Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation
"Puff!"
The female cultivator coughed up a mouthful of blood, her aura weakening.
"Senior, everything I've said is true, there's absolutely no deception..."
Before the female cultivator could finish speaking, her body could no longer support her, and she collapsed to the ground, spitting out several mouthfuls of blood, which were mixed with fragments of unknown internal organs.
Seeing that the female cultivator's life was in danger, Xiu Jun suddenly appeared in front of her and shielded her from the terrifying pressure emanating from Wu Ren.
"Wu Ren, that's enough! This is a disciple of my Mysterious Yin Sect. You are not qualified to have the power of life and death over him."
Wu Ren angrily said, "My grandson's Storage Bag is in her hands. My grandson's death is most likely related to her. Hand her over to me. I must find out the cause of my grandson's death."
Xiu Jun shook his head. "She is a disciple of my Mysterious Yin Sect. I cannot hand her over to you."
A hint of relief flashed across the female cultivator's pained and terrified face. In this critical moment, the sect would not allow itself to be bullied by powerful figures from other sects.
However, her relief lasted only a short while.
Suddenly, something flew out of Wu Ren's hand and flew directly towards Xiu Jun.
Xiu Jun took the item, a barely perceptible glint of joy flashing in her eyes, and discreetly stored it in her storage ring.
Seeing that Xiu Jun accepted the items, Wu Ren knew that she had agreed to hand the female cultivator over to him. He used his Law Power to bind the female cultivator, then flew into the sky with her and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.
The other twelve disciples of the Mysterious Yin Sect looked at the female cultivator being taken away, their eyes filled with a sorrowful sense of shared loss.
They risked their lives in the secret realm, and although they each had their own desires, the majority of what they gained was handed over to the sect.
Unexpectedly, the female cultivator did not die in the battle within the secret realm, but was instead sold like a commodity to a powerful figure from an outer sect by the sect's Golden Core ancestor.
This is perhaps one of the costs of joining the demonic path: there is never anyone you can trust by your side. In the eyes of the sect's patriarch, these low-level cultivators are nothing more than commodities waiting to be sold.
Given enough compensation, they can be discarded by the sect at any time, like cargo.
Song Wen gazed at the spot where Wu Ren and the female cultivator had disappeared, thinking about the torture the female cultivator would suffer next, a fleeting emotion stirred within him, but it quickly subsided.
You dare to pick up Storage Bag that are lying on the ground? If you don't get framed, who will?
After Wu Ren left, Xiu Jun, Xiang Qi, Huan Yu looked somewhat suspicious.
None of the disciples from the three major sects obtained the Heavenly Spirit Fruit or the Jade Marrow Fungus?
This is highly unusual!
With these suspicions in mind, they interrogated the disciples of their respective sects, especially the last eight, including Song Wen.
According to the cultivators who had left the secret realm earlier, there was a pseudo-second-tier Copper Corpse guarding the exit. Logically, Song Wen and the others were too weak to break through the Copper Corpse's blockade.
Furthermore, there should have been over forty cultivators hiding near the exit of the secret realm, so why did only eight of them emerge? Where did the others go?
However, these eight people knew nothing about it. They only knew that the Copper Corpse had been inexplicably lured away, and they took the opportunity to escape. They had no idea why the others had not escaped with them.
Seeing that they couldn't get any information out of them, Xiu Jun, Xiang Qi, and Huan Yu personally checked the Storage Bag of their respective sect's disciples. After confirming that they hadn't smuggled anything, they hastily ended their exploration of the secret realm.
In the Withered Blood Secret Realm, there are three places where Heavenly Spirit Fruit grow, which were obtained by Gui Xun, Qiu Li, and Wu Sui respectively. In the end, Song Wen obtained all three of their Heavenly Spirit Fruit.
As for the Jade Marrow Fungus in Fallen Eagle Ravine, there were three plants in total. One was eaten by the Copper Corpse, and the remaining two were destroyed by the Gui Xun.
Naturally, the three major sects ultimately gained nothing.
That evening, Song Wen boarded a spaceship and returned to the main hall of the sect atop Corpse Demon Mountain.
Just like on the day of departure, many disciples had gathered in the square outside the main hall of the sect.
Among these people, some came to welcome their loved ones, while many more came to confirm whether their enemies had died in the secret realm.
After disembarking from the flying boat, Song Wen keenly noticed a familiar figure among the crowd.
Du Qiu!
As Song Wen remained with the Corpse Demon Sect for longer, Du Qiu's surveillance intensified. Recently, Song Wen had discovered Du Qiu following him on several occasions.
Ignoring Du Qiu, Song Wen headed straight down the mountain. He didn't return to his cave abode but went directly to the market town.
Du Qiu followed closely behind Song Wen into the market.
Song Wen walked through the streets and alleys, winding his way through the area before finally entering an Inn.
Following behind Song Wen, Du Qiu frowned, pondering to himself.
"Why is Extreme Yin, who just returned alive from the secret realm, coming to this black market instead of recuperating in his cave abode?"
Unable to understand, Du Qiu stood outside the Inn for a moment. After estimating that Song Wen had already entered the underground black market, he stepped into the Inn, passed through the Inn, and arrived at the thatched hut at the entrance of the black market.
After passing through the black market guards and having his token checked, Du Qiu entered the underground black market and discovered that he had lost sight of Song Wen.
Du Qiu didn't think much of it, assuming that Song Wen had cultivated some kind of aura-concealing Method Formula, hiding his aura, and that the large number of people coming and going in the black market made it difficult for him to detect him.
Du Qiu waited for more than two quarters of an hour near the entrance to the black market before finally seeing Song Wen again.
Song Wen was wearing a black cloak, his entire figure shrouded in it, and he was walking towards the exit. If he hadn't been familiar with Song Wen's aura, he might not have been able to spot Song Wen.
Song Wen left the Inn, glanced at Du Qiu not far behind him, and a smile appeared on his lips.
He had just deliberately released his aura to attract Du Qiu's attention.
He came to the black market to trade a magic array, a second-tier array, priced at a whopping 16,000 Spirit Stone.
The formation is called the "Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation." Its function is very simple: to isolate aura and prevent spiritual energy from leaking out.
This formation is useless for fighting enemies or aiding cultivation; for most cultivators, it's a rather useless formation.
However, according to the array master who sold this array, this array is very effective at isolating one's aura. By using this array to hide one's figure, one can even evade the detection of Golden Core cultivator.
Before entering the Withered Blood Secret Realm, Song Wen made contact with an array master through the black market and negotiated a price. However, at that time, he was short of money and could not come up with enough Spirit Stone, so he set the time for the transaction after exploring the secret realm.
He obtained over fifty Storage Bag in the secret realm, containing more than 65,000 Spirit Stone alone. Purchasing a set of formations was naturally no problem for him.
Song Wen left the market town; it was already dark.
Instead of returning to his cave abode, he left the sect and headed northwest.
Watching Song Wen's figure gradually disappear into the darkness.
Du Qiu's eyes flickered, as if he was hesitating whether to continue following them.