In an alley somewhere in Infinite City's Middle District.
Seeing the four wandering spirits return, Duan Yitian let out a slight sigh of relief. After realizing they had been alerted and followed, he had hurriedly ordered the four wandering spirits to split up and leave—even to leave Infinite City... Yet he hadn't expected them to take more than a day to return.
They had probably gone scavenging on their own.
But these days, even scavenging was difficult. Because of the Netherworld, after people died, their souls would automatically enter the Netherworld unless special means were used.
The Ninth Prison had done similar work in the past, but it was as if the world had suddenly shifted from the age of human labor into the age of automation—and human labor had consequently been eliminated.
Wandering spirits needed Yin Dan to aid their cultivation. Without the Ninth Prison's support, they had also lost their source of Yin Dan... After the branch had been destroyed, all the remaining Yin Dan had fallen into Duan Yitian's hands. It was one of the few means he still had to maintain stable control over his surviving subordinates.
"Hand them over." Duan Yitian spoke directly as he took out four Yin Dan. "I know what you've been doing lately, but at your level, refining souls would only be a waste."
The two pairs of wandering-spirit brothers had no choice but to hand over their lanterns sheepishly... No matter what, the fact that General Duan hadn't punished them for scavenging on their own was already a good thing.
After extracting the souls from the lanterns, Duan Yitian waved and sent the two pairs of wandering-spirit brothers away... He casually looked through the souls inside the lanterns.
They were all old, weak, sick, and disabled... He almost felt sick