Just as Feng Xuan was about to speak, Ye Chen raised a hand, signaling them to be silent. "There is a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator on Fei Xian Peak with immense power—so strong that even I could not detect their presence… But they are likely not from the Tianzuo Alliance."

"Huh?"

Feng Xuan and the others were stunned.

Ye Chen continued, "If they were from the Tianzuo Alliance, they wouldn't have snuck onto the mountain just to kill Gong Chi. I, too, could kill Gong Chi within a few breaths, but I definitely couldn't extract his soul and escape so silently."

"Elder, what should we do?" Feng Xuan's expression changed. The sudden appearance of an unknown late-stage Qi Refining cultivator was a serious complication.

This unpredictable factor could completely derail their plans.

Especially since Ye Chen had admitted he wasn't even a match for this person. Feng Xuan grew even more anxious.

But Ye Chen was no longer concerned with that—his priority was identifying this mysterious individual.

Why did they want Gong Chi dead?

With such strength, they could have killed him at any time.

Why choose now?

"Return to the frontlines and remain stationed there. Since the attacker left immediately, it means they weren't after the Blood Ink Three Thousand Corpses. If anything happens, I will handle it. No need to worry." Leaving those words behind, Ye Chen took Gong Chi's corpse back to the main hall and began a thorough examination.

Feng Xuan and the others exchanged glances. Though unease churned in their hearts, there was no turning back now.

All they could do was hope that the mysterious late-stage Qi Refining cultivator was not an ally of the Tianzuo Alliance.

If they were…

Tonight's outcome would be uncertain.

——

Beyond Fei Xian Peak, in a dense forest five miles away—

Wen Jiu landed, finally breathing a sigh of relief. He scanned his surroundings to confirm he was alone, then quickly stored the Three-Fiend Corpse back into his Corpse Nurturing Coffin. Without hesitation, he activated a Swift Talisman and put more distance between himself and Fei Xian Peak.

Why flee?

Because he had just made the Three-Fiend Corpse use Blood Corpse Escape three times and perform two postnatal corpse arts.

Although the consumption had decreased since the Black Ghoul evolved into a Three-Fiend Corpse, each Blood Corpse Escape still required 15% of its corpse qi.

Three uses amounted to 45%.

Two Soul Capture techniques cost another 20%.

A total of 65% had been depleted.

He needed to find a place to replenish the corpse qi.

As for the battle on Fei Xian Peak? He had no concerns at all.

Moments before he left, the Three-Fiend Corpse's perception detected a formidable expert arriving from the main peak—

A late-stage Qi Refining cultivator!

The Three-Fiend Corpse couldn't even gauge their exact level, meaning they were definitely no ordinary late-stage cultivator.

Wen Jiu quickly swapped out his Night Patrol uniform for the loose robes of a rogue cultivator, the same outfit he had worn when visiting the scattered cultivator marketplace.

To be honest—

He was both anxious and exhilarated.

Excited because he hadn't expected the combination of Blood Corpse Escape and Soul Capture to be so devastating in a sneak attack.

Gong Chi had been caught completely off guard by the Soul Capture Eye, and its power had exceeded Wen Jiu's expectations. Initially, he had only wanted to injure Gong Chi and weaken him with the Devour-Spirit Yin Worms before finishing him off in close combat with the Three-Fiend Corpse—after all, Gong Chi was a Qi cultivator, not a body cultivator.

But he hadn't anticipated that the Soul Capture Eye would be so lethal, forcing Gong Chi to burn his lifespan just to break free.

And the Devour-Spirit Yin Worms—

They had worked even better than he'd hoped. It had been worth it to implant nearly all the ones he'd cultivated into Gong Chi's body. In the crucial moment, they had completely crippled Gong Chi's final counterattack.

Everything had gone perfectly.

The only downside was that he had left a trace of corpse qi at the scene. Fortunately, it wasn't the aura of a Black Ghoul, but rather that of the Three-Fiend Corpse, which had fused with the Blood Transformation technique.

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As long as the Three-Fiend Corpse remained hidden and avoided exposure, no one would suspect him.

After all, the victim was a highly experienced elder at Qi Refining Fifth Layer, with decades of cultivation.

And he—

Was merely a newly promoted Qi Refining Third Layer apprentice disciple, who had barely made the breakthrough after much struggle.

A disciple who only knew how to cast basic mana bullets.

After circling around carefully, Wen Jiu stealthily returned to the heart of the Forsaken Deadlands, watching the battle unfold below Fei Xian Peak from a distance. Meanwhile, inside the Corpse Nurturing Coffin, the Three-Fiend Corpse was voraciously absorbing the dense corpse qi and yin energy of the Forsaken Deadlands.

At the same time, Wen Jiu extended his divine sense into Gong Chi's storage pouch, inventorying his spoils of war.

One glance—and he was stunned.

No wonder he was a main peak elder.

Just in spirit stones alone, there were over a thousand—1,362 in total.

On top of that, there were three mid-tier Rank One magical artifacts, including that fireball-shaped artifact.

Any one of them could sell for at least four or five hundred lower-grade spirit stones. One of them was even of top-tier quality.

The price had increased by at least two or three hundred lower-grade spirit stones.

Just from these items alone, Wen Jiu had already amassed nearly three thousand spirit stones—an instant fortune.

No wonder they say that murder and arson lead to a golden belt.

Besides these, there were also some pills and talismans, all of mid-grade tier-one quality. Lower-grade tier-one items were rarely seen. Their value wasn't low either—after all, mid-grade tier-one quality was still mid-grade, and even the worst ones were worth forty to fifty lower-grade spirit stones.

Apart from that, there were also some spell techniques and cultivation methods. These things weren't particularly valuable and couldn't be freely traded either.

So Wen Jiu didn't bother with the storage bags. Instead, he used his spiritual connection to access the memories of Gong Chi's soul, which had been devoured by his Three Fiend Walking Corpse.

With just a glance.

Gong Chi's entire life played out before Wen Jiu's eyes, as if he were watching an extremely long documentary. Every memory that Gong Chi had was now imprinted in Wen Jiu's mind.

However, having such a massive flood of memories surge into his consciousness all at once made Wen Jiu feel extremely unwell. Fortunately, the Three Fiend Walking Corpse promptly channeled a stream of fiendish energy into him, gradually alleviating the overwhelming discomfort.

A moment later.

Wen Jiu had finished sifting through the bleak and miserable first half of Gong Chi's life and the hypocritical, self-serving existence he led after joining the Tianzuo Alliance.

But none of that was important. What truly mattered was a particular memory—the technique Gong Chi had used right before his death.

Three Yang Finger.

A broken Foundation Establishment technique, originating from a hidden realm outside Dead Man's Peak.

Its power rivaled even the secret arts of Dead Man's Peak.

A single strike could slay an enemy across cultivation stages.

At the fifth level of Qi Refinement, one could shake an opponent at the sixth level.

Since arriving at Feixian Peak, Wen Jiu had already learned a great deal about the common knowledge of the cultivation world—particularly the principles of spell techniques. Normally, while techniques could enhance a cultivator's strength, they couldn't compensate for the fundamental gap between cultivation stages.

No matter how many techniques you mastered, it was useless.

Likewise, even if you supplemented your strength with magical artifacts and talismans, the difference remained insurmountable—because artifacts and talismans had their own limitations in usage.

Thus, defeating an opponent across cultivation realms was essentially impossible.

Which meant that any technique capable of doing so was exceedingly rare. Even the weakest of such techniques could be considered a sect-defining treasure on the main peak of Dead Man's Peak.

Just the acquisition of the Three Yang Finger alone was worth more than everything inside Gong Chi's storage bag combined.

"Compared to the contents of the storage bag, these memories are the real treasure. Plus, by seeing how Gong Chi cultivated this technique, I can avoid making unnecessary mistakes."

At that moment, Wen Jiu further realized just how terrifyingly powerful the latent abilities of the Houtian Corpse Dao's Soul-Seizing Art were.

It also made him even more curious—where exactly had Elder Mu Canglong's father obtained the Three Fiend Corpse Nurturing Method? Just the ability to awaken the innate corpse Dao's divine abilities was already invaluable beyond measure.

At that moment.

Wen Jiu decided that he would question Mu Canglong about it someday. Perhaps his father had mentioned it to him before.

Shortly after, Wen Jiu noticed another memory—Gong Chi's final desperate act before dying.

It turned out to be a secret technique of the Tianzuo Alliance—The Earth Yin Life-Burning Art.

However, this technique wasn't something Gong Chi had cultivated himself; rather, it was cultivated by the leader of the Tianzuo Alliance.

A wisp of extremely concealed Yin energy had been planted inside Gong Chi's body. Under normal circumstances, it remained dormant, showing no signs of its presence.

But the moment Gong Chi activated it with his spiritual consciousness, it instantly devoured ten years of his lifespan, unleashing a surge of power far beyond his usual limits.

Beyond this, there were no other techniques in Gong Chi's memories that interested Wen Jiu. However, there was something else—the knowledge and understanding Gong Chi had of Dead Man's Peak.

Dead Man's Peak.

Undeniably the only immortal mountain within a five-hundred-mile radius.

But that was only in the context of the Divine Ruin Mountain Range.

Dead Man's Peak sat on the edge of the vast, ten-thousand-mile-long Divine Ruin Mountain Range. Beyond its borders lay an extensive expanse of mortal territories—not ten thousand miles wide, but at least three to five thousand.

The blood essence of one hundred thousand people had been gathered through the slaughter of entire cities—carried out by the Bloodrobe Tower, far beyond the reach of sect authority.

That was a land beyond the governance of cultivation sects—a place they had no interest in controlling.

Because the Divine Ruin Mountain Range stretched endlessly, all cultivation sects focused their attention inward, on the mountain range itself, rather than what lay beyond its borders.

That was the true world of cultivators.

Although Wen Jiu found all of this fascinating, he had no desire to go out and explore. He just wanted to stay within Dead Man's Peak and quietly accumulate his daily earnings.

At least until he reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

However.

Just as Wen Jiu continued sifting through Gong Chi's memories, while the corpse aura of the Three Fiend Walking Corpse recovered to around seventy or eighty percent—

An incredibly powerful yet unfamiliar aura suddenly burst forth from Feixian Peak.

And it wasn't the same one Wen Jiu had sensed before.

Moments later, the late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator that Wen Jiu had previously sensed on Feixian Peak rushed out in pursuit.

Wen Jiu had no intention of getting involved—after all, this was a matter between late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators.

But then, the Three Fiend Walking Corpse abruptly detected that Blood Ink Three Thousand's corpse was also moving rapidly—carried by the very cultivator who had first burst out of Feixian Peak!

"My damn corpse!"

Wen Jiu cursed furiously in his heart.