Translator: CinderTL
A hundred-li-long chasm stretched across a mountain range, its depths shrouded in darkness and seemingly bottomless, yet radiating a potent spiritual energy.
Song Wen stood above the chasm, his robes billowing in the mountain wind.
With a flip of his hand, he produced an array disk. After channeling several magic seals into it, a beam of spiritual light erupted from the disk and enveloped Song Wen.
His figure slowly descended, sinking into the chasm's depths.
Suddenly, the spiritual light flickered, and Song Wen passed through an invisible barrier.
Moments later, he had descended a hundred li and reached the valley floor.
The valley floor was narrow and elongated, no more than a li wide, yet it contained a hidden realm: several magnificent wooden structures stood within.
Each building was grand and opulent, adorned with exquisite carvings and lavish decorations, resembling imperial palaces.
From the tallest structure, a strikingly beautiful female cultivator emerged. Her initial joy at seeing Song Wen instantly froze into a cold, wary expression.
"Who are you? Why have you come to Cloudstream Valley?" she demanded coldly.
Song Wen, who had been surveying his surroundings, turned his gaze toward the female cultivator.
Her face was like peach blossoms and plum blossoms, her skin as white as snow, her lips as red as cinnabar, and her figure bewitchingly alluring.
Her robe hung half-open, revealing her snow-smooth shoulders and the pale expanse of her chest.
Through the slit in her gauze skirt, her jade-like legs flashed into view.
Golden bells jingled lightly at her ankles, emitting delicate, crisp sounds.
What a captivating demoness, brimming with a thousand charms.
"Are you Guan Lin?" Song Wen asked, answering her question with another.
The female cultivator's willow-leaf eyebrows arched sharply. "Who are you? This is Lord Kangshi's cultivation cave. Leave at once! If Lord Kangshi returns, he'll make you wish you were dead."
Song Wen smiled faintly. "Cloudstream Valley is protected by a restriction formation. It not only prevents outsiders from entering but also traps you here. Without Kangshi's array disk, do you think I could have entered so silently?"
The female cultivator paused, her tone softening slightly.
"Are you a friend of Lord Kangshi? But he's never brought anyone here before, let alone allowed you to come alone?" Her voice was filled with suspicion.
Song Wen couldn't help but glance at the woman's ample chest.
Is it true? The bigger they are, the less brains they have?
"Kang Shi is dead," Song Wen said.
The female cultivator's delicate frame shuddered violently, her eyes wide with disbelief and shock. Her crimson lips parted slightly, but she couldn't utter a single word.
"Lord Kangshi... he's really dead?" she finally managed to ask after a long silence.
Song Wen remained silent, merely watching her with a faint smile playing on his lips.
As if awakening from a dream, the female cultivator suddenly grasped her situation. A coquettish smile bloomed on her face, and she glided toward Song Wen.
She approached him, curtsied gracefully, and offered a fawning smile.
"This humble servant is Guan Lin, paying respects to Master. May I ask your esteemed name? From this day forward, I belong to you."
"Spare us the theatrics," Song Wen said. "If you want to live, you must prove your worth."
"Whatever Master commands, I shall obey," Guan Lin replied with feigned shyness, her expression a mix of reluctance and invitation.
Song Wen ignored her words and pointed to a pile of white bones at the bottom of the valley. The bones were remarkably intact and neatly arranged, resembling soldiers standing in formation.
"How could there be so many women's bones here?" Guan Lin's beautiful eyes widened, her face contorted with fury.
"Kang Shi's mind is twisted. He delights in torturing beautiful women, watching them writhe in agony and beg for mercy until their lives are extinguished like fading incense. These are the remains of women he tortured to death, deliberately left here by Kang Shi," Guan Lin explained.
"Then why aren't you dead?" Song Wen asked.
Guan Lin's expression froze, and she began to stammer, "I... I..."
Song Wen sneered, "It seems you must have helped him satisfy his twisted desires. I bet many of these bones belong to women you tortured to death, don't they?"
Guan Lin's face drained of color, her delicate frame trembling uncontrollably.
Song Wen continued, "Don't worry, I'm not the compassionate type. I won't kill you for this."
Guan Lin lifted her head slightly, the terror in her eyes diminishing slightly.
"Open your mouth," Song Wen's voice rang out again.
Hearing this, Guan Lin seemed to have a sudden realization, as if granted a pardon. Her expression brightened instantly.
She bent her knees and knelt before Song Wen.
Then, she tilted her head back, her eyes tightly shut, and her crimson lips parted slightly, as if awaiting something.
Suddenly, she felt something slick and slimy burrow into her mouth, then slide down her throat and into her dantian.
Guan Lin's expression twisted with renewed terror.
"Relax," Song Wen's voice echoed. "As long as you harbor no treachery, the Gu won't harm you."
The creature that had burrowed into Guan Lin's dantian was the Blood Earthworm Gu, now at the mid-stage of the third-tier. With Guan Lin's cultivation level at the late golden core stage, the Blood Earthworm Gu could easily control her.
Guan Lin's frantic heart finally settled somewhat.
If they're using a Gu to control me, they probably won't kill me—at least not yet.
"Where are Kang Shi's alchemy chamber and Spirit Field?" Song Wen asked.
His divine sense had already swept the entire canyon, revealing nothing but a few pavilions.
"Reporting to Master," Guan Lin replied, "Kang Shi doesn't practice alchemy or cultivate spirit grass. He has no alchemy chamber or Spirit Field."
"Then does he have a talisman workshop or weapon refinement forge?" Song Wen pressed.
"Neither," Guan Lin said.
"What does Kang Shi do all day?" Song Wen asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Secluded cultivation and torturing women," Guan Lin answered. "He does nothing else—no alchemy, no talisman crafting."
Song Wen couldn't help but sigh inwardly. No wonder Kang Shi had ambushed him—lacking any legitimate means of acquiring spirit stones, he resorted to robbery.
"I have a task for you. Cultivate a Spirit Field on the eastern side of the canyon, the larger the better."
"Cultivate a Spirit Field?" Guan Lin's face fell. "I don't know how."
"You've never cultivated a Spirit Field before?" Song Wen asked, surprised.
"Never," Guan Lin replied.
Song Wen immediately dismissed her as useless, incapable of even the simplest Spirit Field cultivation. He had intended to cultivate a Spirit Field himself and entrust all its management to her. But now, it seemed he couldn't rely on her at all. Keeping her around seemed pointless.
Sensing Song Wen's murderous intent, Guan Lin shuffled forward two feet on her knees and desperately clung to his leg. She looked up at him with a pitiful expression.
"Master, please don't kill me."
Song Wen glanced down at Guan Lin and tossed her a jade slip.
"This jade slip contains the method for cultivating Spirit Fields. If the Spirit Field you cultivate meets my satisfaction, you'll live."
He then tossed her a storage ring.
"Here are some spirit stones for cultivating the Spirit Field."
The storage ring contained several million spirit stones, all low-grade. Song Wen had previously obtained hundreds of millions of low-grade spirit stones from Zhu Tianlei.
Song Wen rarely used low-grade spirit stones for cultivation or trading, but they were perfect for cultivating Spirit Fields.
For Spirit Herbs to flourish rapidly, Spirit Fields needed to be saturated with Spiritual Qi.
This Spiritual Qi couldn't be entirely drawn from the environment; artificial replenishment was essential.
"Master, rest assured, I will devote myself wholeheartedly and will never disappoint you," Guan Lin kowtowed repeatedly.
"Leave," Song Wen dismissed her.
After Guan Lin withdrew, Song Wen began setting up the formation.
Having extracted Kang Shi's memories through soul-searching, Song Wen had decided to claim this place for himself and naturally needed to reconfigure the formation.
He deployed three top-tier fifth-tier concealment formations: the Nether Corpse Purgatory Formation, the Nine Heavens Return to Origin Formation, and the Heavenly Mechanism Concealment Formation. With these layers of concealment in place, Song Wen soared out of Cloudstream Valley.
He traveled a thousand miles to a mountain cave where he had previously stashed Shi Lei. Using his spiritual power, he levitated the unconscious man and set course for Great Tan City.
Upon arriving, Song Wen secured a secluded chamber in an inn near the Spirit Jade Palace.
Inside the chamber, he tossed the still-unconscious Shi Lei onto the floor and retrieved Xu Mengyu's Communication Jade Slip.
Fellow Daoist Xu, I've captured a robber cultivator claiming to be from your Spirit Jade Palace. Given the internal affairs of your sect, I dare not act unilaterally and have decided to hand him over to your sect for judgment. I urge you to appear and take custody of this robber cultivator.
(End of the Chapter)
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