Translator: Cinder Translations
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Song Wen's soul search on Wan Rou was aimed at understanding Shi Shou's daily behavior, his connections with the sect's cultivators, and, most importantly, whether Shi Shou was acquainted with the female cultivator stationed at the Foundation Establishment Transmission Hall.
Song Wen had gone to great lengths to get close to Chen Feihe, primarily to obtain an Elder's Token from him. Now that Shi Shou was dead, he naturally acquired the Elder's Token.
This was also why Song Wen did not devour Shi Shou's soul. If Shi Shou's soul dissipated, the residual soul aura left in the Corpse Demon Sect would also disappear.
Once the Corpse Demon Sect learned of Shi Shou's death, the Elder's Token would become useless.
In fact, searching Shi Shou's soul would have been ideal, but Shi Shou had jumped into Song Wen's sea of consciousness of his own accord before Song Wen could even use the Soul Binding Technique.
Moreover, Song Wen's soul power was not much stronger than Shi Shou's. Although Shi Shou's soul was trapped in the sea of consciousness and unconscious, forcibly searching his soul would certainly awaken him.
If Shi Shou regained consciousness, although he could not escape the sea of consciousness, he could disintegrate his soul, which would be a loss for Song Wen.
Wan Rou, on the other hand, was different. Her soul power was weak, and Song Wen could freely search her soul.
Through Wan Rou's memories, Song Wen learned that Shi Shou was a very indifferent and reclusive person, rarely interacting with other cultivators except for his partner, Wan Rou.
This was not surprising, as there were few demonic cultivators who were not indifferent or reclusive.
After all, among demonic cultivators, there were many who betrayed their masters or killed their disciples and friends. How many demonic cultivators would dare to genuinely connect with others?
This information gave Song Wen the possibility of disguising himself as Shi Shou to enter the Foundation Establishment Transmission Hall.
After forcibly searching Wan Rou's soul, her soul was injured and her spirit dissipated, leaving her in a dazed state.
Song Wen looked at the woman before him with some pity.
She was the only person who could be considered kind that Song Wen had encountered in his cultivation journey, yet she had been betrayed by her closest partner.
Song Wen shook his head, dismissing the somewhat ridiculous thought in his mind.
Although Shi Shou was cold and unfeeling, Song Wen himself was not much better. The only difference might be that he had no close relatives in this world, so betrayal was not a concern.
"Perhaps, from the moment I crossed into this world, it was destined that I would lead a lonely life."
Song Wen felt a twinge of sorrow.
However, he did not hesitate in his actions. With a sudden force, Wan Rou's head exploded, and she lost her breath instantly.
Song Wen wanted to let the poor woman's soul reincarnate.
But he quickly realized that demonic cultivators could not afford such leniency.
He realized that, since the moment he killed Shi Shou, his mindset had subtly changed.
Previously, with Shi Shou as a threat, he was compelled to practice tirelessly without pause, unwavering in his determination to become stronger.
The moment Shi Shou died, the sense of urgency in his heart dissipated, lowering his vigilance.
"I must never let my guard down. Since I have embarked on this path of cultivation and demonic ways, there will be no peaceful days. There will only be deceit and hidden dangers!"
"To survive in this cultivation world, one must always tread carefully and be vigilant."
Song Wen's gaze became resolute and cold as he swiftly devoured Wan Rou's soul.
He began handling the corpses of the nine individuals. Among them, only Shi Shou had a storage ring; the others had no storage bags, likely seized by Shi Shou.
Song Wen put Shi Shou's storage ring into his own possession and piled up the nine corpses, burning them to ashes with a fierce fire.
He then used a Windstorm Technique to scatter the ashes.
Next, he activated the Cold Moon Blade to destroy the formation patterns on the ground. After stripping away a layer of the ground's rock, Song Wen was finally satisfied.
Turning his attention to the two corpses beside him, his own fake second-tier corpse had already lost its human form.
Half of the head was blasted away, one arm was torn off, a leg was broken, and the chest cavity was empty. The damage was not too severe, slightly better than Song Wen had expected. With some new refinement, it could be restored.
Shi Shou's second-tier corpse puppet, however, remained completely unharmed, standing there intact.
...
When Song Wen was captured by Shi Shou, it was just at nightfall. By the time he returned to his cave, the sky was already beginning to lighten.
Entering the cave, Song Wen approached the Corpse Fiend Well, where streams of corpse fiend aura flowed out.
At this point, the corpse fiend aura in the well could no longer meet Song Wen's cultivation needs. He had to purchase the corpse fiend aura he used for cultivation.
Song Wen climbed down the well, and after descending several meters, he pushed against the stone wall, shifting a two-inch square stone.
A small niche appeared in front of Song Wen. Inside the niche was a blue ring, the storage ring that belonged to Ying Ni.
This niche had been used by Song Wen to hide his blood essence in the past. It also contained magical artifacts, pills, and cultivation techniques from the secret realm that had not yet been used, as well as most of his spirit stones. These were temporarily stored here.
Storage rings and bags do not emit any spiritual fluctuations when not in use. Coupled with the concealment provided by the corpse fiend aura in the well, it was difficult to detect the niche unless someone went down the well and inspected it carefully.
On the way back, Song Wen had already examined Shi Shou's storage ring.
He found the true version of the "Corpse King Blood Refining Technique," recorded on a blood-colored plaque the size of a palm.
The "Corpse King Blood Refining Technique" on the blood-colored plaque included the complete method for cultivating from Qi Refining to Golden Core stage. This meant that Song Wen wouldn't need to worry about the technique before reaching the Nascent Soul stage.
Apart from that, there were no other techniques.
The secret methods and spells Shi Shou practiced were all obtained from the Corpse Demon Sect's Transmission Hall. To prevent the leakage of techniques, the Transmission Hall used one-time transmission jade slips.
Song Wen was somewhat surprised and disappointed to find that Shi Shou did not have any offensive magical artifacts. The only magical artifact was the small shield used during his battle with Song Wen.
Even the flying sword Shi Shou used for sword control was just a high-quality magical artifact.
The flying ship that Song Wen had once boarded when coerced into the Corpse Demon Sect was also missing. It was unclear whether Shi Shou had sold it over the years due to financial difficulties or if the ship had never been his to begin with.
Perhaps he borrowed it from the sect for the mission and returned it afterward.
The small shield was named the Turtle Snake Shield. It was unknown where Shi Shou obtained it, but its quality was very high, making it a mid-grade magical artifact.
With Song Wen's current cultivation, he could not fully activate the Turtle Snake Shield. He estimated that he would need at least to be at the mid Foundation Establishment stage to fully utilize the shield's power.
This might be why, during Song Wen's battle with Shi Shou, the Turtle Snake Shield could only provide basic defense without exhibiting any extraordinary effects.
Apart from these items, the storage ring contained only ordinary items—pills, spirit stones, and cultivation resources.
Song Wen took out the useful pills and corpse fiend aura resources for himself, leaving the rest in the storage ring.
Placing the storage ring back into the niche, Song Wen returned to the upper part of the cave.
He picked up the blood-colored plaque recording the "Corpse King Blood Refining Technique" and began to carefully review the technique's contents.
From beginning to end, he examined every word and sentence.
He was concerned that Shi Shou might have tampered with the "Corpse King Blood Refining Technique" he had previously cultivated, so he could not afford to be careless.
After finishing the Qi Refining section, Song Wen was relieved.
The "Corpse King Blood Refining Technique" he had practiced previously was intact, but it lacked content on truly refining corpse fiend aura.
Upon reflection, Shi Shou's intention in having Song Wen practice the "Corpse King Blood Refining Technique" was to absorb Song Wen's spiritual energy and blood essence to improve his own realm, so he naturally would not have altered the technique.
According to the preface of the "Corpse King Blood Refining Technique," Song Wen learned that it was inherited from an ancient sect named the 'Divine Blood Gate.'
This was a sect Song Wen had heard of in passing, which seemed to have disappeared into the annals of history long ago.
(End of the Chapter)
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