Benevolent Master and Hungry Wolf

"Then how do you explain where you went during the twenty-odd days you disappeared after leaving the secret realm?"

Song Wen was momentarily speechless. He had not expected that even after killing Du Qiu, his whereabouts would still be known to Shi Shou.

But Song Wen did not dwell on this. After all, his twenty-day absence from the sect was common knowledge throughout the Corpse Dissection Caves; it was impossible to hide.

With a mocking smile on his face, Shi Shou waved his left hand before Song Wen could offer an explanation.

A torrent of majestic spiritual power descended from above, enveloping Song Wen.

Song Wen instinctively prepared to circulate his internal power to block it.

Suddenly, his mind stirred, and he abandoned his resistance.

This spiritual power was not meant to kill him, but to trap him.

Seeing Song Wen restrained, unable to move or speak, Shi Shou summoned a flying sword, leapt lightly onto it, and used his spiritual power to drag Song Wen along as he flew toward the outer boundaries of the sect.

Song Wen used his divine sense to inspect the restriction holding him. It was not particularly strong; even an ordinary cultivator at the eighth layer of Qi Refining could force their way out.

In other words, Shi Shou had not discovered his true strength and still regarded him as a minor cultivator at the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

Song Wen did not know where Shi Shou was taking him, but since they were heading outside the Corpse Demon Sect, it played directly into his hands.

Inside the sect, he could not act openly. Once they left the mountain gates, whether fighting or fleeing, Song Wen could unleash his full strength without restraint.

He understood that Shi Shou could no longer wait for him to reach the sixth layer of Qi Refining and was finally making his move.

He only wondered what exactly Shi Shou was plotting.

Why had the man forced him to cultivate the Corpse King Blood Refining Art?

And why take him away from the sect?

With countless questions in mind, they flew at high speed via Sword Riding, soon traveling a thousand miles away from the Corpse Demon Sect.

Just as Song Wen felt they were far enough from the sect and prepared to strike, Shi Shou suddenly lowered his sword light, diving toward a valley below.

Song Wen's sharp perception detected a massive cavern, several acres in size, hidden within a small hill beside the valley. Inside, he sensed the vital auras of eight living people.

All eight were cultivators, and their cultivation levels were not particularly high-seven were at the sixth layer of Qi Refining, and one was at the seventh layer.

Moreover, the nature of their auras was intensely familiar to Song Wen. Like him, they all cultivated the Corpse King Blood Refining Art.

This made Song Wen even more curious about Shi Shou's intentions.

He abandoned the idea of striking immediately, sensing that a better opportunity would soon present itself.

Shi Shou dragged Song Wen into the cavern.

An intricate formation was carved into the ground at the center of the cave, surrounded by nine stone pillars. The eight cultivators were all bound to these pillars with heavy chains.

Among the eight were seven men and one woman. That woman was the sole cultivator who had broken through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining.

Though she was over forty years old, her skin remained fair, and she retained her grace. It was easy to see from her features that she had been an exceptional beauty in her youth.

Seeing Shi Shou arrive, the woman's expression turned wretched, and she spoke in a plaintive voice.

"Husband, why have you imprisoned me and these children here? What exactly are you trying to do?"

Beside her, a young man bound to another pillar roared in fury.

"Mistress, how can you still be so blind? All of us possess five-element spiritual roots, and we all cultivate the Corpse King Blood Refining Art passed down by Shi Shou. It is obvious he has harbored malicious designs from the very beginning. We are nothing more than spiritual materials for him to increase his cultivation!"

The young man's voice pulsed with absolute hatred. Coming from a humble background, he had always regarded Shi Shou-the master who taught him to cultivate and provided his manual-as a father figure, holding him in the deepest respect and gratitude.

He had never imagined it was all a deception.

Seven years ago, when he was still a mere child, the moment he met Shi Shou was the moment he stepped into a meticulously prepared trap.

The woman's face filled with sorrow and disbelief, tears the size of soybeans pouring down her grief-stricken face.

Clinging to the last shred of hope in her heart, she asked, "Shi Shou, is what Shi Meng says true?"

Shi Meng was the young man who had just spoken, and his name had been given to him by Shi Shou.

Thirteen years ago, when he was just a child begging on the roadside, he had fought with other beggars over half a rotten piece of fruit. He had been beaten until his head bled, hovering on the verge of death.

In his dying moments, Shi Shou had descended from the sky like a benevolent Buddha saving the world from suffering.

He not only healed his injuries but also executed the beggars who had beaten him right before the young boy's eyes.

"From this day onward, you are my disciple. If you do not wish to be bullied, cultivate diligently. In the future, when you encounter enemies, you must slay them with your own hands."

Shi Meng still remembered those teachings clearly. He had always followed his master's counsel, acting ruthlessly toward enemies and eradicating them completely.

Yet he never expected that his own master was the true hungry wolf.

Facing his Dao companion's interrogation, Shi Shou's expression remained utterly indifferent.

A chain flew out from his Storage Ring, wrapping tightly around Song Wen. The chain then rose into the air under its own power, dragging Song Wen over and binding him to the final vacant stone pillar.

From beginning to end, Song Wen offered no resistance, allowing the chains to bind him securely.

He noted that the chain was merely an ordinary magical artifact. With his current strength and tempered physical body, he could shatter it instantly whenever he chose.

Once Song Wen was secure, Shi Shou finally turned to the woman and spoke.

"Wan Rou, since we have been Dao companions for so long, I will let you die knowing the truth."

"Back then, you and I were rootless rogue cultivators. Though we lacked cultivation resources and our strength was low, our days were relatively carefree."

"But I was unwilling to accept my lot. I refused to spend my life in mediocrity."

"More than thirty years ago, I accidentally stumbled into an ancient cave dwelling and discovered the Corpse King Blood Refining Art within."

"After switching to this technique, my cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, and I quickly reached the late stage of Qi Refining."

"However, after that breakthrough, my cultivation speed plummeted. I was already thirty years old that year. If I could not rapidly increase my strength, I would have no hope of achieving Foundation Establishment in this lifetime. To advance quickly using the Corpse King Blood Refining Art, there is a shortcut: one must consume the essence blood of other cultivators and refine the spiritual energy within to raise one's own cultivation."

"Therefore, I joined the Corpse Demon Sect. But due to my advanced age, I could only start as an outer sect disciple."

"I became a Corpse Catcher for the Yin Fiend Hall and began slaughtering cultivators far and wide, using their essence blood to nourish my own growth."

"Finally, twenty years ago, after surviving countless life-and-death crises, I performed a great service for the sect and was rewarded with a Foundation Establishment Pill, successfully breaking through."

"Yet after reaching Foundation Establishment, I realized that because I had consumed too much external essence blood over the years, my internal qi and blood had become mixed and impure. My cultivation ground to a near-total standstill."

"For the past twenty years, I have cultivated bitterly day and night, yet I have remained entirely unable to break through the early Foundation Establishment stage."

"Fortunately, heaven never seals off every path. I found a solution within the deeper layers of the Corpse King Blood Refining Art: I must devour the spiritual power and essence blood of others who cultivate the exact same technique."

"Using spiritual power and essence blood from the same origin will allow me to smash through the shackles of my bottleneck, while simultaneously refining and purifying my own bloodline."

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