Translator: Cinder Translations
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"Do you have a communication jade slip from Lei Jun on you?" Song Wen asked after thinking for a moment.
"Yes, senior, I have it," Lei Weiyue replied.
"Take it out and give it to me."
As soon as Song Wen finished speaking, the blood cocoon trapping Lei Weiyue began to shift, revealing her hands.
Lei Weiyue realized that she could now summon a small amount of spiritual power within her.
With a thought, a jade slip appeared in mid-air.
Song Wen grasped the jade slip and casually put it away.
His figure suddenly turned into a blur, and with one hand, he pressed down on Lei Weiyue's forehead.
Lei Weiyue immediately became filled with fear as she felt a powerful soul force radiating from Song Wen's hand, invading her sea of consciousness.
Her mind blurred, and she soon lost consciousness.
After a moment, Song Wen released his hand.
He didn't find any information regarding Zhou Siyi in Lei Weiyue's memories.
However, he did uncover some other interesting information.
As the deputy hall master of the Lei family's Enforcement Hall, Lei Weiyue had recently been actively capturing rogue cultivators from all over.
These rogue cultivators included both Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining stage cultivators.
Among the Qi Refining cultivators, all were practicing the "Longevity Technique."
As for the Foundation Establishment cultivators, two of them practiced the "Longevity Technique," while the other eighteen had various and mixed cultivation methods.
These eighteen cultivators, however, had one thing in common: their cultivation focused on pure Wood-based techniques, particularly those that produced spiritual power containing immense vitality.
This type of spiritual power had a notable characteristic—its vitality. The life force contained within made it especially useful for healing and cultivating spiritual medicines.
Song Wen suddenly thought of the Su family of Qingping Mountain and the "Devouring Soul Formation."
What the Lei family was doing seemed remarkably similar to what the Su family had been doing in the past.
Only, the Lei family's ambitions appeared even greater.
Not only were they capturing Qi Refining cultivators practicing the "Longevity Technique," but they also sought to artificially cultivate Foundation Establishment cultivators practicing the same technique.
These cultivators, once they practiced the unique Wood-based technique, could easily switch to cultivating the "Longevity Technique."
As long as these individuals practiced for a period of time, transforming their spiritual power into the "Longevity Technique" spiritual energy, their power would be almost indistinguishable from that of Foundation Establishment cultivators who had practiced the technique from a young age.
"Could it be that Zhou Siyi is also cultivating some special Wood-based technique? Or, is she practicing the 'Longevity Technique'?" Song Wen wondered silently.
"But who in the Lei family wants to use the 'Devouring Soul Formation' for longevity?"
"Could it be Lei Jun?"
But Song Wen quickly dismissed this hypothesis.
Lei Jun was only three hundred years old and had already reached the peak of the Golden Core stage. What he should be focused on now was advancing to form the Nascent Soul, not extending his lifespan.
Then, who else in the Lei family would be worth all the effort to capture a large number of rogue cultivators in order to extend their life?
The answer was becoming clear.
It was the Lei family's ancestor, Lei Yue.
"Could it be that Lei Yue's lifespan is running out?" Song Wen suddenly realized that he had overlooked something.
Where did the Lei family obtain the "Devouring Soul Formation"?
When he had muddied the waters and killed the Su family's patriarch Su Qian and the Beastmaster Sect's Daoist Qingyan, he had taken the "Devouring Soul Formation" layout techniques from them.
"Could it be that the Lei family and the Beastmaster Sect have found the Ancient Secret Realm of the Longevity Palace? And that they obtained the formation layout from there?"
If this guess were true, then Song Wen's plan to obtain the subsequent cultivation techniques or clues related to the "Corpse King's Rebirth Technique" from the Longevity Palace secret realm might fail.
Song Wen's eyes suddenly brightened.
"Since the Lei family has already explored the Longevity Palace secret realm, perhaps I can get what I need from them."
A smile appeared on Song Wen's face. His initial purpose in coming to the Lei family was to rescue Zhou Siyi, but unexpectedly, he had found a lead on the Longevity Palace.
The only thing bothering him was why the Lei family would go to such lengths to capture Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators practicing the "Longevity Technique."
The "Devouring Soul Formation" Song Wen had obtained from the Su family could extend life by a full sixty years, but it did not mention the need for Foundation Establishment or Golden Core cultivators practicing the "Longevity Technique."
Song Wen turned his gaze to the three figures wrapped in blood cocoons, Lei Weiyue among them.
These three still served some purpose, so Song Wen temporarily decided not to kill them.
However, it was not safe to stay with them for long.
The three's soul lamps were still connected to the Lei family, and the Lei family could come looking for them at any time.
Song Wen thought for a moment and immediately came up with an idea.
The blood cocoon contracted, releasing Lei Da and Lei Hu.
As soon as they were freed, they noticed Song Wen in front of them, along with Lei Weiyue, who was unconscious and her head the only part visible.
"Bang, bang."
The two of them immediately knelt in fear.
"Senior, please don't kill us."
"Senior, we are willing to do anything for you, just please spare our lives."
They begged desperately, their faces filled with terror.
Song Wen replied, "Don't worry, I won't kill you."
Lei Da and Lei Hu looked at him with a glimmer of hope in their fearful eyes.
"Senior, what do you need us to do? We will cooperate fully, even if it means betraying the Lei family. We will not hesitate."
Song Wen answered, "You don't need to betray the Lei family. Just deliver a message to Lei Jun: if he wants to save Lei Weiyue, he must exchange her for Zhou Siyi."
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At the same time.
Lei family base.
Lei Jun, having just finished his meeting with the ancestor Lei Yue, returned to his cave residence and was immediately informed by his subordinates. His son, Lei Tianyu, had used a spirit tool spear and appeared in Lishu City.
Lei Weiyue, Lei Hu, and Lei Da had gone after the suspected culprit but had not returned, and were now missing.
The Lei family's people were sure the three were missing, not dead, because their soul lamps had not gone out.
When Lei Jun heard that the spear had appeared in Lishu City, a fierce look crossed his face.
He had waited too long for this day.
When he learned that Lei Weiyue and the others were missing, Lei Jun's expression turned grim.
He realized someone had intentionally used the spear to lure him out.
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By chance, Lei Weiyue had been caught in the crossfire.
After pondering for a moment, Lei Jun gave an order to his subordinates.
"Go and bring me the soul lamps of the three."
"Yes, Master."
The subordinate left to carry out the order, and shortly after, returned with the three soul lamps.
Lei Jun immediately began using the soul-searching technique to locate the three.
He started with Lei Weiyue's soul lamp.
After several attempts, there was no response from Lei Weiyue's soul lamp.
Lei Jun's face darkened.
"What's going on? Lei Weiyue's soul lamp is clearly still intact, why is there no response when I use the soul-searching technique?"
He then thought of a possibility, though it seemed highly unlikely, so much so that Lei Jun was reluctant to believe it.
He then took Lei Da's soul lamp and began the search again.
After a while, Lei Da's soul lamp finally responded.
According to the directions from the soul lamp, Lei Da was located in the southwest of the Lei family base, several thousand miles away.
Next, Lei Jun used the soul-searching technique on Lei Hu's soul lamp.
Lei Hu's soul lamp indicated that he and Lei Da were together.
Seeing that the soul lamps of both Lei Da and Lei Hu were responding normally, Lei Jun tried again with Lei Weiyue's soul lamp, but still, no response.
"Could it be that the other side really has a Soul Concealment Jade? Has it concealed Lei Weiyue's soul fluctuations?"
Lei Jun muttered to himself, his tone filled with disbelief.
In the Tianyuan Continent, Soul Concealment Jades were extremely rare, an almost mythical item.
The other side possessing one clearly meant they had come prepared, and their intentions were clearly not good.
(End of the Chapter)
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