Night Patrol Division.
Li Ye landed after sheathing his sword, in an excellent mood.
The Night Patrol Division disciples passing by his side bowed one after another. Li Ye ignored every one of them and headed straight for where Si Kongbai was.
When he saw Si Kongbai, he bowed obsequiously. "Your subordinate pays his respects to Steward Sikong. Congratulations, sir, on finally getting your wish and taking sole command of the Night Patrol Division!"
"Once you leave this room, don't say that again," Si Kongbai cautioned him, though his face was full of satisfaction.
It was obvious.
That flattery had hit the mark.
Li Ye smiled without a word. They understood each other without speaking.
Si Kongbai continued, "I had you transferred back today because there's something very important I need you to investigate. Make sure you get to the bottom of it."
"Your subordinate will do everything in his power!"
Li Ye answered with firm conviction.
Si Kongbai got straight to the point. "Take some men and find a way to track down the ghost cultivator who killed the three of them that day. There are only so many ghost cultivators on Flying Immortal Peak. Question them all, one by one, and don't miss anyone."
"Sir, didn't you tell me not to investigate this before?" Li Ye asked, puzzled. Why would Si Kongbai care about the deaths of Fang Zheng and the other two?
In his heart, the three of them should have been as insignificant as a feather.
Let alone taking them seriously.
Even if they had died right in front of him, he probably wouldn't have spared them a glance.
Si Kongbai said in a low voice, "Just investigate it. Why all the questions... Remember, this came from an Elder. You're to investigate at any cost. If you can't find anything, you can think about the consequences yourself."
"Understood!"
Hearing that it was an Elder's order, Li Ye's expression turned serious.
Curiosity rose in his heart, but he couldn't make head or tail of it. His thoughts immediately returned to Wen Jiu.
Si Kongbai seemed to see through Li Ye's little scheme and hurriedly warned him, "Finding the truth is what matters. If you use this opportunity to settle a personal score and keep an eye on Wen Jiu, wasting time in the process, go find a tree on Flying Immortal Peak and hang yourself!"
"Your subordinate understands."
Li Ye hurriedly smiled in agreement.
Though he was deeply unwilling, he could only obey.
Wen Jiu.
You're lucky this time, kid!
At the same time.
Wen Jiu escorted his older sister back to the Xu Family.
He had deliberately come by this time to show his face, to let the Xu Family know that his older sister had someone looking out for her.
But he didn't go inside.
He would have to wait a little longer before entering.
Until he could speak to the Xu Family as an equal.
Before leaving, Wen Jiu gave his older sister, Wen Ya, the Chen Family's Qi Refining Cultivation Method he had obtained earlier, along with ten Low-grade Spirit Stones.
The Chen Family's cultivation method was quite good. It had originally been under Flying Immortal Peak's control, and people outside the Chen Family weren't allowed to practice it. There were many reasons for this, but the most important was to protect the Chen Family's interests. However, after the clan-destruction battle, the Chen Family's method had become a freely traded commodity. As long as it wasn't traded with mortals, it could be given away or sold.
Like him, his older sister Wen Ya had an Inferior Spiritual Root.
No, it was more accurate to say that mortals who came to Flying Immortal Peak all had at least an Inferior Spiritual Root.
Those without spiritual roots weren't even qualified to come to Flying Immortal Peak as servants.
So his older sister Wen Ya could still begin cultivating. It would merely be slow; even with Spirit Stones to help her, it would probably take two years. But if she managed to reach Qi Refining Layer One, she would have a chance to shed her servant status in the future.
Of course.
Strictly speaking, servants weren't allowed to cultivate.
Unless, like him, they had a direct relative who had become an Apprentice Disciple—or a full disciple—of Flying Immortal Peak, cultivating was a serious crime.
At the same time, Wen Jiu deliberately had his older sister Wen Ya carry a bundle of clothes inside, with Wang Nian's identity token placed on top.
It was a case of borrowing someone else's authority to throw his weight around.
But this trick would work quite well.
Just as Wen Jiu had expected, Wen Ya soon ran into members of the Xu Family after entering. Wang Nian's token caught their eye without a hitch, and the Xu Family members who usually couldn't be bothered with Wen Ya actually came over to help carry the clothes, behaving with unusual eagerness.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
After accumulating another forty or fifty entry-level Soul Seizing Talismans, Wen Jiu set out early that morning for Baihua Mountain's Rogue Cultivator Market.
The mountain road was fifty li long—not far, but not exactly close either. Without the dense forest and demonic beasts, a few Swiftness Talismans would have gotten him there in half an hour.
But with all the demonic beasts in the woods, and even the possibility of hidden demons, it took Wen Jiu an hour to arrive.
After reaching Baihua Mountain Market, Wen Jiu changed his clothes and put a black robe on the Black Zombie to conceal it.
Just as he had seen on the map before, Baihua Mountain's trading market was full of rogue cultivators, bandit cultivators with baleful eyes, and disciples from Flying Immortal Peak and other peaks. It was a place of chaos held in order.
One thing worth mentioning was that there were many mortals in the market, making it a completely different world from Flying Immortal Peak.
There were only three to five thousand cultivators, but the mortals outnumbered them several times over. They were all ordinary people without spiritual roots.
Some were mortals who dreamed of cultivating immortality. Others had seen immortals and could never go back to their old lives. Unwilling to accept their fate yet still clinging to a sliver of hope, they lingered in the market, willingly serving cultivators.
As he walked into the trading market, Wen Jiu gained an even deeper understanding of the difference between sect cultivators and rogue cultivators.
Sect cultivators were easy to recognize on the street. Even when they tried to disguise themselves, their clear eyes gave them away.
Even the more scheming among them seemed as pure as white lotuses compared to the rogue cultivators and bandit cultivators, whose sharp, vicious eyes concealed who knew how many schemes. But sect cultivators generally had stronger auras than rogue cultivators.
After all, the sects controlled the good cultivation methods, techniques, and resources, as well as the spiritual veins and spirit mines needed for cultivation.
Rogue cultivators struggled to survive under the sects. Their spiritual roots also tended to be inferior; they were the sort who might spend half their lives struggling just to reach Qi Cultivation First or Second Layer.
Before long.
Wen Jiu spotted something familiar.
Gathering Righteousness Hall!
One of the most luxurious businesses in Baihua Mountain's trading market was Gathering Righteousness Hall, where rogue cultivators streamed in and out without end.
Unlike within the sect, Gathering Righteousness Hall was practically a major power in Baihua Mountain's Rogue Cultivator Market.
Every rogue cultivator who went in or out treated it with the utmost respect.
Wen Jiu found a mortal at random and asked about Baihua Mountain's Rogue Cultivator Market. Then he planned to sell all his Soul Seizing Talismans at a business that rivaled Gathering Righteousness Hall, posing as a rogue cultivator.
With Blood Corpse Escape and Three Rivers Ghost Concealment, Wen Jiu wasn't afraid of being targeted. Once inside, he sold all his Soul Seizing Talismans.
He sold more than a hundred and thirty entry-level Soul Seizing Talismans for a total of 283 Low-grade Spirit Stones—a very impressive sum.
At last, Wen Jiu had a trade he could rely on to make a living in the cultivation world. He would never have to borrow Spirit Stones again.
Before he left, the shopkeeper kept trying to recruit him. Yin Talisman Masters who could draw Soul Seizing Talismans were simply too rare.
And Yin Talisman Masters who were also rogue cultivators were rarer still.
To Wen Jiu's surprise, the shop's manager even offered him the astronomical sum of thirty Low-grade Spirit Stones a month.
That was fifteen times the Night Patrol Division's stipend!
He also promised Wen Jiu ten concubines with spiritual roots and stunning looks!
To be honest.
It was hard not to be tempted.
But Wen Jiu knew that if a business like this was willing to pay you so much, it definitely planned to earn ten or a hundred times that amount from you.
If you couldn't create that much value, then today's ingratiating smiles would become tomorrow's sharpening knives.
So Wen Jiu refused outright.
Immediately afterward, Wen Jiu went to Gathering Righteousness Hall and sold the three First-order Low-grade Magic Tools he had obtained earlier, along with the ordinary Qi Refining Cultivation Method and techniques. He earned a total of 376 Low-grade Spirit Stones.
At last.
The Spirit Stones in Wen Jiu's Storage Bag officially surpassed a thousand, reaching more than eleven hundred.
That was more than enough to commission a First-grade Mid-quality Corpse Raising Coffin, and he could also buy demons and Three Fiends materials to start cultivating a Three Fiends Walking Corpse.
After wandering around Baihua Mountain Market a little longer, Wen Jiu also asked about Blood Fiend Crystals and Heavenly Fiend Water. When he learned that Baihua Mountain Market had neither, he decided to go to Tianyin City and see what he could find.
Tianyin City was a hundred li from Baihua Mountain Market—not too far.
Just as Wen Jiu had expected, selling his spoils in those two batches immediately drew a number of people who followed him.
As soon as he left the trading market, more than a dozen bandit cultivators fell in behind him.
Wen Jiu couldn't be bothered with them. He used Blood Corpse Escape to leave, then activated a Swiftness Talisman and headed for Tianyin City.
According to the Three Fiends Corpse Raising Method, today was the second day the trading grounds were open. They would close after Midnight tomorrow.
Please follow!
Please follow!
Fei Que begs you!
Before you continue