For the next two or three days, Wen Jiu tirelessly moved between trade markets, all while refining his Blood Transformation Body.

However, even after absorbing all the remaining blood energy in the Land of Broken Corpses, he had only gained 130 experience points.

He was still short of breaking through to the fourth level.

[Blood Transformation Body Level Three (1648/2000)]

Without hesitation, Wen Jiu spent 352 blood essence points to push it to the fourth level.

At the same time, he glanced at his remaining blood essence and death energy.

Blood essence: 5,648 points.

Death energy: 2,777 points.

After returning from the Chen Clan's ancestral grounds, he had 2,057 points. Over the past month, he had accumulated another 720.

This time, Wen Jiu did not wait. He spent 2,000 points of death energy to break through to the third level of the Yinzou Corpse Cultivation Art.

[Technique: Yinzou Corpse Cultivation Art (Level Three 0/3000)]

[Death Energy Remaining: 777]

Upon reaching the third level of Qi Refinement, Wen Jiu felt a sudden surge of dark energy in his dantian—it had at least doubled in intensity. His spiritual awareness also grew significantly stronger.

Next, he turned his attention to his Three-Fiend Walking Corpse, which now possessed a fourth-level Blood Transformation Body.

Crimson streaks interwove with the black miasma patterns on its body. With each pulse of red light, its corpse-strength reached terrifying new heights.

A single sweep of his spiritual sense confirmed his suspicion—its durability now rivaled a mid-grade Tier-One defensive artifact.

Even when scanning its corpse eyes, he had never sensed such resilience before.

A Blood Transformation Body as tough as a mid-grade Tier-One defensive artifact, coupled with the innate abilities of the Three-Fiend Walking Corpse—its Deflecting Law Corpse Body…

Wen Jiu could not help but smile in satisfaction. At last, he had carved out a foothold for himself in Fei Xian Peak.

Now, he only needed to take advantage of the coming chaos to kill Gong Chi and steal back the three thousand Blood Ink corpses.

Then, he could focus on the examination and head to the Main Peak.

That very night, just as Wen Jiu prepared to return to the Land of Broken Corpses, the sound of a bell rang through the darkness.

Dong—

Dong—

Twelve times in total.

The once-peaceful night was shattered. Twelve chimes signaled a full-scale assembly—the call to arms against an external enemy, the order to fight to the death.

Without hesitation, Wen Jiu gathered his Three-Fiend Walking Corpse and rushed toward Fei Xian Peak.

By the time he arrived at its base, over a thousand people had already gathered, with more disciples arriving by the moment.

But from the mountainside to the peak, the entire area remained shrouded in an array, concealing what lay above.

Yet Wen Jiu knew that the Hall of Supervision had a plan.

That was evident from the movements he had sensed during his night patrols—figures of at least the fifth level of Qi Refinement had been sneaking toward Fei Xian Peak.

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This meant one thing—the Blood Ink corpses had not been moved because they were waiting for the Blood-Clad Tower and the Tianzuo Alliance to arrive.

And now, the battle was about to begin.Otherwise, how could he have reached the third level of Qi Refinement so quickly? For someone with an inferior spiritual root, wouldn't it normally take twenty or thirty years to get there?

As the members of the Night Patrol Division all turned to look at Wen Jiu, Mu Canglong immediately pulled him aside, carefully using his divine sense to examine his body. Only after confirming that the yin energy within Wen Jiu hadn't significantly increased compared to when he was at the second level of Qi Refinement did Mu Canglong finally relax.

He wanted to ask how Wen Jiu had cultivated so fast or what price he had paid to achieve such speed.

But now wasn't the time for that. Mu Canglong simply warned, "You've just stepped into the third level of Qi Refinement, and your foundation is unstable. Don't charge ahead recklessly later—staying alive is the most important thing!"

"Thank you, Brother Mu."

Wen Jiu clasped his fists in gratitude, then ignored the gazes of those around him, closed his eyes, and stood in quiet meditation, waiting for the enemy's arrival.

Half a quarter-hour later.

In the dense forest of Fei Xian Peak, all kinds of venomous creatures began emerging—centipedes, poisonous snakes, and deadly insects, swarming toward Fei Xian Peak like an unstoppable tide at an alarming speed.

"Fireball Spell!"

"Quick, use Fireball Spell!"

Mu Canglong and Sikong Bai shouted in succession.

Similar cries echoed from the path leading up the mountain, where the Demon Slayer Division was stationed.

Clearly, they were also under attack by these creatures.

Following Mu Canglong's command, most of the Night Patrol Division disciples hurriedly formed hand seals to summon flames. Despite their shock, one fireball after another was hurled toward the incoming tide of venomous creatures.

Boom—

Boom—

One fireball after another exploded on the ground, instantly incinerating countless poisonous creatures into charred remains.

The initially terrifying tide of venomous creatures was forcefully held back by the Fireball Spell, but in the next moment, even more of them appeared.

With no other choice, Mu Canglong directly threw out a mid-grade first-tier Fire Talisman, raising a wall of flames three zhang away. Hundreds, even thousands, of venomous creatures ignited the moment they touched the fire wall, turning to ash within seconds.

Meanwhile, Wen Jiu continued using Finger of Arcane Power, perceiving the surroundings through the senses of the Three Fiends Walking Corpse.

The number of people on their side wasn't large—only about twenty or thirty in this area. The enemies coming up the other paths were similar in number.

But combined, that made nearly a hundred Gu Masters.

This gave Wen Jiu an idea. Was that Gu Daoist here? If he could quietly eliminate him and obtain his method of cultivating Devouring Yin Gu, then his own Devouring Yin Gu might become even stronger.

After all, it was through a similar process that the black ghoul corpse had evolved into the Three Fiends Walking Corpse.

Alright. Another target added to the list.

However, when Wen Jiu swept his senses outward through the Three Fiends Walking Corpse, he didn't detect any Gu Masters at the fourth level of Qi Refinement.

Everyone outside Fei Xian Peak was at the third level.

But just as he continued searching, he suddenly noticed that the Gu worms burned by the Fire Spell were releasing wisps of black smoke. At first glance, it seemed unremarkable, but upon closer inspection, the smoke was subtly gathering in the darkness above.

Wen Jiu decided to test it and shot a Yin Arcane Art at the black smoke.

As expected.

The Yin Arcane Art wasn't able to pierce straight through—it instead melded into the smoke, becoming entangled within its wisps. Even though he hadn't infused Devouring Soul Yin Gu into that attack, the Yin Arcane Art still had corrosive properties.

That corrosion immediately allowed Wen Jiu to sense something unusual about the black smoke.

It was poison.

His expression darkened.

"Brother Mu, it's poison!"

He transmitted the message to Mu Canglong through divine sense while firing several more Yin Arcane Arts into the black smoke—just to make sure Mu Canglong saw it clearly.

Mu Canglong quickly looked up, scanning with his divine sense, and his face immediately changed. Then they all noticed—more and more Gu worms were rushing into the flames as if on purpose, making the black smoke overhead grow even thicker.

"Disperse!"

"It's Wushan Poison Gu Technique!"

Mu Canglong recognized it at a glance.

He didn't know where the Wushan Poison Gu Technique originated, but he was aware that a group of rogue Gu Masters practiced this art.

Many rogue cultivators and family sects had fallen to them, yet they had never openly clashed with disciples of Deadman Peak. Who would have thought they were actually part of the so-called Tian Zuo Alliance mentioned by the Hall of Supervision?

Hearing this, Sikong Bai's face changed, and he immediately transmitted a message to a nearby Demon Slayer Division deacon.

However.

A chilling, eerie laugh suddenly echoed from the forest.

"Enjoying the burn?"

More and more laughter followed, sounding like ghosts whispering in the darkness.

Boom—

The next instant.

The black smoke exploded, rapidly spreading in all directions and instantly engulfing Wen Jiu and the others.

Mu Canglong's expression tightened as he activated his protective talisman, only to realize that the poisonous black smoke could penetrate it.

"Damn it!"

His face darkened.

With no other options, he ordered everyone to hold their breath and retreat.

However.

The black smoke seemed to have a will of its own, relentlessly pursuing them.