The Taste of Freedom

Two months later.

East Birch Market.

Song Wen appeared in the Small Courtyard where Zhou Siyi was renting.

During those two months, he visited the ruins of the Longevity Hall.

The Longevity Hall was built next to a remote mountain village in the mortal realm. Its entrance was a tall bronze gate, which should have originally contained a formation, but it had been forcibly broken, and the bronze gate was shattered on the ground.

The interior of the Longevity Hall is basically the same.

There should have been some mechanical puppets, but they were all forcibly destroyed, leaving the place in a mess.

Inside the Longevity Hall, Song Wen encountered no danger, but similarly, he found nothing of value.

Song Wen then realized that while he was making a deal with Mi He, he was scheming against Mi He, and Mi He was scheming against him as well.

Mi He knew very well that the Longevity Hall was empty, containing nothing of value.

This means that Song Wen's attempt to find clues about the Divine Blood Sect or the <Corpse King Reincarnation Art> in the Longevity Hall has completely failed. He can only think of another way.

"Extreme Yin Brother Jiyin, you're back?" Zhou Siyi walked out of the house.

Song Wen nodded. "Senior Sister, I plan to leave East Birch Market. What are your plans?"

"Junior brother, wherever you go, I will go." Zhou Siyi replied without hesitation.

"Senior sister, it's not safe for you to come with me," Song Wen said.

Zhou Siyi sighed softly, "I know that with my strength, following my junior brother will only be a burden to him. However, I am, after all, an outcast of the Beast Taming Sect. Staying in East Birch Market for too long will inevitably risk being recognized. I will have to leave East Birch Market sooner or later, so I might as well leave with my junior brother."

Song Wen nodded. "Alright, Senior Sister, you'll come with me to Anzhou City."

Anzhou City is the largest market town under the Nine Palaces Sect, located only a hundred miles away from the Nine Palaces Sect.

Song Wen and Zhou Siyi sailed in the boat, heading northeast at a leisurely pace.

That day.

Suddenly, a vast expanse of towering mountains came into view, with undulating peaks and layers upon layers of hills.

The mountains are shrouded in mist, with strangely shaped rocks and ancient trees reaching for the sky.

"Huh? This place has excellent Spiritual Qi, so why doesn't any sect occupy it?" Song Wen asked in confusion.

His Divine Sense swept across the mountains and found that apart from some Rogue Cultivator, there was no trace of any sect.

Zhou Siyi said, "This place is called Forgotten World Ridge, which is the border between Primordial Unity Temple and Nine Palaces Sect. More than a hundred years ago, Nine Palaces Sect fell into demonic ways, and this place became the main battlefield between good and evil. Later, good and evil returned to peace, and this place became a buffer zone between the two sides, belonging to a no-man's-land."

"Gradually, some Rogue Cultivator and small Lineage gathered here, occupying various mountain peaks. Due to the large number of forces and the lack of constraints from major sects, the area became chaotic and disorderly, with everything decided by force, and conflicts were commonplace."

Zhou Siyi pointed south and continued.

"In that direction, about a thousand miles away, there is a market town called Witch's Resentment Market."

Song Wen raised an eyebrow, showing some interest.

"There's a market town too? Let's go check it out."

Song Wen turned the boat around and flew towards Witch's Resentment Market.

Before long, the market town came into view.

The market town covers an area of no more than ten miles and is located in a valley.

Unlike other markets, everything in Witch's Resentment Market appears extremely chaotic and disorganized.

The streets are narrow and winding, with scattered buildings on both sides.

Stalls, shops, and residences are intertwined and mixed together in a chaotic and disorderly manner.

Song Wen landed on the bow of the boat, on a street in the center of the town.

"There are quite a few cultivators here," Song Wen said.

Zhou Siyi said, "This place is a no-man's-land. The market is unrestricted, and any secret techniques, Cultivation Method, stolen goods... can be traded here. It's an excellent place to sell stolen goods. Therefore, it attracts a large number of cultivators from both the righteous and evil paths. Some cultivators even sell their own sect's Cultivation Method or prohibited elixirs and spiritual herbs here privately."

Before she could finish speaking, a few dozen feet ahead, a stall owner and a masked customer were arguing at a roadside stall.

The guest was small in stature, and judging from his voice, he was probably not very old.

He held a jade box in his hand and spoke excitedly in a loud voice.

"The Seven-Colored Grass you sold me is problematic. It's not a hundred-year-old plant at all, but a ten-year-old one. The colors on the leaves are all dyed on."

Upon hearing this, the stall owner suddenly stood up.

He was seven feet tall and had a robust build, a stark contrast to the short guest.

The stall owner snapped, "Don't talk nonsense here, you're affecting my business!"

Passersby immediately stopped and stared at them with curiosity.

"The Seven-Colored Grass is right here in my hand." The guest opened the jade box in his hand and held it high. "Everyone, take a look. Is this a ten-year-old Seven-Colored Grass, or a hundred-year-old one?"

Upon seeing this, the stall owner's face darkened. He took a sudden step forward, moving with lightning speed, and instantly appeared in front of the customer, exuding a powerful aura.

"How can you prove that you bought the Seven-Colored Grass from me? I think you're just here to cause trouble."

The guest's voice was filled with anger and resentment as he retorted.

"I clearly bought it from you just now, and you're denying it?"

"When have you ever bought any medicinal herbs from my stall? Get the hell out of here!"

The stall owner roared, raised his hand, and slapped the customer across the head.

Just when everyone thought the guest was about to take a solid slap, he suddenly ducked and nimbly dodged it.

Then, with a sudden burst of strength, he slammed into the stall owner's arms.

The stall owner's eyes widened suddenly, the fierce look in them vanishing instantly, replaced by an expression of disbelief.

He slowly lowered his head, his gaze shifting downwards.

A short sword was embedded in his chest, the blade fully inserted, with only the hilt sticking out.

Blood flowed down the sword, staining his clothes red.

The customer darted into the crowd and, as he left, casually snatched the Storage Bag from the stall owner's waist.

Upon seeing this, several onlookers rushed towards the stall, scrambling to grab the magical items displayed there.

The stalls were completely looted.

"Bang!"

The stall owner collapsed to the ground, dying with his eyes wide open.

A Devil Cultivator dressed in a black cloak appeared beside the stall owner's corpse. He nonchalantly took out a Corpse Coffin and placed the stall owner's body inside.

Then, he took out a jade bottle and collected all the blood that had flowed onto the ground.

In the blink of an eye, everything the stall owner owned was divided up, including his soul and corpse.

The onlookers dispersed, as if they had become accustomed to all of this.

Upon seeing this scene, a glint flashed in Song Wen's eyes. This was not 'chaos and disorder' at all; it was 'the taste of freedom'.

"This place is nice," Song Wen said with a satisfied expression.

Zhou Siyi wore a veil, concealing the aura of a righteous cultivator and her pretty face.

Her large, exposed eyes gave Song Wen a strange look.

It seems to be saying: You actually think this place is nice?