Swift Departure from the Corpse Demon Sect

While Song Wen's mind raced with dark possibilities, the female cultivator abruptly extended her hand, taking the Spirit Stones from his grasp. Probing them with her Divine Sense, a satisfied look crossed her face as she swept them into her robes.

"I have stayed in this Scripture Transmission Hall for so long, yet this is the first time I have encountered someone as amusing as Elder Shi. The contribution points you lacked-I have made them up for you."

Song Wen clasped his hands in a respectful salute. "Many thanks, Deacon."

The female cultivator nodded, rising from her meditation cushion, and turned to walk deeper into the Scripture Transmission Hall.

Before disappearing, she did not forget to give a final instruction.

"Wait here for a moment. I shall replicate the cultivation techniques for you."

Watching her departing figure vanish into the depths of the hall, Song Wen felt a lingering dread.

Just moments ago, he had committed two blunders: first, he did not know that the elder's command medallion stored information regarding contribution points; second, the manuals he selected exceeded his total value.

Fortunately, it had not aroused the middle-aged female cultivator's suspicion.

After waiting for about the time it took an incense stick to burn, just as Song Wen's heart was growing increasingly anxious, the female cultivator finally stepped out.

Handing four jade slips to Song Wen, she said, "These are the techniques you requested."

"My gratitude!"

Song Wen accepted the jade slips and dared not tarry for another breath. Turning on his heel, he immediately hurried down the mountain.

Watching Song Wen's retreating back, a profound, inscrutable smile played upon the female cultivator's lips.

"This Elder Shi carries great secrets. If I remember correctly, twenty years ago, when he had just attained Foundation Establishment, he had already mastered the art of Sword Riding."

"I hope the secrets you hold will not disappoint me."

Song Wen could never have imagined that the matters he considered blunders had failed to draw her notice at all. Instead, it was the choice of techniques that had exposed him.

A quarter-hour later.

The female cultivator, who had returned to her meditation, suddenly opened her eyes, a flash of astonishment washing over her countenance.

"How has the Divine Sense mark I left upon those jade slips vanished? Reasonably speaking, as an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, it should be utterly impossible for him to even detect a mark left by me, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even if he did, he could not have erased it in such a brief span of time."

Yet, in the next breath, her astonishment dissolved, replaced by a surge of greed and burning fervor.

The more mysterious Shi Shou proved to be, and the greater his hidden secrets, the more immense the benefits she would reap.

"The monk can run, but the temple remains. Shi Shou, I refuse to believe you will not return to your cave dwelling!"

Moments later, however, the middle-aged female cultivator received a transmission from the Sect.

The soul aura of Foundation Establishment Elder Shi Shou, preserved within the Sect's tablets, had completely dissipated.

"Shi Shou is dead! How can this be? He only departed less than two quarters of an hour ago!"

"Who could slay a Foundation Establishment elder of the Corpse Demon Sect right beneath the peaks of Corpse Demon Mountain without drawing the attention of the Golden Core ancestors?"

A sudden revelation struck her mind, causing her eyes to widen in sheer shock.

"Could it be that the person who just claimed those techniques was not Shi Shou at all, but an impostor?"

The more she pondered it, the more plausible it became, leaving her filled with a deep, unsettling anxiety.

This entire matter was fraught with bizarre anomalies, and she had no desire to be dragged into its depths.

She quickly retrieved a accounting jade slip, which detailed the daily replications of cultivation texts within the Scripture Transmission Hall.

With a flick of her finger, she altered the entry recording Shi Shou's collection of the manuals, changing the name to her own.

In any case, the balances, Spirit Stones, and Sect contributions all squared perfectly. Even if the Sect audited the ledgers, they would find no flaws. At worst, someone might wonder why a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator would choose to practice four relatively shallow techniques.

Meanwhile, Song Wen had woven through the market district several times.

During this trek, he altered his aura no fewer than ten times, while silently dissolving both the Divine Sense mark left by the female cultivator on the jade slips and the remnants of Shi Shou's soul.

Only after repeatedly verifying that no one was tracking him did he finally return to his cave dwelling with absolute peace of mind.

Aside from the Sword Riding technique, he placed the remaining three jade slips into the stone niche hidden within the Corpse Miasma Well.

As for the Sword Riding technique, he resolved to master it immediately.

Ever cautious, he refrained from utilizing Shi Shou's high-grade flying sword. Instead, using his disguised identity as a Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator, he had purchased a low-grade Spirit Weapon flying sword from an artifact smithy in the market, parting with four thousand Spirit Stones.

Though this flying sword was nothing extraordinary-merely a standard-issue weapon forged by the Corpse Demon Sect's Artifact Refining Hall-it was, after all, a genuine Spirit Weapon. Its flight speed far outstripped that of Shi Shou's high-grade magical artifact.

When it came to tools that could preserve his life, the death-fearing Song Wen was never parsimonious.

In the days that followed, Song Wen settled back into his strict routine: dismembering corpses, advancing his cultivation, and surreptitiously harvesting essence blood from the Corpse Dismemberment Cave.

Upon breaking through to Foundation Establishment, the capacity of his physical body to store essence blood had expanded more than tenfold. He estimated that when his reserves were completely filled, his total volume of essence blood could easily rival that of certain Core Formation cultivators.

Each time his body reached full capacity, he could refine and extract over twenty vials of essence blood. Selling each vial at a market price of one hundred and forty Spirit Stones meant he could subtly siphon over three thousand Spirit Stones from the Corpse Dismemberment Cave in a single harvest.

Having plundered a vast fortune of Spirit Stones from Shi Shou, combined with his gains from the Withered Blood Secret Realm and accounting for his expenses on his breakthrough, techniques, and the Spirit Weapon, Song Wen still held forty-three thousand Spirit Stones in reserve.

The resources required for his daily cultivation did not deplete his funds; instead, his wealth grew steadily higher.

In the blink of an eye, half a year drifted past.

Throughout these six months, he occasionally visited the market to liquidate his essence blood and purchase cultivation materials. Whenever he ran into Chen Yi, they would share a brief conversation.

Ever since his successful breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, he noticed that Chen Yi's spirits had remained low, her countenance veiled in a persistent melancholy.

However, she never disclosed the precise reason for her sorrow.

During this period, Song Wen also encountered Chen Feihe on several occasions.

Originally, Song Wen had associated with Chen Feihe solely to obtain an elder's command medallion. Now that he had successfully entered the Foundation Establishment Scripture Transmission Hall, that need had naturally evaporated.

Yet, even though he no longer required anything from Chen Feihe, Song Wen did not sever ties with him.

With a Core Formation ancestor backing Chen Feihe, maintaining a cordial relationship was undeniably advantageous.

To Song Wen's mild surprise, though Chen Feihe possessed peculiar deviations in his personal inclinations, his character was remarkably decent.

After several interactions, Song Wen discovered that the man was entirely devoid of insidious malice or cunning deception, providing him with a rare acquaintance within the Corpse Demon Sect with whom he could genuinely converse.

Unfortunately, during every meeting, Song Wen was forced to affect the mannerisms of a fellow cut-sleeve companion, an ordeal that caused him no small amount of discomfort.

On this particular day, Song Wen suddenly received a secret transmission from Chen Feihe.

The message contained only a few sparse characters, yet it caused his heart to leap straight into his throat.

"A catastrophic upheaval approaches. Flee far from the Corpse Demon Sect at once!"

Staring at the floating words of the transmission, Song Wen's expression shifted rapidly through shades of dark uncertainty.

What manner of peril could possibly require fleeing the boundaries of the Corpse Demon Sect?

Could this catastrophe be brewing from within the Sect itself?

"Elder Chen, has some monumental crisis truly befallen the Sect?" Song Wen transmitted back, utterly without a clue.

"The specific details cannot be spoken. You possess the status of a rogue cultivator, so you still have a chance to escape the mountain. Depart with all possible haste."

Reading Chen Feihe's immediate reply, a profound sense of foreboding gripped Song Wen's heart.

Rogue cultivators still have a chance to leave!

Did that imply that the formal disciples of the Corpse Demon Sect no longer had any avenue of escape?

That they would inevitably be dragged down into the maw of this impending disaster?

Song Wen quickly calculated the hour in his mind, figuring that the External Affairs Hall had likely not yet closed its gates for the evening. He bolted from his cave dwelling and lunged down the path toward the External Affairs Hall.

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