Translator: Cinder Translations
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Song Wen took out seventy-two high-grade spirit stones and placed them into the seventy-two slots around the edge of the teleportation array.
Then, he took out the blood-red teleportation array plate and began to form the array seals.
As the array seals were imprinted onto the plate, the array beneath his feet was activated.
The array patterns flickered with a cyan glow, and the cyan light gradually intensified.
Suddenly, the cyan light shot into the sky.
Amidst the dazzling light, Song Wen's figure suddenly vanished without a trace.
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At the edge of the Endless Desert, within an underground palace.
Song Wen's figure suddenly appeared.
The teleportation had crossed an unimaginable distance, and Song Wen felt dizzy and nauseous.
Enduring the physical discomfort, he quickly extended his spiritual sense.
However, the palace was filled with an overwhelming ghost mist, much denser than the mist near the reef where Song Wen had previously teleported. The ghost mist here was tens of times thicker, and Song Wen's spiritual sense could only extend a few meters before it was blocked.
Song Wen remained calm, as he had anticipated this situation.
He followed the directions in his memory and headed towards the exit.
Walking out of the inner hall and into the outer hall, the ghost mist here was much thinner, and the suppression on Song Wen's spiritual sense was considerably weaker.
His spiritual sense scanned the outer hall and extended to the plaza outside the palace, then to the entire underground cave. There was no one around—no living creatures or any signs of life.
Song Wen flew out of the underground cave and through a long corridor, emerging onto the surface, where endless yellow sand stretched as far as the eye could see.
He soared into the air, flying northeast.
Four days later, Song Wen arrived at East Huafang Market.
This market, located between the Beastmaster Sect and the Lei family, was a place where Song Wen had cultivated for several years. He was quite familiar with everything there.
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Years had passed, but not much had changed in the market.
It was still bustling and lively.
Song Wen was looking to acquire the follow-up cultivation techniques for the Corpse King's Rebirth Technique, and there were three possible leads that he had in mind.
The first was the old site of the Divine Blood Gate, located in the Tuo Cang Mountain Range.
However, the Tuo Cang Mountain Range was vast, and even the three major demonic sects only occupied a small portion of it.
Searching blindly, Song Wen could spend a lifetime without finding the site of the Divine Blood Gate.
Song Wen speculated that the three major demonic sects—Corpse Demon Sect, Profound Yin Sect, and the Blood Fiend Sect—must possess some clues regarding the location of the Divine Blood Gate.
It was even possible that one of these sects had obtained part of the Divine Blood Gate's inheritance.
The second lead was Xue Mei.
Xue Mei was originally a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Blood Cloud Cave, a subsidiary force of the Divine Blood Gate. She had always been deeply obsessed with the Corpse King's Rebirth Technique.
Thus, she was sure to know many secrets about the Divine Blood Gate and the Corpse King's Rebirth Technique.
The third lead was the Longevity Palace.
In the past, the ancestor of the Su family from Qingping Mountain, Su Qian, and the Daoist Qingyan from the Beastmaster Sect had entered the secret realm of the Longevity Palace, where they acquired the life-extension technique—the Devouring Soul Array.
The Longevity Palace was clearly another subsidiary of the Divine Blood Gate, and there might be clues about the Corpse King's Rebirth Technique or the Divine Blood Gate within it.
Of these three leads, Xue Mei's information was undoubtedly the most valuable.
However, Song Wen didn't know where Xue Mei was, and he wasn't even sure if she was alive or dead.
As for the whereabouts of Xue Mei, the only person who might know was Tai He, a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Nine Palaces Sect. He might have some information on her whereabouts.
After all, when Song Wen left through the teleportation array all those years ago, these two had been together and even reached an agreement.
Years ago, Tai He had been a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, so it wouldn't be easy to extract information about Xue Mei from him.
As for the first lead, it was too vague, and Song Wen didn't yet know how to begin investigating it.
At this point, Song Wen decided to start his investigation with the third lead.
Song Wen deduced that the ruins of the Longevity Palace should be located near the Beastmaster Sect.
He had some connections with Zhou Siyi and Rong Jingyun, especially Zhou Siyi, who could be trusted. Through them, he could investigate the clues about the Longevity Palace from the ancient texts of the Beastmaster Sect.
Disguised as a cultivator in the early stages of the Golden Core realm, Song Wen entered a shop in the market.
The shop was located in a narrow alley, somewhat secluded, and sold a variety of goods.
The shop secretly dealt in information.
The shopkeeper was a slightly overweight female cultivator in the Foundation Establishment stage. When she saw Song Wen enter, she trembled slightly and quickly greeted him with respect.
"Senior, welcome to my humble shop. May I ask what brings you here?"
"I have some inquiries," Song Wen replied.
"Please, senior, ask away," the female cultivator said.
"Do you have any information about Rong Jingyun and Zhou Siyi from the Beastmaster Sect?" Song Wen asked.
The female cultivator's expression showed hesitation. "Senior, both of them are Golden Core cultivators of the Beastmaster Sect, and we don't have much information about them in this shop."
Upon hearing this, Song Wen felt a slight sense of joy in his heart.
The shopkeeper's words had already provided him with crucial information.
Not only were Rong Jingyun and Zhou Siyi still alive, but they had also both advanced to the Golden Core stage.
"Tell me everything you know," Song Wen said calmly.
The female cultivator replied, "Rong Jingyun is now a late-stage Golden Core cultivator and currently holds the position of Deputy Peak Master of the Alchemy Peak. As for Zhou Siyi, after she advanced to the Golden Core stage sixty years ago, she has secluded herself and rarely appears in public. Her exact cultivation level is unclear to the outside world. That's all I know."
Song Wen nodded. The information provided by the female cultivator was sufficient.
"How is the situation between the righteous and demonic factions?" Song Wen asked.
The female cultivator gave him a strange look, as if she couldn't understand why he was asking such a well-known question.
"Since the righteous forces attacked the Corpse Demon Sect over a hundred years ago, the righteous and demonic factions have been at a stalemate for nearly a hundred years," she answered.
Song Wen waved his hand, and ten translucent spirit stones appeared in midair, dropping onto the counter.
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The next moment, Song Wen's figure vanished from the shop.
The female cultivator looked at the ten spirit stones on the counter, and her mouth twitched involuntarily.
A Golden Core cultivator, yet only ten low-grade spirit stones were offered!
When Song Wen formed his Golden Core, due to a lack of spiritual energy on the island, he had spent over four hundred high-grade spirit stones.
With some additional expenses, Song Wen now had fewer than a thousand high-grade spirit stones left.
Leaving the shop, Song Wen made his way to a small lake about a hundred miles from the Beastmaster Sect.
This area was close to the sect, and Beastmaster Sect disciples could be seen flying over the lake from time to time.
Song Wen concealed his aura and stood in a nearby grove, taking out Zhou Siyi's communication jade slip.
[Senior Sister Zhou, it's been a hundred years, how have you been?]
After sending the message, Song Wen waited quietly by the lake.
However, one hour passed, then two...
After ten hours had passed and the day had turned to the next, Song Wen still hadn't received a reply from Zhou Siyi.
"What's going on? Did Zhou Siyi throw away or lose my jade slip? Is she in secluded cultivation? Or perhaps she's refining pills?" Song Wen speculated in his mind.
It was common for cultivators to be unable to respond to communication jade slips when they were in secluded cultivation or refining pills.
Having waited for nearly a day, Song Wen decided not to wait any longer and took out Rong Jingyun's communication jade slip.
[Elder Rong, it's been years, I hope all is well?]
Rong Jingyun quickly replied.
[You are Wu Sheng! No, I should address you as 'Ji Yin.' You're still alive and dare to sneak back into the Beastmaster Sect?]
(End of the Chapter)
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