Translator: Cinder Translations
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In the following days, Song Wen planned to focus intensely on cultivation.
Since he couldn't leave the sect, his only option was to work hard to improve his cultivation level. No matter what crisis came, only strong power would give him a chance to survive.
Just as he was about to start cultivating, Song Wen suddenly thought of something.
He took out Chen Yi's communication jade slip and sent her a message.
"Junior Sister Chen, something big might happen soon. Be careful."
Before long, Song Wen received a reply from Chen Yi.
"Thank you for the warning, Senior Brother Ji Yin. You be careful too."
...
The next morning, as usual, Song Wen arrived early at the Dissection Cave.
He went to find Feng Deng to receive corpses, but only got eighty-two, a significant decrease that felt strange to Song Wen.
"Why are there so few corpses today?" Song Wen asked in surprise.
Feng Deng replied, "With the sect prohibiting disciples from going out, where would fresh corpses come from? These are leftover ones, and there will likely be even fewer in the coming days."
Song Wen nodded and turned to the dissection platform without saying more.
"It seems I need to steal as much blood essence as possible while I can. If there are no more corpses to dissect, the Dissection Cave will close, making it difficult to obtain blood essence. If this slows down my cultivation speed, it will be a huge loss."
Song Wen thought to himself.
He opened up his body, trying to absorb as much of the blood energy dissipating into the air as possible.
He dared not consume too much of the blood essence from the corpses he personally dissected, for fear of arousing suspicion, but absorbing the blood energy in the air was less likely to be noticed.
As long as he wasn't too blatant, making the blood energy visibly converge toward him, no one would discover it.
Even though Song Wen had slowed down his dissection speed, he finished dissecting the eighty-odd corpses within two hours, leaving him with a sense of unfinished business.
Leaving the Dissection Cave, Song Wen returned to his cave residence and focused on cultivation.
"Boom!"
A blood-colored coffin suddenly appeared, smashing onto the cave floor.
This blood coffin, obtained from Shi Shou, contained a second-level corpse puppet with the strength equivalent to early Foundation Establishment.
Song Wen had reforged this corpse puppet using secret techniques from the "True Explanation of Corpse Puppets," altering its appearance and aura. He released it to nourish it with some yin-attributed materials to steadily increase its strength.
Half an hour later.
Another pitch-black coffin appeared in the cave.
Inside the black coffin was Wu Sui's pseudo-second-level corpse puppet, which had been damaged during the battle with Shi Shou but had since been repaired.
Reforged by Song Wen using secret techniques, it had become a true second-level corpse puppet.
He then threw in some yin-attributed materials into the black coffin and cast several spells.
Soon, the black coffin was enveloped in a black mist, filled with corpse energy and malice. The corpse energy flowed in and out of the corpse puppet's nose and mouth, continuously tempering its body.
After dealing with the two corpse puppets, Song Wen released eight Black Armor Gu worms.
Two of the Black Armor Gu worms had advanced to the ninth level of Qi Refinement after this period of nurturing. However, Song Wen still hadn't found a way to advance them to the Foundation Establishment stage.
After feeding them some Silver Bright Stones and Purple Moon Orchids, Song Wen left them to roam freely in the cave.
Song Wen took out a colorful pill and swallowed it.
This colorful pill, called 'Gou Wen,' had a beautiful name and appearance but was extremely poisonous. For ordinary people, even a sniff could cause their intestines to rot.
TL Note: 蛊瘟 (Gou Wen) means Venomous Plague, I don't know how that is a beautiful name.
As the pill entered his mouth, a faint sweet taste spread, followed by a stench.
The pill slid down his throat and into his stomach.
The poison began to spread in his abdomen, the stench growing stronger, making him want to vomit.
Waves of severe pain followed, and Song Wen could clearly feel the poison corroding his internal organs, which began to decay.
The poison infiltrated his heart, spreading through his bloodstream throughout his body.
Song Wen's entire body turned a dark purple-black.
A stench of rotten flesh filled the entire cave.
At this moment, Song Wen resembled a corpse that had been dead for many days, beginning to turn black and rot.
Drops of sweat the size of beans dripped down Song Wen's cheeks.
Enduring inhuman pain, Song Wen fully activated the "Ten Thousand Poisons Body" technique.
...
Seven days later.
The number of corpses in the Dissection Cave had decreased even more, and Song Wen only spent an hour to finish dissecting them.
Leaving the Dissection Cave, he headed to the marketplace.
After not visiting the marketplace for a few days, Song Wen was surprised to find it quite deserted. There were hardly any cultivators on the streets, and some shops were even closed. Even the underground black market was shut down.
Strangely, none of the usual itinerant cultivators who sold spiritual materials in the marketplace were present.
"It seems these itinerant cultivators have sensed something bad is coming and have all gone into hiding," Song Wen speculated to himself.
However, Song Wen did not realize that his guess was far from the truth.
After buying some spiritual materials, Song Wen returned to his cave.
Back in his cave, thinking about the desolate scene at the marketplace, he felt increasingly uneasy.
"What major event is about to happen in the Corpse Demon Sect?"
Song Wen suddenly realized that by focusing on his cultivation all the time, he had avoided a lot of trouble but had also become cut off from news. At such a crucial moment, it was difficult to find channels to get information.
After thinking it over, Song Wen took out the communication jade slip of Chen Feihe.
Currently, Chen Feihe was the only well-informed person Song Wen could think of.
"Elder Chen, do you know if anything major is about to happen in the Corpse Demon Sect?"
It took a full hour before Chen Feihe replied.
"Zhang Daoyou, why haven't you left the Corpse Demon Sect yet! Are you out of your mind, staying here as an itinerant cultivator! Have you also been secretly captured by the Corpse Demon Sect! Forgive me, I can't help you, I can't save you."
The communication jade slip had a limited range. Since Chen Feihe could receive Song Wen's message, it meant they were not too far apart.
Because of this, Chen Feihe deduced from receiving Song Wen's message that Song Wen hadn't left the Corpse Demon Sect's territory.
Reading the message on the jade slip, Song Wen was shocked.
Itinerant cultivators had been secretly captured by the Corpse Demon Sect!
Song Wen felt fortunate that he hadn't chosen to leave the sect disguised as an itinerant cultivator.
But why was the Corpse Demon Sect capturing these itinerant cultivators?
Could it be, as he had guessed earlier, that war was imminent?
Was the Corpse Demon Sect going to use the itinerant cultivators as cannon fodder? Or use them to create a large army of corpse puppets during the war?
But, where was the war coming from?
Was it from a righteous sect or another demonic faction?
Was the Corpse Demon Sect planning to attack other factions, or were other factions planning to attack the Corpse Demon Sect?
Countless thoughts flashed through Song Wen's mind, but with too little information, he couldn't make a judgment.
So, he sent another message to Chen Feihe.
"Elder Chen, don't worry, I am safe for now. Where does the threat to the Corpse Demon Sect come from?"
Under Song Wen's repeated questioning, Chen Feihe finally relented this time.
"It's from several righteous sects in the northeastern region of Tianyuan Continent, joining forces to attack the Corpse Demon Sect."
(End of the Chapter)
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