Mist-Hidden Island
Song Wen found a monks' inn and stayed there for one night.
However, by the next day, he still hadn't received any reply from Jing Kai.
Song Wen went to the entrance of Corpse King Valley again, but still couldn't find Jing Kai.
He didn't want to wait any longer, so he walked straight forward and stood in front of a Foundation Establishment Realm Wei Qian.
"Fellow Daoist, I apologize for bothering you for a moment. May I ask where Fellow Jing Kai is?"
The guard glanced at Song Wen and said in a rather unfriendly tone.
"Who are you? What business do you have with Jing Kai?"
"I am a Rogue Cultivator. Several years ago, I received a favor from Jing Kai. This time, I passed through Limitless Island and wanted to see him to repay the kindness I had received. He said that he was a guard of Corpse King Valley. I waited here for two days but did not see him. I sent him a message, but he did not reply." Song Wen said.
The guard smirked coldly. "You're probably not going to be able to repay this debt of gratitude."
Song Wen's expression faltered slightly. "Why?"
Unexpectedly, the guard waved his hand dismissively, his tone extremely impatient.
"Go, go, go, I'm on duty, I don't have time to chat with you."
Song Wen flipped his hand and subtly slipped a cloth bag into the other person's hand.
"Please do me this favor, fellow Daoist."
The guard scanned the Spirit Stone in the bag with his Divine Sense, his expression softened immediately, and he lowered his voice to speak.
"Jing Kai is in trouble."
"What trouble?"
"He was greedy for the reward and overestimated his abilities by accepting the demon-slaying mission from the Tang Family of Mist-Hidden Island. As a result, he failed to complete the mission and was instead trapped deep in the mine by the Demon Beast."
The Tang Family Mist-Hidden Island is a Foundation Establishment Lineage affiliated with Limitless Island. Mist-Hidden Island, where the Tang Family is located, is rich in Rotten Bone Stone.
Rotten Bone Stone is a commonly used spiritual material for refining and cultivating Corpse Puppet.
"This matter involves the sect's assets. Doesn't your sect intend to send someone to provide assistance?"
The guard said with a hint of schadenfreude.
"The sect will naturally provide assistance. However, the problem lies in the fact that the Demon Beast entrenched in the mines of Mist-Hidden Island are Netherfire Ants. They are numerous, not only highly venomous but also capable of spewing Yin Fire. What's even more troublesome is that second-tier King Ants are lurking among them."
"To completely eradicate these Netherfire Ants, unless a Golden Core elder is willing to take action, no one is entirely confident of success. The Mission Hall issued a mission to eradicate the Netherfire Ants half a month ago, but so far no Golden Core elder has been willing to take it on."
Song Wen frowned and asked, puzzled.
"If no one takes on this mission, are we just going to let the Netherfire Ants take over Mist-Hidden Island?"
The guard said, "That won't happen. If no one takes on the mission for a long time, the Mission Hall will consider increasing the reward or directly assigning a Golden Core elder to handle it. However, whether Jing Kai will be alive by then is unknown."
"Since you knew how dangerous the Netherfire Ants were, why did Jing Kai still accept this demon-slaying mission in the first place?" Song Wen asked.
The guard said, "At that time, the Tang Family was unaware that the Netherfire Ants had already produced a large number of second-tier queen ants. The Tang Family mistakenly believed it was just a large nest of first-tier Netherfire Ants."
"I see. Thank you for your explanation, fellow Daoist. Farewell."
Song Wen cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, then turned and left.
Jing Kai was not only related to the Spirit Candle Fruit, but Song Wen also wanted to use him to gather information about Limitless Island. Therefore, Song Wen decided to go to Mist-Hidden Island to take a look.
If it didn't require taking too much risk, Song Wen planned to help him get out of trouble.
Mist-Hidden Island is tens of thousands of miles away from Limitless Island, and it took Song Wen most of the day to arrive.
Mist-Hidden Island spans thousands of miles and is named for being shrouded in fog year-round.
The island lacks Spiritual Qi, has sparse vegetation, and exposed black rocks can be seen everywhere.
The Tang Family's residence is located on a high mountain near the coast on the southwest side of the island, a place with the richest Spiritual Qi on the island.
Two hundred miles north of the Tang Family's residence, there is a small basin where the Rotten Bone Stone vein is located.
The basin is about a hundred miles wide and is shrouded in fog all year round, making it extremely humid, as if water could condense in the air at any moment.
In the southeast corner of the basin, numerous shacks were built, housing tens of thousands of ragged ordinary people.
These mortals were captured by the Tang Family and forced into mining slavery to extract the Rotten Bone Stone.
Because the Rotten Bone Stone contains the aura of Yin Corpses, these mortal miners were in constant contact with it, causing most of them to be invaded by the aura of Rotten Bone Stone Corpses, resulting in them becoming hunched over and emaciated.
Regardless of their age, the miners all looked old and frail, as if they were about to die.
No one who enters this place, no matter how strong and healthy, can live for more than ten years.
In the middle of the basin, there is a deep pit with a diameter of several tens of feet.
This pit is thousands of feet deep, like the gaping maw of a Demon Beast, mercilessly devouring the lives of the miners.
At the bottom of the deep pit, there are crisscrossing mine tunnels.
Perhaps due to the infestation of the Netherfire Ants, there were no miners working in the mine. Only in a stone house a few miles away, two Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators from the Tang Family were monitoring the movements of the Netherfire Ants.
When Song Wen arrived at Mist-Hidden Island, it was night. He wore a black cloak, concealed his aura, and easily avoided the guards by taking advantage of the darkness and mist, reaching the edge of the deep pit.
A Shadow Gu flapped its wings and flew into the deep pit.
Just as the Shadow Gu entered the pit a hundred feet deep, a transparent barrier suddenly appeared in front of it.
The barrier appeared without warning, and the Shadow Gu crashed straight into it.
Song Wen inwardly knew something was wrong.
This barrier is a warning formation. The moment the Shadow Gu collided with it, the formation was triggered, which meant that Song Wen had been exposed.
However, to Song Wen's surprise, the warning array was triggered, but no noticeable anomalies occurred.
It's as if the person who set up the formation didn't want anyone to know that a warning formation had been set up here.
Or rather, they didn't want the Tang Family to know that there was a warning formation here. After all, this Mist-Hidden Island was under the control of the Tang Family.
Song Wen became wary and recalled the Shadow Gu.
His body soared into the air, and Song Wen flew higher and higher until he stopped after climbing more than thirty miles into the sky.
Immediately afterwards, a figure flew out from the pit below.
Like Song Wen, he was completely shrouded in a black cloak, obscuring his face and figure. His aura was restrained, clearly indicating that he also did not want others to know of his existence.
The man in black hung above the pit, several miles away from Song Wen.
Both men watched each other warily, neither making a move rashly.
Neither of them needed any Law Artifact to fly. Therefore, it was easy for both of them to determine that the other was at least Golden Core cultivator.
"Fellow Daoist, this is a mineral vein belonging to my Limitless Island. Please do not trespass."
The man in black opposite him spoke, his tone relatively friendly.
"Since you are a cultivator from Limitless Island, why do you allow the Netherfire Ants to run rampant here instead of eradicating them?" Song Wen asked.
"This is an internal matter of Limitless Island and has nothing to do with you, fellow Daoist. Please leave immediately and do not interfere," said the man in black.