Translator: CinderTL
The battle between Song Wen and the Cosmic Transformation Incarnation ended swiftly, lasting only a few breaths.
Afterward, they parted ways, each rapidly retreating in opposite directions.
The Cosmic Transformation Incarnation flew east for several hundred miles before landing in a mountain ravine. It then vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a rice grain-sized Gu worm clutching a storage ring, which burrowed into a crack in the ravine's rocky walls.
Song Wen himself fled west, covering two thousand miles before concealing his aura and plunging into a raging river.
Moments later, a towering figure appeared in the mountain valley, now reduced to rubble.
The newcomer surveyed the shattered rocks and fractured mountain slopes, his brow furrowing deeply.
"The attackers appear to be two peak Divine Transformation Stage cultivators, both demonic cultivators of the Corpse Dao," he murmured to himself.
"Neither gained a decisive advantage. One fled east, the other west."
With a sudden flash, he darted eastward, halting above the ravine where the Cosmic Transformation Incarnation had last been seen.
"The aura vanished here. Why?"
The newcomer scrutinized the narrow mountain ravine for a moment, seemingly unable to grasp the situation. He shook his head and turned back west.
Soon, he arrived above the river where Song Wen had disappeared.
"It seems he fled into the river."
His divine sense rapidly expanded, probing along the river's course. He searched over two thousand miles upstream and downstream, but found no trace of any cultivator.
His brow furrowed deeper.
"How could two corpse dao cultivators at the Divine Transformation Stage suddenly appear near Cultivation Sun City and dare to engage in such a fierce battle? When did the demonic cultivators of the Southern Nether Continent become so brazen?"
"Could it be..."
The newcomer's expression shifted slightly. He transformed into a fleeting shadow and vanished into the pitch-black night sky.
Deep beneath the riverbed, Song Wen remained motionless, allowing the surrounding silt to compress him from all sides.
"Where did Fu Chengye go?" Song Wen asked the shadow void within his Sea of Consciousness.
The newcomer had indeed been Fu Chengye.
Song Wen had deliberately created the commotion of a fierce battle to lure Fu Chengye out.
The Fu Clan couldn't possibly ignore the intense battle between two peak Divine Transformation Stage cultivators outside Cultivation Sun City. They would inevitably send someone to investigate, and for safety's sake, they would likely dispatch a Void Refinement Stage cultivator.
The Fu Clan only had two Void Refinement Stage cultivators.
Earlier that day, Fu Hongwen had mentioned that his father had strictly forbidden him from inquiring about corpse cultivators. This suggested that Fu Chengye was neither in secluded cultivation nor away from the clan.
Therefore, the most likely candidate to investigate was Fu Chengye himself.
"He's heading southwest," the shadow void reported. "Wait, he's suddenly changed direction and is now moving northeast."
Song Wen emerged from the riverbed, channeling a wisp of spiritual power to shake off the mud clinging to his body.
At that moment, the Shadow King Gu returned, carrying the storage ring in its mandibles.
Song Wen retrieved both, soared into the air, and followed the northeast trajectory.
Just as he had flown ten thousand li, the shadow void spoke again.
"He's changed direction again, now heading north."
Song Wen had no choice but to adjust his course accordingly.
Fu Chengye was remarkably cautious, altering his path several times. Yet, with the shadow void's assistance, Song Wen maintained a distance of four to five thousand li behind him, never losing his trail.
Meanwhile, a faint flicker of anticipation stirred within Song Wen's heart.
Fu Chengye, a dignified cultivator of the Void Refinement Stage, was acting with such extreme caution in the dead of night, clearly up to no good.
About an hour later, Fu Chengye finally stopped, hovering in mid-air.
Below him lay a vast expanse of jagged rocks, ranging from boulders the size of small mountains to scattered pebbles, all piled haphazardly together.
After sweeping the area with his divine sense to confirm he was alone, Fu Chengye suddenly dove down, slipping into an inconspicuous crevice between the rocks and vanishing from sight.
Song Wen continued forward until the crevice came within his sensory range, then halted.
He extended his divine sense into the crevice, only to be blocked by an invisible barrier.
"Shadow Void, can you probe inside the crevice?" Song Wen asked.
"Yes," Shadow Void replied. "There's a vertical shaft inside, descending about fifty kilometers to a vast underground cavern, tens of kilometers wide. Fu Chengye is in that cavern..."
Through Shadow Void's description, Song Wen gained a rough understanding of what was happening to Fu Chengye.
Inside the cavern, tens of thousands of Blood-Colored Corpse Coffins were neatly arranged.
Each Corpse Coffin contained two bodies: one male and one female, both remarkably young.
The corpses were perfectly preserved, appearing as if merely asleep. A faint, rosy glow still permeated their skin, as if blood continued to flow slowly through their veins.
At the center of these Blood-Colored Corpse Coffins stood a stone altar.
Upon the altar sat an elderly man in black robes.
His face was gaunt, his skin as wrinkled as dried tree bark. Deep-set eyes glowed with an eerie green light, like two flickering ghost flames dancing in the pitch-black underground chamber.
Before him hovered a bronze furnace.
The furnace stood ten feet tall, its surface etched with countless crimson runes.
Within the furnace, dark gray mist churned ceaselessly.
The gray mist billowed from the furnace, spreading outward and seeping into each Corpse Coffin.
As the corpses absorbed the mist, they grew increasingly lifelike, as if on the verge of reanimation.
"Did you bring the Yin Yang True Water?" the black-robed elder asked as Fu Chengye approached.
Fu Chengye stopped a hundred feet from the elder and casually tossed a fist-sized porcelain bottle.
"Blood Scar, I've already provided you with eleven bottles of Yin Yang True Water. When will you finally complete the Nine Nether Profound Fiend?" Fu Chengye's tone carried a hint of impatience.
The black-robed elder, known as Blood Scar, accepted the porcelain bottle, dispelled its restriction, and examined its contents. A satisfied smile spread across his face.
However, the deep wrinkles crisscrossing his face twisted like writhing centipedes as his facial muscles moved, creating an unsettling sight.
"Just one more bottle of Yin Yang True Water," Blood Scar replied, "and the Nine Nether Profound Fiend will be complete."
"Another bottle!" Fu Chengye's anger flared. "Yin Yang True Water isn't some roadside weed. I've spent countless spirit stones and mobilized nearly the entire Fu Clan to gather this much. While it's not exclusive to demonic path cultivators, collecting such a large quantity at once will inevitably arouse suspicion."
Blood Scar tossed the porcelain bottle into the bronze furnace, simultaneously channeling magic seals into it as he calmly retorted, "Fellow Daoist Fu, patience. Once I successfully refine the Nine Nether Profound Fiend, I will personally deliver the Interpretive Cloud Pill I promised you. Just ensure the final bottle of Yin Yang True Water arrives promptly, and the Nine Nether Profound Fiend will be completed within half a month."
(End of the Chapter)
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