Translator: Cinder Translations
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As soon as Song Wen and Liu Jiang arrived at the Serpent Cave, they encountered Zhou Siyi.
"Junior Brother Wu, I heard you went to catch the culprit. Did you catch them? Why didn't you invite me to join such an interesting event?"
Zhou Siyi's face showed a hint of disappointment and resentment, as if she had missed a tremendous opportunity.
Song Wen and Liu Jiang exchanged glances, both still showing signs of lingering fear.
"What's wrong with you two? Why aren't you speaking? Tell me how it went. Did you manage to detain the real culprit in the Law Enforcement Hall?"
"Senior Sister Zhou, it's better if you don't ask. There was an unexpected incident, and it's inconvenient to disclose. The incident regarding the slaughter of the disciples from Spirit Beast Breeding Workshop will not be pursued further."
Zhou Siyi stared with wide eyes, clearly puzzled.
"Are we just going to let it go without catching the real culprit? Isn't that damaging to the sect's prestige? Moreover, the loss to the Jade Green Snake is serious; it will definitely affect future cultivation of the human-snake hybrid."
Liu Jiang interjected.
"Elder Zhou, let's put this matter to rest. Don't bring it up again. As for the loss of the Jade Green Snake, I plan to request from the Peak Master a batch from Spirit Beast Peak; I'll also select some clever outer disciples from Pill Peak to cultivate Jade Green Snakes in this valley. I believe it won't be long before we can restore their numbers."
Seeing that Song Wen and Liu Jiang were unwilling to discuss the process of capturing the culprit, Zhou Siyi tactfully chose not to pursue the matter further.
After Liu Jiang left, Zhou Siyi spoke to Song Wen.
"Junior Brother Wu, last time you mentioned wanting to see the sect's divine beast; I've already arranged it. Tomorrow at noon, you can accompany me to Sui Mountain."
Sui Mountain is a forbidden area within the Beast Cultivation Sect, located deep within the sect. Surrounding it for ten miles, there are no other peaks, as if it had been forcibly uprooted by some great power.
Sui Mountain is shrouded in a thick mist year-round, with layers of formations blocking access, obscuring the view of what lies atop the mountain.
...
The next day.
Under Zhou Siyi's guidance, Song Wen boarded a large flying ship.
This flying ship belongs to Spirit Beast Peak and is nearly fifty meters long.
There weren't many cultivators on the ship, only a dozen or so. Apart from one Foundation Establishment cultivator, the others were all late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.
As soon as they boarded the ship, Song Wen keenly noticed that there were over a thousand mortals imprisoned in the cabin.
Surrounding this ship, there were a total of ten similar vessels.
"Junior Sister, you've arrived."
A tall, handsome man approached.
"Senior Brother Liu."
Zhou Siyi appeared to be very familiar with this 'Senior Brother Liu.'
Her face lit up with joy as she called out in a cheerful voice.
Senior Brother Liu nodded, looking at Zhou Siyi with a hint of affection in his eyes.
He then turned to look at Song Wen, who was behind Zhou Siyi.
"This must be Elder Wu, right?"
Song Wen clasped his hands and said, "Elder Wu greets Senior Brother Liu."
On the way here, Zhou Siyi had introduced this Senior Brother Liu to Song Wen.
Senior Brother Liu's full name is Liu Leyi, a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator and the only disciple of Zhou Xuelin.
He is over a decade older than Zhou Siyi and has practically watched her grow up alongside Zhou Xuelin.
This makes their relationship extremely close, almost like siblings.
After some pleasantries, Liu Leyi led Song Wen and Zhou Siyi to a corner of the deck and spoke softly.
"I'm in charge of this ship. While it's fine for you to observe the sect's divine beast, you must follow my arrangements. You two cannot leave the ship; you can only observe from aboard. No matter what you see, you mustn't shout or intervene."
"Remember, once you enter the formation range of Sui Mountain, retract your spiritual senses. You absolutely cannot use your spiritual senses to perceive the divine beast; otherwise, it may cause a disturbance."
Zhou Siyi said, "Senior Brother Liu, don't worry. We won't cause you any trouble."
Song Wen also nodded, indicating that he would follow the arrangements.
The flying ship continued on its course, and soon a thick mist appeared ahead.
The ten ships formed a long line, driving straight into the mist.
As they passed through the fog, a towering mountain thousands of meters high came into view.
The mountain was bare, with dark brown and black rocks exposed to the elements.
At the peak of the mountain, there was a massive deep hole leading to the ground, with an opening over ten zhang wide, pitch black inside as if any light that entered would be swallowed up.
Surrounding the mountain were eighteen caves, each about three zhang in size, all equally dark inside.
The flying ship that Song Wen was on was positioned at the end of the line of ten ships, quietly hovering in mid-air.
In front, on the first ship, a late-stage Qi Refining female cultivator pulled on a chain and flew out of the ship.
The chain was tied to a group of young men and women from the mundane world.
All these people wore expressions of panic and fear; some cried loudly, some cursed loudly, while many were so frightened that their eyes glazed over, resembling soulless corpses.
The female cultivator had a number of people bound to her chain.
She rose to hover above Sui Mountain, then threw the chain, along with the people, into the deep hole at the peak.
Suddenly, the entire Sui Mountain began to tremble violently, and countless stones rolled down the mountainside.
It was as if some huge monster, lying dormant at the mountain's base, had been awakened.
A massive flesh pillar, ten zhang thick, rose from the deep hole.
At the top of the flesh pillar, a slit opened.
The people, along with the chain, fell into the opening.
"Glorp!"
A sound of swallowing echoed.
"Quick, hurry up and send the blood food to the divine beast!"
On the first ship, someone shouted loudly.
Cultivators began to rise one after another, each holding a chain that bound a mortal.
Over a thousand mortals were quickly tossed into the opening of the flesh pillar.
Then, the cultivators on the second ship began to act, continuing to throw down blood food.
Watching this scene, Song Wen was filled with disbelief.
He had originally thought that the protective divine beast of the Beast Cultivation Sect would be some majestic spirit beast or perhaps a powerful demon beast.
In any case, it would be something that inspired fear and awe.
But what he was witnessing now was merely a flesh pillar, and there were signs of rot and decay on it.
This thing didn't remotely uphold the title of 'protective divine beast.'
It resembled some low-level spirit without intelligence, acting purely on instinct.
Zhou Siyi also looked at the flesh pillar that was feeding with disappointment.
In her eyes, there was even a hint of disdain.
Clearly, this was far from the protective divine beast she had envisioned.
Perhaps noticing the confusion in Song Wen and Zhou Siyi's eyes, Liu Leyi quietly explained.
"The protective divine beast is called Blood Sui; this flesh pillar is merely its feeding organ. Its true body is hidden beneath Sui Mountain. Perhaps only the three elders in the sect know what it truly looks like."
(End of the Chapter)
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