Elder Shen's Warning

Inside Song Wen's cave dwelling.

Sitting cross-legged, Song Wen retrieved the jade slip given by Chen Yi and scanned its contents with care.

The records within the jade slip were split into two sections. The first part detailed the characteristics of Seven-Color Grass, while the second focused on the Yan family.

When Seven-Color Grass was less than ten years old, its appearance was indistinguishable from ordinary wild weeds. The entire plant remained a simple green, and its Spiritual Qi was exceptionally faint.

However, once it reached a medicinal age of ten years, a ring of orange would sprout along the margins of its leaves.

Every decade thereafter, another color would manifest on the foliage. By its seventieth year, it would finally display all seven hues: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple.

Upon reaching a medicinal age of one hundred years, a distinct ring of black patterns would form along the very edges of the Seven-Color Grass leaves.

These dark markings served as the definitive indicator that a stalk of Seven-Color Grass had matured for a full century.

A seven-colored grass could be used to refine Profound Qi Pills, which were upper-tier medicines consumed by late-stage Qi Refining cultivators to boost their Spiritual Qi. They were fundamentally similar to the Qi Gathering Pills Song Wen currently used, though the spiritual energy packed within them was vastly more potent.

As for a century-old Seven-Color Grass, it was one of the core spiritual herbs required to refine Foundation Establishment Pills.

Once Song Wen finished reviewing the properties of the herb, he focused on the intelligence regarding the Yan family.

The Yan family of the Poisonous Miasma Swamp was a Foundation Establishment clan subordinate to the Corpse Demon Sect. They had been stationed in that treacherous region for generations. Because the swamp was perpetually choked by toxic miasma and had been thoroughly fortified by the family over the centuries, ordinary cultivators found it nearly impossible to breach. Consequently, this modest stretch of wetlands had essentially become the private domain of the Yan family.

The clan Patriarch was a formidable Foundation Establishment cultivator and currently the sole pillar of that rank within the family. However, he was advanced in years, drawing near the end of his longevity, and had rarely shown his face in recent times.

In fact, no outsider had laid eyes on him for several years, giving rise to persistent rumors that the old Patriarch had already perished. It was widely believed that the Yan family was merely suppression information regarding his death to stabilize their standing and safeguard their clan interests.

Beneath him, the Yan family boasted thirteen late-stage Qi Refining cultivators. Among them, the current family head, Yan Zhengping, stood at the peak of Qi Refining. However, he was already over sixty years of age, meaning his prospects of successfully achieving Foundation Establishment in this lifetime were virtually nonexistent.

Furthermore, Yan Zhengping's third younger brother, Yan Gao, was a cultivator at the ninth layer of Qi Refining.

Yet, it was another name entirely that caught Song Wen's attention.

Yan Yiwen!

At a mere eighteen years of age, she had already broken through to the late stage of Qi Refining. A talent of this caliber was exceedingly rare, even within the highly competitive ranks of the Corpse Demon Sect itself.

...

The following morning, during the hour of Chen.

The Sect's Pill Refinement Hall sat at the northwestern base of Corpse Demon Mountain. It was rumored that this location had been chosen specifically because of a natural subterranean earth fire vein, which provided the flame-masters with optimal conditions for refining pills.

As a vital stronghold of the Corpse Demon Sect, the facility was heavily guarded, with squads of sentries patrolling every corridor and courtyard.

Song Wen arrived outside the Pill Refinement Hall half an hour early.

Since the heavy main gates would not open until the official start of the Chen hour, he could only bide his time near the entrance.

When the doors finally ground open, Song Wen presented his mission token and was granted passage into the complex.

The Pill Refinement Hall was immense, comprised of a sprawling network of courtyards that stretched across more than a hundred mu.

Guided by an inner guard, Song Wen eventually arrived outside the private residence of Elder Shen.

However, the Elder clearly had no intention of receiving him immediately, leaving him to wait in the courtyard. The guard departed as soon as he delivered Song Wen to the spot, leaving the youth entirely on his own.

Song Wen waited patiently in the quiet air.

A few minutes later, a rather handsome young man emerged from the pathway, escorted by another guard.

This cultivator exuded an aura of exceptional openness and clarity-a demeanor that felt starkly out of place within the grim, blood-soaked confines of a demonic sect like theirs.

Most disciples of the Corpse Demon Sect were either deeply sinister or overtly tyrannical, their temperaments warped by the dark arts they practiced and the corpse Qi they absorbed.

Song Wen was no exception; a faint, cold shroud of deathly energy and Yin Qi clung to his frame, making it obvious at a glance that he was no righteous soul.

In contrast, the newcomer's clean temperament and fine features left an immediate, favorable impression. He was the sort of man who would easily draw the admiration of female disciples.

"Junior Brother, are you also here for the Sect's external mission to the Poisonous Miasma Swamp?" the man asked, initiating the conversation with a polite smile.

Song Wen offered a respectful nod and lowered his posture slightly.

"Indeed I am. My name is Jiyin. May I ask how I should address you, Senior Brother?"

The man's aura was dense and substantial. Relying on his own divine sense-which was already comparable to a seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivator-Song Wen estimated that this man's cultivation was likely at the seventh layer of Qi Refining.

It required no great leap of logic for Song Wen to realize that this was the late-stage Qi Refining companion assigned to his mission.

Given that they would be traveling together and depending on one another for the foreseeable future, and considering the man's superior strength, it was only prudent to foster goodwill.

"Ah, so it is Junior Brother Jiyin. You may call me Senior Brother Guo," Guo Tao replied smoothly.

Song Wen clasped his hands in a formal salute. "Greetings, Senior Brother Guo. My cultivation is meager, so I must ask for your guidance and protection during this excursion."

Guo Tao smiled, clearly pleased by Song Wen's deferential attitude. He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could speak, a voice cut through the air from deep within the residence.

"Are you two the ones assigned to audit the Seven-Color Grass at the Yan family this year-Guo Tao and Jiyin?"

Before the echoes of the words could fade, a middle-aged man with a gaze as cold as frost materialized before them without a sound.

It was Elder Shen of the Pill Refinement Hall.

Song Wen and Guo Tao immediately straightened, bowed deeply, and saluted with absolute reverence.

"Disciples Guo Tao and Jiyin pay our respects to Elder Shen!"

"Hand over your mission tokens and identity plates for inspection," Elder Shen commanded flatly.

The two quickly presented their respective tokens.

Elder Shen took them, verified their identities and the mission parameters with a sweep of his spiritual sense, and then produced two jade slips, tossing one to each cultivator.

"These contain the specific requirements of your assignment. I shall state this clearly now: when you audit the Seven-Color Grass, you must be meticulous. Not a single stalk may be unaccounted for."

"If any disciple dares to collude with the Yan family to skim the Sect's spiritual herbs, and an error is discovered upon your return, your punishment will be to have your tendons ripped out, your skin flayed alive, and your soul refined into a corpse puppet for eternity."

Hearing the chilling threat, Song Wen and Guo Tao bowed even lower, offering immediate assurances.

"We will execute our duties with absolute devotion!"

Elder Shen nodded slightly in approval, flicking his wide sleeve.

"Be on your way, then. Do not delay."

With those words, his figure rose effortlessly into the air, drifting backward into the depths of the inner courtyard.

Seeing that the Elder had departed, Song Wen and Guo Tao exchanged a brief look, preparing to turn and leave the grounds.

Suddenly, Elder Shen's voice reverberated directly inside Song Wen's mind.

"Boy, look closely. Your true objective on this trip is to monitor Guo Tao. Should he cross any lines or display any signs of treachery, you are to report it directly to me the moment you return. Do not treat this audit as a mere formality. If anything goes awry with this assignment, I will ensure you endure a fate far worse than death."

Song Wen's heart tightened at the sudden mental transmission, but his face remained a mask of blank deference, as though he had heard nothing at all.

The elder had utilized a localized sound transmission technique, ensuring the warning was meant solely for his ears.

Internally, Song Wen felt a wave of wry disbelief. On the surface, his exposed cultivation was merely at the third layer of Qi Refining. How in the heavens was a low-level disciple supposed to spy on a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator like Guo Tao?

If Guo Tao actually intended to commit treason and noticed him watching, a single strike from the man would wipe Song Wen from the face of the earth. How would he even survive long enough to return to the Sect and play the informant?

Still, there was a silver lining: even a Foundation Establishment Elder like Shen had failed to pierce his concealment technique and detect his true strength. That, at least, was a comforting reassurance.

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