Yan Family Intelligence

Having failed to find Chen Yi at the market, Song Wen was thankful he still had her communication jade slip.

He took out the jade slip and sent a message.

Song Wen: "Junior Sister Chen, do you have detailed information regarding the Seven-Color Grass?"

Song Wen waited for a moment. Upon realizing she was not going to reply immediately, he set the jade slip aside to attend to other matters. Once Chen Yi saw the message, she would get back to him.

The first thing he did was refine the Ghost Head Shield.

Song Wen sat cross-legged, his palms and soles facing the heavens, and placed the Ghost Head Shield in front of him.

Reversing his qi and blood, the abundant vitality within his body began to churn. He forced a drop of essence blood out from between his eyebrows, letting it drip directly onto the Ghost Head Shield.

Drop after drop of essence blood splattered across the Ghost Head Shield, dyeing its eerie runic patterns a sinister, bloody red.

Pulses of blood light began to shine from the Ghost Head Shield, gradually growing brighter.

A cloud of black mist suddenly burst from the shield, materializing in mid-air as a fierce ghost over ten feet tall.

The fierce ghost was pitch-black all over. It opened its fanged maw and roared madly at Song Wen.

However, Song Wen turned a deaf ear to the strange phenomenon, continuing to drip his essence blood into the artifact.

After absorbing dozens of drops of essence blood, the fierce ghost seemed to have eaten its fill. It gradually grew docile and slowly shrank back into the shield.

Song Wen stopped extracting essence blood and instead used his spiritual power to wash over the Ghost Head Shield time and time again.

About two hours later, a faint smile appeared on Song Wen's face. He had finally completely refined the Ghost Head Shield.

Only Song Wen dared to refine a Magical Artifact so recklessly, sparing no essence blood. If any other Fourth Layer Qi Refining cultivator were to try this, it would take them at least ten days to half a month to refine the Ghost Head Shield. After all, not every cultivator was like Song Wen, possessing mental power that far exceeded his cultivation realm and a nearly inexhaustible supply of essence blood.

Right at that moment, the communication jade slip reacted.

Chen Yi: "Senior Brother Jiyin, the Seven-Color Grass is a Spirit Grass unique to the Poisonous Miasma Swamp. It is not cultivated in the Sect's spirit grass gardens. Therefore, I have never come into contact with the Seven-Color Grass, nor do I have any information on it."

Song Wen replied: "Does Junior Sister Chen have a way to obtain information on the Seven-Color Grass? I can pay a certain amount of Spirit Stones in return."

Perhaps moved by the offer of Spirit Stones, Chen Yi replied a moment later.

"Why is Senior Brother Jiyin suddenly interested in the Seven-Color Grass? If Senior Brother truly wants it, I can ask Senior Brother Zhang Xiaofan to think of a way."

Zhang Xiaofan was a direct disciple, and his Master was a Golden Core powerhouse from the Alchemy Hall. Asking him for news about the Seven-Color Grass would naturally be much easier.

Song Wen said: "If you could also gather intelligence on the Yan family of the Poisonous Miasma Swamp, that would be even better. I can pay thirty Spirit Stones for this. However, all intelligence must be provided to me within three days, otherwise it will be useless."

After three days, Song Wen would leave the Sect. The communication jade slips had a distance limit; once they were too far apart, they would no longer be able to contact each other.

As a spirit planter, Chen Yi's monthly stipend was only ten Spirit Stones. Thirty Spirit Stones was already a considerable sum of wealth to her.

Chen Yi immediately replied, "Senior Brother Jiyin, I will contact Senior Brother Zhang as soon as possible."

Two days later, in the evening, Song Wen returned to his cave abode and opened the large red coffin.

A Corpse Puppet over two meters tall, with fangs over two inches long and shrouded in churning corpse qi, leaped out of the coffin.

"Roar!"

As if celebrating its new life, the Corpse Puppet let out a loud roar the moment it rushed out of the coffin.

Song Wen circled the Corpse Puppet a few times. Its skin was a dark brown hue, and its shriveled muscles looked like the gnarled roots of an old tree, vigorous and bursting with power.

"Not a bad meat shield."

Song Wen nodded in satisfaction.

At that moment, Song Wen finally received Chen Yi's reply.

"Senior Brother Jiyin, I am waiting for you at the menial disciple dining hall."

Song Wen felt a surge of joy, not expecting Chen Yi to actually procure intelligence on the Seven-Color Grass and the Yan family of the Poisonous Miasma Swamp.

He commanded the Corpse Puppet to return to the coffin, then left his cave abode without a moment's delay.

...

It was mealtime, and there was a steady flow of menial disciples coming and going through the dining hall.

So as not to appear too conspicuous, Song Wen and Chen Yi each grabbed a portion of food and found a secluded table, chatting as they ate.

Seeing that the two were wearing outer disciple robes, the other menial disciples were quite tactful. They kept their distance and did not dare disturb them.

Chen Yi handed a jade slip to Song Wen and said.

"Senior Brother Jiyin, the intelligence you wanted on the Seven-Color Grass and the Yan family is all in here."

"Thank you, Junior Sister."

Song Wen accepted the jade slip and handed over a small cloth bag containing the agreed-upon thirty Spirit Stones.

Chen Yi took the bag and probed it slightly with her mental power, a smile immediately blooming on her face.

She asked, "Senior Brother, did you accept a Sect assignment to visit the Yan family?"

Song Wen nodded.

"Mmm."

After pondering for a moment, Song Wen continued, "Junior Sister Chen, may I ask where this intelligence regarding the Seven-Color Grass and the Yan family came from?"

Song Wen asked this primarily to determine the accuracy of the information.

If Chen Yi had pieced this together herself from random rumors, its reliability would be greatly discounted.

"I begged Senior Brother Zhang Xiaofan for it, and he obtained the intelligence from his Master," Chen Yi explained.

To smoothly secure the thirty Spirit Stones, Chen Yi had clearly gone to some lengths. Although she didn't state it outright, begging Zhang Xiaofan to ask his Master for intelligence surely came at a cost. Without some kind of compensation, Zhang Xiaofan likely wouldn't have been willing to do it.

As for what price Chen Yi paid, that was none of Song Wen's concern.

Song Wen was very satisfied with this answer. Since the intelligence was provided by a Golden Core powerhouse, there shouldn't be any issues.

Not wishing to dwell on the subject, he changed the topic.

"Junior Sister Chen, have you completed your Sect assignment?"

Chen Yi's eyes narrowed as a smug smile appeared on her face.

"Not yet, but it will be finished soon. I still have to thank you for that, Senior Brother."

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

"My assignment requires me to submit five stalks of Fire Spirit Grass to the Sect," Chen Yi said.

The Fire Spirit Grass was a fire-attribute first-grade spirit medicine. Although not particularly precious, it preferred to grow in scorching environments. Since the Corpse Demon Sect was thick with corpse qi and yin energy, it was impossible to cultivate such a spirit medicine here.

The closest place to the Corpse Demon Sect where Fire Spirit Grass grew was an active volcano named Changyan Mountain.

But Changyan Mountain was several thousand li away from the Corpse Demon Sect. Not only were there various powerful Demon Beasts and strange poisonous insects along the way, but there were also elusive robber cultivators. To travel to Changyan Mountain and retrieve the Fire Spirit Grass with a cultivation base at only the Second Layer of Qi Refining, it would be nine deaths and one life for Chen Yi.

However, Fire Spirit Grass was ultimately just a first-grade spirit medicine. Chen Yi was too weak to gather it herself, but there were always powerful cultivators who would bring some back when passing by Changyan Mountain.

Chen Yi had managed to find a Ninth Layer Qi Refining cultivator who happened to have five stalks of Fire Spirit Grass on hand.

However, his asking price wasn't low. Even after scraping together everything she had, Chen Yi couldn't amass enough Spirit Stones; she was still short over twenty.

Right at that moment, Song Wen had happened to seek her out.

After hearing Chen Yi's explanation, Song Wen couldn't help but feel a tinge of envy. He had thought his own assignment was very safe, but compared to this, Chen Yi's Sect assignment was truly risk-free. It just required spending some Spirit Stones.

Song Wen said, "Then congratulations, Junior Sister Chen."

The two chatted for a while longer before saying their goodbyes and parting ways.

88.181.249.5

ns88.181.249.5da2