Infiltration

Clear white clouds drifted across the sky, bright sunlight shone over the sea of clouds, and everything on Shushan seemed so peaceful and serene.

Especially to someone who had just survived a life-and-death crisis, everything seemed all the more lovely.

After returning to Shushan, Chu Liang rested briefly, then began busying himself again around noon.

He first went to the White Tower and took a look, only to find the cage completely empty.

There were two possibilities. One was that killing people could not earn rewards from the White Tower, since all the previous rewards had come from fiends; the other was that although he had used the Soul Shifting Curse, the man in black had technically committed suicide, so the mark had not gone to him.

Which one was correct would have to be verified later.

Of course, this trip had not been entirely fruitless. He had scavenged quite a few small items from the man in black, and needed to inspect them one by one.

Killing him might not have yielded a reward, but the gains could well have been greater. After all, people were different from fiends—every cultivator was a little treasure trove.

Although the magical artifacts on demonic cultivators were all sinister and vicious things, with few that he could use, the Shushan Sect also rewarded disciples with Sword Coins for turning in Devil Dao artifacts, so nothing would go to waste.

The first things he opened were the small porcelain bottles containing sealed ghosts.

What made Nether King Sect disciples hardest to guard against were the ghosts they carried with them. Chu Liang had thought that although he could not command these ghosts himself, he could disperse them one by one with his sword. Not only would he send them into reincarnation, he could also exchange them for rewards in the White Tower. It would be an absolute killing!

But when he opened those porcelain bottles, he was disappointed.

Apparently, when the man in black had refined the ghosts, he had cast some spell to prevent them from daring to betray him. Once he died, all the ghosts dispersed along with him.

What a pity.

Chu Liang silently sighed.

The entire pile of small porcelain bottles was empty, and suddenly, a piece of his heart felt empty too.

There were also some materials used to cultivate Devil Dao techniques. Chu Liang did not recognize them, but he roughly felt that they would be of no use to him. He would have to turn them all in to the Sword Transmission Hall later.

Then there was the Underworld Heavenly Book that increased cultivation through killing—a supremely vicious magical artifact. Merely placing his hand on it, he could sense the wails of those miserable living souls... There was no need to think about it. He could not use that either.

There was also a brocade pouch that the man in black had kept with utmost care. Upon opening it, Chu Liang found three hollow dark-bronze spheres inside, each the size of a walnut. They were icy cold in his hand, and he could feel an air of terror emanating from them.

They were probably some kind of wicked magical artifact as well.

He would ask his master what they were later.

Finally, there was the dark-gold token engraved with the words "Soul-Seizing." It also seemed to be a magical artifact.

Chu Liang could not quite make out its purpose, but since its original owner was dead, he figured it should not be too dangerous. He tried sending in a thread of divine sense to examine it.

Whoosh—

His divine sense sank into the token at once, entering a dim, shadowy, indistinct space.

There was nothing in this space, only several lines of golden text drifting through it, as though it were a magical artifact used to transmit information.

Baleful Intent: "I have broken through to the third level of the Five Elements Realm. My coming cultivation requires Mystic Nether True Water or various Nether Sea demonic creatures... As you travel the world, you must keep watch for them on my behalf."

Fifty-Nine: "Congratulations, Lord Baleful Intent. We will certainly spare no effort in searching for them for you."

Sixty: "Congratulations, Lord Baleful Intent. This subordinate will certainly do his utmost."

Baleful Intent: "Hm? Why has Fifty-Eight gone so long without any news? Could something have happened?"

Fifty-Nine: "Another hour has passed. Could Fifty-Eight have run into trouble?"

Baleful Intent: "Fifty-Eight, reply upon receiving this."

Looking at those messages, Chu Liang recalled hearing of this type of magical artifact before. It seemed to be a kind of Soul Domain Space, where a connection between souls allowed a small number of people to transmit information across great distances.

The Shushan Sect did not specialize in soul arts, nor did it possess methods for creating Soul Domain Spaces, so he had never seen one. Nether King Sect demonic cultivators specialized in soul arts, so it was perfectly normal for them to possess such a magical artifact.

This Soul Domain Space seemed to contain only these four people?

That Baleful Intent... and Fifty-Eight, Fifty-Nine, and Sixty. Judging from the names alone, it was not hard to tell who the group leader was.

And Fifty-Eight, who had yet to appear, should have been the previous owner of the Soul-Seizing Token in his hand.

What should he do?

Should he reply?

There was no danger anyway. It was not as though Baleful Intent could follow the Soul Domain over and come beat him up. It was worth a try. Thus, Chu Liang cautiously sent a message in with his divine sense.

In the span of a breath, the message appeared in the space.

Fifty-Eight: "Congratulations, Lord Baleful Intent. This subordinate will certainly search with all his heart."

The more one said, the more likely one was to make a mistake. When he did not know what to say, piggybacking off the reply above with a "plus one" was the safest choice.

When no reply came for the moment, Chu Liang set the Soul-Seizing Token aside and organized the other items first.

Not long after, he felt the Soul-Seizing Token tremble slightly.

Oh, it even vibrated.

He picked it up and looked. Sure enough, there was another reply in the Soul Domain Space.

Baleful Intent: "What were you doing just now? Were you in danger?"

Facing the group leader's interrogation, Chu Liang pondered for a moment. He did not have much time to think. If he went too long without replying again, suspicion would inevitably arise. But if he said the wrong thing, it would also be easy for them to notice something was amiss.

He needed a reasonable... excuse for having disappeared for so long.

But he did not know this Fifty-Eight at all. If he lied using his identity, flaws would inevitably appear.

So after thinking it over, he simply told the truth.

Fifty-Eight: "I was previously in a battle. I captured a Confucian cultivator in the Divine Intent Realm and drew her into the Underworld Heavenly Book."

Baleful Intent: "A Confucian cultivator in the Divine Intent Realm? Not bad. If refined properly, she can travel in daylight and will be a great help."

Fifty-Nine: "Impressive."

Fifty-Nine: "If only I had that kind of luck."

Baleful Intent: "Fifty-Eight has weathered the jianghu for many years. His experience far surpasses yours. This is more than mere luck. You two should learn from him more."

Fifty-Nine: "Yes, yes, yes."

Chu Liang had managed to muddle through for the time being, then withdrew again.

It seemed that Baleful Intent's cultivation had already reached the third level of the Five Elements Realm. He was considered an expert even within the Nether King Sect. Fifty-Nine, on the other hand, seemed like some idle drifter who always replied whenever anything happened and appeared to have plenty of free time. Sixty showed up far less often, so Chu Liang did not know much about him.

After ending the brief conversation, he still decided to report this matter to his master.

When he arrived at the small attic, Empress Feng was unusually awake. She was reading a recently popular romance picture book, nothing more than stories of lovesick men and resentful women. It was hard to imagine that a heroine who flew through the skies and tunneled through the earth could read them so engrossedly.

"Master, this disciple has something to report," Chu Liang greeted her politely as always.

"What is it?" Empress Feng casually set down the picture book and asked.

"These are magical artifacts this disciple found on that man in black..." He first took out the three dark-bronze spheres. "This disciple does not recognize these. May I keep them?"

"Oh?" Empress Feng glanced at them and lazily said, "Those are Mystic Baleful Yin Thunder."

"Mystic Baleful Yin Thunder?"

"They are little things that can be detonated, causing terror alongside the explosion." Empress Feng said, "A Golden Core Realm cultivator actually had three of them. It seems he had saved them as life-preserving treasures. You can use these little things too. You should be able to exchange them for some Sword Coins at the Sword Exchange Pavilion. Decide for yourself."

"I see..." Chu Liang nodded, then said, "There is one more matter."

He briefly told Empress Feng about what he had just seen in the Soul Domain Space.

"Oh?" Empress Feng immediately became interested and flipped herself upright.

"The left and right protectors of the Nether King Sect were heavily injured by Immortal Jiuyi of Mist-Hidden Immortal Mountain just the other day. The Silver King was killed outright, while the Violet Gold Marquis escaped with severe injuries. The Violet Gold Marquis commands Eight Directions Guides, Twenty-Four Baleful Intents, and Seventy-Two Soul-Seizing Envoys..."

"In the past, he relied on these Soul-Seizing Envoys to plunder living souls, harm the innocent, and strengthen his cultivation. That man in black should have been one of the Soul-Seizing Envoys."

"Each Guide governs three Baleful Intents, and each Baleful Intent governs three Soul-Seizing Envoys. The Violet Gold Marquis's subordinates are all organized in this structure."

"In a Soul Domain Space, every person leaves behind a seed of their soul, which intertwines with the others to form an array. That allows them to communicate at any time despite being thousands of miles apart. But... if one person's soul dissipates, then that Soul-Seizing Token should no longer be able to enter the Soul Domain Space. People have killed Nether King Sect Soul-Seizing Envoys before, but I have never heard of anyone being able to replace one through their Soul-Seizing Token..."

Empress Feng was somewhat puzzled.

Chu Liang thought for a moment and said, "Could it be because although that Soul-Seizing Envoy died, his soul did not actually dissipate... Perhaps his spell failed, and he drew himself into the Underworld Heavenly Book..."

He took out the Underworld Heavenly Book again for Empress Feng to inspect.

Thinking about it, it was obvious that a magical artifact used by a Devil Dao Sect for secret communications could not be used by just anyone who happened to obtain it. Under normal circumstances, once a Soul-Seizing Envoy died, their Soul-Seizing Token would immediately lose its function.

A situation like Fifty-Eight's should be exceedingly rare.

Empress Feng studied it, roughly understood what had happened, and suddenly smiled.

"Good..."

"Turn this Underworld Heavenly Book over to the Sword Transmission Hall later. Release and disperse all the innocent living souls inside, leaving only that Soul-Seizing Envoy's soul behind."

"You will infiltrate that Soul Domain Space. Try your best not to reveal any flaws..."

"Right now, the Violet Gold Marquis is hiding while injured. Not only are the righteous factions searching for him, but infighting within the Devil Dao is incredibly severe. He would not dare return to the Nether King Sect. He must be hiding somewhere, secretly recovering from his wounds."

"If you infiltrate his direct subordinates, then if an opportunity arises, you may be able to learn where he is hiding..."

"Once your master charges in alone and kills the Violet Gold Marquis, that will be a tremendous showing of face. Then what will that old Wang Xuanling have to compare with me?"

As she envisioned that splendid future, Empress Feng's smile grew more and more unrestrained.

Meanwhile, Chu Liang felt the weight of a great responsibility on his shoulders.

Comrade Chu Liang, your mission is to infiltrate!

"If Master kills the Nether King Sect's right protector, the sect's reward should be quite substantial too, right?" he asked tentatively.

"Don't worry. Whenever there are benefits, master and disciple will split them seventy-thirty. Your share definitely will not be missing..." Empress Feng chuckled shakily, her laughter gradually turning crooked. "Heh heh heh heh heh..."