Xugeng's Whereabouts
"Fellow Daoist, you're pushing your luck and making unreasonable demands. I've already told you everything you wanted to know."
The masked monk's words revealed strong dissatisfaction.
"Heh heh heh... Trying to force someone! Cultivators respect strength above all else; if you're not strong enough, you can only submit to fate."
Song Wen's brow furrowed, and three transparent blades suddenly materialized.
Soul-Concentrating Spike!
The masked monk's body trembled violently.
He clearly recognized the origin of the three transparent blades.
His voice was filled with urgency and fear.
"Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment. I will remove my mask."
"Too late."
As Song Wen's cold words rang out, three transparent blades shot out.
The male cultivator with the ghost face had no means of soul defense and could only watch helplessly as the sharp blade pierced through his brow and entered his Sea of Consciousness.
"Ah..."
The masked male cultivator let out a shrill scream.
His body felt as if it had lost its support, and he collapsed to the ground.
With a thought, Song Wen unleashed his Void-Breaking Blade, knocking off the mask from the opponent's face and piercing through their skull.
A rather familiar face appeared in Song Wen's eyes.
Gan Hong!
Xing Liren's subordinate.
Song Wen flew to Gan Hong's side, pierced his chest with his right hand, and placed his left hand on the top of his head, beginning the soul search.
After a moment, Song Wen looked slightly disappointed.
The memories obtained from the soul search largely matched what Gan Hong had said.
This made Song Wen realize that killing Gan Hong seemed to have been in vain.
It is worth mentioning that after Song Wen and others were forcibly driven away from the Nethergod Mountain Secret Realm, Gan Hong obtained a pill Pill Furnace, which attracted the pursuit of Jing Lie and others.
After fleeing for dozens of miles, Gan Hong knew he couldn't escape Jing Lie's grasp, so he voluntarily handed over the Pill Furnace, begging Jing Lie to spare his life.
Jing Lie Gan Hong's cultivation was quite impressive and that he knew some of the Xing Family's secrets, Jing Lie spared Gan Hong's life, considering that he might be useful in the future.
This time, Jing Lie formed the 'Anti-Xing Society' by using the Heavenly Spirit Pill as a bargaining chip to get Gan Hong to work for him.
When Gan Hong was working under Xing Liren, he obtained the first two levels of the Soul-Concentrating Spike Cultivation Method, but due to the lack of Heavenly Spirit Pills, he only cultivated the first level of the Soul-Concentrating Spike.
Song Wen devoured Gan Hong's Essence Blood and soul, took his storage ring, burned his corpse to ashes, and then turned and left.
On the way back to the Poison Grotto, Song Wen began to take stock of Gan Hong's storage ring.
Song Wen was not interested. Apart from Spirit Stones, there were almost no other treasures in Gan Hong's storage ring that could arouse Song Wen's interest.
Suddenly, a brown wooden plaque appeared in Song Wen's hand.
The wooden plaque is somewhat similar in shape to a jade tablet used in folk rituals. It is about two feet long and three inches wide, with an extremely simple and ancient design, giving people a sense of having weathered the vicissitudes of time.
"This seems to be the legendary Ghost Dao treasure— the Soul-Nourishing Wood Core. Where did Gan Hong obtain such a treasure? This treasure seems to have undergone an extremely long period of time, and its spiritual essence is almost entirely gone."
Song Wen repeatedly reviewed the memories he had obtained from Gan Hong's soul-searching technique in his mind.
Although he didn't directly see from these memories how Gan Hong obtained the Soul-Nourishing Wood Core, he found some clues.
Before entering the Nethergod Mountain Secret Realm, Gan Hong did not have Soul-Nourishing Wood Core.
Gan Hong did not enter any special ruins within the Nethergod Mountain Secret Realm.
But after leaving the Nethergod Mountain Secret Realm, Gan Hong obtained the Soul-Nourishing Wood Core.
There is a high probability that the Soul-Nourishing Wood Core originated from the Pill Furnace on Mount Nether God Mountain.
"Could this be what Xugeng used to nourish his soul when he was trapped on Nether God Mountain?"
At this thought, Song Wen's mind suddenly became active.
The Xing Family and Limitless Island plan to use the remaining aura on the Soul Shackles to track down Xugeng's whereabouts.
Then he could also use the aura on the Soul-Nourishing Wood Core to find Xugeng.
Xugeng had stayed in the Soul-Nourishing Wood Core for tens of thousands of years, and the aura emanating from it was no weaker than that of the Soul Shackles.
If we can find Xugeng, the follow-up Cultivation Method of the <Corpse King Reincarnation Art> will be available.
"This matter must be handled quickly; we must find Xugeng before the Xing Family obtains the <Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique>."
Song Wen disregarded the need to continue checking Gan Hong's storage ring. He put away the Soul-Nourishing Wood Core and took out the Jade Slip containing the <Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique Cultivation Method.
Cultivating the <Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique> does not require any precious spiritual materials. The only demanding requirement for cultivating this technique is that the cultivator must have a sufficiently powerful Divine Sense.
Although Song Wen's Divine Sense had not yet advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm, it was definitely among the strongest of the Golden Core cultivators, with almost no one able to surpass it; even top Golden Core cultivators like Xing Yixuan and Yuan Qing were slightly inferior to Song Wen in the strength of his Divine Sense.
If Song Wen Wendu cannot cultivate the <Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique>, then in the entire Heavenly Origin Realm, there will probably be no Golden Core cultivator who can master this technique.
According to Yin Bing's memories, in the long history of the Two Forms Sect, there have been many Golden Core cultivators who have successfully cultivated this technique.
After confirming that he could cultivate the <Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique>, Song Wen rushed back to the Poison Grotto without stopping.
"Extreme Yin, why did it take you two whole days to go to Fangzhu City? Did you encounter some trouble?" Shan Yue asked with concern.
Song Wen didn't answer Shan Yue's question, but instead threw her a Storage Bag.
"The pills and spiritual herbs you requested are all here. I will be going into seclusion for a while, so you will need to cultivate on your own. Remember, do not leave the Poison Grotto lightly, and especially do not step out of the Rift Valley where the Poison Grotto is located."
After giving Shan Yue his instructions, Song Wen was about to enter the secret room when he suddenly remembered something, took out the Black Spirit Sparrow from his pocket, and tossed it to Shan Yue.
"What a beautiful bird! Did you buy it especially for me?" Shan Yue asked, her face beaming with delight.
Song Wen nodded and entered the secret room.
Before entering the Poison Grotto, he had already made arrangements for seclusion, releasing all six Shadow Gu to monitor the movements around the Rift Valley.
The cultivation of the <Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique> was easier than Song Wen had anticipated.
Perhaps Song Wen's Divine Sense was strong enough, because he successfully mastered this technique in just two months.
Song Wen took out the Soul-Nourishing Wood Core and used the <Ten-Thousand-Mile Breath-Tracking Technique> to activate the remaining energy on it.
Suddenly, a wisp of pale white smoke rose from the Soul-Nourishing Wood Core, condensing and hovering in front of Song Wen.
As Song Wen continuously formed Method Formula, the green smoke flickered and swayed, as if it might dissipate at any moment.
The spell lasted for a full quarter of an hour. When Song Wen clearly felt mentally and physically exhausted and experienced a slight dizziness, the green smoke finally changed.
The wisps of smoke rose slowly and then drifted southeast.
With a thought, Song Wen conjured a semi-transparent jade bottle that appeared out of thin air.
The jade bottle traced an arc in the air, capturing the wisps of green smoke within.
Although the wisps of smoke were trapped by the jade bottle, they continued to drift towards the southeast.
Song Wen swallowed a Qi Spirit Pill, a pill that restores Divine Sense, which Song Wen himself had refined.
Before he could refine the Qi Spirit Pill, Song Wen left the secret chamber.
"I'm going out for a while. You stay and guard the cave abode."
After giving Shan Yue a few words of advice, Song Wen disappeared into the Cave without waiting for a reply.
Song Wen left behind two Shadow Gu to guard the Poison Grotto.
He summoned a small spaceship and, while maneuvering it southeast, began to circulate his internal energy to refine the elixir and restore his Divine Sense.