Re-encounter with Guo Tao

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, Song Wen left the inn and headed straight for the mooring site of the flying vessels.

He had already asked the inn attendant the night before and learned that the large flying vessel bound for the Corpse Demon Sect was scheduled to depart precisely at the third quarter of the Chen hour.

As he walked through the streets of Three Corpses City, Song Wen noticed quite a few Yan family disciples using their Divine Sense to scan the passing cultivators over and over again.

In the cultivation world, casually sweeping others with Divine Sense was considered a blatant provocation and a massive sign of disrespect.

After all, every cultivator harbored their own secrets, and no one wanted those secrets pried into by outsiders.

The unbridled arrogance of the Yan family disciples had already enraged many nearby cultivators. However, seeing the Three Corpses City guards standing right beside them, the crowd swallowed their anger, not daring to speak out.

Song Wen maintained a perfectly calm expression as he hurried toward the vessel, completely ignoring the sweeps of Divine Sense that passed over him.

This was already the sixth wave of Yan family clansmen he had run into this morning.

He possessed absolute confidence in his physical body's ability to conceal his aura. These Yan family disciples could never identify him through Divine Sense alone, as his spiritual fluctuations were now completely different.

The only way they could possibly expose him was if someone who had met him before came over and forcibly stripped away his physical disguise.

But that was entirely unrealistic. With so many cultivators moving through the city, the Yan family could not possibly search everyone individually.

Furthermore, doing so would spark widespread fury among the local cultivators. At that point, not even the city guards would be able to keep order. A mass riot would likely break out, bringing immense trouble down upon the City Lord of Three Corpses City.

Song Wen reached the boarding area without any issues.

The flying vessel was roughly twenty meters long, featuring a three-tiered superstructure.

Since the distance between Three Corpses City and the Corpse Demon Sect was not particularly vast, the passengers were predominantly low-level cultivators at the early stages of Qi Condensation, with only the occasional mid-stage cultivator. Anyone with a bit more strength usually preferred to travel to the sect on their own.

About a hundred meters ahead, guarding the sole path leading to the flying vessel, stood several Yan family cultivators. Among them were Yan Gao and Yan Qiu.

Their gazes and Divine Sense swept aggressively across the low-level cultivators boarding the vessel. Whenever they spotted someone remotely suspicious, they would step forward and conduct a thorough physical search. They were clearly cornered and acting out of sheer desperation.

By this point, Song Wen had already altered his aura and appearance once more.

From the moment he stepped out of the inn, he had disguised himself as a young rogue cultivator who had only just crossed the threshold of the first layer of Qi Condensation.

Following the deaths of Yan Feng and his five companions, the Yan family had focused all their suspicion on mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivators. They barely spared a glance at a minor cultivator like Song Wen, who seemed to possess only the first layer of Qi Condensation, and let him pass right through.

Song Wen paid the fee of five Spirit Stones, successfully boarded the flying vessel, and secured a small private room on the lowest deck.

At the third quarter of the Chen hour, the flying vessel departed right on schedule. Large vessels of this size were not built for speed; it took a full hour to travel the two hundred li to the market town at the foot of Corpse Demon Mountain. This was the very market Song Wen frequented, and it sat squarely within the sect's domain. The Yan family did not have the strength to extend their reach here.

Song Wen disembarked. Seeing not a single member of the Yan family anywhere in the market town, he let out a sigh of relief.

He walked straight toward the Alchemy Hall.

Elder Shen of the Alchemy Hall was an alchemist at the late Foundation Establishment Realm. Given his status, strength, and wealth within the Corpse Demon Sect, it was absolutely impossible for the Yan family to bribe him.

As long as Song Wen reported the Yan family's betrayal-their collusion with the Nine Palaces Sect and theft of the Seven-Color Grass-to Elder Shen, utter annihilation would await them. Only by wiping out the Yan family root and stem could he truly eliminate the threat they posed to him.

Refusing to waste a single breath, Song Wen sprinted all the way, quickly arriving at the Alchemy Hall located at the northwestern foot of the mountain.

The area was heavily patrolled by disciples ensuring that no malicious intruders could slip inside.

As the main gate of the Alchemy Hall came into view, Song Wen shed his disguise, returning his physical features and aura to the familiar state known to his peers.

He needed to use his disciple token and mission token to enter, and both items were attuned to his specific aura. If his spiritual fluctuations did not match the tokens, he would be barred from entry and likely seized as a spy.

Yet, just as Song Wen approached the main gate, an unexpected figure blocked his path.

Guo Tao!

Guo Tao stood quietly by the entrance, neither entering the hall nor making any move to leave.

Song Wen knew instantly that the man was waiting for him.

His nerves tightened at once. He warned himself to maintain the utmost vigilance. He had already survived a grueling escape across two thousand li; he could not afford to fall at the final step.

He remembered the sect regulations with absolute clarity: killing an outer sect disciple merely required a compensation fee of three thousand Spirit Stones.

At a critical juncture like this, if someone told Guo Tao that a mere three thousand Spirit Stones could permanently eliminate a massive hidden threat like Song Wen, Song Wen had no doubt that Guo Tao would produce the stones without a second thought.

Song Wen gripped the Ghost Head Shield in his right hand, ready to deploy it instantly.

He had also slapped his last flying talisman onto his chest, ready to activate it at a moment's notice to pull away from Guo Tao.

Furthermore, he held both the Blood Sacrifice Technique and the Blood Escape Technique in reserve. He believed that by triggering both blood-burning secret arts simultaneously, his speed would not be inferior to a cultivator at the seventh layer of Qi Condensation like Guo Tao.

It was a shame he had already exhausted his Swift Movement Talismans; otherwise, his chances of a successful escape would be even higher.

As for the Heavenly Lightning Talisman, it was entirely unsuited for use within the Corpse Demon Sect. He would never be able to explain how a demonic disciple like himself could channel the righteous energy of Heaven and Earth. Using it rashly would likely expose the secrets of his unique physical body, and the Sect Ancestor might very well dissect him and extract his soul for research.

At the same time, Song Wen prepared himself for the worst. If Guo Tao dared to strike, he would immediately shout the Yan family's secrets to the crowd, forcing a mutual destruction.

With so many guards stationed outside the Alchemy Hall, as long as he could withstand one or two of Guo Tao's strikes, the guards would surely step in and save him.

Yet, despite Song Wen's intense wariness, Guo Tao did not attack. Instead, his lips curled slightly as he forced a warm, amicable smile onto his face.

Striking now would certainly kill Song Wen, but the higher-ups of the Corpse Demon Sect were no fools.

Guo Tao and Song Wen had departed together on a sect mission, yet they were returning separately. If Guo Tao murdered Song Wen before they had even reported the mission's outcome, anyone with a brain would realize something was wrong.

The sect authorities would launch a thorough investigation into the Yan family, and their betrayal would inevitably come to light.

Guo Tao and the leadership of the Yan family had already devised a contingency plan. If Song Wen truly managed to return to the sect alive, Guo Tao's only option was to find a way to buy him off, thereby securing enough time for the Yan family to flee.

Naturally, the Yan family was not placing all their stakes on successfully bribing Song Wen. They were already secretly relocating the most talented young generation of their clan. No matter what happened, they had to preserve a branch of their bloodline.

Among those being moved was the most brilliant genius of the current Yan family generation, Yan Yiwen.

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