade talisman just by sensing it. But he could make an educated guess—there was no way this was merely a mid-tier first-grade talisman.

It was likely a top-tier first-grade talisman!

"Goodness, they're really spending big to track down the Yin Fiend Blood Curse Body." A top-tier first-grade talisman—just a single one could rival the attack of a late-stage artifact refiner, with a value no less than a thousand low-grade spirit stones.

A thousand low-grade spirit stones...

That was an entire fortune for a fourth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator, probably their entire net worth—assuming they were part of a sect.

Or a robber cultivator.

For the struggling rogue cultivators, even scraping together three to five hundred low-grade spirit stones would be a challenge.

Sensing the presence of a top-tier first-grade talisman, Wen Jiu immediately stowed away his Black Bone Talisman Brush, activated the Three-River Ghost Concealment technique, and slowly approached while remaining ready to use Blood Corpse Escape at a moment's notice.

Why get closer?

Simple—curiosity.

He wanted to see exactly what kind of cultivator this person was.

There was no trace of yin energy on them, yet their movements resembled those of a ghost cultivator—even more elusive than an ordinary one.

However, upon nearing, Wen Jiu only took a single glance before instantly using Blood Corpse Escape to leave the land of mutilated corpses.

At the exact moment Wen Jiu vanished, the hooded and masked Ye Luo suddenly lifted his head, gazing in the direction of Wen Jiu's disappearance.

In the next instant—

His divine sense swept outward.

But he caught nothing.

Yet Ye Luo didn't stop. His divine sense continued probing the surroundings, only retracting after confirming there was truly nothing there.

"A single main peak elder, Ye Chen, has me this on edge..." Ye Luo thought to himself, shaking his head with a wry smile.

At the same time, Wen Jiu returned to his residence. But the first thing he did was not sleep or resume cultivation indifferently. Instead, he had the Three-Fiend Walking Corpse keep watch over the burial ground.

Fortunately, the night passed without the mysterious figure making a move.

Still, Wen Jiu couldn't shake the impression left by that person.

He hadn't seen their face, yet their presence—or rather, their near absence of presence—was deeply imprinted in his memory.

A living person... whose aura was as faint as a wandering ghost?

Truly unheard of.

And then, at dawn, shocking news spread across Feixian Peak.

No—

To be precise, it rapidly swept through the twenty to thirty subsidiary peaks near the Blood Fiend Abyss. Feixian Peak was just one of them.

As soon as the news arrived, Feixian Peak was thrown into an uproar, an undercurrent of unease spreading rapidly.

The formation sealing the Blood Fiend Abyss had been broken.

The Fiendflame Volcano had erupted last night.

As of this morning, over a thousand demons and monsters had escaped the Blood Fiend Abyss and were now sweeping toward their territory.

If they weren't stopped, countless spirit fields would be trampled, and who knew how many cultivators would die under the claws of these fiends.

But upon hearing the news, the first thing that came to Wen Jiu's mind was Blood Robe Tower—

Gong Chi.

And that mysterious figure from last night.

It seemed the real storm was coming.

Yet, for now, the Blood-Ink Three Thousand Corpses were still buried in the graveyard, undiscovered.

If the enemy used this opportunity to invade Feixian Peak again, it would mean they had a special method of locating the corpses—most likely lacking only a precise coordinate.

"If that's the case, then no matter where I hide or move the Blood-Ink Three Thousand Corpses, they'll track me. And if I move them, the risk of exposure increases."

"But if I don't move them, they'll tear Feixian Peak apart searching for them. They won't stop until they find them."

Wen Jiu fell into deep thought.

To be honest—

He was reluctant to part with the Blood-Ink Three Thousand Corpses.

Qi Refinement Perfection corpses—if refined into zombies, they would be unimaginably powerful.

But if he kept hiding them...

It was only a matter of time before they were discovered.

If he took them and left, his own exposure would only be a matter of time as well.

After a brief moment of contemplation—

Wen Jiu made a decision.

For now, abandon the corpses!

When a sacrifice was necessary, hesitation was not an option!

At the same time, just at the break of dawn, in the top floor of the Night Patrol Division's main hall, Gong Chi and Ye Luo reunited. Their expressions and demeanor were far from pleasant.

Gong Chi spoke coldly, "The main peak has been thoroughly investigated. There are no traces of talismans or formations concealing anything."

"We've almost finished searching the area around Feixian Peak as well. The only place left unchecked is the Remnant Corpses' Dead Zone."

Despite saying this, Ye Luo didn't seem hopeful. That area had already been searched countless times. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh before speaking again.

"I'm afraid we won't escape punishment from the Alliance Leader."

Gong Chi remained silent.

Ye Luo suddenly smirked coldly, as if recalling something. "I almost forgot—you just recruited a genius from the Left Path. Are you planning to offer him to the Alliance Leader to win favor and avoid punishment?"

"I merely appreciate talent," Gong Chi responded unhappily, then warned in a grave tone, "I advise you not to set your sights on Wen Jiu. Otherwise, don't blame me for turning hostile—even if it means disregarding your brother's face."

"Old Gong, why so hasty?" Ye Luo chuckled darkly.

The more anxious Gong Chi became, the more it confirmed Ye Luo's suspicions.

"Relax, I won't."

Seeing the murderous intent in Gong Chi's eyes, Ye Luo quickly assured him.

Only then did Gong Chi drop the matter.