Chapter 266: Something Happened
Ordinary rogue cultivators generally wouldn’t dare to kill people casually. The Liuyun Sect and Peach Blossom Sect have seen many disciples recently; these two are unfamiliar faces. At least, the System’s database has no information on them based on players’ sightings. Cultivators with such strong killing intent are a bit like outsiders.
Local cultivators are more or less aware of the operating style of the small sects under the Myriad Immortal Sect. They usually wouldn’t act recklessly for fear of exposure.
Song Jiulai remembered something Senior Sister Shuiping had mentioned before: “Could it be the Tianyang Sect?”
System: “It’s possible. Wasn’t it said that something happened in the Tianyang Sect and some disciples came over?”
Song Jiulai wasn’t too worried about that. “Did they handle the corpses properly?”
System: “They handled them under my guidance, but there will always be some traces left.”
It wasn’t that they didn’t want to destroy the evidence, but even if the corpses of cultivators of the same tier were burned, all traces couldn’t be eliminated.
This was how Song Jiulai was discovered when handling the Jin Shu back then.
However, as long as these two have no identity information, it would be quite difficult for the vast First Mountain to find out who killed them.
Moreover, this time, unlike Song Jiulai’s cross-tier killing which was a big problem, even if they were discovered, they could just say it was self-defense, and since they were from the Longevity Sect, no one could question it.
Song Jiulai nodded.
After thinking for a moment, this was great news. “There are currently seven at the Foundation Establishment Stage. We only need three more tasks to complete. Which ones have hope of reaching Foundation Establishment now?”
The System said: “Zhan Sheng.”
Song Jiulai was surprised: “So soon?! Her progress has even surpassed Lin Yuyu and Han Tian?”
Lin Yuyu had at least come out of the Secret Realm.
However, it was a pity for her; apart from a pile of red cloth left from killing monsters, she had no other gains.
And it was unknown when the Moonlight Secret Realm would open again.
“The Gold Spiritual Root is still within the Tai Xue Sect, and her comprehension is strong. Her in-game time is already over a month, so it’s normal for her to be close to Foundation Establishment. Unlike those two unlucky ones, Qing Guo and Wuming, she has a lot of freedom.”
Indeed, with Zhai Xiaotian’s endorsement, Zhan Sheng’s gains were not small.
Four months had passed.
There were only two months left for the Foundation Establishment Stage tasks. Looking at it this way, the hope of completion was very high.
Song Jiulai had renewed hope for life.
She first went to the shop to purchase a large amount of Tier 2 Puppet materials, as there was still a failure rate in Tier 2 refining.
Seeing how much she bought, the shop owner kindly gave her a few corresponding puppet refining recipes, as they weren’t worth much anyway.
Tier 2 items weren’t too expensive to sell; the materials for one cost fifty Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
Although it pained her, it was something she had promised, and Song Jiulai intended to fulfill it.
That night, she rented an inn room with an artifact refining room and began refining new puppets.
The materials collected so far were actually common Tier 2 puppet materials on the market.
They could prevent corrosion from the venom of most Tier 2 Demonic Beasts.
Song Jiulai also wanted to make different styles, but considering the different materials and consumption, the difference in appearance wouldn’t be significant.
She could just add some Points for the top one or two places later.
That’s right, she was that stingy Sect Master.
Her persona as a miser would never change.
Late at night, as she was enthusiastically refining, her process was suddenly interrupted.
Someone was using Sound Transmission outside the artifact refining room.
She immediately felt a bit puzzled.
Normally, one was not allowed to disturb cultivators in their private rooms unless it was an emergency.
She snapped back to attention from her refining, reached out and pressed into the void, and the surrounding scene rippled like water waves, gradually transforming into the appearance of an ordinary Human Race inn room.
The door opened, and two cultivators wearing uniform white robes stood outside.
Upon seeing Song Jiulai, they spoke impolitely and directly produced a Token: “The City Lord of Xuanwu City has issued an order. There was an incident at the Black Tortoise Tower tonight, and a Demonic Cultivator has escaped into the city. We need to investigate all places within the city, and your room requires inspection.”
Hearing this, Song Jiulai was a little surprised.
A Demonic Cultivator escaped?
What Demonic Cultivator?
Could it be the group she saw earlier?
However, Song Jiulai wasn’t flustered. She touched her nose and nodded: “Alright.”
After all, there was nothing illicit in her room; anything illicit was in the Sect Warehouse.
The two cultivators saw that Song Jiulai’s level was low, and their ability to speak to her patiently proved that she was from a significant power, granting her a little face.
Song Jiulai naturally wouldn’t object.
One of them conjured a mirror out of thin air and shone it towards Song Jiulai’s room.
A brilliant light erupted, somewhat blinding.
However, it seemed there was nothing unusual.
After the mirror’s light dimmed, the two left directly.
Song Jiulai watched the two figures depart and chatted with the System: “The Demonic Cultivator escaped, was it the batch we captured earlier?”
System: “It seems so. Go out and inquire.”
Both the person and the System enjoyed watching the excitement. Since Song Jiulai’s refining had been interrupted anyway, she went out.
It was already late at night outside, but the entire Xuanwu City was bustling with noise, with cultivators called out everywhere.
Groups of people in white robes constantly moved through the crowd.
Song Jiulai clicked her tongue: “A Mighty Cultivator’s Spiritual Sense can scan the entire city, so why is such a hassle needed?”
However, there must be something in the city that shields Spiritual Sense. At least, her perception was much more blurred than in other places.
This was probably the reason for this search.
It was just unclear why even the people of Xuanwu City were being targeted.
As she came out, she saw a Qi Refining Stage cultivator standing by the roadside, arms crossed, watching the commotion. Song Jiulai recognized him as a fellow traveler and approached to inquire: “Fellow Daoist, with so many people, what happened?”
The Male Cultivator turned his head and, seeing Song Jiulai asking him, didn’t feel offended. He excitedly shared gossip with Song Jiulai: “I heard it’s the batch of Demonic Cultivators we captured earlier; someone escaped.”
However, he didn’t know more details.
He only said: “To escape from such a heavily guarded place as the Black Tortoise Tower, this Demonic Cultivator is no simple matter.”
No wonder Xuanwu City was so tense.
Song Jiulai put on a worried expression: “Will this affect people outside the city? Is it still safe to mine recently?”
The cultivator shook his head: “Don’t worry, it won’t. Where would this Demonic Cultivator dare to go outside the city? Outside the city doesn’t shield Spiritual Sense; this Demonic Cultivator would be discovered easily. They must still be within the city.”
Song Jiulai realized with a start that this matter had little to do with her, and she returned to continue refining the puppets.
Fortunately, after failing twice, she got the hang of it. Not much material was lost, but the puppets she made were still not good-looking enough.
However, this time players could re-create their character’s appearance.
After finishing the character creation, Song Jiulai gave the puppet body to the Player. She stayed in Xuanwu City for two more days, thinking that mining Dragon Breath Spirit was more important and time shouldn’t be wasted, so she returned to the Mine.
Although an incident of a Demonic Cultivator’s escape occurred in Xuanwu City, leaving the city was not affected; it was still bustling with people.
One couldn’t even tell that there had been an incident a few days prior.
Her journey was uneventful.
She thought about changing locations next month.
Not staying in one place.
However, not long after arriving near the entrance of the Mine, Song Jiulai sensed that something was terribly wrong.
The smell of blood.
A very strong smell of blood.
Carried by the wind, it reached Song Jiulai’s nostrils.
She didn’t need to get too close to see a corpse lying at the entrance.
It was one of the Golden Core Stage disciples guarding the Mine.
The body was cut in half, with what appeared to be wounds inflicted by a beast.
Just seeing this scene, Song Jiulai didn’t hesitate for even a fraction of a second.
She immediately turned her body and accelerated sharply, fleeing directly!
