Fighting three opponents at once, yet still reserving his strength—this Main Peak Elder from the Overseer's Hall was truly terrifying.

Mu Yuanlong was visibly horrified, but Ye Chen's Thousand-Jin Overlord Axe had already come crashing down.

With a single swing, Mu Yuanlong's artifact and protective talismans were all shattered. A massive wound split his body from shoulder to abdomen, and dark blood gushed forth uncontrollably.

"No!"

Mu Yuanlong let out a desperate cry before his body suddenly transformed into dozens of ghostly mists, dispersing in all directions.

Ye Chen's expression hardened. His divine sense swept through the escaping ghost mists, and he immediately chased one down, cleaving it apart with his axe.

But he had struck the wrong one.

Without hesitation, Ye Chen pursued another.

However, there were simply too many ghost mists, all moving at incredible speed.

In the span of ten breaths, though Ye Chen had managed to destroy more than a dozen of them, he lost track of another twenty or thirty.

"So this is the Yin Five-Element Ghost Technique that the Tianzuo Alliance obtained from the ruins?" Ye Chen's face darkened. "Useless in a fight, but excellent for escaping. Too bad—you still took a hit from my Thousand-Jin Overlord Axe!"

Ye Chen did not continue his pursuit.

He was confident that a seventh-layer Qi Refinement cultivator couldn't survive a direct hit from his axe. No one could save him.

As for Xue Moqian's corpse, he had already examined it thoroughly. The Yin Fiend Blood Curse was not present.

Clearly, the mastermind who had released Xue Moqian's corpse had already taken the curse.

There was no point in further pursuit.

"I don't know what your real goal was in releasing Xue Moqian's corpse, but indirectly, you helped me kill three guardians of the Three-Headed Mountain faction... I suppose I should thank you."

A faint smile curled at Ye Chen's lips, though it lasted only a moment.

Being used as a pawn left a sour taste in his mouth.

After looting the corpses, Ye Chen departed swiftly.

Hidden in the dense forest under the concealment of Three Rivers Ghost Concealment, Wen Jiu waited for Ye Chen to leave before retrieving the burly man's corpse and storing it in his storage bag. Then, he continued his pursuit in another direction.

Through the lingering corpse energy imprinted by the Three Fiendish Walking Corpses, he could sense Mu Yuanlong's rapidly dwindling vitality.

In just a hundred breaths, he had lost thirty percent of his life force.

And it was still draining rapidly.

After another fifteen minutes of tracking, Mu Yuanlong finally came to a stop—his vitality now dangerously thin.

Wen Jiu approached but did not act immediately. From a distance, he observed Mu Yuanlong stumbling into a small village nestled in the mountains. The wounded man leaned against a wooden hut, desperately swallowing pill after pill—bottle after bottle, handful after handful.

Yet his vitality continued to drain away.

The startled villagers and their barking dogs dared not approach, fleeing in fear.

Wen Jiu remained hidden, silently watching as Mu Yuanlong's aura grew weaker and weaker until, at last, his life force was completely extinguished.

Even then, Wen Jiu did not immediately act.

He waited for another fifteen minutes before using Three Rivers Ghost Concealment to approach the corpse. First, he collected the storage bag, then absorbed the remaining blood essence and soul. Finally, he stored the body away.

After all, it was the corpse of a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator. What if, upon reaching Level 2, the Corpse Nurturer could unlock two additional mutation slots?

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…

Meanwhile.

Ye Chen retraced his steps back to the place where the old woman had died.

Originally, he had only intended to check if there were any other members of the Tianzuo Alliance nearby. However, as soon as he arrived, he saw the old woman's shriveled corpse—clear evidence that her blood essence had been completely drained.

Sweeping the area with his divine sense, he found no trace of her soul either. The method used to extract it was strikingly similar to the one that had killed Gong Chi.

"Could that person have been hiding in the shadows all along?" Ye Chen's expression darkened. Without hesitation, he turned and headed toward the site where the other person had fallen.

By the time he arrived, the other corpse was already gone, leaving only bloodstains scattered across the ground.

Ye Chen surveyed the surroundings, a glint of intrigue flashing through his eyes. "This trip to Feixian Peak has truly been worthwhile. Such a small mountain, yet it harbors a spy from the Tianzuo Alliance… and an unidentified late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator who prefers to lurk in the darkness. Looks like the cultivation world of Dead Man's Peak is about to be thrown into chaos again."

With that, Ye Chen rode his flying artifact and departed.

As for the hidden late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, Ye Chen chose not to dwell on it.

In his view, since the person clearly did not wish to reveal themselves, searching for them would be futile. It was better to wait and see.

If they were hiding on Feixian Peak, there had to be a reason.

One thing was certain, however—this person likely wasn't part of the Tianzuo Alliance. Otherwise, they wouldn't have remained concealed just now, nor would they have used Xuemosanqian's corpse as bait to turn the Tianzuo Alliance into a pawn.

…

Elsewhere.

Wen Jiu did not immediately extract the souls from the two corpses. After all, soul extraction required consuming ten percent of his corpse energy each time.

Instead, he took a detour through the mortal realm before making his way back to Feixian Peak. By the time he arrived, the sky had already begun to lighten, and the battle at Feixian Peak had officially come to an end.

Upon returning, he saw that the disciples of Feixian Peak were already cleaning up the battlefield, all of them brimming with excitement as they discussed the battle from the previous night. In particular, whenever the name of Ye Chen, the elder of the Supervisory Hall's main peak, was mentioned, their faces lit up with enthusiasm.

Clearly, Ye Chen had already returned and brought news of his victory over Mu Yuanlong and the other two.

Ignoring the chatter around him, Wen Jiu headed straight for the rogue cultivators' trading market outside Feixian Peak. For safety reasons, he had sent his sister, Wen Ya, there earlier, arranging for her to stay in an inn.

After safely escorting his sister back home on Feixian Peak, Wen Jiu was about to set off for the Night Patrol Division.

But just as he stepped out the door, he ran into Wang Nian and his wife, who were carrying several gifts on their way to his home.

In addition to them, other nearby disciples of Feixian Peak also arrived one after another, each bringing small congratulatory gifts.

"Congratulations, Daoist Wen! You've advanced to the third level of Qi Refinement and even made great contributions to both the Night Patrol Division and the Demon Slayer Division last night!"

"Congratulations, Steward Wen!"

"Congratulations, Steward Wen!"

Many had already changed how they addressed him.

Clearly, they were unaware that Gong Chi had died, so they naturally assumed that Wen Jiu was about to be promoted to a managerial position in the Night Patrol Division.

Their gazes toward him were completely different from when the assessment results had just been announced.

Back then, when the results came out, Wen Jiu had shut his doors and declined all attempts at befriending him. Though they hadn't voiced any complaints, Wen Jiu had noticed the displeasure in their eyes. Afterward, they no longer tried to curry favor with him.

But now, their eyes reflected nothing but flattery and respect, no longer concerned with whether his cultivation path was orthodox or not.

Wen Jiu did not accept their gifts, only offering a simple word of thanks. However, he did accept Wang Nian's gift.

After all, his relationship with Wang Nian was different.

Accepting the gift was merely paving the way for future interactions.

Seeing this, Wang Nian grinned but had already adjusted how he addressed Wen Jiu. "Congratulations, Daoist Wen!"

Wen Jiu was momentarily taken aback before pushing Wang Nian toward the door. As he did, he called out, "Sister-in-law, we need to go buy a talisman to ward off evil spirits—one of mid-grade Tier 1. My brother Wang here seems to have been possessed by a ghost!"

Wang's wife was stunned for a moment before realizing what he meant. Covering her mouth, she burst into laughter.

Wang Nian quickly caught on as well, his heart warming. "Wen, my brother! It's me! Your Brother Wang! What do you mean, possessed by a ghost…?"

"That's more like it!"

Wen Jiu laughed heartily and stopped pushing him.

Wang Nian also laughed. On his way here, he had been pondering how to address Wen Jiu, feeling that calling him "brother" might no longer be appropriate. He had considered changing his manner of address, but he hadn't expected Wen Jiu to remain the same as always.

This brother—

Was truly worth helping all those times!

This brother—

Was truly worth keeping for a lifetime!

Just then, a voice called out from outside—it was a disciple from the Night Patrol Division.

"Daoist Wen, Deacon Mu requests your presence immediately." Although the disciple hadn't changed how he addressed Wen Jiu, he had already started using the respectful "you" in his speech.

Wen Jiu's smile faded. He knew they were likely summoning him regarding Gong Chi's death. He immediately cupped his fists toward Wang Nian. "Brother Wang, I won't be able to entertain you for now. Let's get together with our families at Wangshan Tower for a drink tonight."

"Alright, go on."

Wang Nian nodded.

Even long after Wen Jiu had left, the smile on his face remained.

His wife couldn't stand it anymore and sighed. "Alright, I get it—you made a good friend. But you've been grinning like an idiot for too long. If someone sees you, they might think you just struck it rich."

Hearing that, Wang Nian's smile widened.

"Having a brother like him—isn't that better than getting rich?"

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