Back at the Waste Elixir Chamber.
Shen Fan was frantic with anxiety and hurriedly urged him,
"Leave now. Those five are dead, and their Life Soul Lamps have gone out. The Law Enforcement Hall disciples will definitely begin searching the mountain. If you don't leave now, it'll be too late.
"As for Leng Ningshuang, stop dreaming. If she gets captured, there's no chance of rescuing her at all!"
"Mm! I understand!"
Old Man Duan answered. When he reached the door, the corners of his mouth suddenly curled up, revealing a wicked grin as he said,
"Kid, your grandpa here has taken the blame for you. Shouldn't you give me something in return? That's five lives!"
"Get lost!" Shen Fan snapped irritably, casually tossing out two Universe Pouches.
Old Man Duan caught them with a cheeky grin, tucked them into his clothes, then flashed away and swiftly vanished into the boundless night.
Shen Fan kept Li Qingshan's Universe Pouch, along with those of the final two disciples who had been killed.
After all, all three of them possessed magical artifacts.
If this had been before, Shen Fan would certainly have handed all five Universe Pouches to Old Man Duan in one go, lest the Law Enforcement Hall disciples discover them.
But now that the Treasure Gathering Universe Bowl had acknowledged him as its master and could be hidden within his Spirit Abode, there was no need to worry about it being discovered.
Once the Life Soul Lamps of those five went out, the disciples of the outer sect's Life Soul Hall would definitely notify the relevant peak masters and elders at once.
By now, they should already know about it.
However, Old Man Duan had taken the five corpses away. Finding them would not be so easy; at the very least, they would not be discovered until tomorrow.
Shen Fan checked the time, extinguished the lamp, lay down on the bed, and then took out a Universe Pouch to inspect carefully.
After taking stock of everything, Shen Fan was immediately overjoyed.
As expected of outer sect disciples!
The combined wealth of the three of them included over a thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
There were over a hundred pills of various kinds, mostly first-grade pills, with a small number of second-grade pills. They were basically enough to meet the daily cultivation needs of the Qi Refining Stage.
Inside Li Qingshan's Universe Pouch, Shen Fan also found two talismans.
The Four Arts of Cultivation—formations, talismans, artifacts, and alchemy.
Talismans played a pivotal role throughout the path of cultivation.
These Level 1 Talismans were immensely powerful and could fully meet the needs of Qi Refining Stage combat.
Shen Fan secretly shuddered. If Li Qingshan had taken these things out earlier, it would have been even more troublesome.
Of the two talismans, one was a Thunderclap Talisman and the other a Fire Cloud Talisman, both talismans specialized in offense.
Besides that, Shen Fan found a book titled "Five Elements Talisman True Explanation, Volume 1" in Li Qingshan's Universe Pouch.
As for cultivation techniques, none of the three had the techniques they cultivated. It seemed they had all borrowed them from the Scripture Pavilion and returned them after learning them.
Afterward, Shen Fan sorted and organized everything.
One Universe Pouch held spirit stones, pills, and talismans; one held magical treasures, cultivation techniques, and materials; the remaining one held daily necessities and miscellaneous odds and ends.
Now, together with the things he had before, everything had a proper place to be stored.
Finally, Shen Fan placed all three Universe Pouches into the Treasure Gathering Universe Bowl, waiting for tomorrow's duplication enhancement.
Last time, in his haste, he had overlooked whether the enhancement effect on the Universe Pouches would apply to the items inside. This time, he had to observe it properly.
The night passed without incident, and Shen Fan slept soundly.
After waking, he could not wait to inspect the Universe Pouches.
However, after taking them out, he discovered that while the Universe Pouches had indeed been enhanced into Supreme-Grade Universe Pouches, the items inside had neither been enhanced nor increased.
"Looks like only things that come into contact with the Universe Bowl can take effect!"
Shen Fan sighed regretfully.
But on second thought, if even the items inside the Universe Pouches could be enhanced, then Shen Fan would become rich in just a few days, using heaps of spirit stones and pills to raise his cultivation.
Knock, knock, knock!
Just as Shen Fan was thinking, urgent knocking came from outside the Waste Elixir Chamber.
"Coming, coming!"
With an uneasy heart, Shen Fan opened the door.
Sure enough, just as expected, disciples from the Law Enforcement Hall had come to search the place.
"Senior brothers, what's going on?"
Shen Fan had met several of them many times before, so he could not help putting on a puzzled expression as he asked.
"Did you hear anything last night?"
The leading Law Enforcement Hall disciple asked coldly, then forced his way into the Waste Elixir Chamber and began searching.
"Anything?"
Shen Fan scratched the back of his head in feigned confusion. "I didn't hear anything! Did something happen?"
"Evil cultivators from the Nine Nether Corpse Puppet Sect infiltrated our Heavenly Xuan Sect, killed five outer sect disciples, and took their corpses away to refine them into corpse puppets. Don't leave your room unless necessary these next few days. If you discover anything, notify us immediately!"
"Something like that actually happened?"
Shen Fan replied with a frightened expression, "Yes, yes, yes! I understand!"
The Law Enforcement Hall disciples found nothing and left with their men.
Only after watching them go far away did Shen Fan let out a breath of relief.
After washing up, Shen Fan began cultivating outside the Waste Elixir Chamber, as though nothing had happened, taking advantage of the vigorous morning air.
Now that Shen Fan had so many things, he could basically live a modest, self-sufficient life.
Spirit stones and pills could be called his two great safeguards.
With such resources, Shen Fan placed his focus on improving his cultivation.
Meanwhile, in the outer sect's main peak hall, all the outer sect elders had gathered.
"How is the investigation going?"
The outer sect Grand Elder sat upright in the seat of honor and asked with a grave expression.
"The Nine Nether Corpse Puppet Sect actually dared to brazenly enter Heavenly Xuan Sect territory and kill people. This is simply slapping Heavenly Xuan Sect in the face! This matter has already alerted the inner sect, and the sect master has learned of it as well. We must capture this murderer and bring them to justice!"
Mu Xingtian, the Law Enforcement Hall elder, immediately stood and replied.
"Reporting to the Grand Elder, the crime scene was on a small road between the outer sect and Servant Peak. The bodies have already disappeared. From the traces at the scene, it can indeed be seen that this was done by people from the Corpse Puppet Sect!"
"Our investigation has found that the reason people from the Corpse Puppet Sect appeared within Heavenly Xuan Sect territory was mainly because we discovered the Icefire Sect spy some time ago. This spy seems to hold a certain status within the Icefire Sect. The Icefire Sect has offered a reward of one hundred thousand spirit stones—alive, they want to see the person; dead, they want to see the body. With such tempting profits, quite a few crooked and evil paths have begun to stir restlessly!"
"The five outer sect disciples led by Li Qingshan likely discovered the Corpse Puppet Sect's evil cultivator and pursued them beyond the outer sect, only to be killed in return and taken away!"
The Grand Elder's expression turned cold as he said in an uncompromising tone, "No matter what, we must give the sect master an explanation for this matter. I don't care what methods you use—catch the mastermind behind this!"
Mu Xingtian immediately showed a troubled expression.
"Grand Elder, this happened too suddenly. We have already sealed the sect's borders and swept through the market district, yet we found nothing unusual. Several hours have already passed since the incident. If the other party wanted to flee, they would have long since vanished without a trace."
The Grand Elder slammed his palm onto the table. "That is what you should be worrying about. I give you three days to capture the culprit and bring them to justice!"
"Ah!?" Mu Xingtian's face instantly turned deathly pale.
"Mu Xingtian, I can ignore those filthy, disgraceful things you do in private, but the sect master is already enraged over this matter. You should weigh the severity of it yourself!"
After saying that, the Grand Elder flicked his sleeve and prepared to leave.
Mu Xingtian's gaze flickered. Just then, inspiration struck, and he hurriedly said, "Grand Elder, solving the case within three days is not impossible, but I need to request permission for something!"
"Speak!"
"Since the other party came for the Icefire Sect spy, we can use this as bait to fish them out. Therefore, I need to make use of this Leng Ningshuang!"
"Handle it as you see fit, but this spy is also of vital importance. Don't pick up sesame seeds only to lose a watermelon!"
The Grand Elder spoke with his back to everyone.
"Yes!" Mu Xingtian was immediately delighted.
After everyone had left, Mu Xingtian said with a sinister grin, "Since you came for one hundred thousand spirit stones, I'll bet you're still hiding in the market district. I refuse to believe you won't be tempted!"
Before you continue