Seeing Steward Zhang, Alaric Ye, who had regained some mobility, quickly stood up and saluted.

"Greetings, Steward Zhang."

Steward Zhang smiled slightly.

"It's good that you're awake. You've all taken the antidote pills, so you'll be fine soon."

"The moment Spirit Beast Peak received your distress signal, I came immediately. Fortunately, this poison only puts you to sleep and makes it difficult to use your mana, but it's not fatal. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

"Now, tell me everything about this mission."

"Don't be too nervous. In our Top Xuan Sect, most of the Chosen have their own secrets. The Chosen from other sects are the same. The sect respects every cultivator's privacy and allows a certain degree of secrecy."

"As long as you don't do anything that harms the world or betrays the sect, you don't need to feel pressured. The townsfolk said you saved them single-handedly, which is a great merit. Your performance on this mission was excellent."

A high-level outer disciple at the third level of Qi Refining, executing his first mission and killing Zhou Yuan and an eighth-level demonic cultivator from the Abstruse Dark Sect—no one would believe Alaric Ye didn't have secrets.

Steward Zhang's attitude was very gentle, and she said some reassuring words to Alaric Ye.

Hearing this, Alaric Ye breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He was also very afraid that the Top Xuan Sect would strictly investigate him. If they dug too deep, the secrets of his Ancient Ring of the Insect Emperor and his Insect Emperor bloodline would be hard to keep.

Then, Alaric Ye recounted the entire process of the mission in detail.

He did not hide the fact that, despite being poisoned, he used his mutated spirit insects, Little Blue and Little Strong, to kill Zhou Yuan and the demonic cultivator from the Abstruse Dark Sect.

Alaric Ye felt that there was no point in hiding it, as he would eventually use Little Blue and Little Strong in public battles. However, he did not explain why the spirit insects had collectively mutated.

Spirit insect mutations are very rare and difficult to control artificially. Moreover, mutations are not always beneficial. Many spirit insect mutations result in an extra leg or an additional rear end, which, aside from looking strange, have no value and can even endanger the insect's health.

Beneficial mutations that enhance combat or production abilities are extremely rare.

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The fact that Alaric Ye had two such beneficially mutated combat-oriented spirit insects at once caused a storm of emotions even in Steward Zhang's heart.

Although she didn't believe Alaric Ye could endlessly cultivate beneficially mutated spirit insects, having two was already terrifying.

As the steward of Spirit Beast Peak, she had been raising spirit insects for over fifty years and only had one combat-enhancing mutated spirit insect, and its mutation was far less impressive than Alaric Ye's.

Alaric Ye dared to openly reveal the mutations of Little Blue and Little Strong mainly because most spirit insects serve only one master for life, meaning others couldn't use them even if they were taken.

When Steward Zhang heard that the smelly fart worm she had given him had killed Zhou Yuan, who had just broken through to the seventh level of Qi Refining, with one fart, she was shocked. Hearing that Alaric Ye had used ghosts and zombies to devour the demonic cultivator from the Abstruse Dark Sect, she nodded repeatedly, growing more fond of Alaric Ye.

Spirit Beast Peak had inadvertently found a treasure.

Alaric Ye then took out Zhou Yuan's storage bag, the demonic cultivator's storage bag, the Hundred Ghost Banner, the Corpse Control Bell, and two shrunken blood coffins from his storage bag.

Inside the blood coffins were two disciples of the Top Xuan Sect who had been turned into Copper Armored Corpses.

"Steward Zhang, these items can all serve as evidence for the sect's investigation."

Steward Zhang collected all the items without asking further about the collective mutation of Alaric Ye's spirit insects. She smiled and said, "I understand the situation now, and I will report it truthfully to the Peak Master and the Mission Hall."

"These two storage bags and artifacts originally belong to you as spoils of war. After the investigation, they will be returned to you. As for these two Copper Armored Corpses, they were originally our sect's disciples who died in battle. Now that their great vengeance has been avenged, the sect will burn them and bury them under the Tai Xuan Tower."

"The sect will compensate you accordingly. The price of the two Copper Armored Corpses is about three hundred spirit stones. Do you have any objections?"

Alaric Ye respectfully replied, "I have no objections. I also hope the sect can deal with the ghosts in the Hundred Ghost Banner. They were all pitiful people in life, and it would be best to dispel their resentment and send them to reincarnation."

"I am an insect cultivator and have no interest in raising ghosts."

Most of the ghosts in the Hundred Ghost Banner were only at the second or third level of Qi Refining, inferior to any of Alaric Ye's spirit insects. He had no use for them, and he didn't know how to raise ghosts.

Moreover, the tragic cries of the ghosts were still fresh in his mind. He couldn't bring himself to use the souls of these innocent, pitiful people for battle.

Alaric Ye was a person who was ruthless to his enemies but very compassionate to the innocent.

Because Alaric Ye had once been a weakling at the bottom of society.

Hearing this, Steward Zhang chuckled softly, "If I didn't know that you once pierced a challenger's dantian with a sword without blinking, I would have thought you were an overly kind and even weak young man."

"In that case, your Hundred Ghost Banner and Corpse Control Bell have lost their combat effectiveness. They are of little use to you. I will have the sect dismantle them for artifact refining materials and convert them into spirit stones at market value for you."

Alaric Ye's eyes lit up at her words.

"Thank you, Steward Zhang."

He had been hesitant to part with the demonic sect's treasures. Although righteous cultivators didn't forbid the use of demonic treasures, few actually used them. Converting them into spirit stones was very much to Alaric Ye's liking.

Spirit stones...

Alaric Ye could never have enough of them.

"Alaric Ye, you have done a great service for the sect this time and brought honor to Spirit Beast Peak. Here are three bottles of Gathering Qi Pills to help you increase your cultivation. This is my personal reward to you. The sect should also have other rewards for you."

"In the entire Dragon-seeking Mountain Range cultivation world, there probably isn't another insect cultivator Chosen at the third level of Qi Refining. You are one of a kind!"

Now, even Steward Zhang of Spirit Beast Peak acknowledged that Alaric Ye was a genuine insect cultivator Chosen. After this mission, Alaric Ye's name would likely spread throughout the Top Xuan Sect.

Alaric Ye respectfully accepted the pills.

"Thank you, Steward, for the pills!"

It had to be said that Steward Zhang was truly generous. When Alaric Ye joined the sect, she had given away dozens of smelly fart worms, and now she was casually rewarding him with three bottles of Gathering Qi Pills.

A bottle of Gathering Qi Pills was worth fifty spirit stones.

Although Alaric Ye's two Snow Silkworms frequently produced silk, providing him with a steady income, he spent a lot of money cultivating various spirit herbs in the Ancient Ring of the Insect Emperor. He had never dared to sell the top-grade Snow Silkworm Silk.

So he never had much surplus spirit stones. He could only afford to buy a bottle of Gathering Qi Pills every few months to aid his cultivation. If he could take one pill every three days, his cultivation speed would greatly increase.