Searching for Someone

The hundred-foot-long flying sword pointed straight at the bottom of the vortex.

The entire vortex froze instantly, then exploded with a deafening roar.

The vortex was formed by Blood Owl using an array. When the array was broken, Blood Owl suffered a backlash, but it was not serious.

He immediately summoned a blood-red shield to block the hundred-foot-long flying sword.

However, at this moment, several scarlet tentacles descended from the sky, catching Blood Owl completely off guard and binding him tightly.

With Blood Owl captured, the crimson shield immediately fell out of control and crumbled into viscous blood.

The crimson ice shards formed from the vortex explosion gradually melted into blood.

The blood and river water mingled together, yet they did not mix; instead, they remained distinctly separate.

The blood was noticeably heavier and sank quickly, soon covering half of the riverbed.

"Not bad Essence Blood."

Song Wen murmured something.

The Blood Sea on the river surface immediately began to sink to the bottom and absorb the blood.

In contrast, consider Blood Owl.

He was entangled by several tentacles and brought before Song Wen and Jiang Wanyue.

"Do you really not know where Yuan Yuze went?" Song Wen asked.

"I truly don't know," Blood Owl pleaded, his face filled with terror. "Fellow Daoist, please spare me..."

Before he could finish speaking, the tentacles that were wrapped around him suddenly pulled downwards, dragging him into the Blood Sea.

Immediately afterwards, the Blood Sea began to shrink, merging into Song Wen's body from beneath his feet.

A hint of joy flashed in Song Wen's eyes.

After absorbing the Essence Blood left behind by the Blood Owl, the total amount of Essence Blood in the Blood Sea Imperial Seal increased by about 10%, which was an unexpected bonus.

"Gu Huang, what should we do now?" Jiang Wanyue asked.

"Do you have a detailed map of the area around Pill Hill City?" Song Wen asked instead of answering.

"Yes, but what do you need a map for?"

Jiang Wanyue looked puzzled, but still took out a Jade Slip.

Song Wen said, "Wu Liu once said that Yuan Yuze, along with his guard Xu Hai, went northwest. Perhaps we can find Yuan Yuze's whereabouts by searching for the large mortal city northwest of Pill Hill City."

Jiang Wanyue's eyes lit up, and she immediately poured an Immortal Essence into the Jade Slip.

In an instant, the Jade Slip burst forth with a shimmering white light, revealing a magnificent map in mid-air.

The map, centered on Pill Hill City, covers an area of billions of miles around it, yet it is extremely detailed, with mountains, rivers, lakes, towns, and markets all marked.

The two looked toward the northwest corner of the map, and there they saw:

Perhaps due to the relatively thin Spiritual Qi, there are not many sects and cultivation Lineage in the northwest, but there are quite a few towns for ordinary people.

Especially in the area more than a billion miles away from Pill Hill City, there are many mortal cities of all sizes.

"Let's go, to the northwest!" Song Wen said. "If Yuan Yuze really intends to refine a large number of living people, he will leave obvious traces."

The two immediately broke through the air and headed northwest.

Clear River City.

This city is the largest mortal city within a radius of one million li, and the total number of mortals in the city and surrounding villages and towns is in the tens of millions.

There are also cultivators in Clear River City, but their cultivation level is only at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Along their journey, Song Wen and his companion found no trace of ordinary people being subjected to forced labor. The city was bustling with people, indicating that Yuan Yuze had not taken any action there.

The two descended and landed in a square within the city's largest palace complex, immediately alerting the guards.

Hundreds of armored guards carrying spears quickly surrounded them.

The guards were all ordinary people, and they were too timid to step forward.

Although they couldn't sense the strength of Song Wen and his companion, they knew that cultivators who could fly were far beyond the reach of ordinary mortals like themselves.

"Step back, and refrain from being disrespectful to these two seniors."

A loud shout rang out, and then a person emerged from the depths of the palace complex on a sword.

The visitor was an elderly man in the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

Upon approaching, he jumped off his flying sword and knelt down in front of Song Wen and Jiang Wanyue, prostrating himself on the ground.

"Junior Zhou Feibai pays his respects to the two seniors."

"I have questions to ask, rise and answer." Song Wen was suspended three zhang above the ground, looking down at the old man.

"Yes, I will follow your instructions, senior."

The old man stood up and looked up at the two of them.

"Have any high-level cultivators appeared in the vicinity in the past few days?" Song Wen asked.

"Reporting to senior, to the best of my knowledge, there is no such thing," the old man said.

"Are there any places where large numbers of people have gone missing or died?" Song Wen asked again.

"This... I've never heard of it either," the old man said.

Song Wen frowned slightly.

Due to differences in strength and methods, mortals and low-level cultivators are often isolated from each other and find it difficult to learn about events in relatively distant places.

It seems we must continue our aimless search.

Song Wen turned his head to look at Jiang Wanyue, and was about to beckon her to leave.

At that moment, another figure arrived on a sword.

The newcomer was a middle-aged man with a goatee and shrewd eyes.

Before the man with the goatee could stop, he called out from afar.

"Senior, I have heard some news, but I don't know if it's the clue you're looking for."

"Tell me about it," Song Wen said.

The man with the goatee stopped his flying sword, bowed, and clasped his hands in greeting.

"It is said that the Northwind City in the south was massacred two days ago. All one million people in the city perished. But this is only hearsay; whether it is true or not, I'm afraid you will need to go and verify it yourself."

"How far is Northwind City from here?" Song Wen asked.

"About 800,000 li," said the man with the goatee.

Although 800,000 li may not sound far, the continuous mountain ranges and lurking Demon Beast make it an insurmountable barrier for the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator like the middle-aged man.

It was already quite an achievement that he was able to find out any news about Northwind City.

With a flick of his sleeve, Song Wen released several thousand Superior Spirit Stones.

"Here you go."

Thank you, senior.

The man with the goatee thanked the emperor with great joy.

But as soon as his gaze swept over the Spirit Stone falling from the sky and returned to the spot where Song Wen and the other man had been standing, they were nowhere to be seen. He couldn't even notice how they had disappeared.